Emma Thomas

Puzzle Cookie Mould by Mizuguchi Nami

2011-03-01T17:04:00.003Z

What a fantastic way to comfort eat when the work gets a little too boring!
http://atelier29.blogspot.com/2010/10/puzzle-cookie-mould-by-mizuguchi-nami.html

Design Research Journal

2011-02-08T00:16:00.000Z

LUCKMAN, Charles. 1960. Parke-Davis Building, Los Angeles

This journal is a personal collection of thoughts, finds and creative experiments that are inspiring and influencing my work.

Knowing when to quit

2010-10-19T16:05:00.002+01:00

Not one of my strong points. So I’ve surprised myself by deciding not to return to college to complete my MA.

Oddly, I think that one of the most valuable periods of the MA for me has been the time out. It was during this time of extended reflection that my creativity was able to silently and subconsciously percolate, reflecting on what I’d learnt about myself and my work during my time at college and leading to a somewhat clearer vision of where I want to go next creatively.

That was all I really was asking of the MA in the first place – to help me regain my sense of direction and enthusiasm as a creative.

If I were to return now to complete the MA, my focus would be forced on to gaining the qualification and not on freely exploring new directions; I simply won’t have the time I need to apply myself fully to the practical stuff whilst fulfilling the requirements imposed by the MA itself.

I may well decide to return to it at some point in the future but for the time being at least, the MA has done its job.

So, what’s next… ?

Interlude

2009-09-02T14:26:00.001+01:00

Today sees my official, temporary departure from my Masters programme as I begin a year out to undertake a new kind of project – that of becoming a first-time Mum. All being well, the new arrival will be greeted in about a month’s time.

I’m looking forward to finding out how such a big change to my life and my priorities impacts on my creative work. So many other Mums are quick to tell me how tired I’ll be, how little time I’ll have for myself, how hard it’ll be for me to spend time and concentrate on anything: if you ask me, that sounds like business as usual!

One of the toughest things over the past twelve months has been trying to balance the lean, efficient, commercially driven, process-heavy, full-time demands of my design business against the time-intensive, self-expressive, self-indulgent and seldom commercially viable needs of the MA; and a couple of snatched hours of sleep between the persistent early starts, late finishes and inhuman deadlines are part and parcel of being a designer, so nothing’s new there!

Call me naive but I believe the impact on my creative work is likely to be a positive one. Freed from the ties of clients, emails and project deadlines, any creative undertaking will be wholly self-motivated and for recreation… after years of pimping myself out as a designer for money, what a liberating position to be in!

And then there’s the emotional journey that comes with having a new baby; could there be a better fuel for creativity than the highs and lows that are part and parcel of such a deeply moving and life-changing experience?

So here it is: a marker, a line being drawn under my work to date. See you on the other side!

Some good books - gone but not forgotten

2009-08-30T12:48:00.011+01:00

I’ll be reluctantly returning my stash of favourite college library books on Tuesday. I've had these for so long that I’ve become quite attached to them – they leave a hole on my bookshelf that’ll be hard to fill. Here they are listed below, in no particular order:

......................................................................

Glamour: Fashion + Industrial Design + Architecture

ROSA, Joseph (Ed). 2004.
Glamour: Fashion + Industrial Design + Architecture
USA: Yale University Press.

"This lavishly illustrated book radically revises our understanding of glamour in fashion, industrial design, and architecture. The volume traces glamour's trajectory from its historical middle-class origins to its present-day connotations of affluence and elegance. In doing so, "glamour" is established as a new critical category for design that embraces richly decorative patterns, complex layering, sumptuous materials, and sculptural forms."

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Glamour-Fashion-Design-Architecture-Rosa/dp/0300106408/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251817981&sr=1-1

I was interested in the way this book brings fashion, industrial and architectural design together through its common theme, but what drew me to it most was the examples of pattern in architecture included in the book.

Above, from to to bottom:

LUCKMAN, Charles. 1960. Parke-Davis Building, Los Angeles (pp 144, plate 54)
BECKET, Welton. 1964. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles (pp 143, plate 53)

......................................................................

Ultimate Paris Design

LLEONART, Aitana. 2007.
Ultimate Paris Design
teNeues Publishing Ltd

"This “city of light” has long been a world leader in so many ways, not least of them in design. This attractively illustrated book covers the most up-to-date Parisian design from the fields of architecture, interiors and fashion. With an in-depth round-up featuring projects for cultural, commercial, and residential spaces, we get a privileged glimpse at what’s happening in this
creative capital. We also are granted access to the latest developments in product design and other specialties. Browse this book for a whole host of designs by native Parisians and those who work or live here."
http://www.teneues.com/shop-int/books-int/single00/?no_cache=1&item=80286&cHash=53cf943921

One of the strengths of this book for me is the diversity in the examples included – the interior design included has been particularly relevant to my studies. So many great styles and ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

Above, from to to bottom:

BIECHER, Christian. 2004. Boutique Pierre Herme (pp 133)

GOMEZ, Didier. 2006. Brasserie Printemps (pp 268)

......................................................................

Best Ugly: Restaurant Concepts and Architecture by AvroKO

AvroKO. 2007.

Best Ugly: Restaurant Concepts and Architecture by AvroKO

USA: Collins Design

"Since 2000, AvroKO has designed Manhattan restaurants and lounges such as Public, The Stanton Social, Odea, and Sapa, among others. In their design book, "Best Ugly", the thirtysomething design team shows readers how to integrate this idea with a sophisticated design touch. With gorgeous colour photography, "Best Ugly" also reveals the smallest details, the brilliant quirks, and the lavish decor of AvroKO's amazing restaurants."

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Ugly-Principles-Unexpected-Connectivity/dp/006113693X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251820288&sr=1-1

This is a beautifully illustrated book, both in terms of its layout (heavy use of gold ink, large photographs, texture, typography, colour manipulation… I could go on!) and the projects included within it. The examples included are inspiring in their completeness of branding down to the finest of details.

As the book’s title eludes, there’s a certain raw eccentricity and ugliness to the style of the designs and this appeals to my own personal style and tastes.

Above, from to to bottom:

AVROKO. Light fittings at Quality Meats (pp 233)
AVROKO. “Ordering the ordinary”, double-page spread (pp 200-201)
AVROKO. Vietnamese roll bar in white onyx, Sapa (pp 106)
AVROKO. Interior detail, The Stanton Social (pp 80-81)

......................................................................

Data Flow: Visualising Information in Graphic Design

KLANTEN, Robert (et al). 2008.
Data Flow: Visualising Information in Graphic Design
Germany: Gestalten

"Data Flow presents an abundant range of possibilities in visualising data and information. Today, diagrams are being applied beyond their classical fields of use. In addition to archetypical diagrams such as pie charts and histograms, there are manifold types of diagrams developed for use in distinct cases and categories. The abundant examples in Data Flow showcase the various methodologies behind information design with solutions concerning complexity, simplification, readability and the (over)production of information. This up-to-date survey provides inspiration and concrete solutions for designers, and at the same time unlocks a new field of visual codes."

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Data-Flow-Visualising-Information-Graphic/dp/3899552172/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251821020&sr=1-1

A rich collection of inspiring, innovative and beautiful examples of complex data presentation, I could spend hours pouring over this book and not get bored. It’s a rare treat to see scientific and graphic presentation bound so tightly together.

Above, from to to bottom:

PLUMMER-FERNANDEZ, Matthew. "Sound Chair" (pp 146)
KATCHADOURIAN, Nina. "Austria" (pp 99)
BARRADE, Xavier & DUPONT, Arnaud. "La représentation des statistiques", The Rain Project (pp 45)
CATALOGUETREE. "Trophy Size Matters” (pp 224)

......................................................................

The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping / Harvard Design School Project on the City 2

CHUNG, Chuihua Judy (Ed). 2002.
The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping / Harvard Design School Project on the City 2
Taschen

"Like a favorite shopping emporium, The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping is a browser's paradise. This second installment of the Project on the City aims to investigate "a general urban condition undergoing virulent change." A big brick of a book with hundreds of photos and a bundle of essays by prominent designers, architects, and urban scholars, it traces the evolution of the marketplace and the environments we create for the purpose of getting and spending. From the great covered arcades of the 19th century to the museum displays of grand department stores to air-conditioned suburban malls, the book examines the ecology and life cycles of retail space the world over. Dip into the book anywhere for insights into acquisitive behavior. Newspaper clippings cite retail trends; a bar chart compares retail square footage by country (the U.S. tops them all). Some of the essays are already marked in yellow highlighter so you can scan for the main points. A 2,000-year timeline tracks major developments with theme concepts: Disney Space, Three-Ring Circus, Brand Zones, Shopping Landscapes. The book makes a wonderful reference for urban planners, but it's equally accessible to those who just want to shop 'til they drop."

http://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Design-School-Shopping-Project/dp/3822860476

I fell in love with this book not for its subject matter so much as for its success as a graphic work. There’s so much information presented (799 pages of it in fact), yet every page is a unique and stylish piece of layout. Photography is used in abundance with impact of images maximized through careful grouping of relevant images together, supported with just enough information and labeling to allow the reader to pause and contemplate the point being made. There’s also abundant example of information design in the form of charts and diagrams, in a variety of styles and formats, some conventional, others less so.

The lucky people given the task of designing this book certainly had fun with it.

Margate Drawers

2009-07-13T12:10:00.010+01:00

This piece, by Zoe Murphy, caught my eye when I saw it on the flyer for the 2009 New Designers Awards Preview.

A former printed textiles student from Loughborough University, Murphy creates imagery inspired by her seaside home town of Margate and uses it to print onto recycled interior products. For this piece, a 1950s chest of drawers has been re-veneered and adorned with drawings from the Margate seaside. Dense patterns and imagery, inspired by Formica cafés, adorn the front and the linings.

I particularly like and way Murphy uses the inspiration she takes from her home town, responding directly to a spatial environment and translating its characteristics to surface colour and pattern – translating 3D spatial features to 2D decoration.

Find out more about Murphy at http://www.zoemurphy.com/.

‘Talent Zone competition winners.’ DeZeen [online], 21/08/08. Available at http://www.dezeen.com/2008/08/21/talent-zone-competition-winners/ [accessed 13/07/09]

Come In / Go Away

2009-07-06T11:26:00.006+01:00

A witty and attractive typographic exercise, this doormat uses a spatial concept to invite… or turn away… your visitors, depending on its orientation.

Available for purchase at:
http://www.gnr8.biz/product_info.php?products_id=599

BERNAIS, Melissa. 2009. ‘Come In / Go Away Doormat – Sam & Jude’. Covet & Want. Wearables, Hangables & Edibles: Wanted, Bought, Made [online], 01/07/09. Available at: http://icovetandwant.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/come-in-go-away-doormat-sam-jude/

Simple

2009-07-02T15:58:00.012+01:00

An obvious, simple, elegant solution to an everyday annoyance, designed by Royal College of Art graduate Min-Kyu Choi... another of those "I wish I'd thought of that" moments!

BATES, Anna, 2009. 'RCA student radically improves the UK plug'. iconeye [online]. Available at: http://www.iconeye.com/index.php?view=article&catid=1%3Alatest-news&layout=news&id=3864%3Arca-student-radically-improves-the-uk-plug&option=com_content&Itemid=18# [accessed 02/07/09]

Quentin Newark: a graphic designer working with architects

2009-06-26T14:34:00.006+01:00

I attended an interesting lecture yesterday by Quentin Newark, hosted by Cornwall Design Forum.

Newark is the co-founder (with two partners) of Atelier Works, positioned in Design Week’s triennial review of design awards as one of the 25 "most creative" studios in Britain. Newark himself was chosen as one of the "ten leading graphic designers in Britain" by the Independent on Sunday.

