DSDN 171 - Blog Assignment 10

Nicely rounding off my blog assignments with the one piece of design work I started my blog posts for DSDN171 with, The Tripod from Weta.

The Weta ‘Tripod’ has many techniques and references hidden within its construction. One of the many cultural references in this piece of design is War of the Worlds. I think it was designed this way to keep it in line with the sort of things that Weta make. The War of the Worlds styling makes this piece so much more visually striking than if it were a plain, large tripod. It very much looks like it could have come straight out of War of the Worlds, and onto the streets of wellington. A technique that was used in this alien like construction was a manipulation of scale. Tripods, if they are made to be functionally used by a human, are never that large. The size of this has been exaggerated to make it a spectacle, something to walk under and around. Finally, there is also a very large amount of ornamentation on the Tripod. The ornamentation serves no helpful purpose to the structure, but definitely adds to the visual value, making it appear more striking, and alien like to the beholder.

References
[Figure 1] From flickr. Retrieved from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/deadpossum/469780589/

DSDN 171 - Blog Assignment 9

‘The need to have’ is a huge message that informs the branding of design today. I am focusing mainly on Apple and their ad campaigns and product cycles. Each year a refresh is brought out and a new campaign started to get you to ‘need’ a new mac or ipod etc. This video is from the Mac vs PC campaign and shows the benefits of a mac over a PC.

Video Below

The idea shown in this video is loosely tied to the political idea of newer is better. Consumerism is another name for this state of mind. These ads by Apple make the viewer’s believe that their macs are better than PCs though in reality the PC has a far larger reach and can do much more. Their Macs do possess a few benefits such as being largely virus free, as shown in another ad from the campaign but the ads play on the geeky nature of a PC and make the audience believe that if you buy a Mac, you will be cool, and have the latest and greatest technology has to offer. They also play on the Mac being easier to use, which is true of the older version of windows, but the latest windows is, in my opinion, better.

References:

(2007, 15, April) [video file] Retrieved from :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ1AWw8ktLQ

DSDN 171 - Blog Assignment 8

When Meyer argued that ‘design [is] synonymous with man made things and [is] a product of “function x economy” ’ in chapter 9 of ‘The “First Machine Age” in Europe’ I felt like I disagreed. I then thought about the statement more and realised that it has some truth to it. I now agree with Meyer when he says that because many things that are around today are there in the standard, and with the functions they have, to help us do things based on the current economy and needs of the targeted audience.

I think design today can be both an art and a science. There is no rule that design is there to make art and art only, or that design has to be scientific. Design can contribute to both art and science. Take for example the iPhone 4. I have mentioned it in another post previous to this but I think it a good example of something that is well designed and looks nice, but could not have been achieved without science.

References:

Figure 1, From Technorati website. Retireived from (http://scm-l3.technorati.com/11/06/01/44109/iphone4changeseverything1.jpg?t=20110601135413)

DSDN 171 - Blog Assignment 7

P. Berger, T. Luckmann says of the symbolic universe: “the symbolic universe links men with their successors in a meaningful totality, serving to transcend the finitude of individual existence and bestowing meaning upon the individual’s death. All members of society can now conceive of themselves as belonging to a meaningful universe, which was there before they were born and will be there after they die.”

The digital world can be seen in today’s time as an identifiable ‘symbolic universe’.  The digital world was born before I was and will continue after I die. It has helped link my generation with its parents and will help the transition to the next generation. Any imprint we make on the digital ‘symbolic universe’ now will remain till after we are gone, and will be added to, or changed by our successors in the future.

Media and design in my opinion won’t be impacted in the construction of the digital social universe, but helped to progress through and into this digital era. The fine arts, like painting and creation from solid materials by hand will still exist, but the majority of design will become digital. From 3d modelling and printing to motion picture productions, to even writing letters, all these will during my lifetime pass on almost entirely to the digital realm. These will continue in the digital world and last past out generation through the digital ‘symbolic universe’.

DSDN 171 - Blog Assignment 6

The task for this week:
In this week’s reading Benjamin argues, “To an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility. From a photographic negative, for example, one can make any number of prints; to ask for the authentic print makes no sense.” Do you agree or disagree? Do you think there is a role for the ‘authentic’ in an age of digital design and manufacture?

My Response:

I partially agree with what Walter Benjamin is saying when he says photography and film take away the authenticity of prints. I agree that having the photographic negatives makes it incredibly easy to reproduce photographs and therefore the plain fact that there can be many, many copies of the same print may take away its authenticity. However in my mind, there will always be the first print, and there will always be the film that the first print is derived from. The film and the first print are authentic originals in their own right because they are the first, they are the originals.

I think there is and always will be a role for the ‘authentic’ in our digital world, and I also believe that role is present in our future too. There will always be a demand for the authentic first. With our modern digital cameras there may not be a negative to reproduce from, but there is the first copy of the image file captured. There is also the first print, should the artist choose to sign it. I think, continuing with the example of photography, that our digital realm of photo sharing only allows one way to create an authentic ‘copy’ of the artwork and that is to have it signed by the artist/photographer.

