Industrial Design: Crane Humidifers

 

Industrial designs need to be both visually appealing and functional in order to capture the attention of the consumer. One terrific example of effectively understanding this demand would be Crane’s line of humidifiers. Their humidifiers bring an element of fun to allergy season. Before when a person was struck ill they would have to lug out an oatmeal-colored, box-shaped humidifier, find space for the massive thing, and have to endure the annoying hum of a well-broken-in humidifier. However, now there is a silent, space-saving, and playful option when it comes to allergy, cold, and flu season. The Crane humidifiers are geared towards children and nursery rooms, but adults can appreciate this silent, colorful, space-saver as well. Specifically, let’s look at the Penguin humidifier. This humidifier has a unique form compared to others on the market. The clear water tank helps users know the level of water without having to unnecessarily detach the top from the bottom basin. Typically, humidifiers are absent of color. However, the colors of the penguin create a great contrast, which instantly brings attention to it over its’ competitors. The bilateral symmetry does not distract the eye and simplifies the overall concept. The animal-form is not just for looks but it has clever functioning elements as well. One great example would be Crane’s new take on the steam or mist spout, which is the penguin’s beak. Humidifiers have often been overlooked in terms of a product in need of design. The endearing animal-form is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

http://www.household-gadgets.com/crane-humidifier.html

Interaction of Content & Form

Objectified - A Documentary Film by Gary Hustwit from Selectism on Vimeo.

In the documentary film Objectified by Gary Hustwit there is an artful interaction of content and form that effectively engages the audience in moments of careful observation and personal reflection. The film begins with a still camera alternating between frames of factory machinery in the process of creating a product with no sign of human life. Ultimately, it continues on to the final steps and completion of a simple white chair and a machine adds it to the line up of identical chairs. This is creates a commentary on mass production and the careful consideration that goes into one object that is massively distributed and used on a daily basis. About one minute in, commentary from Jonathan Ive chimes in about immediate assumptions projected onto an object by individuals within moments of first contact.  It continues onto illustrate the start of a day and the objects one would likely come in contact with and not consider as they begin their daily routine. This is the first example of a human being any significance in this film. The human brings purpose to these objects. Design commentators, editors, and well-known designers are filmed in their elements in the rules-of-third placement that creates a level of interest that not only focuses on the speaker, but on the environment in which they inhabit. The transition of scenes of products in-action to an interview with a professional is seamlessly overlapped by introducing the professional’s vocal commentary while maintaining focus on the scene at hand then ultimately shifting the focus to the speaker in their environment, captioning their name and their contributions to the art or conversation of design. This helps create harmony among the tailor-made scenes and professional commentary by maintaining focus on the theme and not necessarily the professional opinion. Throughout the film, the main focus is on scenes of the creative process, objects in use, and designers in action. While the thematic focus is objects and being “objectified”, there is an implication of humanism behind these fixed objects by introducing the designers behind widely used items and the personal value we attach to them through perpetual use. Essentially, the title makes someone feel dependent and constrained by the use of things but by the end you find that there is a purpose and an inevitable future of more things. But, the real focus is design. It brings about a new consciousness of design.

Comparison and Contrast

The recreation of the Gap logo has created quite a stir among regular shoppers and outside press. The Helvetica-type redesign released earlier this month was attempting to fit in with other contemporary, successful businesses using the same typeface. Gap has had the same logo for over 20 years and thought it was time for an update. After much controversy, Gap revoked the release of the new logo. After scrapping the Helvetica logo, they started over and added some much needed adjustments to the old classic.

Old logo

The tall, lengthy, compact appearance of the old Gap logo captured the zeitgeist of the 1990s.  It fit in with the other logos of popular, successful companies at the time. The navy background expressed their reputation of classic sophistication. Overall, the old Gap logo was concise, simple and had become internationally recognized.