His projects include a 6 metre wide stone sundial for the Houses of Parliament, benches and Islamic screens for Tate Britain, an exhibition for the renovated Roundhouse in Camden, Tony Blair's moving card and Cherie Blair's website, and numerous books, posters and logos. He served a term as director on the board of the leading industry body, Design & Art Directors Association (D&AD). He has represented design at events at Windsor Castle, Number 10 Downing Street and the British Embassy in Paris. He has judged and chaired competitions of his peers' work and lectured and examined at numerous colleges.

His most recent project, which kicked off just two weeks ago, is for provision of the branding, graphics and signage for the extension of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, designed by Norman Foster. This is, Newark says, the most exciting project of his career so far.

The title of last night’s lecture was, “A graphic designer working with architects – stories of humiliation and discovery”. This was an entertaining and inspiring, if somewhat opinionated, talk about his ongoing symbiotic, love/hate relationship with architects and the world of architecture.

Over the 20 or so years of his career, Newark has developed close working relationships with many leading architects including Norman Foster and David Chipperfield. His work focuses around the use of architecture as a platform for graphic communication and dialogue with its users. He strongly argues against the well-established view of architects being at the top of the design tree, and insists that architects regularly fail to focus on architecture from the everyday user’s perspective – focusing instead on self-indulgent aspects of a building’s form, light and shadow and so on.

Like many of the best design agencies, Atelier Works involves and observes end users in the early stages of the design process. Through observation, user interviews and other participative research methods, they invest much time and effort in fully understanding the relationship of users with the buildings they occupy and fully defining design problems, before committing pen to paper.

Newark’s personal stories of the ups and downs of working as a graphic designer alongside architects were amusingly presented. His argument for a much-needed shift in the attitude of architects towards the value of other design disciplines in place-making was passionately delivered. However for me, the most valuable aspect of this talk was simply hearing how a small graphic design company had managed to carve themselves a viable and highly regarded niche in the role of designing space, through passion and intuition, and by employing strong, sound design principles. Newark believes, as I do, that architecture and space play a role in communication.

Stefan Sagmeister

2009-05-15T19:18:00.004+01:00

I can’t quite remember where or when I first heard of Sagmeister. I think Joel (my husband and unrelenting source of weird and wonderful links) sent me a link to a talk Sagmeister gave on TED (http://www.ted.com/).

I bought Sagmeister’s most recent book, Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far, not long after it came out last year and it hasn’t had much time to gather dust. I probably still look at it at least once a week!

SAGMEISTER, Stefan. 2008.
Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far
New York: Abrams

The book is based on a list of maxims made by Sagmeister on his "experimental year" in 2000, where he took time out from working on commercial projects. These quickly became incorporated into projects for clients when Sagmeister's office reopened, and it is 20 of these projects that form the book.

The book was featured on Creative Review’s blog back in February 2008. It says about the designer:

Sagmeister's work has often appeared to land on the blurred line between graphic design and art, yet he is firm in his understanding of these projects. "I see it all as graphic design," he says. "It's made by a graphic design office in mediums normally employed by design and all has a client behind it. But from a viewer's point of view it doesn't matter. The whole question of art versus design has limited interest - it comes in waves, in the 20th century there were times when art and design were embedded in each other, the Bauhaus for instance, and then they separated, and then they came back together, and then they separated... from the viewer's point of view, it's always just a question of 'is it good or not?'."

Reference: WILLIAMS, Eliza. 2008. ‘Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far’. Creative Review[online], 05/02/08. http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2008/february/things-i-have-learned-in-my-life-so-far [accessed 15/05/09]

Not everyone thinks highly of the designer – some find his work self-obsessed, vain and even dull. I am not one of them.

There are many things I find inspirational about his work; for example:

His work crosses the boundaries of graphic design, typography and the use of space.
His inspiration, energy and appetite for self-motivated projects seem endless. He has evolved a personal style outside of the confines of commercial restriction.
His work includes physical manifestation at every scale (from tiny to huge).
His ideas can be freaky, even grotesque at times – his work pushes and challenges the viewer.

I dare say I’ll be referring back to Sagmeister’s work for inspiration throughout the course of my MA.

Inspiration Office

2009-05-07T15:17:00.000+01:00

POGADE, Daniela. 2008.
Inspiration Office: How To Design Workspaces
Germany: DOM Publishers.

This book is delightfully presented. The hardback cover is matt black, with text screenprinted in slightly raised, gloss black ink. Corners are rounded on the cover itself and on the pages throughout the book. A silky yellow ribbon page-marker is bound into the book.

Inside, all pages are printed with a grid to give the impression of squared paper – perhaps a little contrived, but fun and interesting nonetheless. Tactility and warmth are achieved through soft matt printing, using lots of superb, high-quality colour photographs on uncoated paper, the ink soaking into the paper so that the warmth and texture of the paper stock is not lost. A choice of modern, technical, condensed serifed font used throughout completes the overall effect.

Beyond the presentation of the book itself, the content is also an enjoyable and informative read. I’ve selected a few extracts from the introductory text by Pogade which I found particularly interesting or relevant:

Pp. 6

“The unique selling proposition (USP), the outstanding individual characteristic, is the ideal essence of a marketable product. And, as competition grows, a company – whether it produces heating pipes or sells PR – needs to position itself uniquely; it must be clearly identifiable at long
range; and this identification needs to use physical attributes. That is why it is becoming ever more important to make corporate identity part of a company’s physical architecture. Thus company logos – enlarged, projected or distorted – are applied to walls and furniture, CI colours dominate the colour design, and many a company suggests the form of products in the details of its office interior. In this way a company is positioning itself not only outwardly. It is using a characteristic, indicative image to raise the identification which staff feel between themselves and their employer.”

Pp. 7

“Employers – or so it seems when we look at modern planning for the workplace – want not just to maximise profit; they also want to be respected and well regarded. Now, unlike a hundred years ago, the staff are supposed to look beyond the edge of their desks; indeed, even if they do not participate in the overarching decision-making process, they are supposed to have an overview of the whole and feel they are in a democratically organised apparatus. 'Transparency' is therefore the thing which clients are constantly asking their planners to provide when it comes to designing their head offices.”

Pp. 7

“The office of the future may be expected to look less and less like an office, for the equipment which, at first sight, shows that somewhere is an office, is getting smaller all the time or being abandoned entirely. It is not just that work tools such as computers and copiers are taking up ever less space; over the long term, in an age of wireless networks, we shall no longer be tripping over cables in our offices. Robbed thus of the compulsory features of its infrastructure, the office will become increasingly more adept as a foil for the visions and self realisation of employers and architects.”

Following the introduction, the book goes on to describe several different types of office layout. They are:

- Open-plan office
- Group office
- Cellular office
- Combi-office
- Non-territorial office
- Reversible office.

[KUHFUß, Silke & PAWLITSCHKO, Roland, 2008. ‘Office Areas’. In Daniela Pogade, Inspiration Office: How To Design Workspaces. Germany: DOM Publishers, pp. 8-19]

The book then presents approximately thirty office interiors, complete with colour photographs, designed by German (and German speaking) architects and designers. Here are just a couple of examples which caught my particular attention:

Pp. 22-29
Client: Zum Goldenen Hirschen Advertising Agency, Hamburg.
Interior Designer: Büro für Gestaltungsfragen
Completed: 2006

The name of this ad agency translates as ‘Golden Deer’, and the atmosphere of the office is intended to fit the name. The client wanted to be happy with its clients here, which led the designers to aim for a higher degree of abstraction to achieve this.

The project was instigated over two floors of the building to celebrate the occasion of the agency’s tenth anniversary. Common, concentrated working places have been organised according to different spatial experiences around the central supply core, on a hexagonal floor-plan; walls are non-rectangular in their arrangement.

The lower floor is covered with a golden-fleece carpet and the upper floor entirely in silver.

The interesting combination of angular structures, natural oak, coloured panels and metallics makes for a quirky, rustic, welcoming but nonetheless glamorous overall effect.

Pp. 52-59
Client: Advertising Agency TBWA, Hamburg
Interior Designer: König & Vearncombe Architekten
Completed: 2002

This teamwork-orientated agency strives to encourage cooperation and exchange between employees but the length of the otherwise stylish, transparent, newly-built office – which stretches sixty metres – impeded this somewhat.

To make better use of this feature, the architects created a varied corridor zone on each storey which would accommodate the entire office periphery – technical equipment, archive, shelves, cupboards etc – thereby structuring the large area. Informal meeting areas, small ‘thinking cells’, libraries, storage, copier and printing rooms which double as passageways, have all been incorporated. Corridors are no longer merely passageways but also working, relaxation and communication areas. A moat filled with glass splinters separates conference rooms from corridor zone, adding a touch of glamour. Walls have been adorned with the agency’s corporate red, which is visible from far away and to the outside world, especially under artificial light in the evening.

Pp. 100-107 Client: Product Visionaries Ltd., Berlin
Interior Designer: MARTINI, MEYER
Completed: 2004

Finally, I have chosen to include a sketch (one of very few included in the book). This is relevant to my work at present, as I investigate (and indeed try to improve my own) drawing skills needed to communicate early ideas as a spatial designer.

I particularly like the roughness of the sketch, which has been overlaid on top of a computer-rendered line drawing (which I assume is of the building as it was before the project was implemented). Note the use of different weights of pencil line.

I've also included the final photograph of the interior for comparison, to see how close this sketch came to the final result, and how much of the look and feel the designer managed to portray in the original sketch.

Examples Of Architects' Sketches

2009-05-05T10:29:00.003+01:00

KOJIMA, Kazuhiro & AKAMATSU, Kazuko. 2001. Bridge, Arts & Science College, Education City, Doha Qatar (pp. 84)

SHINOHARA, Kazuo. 1986. House in Yokohama (pp. 68)

From:

Nobuyuki Yoshida. 2004.
JA53 – The Japan Architect (Vol 53).

Redundant Technology

2009-04-23T14:22:00.007+01:00

I’ve already mentioned Troika’s ‘Cloud’ in previous postings – the suspended black blob at Heathrow’s Terminal building, covered in computer-addressed, small silver discs that flip over to make the shape shimmer with patterns. The sculpture uses the same mechanism that was once used in the information boards in railway stations and makes the same delightful fluttering, chattering noise, which does nothing but add to its charm.

Troika’s second installation at Heathrow, ‘All the Time in the World’, (also previously mentioned), takes extremely simple and decades-old electroluminescent segmented display technology and updates it by giving it a new typography of segments, so that the display appears attractively handwritten.

[See previous post at http://workbeautifully.blogspot.com/2008/11/where-am-i-going.html]

Iconeye wrote about these and a few other choice works in its feature a while ago about how redundant technologies are being recycled by up-and-coming designers.

Other examples include:

[YOUTUBE.COM. 2009. 'PixelRoller (19/10/06)'. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4_Q4MemtaA. (Accessed: 24/04/09)]

‘Changing Cupboard’, which transforms itself at intervals using the same technology as mechanical billboards. Created by Swedish design collective Front, they deliberately chose this technology rather than the more sophisticated screen technologies available, to add to the charm of the effect.

[YOUTUBE.COM. 2009. 'PixelRoller (19/10/06)'. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4_Q4MemtaA. (Accessed: 24/04/09)]

‘Pixel Roller’, by London studio Random International. Inspired by dot-matrix printing, a paint roller paints a picture on a wall rather than a solid field of colour. There’s also ‘Light Roller’, which paints with light on a glow-in-the-dark surface.

More info can be found on the full article - http://www.iconeye.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3354

[WILES, William. 2008. ‘Design and redundant technology’. Iconeye [online], 058. Available at: http://www.iconeye.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3354 (Accessed: 24/04/09)]

Zurich Ad

2009-04-23T10:09:00.013+01:00

This ad was on our screens around three years ago now, but it stuck in my mind. I've only been able to find the version I wanted in Spanish but the voiceover's not the bit I'm interested in.

The concept is of a commercial premises which changes around the clock - from coffee shop to clothes boutique to restaurant.

I love the idea of having a multi-purpose premises which can so easily change to suit the moment. The way the displays and furniture change with each business reminds me off a Swiss army knife; it's the ultimate in maximising valuable high-street space.