DSDN 171 - Week 5 Assignment

Isaac Newton. Philipp Otto Runge. Pablo Picasso. Vincent Van Gogh. Claude Monet. These people, as well as others, through their experiences and experimentation, helped develop our modern understanding of colour and our perception of ‘colour vision’.

Isaac Newton discovered that we see colour when the light reaches our eyes as opposed to previous theories of the time in which people believed that the human eye would send out ‘beams’ and when the beams bounced off and returned to the eyes, they would be interpreted and the image would be seen. Newton also discovered that every colour visible to our eyes are contained in white light by refracting the light in a glass prism. You all know of this experiment I am sure but at the time this was big news. Newton kept to the scientific side of things and did not explore how colours would look different when placed beside other colours, which invited artists such as Philipp Otto Runge, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, and Claude Monet to explore what newton did not, and move this into their paintings. Impressionism is born. 

As you can see in this painting (below) by Claude Monet the many colours in this painting look different when put beside other colours in this painting. 

Figure 1

The painter leaves it to the beholders eyes to fill in the blanks and get the impression of what is going on in the painting. 

References:

Gage, J. (1993). Colour and Culture: Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction (pp.191-212). New York: Thames and Hudson.

Figure 1. Monet, C. (c. 1880). Sunset at Lavacourt [Painting]. Retrieved from http://gallery.sjsu.edu/paris/breaking_away/landscape_files/image001.jpg.

DSDN 171 - Week 4 Assignment

In 1908 Adolf Loos argued that "The evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornament from objects of daily use."

Which in real english means: The development of culture is in effect the same as removing the frilly bits from the objects we use everyday.

I agree with this.

My reasoning for this is can be seen below in the comparison of two phones created along our cultures path of development.

An old telephone

A modern iPhone 4

As you can see, the old phone has many frills and ornaments that are not required for use. There is also a cord between the box and the ear trumpet piece but at the time this was required for operation. In stark contrast to the old phone, we see that the iPhone has almost literally shaved all these ornaments from its form and flattened itself down. This quite clearly shows, in my opinion anyway, that through cultural development ornaments are definitely removed.

DSDN 171 - Week 3 Assignment

Part 1 & 2
In 
'The
 Grammar 
of 
Ornament' (1856) 
Owen 
Jones 
argued
 that, “Construction
 should 
be 
decorated.
 Decoration 
should 
never 
be purposely 
constructed.”

When Owen Jones said this he was saying that when something is designed it should have some form of decoration on or decorating it but that something should never be created as a decoration; without purpose or function.

Keeping what I said previously in mind and looking the Rialto bridge in Venice, which spans the canal, you can clearly see that this bridge was made as a bridge, then decorated. It was made with the purpose/function of being a bridge not a decoration for the canal. I agree with what Jones said in 'The
 Grammar 
of 
Ornament' in that if this bridge was made as an ornament or a decoration then it probably wouldn't be standing today, at 420 years old. This bridge also relates to what Augustus Pugin was saying when he publicised his thoughts on what design should and shouldn't be. This bridge is not trying to be a different material. It is clearly a stone bridge and not trying to imitate a wooden or metal one. It is clearly 3-dimensional and not trying to look flat. This bridge, if witnessed by Pugin himself, would surely satisfy his quarms about the design of his times (even though they are many, many years apart from each other). 

DSDN 171 - Week 2 assignment

Marc Newson's 'Wood' chair, 1988

My example of the ‘continuing curve’ is the ‘Wood’ chair created by Marc Newson. It is literally a continuing curve in its design with the one sweeping movement to create the form. This chair looks either comfortable or painful to sit on, I can’t quite decide based on it being made of many pieces of wood which will either dig in or work together to support the sitter. I think this chair has been created as a result of the “sensuous impulse” because when I look at it I see it was created for art and not functionality. Marc Newson did not create this chair to be a chair but more for the visual impact of a chair’s that is formed with one sweeping movement of wood. 

A true ‘continuing curve’ chair.

Photo retrieved from: http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/collection/artwork/26453

DSDN 171- First Weekly Assignment

Important design entity:
The Tripod

The humble tripod has been around since the dark ages. Then as our cameras came equipped with a standard flash, the world lit up and the time of darkness ended. This simple old design innovation is still running strong today, helping to record our steady, blur free memories forevermore.

Project 3 hand in

This is my FINAL hand in for DSDN 101.

Here are the links to my previous submission for this project:
My plan: http://dsdn101jamesgodfrey.blogspot.com/2011/05/some-individual-work.html
Logo (group work): http://dsdn101jamesgodfrey.blogspot.com/2011/05/project-3-group-work.html
Ad (Group work): http://dsdn101jamesgodfrey.blogspot.com/2011/05/project-3-group-work-ad.html

Thread installation
Here are the two images of my thread installation.

