WK 15 Blog Exercise - Interactions Between the 3 Levels

WK 15 Blog Exercise - Interactions Between the 3 Levels

a.  Find an example of design related to your area of interest (industrial design or visual communication design) that CLEARLY demonstrates ALL THREE levels of visual design communication/reception - the representational level, the abstract level, and the symbolic level.
b.  Post at least one image of this example.

c.  Below this image(s) write an analysis of each level like this:

Representational
- identify what role it plays in the whole

- describe what kind of impact it has
- how it relates to the other two levels
Abstract

- identify what role it plays in the whole

- describe what kind of impact it has

- how it relates to the other two levels
Symbolic

- identify what role it plays in the whole

- describe what kind of impact it has

- how it relates to the other two levels

NOTE:  This is an opportunity to practice the vocabulary covered in the book and lectures.  You are also evaluated on your ability to recognize an example of design that employs all these levels and how they are working.

 Representational -
This image of Sony Speakers, in their general shape for desktop speakers, holds truth to their compact size, style of Sony, and very straight forward design. This is a photo graph showing their size, shape, showing them in true reality for consumers to purchase. Further more, this communicates to the viewer that they are a certain size and when joined next to a monitor(for instance), you can see their relative size in the scale of things. The impact this set of speakers has on a person depends on what they are in search of, do these speakers provide what they want out of a set of desktop speakers? Abstractly, from a different view point, these speakers are a the accumulation of many years of research and what Sony thinks is the most basic form of their speakers. Take for instance, large audiophiles would have racks and racks of amps and hardware to support their listening habits, however, these speakers are the most basic form of speaker and coil, no amps, no birds nest of cords and all in a small package. Symbolically, these speakers boasts the name of Sony, right smack on the top! Doesn't get any clearer than that!

Abstract -
The image above shows the underlying abstract structure of a typical desktop computer set up, minus keyboard and mouse. A monitor and computer speakers to the sides. As typical as it may sound, keep in mind that the general population has their computers set up this way, almost as if we were all pre-programed to set up our computers this way. The abstract image above provides small details to show that the speakers are in fact speakers, their stands, buttons and horn cover. Representationally, the image depicts two boxes next to one huge box, further showing that they are speakers by placing buttons on them. Symbolically, they are also speakers by what the general populations should think a desktop computer set up should look like.

Symbolic -
In general, the speaker symbol we most see often on the back of computer mother boards, this symbol tells us to plug the speakers into this jack. Very basic design elements used here, curved lines to symbolize sound and a cup like figure to make a speaker. This symbol is recognized world wide, it is remembered and reproduced under little change in size, its full impact is still there with the image on the abstract level.

Week 14 - Application Exercise

Week 14 Application (Blog) Exercise

 Through photographs, we are able to obtain real life images of what we know, and how bikes look. Two wheels, pedals, a human with helmet and the frame of a bike. One tire slightly out front of the rider and one slightly outback. The photograph is true to proportion and the surrounding portions beyond the bicycle are what seems to be real, according to the photograph above, the bike is also moving with speed, the blurriness expresses movement across the lens of the camera.

We may take things from reality and place them in to our minds. Forever we will remember the shape, color, design, and features of certain objects. Representing real life with what we know, a simplification of what we known down to distinct lines and curves to re-create the image. Take here, blown glass, bulb and string to recreate the abstract image of a bicycle. Although we see a bike, it is not actually a bike, but just blown glass to look like bike.

The only other image i could think of for symbolism relating to bikes, is the bike lane. We see them everyday in life and besides the bike lane signs (posted on poles) this happends to be the most world known image for bikes. Two circles and a human stick figure. Nearly abstract image of a human riding a bicycle, but also a symbol for bike, "bike lane". There is no high volume of detail included in these examples of bike lines. One feature to note, bike lines usually have a big colored (usually white in america) line next to it. Universally known, this image is not mistakable for anything else.

Week 12 Blog Exercise / Visual Techniques

Intricacy, irregularity, activeness, and boldness.

My planned course of study, industrial design. Although foot ware may not quite fall in to "industrial design" per se, the ethics and design process behind the things we wear everyday have a huge impact on how we go about our lives.  The Air Yeezy above, probably one of the most highly coveted shoes among the vast list of shoes for collectors. Their unique materials and INTRICACY make them what they are, from their glow in the dark soles to the lace straps, these shoes have seen the design process through and through.

Regularity, stasis, economy, and balance.

