Course Reflection: The End

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this class. The content was interesting and even the lectures piqued my interest (being a history buff). I was especially fond of the projects, though I felt like they could have used a little bit more structure to them. Not only did Gabe say that many would be emailing him right before they were due trying to figure out what to do, but I myself often thought where to start due to the lack of rules. I like how they are so open that you can do just about anything but at the same time I worried if what I was producing was what he was looking for. Had it been a little more structured (and by that I mean like one more rule, even a small one, per project) I feel like my confidence in my skills and my ideas would have been greater and that I may have been able to produce better finished products. Other than that, I wasn't fond of blogging at first, seeing as I'd kind of swore to myself to never do it, but as the quarter moved on I began to see it as something entirely different from my previous belief of people whining about their lives daily. It is a nice place to find ideas, designs, up and coming concepts and news on certain things, which I know follow. The books were alright, they did their job but I wasn't overly fond of reading them, some things were interesting, but the majority of it seemed to drone on. Lastly Gabe, you were a great professor, and even though I'm still thinking about going into industrial design, you've certainly put the idea of applying for interior in there as well. Final thoughts: I loved the class, the projects and experiences from it, and I hope that they've at least started me on the right track to one day becoming a designer.

Coleman Project: The Home Stretch

J08
J09

The team:
Be
Ben
Cindy
Ian
Julia
Rachel

More or less our project consisted of making a clutter free area within the kitchen through the development of pots with collapsible handles which nested within each other. Big decisions made were the design of the lids and their handles (made in a rainbow shape allowing smaller lids to slide in beneath them and fit comfortably), the packaging to be made from canvas around a recyclable cardboard cylinder, and our kiosk to look like a tree showing off the product (subtly reminiscent of outdoorsmanship of Coleman). Overall the team worked fairly well together. There were a few bumps to begin with, but once we got a few key concepts settled out we effortlessly finished the project. Small qualms I had were that, one of our team members didn't show on the day of presenting, and promises made to develop and post said powerpoint in the drop box were not fulfilled with the deadline quickly approaching. Besides these problems our organization was fairly efficient as we split the work up produced our portions of the project, brought them back to the table, tweaked designs and finalized, utilizing with great success the drop box set up by Julia.
I began with a kind of self imposed role of group leader, motivating the group, ensuring that we stayed on track and that everyone was heard equally and without scrutiny throughout the process. In initial steps I brought the ideas of a static charged lamp as well as a blanket/duvet cover which could be adjusted by the layers of the Coletherm placed inside. These ideas did not make it to the final cutting board but the blanket had there been more to the idea was our second choice. As far as work done, I developed the logo and icon change, picked the color scheme that we would work with on our kiosk as well as the packaging and line's image. After initial ideas were brought back to the group, I helped Ben to finalize the kiosk in Photoshop, imposing wood and logos onto the kiosk. I then would also redesign/render the packaging in Photoshop from the initial designs and changes to create the final design. I also helped with cleaning up a few images for the powerpoint. The only thing that I can think to have done different would have been early involvement in the process. I'm more of a see what people have and then jump off their ideas or better it kind of person, so when we came back on the first two classes I brought nothing to the table from home, but while there created many ideas. Had I put more into it from home in the earlier steps we may have finished it faster with less hassle. Overall I'm very happy with the project, I feel it's far from finished, but since it is only a 200 level class I thought we did marvelous. Not to sound full of myself either but I feel like our project was a solution to a problem where as many other groups designed and found how the product may resolve issues. It was a great experience and I look forward to the many projects I'll hopefully have like this down the road.

Project Progression: Parte Due

Last Progression

Team Members:
Be
Ben
Cindy
Ian
Julia
Rachel

Where we are:
We are in the final stages of the process. Having made the decision in the last week to create pots with collapsible handles and packaging them in a recyclable cardboard cylinder with cloth stretched around it. Now we are making final renders from our preliminary sketches and bringing it all together in a powerpoint.

