Illegal/Rogue Design

Design is a culture that infiltrates everywhere around the globe, into the homes and lives of every country, culture, religion, political affiliation or belief. No person is safe from design, for as a human being, one is constantly creating and being influenced by the creations of others. From the smallest functioning tool to the industrialized and mass produced economy of the modern world, design has its place in every life. Sometimes, certain designs are banned or looked down upon. For example, the illegal and rogue cultures existing in many modern adolescent populations. Specifically, I would like to focus on drug culture. It is interesting to discover that drugs inspire people even more than sobriety, especially in the realm of design.

Things like piercings and tattoos are often seen as unneccessary elements of design, things that display an attitude of disregard or disrespect for the rules. Drug culture escalates this same idea, yet many musicians, actors, and various other categories of artists are only socially approved of once their designs have been inspired by the illegal. This does not come as any sort of surprise to those immersed in that culture, for the drug culture is often about blocking out the bad in life and experiencing an otherworldly happiness or state of understanding. Altering one's state of mind often results in a higher state of art as well, with greater appreciation for color, texture, and idea. Also, the same attitude of drug culture in its disregard for rules must come to apply to the rules of design, for drug immersed designers are more likely to take risks in their art as well as in their lives. So, if this type of drug culture is so looked down upon that it is deemed illegal and highly punishable, why is it that the rest of society sees the products of such a dangerous way of life as some of the greatest works ever created? Is this a reflection on the human race's inhibitions against rebelling, while we all still harbor an innate desire for these "out of the box" experiences?

Design History

In the field of design, it is important to study designers aside from oneself. We find inspiration from preceding designs as well as concurrent designs when creating our own, but to know the work of other designers is more than inspirational. In the past few months, I have been exposed to many different designers and their different mediums of design as a part of my learning process. By studying the works of artists like Cy Twombly, Nathan Shedroff, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Charles and Ray Eames, Christine Gambito, Andy Goldsworthy and more, I have been exposed to their different takes on design and their process and message.

It has been important to be aware of these designers and their past work as well as their current work, and it is likewise important to remain aware of other designers as I grow in my own design career. By studying designs outside of my own, I create a context for myself to design within. Every design has a message; the designs of OBEY present a more obvious political message that provides a good example. Political messages or just a social commentary are constantly being created by designers everywhere, and it is these messages that allow designers now to see and understand the time period and the meaning of such designs. By playing off of these designs and techniques, we learn to propose concurrent or contrasting ideas to already existing enterprises. This is what gives design its purpose, the message and the process are the true driving forces behind design. With designers constantly pushing to create something that will present their ideas or the social ideas they experience, we must be able to pay attention to such comments and understand the role of design in our society.

More Sustainability

Nathan Shedroff's book, Design is the Problem, is in no way the first that the design world has heard from the sustainability issue. In fact, sustainability has become more than a mere issue, it has morphed into a trend, particularly in design. After the initial concern over global warming and diminishing resources, the design world in particular has been sent into a frenzy, with everyone attempting to hop on board to prove that their design thinking has always been eco-friendly and that their designs will always be "green."

Unfortunately, sustainability in design is more than the "green" movement and the trends, it comes down to the fundamentals of design and the thorough thinking of designers and consumers. Shedroff recognizes these more important aspects of the move towards sustainabilty, saying that design can never be fully sustainable, but that with work and thought, design can stop being the problem and become a more sustainable solution.

Shedroff's book goes through the different ways to be more sustainable in design, beginning with the idea. Function and aesthetics must conform to sustainability, resulting in sleeker, simpler products such as the thin aluminum keyboards manufactured for Apple Inc. Shedroff's process then takes care of itself, once designers begin to think about their products in a more sustainable way, use of raw materials will follow. Shedroff stresses this, that materials must be minimized so as to be rid of excess waste, and that they must be both enduring and recyclable. According to Shedroff, the application of these aspects of design thinking will lead to more sustainability in design, invoking greater creativity in designers and elminating design as the problem.

Opposites Attract-Colors

On the traditional color wheel, each color has an opposite, a "complement." Some artists will start out thinking that to use complementary colors in close proximity is not to be done, a sort of color taboo. However, the use of complementary colors is much more than the existence of opposite ends of the spectrum, it can invoke strong emotion and therefore sell the intensity of a design through the conflict and resulting harmony of the opposite colors.