I doubt there's much commercial or marketing mileage in the idea but it would be fun to play with it a little, to see where it could lead.

YOUTUBE.COM. 'Zurich - Because change happenz - Tienda (26/04/2008)'. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XbtvrWhNK8 [Accessed 23/04/09]

Here's what I can find out about the production of the ad...

Creative Agency: Publicis / Producer: Mungo Maclagan / Director: Stylewar / TV Producer: Daniela Berther / Creative: Sacha Moser, Tim Hoppin / Production Co: Stink, Smuggler (USA) / Photography: Mungo Maclagan / Music: Spacetrain

VISIT4INFO.COM. 'Zurich Financial Services - Zurich Insurance What Happens ?' (04/03/06). Available at: http://www.visit4info.com/advert/Zurich-Insurance-What-Happens-Zurich-Financial-Services/30653/1 [Accessed: 23/04/09]

Graphic Spaces

2009-04-22T17:51:00.022+01:00

TERSTIEGE, Gerrit. 2009.

Graphic Spaces

Switzerland: Birkhäuser Verlag AG.

My love of this book started the moment I picked it up; even the front cover caught my imagination, with its uncoated paper and glossy screen-printed relief ink. Luckily I managed to get my hands on it when it was brand new to the library… no doubt its delightful tactility will soon be lost, as the library seals it in Fablon and students give it a good trashing.

Inspired, co-developed and designed by Catrin Altenbrandt and Adrian Niessler, award-winning partners of the acclaimed Pixelgarten Design Studio in Frankfurt, the book includes examples of works ranging from small-format still life to large installation. Terstiege sets the tone in the book’s preface by explaining that its theme is,

“…the transposition of messages into three-dimensional staged scenes.”
[pp 7.]

The book comprises a selection of 3D graphic works arranged under the following headings:
- Still life comes alive
- Intricate installations
- Touching type
- Thrilling animations.

As Terstiege describes in his preface, the collection comprises works from international, predominantly young, designers. To me, the collection has a sense of vigour and newness about it that reminds me of student shows or new designer collections. The designers featured in this book are clearly hungry to explore their creativity; the work is fresh, and often (but not always) is self-directed, without the incumbent limitations of a client brief.

Within the introduction for ‘1. Still life comes alive’, one quotation stands out as being something I have found myself fighting against. It reads,

“The computer has become established as a universal tool that not only serves as office and communication unit in one piece but also makes it possible to shorten the once elaborate path from sketch to final print. Despite all these freedoms, the variety of computer programs is limited to preprogrammed options. In other words, the field of virtual options limits the design experiments to a delineated terrain.”
[MUCKLE, Sophie, 2009. ‘Still life comes alive’. In Gerrit Terstiege [Ed.] Graphic Spaces. Switzerland: Birkhäuser Verlag AG, pp. 26]

By contrast, Muckle observes that works like those included within this book allow designers,

“…to emerge from behind their computer monitors and desks, sometimes even leaving their offices. The blank screen or white sheet of paper is replaced by a space which, be it empty or occupied, now awaits tangible intervention with new design methods.” [pp. 26]

However, in Muckle's introduction to the second section, ‘2. Intricate installations’, she does point out that,

“There is no doubt that experimentation serves to further develop design standards, methods, and ways of seeing. It is important to remember, moreover, that the global exchange of ideas and digital networking serve as catalysts for this evolution. Although the computer does not play a superordinate role as a design tool in this evolution, it nevertheless enables young designers to develop a new and different idea of self.” [pp. 81]

Here is a selection of example projects taken from the book:

Multistorey developed these graphic elements for the second Super Design Market event at the Royal Festival Hall, as part of the London Design Festival. [pp. 160-161]

This piece by Benoit Lemoine uses layered sheets of coloured paper on the wall and floor. [pp. 127]

By the Dutch design studio Underware. Shopping trolleys were arranged to spell the words "Dream on". [pp. 172-173]

Self-initiated work by Valerie Sietzy. When light falls on the walls, reflectors reveal words and drawings under a highway bridge.

'Backbreaker type', created by Kalle Mattsson. I particularly like the way that the wind is turned into a prop or medium in order to create the letterforms. [pp. 131]

Self-initiated work by Florian Jenett. With letters constructed from clock-hands, a legible sentence is formed for just sixty seconds, after which a full twelve hours must pass before order is once again momentarily restored. [pp. 145]

Illusionism / Dimensionalism

2009-04-22T11:03:00.009+01:00

In the second chapter of Graphic Spaces, entitled ‘Illusionism Meets Dimensionalism’, Steven Heller considers how visual trickery, or ‘illusionism’, from early to mid-twentieth century (citing surrealism, expressionism and Dadaism as examples) has developed over the years. [HELLER, Steven. 2009. ‘Illusionism meets dimensionalism’, In Gerrit Terstiege [Ed.] Graphic Spaces. Switzerland: Birkhäuser Verlag AG, pp. 11-15]

With the birth of new technologies in print, photography and computer-aided design, this created what he describes as “dimensional illusion multiplied”. Selected quotations from his text are as follows:

“…design illusionism…has to do with deceiving the savvy among us into perceiving that two dimensions are really three.” [pp. 11]

“…creating the illusion of three dimensions in two-dimensional space has long been one of the graphic designer’s foremost – and probably most enjoyable – challenges.” [pp. 11]
“[In the mid-nineteenth century] types with large, massive, colourful shadows and other faux sculptural elements were commonly used on store signs or display windows to suggest dimensionality and drawn the eye to the focal point of attention.” [pp. 11]

“When [the Bauhaus master László Moholy-Nagy] conceived his three-dimensional cover for 14 Bauhausbücher, where he composed type on a piece of clear plastic and photographed both the type and its shadow falling on the surface behind it, his goal was to literally add another dimension to how graphic design was employed and perceived. Moholy sought to liberate type and typography, images and imagery, from the strictures of two dimensions, even if in reality the result was still stuck on the two-dimensional printed page.” [pp. 12]
“By the late 1930s, model-making had also become a major element in the designer’s toolkit. Building structures – large and small – that were photographed and often collaged or montaged to create new realities was so common that a genre called ‘three-dimensional illustration’ emerged.” [pp. 12]

He cites Peter Blake’s cover for the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band as one of a number of major milestones from the forties to the sixties, that altered the standards and rules of dimensional design.

Heller considers dimensionalism as a spin-off movement from illusionism. He concludes his chapter thus,

“Even now, when the computer has made dimensional design, and therefore dimensionalism, so easy, the method still evokes a sense of wonder. But it is not the virtual images, but the handmade artefacts that continue to evoke the most wonder. The handmade method that makes objects seem to have volume, weight, and mass has the power to titillate the eye and mind. The designers who make these illusions are doubtless challenging the perceptions of their audiences, but they are also accomplishing what Meret Opphenheim may have had in mind when she first conceived her iconic ‘Fur Cup’: she made us look! Illusionism or dimensionalism – whatever it is officially or unofficially called – is the art forcing a second, maybe even a third look – and that’s what every designer wants to achieve.” [pp. 15]

Simply Droog

2009-04-21T18:22:00.010+01:00

RAMAKERS, Renny. 2004.
Simply Droog: 10+1 years of creating innovation and discussion
Amsterdam: Droog.

This book appeared on the reading list for a group seminar looking at design ethnography. A retrospective of the work of Droog at the time of writing, it includes a series of short essays covering topics which explore the guiding principles of the Dutch design collective. Some of these principles have been consciously nurtured by Droog from the outset; others have evolved or solidified over time.

Extracts from the book most relevant to my work, or which I found particularly intriguing or thought-provoking, can be found below...

RAMAKERS, Renny & BAKKER, Gijs. ‘Introduction’, pp. 4.

“The activities of Droog Design have grown tremendously in the past years. We make exhibitions, we give lectures, we initiate experimental projects, we carry out commissions for companies and organizations, we produce and distribute products, we publish books, we supervise the IM Masters course at the Design Academy in Eindhoven and we have a shop cum gallery in Amsterdam.”

BETSKY, Aaron. ‘Re: Droog’, pp. 15-16.

“The core belief of Droog Design seemed to be that design was not a question if making more objects, using more materials, or even inventing new ideas or solutions to the problems we encounter in our daily lives, but one of finding more ways to experience, explore and expand the possibilities of existing objects, images, spaces and ideas. Like squatters in the history of art or the structures of mass production, they hunkered down with what they had inherited, scavenged, salvaged and maybe even stolen, turning it into communal artefacts. For that is what they did make that was new: a community. Droog is a kind of design tribe.”

WILLIAMS, Gareth. ‘Use it again’, pp. 28.

“Similar ideas lie behind Gijs Bakker’s Peepshow wallpaper that features a cut design allowing spots of the old paper underneath to show through. It regulates and heightens our perception of an older product. Rather [than] sublimating or replacing the past, history and memory are used again as core conceptual elements of the new design.”

KONINGS & BEY, 1997/99. 'Kokon furniture'. Pp 29. & 136.

These pieces were created by coating existing furniture in PVS. By wrapping the pieces together, the shape (and the perception and familiarity of it) is changed to create new and hybrid furniture pieces. I particularly like the way that the coating accentuates the new form and draws my attention to the three-dimensional form that define the bound-together pieces.

BEY, Jurgen. 2003. 'St. Petersburg Chair'. Design Boom. Available at: http://www.designboom.com/snapshots/milan04/droog.html [Accessed 21/09/2009].

Again using existing chairs, coated with foam and glass reinforced Polyester and silk-screened with a floral pattern. These were developed for the Dutch Room in St. Petersburg. I particularly like the way in which a new uniformity is achieved to previously non-matching, non-uniform chairs.

SCHOUWENBURG, Louise. ‘Inevitable ornament’, pp. 73.

“According to Jongerius, for whom decoration would become more and more important in her work, it’s mainly the small detail that stick in our minds. ‘We remember the patterns of the wallpaper in the bedroom or the stripes on the coffee cup that we held every day. Forms disappear from memory but decoration lingers.’ It seems that conceptual design and decoration are very compatible, as long as the underlying idea gives rise to it.”

HEIJDENS, Simon, 2003. 'Sugar cubes numbered 1-200'. Pp. 80.

There is something charming in the seemingly pointless simplicity of this piece. Sugar cubes are individually numbered using chocolate print. The chocolate print and board box complement each other superbly and the overall effect is one of supreme graphical order.

VAN HINTE, Ed. ‘Irony’, p. 102.

“A designer can use his creations to transfer meaning, but there is always the intriguing risk that the observer misunderstands. This can happen in two slightly tragic ways. The first kind is when a more often than not inexperienced designer, without any hidden agenda, creates something straightforward that nevertheless seems to suggest much more. Consequently observers perceive layers of meaning that were never supposed to arise. The result can be that the work of this designer has an inspirational quality that others have yet to explain to her or him.

The second is just the opposite: a designer may have attempted to express something that later is misinterpreted or not understood at all.”

The text goes on to explain,

“…Droog design was perceived as presenting ironic alternatives for a more sustainable society, especially in the beginning when many of the products incorporated used materials and familiar shapes. The designers, however, had different considerations, based mainly on aesthetics. Since irony presupposes a certain amount of knowledge, the clues offered work differently for different
audiences.”

VAN HINTE, Ed. ‘Experience’, pp. 121-129.

This essay talks about the rise of experience as part of the design outcome. It considers brand experience – how brands are no longer just symbols representing consumption but have become artificially linked to experiences that consumers can undergo. It notes that experience design has become a discipline in itself.

“The implications all depend on the way in which experience is defined. Generally it is a set of consecutive visual, but sometimes also auditive and tactile perceptions that are so memorable that it becomes a fixed association in people’s minds, whenever part of the same circumstances occur.”
“…experience is about memory.”

FARKACHE, Nina. 2001. 'Bench "Come a little bit closer" ', Nina Farkache, 2001. Pp 127.

A playful piece constructed from stainless steel, glass marbles and lacquered MDF, this bench has seats which 'float' on marbles allowing sitters to roll their seat over the marbles to move together or away from each other.