What I've been doing:
We split up the workload following the last meeting, each person took an aspect upon themselves, I chose to redesign the logo and icon of Coleman. On top of that design when we reconvened to work on the rendering and powerpoint I helped with speeding up the rendering process for the icon and kiosk in photoshop having previous skills. I will be finishing up with the final pictures of packaging. Though we are very close to being done (both in a deadline sense as well as our process) we still need to finish some of the product and packaging rendering. That may not sound like too much work but in actuality will still be quite a bit of work. On top of that we are pulling all of the pictures together in the powerpoint, and seeing as it is waiting on our work to be finished is still incomplete. But we should be finished if not today than tomorrow.
The entire group has been contributing, but deadlines and fully constructed works (sketches, renders, etc. ) have been a problem for a few of us. Overall though, we will finish on time and everyone has contributed.

Day Three Notes
Day Four Notes
Logo
Packaging
Icon
Us working:
1
2
3

RR08

The final two chapters of Heskett are basically summarizing what has been said and where design is headed. In Chapter 9 they talk about the 3 contextual influence: Professional organization, business context and governmental regulations. The one that I find the most interesting is the first, as unlike many other professions with broad fields (med, law, etc.), design barely holds a central organization which holds standards for those entering the profession. With this they also talk about how designers have to work either for large corporations looking to better their products and their company as a whole or for small or medium enterprises (SME), niche companies, which lead a product/trend field. The last has to do with governmental influence with regulations on dimensions, product emissions, how green it is, etc.
At the end of the chapter they define a fourth context as the broad public's perception of design. Despite having vast amounts of research on consumers by producers, their is little know on the publics stance on design in the world.
The last chapter seems to be concerned more with where the improvement of world is going rather than design. It does mention how design is involved, pointing out that the global economy shouldn't and isn't run by just a few large companies, and that there are smaller companies, like mentioned in Chapter 9, that go to influence the global market and future. They also spoke a lot about poverty and third world countries, being important in the process, as they are industrialized they will and are taking away from the workers of a companies' home country, and how designers will be essential to keep smaller companies, who are not outsourcing, up to speed with the major corporations through design.

Coleman Project Progression

Dream Team:
Be
Ben
Cindy
Ian
Julia
Rachel

Where we are:
Though we are on track to making some crucial decisions, the group overall is still in the preliminary stages of the design process. We are especially keen on defining the potential users, and I believe that once we choose who we are marketing toward the rest will quickly fall in place. We have begun to look more toward the average suburban household and have done a little research on that target.

What I've been doing:
Overall I'd like to think that I've partially taken on a leadership role in the group; leading discussion, ensuring that everyone in the group has a voice (despite the loud conditions we're having to work in), and at least attempting to keep us on a track moving forward, though progress has been slow, which I can take responsibility for, having harped on the need to define our user in more detail, as well as getting ahead of ourselves before, by thinking up product concepts before we knew what the problem was. Really I fully believe that once we figure out our target audience, we will have leaps and bounds of progress that has lacked so far. We as a group need to make a decision.
I feel like we have a long way to go, and that I (especially) among others in the group could be putting more into it. Whether it be more work outside of the classroom or communicating better with the group, pulling everyone together outside to get more of this done, and on a better time table. For the most part I am enjoying the project's feel and the group as a whole.

What we've done:
Day 1 Brainstorming:
1
2
3
Mind map

Day 2 Brainstorming:
1

Goal of Session 3: Decide on target audience, start/finalize research, define demographics problems/needs, begin thinking up product concepts.