These images were taken with a 15 second exposure time thus allowing me to play with light in the photo.
I think having the photos shot in a dark environment helps literally show the word 'Secret'. The photos show that we must shine a light in and investigate to find the secrets Apple is hiding from the world.

Poster
This is my poster precedent from typographicposters.com

Here are the images for my poster.

In the poster I wanted to clearly portray the benefits of using an alternative to an Apple product, specifically in this case Windows/Microsoft. I wanted to show that with a Microsoft product such as Windows, there are no limitations but with Apple, they force you to live your iProduct life to their guidelines.

And here is the poster in situ.

Letter
My open letter to Apple.

And here is the detail shot of the letter

I chose this as my detail shot of the letter because the viewer can clearly see that the shape the words are creating is the apple logo. From the visible words in this detail shot you can still get an idea for what I am trying to get across to the reader.

Project 3 - Group Work - AD

The video currently can only be watched on this blog: http://danielhakesdsdn101.blogspot.com/2011/05/group-advert.html
When I get a direct link to the video I will post it.


At Conflict Records, our London based music production studio, we make dubstep, hop and rap music aimed for 16 to mid 20 year olds. In our ad we present our slogan of "Recording Creativity" by showing Conflict Records target audience at work, expressing their creativity. Once they are off-screen their creation flies past  our fading in logo showing that through us they can share their expressions with the world.

Project 3 Group Work

We were assigned 'Conflict Records' for our group work in project 3. We decided our company was based in London and focused on recording dubstep, hop and rap. Conflict Records is aimed at providing music for the age bracket of 16-20's. In our logo we represented the youth we were targeting in the bright paint splatters and showed we were a record company through having the record behind our company enitials. Our company name is portrayed through the conflict between the monochromatic elements and the colourful paint splatters.

Group members

James Godfrey

Daniel Hakes

Katie Watson

Our Brainstorming Process

Our Logo

Some individual work

I have decided to go with Apple as my company of focus for this project. I brainstormed what I could think would be relevant about Apple for this project (above). These results all seemed to me to have the theme of secrecy or secrets to them. My current opinion of Apple as a company of innovators is that they are held back by shrouding themselves in a cloak of secrecy, moving around in the shadows until their next product launch. Then if/when someone creates something with the slightest resemblance to an apple product they pounce, and suck as much out of their victim as they can. They don't seem to be a very friendly company in my view.

DSDN 101 - - THE CLIP - - Final submission

*Drum roll please*
This is my submission for DSDN 101 Project 2.
The following diagram is a computer remake of a hand drawn mind-map with a bit extra that I have included while making it on the computer.

A quick story. For my original idea (original storyboard) I had wanted to use a piece of music by a trailer music company. I emailed them before the break and asked for their permission to use their music but they still haven't replied to me so I took their non-reply to mean no and changed my idea. I decided to use Grieg's 'In the hall of the Mountain King' because it is a well known piece to many. This would mean that from the outset, viewers would feel a sense of familiarity with the clip and be more receptive to the message it would portray. I think the viewers can also enjoy the clip more because they sort of 'feel' what is coming next but at the same time they have no idea. I heavily edited the piece down to 29 and a half seconds and then listened to it over and over and over. Then from what the piece sounded like to me, I planned out the animation. And then shot it.

So after my mind mapping and planning I went on to create the storyboard and take the RAW shots for my movie.
Here is the Storyboard:

Here is a direct link to a high resolution storyboard image so you can read the words on it: http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc457/SnoozerGuy/storyboard-1.jpg

And the RAW shots can all be found on photobucket here:
link:
http://photobucket.com/DSDN101JGRAWSHOTS

And finally, after a very long time editing and 'sound matching', here is the finished product. My DSDN 101 project 2. THE CLIP, uploaded to YouTube.

YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk_KIX8VFiU

(in my opinion, following the link is better because you can see it bigger than the embedded one, but still...)

Embedded copy:

DSDN 101 Hatch Resubmit

This is my resubmit for the DSDN 101 Hatch project.

2 second preview example: THE CLIP

My 2 second preview is here in the following link:
http://vimeo.com/22334370

...and here is my storyboard:  (as mentioned in the storyboard the end characters will not be stick figures but they will  be full characters.)

My hand-in for project 1

Please click the images to make them bigger.


Exercise 1 : Identity
Here is my work for exercise 1.

Exercise 2 : Draw
Here is my work for exercise 2.

Exercise 3 : Hatch

Here is my work for exercise 3.

Exercise 4 : Section

Here is my work for exercise 4.

Exercise 5 : Sketch
Here is my work for exercise 5.
















Exercise 6 : Axo
Here is my work for exercise 6.

Typography
Here is my font and quote.

Font








Quote

**If these are not high enough res then please let me know and I can put higher resolution images up.**

Initial Post

So, here it is. My first post of the year for dsdn101.


Pretty stunning I think.
The end.