Art + Architecture + Design
Design
SCREENCOZY!
Oct 11th
These are great: http://www.jackysawatzky.net/cozy/
From her site: "The cozies alter the sensibility and the functionality of the screen, giving it a human touch. Knitting is simultaneously digital and analogue, the patterns being a combination of pearl and knit and the wool being the analogue materialization of the pattern. This is very similar to the computer: in the computer the binary code is materialized through analogue properties of the materials the computer is built of, one of them being the materiality of the screen."
Plus, they’re pretty funny! Great work!
SMILE HELMET
Oct 5th
How many of us had summer jobs in which we dealt with the public all day long? Well here is another great "helmet" idea: A helmet for people in jobs which demand an unusual amount of smiling, such as air-stewards, receptionists and politicians. A sensor in the front of the helmet detects anybody within a 2 metre range, at which point the mouth is pulled into a broad grin by a small servo motor and some concealed fishing wire. The helmet addresses the facades of social interaction and explores our responses to affected expressions. It is modelled here by Brendan Walker.
Check out the film here: http://www.timsimpson.net/sess/smilehelmet
BATTLE OF THE SAFES
Oct 4th
Check out th
is advertising scheme from the Paris Expo of 1867: http://www.safeman.org.uk/battleofsafes.htm
We love this guy’s site!
RICHTER & MOTION DESIGN
Sep 13th
Rhythmus 21 is online with an introduction by the great Jonas Mekas here: http://www.jonasmekas.com/hans_richter.html
For those of us in the motion design trade, this is probably the earliest example of abstract film animation available. Mekas, now 83, gives a great introduction to the piece from an art historical perspective, though we are interested in it as a document of early motion design experimentation.
And don’t forget to poke around his site. Here is a living legend who is reaching out to us, sharing his wisdom and experience from across the years.
MESSAGE PILLOW DESIGN
Sep 13th
Another great idea; The morning message pillow.
Developed by designer James McAdam. He embroidered a sweet message "Good Morning Sweetheart" onto his pillow so that every morning has a chance to start off well. It looks like he has done it himself and we won’t be buying it any time soon. http://www.jamesmcadam.co.uk/portfolio_html/mm_pillow.html
INFORMATION DESIGN
Sep 13th
Saw this on the NYT site. Interesting and frightening at the same time for those of us who got into the housing market in the early part of this century.
Just remember folks, all data can be arranged to prove any point of view. Discounting the value of new housing starts significantly alters the outcome of this chart. But it is still interesting to see…
PANTONE HEAVEN
Sep 6th
Marketing_Drive has a fun set of photos matching Pantone colors to objects in the real world. Though many are debatable, in my opinion, they get it right 90% of the time.
This is my favorite right now. I keep going back to look at the slide show. Julie does this all the time, it’s kind of a sickness, or so she says, though I think of it as a special talent. Like the ability to hear that Mosiquito ring tone that only teenagers can hear. To my ears, it sounds like barely audible clicking, but it drives Julie crazy. (Is this too much information for this blog?)
So be sure to check out the Pantone matching game slideshow at: http://flickr.com/photos/mdsf_gone_wild/sets/72057594053892136/
Could this be more fun?
ARS ELECTRONICA
Sep 5th
The big, hip technology/art exhibition in Linz is just about over. I couldn’t make it, but this is what the curator had in mind this year:
A simple life. It seems like something we would all like to have. But like everything you don’t have and desire, once you get what you want, boredom inevitably sets in. The hustle and bustle of daily work motivates you to go on a vacation and relax. Simplicity achieved. But after relaxation has settled in, complexity beckons. There has to be more to life! So we douse ourselves with complexity and continue the ritual of complexity, simplicity, complexity, simplicity, complexity until at the very end of our lives when by no longer existing we achieve the ultimate in simplicity—nonexistence.
On the surface, all artistic practices support complexity: the addition of a concept to the visual, auditory, or tactile realm. However some art, although additive to the universe of concepts and objects around us, helps to simplify the world by having a subtracting effect more than it adds to the surrounds. Technology art, in particular that which pertains to the computer as opposed to purely kinetic art, is generally neither simple nor complex. It is both. And that is what makes technology art difficult to fit comfortably into any previous genre. It’s complex: there are cryptic instructions and rituals required to maintain and interact with most technology art. It’s simple: many of the codes used to create technology art are trivial in comparison to the complex experiences they synthesize. If asked to choose whether to have a traditional oil painting or a computational art piece hanging in my living room, I would choose the painting for simplicity’s sake. But I’m unlikely to be in my living room and enjoy the painting, because I am usually in front of my computer—which has become the living room of most contemporary minds.
Not sure how simplicity REALLY realates to this show, because most of the installations and projects seem to be anything but simple. But I’m reserving judgement. You can download podcasts and videos soon. Check it out here:
http://www.aec.at/en/festival2006/index.asp
Superman Returns Graphics
Aug 22nd
Motion graphic design legend Kyle Cooper and his boutique Prologue Films have finished work on the Superman Returns feature titles. If you’re not into the movie, you can have a look at some clips from the title sequence at http://www.prologuefilms.com/
His shop produces that kind of design heavy in 3-D tricks; Flashy and slick. I always feel a little uncomfortable after seeing this kind of work. I’m not being critical of the work, it’s fine for many projects, and after all, if that is what the client is looking for, if they feel that style will help sell them into their market, then by all means, go for it.
But for me it is like comparing a photorealist painting with an expressionist one; they both have merit, both express a unique view of the world. Yet, the photoreal painting does not resonate with me either as an artist or a viewer. I find it more difficult to learn anything new about the subject matter at hand, and by extension, the world at large (not to get too philosophical.)
I am thinking of other shops whose work I am interested in, like the work of some of the talented designers over at FUEL (was that a good enough plug guys?) Check it here: http://fueldesign.com/fuel_mov/fuel_reel06.mov
Its a big, big world and there’s plenty of room for all of us! Keep up the good work out there!
Prologue
Aug 17th
For lack of a better idea, what if we start by defining what we are talking about? According to the 20 volume online Oxford English Dictionary (OED, 2nd Ed.)
design n.
1. a. A plan or scheme conceived in the mind and intended for subsequent execution; the preliminary conception of an idea that is to be carried into effect by action; a project.
b. ‘A scheme formed to the detriment of another’ (J.); a plan or purpose of attack upon or on.
2. a. In weaker sense: Purpose, aim, intention.
b. = Intention to go. (Cf.
c. phr. by (
out
3. The thing aimed at; the end in view; the final purpose.
4. Contrivance in accordance with a preconceived plan; adaptation of means to ends; pre-arranged purpose; spec. used in reference to the view that the universe manifests Divine forethought and testifies to an intelligent Creator (the argument from design).
5. In a bad sense: Crafty contrivance, hypocritical scheming; an instance of this. Cf.
6. A preliminary sketch for a picture or other work of art; the plan of a building or any part of it, or the outline of a piece of decorative work, after which the actual structure or texture is to be completed; a delineation, pattern.
7. a. The combination of artistic details or architectural features which go to make up a picture, statue, building, etc.; the artistic idea as executed; a piece of decorative work, an artistic device.
b. transf. of literary work in this and prec. sense.
8. The art of picturesque delineation and construction; original work in a graphic or plastic art.
arts of design: those in which design plays a principal part, such as painting, sculpture, architecture, engraving. school of design: a school in which the arts of design are specially taught.
9. attrib. and Comb., as design book, consultant, engineer; design-conscious a. (see
Your Comments