RR07

In the last few chapters of Cradle to Cradle the authors spoke of the transition of recycling of biodegradable materials in the production of products to the new ways in which we develop cheaper, faster means that may be extremely harmful to the environment, due to the lack of biodegradable materials as well as chemicals that could be released in use of these products. Following that they spoke of the many different energy sources of renewable energy that should be utilized instead of squandering the non renewable resources that may also be (and in most instances are) harmful to the environment. Finally they commented on how the reader could put all the knowledge they've learned in this book into affect. With the simple 5 steps of:

1. getting rid of the known perpetrators of these crimes against the environment, and not using their products.
2. follow informed preferences, so find your preference to help the situation whether you're in for the ecological design, respect as a person or for pleasure and delight. 
3. create a list of problematic or partially harmful products.
4. remove the problematic aspects, in their example a car. They took it's design and materials and made it to where it could be disassembled and recycled more easily. 
5. finally, reinvention. Plain and simple make something cleaner, faster, more efficient than the current design.

Things that I found interesting in the reading was the old leather shoe design. In past they used vegetable based tanners. These took much longer to make and cost more for the consumer, but they were biodegradable, posed no threat to the environment (through the releasing of chemicals and gases in the production process, that monstrous hybrids create). 

I also found Ralph Waldo Emerson's predictions as he return from Europe on a steamboat that humans connection to nature was quickly fading in the arrival of an industrial revolution. As this book has continually harped, this separation goes to compound more problems (even if lesser than the year or two before) on to the declining ecological health of the Earth. 

Lastly I thought that the lotion experiment was very interesting, as people generally bought the ugly eco friendly container merely because of the gaudiness of the luxurious bottle caused them to feel unintelligent. I can see how most of the fight for environmental change is mental, as many people either forget about the cause or just don't care, but with a little behavioral science people can be manipulated to help. Not to say that it should be that way, but if it's the baby step needed for them to continue to better the world and to teach them how to respect the Earth just as that bottle allowed them to be respected.   

Online Scavenger Hunt

5 manufacturers/retailers of outdoor equipment: 

1. http://www.hssc.com/index
2. http://www.coleman.com/coleman/home.asp
3. http://www.zamberlan.com/index.php
4. http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/index.html
5. http://www.kelty.com/

5 manufacturers/retailers of indoor home goods:

1. http://www.crateandbarrel.com/
2. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/
3. http://www.potterybarn.com/
4. http://www.worldmarket.com/home/index.jsp
5. http://www.homegoods.com/index.asp

I believe an indoor home good is anything that adds utility or aesthetics to a home. Whether it is a toaster or a throw pillow, indoor home goods, make up the interior design of a home as much as the color of the walls or type of floor. 

CR07

First off I'd like to say that the founders from Cobego coming in to talk to us was quite interesting, but, they seemed to drag on about most of the things that they talked about. As much as I'd like to say that their presentation impressed me, it lacked a form of professionalism, and just seemed too conversational (which of course allowed them to trail off on billion other things). I did find their concept ideas and the steps that they showed us to be fascinating though, and taking a second, closer look at the powerpoint, I especially like their concept on the new fire hydrant. I also felt that the inclusion of studying abroad to be a bit unnecessary for their presentation, though studying abroad is considered a big opportunity to the college experience it just lacked a strong connection to the rest of the topics they spoke about. The marshmallow tower experiment was interesting though, especially the video explaining different experiences by different fields of study (designers and architects having best designs, business having less, except in the case of a CEO on the team). The most surprising thing about that being the overall success of children over adults, with nearly all of the childrens' designs standing at the end of the allotted time. Overall the presentation, despite the few small dislikes about it, was very informative and continued to inspire me to pursue this field of study.

