Comparison and Contrast

I went to look at the collections of Justine Kurland's exhibit at the Nelson Gallery in the Art building.  I decided to compare and contrast two of the photos that I felt the most connection with.  The two photos, titled Hope or the Suicide Bed (2008) and Heroic Cave Portrait (2008) stood out to me the most.

Hope or the Suicide Bed is a depiction of a tunnel with railroad tracks running through it.  It is absent of people, but has evidence of once having someone living there at one time.  There are also many miscellaneous items scattered throughout the tracks.  I think it is called Hope or the Suicide Bed because there is a feeling of hope coming from the light at the end of the tunnel.  At the same time, it is a possible 'suicide bed' because there is a mattress so close to the railroad tracks that the person sleeping on it would die when the train travels past.

The picture Heroic Cave Portrait is a picture of a half-clothed man standing at the opening of a cave in the side of a mountain.  In the background, the skies look bright and clear, and there are many green plants.  The man is standing in a heroic pose, with his hand touching one side of the rock wall.  It gives off the impression of a man appearing victorious from a battle.
The pictures are similar because they both tell stories.  The titles also help the observer to create a clear impression from the pictures.  Just from looking at them, I was able to understand what I felt the artist was trying to portray in taking those photos.  They were different because they used different means to show stories to the observer.  The first photo, Hope or the Suicide Bed, used a picture without people in it to present a story.  It used only the items that were present in the photo, and the light at the end of the tunnel to present the feeling of 'hope' and the idea of a 'suicide bed'.  On the other hand, Heroic Cave Portrait was able to tell a story by using the man to present the story.  The way the man was standing at the opening of the cave, and the light at the opening presented the idea of 'heroism'.

Personality vs. Consumerism

As my friend and I were talking about personalities, we got a crazy idea: does the type of person you are define the type of consumer you are?  Let me explain.  I am one of those, brutally honest, genuine people.  When I apologize, I sincerely feel sorry.  When I say that I feel bad, I am at the point of crying.  At the same time, as a consumer, I only buy genuine items, even if it means spending more money.  I refuse to download free music, download movies, or buy fake designer goods.  If I am without money, I just go without until I can buy the real thing later on.
When I asked some of my friends how they would describe their personalities and how they would describe themselves as consumers, I noticed similarities between their personalities and their purchases.  My friend who describes herself as impatient and spontaneous finds herself buying things automatically, almost without thinking.  My other friend who describes herself as aggressive and finds herself fighting for good deals at bargain sales.
As far as design, I started wondering: how do designers design their items to target the types of consumers there are? Do they take into account the personalities of their customers? Or do they design based on their own personalities and thus end up attracting consumers with similar personalities?
The designer Alexander McQueen is famous for his shows being very passionate, displaying emotional and raw power.  He was known for portraying the juxtapositions between between contrasting things. Does the fact that Alexander McQueen portrayed passionate, emotional shows mean his personality was so?
At this point, I don't think there is enough information to really make a conclusion of any kind, but the idea is pretty fascinating and I hope to explore it further in the future.

Sources:
Alexander McQueen

Design as a Conversation

Design is a conversation.  The sentence itself is simple, yet incredibly hard to define exactly.  If design is a conversation, what kind of conversation takes place?  What is this 'design' that is being described?
From what I understand, design is a conversation that takes place everywhere.  People find design from everywhere, and designs develop from reactions and ideas that stem from other designs.  This back and forth conversation of knowledge is a process of design conversation.
Design is also a conversation when certain designs spark interest and conversations in the people who are affected by the designs emotionally, through shock, anger, sadness, etc.  For example, in class, when we watched the video of Lady Gaga and Yoko Ono singing, I was emotionally confused and shocked by the way Lady Gaga was performing.  In this same way, others felt insulted by the way Lady Gaga 'intruded on sacred ground'.  The way Lady Gaga and Yoko Ono designed their performance sparked a conversation that got people talking.
Lady Gaga has also sparked a conversation through the crazy outfits she wears, and her crazy performances.  No matter where she is, she is always 'in character'.  She has completely enveloped her role as an entertainer and dresses and acts her role in everyday life.  Through her actions, she creates conversation because people are constantly discussing her clothes, her actions, and her performances.  Others are also inspired by her strong design choices.  Ultimately, I think Lady Gaga is an important example of design as a conversation.  The way her lifestyle is designed, she is able to inspire others to build and create things off of her work, and she is also able to spark conversations in society.

Random Treasures

Every once in awhile, I will come across something in the world that absolutely fascinates me.  At that moment, I reach into my purse and pull out my camera so I can take a picture.  On Sunday morning, upon waking up, I was surprised to see a rainbow on the plastic dining room table chair.  I wondered, where did this interesting rainbow come from?  Upon waking, my friend also was puzzled by this random rainbow on the chair, so we set out to find out where it came from.

Moving away from the rainbow, we kept putting our hands out to see how far we could move away from the chair so that the rainbow was still reflected on our hands.  

Eventually, we figured out that the light actually came from the front door.  The sunlight was streaming in through the peephole on the front door and reflected a rainbow of light onto the first surface it was blocked by, which was the chair.  This got me thinking about how nature can work with manmade things to create something different and unique that inspires people to design.  

Later that day, when we were eating lunch, I picked up a piece of popcorn chicken that resembled a small animal.  Fascinated by this random occurrence, I found myself snapping up a couple of pictures of this piece of chicken.

The angle that I picked up the chicken allowed me to notice it in a way that reminded me of a dog.  However, if I had picked it up at a different angle, or if I wasn't really paying attention, I would have eaten it without ever knowing that I had missed a piece of chicken shaped like a dog.  Despite knowing that this random occurrence is not necessarily manmade, but only accidental, I find myself wondering, is it 'design' to be inspired by these random treasures and discoveries of life?