Kvadrat's new Shoreditch showroom

2009-03-20T15:04:00.005Z

Danish textile company Kvadrat appointed graphic designer Peter Saville and architect David Adjaye to work together on the design of their new Shoreditch showroom which opens this month (March 2009). A 7m high space, it comprises mezzanine offices and a lower-ground retail space. The focal point is this multi-coloured glass staircase linking the space together, offset by an otherwise neutral palette of grey, black and white.

When I first read about the project in Design Week, I was immediately drawn to the simplicity of the design and its firmly graphic approach. Here is an example of spatial design undertaken in part by a graphic designer, which somehow retains the feel of two-dimensional graphic design whilst at the same time fulfilling a spatial design brief. Together, Saville and Adjaye have used colour and geometry in the same way a designer might approach the design of a piece of printed artwork. Indeed on reading the article, Saville says that his back catalogue of graphic design work played a part in forming the concept - in particular, the colour coded alphabet on his Blue Monday single cover.

Interestingly, Saville's take on the role of space as a communication tool in its own right closely follows my own view of the links between branding, communication and spatial design. He has been working with Kvadrat for nearly five years, principally as a communications consultant, and believes his involvement in the current project was a natural progression of that role. He says,

"Everything within the context of how an organisation acts is part of how it communicates. The London showroom is a significant dimension of Kvadrat's communications and, as such, the company was interested in my contributing to the aura of the new showroom."

(LORENZ, Trish, 2009. 'Double Act'. Design Week, 24(10), pp. 19)

Second image from: Rose Etherington, 2009. 'Kvadrat showroom by Peter Saville and David Adjaye'. Dezeen. Available at: http://www.dezeen.com/2009/03/20/kvadrat-showroom-by-peter-saville-and-david-adjaye/ [accessed 20/04/09]

Droga5’s Puma projection

2009-03-19T11:16:00.004Z

Posted on the CR blog a few days ago, this is a great new ad for Puma, from Droga5 in New York. It uses a fascinating combination of choreography, spatial design and projection techniques to show a couple’s journey through life.

'Droga5’s Puma projection and more nice work'. CR BLOG, Centaur. Available at: http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/droga5s-puma-projection-and-more-nice-work/ [accessed 19/03/09]

Inspired

2009-03-17T11:53:00.004Z

By Giovanna Forte

"Three simple things inspire on a daily basis. The second is my Brompton bicycle. It transports me effortlessly and with dignity across London and beyond. It is beautiful, compact and elegant. The third is my Chanel No 5. The clean graphics, the Modernist bottle and the way the top makes a satisfying and feminine 'click' when replaced. Sublime on every level. Neither could be improved upon. This is good design at work.
But let's look at the more generic number one. The first sight which, on opening my wardrobe in the morning, gives me a frisson of pleasure is the evenly spaced regiment of identical hangers that keep my clothes perfectly placed, perfectly creased, perfectly hung. The blissful repetition of
sensuous, stainless steel curves that sit lightly on the rail, reflecting the morning light with even, perfectly positioned stars. Each a gleaming crescent of metal that slopes gently into a black, rubber-covered horizontal, from which my clothes hang so naturally.
The satisfaction of visual and sartorial order and balance is a simple pleasure, derived from an elegantly crafted, utilitarian yet decadently sexy storage accessory. Someone, somewhere designed it. Whoever you are, wherever you are - thank you."

FORTE, Giovanna. 2009. 'Inspired'. Design Week, 24(10), pp 10.

Manifesto

2009-03-05T17:22:00.007Z

These images are of the work I produced in response to the Manifesto Poster design brief.

My intention was to explore both two and three-dimensional composition. Within this, I wanted to retain a clear visual link between the pieces, underpinned with a strong graphic style. I also wanted to explore both making and experimentation so as to add another layer of personal meaning and relevance to my MA.

A spatial element was introduced to the posters through cuts and folds, with the audience needing to move around in order to read the full text.

The plywood slot-together letterforms, spelling ‘branding’, ‘communication’ and ‘spatial design’, were extracted from the poster text and used the same font (FontSmith's Pele Two) as on the posters. This font was chosen not only since it lends itself well to the slot-together approach, but also because it is an up-to-date and fashionable font amongst the Graphic Design community. This enabled me to suggest a link between my previous work as a graphic designer and the new ground I will be covering through my MA studies.

I was particularly pleased with the outcome of the printing experiments I carried out. I found that, by printing on the reverse of silver card and then cutting and folding the vertical slots, it became possible to see the reflection of the text on the reverse, in these folds. The overall effect was to give an illusion of the text floating just behind the surface of the poster. This added a layer of spatial complexity to the poster. It is also in keeping with a key aim of mine over the coming months - to bring making and experimentation forward in my process so that it becomes more formative in my work.

Images clockwise from top left:
1. Manifesto posters
2. Close-up of poster constructed using silver card
3. Branding, Communication & Spatial Design
4. Close-up of slot-together letterforms

Story Pipeline

2009-02-18T14:54:00.012Z

Image: RUBIN, Ben. 2002. 'Story Pipeline'. Ear Studio. Available at: http://www.earstudio.com/projects/alaska.html [accessed 18/02/09].

Bullivant, 2006, project 29:

"Ben Rubin's Story 'Pipeline' artwork (2002) is located at the BP Energy Centre in Anchorage, Alaska, a facility for use by community-based non-profit organisations. Stories told by Alaskans appear on a plasma video screen and simultaneously emerge as real-time text transcriptions on a 150-foot long LED display. The text zigzags indoors down a glass corridor, then veers out through the plate glass facade, dancing between the trees until it disappears out of sight."

Extract taken from the following book:

BULLIVANT, Lucy. 2006.

Responsive Environments: Architecture, Art and Design.

London: V&A Publications.

The House Café Kanyon

2009-02-09T15:56:00.015Z

Established in 2003, Turkish studio Autoban designs and develops commercial and residential interior environments and products.

Stardom came relatively early for them, with widespread global press coverage for projects and exhibitions, and awards such as Wallpaper's "Best Young Designers".

The pictures above are of their most recent project, The House Cafe Kanyon in Istanbul, Turkey, which was completed just this year (2009). Light and airy, the harsh structure is tamed through its dressing in wood and draped fabric. An eclectic mix of furniture and fittings have been used and pattern and texture are applied subtly throughout the space.

I like the way in which a potentially cold, industrial skeletal structure has been so successfully turned into an airy and inviting meeting place. The overall effect is one of understated, masculine glamour.

'Projects/Interior/Cafe & Restaurant & Club/The House Cafe Kanyon'. Autoban. Available at: http://www.autoban212.com/ [accessed 09/02/09]

Milan: UCF Exhibition 2009 (iv)

2009-02-07T16:23:00.002Z

Over recent weeks, our group has been exploring ideas for the UCF stand through sketches, face-to-face discussions and emails and through researching the work of other designers.

Work so far has predominantly focused on the structure of the display – by that, I mean the format and configuration of shelves, tables or podiums that will be used to display the students’ work at the show. A number of concepts have been put forward, some more developed than others.

As yet, however, less focus has been placed on two other important ingredients:
1) the overall look-and-feel of the stand beyond its basic structure, and
2) how the stand will be consistent with the three keywords of Innovation, Sustainability and Interactivity, as required by the brief.

With this in mind, I thought it would be useful at this point to put forward three or four clear concepts which pull together the group’s work to date, but which also start to more clearly address these two key factors. A written proposal is given below – sketches will follow after discussion with the group.

CONCEPT ONE
Title: Colony

Description: We discussed the idea that the student group is made up of designers from many different backgrounds and with a wide variety of skills, who have come together at UCF for the single purpose of achieving their MA. The wide-ranging mix of disciplines makes for a valuable and unique experience and by working together in new ways, we work more innovatively than if we were to study in isolation or with no crossover of specialism.

Creative concept: The form of a hexagon will be used to draw parallels with bees, hives and honeycomb. This reflects the idea of a colony coming together as a community; it also refers to the cross-pollination of crafts and deign disciplines.

The main display mechanism would be individual, hexagonal shelves of varying sizes, following a hexagonal grid. A boundary wall would be formed at one side of the stand by stacking these hexagonal shelves side-by-side and on top of each other. Shelves would be made of strong, corrugated cardboard.

Some shelves would be left backless and empty, so that passers by on either side can see through from/to other parts of the show. Other shelves will be closed at the back and will contain the students’ work. The back of these closed shelves will be made not of cardboard but of translucent paper (with the possible exception of shelves which are used to frame printed textiles). Translucent paper will allow some light to pass through the shelves so that they are not dark and dingy; it will also mean that a silhouette of the contained piece of work can be seen from behind the shelf, encouraging the people behind to come round and view the contents. Further interest can be added to these paper shelf backs with a layer of laser cut paper, cut with a hexagonal, honeycomb pattern. This will give a subtle, textural pattern to the shelf-back, as the light shines through the layers.

Hexagonal laser cut paper will also be used to drape the back of the stand and overhead, in order to add graphic interest, with the addition of clusters of small, light and decorative hexagonal tubes of paper to form a light, sculptural texture. This will visually define the perimeter of the UCF stand and will help contain visitors within the space. The aim will be to evoke a feeling of being inside the ‘hive’ or colony, giving a sense of an intimate or sacred space.

Innovation, Sustainability, Interactivity: Use of paper and card is not unique in itself so can’t be claimed as highly innovative. That said, its use is not commonplace and if done well, the overall sculptural effect could be seen as innovative. Further evidence of innovation is in the stand’s strength as a highly-sustainable design: paper and card can be ethically sourced, possibly from recycled sources; it is lightweight and can be flat-packed for transportation; and it can be recycled after the show and need not be transported back to the UK. Interactivity is suggested (although not strongly) by having see-through shelving, and through the sense of visitors passing through our hive-like space – whilst they are in the space, they become part of our colony.

CONCEPT TWO
Title: Reclaim, Reuse, Recycle

Description: Each member of the team will have a box in which they display their work. One key benefit of using boxes is that no one person’s work will stand alone or predominate, even if boxes of different sizes are used. This avoids students fighting for prime spots on the display, like the back wall for example, and gives everyone an even platform for displaying their work. The same can also be said of the hexagonal shelving in the Colony concept above.

At the heart of this concept is the reuse of reclaimed materials to construct the boxes: palette wood, driftwood, vegetable crates, cardboard boxes, old painted wooden doors, old drawers, wire baskets are just some of the ideas that immediately spring to mind.

Creative concept: Boxes of varying sizes will be constructed from found, reclaimed or reused materials. Boxes will be stacked side-by-side and on top of each other to form a boundary to our exhibition area. Using found objects will introduce colour and texture to the stand, through the random mixture of materials and surfaces.

Ideally, some features of the original item would be left, adding an air of romance and interest and a sense of history. For example, a box made from an old wooden door could retain its paintwork, complete with chips and scratches, and might still have the brass door plate attached to it.

To communicate and strengthen this concept, a printed book or folded poster could be published containing a photographic record of where the materials were found. I imagine moody shots of a skip with an old front door poking out, crates washed up on a windy Cornish beach, a pile of cardboard boxes on a street corner and so on. Perhaps we could show ‘before and after’ shots, with the ‘after’ shot being the finished box with the student’s work inside it. To enhance the concept of ‘Reclaim, Reuse, Recycle’, it may be possible to source old cast-off paper to print this on, perhaps fire-damaged or faded. Alternatively, printing can simply be on recycled stock and with environmentally friendly inks.

Innovation, Sustainability, Interactivity: Our use of reclaimed materials in this way is innovative as well as highly supportive of sustainability. Innovation and creativity is suggested through the notion that we are working with, and adapting, what we can find to use. Since there is a limit to how much of this is in our control, we will be required to think and respond innovatively throughout our designing and making process. I’m not yet clear how much interaction can be introduced; however it is possible that the boxes can be in some way interactive – for example, one may use an old drawer that visitors will open to inspect the contents, or a door with hinges that can be opened.