For example, the most common combination of complementary colors in modern society is the combination of red and green, especially during the winter holiday season. The red and green combinations invoke thoughts of Santa Claus, presents, winter, family, and food. Despite cultural differences in the world, most will at least recognize Christmas from the combination of red and green. The complementary colors are able to invoke such an easy association because they have such impact when placed together. The red and green theme of Christmas is known worldwide for it represents a thing of so much harmony and celebration that it is easily recognized.

Though red and green are opposites on the color wheel, no new artist should shy away from such use, rather, the art world should and does recognize the potential impact possible with complementary colors. In this case, opposites attract to produce something with more meaning, something likely to be remembered, all because of harmonious color conflict.

Objectified

Gary Hustwit's film Objectified explores the processes, meanings, identity, and properties of design objects. The film presents numerous designs, from little, every day gadgets to larger scale, industrial technologies. Hustwit explores these objects, discovering them from the inside out.

In exploring design, Hustwit has found his belief that "every object tells a story," that every design has more meaning behind it that its mere function or appearance. Rather than remaining with our predisposed ideas of an object, we are encouraged to wonder about its function and how its structure lends to that function. Then we must ask why its function is important in society, or if it is unimportant, why it continues to exist despite a lack of necessary function. These questions lead on to further exploration of how the object was made and who made it. These details will give us insight into the reasoning behind designs, the passion and thinking behind an object.

Objectified takes the viewer through this process of deconstructing design and rethinking it with many objects and many different designers. It is the difference in passion and creativity between these people which is significant in design; innovation and new aesthetics or functions arise not from design itself, but from the designers who pour themselves and their thinking into the objects which then tell their story.

Gestalt Gives Power to Advertising

An image used as an advertisement looks to call attention to itself, therefore such an image should draw the eye in and invoke an emotional response in its viewer. This image shows a Southern California attitude, what with the sun and the surf; showing off natural beauty.

This image makes great use of focal point to draw the eye in with the incomplete circle. At the ends of the circle, there is an implied line which the eye continues along down the shadow of the body. This line is broken then by the horizon, bringing the eye back out and around to encompass the whole picture once more. The colors contribute to draw the eye in by emphasizing stronger silhouettes in the body and the horizon, contrasting with the soft, blurred lights of the water and the lens.

The circular line of this image not only begins the eyeline, but it surrounds focal point, drawing in and then sustaining the attention of the viewers eye. By encompassing every element of this design within the dark, visually strong, circle, everything is tied together. This grouping unifies the elements of the image to come together into a feeling of nature and beauty, that attitude of Southern California.

An image or a design isn’t simply good or bad, interesting or boring; it takes many elements to build an aesthetically powerful image. Lines work to draw the eye in, sometimes unifying elements in order to sustain focus within the image. Colors, contrast, and silhouette give meaning. All of these elements work together to create a successful image; giving the tools to manipulate viewers and potential customers.

Nelson Gallery

The African-American made quilts shown at the Richard L. Nelson Gallery show more than beauty and craftsmanship, they certainly tell stories and invoke feelings and memories of hardship and hope. The quilts speak of hard-lived lives and of morality and ideals. Through their dark and bold colors and the off-kilter juxtaposition of line, this artwork truly represents the purpose of art itself.

Color plays a huge role at this gallery, throwing together mixes of dark and bold or the more subtle flashes of bright color. Dark lines dominate this particular quilt, casting shadow on the whole piece. Darkness for this artist represents the sorrow, hate, pain, and work which soiled America during slavery. However, the darkness of the quilt is broken up by flashes of meek yellow and a hearty pink. These small bits show the hope and perseverance which, despite hardship, manage to shine through and contend for dominance amongst such shadow.

In addition to being lit by pieces of color, this quilt's dark, bold lines are brought to a stop by each other as well. The positioning of the quilt's squares allows each piece to stand out on its own, while it also recedes into a background all together. The bold lines which pop out, are forced to break and make way for the lines of another piece; preventing dark colors from overwhelming any one piece of the quilt. Such juxtaposition represents coexistence as well as conflict. Each separate square has its own colors, its own dark mood. Yet when sandwiched by its surrounding squares, one squares colors compete with those of the others, despite similarity. The squares, like people, have their own identity and emotion; both of which are put in check by the proximity of other squares, causing conflicting eye line and a possibly confusing pattern. However, when viewed at a distance, the quilt is harmonious and flowing as a whole.