Design from Without

When looking at artists who design from without, or find inspiration from the world around them, it is fascinating to see the kinds of things they come up with.  In class, we learned about Andy Goldsworthy and Lisa Hoke, who both found inspiration from the world around them.  Andy Goldsworthy was able to create ephemeral art that he knew would eventually disappear, by looking at nature and the world around him.  Lisa Hoke was able to create an art piece through finding ideas from plastic cups that she found online.
Referring back to our Stone Soup experience, it was interesting to see how, as a group, we were able to find inspiration from the world around us and from the things that we had collected for the purpose of creating.  Because we saw trees, we decided to try to use the materials we brought and the nature around us to create our own tree.  We, like Andy Goldsworthy and Lisa Hoke, were able to find our inspiration in our surroundings and the items we had.

I have also found inspiration from the world, and been able to design from without.  In high school, I designed and made a dress for my friend.  I found myself inspired by the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's.  I also found inspiration from my friend and what I saw of her style and tastes.  I combined my inspiration from the world around me, the things I had seen, with design from within.  In thinking of what I had seen and discovered, I then thought of how I could personally use the information I had gathered to create something for here that would embody her as a person, with influence from me.  From this, I created a seemingly plain, black, open backed dress with white ribbon trim around the bottom and in the back.

Stone Soup

Stone Soup was a completely new experience from normal lectures.  We were given the chance to create something out of almost nothing, starting only with the materials that each of us had brought to class.  At first, it was difficult to decide what we should try to create, but we decided as a group that we would try to make a tree.  From the experience, it was clear that everyone was able to build upon each others ideas as we were creating.

It was also interesting to see how even as the majority of our group was able to work easily together, one of us preferred to work alone.  Despite the preference to work alone, we were still able to tie our works together and create something whole.

An example of our building ideas off of one another was, one of us decided to create a person like figure using branches and paper, and another of us used the idea of people to cut small paper people. At the same time, one of us folded a paper crane, and decided to dangle it off the branches, leading us to the ideas of dangling the paper people and other items off the branches also.  The first paper crane also led to the creation of a second, much larger paper crane that helped tie the piece made by the majority of the group to the piece made by the person working alone.

In the end, I feel we were successful in creating a connected 'Stone Soup' out of nothing.

Positive Memories of Design

My first memory of design goes back to when I was 6 years old.  I was also fascinated by my mom's closet, and frequently searched through it for things to dress up in.  There was one skirt, however, that caught my attention.  It was a patterned, purple, flowy skirt with an elastic band.  On my mom, the skirt reached her ankles.  I would wear the skirt as a dress because I loved the way it flowed and swished when I twirled.
Many times, I would take the skirt and arrange it in many different ways around me, by wearing it on one shoulder, tucking the skirt in on some sides, and twisting it.  I loved the way the skirt was designed.  It was long, and it was flowy to the point that when I twirled fast enough, it would float around me.  The material was silky and felt nice against my skin.
In retrospect, I think I decided to be a fashion designer because of this skirt.  Because I loved so much to arrange the skirt in different ways, I thought that I would grow up and design many more things that I would also be able to arrange.  I hoped that I could share the joy that I got from creating new things with everyone else, and I remember prancing around the house, showing off my new creations to my mom, and beaming when I was praised.
To this day, the skirt is still in my closet.  It is no long long enough to be a dress on me, but the memories that I have of it inspiring in so many ways will always be with me.  It has a couple tears now, in the fabric, but I can't bring myself to throw it away, because I have many positive memories with it.

Confessions of this Shopaholic

What is it about fashion that drives me to continuously shop and buy new things, even if I don't have the means to do so?  I was once told that those who are unable to find the beauty in nature will never be happy.  They will always want more, endlessly searching for unattainable satisfaction.  Being one of these "nature non-appreciators", I found myself wondering if the reason I was never satisfied with what I had really was because I couldn't see the beauty of nature.
I was thrown a rope, however, when Dr. Housefield explained that design is a quest to capture that which is elusive.  It means never settling at being satisfied, and always trying to capture the invisible, and things that are still in a state of becoming.  This brought me to a new conclusion, that the reason I have never been satisfied is not because I am unable to appreciate nature, but only because I am irrevocably bound to design.  My driving need to have more, this never ending hunger and thirst for the 'new', is the force that motivates me to start up this quest, even knowing that there is no end.
I know I'll be ok, though.  I have never been satisfied with settling, and I will continue to follow the lead of other designers who have started before me, carving my mark into the design world with persistence.

Driving through the Alphabet

Have you ever wondered what a font made by a car would look like?

Toyota enlisted the help of two typographers (Pierre & Damien), a software designer (Zach Lieberman) and a pro race pilot (Stef van Campenhoudt) to create a font using a car.  The car was marked with four colored dots, which was recorded by a camera.  This information was sent to software which tracked the four dots in real time and output the result of the tracking.  Through this method, the typographers were able to design a very readable, driveable, and aesthetically pleasing font that the public is able to download for free, off Toyota's website here.
I felt that it would be fun to share the origins of one of the fonts I used in making my banner for my blog layout.  I like discovering unusual new things that people have designed because these things open my mind to new inspirations and ideas in my own designing.
I hope to share my own personal design discoveries, inspirations, and thoughts.  Design is elusive, hard to explain and define.  Despite this, I hope to cherish an open mind, and think impossible on this never-ending quest.
And thus, I make a wish upon design to guide me and help me carve out my own path to my future.