CONCEPT THREE
Title: Multi-Purpose Crates

Description: This theme uses custom-made crates both for transporting and for displaying work. As with the previous concept, each member of the team will have a box in which they display their work.

Creative concept: Crates would be used to pack and transport the work in. Upon arrival, the same crates would be emptied and used to construct the display. Crates of varying sizes will be constructed from a single, strong material. My preferred choice of material for construction would be either timber (from renewable sources or reclaimed) or particleboard (wheat-based). We could potentially use cardboard as previously discussed, although this introduces issues with strength and durability, particularly for larger boxes when used for display.

Boxes will be stacked side-by-side and on top of each other to form a boundary to our exhibition area. To communicate and strengthen the concept of Multi-Purpose Crates, a series of well-shot photographs could accompany the display, showing ‘frames’ depicting us unpacking the boxes from a van, emptying the contents and then setting up the stand, with the final shot being all of our lovely work displayed on and in the crates. This sequence could be shot at a place of local natural or historic beauty – on a beach in Falmouth, on Bodmin Moor or perhaps even somewhere on campus – promoting Cornwall and UCF and giving our exhibition a sense of place and origin.

Innovation, Sustainability, Interactivity: The use of a single item for multiple purposes (transport and display) is supportive of both innovation and sustainability. The material we use to construct the crate will also support sustainability. It is not yet clear how this theme can introduce an element of innovation, so further thought is needed here.

CONCEPT FOUR
Title: UniForm

Description: This concept uses pieces which slot together to assemble a display shelving system. When disassembled, the system will pack flat.

Creative concept: The principle idea behind this concept is the design of just one cleverly-shaped piece which uses slotting and tongue and groove methods so that multiples can be slotted together to form display shelving. This will give infinite options for size, form and configuration. It will also mean that the stand can be completely broken down and flat-packed for ease of transportation. As well as being used to construct display shelving, pieces can also be slotted together as tiles, to create boundary walls and possible a tiled floor to the stand. This will add texture and interest to the overall scheme.

Pieces will be cut from an environmentally sound wooden or particle board for strength and durability and can either be painted or left bare. The design of the uniform piece should be carefully considered for its aesthetic merits as well as structural function. Decorative cuts and contours should be incorporated into the design, with a pleasing shape adding greatly to visual interest and the overall effect of the stand (although care will be taken not to overly weaken the structure).

Innovation, Sustainability, Interactivity: The use of a single piece with multiple purpose is supportive of both sustainability and innovation; sustainability will further be considered through the choice of construction material. There is the potential of interaction to be introduced by leaving a stack of unused pieces out, which visitors can play with, construct and reconfigure themselves. It might be fun to install a digital camera with a computer and screen – we could take photographs of visitors playing and configuring it and run them on a rolling slideshow, perhaps inviting people to put their names against their own creation.

Milan: UCF Exhibition 2009 (iii)

2009-02-06T11:07:00.008Z

Here are two very different examples of wooden crates being used effectively, as an integral part of shelving or display systems.

Left: Matali Crasset Production. 2006. Cuisine Fraich'attitude. From: Aitana Lieonart. 2007. Ultimate Paris Design (pg. 224). teNeues Publishing Group.

Right: From: Storage: Get Organized (pg. 6) [extract, magazine supplement]. Elle Decoration.

Milan: UCF Exhibition 2009 (ii)

2009-02-04T16:42:00.005Z

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Further demonstration of how a hexagonal grid would allow shelves, boxes and other display solutions in varying sizes.

Milan: UCF Exhibition 2009 (i)

2009-02-04T12:07:00.016Z

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Following on from the group discussions we've had over the last couple of weeks, here are my latest sketches for our Milan stand.

I'm still working with hexagons a fair bit at the moment. They provide a narrative, thanks to their links with beehives and honeycomb: this fits both with the theme of 'colony' for the MAs at UCF, and of 'sustainability' as identified in That's Design's brief.

An additional advantage of using hexagons is the grid this provides. This grid gives great scope for combinations of geometric shapes, patterns and configurations (demonstrated at the top of fig. 5).

I've not yet explored using slotted panels to form a cabinet arrangement, but I have been playing with stacking and fanning panels vertically, which would provide pattern interest and structural strength (particularly important if we decide to use cardboard, as discussed in the previous meeting).

Having seen the MA Design exhibition last week, and the variety of work that was displayed, I'm concerned that boxes and shelving units alone will not cater for the formats of work that the various members of the group are likely to want to display. For this reason, I've been playing with combinations which allow for both shelves and podiums.

I've also started to think about using light decoratively - shown in figs. 1 and 5.

A very quick making project

2009-02-03T15:29:00.001Z

In the spirit of making (and because I couldn't find a suitable present), I decided to make my Dad a birthday card that was also a gift. Here’s what I came up with in the short time I had, using bank notes to spell the word “Dad”.

Not the most thoughtful or sophisticated piece of design I’ve ever done, but good fun, and great to play with paper and card again. And it was well received by its intended recipient!

Hella Jongerius

2009-01-20T13:58:00.009Z

SCHOUWENBERG, Louise. 2003.

Hella Jongerius

London: Phaidon Press Ltd.

This book was first brought to my attention when it was referred to in one of our group seminars. A monograph of the designer Hella Jongerius, the book provides a visual catalogue of Jongerius’ 15-year career at the time of writing. With a heavy reliance on the use photography, which runs throughout the book, the text is presented through the unique approach of an interview which the author, Louise Schouwenberg, describes as “a conversation which might have taken place”. Two essays by Schouwenberg are also included within the book, addressing themes relating to Jongerius’s work.

The following is a selection of extracts taken from the book which are of particular interest and relevance to my studies:

Pg. 10,

“I like the industrial process; art can’t compete with the scale industry works on. The commission I had from the textile company Maharam brought all these issues together nicely. Besides the design work and the large-scale execution, it also involved me in the adventure of marketing * .”

* I particularly enjoyed her description of marketing as an adventure!

Pg. 18,

“If I felt I no longer had a story to tell with my products, then I’d stop straight away. There’s already an incredible amount of superfluous trash produced under the heading of contemporary design.”

Pg. 26,

“What worries me at the moment is that people hardly ever ask questions about the sense and nonsense of the [design] profession. Many designers meekly concede to the market mechanism and do nothing but offer pragmatic solutions to demands from outside.”

Pg. 28,

“If, as a designer, you don’t grab the theme by the throat and probe it to its farthest consequence, you’re inevitably going to get stuck at the outer surface. In the long run it’s a dead end. I believe we make a mistake if we restrict ourselves to pragmatic aspects.”

Pg. 60,

“There is an incredible amount of intelligence involved in the making process itself. Trying to invent something by purely rational means rarely generates anything original. But working in my studio and pushing the envelope often yields surprises. So I let my materials and my intuition lead the way, and I put off looking for explanations to a later stage.”

Within the essay entitled “Beyond Nostalgia”, on page 45, Schouwenberg talks about Jongerius’ piece ‘Embroidered Tablecloth’, as follows:

“In stitching a plate onto a tablecloth and thereby robbing both of their everyday practical function, she not only strongly allies herself with a contemporary artistic position but also presents a commentary on underlying culture, on decorative trends, and on functionality versus artistic expression.”

From page 48 of the same essay,

“At the height of the industrial era in the mid twentieth century, the avant garde was disinterested in old-fashioned craft methods. Indeed, traces of craftsmanship in the end product almost always were seen as betraying a fixation with materials, antiquated production methods, and thus a highly questionable mentality. While the functionalist dictum of “form follows function” dominated at first, its consequent principle “form follows context” required an equal sobriety. Form, function, material, and decoration were rigorously subordinated to the all-determining concept. That concept moreover demanded an austere, smooth styling that could only be provided by industrial fabrication methods.

An important factor in the development has been the Dutch design platform Droog Design, which has been operating in the vanguard of conceptual design since the 1990s…”.

The paragraph goes on to talk more about Droog.

Pg. 51,

“Postmodernism opened the floodgates to a justification – free flood of citation, decorative use, and general hype about references to the past. Meaning was no more than skin-deep, and styles could coexist with impunity. In the design sphere, Sottsass and the Memphis movement were prominent. They rejected the formalistic values of Modernism and sang the praises of the ephemeral, the ironic, the kitsch, vehement colours and deformations of scale, with the aim of undermining the purely functional values of the object. Apart from this short-lived eruption during the 1970s and 1980s, postmodernism left little permanent mark on the design world.”

The same text later goes on to say,

“The current revival of interest in tradition among the vanguard… is not postmodernism.”

And,

“Both global developments and the expansion of the palette of acceptable manufacturing options have made it possible for conceptual design to abandon its sober interpretation. While decoration was hitherto “the incidental and inevitable side effect of the conceptual design process”, it can now function as a concept in its own right. Different styles and techniques can coexist without implying a postmodernist attitude of “everything is permitted” and, above all,
without sacrificing depth of meaning.”

Then,

“The work of designers such as Hella Jongerius proves that conceptual purity and the quest for deeper meanings are not irreconcilable with postmodern-looking decoration and traces of handiwork.

Further thoughts:

I don’t yet have a clear vision of how far away from functionality I expect my work to take me – will I ever produce self-expressive or abstract pieces with limited practical application? Jongerius’ work seems to span across several areas of design, having mainstream functional pieces for sale (albeit that the level of practical functionality varies), some manufactured in multiples in an industrial setting, others crafted by hand, whilst at the same time completing one-off abstract commissions for museums, public spaces, etc.

4dspace: Interactive Architecture

2009-01-14T14:31:00.010Z

BULLIVANT, Lucy. 2005.
‘4dspace: Interactive Architecture’
Architectural Design, 75(1)

This issue of the Architectural Design series looks at the application of digital technologies within spatial design as a tool for cohesion, communication and exchange. These areas are explored through a series of examples of installations, public art, interactive spaces and structures.

There are many images, references and and other pieces of information included within the volume which I find interesting, entertaining or inspiring; however of most value to me at this point are the less project-specific observations and comments included within the author's introduction. I have therefore chosen to pull out a few quotations from this introduction for consideration:

Pg. 5,

“On one level, interactive architects and designers are in fact responding to the question posed in the 1960s by Cedric Price: What if a building or space could be constantly generated and regenerated?”

Pg. 6,

“Arad, like the German architects realities: united, designers of the BIX media skin of the Kunsthaus Graz, favours low-res tactics in order to achieve appropriate, affordable, as well as poetic and more subliminal, effects, harnessing emotion rather than technology.”

Pg. 6-7,

“New technologies are the means to achieving topographic and environmental change to architectural space and, via distributed intelligence and active material systems, living space that changes its internal parameters and performance in direct response to inhabitants’ lives and external events is possible, Interactive designer Tobi Schneidler, whose personal long-distance relationship prompted the design of Remote Home, believes that interaction and network technologies will engender a new design thinking about the identity of connected, real-world spaces. Another major project from the last few years that explored this potential is the Media House.”

Pg. 7,

“Commerce relies on the fourth dimension of the spatialisation of time achieved through dislocated virtual connectivity.”

Pg. 7,

“The overlap of building and program interactive capabilities brings to the fore unprecedented scope to modify spatial experiences.”

Pg. 11,

“The balloons in the Sky Ear function as cellular automata.”

Buildings That Feel Good

2009-01-12T18:37:00.010Z

STRELITZ, Ziona. 2008.

Buildings That Feel Good
London: RIBA Publishing.

Strelitz has a background in social anthropology, town planning and interior design. In 1990, she founded ZZA Responsive User Environments, a research and advisory practice that helps to shape effective and sustainable buildings and settings.

I found reading this book both entertaining and thought provoking, with many of the topics discussed within the book bearing a strong relation to my MA proposal. Furthermore, it was valuable from a learning standpoint in the way that it discusses and analyses buildings. A number of excerpts which I found particularly relevant have been included below.

When talking about a building’s role in supporting and perpetuating thoughts and values about the organisation it houses and represents…

Pg 2,

“Socially, buildings have a potential role in expressing and perpetuating cultural memory, an attribute that may have special relevance in times of widespread change to the building stock.”

