Assignment 10

Throughout history designers have used the past to inspire their work, modifying aspects to suit their design. After the modernist movement there was a surge of ‘remixing’ and ‘quoting’ to the past techniques. This can be seen in everything from furniture to monumental buildings and was the artist’s way of expressing the meaning in their work.

For example the Ottawa Ontario building where they have made strong quotations back to the original classical architecture. You can see in the picture shown that there are strong ties to classical Greek and Roman Architecture with the columns, arches and large windows. Although these features are not identical to those in ancient times, they are quotations that help add meaning to the work.

            Culturally the Greek and Roman architecture of ancient times was seen as a solid, mathematical design built to last. The columns for instance show structural strength and there is even a representative architrave showing more historic quotation.

            However they also stray from the realistic cultural ornamentation to add modernism to the design. The designer also plays with scale to exaggerate the historic aspects of the building.

            Design of the past is often manipulated to fit the styles of the modern day and often this means that the designer is trying to bring across a point that they feel was important in that era. This historic quoting gives depth to the design and often helps us link the past and today.


Figure 1. (2006). Ottawa Ontario [Building]. Retrieved from http://www.ontarioarchitecture.com/postmodern.htm

Assignment 9

         After the world war there was a large need for countries to convince their citizens that their political ideologies were affective, especially in the wake of communism in Asia. America was a great endorser of this concept, pouring money into Europe to help the governments stabilize themselves. Design was a great way to convince their citizens that capitalization was the best policy and that the growing communist movement was destructive. If they could demonstrate to the citizens that they needed objects and to consume their economies would grow. Although most countries are not under the threat of communism today, there is still the need to use design to help promote political ideals.
         In major companies such as Cadbury they are often driven to design in such a way to promote the political ideologies that they support and which they think could help sales. For instance, the image shown displays the dairy milk chocolate that Cadbury sells. It is clearly stated at the top that this chocolate is fair trade. In a world where exploitation is looked down on, it can be the difference in what people buy. On other blocks of chocolate from Cadbury, where fair trade is not used, Cadbury designs the covers the same way. With a golden strip along the top, but instead of fair trade it merely says an advertising slogan. For consumers who are glancing at the covers, they believe that it is still fair trade. This is a design and marketing ploy to have consumers believe they are paying for fair trade when they aren't and Cadbury simply subsidize the cost over the range.
       Although this may seem small in comparison to whole nations changing their brand designs, it is still the same concept. It is a company trying to use design to have consumers believe an ideology. In the reading Pavitt said that "The nation's rehabilitation would be visible in... everyday goods." People believe that global rehabilitation involves abolishing any type of exploitation of workers. Fair trade is evidence of this fact and Cadbury trying to convince people that their entire brand is fair trade friendly is showing that rehabilitation is visible in everyday goods.
      I think that design is an effective tool for promoting political ideals because it is often subtle and can convince people without their knowing. After the war I believe that it was more effective now as people are not as desperate to find global solutions, but it is still a great marketing tool.

  Figure 1. (2010). Cadbury- dairy milk [Chocolate block]. Retrieved fromhttp://infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?id=50276

Assignment 8

Meyer believed that the purpose of design was to meet a need in society- hence the idea of function times economy. To achieve a balanced society while not wasting the planet’s resources design must be functional, but also should hold aspects of art. Design requires incorporating both science and art to create an object that caters to the needs of society while also being appealing.

The 1920’s were a time where Germany was in economic crisis after the war and standardization and rationalization were required to create housing and sanitation. I believe that these principles still apply globally, as we are constantly facing economic hardships. It is mandatory for designs to be functional, yet attractive and artistic enough to hold interest with the user.  

In a world where we are becoming more and more conscious of the resources used, design is becoming an important aspect of life. As shown in this picture, designers are constantly looking for solutions to everyday problems including energy and fuel. This hydrogen toy car shows a step forward in fuel technology, incorporating science into the design of the car. Despite this model only being a toy car, it still demonstrates the ability to fuel mechanics with hydrogen, without wasting precious fuel resources. However scientific the car is, it is also artistic in the way it curves and the colour scheme that is utilized.

Human beings are emotional creatures. We are attracted to certain characteristics of design that cannot be scientifically justified. So to say that design should be entirely scientific is to ignore the emotional needs of the buyer. Although Meyer believed that the lower classes should be catered to with design, therefore creating basic, standardized objects, I believe that a design can be both scientific and artistic and still stay in a certain budget.