New logo

The newest logo released has included some minor adjustments. The serif on the G has been shorted and now the crossbars match up, where as before they did not. The new logo has a more saturated royal navy background, which creates a greater contrast to the bright white letters. A viewer's attention is instantly on the word, GAP, than on the logo as a whole. The typeface was minimized to fill less space. Where as in the ‘90s, bold and striking was popular. In 2010, the popular marketing strategists prefer simple and understated.

When compared, the old logo looks like a faded t-shirt. The new appearance has created a stronger and more visually appealing outcome. Retaining the old font stays true to the spirit of what the Gap is and who their customer is. The logo proves to be modern but classic. The adjustments to the old logo have successfully modernized the old favorite.

http://www.bnet.com/blog/advertising-business/the-gap-logo-redesign-you-didn-8217t-notice-a-typeface-gets-a-tummy-tuck/6196

Design as an Experience

A successful design should be defined as an experience. But, what will catch the attention of a viewer in this fast-paced society? In order to captivate and sustain attention, one must appeal to a viewer by engaging multiple senses. A popular method is through the accompaniment of music and animation. Generally, this is limited to commercials and music videos. However, first, we must define what a music video is. Most musicians would supplement their music with a video created by an outside source. The outside source is inspired by the music and interprets the vision evoked by the music. Typically, it is a collaboration of two separate perceptions. However, in the case of Takagi Masakatsu, music is known to be a repercussion of his visual designs. Primarily, Masakatsu is a visual artist, who just so happens to be an outstanding musician as well. Video accompanied with music is used to create an overall experience. One takes themselves out of their own minds and into the minds of another. Masakatsu is fully in charge of his vision. He creates a piece of music to set the tone of his visual art and, in a sense, is setting up a two-dimensional interactive display. When a viewer is informed that the creator is the artist and musician behind a short film, it challenges the viewer to make a connection between the music and visual aid. What inspired the video and song? How do they connect?

This conceptual method is an effective way of connecting to a viewer on a deeper level than a silent, still-design. Action and animation instantly draws the viewer in. As we have seen in McCloud’s “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art” and Lauer’s “Design Basics” books, life draws our attention. In the case of those two books, they were speaking of a human face. But, in a life of still objects, the one thing that evokes instant interest is movement. With the presence of movement and sound, it directs the viewers’ mind and to focus on what they are seeing. They wonder what is going to happen next. Installations of music and design can be like experiencing life in another dimension. The more senses engaged in a design can help one to recall or even take away a personal, individualized experience. Design as an experience can have an effect on one’s mood or help introduce new ideas.

http://www.takagimasakatsu.com/

 http://www.answers.com/topic/takagi-masakatsu

Design as Conversation

The Simpsons - Banksy's intro (HD) | Flabber

A popular graffiti artist, Banksy, recreated the opening credits for Sunday’s episode of ‘The Simpsons.’ Banksy has been known for publicly stenciling images concerning social and political issues, guerilla-style. ‘The Simpsons’ have been known to poke fun at various American ways. Typically, a viewer watches the show to sit back and laugh at what others are doing. There have been mixed reactions coming from Simpsons’ fans. People don’t know whether they should be depressed or laugh. “Design is a conversation.” Banksy created conversation, an international conversation, and it spread like a virus. Being on YouTube for 3 days now, the video has already had 2,865,673 views.

Banksy is creating a conversation about the ethics of outsourced labor. In fact, the conversation can be read through the 4000+ comments on YouTube and with the 17,000 reactions of ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes.’ It may be half-kidding with some of the absurd ideas of a unicorn poking holes through ‘The Simpsons” DVDs, but it shows the harsh reality of outsourced labor. A show that is typically making fun of the idiocy of American ways chose to air this side effect of ‘The Simpsons’ craze. Outsourced labor is, typically, not in the forefront of our minds. But, we must acknowledge it. It was a more than effective way of communicating the message. It was aired as the opening of the show, not through the web or through YouTube. It was aimed and made a direct hit at the target audience. Not only are ‘The Simpsons’ fans “at fault” but, also, anyone who goes to a store and buys something. Mass produced goods and convenience comes with a cost. One cannot rely on a company to have ethics, the consumer must be conscious. The effect of this message is ringing and will continue to ring as it airs for the first time in other countries around the world. The repercussions of internationally airing this message remain to be seen, but it is definitely raising awareness.


http://www.banksy.co.uk/ 
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101011/16353511375/fox-gets-tons-of-attention-for-banksy-simpsons-video-then-pulls-it-off-youtube.shtml

Cupcakes have feelings too!