Pg 35, referring to EMI Group Headquarters,

“EMI needed a global headquarters to accommodate some 320 staff from different parts of its business that were occupying different buildings. The new building’s role was to facilitate efficiency by locating operations together, enhance communication between departments, and serve as a flagship, with a distinct, contemporary work environment that engendered a sense of community and promoted awareness of EMI’s brand to its staff and the public.”

Pg 43, referring to ERCOL’s building,

“The building’s spatial organisation reveals the sequence of activities involved in the overall process it supports, offering participants and visitors an appreciation of all aspects of the enterprise’s success, and fostering recognition of everyone’s role.”

Talking specifically about installations and the role they play in enhancing the experience of a building’s occupants:

Pg 26, referring to Citigroup’s Central London offices and talking about the integrated artwork,

“The atrium’s role at the heart of the Citigroup building is accentuated by the vast hanging sculpture by artist Bridget Riley, suspended over 16 floors across the inner atrium elevation of the eastern tower. The commission of this significant artwork is integral to the building’s architecture and to users’ experience of the building. With its bright palette that contrasts with the atrium’s muted colours, this lively textured plane is seen from the office areas and every vantage point in the atrium, including the essential circulation routes. The gentle movement of its aluminium parallelograms and their alteration in appearance with variations in light contribute further to a dynamic experience of the space. Their positions relative to one another also vary, as do the views through the spaces between them, as one moves up, across and around the atrium.”

Pg 51, referring to the Issey Miyake Store, corner of Conduit Street and Savile Row,

“Sculptural Lighting.
A distinctive shell mesh ceiling feature, commissioned from the lighting designer Ingo Maurer, combines great delicacy with a strong presence and adds to the experience of movement in the store. Twelve gold-coloured ventilators in its cylindrical body generate air movement that causes hundreds of silver leaves that hang beneath the cylinder to flutter. The shadows of the leaves falling on the plastered wall surfaces also move, providing still more stimulus and interest.”

Pg 108, referring to Wellcome Trust’s Gibbs Building,

“The base of the atrium, conceived as an internal ‘street’, is readily visible and reached directly from the lobby. The Gower Place entrance, on axis with the main entrance, is central in one’s view on arrival. The internal street accommodates a café, informal seating and meeting areas, planting and a very large glass sculpture by Thomas Heatherwick, close to Gower Street.”

Pg 109, again about the Gibbs Building,

“Rich benefits from the artwork.
The installation of Thomas Heatherwick’s sculpture at the western end of the street is a masterstroke. Constructed on site, this specially commissioned work, Bleigiessen, comprises 150,000 glass spheres suspended by wire from the sixth floor. Its scale and position poise it to enrich the experience of building users – who see it in a dynamic way as they move around this part of the building – as well as attracting the interests of people outside the building, who can enjoy its shimmering luminance through the glazed entrance.”

Pg 136, Lesson 15,

“Artwork integral with architecture.
Building interiors are not cities in themselves, and buildings designed entirely anew lack historic elements to incorporate. The introduction of artwork to enliven interior spaces has an obvious role. Conventional approaches to image display and the use of plasma screens do add visual interest. However, art that is integral to the architecture, rather than ‘stuck on’, contributes more profoundly, not least because it invites three-dimensional engagement that offers a dynamic experience as people move around it.”

Pg 137, Lesson 16, relating to legibility and comfort: assurance, safety, society,

“Building signage has grown in prominence as a set of elements that needs to be procured, and much of this is well designed, but buildings that rely on signage to give users a sense of orientation and direction fail to impart such knowledge intuitively. The challenge of providing implicit orientation is not confined to complex buildings. Even ‘boxes’ can be lacking in this respect, resorting to compass points or alphanumeric coordinates on signs that advise users of their location on a floor plate. Evoking a sense of direction as people approach buildings and when they are inside is more than courtesy. It promotes comfort, security and safety.”

The text goes on to explain that it is possible to make space legible through architectural consideration of factors such as,

“…the use of voids, form, rhythmic repetition, reflective glazing, colour and lighting.”

North Greenwich underground station is cited as an example of this being achieved to good effect.

On page 142, an aide mémoire is given for producing buildings, in the form of a questionnaire. The following were of particular relevance to my work:

Q3. Is there a role for this building to harness form in helping to make, or remake, a place?

Q4. Does the project offer potential as a link in social memory, whilst providing for contemporary functionality with contemporary design?

Q8. Does articulation have a role in making this building more than a box?

Q11. Does the design exploit the possibilities for a dynamic experience of the building – through people’s engagement with its component spaces and with one another, and in the interplay of space, light and the building’s finishes?

Q15. Is there scope on this project for an integral artistic contribution that will add to people’s experience of the space in a continuously engaging way, and without prescribing and dominating their use of the space with ‘one single big idea’?

Vertical Farming

2009-01-12T15:43:00.012Z

According to The Vertical Farm Project,

"By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim. An estimated 109 hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices."

The Vertical Farm Project. 'Welcome'. Available at: http://www.verticalfarm.com/ [accessed 12/01/09]

Reading more about vertical farming, and article on PSFK's website describes the concept as follows:

"Understanding the environmental impact of the way our food is grown and distributed, along with the future demands for feeding the rising population of our planet, the vertical farming model offers a simple, yet radical solution that attempts to address many of these issues - instead of bringing the food to the city, we can bring the cities to the food. This idea goes far beyond rooftop gardens, endeavouring to build skyscrapers located in the heart of urban centers dedicated to the cultivation of our food. "

LACHUT, Scott. 2008. 'Urban Farming Gets Vertical'. psfk. Available at: http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/urban-farming-gets-vertical.html [accessed 12/01/09]

Vertical farming aims to adopt an entirely new approach to the age-old concept of indoor farming, massively scaling up the approach to accommodate our increasing population. The Vertical Farm Project’s website lists a convincing set of advantages to the vertical farming concept.

I love this concept – not just for the fact that it offers a potential solution to a real and impending problem. I find the marriage of technology and nature hugely appealing. The concept evokes much the same romantic charm as that of Kew Gardens and The Eden Project. Furthermore it conjures up images of a welcome return of nature and greenery to our choked-up cities, which could have a positive psychological impact on city dwellers.

Another urban farming project, on a smaller and more temporoary scale, came to my attention last summer. This was WORK Architecture Company’s award winning landscape, P.F.1 (Public Farm One).

Constructed from large cardboard tubes, its top surface was a working farm growing a variety of vegetables and plants. Placed in P.S.1’s angular concrete and gravel courtyard, P.F.1 was designed to work as an interactive bridge between outside and inside, creating multiple zones of activity including swings, fans, sound effects, innovative seating areas, and a refreshing pool at its centre. This was a living structure made from inexpensive and sustainable, recyclable materials.

P.S.1.MoMA. 'Exhibitions: Past: Young Architects Program 2008: P.F.1 (Public Farm One)', P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, USA. Available at: http://www.ps1.org/exhibitions/view/201 [accessed 12/01/09]

Cameron Moll’s Letterpress Poster

2009-01-08T14:00:00.009Z

Cameron Moll is a designer, speaker and author who works in both the web and print design arenas. He’s currently employed as Interaction Design Manager at the LDS Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah.

His influential techniques have found favour in circles across the web; in particular, his blog has many followers from the design fraternity.

MOLL, Cameron. 2007. 'Cameron Moll'. Cameron Moll, Utah, USA. Available at: http://cameronmoll.com/ [Accessed 08/01/09]

I particularly like his letterpress poster, details of which can be seen in the images below. Handcrafted character by character over the course of roughly 100 hours, characters from the Bickham Script Pro, Engravers MT, and Epic typeface families form the edifice featured in the artwork, the Salt Lake Temple.

Additional detail photos can be seen on Cameron's Veer Portfolio, referenced below.

MOLL, Cameron. 2008. 'Cameron Moll / Portfolios'. Veer. Available at: http://ideas.veer.com/portfolio/1395 [Accessed 08/01/09]

Artichoke

2009-01-08T13:05:00.011Z

Artichoke is a creative company specialising in extraordinary shows and events. Founded by live events producers Helen Marriage and Nicky Webb, Artichoke focuses on producing shows in unusual places. They don’t believe the arts should take place only in theatres and art galleries. Instead, they put on shows in streets, public spaces and the countryside: shows that, whilst ambitious and complex, cater for the widest possible audience..

Projects they have been involved in include:

Telectroscope, a public art project by British artist Paul St George, designed to provide a window between two great world cities – from Brooklyn Bridge in New York to Tower Bridge in London;

The Sultan’s Elephant, created by French theatrical magicians Royal de Luxe, featuring a vast mechanical elephant and a 20ft giant girl, which paraded through London;

La Princesse, a 50ft high spider by French theatrical engineers La Machine, which waved massive legs and sprayed water on the crowds as it moved through the streets of Liverpool.

In October 2007, Artichoke ran a conference called ‘Larger Than Life’, which was designed to discuss and share the pleasures and perils of large-scale producing. Written records of each breakout session and podcasts of each plenary session are available for download from their website, along with the conference brochure which gives a brief introduction to all of the sessions. These can be obtained from the link referenced below:

Artichoke. 'Larger Than Life: The Pleasures And Perils Of Large-Scale Producing.' Available at: http://www.artichoke.uk.com/larger_life.htm [accessed 08/01/09]

As well as being relevant to my work from a creative standpoint, I’m also interested in how this creative events company survives commercially in such a unique and specialised area.

Dataisnature and Jorinde Voigt

2009-01-08T11:59:00.008Z

Paul Prudence is an artist and real-time visual performer working with computational and visual feedback systems and video. He’s also researcher and writer at Dataisnature (http://dataisnature.com/), a weblog covering Robot Art, Algorithmic and Procedural Art, Computational Aesthetics, Glitch Aesthetics, Vj’ing, Video Art, Computational Archaeology and similar subjects.

I find many of the articles on his blog fascinating. It’s easy to lose hours just poking around the various articles and links he provides.

One of the articles which caught my particular attention is about the work of artist Jorinde Voigt (posted 12/2/2008) [1]. Prudence says,

“At the core of Jorinde Voigt’s drawings lays the proposition of a system or set of systems, with many individual parts collaborating and corroborating harmonically. Networked elements are connected, like a sketch for visual programming project, forcing the eye to wander back and forth perusing its nodes as if in musical counterpoint. Its no surprise that Jorinde refers to a set of drawings as ‘Partiturs’ translating to ’scores’ in musical vocabulary. On further inspection we also find representations of fluid dynamics and physical motion, incorporated with the kind of poetry Paul Klee used when taking his lines for a walk. These drawings might be the answer to Klee’s Pedagogical Sketch book for the systems age, combining cybernetic psychogeography, experimental musical notation, and sketches for a parametric utopia in one fell swoop.”

A couple of examples of Voigts drawings are shown here…

VOIGT, Jorinde. 2007, '50 60 Adler, 60 Sekunden, Strom, Popsongs'.

VOIGT, Jorinde. 2008, 'STAAT-RANDOM V'.

You can see more of Voigt’s drawings on http://jorindevoigt.com/blog/?cat=5 [2].

I’m still trying to decide what I really think about these drawings. They are intriguing, delicate, beautiful; yet they seem to imply a greater meaning and order that I want to decipher but can’t. Do I need to be able to understand them or should I just enjoy them for their aesthetic qualities? Is it this implication of intellectual meaning that draws me to them?

For now, I’m simply going to leave them here in my journal to think about.

References:

[1] PRUDENCE, Paul. 2008. 'Jorinde Voigt - Network Dynamism'. Dataisnature. Available at: http://dataisnature.com/?p=479 [accessed 08/01/09]

[2] VOIGT, Jorinde. 2008. 'Archive for the ‘WORKS’ Category'. Studio Jorinde Voigt 08. Available at: http://jorindevoigt.com/blog/?cat=5 [accessed 08/01/09]

Kinetic Horse

2009-01-05T17:44:00.002Z

After seeing Theo Jansen’s Beach Creatures (see earlier post: http://workbeautifully.blogspot.com/2008/11/art-or-science.html), I’ve decided to explore mechanics and movement a little further. I want to establish whether mechanics and/or movement should be an essential part of my work moving forward, or whether they are simply ingredients which I may choose to touch on, on occasion.