The Bauhaus went through two very different stages. One where they focused on the spirituality of design and I feel that this encompasses emotion. Then the focus moved towards Meyer’s ideals of practicality and function, encompassing Pugin’s ideas of simplicity. However I think design is a balance between the two where we create designs that meet practicality, but also inspiring emotion that creates a more interesting life.


Gangar, Kunal  (2006):  H-Racer: Hydrogen Fueled Cell Car. Retrieved 23/09/2011  from  http://techtickerblog.com/2006/07/27/h-racer-hydrogen-fuel-cell-car/

Assignment 7

In a world filled with war, poverty and economic hardships, it seems natural to create symbolic universes to escape reality. In the past, symbolic universes were confined to ideas prototyped in a hope to unify people by displaying what the world could become, for example the World Fair of 1933. However, today's technology allows people to create their own worlds to escape troubles in everyday life and live in their own symbolic universe online. Design and media play a large role in the construction of social universes. Without designers of game sites, the user couldn't get lost in that world and believe it was real and the media influences people to believe it's a way to escape the troubles of their own lives.

        One of the main focuses of the 1933 Chicago World Fair was electricity and how it could be utilized, showing the great need nations felt to control natural forces. The world was experiencing The Great Depression with shortages in food, jobs and other essentials, so having control of something was powerful and important- especially nature. Having control of nature displayed the power of the United States, demonstrating to Americans a symbolic universe could be achieved despite current hardships.

      "Take your seat at your kingdom’s table, and become the ruler you were born to be!" This phrase is encountered when a user opens one of the many online gaming sites now available, which are quintessentially symbolic universes. This phrase alone shows the control the gamer believes they posess, drawing a strong connection to the 1933 World Fair. Even the names of the sites- “Perfect World” , "Utopia"- where the above phrase is shown- show how they wish to create symbolic universes of hope.

In the past, the ability to play online games and feel you were controlling them wouldn’t have been possible. Not just because of technology, but also the design and media involved. The designs used within the online games are realistic and have aspects of the real world, like the atrium shown. This gives the user the idea they are controlling a real world, making it more believable and giving the chance to escape reality while playing. 

     Fast food, faster cars, using planes to travel distances which are drivable. Everywhere you look people are trying to take short cuts. Here the designers have taken short cuts by creating an online version of the prototypes used in 1933- which were often unimaginable for some people. This is why sites have so much control over users- because they give them their perfect world now, with just one mouse click. Media also plays a part in online gaming, because it advertises opportunities people have to "control" their own world. When the media displays things like wars and struggles happening around the world and then flips to encouraging online gaming as an escape, the two link and because the troubles are real issues users can see the sites as real escapes.

I believe we have moved from symbolic universes being displayed by prototypes, which give us a glimpse of the future, to more sophisticated and technological symbolic universes. In a world where people dislike waiting for anything, designers create symbolic universes available right now. So, despite symbolic universes being presented differently they are still based around the same concept- control. Media and design play a large part in encouraging people to take the opportunity to escape. They may not be to blame, but they are a large factor. I don't think symbolic universes are a bad thing, because they offer hope in times where we have none and can unite people over a common cause. However I think creating fake symbolic universes online can give people an amount of control unhealthy for one person.

Utopia: online game site. Quote

16/09/11 retrieved from http://utopia-game.com/shared/

Figure 1. artist unknown(July 2011). [Screenshot]

Retrieved from http://sustainabletacomapierce.org/search/virtual-worlds-for-teenagers

Assignment 6

To say that there is no role for the authentic in an age of digital design and manufacture is, I believe, a gross overstatement. Although I agree that we have lost the aura of an original, there is still a role for authenticity as a threshold for other designs. Also I think that is has created a place for a new experience, based on subjectivity, rather than the aura and atmosphere created by the authentic original.

            Without the original there would be no threshold for copies to be replicated or changed. An example is the Mona Lisa, shown below. With the technology of today, believable copies can be made and it would be difficult to tell them apart from the original. Because of this the original may not have as eminent an aura as it would have if not for digital copies, but we still know and recognize the original as the threshold. If we see a copy that has been slightly altered we recognize it and realize it has been changed. Therefore there is a role for authenticity, but it is not as dominant as it was originally. Therefore I slightly agree with Benjamin’s point of “That which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art.”, but I think it is only in moderation.