In the past two weeks of taking the course Design 1, a common theme that I have found to be precarious is the idea of creating thought provoking art, while remembering that at the same time it is just that: art. The first instance of this idea was the introduction of René Magritte’s painting The Treason of Images. 

The French inscription of “Ceci n'est pas une pipe” translates to “This is not a pipe.” The inscription is correct, it is not a pipe. It is a painting of a pipe. Why was it necessary to point out that what is painted is, in fact, just a painting?
 

The same idea was reiterated in Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.” McCloud addresses the same idea by using Magritte’s painting as an example, but he translates it into the world of comics. Comic artists simplify the human face to get different effects. 
 

With Magritte’s The Treason of Images in mind, he uses the human face and brings it to its' simplest form.

What constitutes a face? Eyes and a mouth. 

Humans want to personify anything and everything. We see objects with two dots above a line and instantly see life. He goes on to say that we are incredibly narcissistic. But, that is what designers and artists are made to do. Creating something out of nothing is what we do. Breathing life into the lifeless is what we do best.

A very charming example of this is Kirsten Lepore's animated film, "Sweet Dreams."

 
Sweet Dreams from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

The main characters of Lepore's story do not have qualities that create a face, like a mouth or eyes. But, she creates life with motion. The food items have legs and/or arms, which create a life-like reality. She even connotes emotion through timing and heedful choices in composition. Through watching the short, one will come away with an emotion. What emotion that is will vary from person to person. But, in actuality, all you really did was watch a 10-minute film of animated food. But, Lepore cleverly created a life-like storyline out of that food. It is the human condition to relate to others, whether or not it can talk back.   
 

Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art":

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Comics-Invisible-Scott-Mccloud/dp/006097625X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286773411&sr=8-1

More of Kirsten Lepore's Animations:

http://www.vimeo.com/kirstenlepore

Image credits:

http://www.hawaii.edu/lruby/art101/IMAGES/TREASON.GIF

http://ignorethecode.net/upload/240/faces_1.png

http://images.unurthed.com/McCloud-what-are-you-really-seeing-31.jpg

Creativity from Without

Some artists and designers draw inspiration from within themselves’. Some artists are simply inspired by the world around them, artists such as Bill Dan. Bill Dan is a San Francisco based artist, who is a self-taught rock balancer. He’s been working on his craft since 1994. His work is community-based art. He has been known to work at places like Fisherman’s Wharf, Crissy Field, or the waterfront of Sausalito. He creates about 10 sculptures daily to the delights of unexpecting passersby. He describes his work as simplistic. His philosophy is: "sometimes people make things too complicated. This is the opposite."

I have never seen his work in person, but I have been quite a fan for some time now. Just looking at the photos of his work makes you want to hold your breath and make no sudden movements. His work creates a good deal of tension with his gravity defying displays. Being able to connect to nature and manipulate it to do mind-bending things is a great feat in the world of art. His medium is not bought at the supply store, but rather his are found in nature. Something that seems so complicated appears effortless once put in the hands of Bill Dan. Creating such a delicate art in such a public setting begins to show the humble nature of his work. Having your gallery be put out into the general public helps bridge the gap between art and everyday people. Some people are intimidated by art and do not quite understand it. Bill Dan is helping people begin to question the limitations of art. He is making them ask the question: “What exactly do I consider art?” Artists like him are making art accessible to the masses and helps people begin to see that nature is, in fact, an art of itself.

Bill Dan’s Unofficial website: http://www.rock-on-rock-on.com/index.html

YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/bebalance

Stone Soup

So, during Tuesday’s class period, we set out to make stone soup with our many different recycled goods and decorating supplies. The items brought were stickers, ribbon, clay, purple paint, fabric, foil, newspaper, and a whole lot more. I brought 2 large and 2 small cardboard boxes, 5 toilet paper rolls, 2 one-gallon milk cartons, teal duct tape, clear packing tape, and various scraps of cardboard.