 On the way other side of the spectrum, the Van slip on has probably been the best wide and known sell over the entire world. The design, slip on, exactly what they are, easy to wear and no laces! Simplicity plays a huge part in the design of these shoes. Though the shoes are very Regular(ity), they pose as a standard foot ware for most young adults, fashionable and never goes out of style.

The above shoes shave a couple visual techniques, each on the extremes of each other. Irregularity and regularity, you'll often see people wearing Vans on the street, while Air Yeezy's will probably be seen stowed away in a closet. Economy and Intricacy, the van has very minimal use of line and is very clean cut, while the Air yeezy has a ton of technically advanced materials, straps and air bubbles to keep the highlighted all the time. Balance, the Vans propose that shoes can too be balanced and look fashionably fresh and forward. Activeness, The Air Yeezys have a ton of things to look at, from the feel of the material, the straps, the high tongue and glow in the dark soles, who could resist? any Socialite wouldn't mind rockin' these to their next award show, sans taking away a bright moment in your career, ie Taylor Swift. If I didn't mention it, yes the shoes were designed by Kanye West,  ha!

Week 11 - Contrast Blog Exercise

Week 11 Contrast Blog Exercise

Input: Dondis Chapter 5 and Lecture


Find TWO (2) examples of design that relate to your planned course of study/profession, i.e. industrial design or visual communication design. ONE design example must demonstrate an effective use of contrast contributing to a successful design. The OTHER design example must demonstrate a lack of or poor use of contrast contributing to a failed design.

Above is an example of contrast which works very well for the form and function. Very stylish and sleek. These covers from Incase, tied mostly to Apple products and their electronics (my planned study of product design for hand held electronics). This contrast which works here is color. The bright red, baby blue and pink juxtapozed pop upon the black backround. The colors are also complementary to each other and help with the pop effect. This is an example of light and dark in contrast. Stars, shapes and lightning bolts assist the colors in achieving mischief in this design.This design is very appealing and wonderful to look at it.

Another part of cellular world, is the marketing and advertising portion of that business. Here is a sign with failed/poor use of color contrast. Sprint a very bold company has its colors marked out, yellow black and white, all work together to portray their image. However, these colors don't work very well for other companies, take for instance .... I can't even make out the words (to the right of the Sprint image). Here is where contrast fails to help promote a company through advertising. Dondis states that blue/green in turn are used to express far distance, while red yellow express expansiveness, in contrast these two colors juxtaposed, blue upon yellow ruins this image.

Week 10 Movement/Motion Blog Exercise

OPTION 1

Find 2 examples of design relating to your planned course of study and professional goals showing IMPLIED MOTION IN DESIGN, where motion/movement is suggested and is key to the success of the design but does not actually take place.

These designed works can be graphics in a 2D display (print or digital media) OR tangible objects such as product designs. No stills from motion media. These can be photographic images you take yourself or from magazines/books or the Internet.

For each of the 2 examples, include at least 1 image and a minimum of 8 explanatory sentences identifying how implied motion operates in the design.

 Here, again, we have cyclists on an indoor tract. These bikes are especially super light for this type of racing. Actual movement is focused on and toward the cyclist himself and the wheels turning. With each revolution of the pedals, the bike propels forward around the track. The motion is acceleration, the track is still and the camera is still, therefore the camera lens is trying to capture a moving object passing through the scene.

Track bikes often use very slender frames, suggesting for aerodynamics. Handle bars are also placed in a way to keep the cyclist in as thin as form as possible to reduce drag. Rear wheels, like the ones above are made out of carbon fiber and and usually single piece (no spokes) to reduce rear end drag, rear wheels being the driving wheels of the cycle. The graphics on the rear wheel represent a detailed segment, it allows people to tell when the cyclist is in full throttle or slowing down. Other graphics include lines along the frame, to suggest movement forward, you wouldn't have a bike with arrows going backwards, defeats the purpose.
These bikes are fast from factory, but take a real athlete to get them up to speeds unimaginable by the average human.