            Before prints could be made of a certain piece of art, I believe that there was a certain aura and this created an atmosphere where the artist could portray an emotion, but it could be skewed by the authenticity and the feelings that created. Now I think that because the aura has been removed we get the chance for a more objective view and a clearer emotional response. The mass manufacturing rids the art of the aura it would have had, because it is not unique and therefore less valuable. However this means that objectivity and understanding of the portrayed emotion is more likely to be clear.

            Although I think there is still a role for the authentic in the digital design and manufacture age, I think it is greatly diminished. It creates a threshold for other copies to be created and altered, but copies mean that the aura is removed and subjectivity of a piece of art can be formed.

Figure  1.  Da Vinci, L.  (1503-1515).  The Mona Lisa  [Painting].  From The Louvre, Paris.  Retrieved  from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa.jpg

Assignment 5

Throughout design history artists have experimented with colours and how we perceive them, changing our views and thoughts on the subject. Through this experimentation they also developed the theory of ‘colour vision’, which focuses on how we see and interpret colour.

            Many artists were main contributors to how we understand colour in society today, but so were scientists. “Painterly attention to the nuance and changes of colour-effects in nature and art…. were… later recognized and codified by optical science” (Gage, J. (1993)) shows how artists attention to detail created scientific possibilities. It also brought up aspects of colour that were unnoticed until then and with the help of science they could be understood. The paintings within impressionism are of a style that gave great depth into how we understand colour. These artists painting in simple lines and blots show that our minds receive information about colour and make sense of it to create a feeling or experience.  Georges Seurat was one of the artists who shows how a scene and atmosphere can be created in an impressionistic manner with ‘View of Fort Samson’ (Seurat, Georges. (1885)), shown here. This painting and others like it were quintessential in creating our understanding in colour because they show how we relate colour to certain aspects of life. It also shows how colours can be combined to create something we understand in the form of art. This displays how artists played their part. Their contribution matched with the scientific discoveries, made by Newton and others, helped mould our understanding of colour and our perceptions.

            ‘Colour vision’ is how we use the light reflected from an object to understand its spatial properties and material. Although artists experiment with the use of colour vision, because it is to do with how we perceive colour, I believe scientists are the reason we understand it. Through their experiences we learnt that it was not a case of our sight radiating wavelengths that are then reflected back, but light reflecting off the object.

            Artists have changed and influenced our understanding of colour and this is a big part of how we perceive colour today, but I believe that we owe more to scientists. It was, after all, Newton who experimented with light and its refraction, generating the colour wheel. We can have no doubt that artist do amazing things with colour and that they change our perception, but scientist are undoubtedly the ones to thank for our understanding.

Gage, J. (1993). Colours of the Mind in Colour and Culture: Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction (pp.192). New York: Thames and Hudson.

Seurat, Georges. (1885) View of Fort Samson [Painting]. From Hermitage Museum. Retrieved from http://www.museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=441

Assignment 4

 As our culture has advanced through time, we have seen the art of ornamentation slowly diminish. However to say that it is a synonymous transition is a stretch.

On one hand I believe that as our culture and society has advanced we have realized that we can have functional lives without ornaments. We see that ornamentation is not paramount to the actual use and although it can add pleasure to the object, it is not critical. For this reason, we have seen a decline in ornamentation, but I don’t believe this is because we discarded the idea. It is purely because in our busy lives we yearn for simplicity.  Also we have become aware materials use and how we shouldn't waste them.

For example, the chairs shown portray the transition between centuries. The top chair shows detail craftsmen put into simple household objects, despite lack of necessity in the 1900's. It simply added work and time to the craftsmen's job and clutter 

to the room. Conversely, the chairs shown 

at the bottom are extremely simplistic 

and made from simple geometric shapes.

It lacks ornamentation and would creates a simplistic line.

Although the first example is extreme,

 I believe that ornamentation is still a crucial part of society and without it we would not have evolved into the present culture.  I think that we learnt a lot from the design of ornaments in the 1900's and although I think we have developed as designers and in our culture since then, it definitely played a major role.

Although we often don't ornament in the same way as the 1900's, we still do subconsciously. We have simply changed ornamentation and now incorporate it into materials.

Although this isn't traditional ornamentation I believe it is today's modified version.

Although I agree our culture has changed- ornamentation  becoming less of a focus, I don't agree that it is synonymous. It has merely changed forms. It has become incorporated into materials saving work and time. This has adapted through our culture realizing the importance of not wasting material and resources.