As a group, it was not long before we decided on a design for the base of our structure. We knew we wanted to build up and out. So, we cut large squares and rectangles of the cardboard. We insert a slit so that the cardboard pieces would slide together and connect with ease. Then, with this same idea in mind, we created various shapes from the cardboard. Some of the shapes were circles, triangles, lightning bolts, or any other random shapes we could think up. So, we kept connecting them to create an, almost, extraterrestrial shape. I was so absorbed in the creative process that I didn’t even notice the other random passing-by students taking photos of our odd creation. With our base in tact, we would hand off the shapes cut from the cardboard to the other group members to decorate them. Basically, I was cutting the shapes from the cardboard, while the other group members continued to create décor for the shapes and arrange the overall shape.

As it finally came together, I think it turned out to be something we were all proud of. We all had something to contribute, which was our items brought and our time invested in creating something unique that reflected a little bit of all of us. I was never fortunate enough to have experienced a designer collaboration similar to that of Stone Soup, before. It is definitely something I will always remember and want to do again in the future.

All photos taken by Raquel Rodriguez 

Designer Stone Soup

When I first heard the words “Stone Soup” in Tuesday’s class period, I was completely puzzled as to what that meant. What is “Stone Soup?” Then, Professor Housefield, went on to explain that it was originally the idea of bringing an item to be contributed into a soup or stew. However, instead of bringing food items, what we will be bringing are elements to be used in a communal based design project. Collaborations between artists and/or designers have created some incredible outcomes. A successful collaboration reflects each artist or designer’s personal aesthetic while complimenting another’s.

Being that we have been put into small groups of 8 with fellow students of similar design interests, it will be an interesting collaboration to see how each one of us works. At first, there will probably be hesitation and confusion as to where to start. But, once we get started I am sure no one is going to want to stop. I hope we will be able to see each person’s unique design aesthetic. I look forward to working with my group members and mentor.

My “Stone Soup” contribution will be a few cardboard boxes, toilet paper rolls, and milk cartons. When I thought about what to bring, I knew it had to be volumetric. I am very excited to see the outcome and to see how everyone works together.

I guess we will see how it turns out tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Image credit: http://www.ko-arts.com/soup.htm 

A Child's Love of a Blanket

Objects of comfort introduced to a young child can create an irreplaceable bond. A popular object of attachment for children is a baby blanket. Quilts, in particular, possess a unique handmade quality that can provide sentimental value. More so, fabric choices with a family history evoke a feeling of nostalgia.

Personally, an object that had a positive effect on my life as child was a quilt given to me at a very young age. The quilt had variations of cornflower blue and dusty pinks, which created a soothing color palette. It was easy to grow and mature with. The fabrics that made up the quilt were lightweight cottons. Cotton is widely known as a fabric that will “breathe,” which made it the ideal cover-up for warm summer nights. Additionally, it was light enough to layer with a thicker comforter in the cold winters. The nubs of knotted yarn, which held the front and back of the quilt together, provided something to tug on in fidgety moments. In each square there was a heart. Hearts connote love. It felt like being wrapped in love every night. 

The blanket was not just something to sleep with. It was a plaything. There were moments that my brother and I would take turns wrapping each other up like a burrito in it. It was the perfect size for creating a tent to hide from the outside world. It became a part of me. Due to my Linus syndrome, the blanket absorbed my smell. No matter how many times it was put through the wash, within a day or two, the blanket would go back to the same smell. Scents, largely, are attached to triggering memories. Whenever I come across that smell, I get an overwhelming feeling of comfort. After 22 years, the blanket is in shambles. My grandmother has repeatedly attempted to repair it. It still smells the same and I cannot bring myself to get rid of it. It was largely a part of my daily life as a child and it still provides memories of tents, burrito wrapping contests, and love.