Week 9 Blog Exercise – Dimension/Depth/Space

 Back to Bike Frames
Here is a enviornmentally stable and hopeful design of a bicycle. Made of wood and also made in CAD, a rendering found on Gizmodo. The image explores several different dimension/space and perception parallels. Shadows below the tires give a sense of depth, the bike has shadows, there for it is standing up and blocking a light source. Relative size, we all know the average bike has the same size front wheel as the same size back wheel.  The frame itself has gradient texture, wood frame, we'll still be dreaming about this one to come true! Another depth clue is over lapping, we see the rear part of the frame in comparison with the arm behind the rear wheel, this gives the illusion of space between the two trailing arms. There is an actual prototype of this bike out there, but going to mass market? I just don't see it happening. "A Swan among Ducks"

Week 8 Application (Blog) Exercise: Tone and Color

Week 8 Application (Blog)  Exercise: Tone and Color

Find a design or technology example (related to YOUR interests, e.g. a poster, a book page layout, a website design, a program user interface, a tangible product design, a technology product, an animation on Utube, etc.) that features tone AND color as important ELEMENTS in how that example operates in relation to the user and the user's needs.

a. Analyze how TONE is operating in your example.

b. Analyze how TONE is interacting with ONE of the other visual design elements described in Dondis Chapter 3. Choose the elements that have the most interesting relationship to tone.

b. Analyze how COLOR is operating in your example.

c. Analyze how COLOR is interacting with ONE of the other visual design ELEMENTS described in Dondis Chapter 3. Choose the elements that have the most interesting relationship to color.


Post at least one image of the example and blog for at least 12 sentences. Practice using the terms pertaining to tone and color used in readings and lecture. If you can, include a Hyperlink URL to a source website where we can find out more about this application example.

 http://wonder-wall.com

For this week's example, tone and color, I want to share with you one of my favorite design firms from Japan, WonderWall. WonderWall its a complete design firm which has its roles placed in several different areas of design, from furniture to architecture, and retail store fronts to business offices. Their projects are known worldwide, mostly based in Japan and several in Europe, but only two stateside.

WonderWall uses to basic tonal value on its main page, very vibrant colors upon a white back laid canvas. Within the website design, there is a slight tonal change in value below the text, (e.g. Bape Cafe, lighter orange to darker orange) This plays in favor of the text, allows the text to have a more pop off effect, very slight but helps with viewing the text. The rest of the images also have many tonal changes, the photos they use have respect to basic photography, alot of tonal change and very good quality.

Tonal interacts with shape and form on this webpage, if you run your mouse over the images, a bubble like effect contours and manipulates the images. This changes the tonal values within the webpage, some pop and some are interesting to look at. The website offers a great interactive experience for the viewer.

Color has a very nice presence on the WonderWall website. The designer explore many different colors to label certain parts of the main image. The different colors distinguish the many products and services WonderWall has to offer. By clicking in to their Project List to > Project Category, it'll separate the colors in the categories by color. Color interacts with with the dimension and space of the website. The colors help by creating a visually tasteful website with little space. The colors are what helps the website with any sort of dullness (none in this case!). The colors are harmonious, when on the main page, the colors work together to create the collage.

Sporting good Designer : Bicycle Frames

One of my many interests I have along sides with being and living healthy, is exercise. I'd like to think I'd at least give a sport at least a try before I state that I don't want to participate any more. One sport that has caught on with me, is Cycling. Its not just a sport with two wheels, gears and pedals, there is a far far indepth layers for cycling. Tons of designing goes in to bike frames, from the angles to the material used....

 LINE
Well start with a basic frame, this is where line and dot are used, to describe shape and how angles intersect each other. Line is very active in this image, concentrating on intersecting angles, position of where the frame will meet other parts of the frame. Dots are used to give center points of the intersections. Without these lines and dots, there would be no balance within the frame. Balance is a crucial element to the bike frame, if a frame were to be unbalanced, the bike would not ride correctly.

Shape
End shape,end product heavily relies on how the metal of the frame, or other materials are formed and help the design. End design, formulations of the imagination by human mind. We want a new looking frame and we come out with something so esthetically pleasing that the form and function are amazing. Some shapes of bike frames help with the reduction of drag, every little bit helps to propel a cyclist forward. Shape and contours of the frame affect how the bike looks and reacts to its environment. The shape of the tubes and arms are all designed with function in mind. Pictured above, different shaped arms are able to articulate about the main frame structure, this frame is designed for mountain biking, its flexibility and adjustments make riding the mountains like floating on a cloud.

Color
Although color was not discussed in last week's lecture, it was discussed in this week's. Color for bike frames is actually part of the design process, flow of colors and the mixtures to make a beautiful bike. Take for example the bike above, Felt TK2, a track bike, single speed and very menacing! Nothing about the bike itself is menacing, its the colors Felt uses. Red and Black, a lethal color combination. This color works in Felt's favor, its their signature color and they have been defending track records (with sponsored riders of course) for several years. Something about a red tire screams RAWR!

