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.