Though the dark lines and competing squares represent the hardships of slavery and the sad conflicts of humanity, the pops of color and the overall harmony of this quilt hint at hope and a will to overcome.

More Power to You

Today, fashion and retail are all about marketing and money. The consumer to this industry is all about buying the new trends, the same items which retailers force upon them through endless and very clever advertising. Few retailers or consumers take a step back to see the vicious circle of supply and demand. The retailer stocks up a bulk supply of the newest trends, and then goes all out in advertising, using subtle tools to make people feel that they need whatever new trend is being sold. The consumer responds, nearly brainwashed by aggressive advertising, creating a greater demand for the trendy product. The unfortunate effects show easily manipulated consumers and corrupt, greedy retailers. The consequence of this circle that is given even less attention is the huge loss of creativity and originality in many retail stores.

Retailers like Bath and Body Works, Victoria's Secret, PacSun, Urban Outfitters (etc...) practice a type of marketing called "power retailing," a key to their success. Power retail involves corporate planning and control; every display and every product is set out and provided in specific numbers, specific places, and with little to no room for adjustment. This allows the company to have homogeneous stores, where they will be sure that their customer will see the messages and be taken in by the appearance of their stores. This sameness is strictly followed at such retail stores, apparently boosting the retailer's popularity. However, at the same time that this is a successful business technique, power retail takes the originality out of every single store owned by that company. There are no real people behind the marketing, therefore there is no true emotion or understanding of a product by the company which sells it. Even the most meaningful product is reduced to just another trend by greedy corporations, and the truly original pieces are lost among the show along with the morals of retail.

Sustainable Design Thinking

Today, the topic of sustainability creeps up everywhere; in the homes of the eco-conscious, in the lives of those who do not feel the need for more sustainable living, in government plans, as well as in small time designs or those of a large industry. The bottom line is, whether our planet is in a crisis or not, sustainability has been brought to the global attention, and it is an important tool for the future.

Sustainability is explored even in fashion design; this picture shows a dress made out of corn husks (in 24 hours no less) by Austin Scarlett. Scarlett's dress is a part of a Project Runway challenge in which each designer was asked to create a dress from materials found at a grocery store. Each season of Project Runway, in fact, asks its designers to work with unusual materials, from recycling to plant life to candy. Though nobody will be making and mass producing clothing made from edibles any time soon, it is the presence of these innovative sources which leads the way for this reality show towards sustainability in fashion. In fact, many designers have now made a point to work with more available and less harmful materials. For example, bamboo clothing has become more popular, and designers who utilize recycled materials are able to bring a new vision to their work.

Whether in fashion or in government, sustainability is a big discussion. Why is it that something as small as a corn-husk dress can be compared to the drama of the oil fields and the encouragement of wind or water-fueled power around the globe? Everything on our Earth plays into everything else around it, connecting us all. It is this connection which (whether global warming exists or not) asks us all to work cooperatively to keep the planet livable. Without the beauty of nature and its resources, our lives cannot function as we are used to, this is why design can have such a huge impact on sustainability. Design has the ability to bring the issues to the front, to get the word out around the globe, then it is time for government and society to step in and take it further with global sustainable thinking.

Nature's Hand

Andy Goldsworthy's art is impermanent, unplanned, and not for display or sale. Andy Goldsworthy's art does not rely on the eyes of others, the eyes of institutions, to promote or house and appraise his pieces, for he does not care for the generally accepted rules or ideals about art. Goldsworthy's art is not just design, it is nature.

Goldsworthy creates his pieces in a natural environment, out of nature itself. In fact, the artist is inspired by his medium and only his medium in the immediate time and space in which he creates. The lack of planning or agonizing over a prospective design or intended result gives a different quality to Goldsworthy's art, something more, well, natural. His day takes him into nature, where inspiration from nature finds Goldsworthy and the artist becomes the tool; it is not his point of view that he is led to create, it is nature's essence and the free-flowing feeling which causes him to create such art.

Goldsworthy's method and his medium allow him to be more than an artist, but to become a tool of the earth, a helper in expressing the rules and ways of nature. His art is real, more-so, perhaps, than the museum and gallery artists who depict human lives and human interactions, because his art is nature and because it is the direct result of unplanned, raw inspiration.