Week 6 Blog Exercise - Design Success and Failure in Relation to Syntactical Guidelines

Back to the things I like. Fairly basic, your norm run of the mill iPhone. Although this is a concept version of the phone, it is very much like the latest release. This concept drawing uses balance and familiarity to the end user, as its advantage, new features displayed and the new overall look of the phone. Through perception, the different angles at which the phone can be looked at are given within the concept drawings. The newest release of the iPhone4 embodies a bold contrast between is surround casing (metal, cool to touch) and thick glass on its faces which are black. Sleek and stylish, this phone has changed the world as we know it, even for those who oppose it.

Next we have the Brill, from Virgin Mobile. The look and feel of this phone is very clumsy, awkwardly placed keys and oddly shaped phone. This is perhaps for the ease of use for right handed people (majority of this world), but what about left handed people? Its shape is irregular, unlike most phones, rectangle or at least near square in shape, this phone embodies a hump. This phone design has no balance, its keys are different colors for the number pad, unfamiliar. The Brill has several stress points, the outer casing and the keys, there is a variance in the balance of the phone. Its not a phone you'd pick up if you were to be out shopping for a phone.

Week 5: Unemployment

Labels : Unemployment, office, California, line, Long line, building, side of employment building, many unhappy faces, 30-50 people, standing, jobs, work force, money, undetermined, bad economy, unknown future. Laziness.

As unemployment rates surged during the recession following the economic crisis of the past few years. Many unemployment lines, sometime wrapping around buildings are getting longer by the day. Take for instance these people waiting in line out side a California State Employment office. People anxiously wait in line to know what their future holds for them. Unemployment rates have soared sky high. These persons represent what is lacking in America, where has hard work gone? Where has the ability to survive gone? Do we truly believe that our country is still on the top? Only the future can tell. Don't even let me get started about the outsourcing of jobs.....

WK 4: Visual Thinking Research - Dotted Cats

For these puzzle exercises, I sat down with my mom and had her attack both. She really enjoyed the "How Many Squares" puzzle over the cat/triangle puzzle. I suppose the difference between the two puzzles is how a person is to think outside the box and visually and perceptively capture what they are looking for.

"How Many Squares" requires rotation of lines across the dots, although the dots are places upon a fixed image, turning the sheet of paper at angle helps with seeing different invisible/drawn lines.Although "How many Squares" is a simple puzzle, pattern seeking plays a huge part in this puzzle. Along with pattern seeking, pattern completion is also used, seeking the different lines in order to re-create squares else where on the puzzle. A method my mom used, was using different colors to define the different square sizes, which got really messy. I just used  a red marker and was able to count in my head.

"The Cat" - of the two puzzles we used in this exercise, The Cat was less visually attentive. 

The puzzle is straight forward.Count the number of triangles used to created the cat. BUT! and exception, my mom some how counted 21 triangles when there were only 20 to be found. I think she was using pattern completion and counted an extra triangle in the tail. Systematically this puzzle is easy to solve, the smallest triangles to the largest. Using "Finding" defined my McKim, a solver will be able to use pattern perception to complete this puzzle.

Week 3 Blog Exercise - Feature Hierarchy and Visual Search

Week 3 Blog Exercise - Feature Hierarchy and Visual Search
From gizmos to gadgets, the future holds a great deal for those that love them and look forward to the latest technology. These things are getting smaller, faster and more powerful by the day, cell phones. Rather, gadets and gizmos, help our everyday lives. Since their introduction, we have done away with a lot of useless things in the past 10 years... the yellow book?... pagers? having more time to spend with a loved one with out even going to your desktop any more. I can go on and on about these little hand held devices....
But really, to the basics of their design. Designers have managed to fit a WHOLE key board in the palm of your hand. Take for instance, the BlackBerry Torch above, RIM's latest to release development. It has everything you need! It's slide-able sleek design with the end user in mind, buttons arranged in a position comfortable for the human hand. Keys are coded GREEN! for go (make the call) and RED! to end an action or stop a call. The keypad design is especially neat, raised numbs on the keypad indicate which letter you're pressing, because..... you know these lil gadgets aren't able to read our minds yet.....but whats the future hold for us?

www.RIM.com
www.Blackberry.com
Thanks to www.Crackberry.com for the image.

From near to afar and the distant buildings, architecture has served as the one of mankind's greatest achievements. From apartment building to skyscrapers, one profession which links all this together is Interior Design. The use of space and its acceptable fixtures to accompany the empty. From this view point, goal directed eye movements instantly catch on to the breath taking view from this loft. Next we are drawn to the coffee table, its odd shape and bold design. Then we notice the cement bench, which covers the entire wall. In its whole, the image has us constantly looping back and forth from the visual fixations.