Jansen’s work has quite an online following, and one follower I came across was James G. Watt. Himself a kinetic sculptor, Watt has developed an articulated and motorised paper horse, inspired by Jansen’s Beach Creatures.

This paper horse started out as a personal project for Watt, but after numerous people fell in love with it and pestered him for instructions on how they could make one, he decided to develop a kit, which he now sells online.

The kit contains printable templates on CD and instructions for making the horse, along with all the mechanical parts necessary to build a motor to drive it with.

Reference: http://www.clockworkrobot.com/horse/ [accessed 15/05/09].

I decided to have a go at making one of these horses from his kit – I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to undertake some practical making within my research. So, I ordered the kit and made the horse. Here are some pictures of my horse in progress …

The horse is now assembled and works, although it would need a bit of tweaking to get it working smoothly. The motor isn’t quite strong enough to drive the horse continually without snagging – some of the joints need freeing up, plus I think the paper I used might just be a little to heavy for the motor to cope with.

That said, the outcome was positive and I did learn a few useful things through the exercise:

1. I did enjoy the mechanical element to this project.
2. Movement gives an added charm to the horse – by being animated, the paper horse seems to take on a character of its own.
3. That said, the most enjoyable part for me was the papercraft, not the mechanical side of the making (although the mechanics might have been more engaging if I was designing it myself, rather than simply following instructions).

This short piece of practical investigation has led me to conclude that, whilst movement may play a part in my ongoing work for my MA, I don’t feel that it’s an essential ingredient in all of my work. I would view mechanical animation as a tool which I may choose to use if appropriate, rather than a theme for major focus in my work.

Me-projects

2008-12-18T20:06:00.007Z

FELTRON, Nicolas. 2006. 'The Feltron 2006 Annual Report' (extract). Available at: http://feltron.com/index.php?/content/2006_annual_report/P4/ [accessed 13/01/08]

Some interesting articles about the blurring of boundaries between design and conceptual art: including the increasing trend for designer monographs and self-initiated works, can be found on Johnson Banks' website, as referenced below:

BANKS, Jason. 2008. 'Thought For The Week: 18/12/08 Me-projects'. johnsonbanks.co.uk. Available at: http://www.johnsonbanks.co.uk/thoughtfortheweek/index.php?thoughtid=413 [accessed 18/12/08]

BANKS, Jason. 2008. 'Thought For The Week: 17/09/08 Dreaming about designer monographs'. johnsonbanks.co.uk. Available at:
http://www.johnsonbanks.co.uk/thoughtfortheweek/index.php?thoughtid=382 [accessed 18/12/08]

Picking Up On Themes From Previous Work

2008-12-11T17:55:00.007Z

Some of my recent research is picking up on themes that I started playing with during the short chair design project shown in the image above, back in 2005. (The actual poster also included 3d models and experiments which unfortunately don't appear here).

Richard Sweeney

2008-12-11T17:28:00.008Z

I’ve been researching patterns and movement and have been thinking about using origami and paper folding to explore these ideas. Through this, I came across Richard Sweeney, and artists who’s work I’d not seen before.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardsweeney/tags/sculpture/

Sweeney uses paper and card to create patterns, objects, sculptures and other creative works. Projects have included a series of sculptural works in paper commissioned by Selfridges for display in the flagship store windows, Orchard Street, London, January 2008…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardsweeney/sets/72157603387509075/,

and a paper sculpture installation at the Stamp Staircase, Somerset House, London in October 08…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardsweeney/

Lighting and photography also play an important role in his work.

A Note On Pattern

2008-12-11T10:36:00.006Z

I'm drawn to geometric pattern, both singly and in combinations. Take a quick wander around my home and you can see that pattern is evident both in the objects dotted around the house and the décor itself, as shown in the pictures above.

A Note On Colour

2008-12-06T14:20:00.002Z

There seems to have been a sudden injection of bright, juicy - almost saccharine - colour into my journal over the last couple of days… and I’m really enjoying it!

I’ve always had a strong awareness of colour and it plays an important part in the design choices I make; yet in my commercial capacity, opportunities to really push the boundaries and have fun with colour have been relatively limited. In mainstream graphic design, colour is used consciously and intelligently but it tends to be treated with caution – usually resulting in safe and sparing application of colour.

This MA could be my opportunity to reacquaint myself with a more experimental, expressive and dominant use of colour.

Snog

2008-12-06T13:32:00.010Z

I've had these pictures bookmarked since I first came across them in June. Created by Ico Design and Cinimod Studio, Snog sells frozen yogurt.

Columbian architect Pablo Uribe and his US-born business partner Rob Baines '...wanted it to be British, fun, young and edgy,' says Ico Design's in-house writer Gerard Ivall, 'and that's where the name came from.'Visually, this has been translated into a 20 m2 space which aims 'to evoke the feeling of summer', says Uribe. Hence the floral wall graphics by Ico's Japanese illustrator Akira Chatani, and Cinimod's bright, stylish interiors.Marcel Wanders' Shitake latticed stools sit on 'English lawn' vinyl flooring, and are illuminated by a digital 'sky'.

Cinimod director Dominic Harris sees the ceiling as key to creating the 'perpetual summer' feel. 'More than 3000 individually controllable LEDs are deployed behind a Barrisol stretched plastic ceiling to create a bright, lightbox video surface,' he says. 'Digitally captured and manipulated clouds move gently above the store, their colour and speed determined by the time of day.'

Reference:
DOWDY, Clare. 2008. ‘The Taste Test’.
Design Week, 23(25), pp. 18-19.

I Want...

2008-12-05T17:51:00.010Z

...to play with beautiful things all day like these guys do!

http://www.iwantdesign.co.uk/

Interactive Dining At Inamo

2008-12-05T16:54:00.009Z

Inamo's website tells us…

“Inamo is a pioneering Oriental fusion restaurant and bar where the control of the dining experience is placed firmly in your hands. Our mission is to provide delicious cuisine with charming and timely service in a warm and vibrant atmosphere.

At the core of Inamo is our interactive ordering system. Diners place orders from an illustrated food and drinks menu projected on to their table surface. You’ll set the mood, discover the local neighbourhood, and even order a taxi home. Our dedicated and friendly staff are always on hand to help with whatever you need.”

DuPont Corian was specified for the interactive tabletops at Inamo. Graphics and photographically illustrated menus are projected onto the Corian tables. Using a circular touchpad recessed into the tabletop, customers can then navigate their way through the dishes and send their order directly to the kitchen. They can also change the ambiance by selecting from differently coloured and patterned ‘virtual’ tablecloths, play games, watch a web-cam in the kitchen, browse local area information and even order a cab, all from the comfort of their tables.

http://www.inamo-restaurant.com/

http://www.iconeye.com/index.php?option=com_product&controller=product&task=view&cid[]=412

The Cloud - Pixel Liberation Prototype

2008-12-03T18:49:00.001Z

iBar Multitouch Touchscreen

2008-12-03T18:47:00.000Z

Adobe Interactive Installation

2008-12-03T18:43:00.000Z

FLARE: Kinetic Ambient Reflection Membrane

2008-12-03T18:41:00.000Z

Sky Dance, by David C. Roy

2008-12-03T18:34:00.003Z

Bike Storage: A Quick First Attempt In SketchUp

2008-12-02T18:17:00.000Z

Blockers To Experimentation

2008-11-30T16:54:00.003Z

Experimentation is a vital part of the creative design process, particularly for the designer-maker. It is something I enjoy doing and would like to do more of. So why is it that I seem to explore, rationalise and evaluate my designs early on, without even getting as far as experimenting with materials?

In her book “Hella Jongerius”, which portrays an interview that might have taken place, Schouwenberg says that,

“There is an incredible amount of intelligence involved in the making process itself. Trying to invent something by purely rational means rarely generates anything original. But working in my studio and pushing the envelope often yields surprises. So I let my materials and my intuition lead the way, and I put off looking for explanations to a later stage.” (Schouwenberg 2003: 60)

The image below shows a number of blockers I have identified to experimentation. Having identified these, I need to now look at ways of either removing or countering these, so that I can bring more experimentation into my work.

Citation reference: SCHOUWENBERG, Louise. 2003. Hella Jongerius. London: Phaidon Press Ltd.

Heart

2008-11-18T18:59:00.011Z

When I first saw this, it didn't look like it would actually move: the shape didn't seem to lend itself to a cog system. Yet surprisingly it does, thanks to the three-dimensional cogs.

I like the way the heart shape explodes as the cogs move, and then slowly pulls back into shape after a few rotations.

You can see it in action on the link below...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70dKZjP4NOo

A Desire For Functional Integrity

2008-11-18T14:07:00.011Z

Belgian artist Wim Delvoye's art is extremely eclectic and can be grouped into different themes. Alongside his serious intentions, Delvoye's work often applies a sense of humour, at times risque and at others, disturbing, to create unique and challenging work.

The picture above is from his 'Chantier' project in which he rearranges the forms of gothic architecture to create sculptures of utilitarian building equipment. This piece is entitled Caterpillar#5, 350 x 900 x 300 cm, constructed from laser-cut corten steel.

The intricate metalwork is beautiful. In particular I like the way in which a usually heavy, indestructible modern piece of machinery appears here as an intricate, lace-like and seemingly fragile object of decoration.

This piece at first appealed to me as fitting well with the juxtaposition of aesthetic beauty and mechanics that I am currently exploring in my own research. However as I consider this piece further I am aware that its apparent link to mechanics is merely residual: an artefact of the original machinery, suggested only by form and not seen through in function.

This has alerted me to a threshold with which I may choose to constrain my own work. In the marriage of aesthetic beauty and mechanics, whilst beauty may be of paramount importance, I would like to maintain a level of mechanical and functional integrity. If my work suggests the presence of motion or function, then this should be realised and not simply implied.

That said, I am still drawn by its graceful, delicate visual qualities. Indeed I have already started working with perforated steel for its decorative and ageing qualities and I may choose to explore this further.

Where Am I Going?

2008-11-17T16:57:00.023Z

As part of a group presentation today, I included a selection of pieces from other designers which I am drawn to – works which I aspire to, or which help me articulate the direction in which I would like to take my work. They were:

Wieki Somers' coat rack carousel, designed in place of a cloakroom for the new entrance of art and design museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Visitors haul their coats up to the ceiling on a pulley, integrating their jackets into the exhibit (see earlier post for more on this).

Troika’s ‘All the time in the world’, which extends the conventional notion of a world clock. Rather than concentrating simply on capital cities in different time zones, this links real time to places with exciting and romantic associations including natural wonders, highest mountains, forgotten wonders, museums and modern wonders.

Troika’s ‘Cloud’, a 5 meter long digital sculpture whose surface is covered with 4638 flip-dots that can be individually addressed by a computer to animate the entire skin of the sculpture. Flip-dots were conventionally used in the 70s and 80s to create signs in train-stations and airports. The sound they generate is instantly reminiscent of travel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42hgPLL8IrA

Joshua Allen Harris’ inflatable street sculptures’, New York street art in the form animals made out of shopping bags positioned on subway street grates that cause them to periodically inflate and animate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dOjahe0piE

Theo Jansen’s beach creatures (see earlier post for more on this).
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=b694exl_oZo

Through the act of speaking to the group about these pieces and why I like them, it helped me to recognise some common themes shared by some or all of these pieces…

Movement
Light
Use of mechanics
Art before need
One-off
Interaction
Surprise/pleasure
Location-specific.

These themes can also be found amongst the pieces previously identified and analysed as part of my earlier reflection (see my earlier post, “What Do I Like And Why?”).

I’d like to clarify these themes and elaborate on them a little further through my research moving forward, considering how they relate to my own work and my MA proposal.

Theo Jansen's Beach Creatures: Art Or Science?

2008-11-13T18:06:00.012Z

Despite having labeled myself for many years as "a creative", much of my work and interests seem closer to science or statistics than art. I like structure and order. I like things that work. I like working with numbers and diagrams. I like to carefully prepare, consider and calculate. I understand order and hierarchy. I avoid chaos and freefall. I am an organised worker.

These traits are not typical amongst my peers; so I was very interested when I came across the work of Theo Jansen.

Labeling himself as an artist and kinetic sculptor, he is also a physicist. Here is a man who comfortably blurs the boundaries between science and art; indeed in one of the videos linked to below he states that, "the walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds".

His Beach Creatures are the product of 16 years of work - work which continues today. A heady mix of science, art and nature, they move gracefully across the landscape and seemingly take on a life of their own.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=b694exl_oZo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcR7U2tuNoY

These creatures fascinate me (if indeed they are creatures at all). I am delighted by the way they move and they are made even more remarkable by their use of mechanics over computers for artificial intelligence. I am also intrigued by the idea that they can become self-sustaining, challenge our ideas of intelligence and of life.

I am inspired to explore kinetic sculpture further. I look forward to seeing how this might fit with my work.

Wieki Somers' Coat Rack Carousel

2008-11-13T12:00:00.005Z

Working under the name Haunting Dogs Full of Grace, Dutch designers Jurgen Bey, Ted Noten, Wieki Somers, Bertjan Pot, Simon Heijdens and Frank Bruggeman have created works for the new entrance of art and design museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.

Rather than behaving as interior designers, the group took a conceptual approach. They were interested in visitors experiencing design, turning mundane situations like hanging your coat into a process to enjoy. In doing-so they were demonstrating how conceptual thinking can be integrated into everyday experiences.

For one of the pieces, Wieki Somers designed a coat rack carousel in place of a cloakroom, shown above. Visitors haul their coats up to the ceiling on a pulley, integrating their jackets into the exhibit.

Two things in particular attract me to this piece of work. The first is how beautiful it looks: the light and colour dance around to give it a chandelier-like quality, made all the more striking by its large scale. The second is the way in which the piece has been specifically designed for engagement and contribution by its audience. Rather than creating an installation which is precious, to be seen but not touched, an important part of its concept is its functional use. Visitors are invited to contribute to it by the addition of their own coat: certainly more engaging that passing your coat through a hatch!

http://www.iconeye.com/index.php?view=article&catid=1%3Alatest-news&layout=news&id=3488%3Aboijmans-van-beuningen&option=com_content&Itemid=18

How Did I Get Here?

2008-11-08T23:52:00.003Z

Things I’m Learning About Myself

2008-11-06T17:06:00.003Z

My heart usually knows the right answer long before my head does. My heart tells me the answer, then I use my head to validate it and make it happen.
In my head I'm a designer; in my heart I’m an artist.
My work is a performance, my job a stage. My peers, my clients and their clients are my audience.
I like to plan.
Being spontaneous makes me uncomfortable. I like to know that I’m doing the right thing in the right way.
Problems are like sculptures: I chip away at them until the whole answer is revealed.
I always have the answer, but sometimes it takes time to find it.
Time is a tool, not a constraint. Time enables planning. Time allows me to check I’m doing the right thing before I commit to it.

Time is valuable; time should never be squandered.

‘Can’t be bothered’ is not acceptable.

I am not bad at making decisions – I simply require time to make an informed decision. Once a decision’s made, I rarely come to view it as the wrong one.

I love to learn.

If a project isn’t challenging, I lose interest.

Looking backwards is good, looking sideways is good, but I am only interested in moving forwards.

Mistakes are important – they help make me better. The only bad mistakes are those that I repeat.

I am only interested in doing things I believe I can do well.

I do everything as if it will be looked back upon in the future. I throw none of my work away.

I stop only when I’m satisfied with the outcome.

I find failure difficult to accept.

I believe in helping and supporting others as a means of paying back those who have helped and supported me.

What Do I Like And Why?

2008-11-03T13:31:00.002Z

What is it about the things I like that makes them special to me? Do they appeal on purely an aesthetic level or is my response more complex? Are there common traits or themes that link the things that appeal to me together?

In an effort to answer these questions and others, I pulled together a list of items I like. I wanted to analyse what it is that makes these things special to me and how I might be responding to them.

This list included all manner of media. It also included both my own work and that of other designers and artists.

I imposed just one restriction on myself when drawing up this list: I didn't hunt down new things for the purpose of this exercise. Often, something that appeals to me initially doesn't stand the test of time. Its appeal is short lived, triggered perhaps by what I'm exploring or experiencing at that point in time or a curiosity generated on first viewing but which dwindles once the surprise has gone. I felt that, by imposing this restriction, it would help me ensure that the things included were proven as things I like; indeed, I often actively use a cooling-off period as part of my design decision-making process.

After making a list of things I like, I obtained an image of each. I put each image on a single card and printed these cards out. I then considered each item in turn, writing brief notes on each card about what I liked about the item and why.

Producing cards in this way then enabled me to shuffle them around in groups, as I thought through and studied the possible commonalities and relationships between each of the items I like.

I identified a number of words and descriptions that frequently appeared. As with the cards, I printed these out and arranged them into common groups. In doing this, I identified four key levels upon which I appear to respond: emotional, experiential, structural and aesthetic.

The next stage was to establish whether some responses were more important to me than others. To help me do this, I drew up a matrix of the items I had chosen and the identified responses. I then moved through the following steps:

I marked the responses that I felt were prevalent for each item.

I counted the number of times each response occurred across all the items. This helped me identify the most commonly occurring responses.

I scored each item by the number of positive responses I had marked against it. I then ordered the items in the matrix so that the highest scoring items appeared highest on the list. (As a general observation, those which I would have selected as my most favourite did appear at the top of the list, whilst those which I favoured less appeared lower down in the list.)

I assessed each item and tried to established which of the four response groups was of greatest value in its overall appeal to me.

A copy of the matrix can be viewed on the following link:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/225991/MA%20Design/ThingsILike_matrix.pdf

Through this exercise I can see that I am mostly drawn to the responses I termed as Experiential and Structural. Emotional and Aesthetic responses feature less heavily in the things I like.

As a cautionary note, I am uncertain as to the statistical validity of this exercise: at times I found it difficult to pinpoint exactly what it was I liked, and liked most, about each of the items as this is highly subjective. Furthermore I doubt that I would achieve exactly the same outcomes if I were to repeat this exercise again at a future point. However, I do feel that it has been a useful step in helping me to decode my tastes, and to identify the aspects of a design that appeal to me most.

Unwise Words: Trick Or Treat?

2008-10-31T16:00:00.001Z

I was doing a bit of research yesterday when I stumbled across this blog article:

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/creative-review%c2%ae-launches-bold-new-brand-identity/

As I read through it, what started out as mild interest turned quickly into disbelief. As I moved through the article, I started to read phrases out loud to my husband sitting next to me (a fellow designer himself). We shrieked and winced in disbelief: this was exactly the kind of pretentious nonsense that builds barriers between the creative fraternity and the cautious, risk-averse small business people that make up a significant portion of our client base.

As we got to the end of the piece, my husband suggested that surely this was a prank. It didn't take much digging around to find that in fact, he was right.

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/it-was-a-send-up-but-the-language-is-horribly-real/

The article on this second link captures very well the feelings I have about the more pretentious side of the design industry.

Trying to shore up your concept with fancy words and tenuous phrases can be tempting, especially when you're charging a not insignificant amount of hard cash for what results in a 10cm piece of logo artwork. Indeed, there are even clients who enjoy having this kind of blurb on hand to thrust at the Board, in an effort to justify their spending; but as a designer, I hope I can communicate on a level with the rest of the world. I want my designs to speak for themselves. I want people's reaction to my designs to be personal and instinctive, not contrived and conscious.

BMW & The Prodigy

2008-10-30T15:46:00.003Z

YOUTUBE.COM. 'BMW - 1 Series Advert (07/05/07)'. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7adPhli-SyE [Accessed 23/04/09]

I find this advert absolutely fascinating.

Some of the effects remind me of a very early pop video, with the kaleidoscope effect and simple inverted images.

The addition of graphic marks and pattern brings it up-to-date (for the time it was released, circa 2004).

The image of the wobbly newborn foal is slightly uncomfortable to watch - not just as it struggles to stand but also the eerie way it's duplicated and superimposed on a very clinical white background.

The combination of organic images mixed with images of high-tech, mecahnical BMW detailing works well.

The effect of pattern created from repeats of the organic images is visually interesting and was cutting-edge style wise at the time of creation.

The rhythm of the moving images and the audio track compliment each other perfectly.

Ad details...

Agency: WCRS / Music: The Prodigy - You'll be under my wheels

VISIT4INFO.COM. 'BMW Car Range - BMW 1 Series' (31/07/04). Available at: http://www.visit4info.com/advert/BMW-1-Series-BMW-Car-Range/16404 [Accessed: 23/04/09]

Food For Thought

2008-10-18T13:53:00.002+01:00

I’ve always been drawn to using materials out of their typical context; I like the way it forces me to look at things in a new light and to notice characteristics that I might have previously overlooked.

These pictures are from a series of award-winning images by artist Claire Grove, published as greetings cards by Holy Mackerel: a whitty and charming collection of mini-environments, created using models of people placed into food landscapes.

These pictures don’t just make me look at food from a different perspective. They also serve to remind me of some fundamental principles of spatial design that I would do well to remember… that scale plays a huge part in the overall effect of a design [1]; that users of a space become a part of it [2]; that a successful space will always be one that’s designed with the user in mind [3]; and that my work doesn’t always have to be quite so serious!

http://clairegrove.co.uk/index.php?pr=Cards_and_prints

[1] Part of the charm of these images is their scale.
[2] Take the figures away, and the landscapes become meaningless.
[3] I imagine that the figures came first, and the settings were designed based on the suggested activities of the figures.

Michael Reynolds, Garbage Warrior

2008-10-17T18:00:00.004+01:00

By many people’s standards, I don’t watch much telly. I struggle enough to fit my life into 24-hour chunks as it is, without having to make time for telly as well. So it’s a wonder that I stumbled upon More4’s documentary last Tuesday entitled “True Stories: Garbage Warrior”, a documentary looking at the work of eco-friendly architect Michael Reynolds. And how pleased I am that I did!

Somewhat of a maverick in his field, Reynolds has been experimenting with his 'biotecture' in the New Mexico desert for the last 35 years. He’s convinced that humanity is headed for oblivion due to our depletion of the Earth's resources and pollution of the environment: “I'm trying to save my ass - and that is a powerful force”, he says.

Reynolds builds self-sufficient, off-the-grid 'earthships' out of old beer cans, bottles and tyres hard-packed with earth. His seemingly magical buildings use power from the sun, harvest rainwater and treat their own sewage, meaning that they are not reliant on any infrastructure.

Surprisingly, despite their make-up and their low-tech construction, his buildings are beautiful and enchanting. And proven to work: as well as living in them himself for many years, his earthships have literally saved the lives of tsunami victims in the Andaman Islands left homeless and waterless after their villages were flattened.

Reynold’s buildings are beautiful and fascinating to look at. Moreover they are immensely sustainable, boasting a build of natural and recycled materials, thermal/solar heating and cooling, solar and wind technology, water harvesting, contained sewage treatment and food production – and a construction time of 15 days to boot.

Yet what strikes me most about Reynolds work isn’t simply the remarkable design of his structures. It’s his drive and determination to push his work forward, despite some seemingly insurmountable bureaucratic hurdles and a lack of vision or support from US authorities – which has even resulted in him having his architect’s licence revoked for a period of time.

Reynolds’ determination is remarkable. He fights endlessly to push the boundaries of architecture and sustainable building and his life and his work are inseparable. Clarity of vision is the lifeblood of his achievements.

http://www.earthship.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4