Letter Seek

A

 C

 F

 G

 H

 I

 J

 M

 O

 R

 S

 T

 X

Z

RR06

So I found the first three chapters to be fairly interesting, but they do seem to be repeating themselves a lot. Granted each section is on a new "topic" the authors continue to drill this idea that what you consume, work around and generally promote big industry to build is bad for not only the environment but you yourself. Though, I'm sure his information is factual, I'm having trouble believing that all of the chemicals he says are in these products are active, and that by default some of them just have to be inert. More so in my honest opinion, the authors should live in a bubble separating themselves from this extremely destructive and harmful world that they have built up in these chapters. Despite changing topics they continue to more or less harp on their being a problem with the initial design, chapter after chapter. I did find his analysis on the industrial revolution to be interesting and his analogies to be very effective, but the terms he coins are a bit dramatic: products plus, cradle to grave production and intergenerational remote tyranny. His ideas on clean production and working like a tree are sensible but a tad on the unfeasible side at the time. On a side note as well, it just feels like he's trying to cram in as much as he can in as little space as possible, the reader can be a bit overwhelmed by his barrage of (sometimes supported/mostly anonymous) facts. I do agree with the statement he's saying but he could have organized it, loosened it up a bit. Also along those lines, his morbidity in thinking that the system is extremely bad, even when noting some positive change, he quickly re-quips that it's not enough, and that it's an all or nothing effort. I realize that he's playing the extremes for emphasis on his points but it's a tad on the heavy side. "If brute force isn't working, you're not using enough of it."??? For anyone to believe that companies, industries, the economy work like this seem to have quite a grudge against any who's thrown away simple trash. He is even against recycling efforts, again, I realize he's raising awareness with extremes, but he makes it seem as if this world is hopeless, and that we're doomed to asphyxiate from the same soot on our collars and cuffs or from the sporadic weather induced by global warming. Once I got past all of the soap box hollering I found his ideas to be very relevant to the new age and a necessity needing to be put into action as soon as possible. WE NEED TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, or at least the bastardized offspring of the 20th and 21st centuries which is so wasteful, negligent to hazards for cost improvements, and built to last long enough to keep consumer satisfaction with the brand or product. 

Seeing is Believing

I chose to look more into the correlation and complimenting (and sometimes contrasting) aspect that color has within design. Color is a very important part of design as it can invoke emotion, deceive the eye, creating illusions of space and dimension, add to something's aesthetic value, as well as create a multitude of problems for designers (especially interior). For other fields it can suggest or impose a feeling of being rushed or calm to slow down the user's time with the site or product. Color may seem like an after thought on many products but it is far from that, being a well thought out aspect important to hooking in consumers or making a room visually pleasing. 


One way in which color can be tricky is how we perceive it. When I say this it is less about the differentiation of: this is blue this yellow, but colors can be drastically or even subtly changed by lighting conditions that it is put within. This is called metamerism in which a color or colors may look one hue or match in a certain light but do not in another. Essentially the varying light sources, whether it is an incandescent light bulb, florescent or natural light can create inconsistent appearances with the same color, each having different properties from the hue of the light to reflectiveness. Not all colors are affected by metamerism but mauve, lilac, taupe, celadon, grayish blues and tan are often problematic for color differentiation in certain light source. If you'd like to read more visit: http://www.colormatters.com/r_barclay.html


When dealing with light and how it reflects off of different colors we must delve a little deeper into something called the subtractive theory. Essentially the subtractive theory dictates that a color absorbs all of the light/color frequencies, excluding the one it is. The blue bar at the top of this page appears blue because it is reflecting only that frequency back to your eyes. The subtractive theory deals with pigments and print. The opposing system is that of light known, fittingly contrasting pigments as the additive theory. In this theory instead of color being absorbed excluding the reflected hue and white being the absence of color, white is the epitome of color and mixture. If you'd like to read more visit: http://daphne.palomar.edu/design/color.html

There are also different systems of colors respectively called CMYK and RGB. CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (or black) and is typically used for print as it deals with pigments. RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue, and is used for most digital media as it uses the light system of color. That is why if you look very close to an older tv screen (prior to 720 and HD screens) you can usually see red, green and blue squares that make up the screen. If you'd like to read more visit: http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/a-look-into-color-theory-in-web-design/ 

Other effects that color can have are psychological ones. For instance old people and babies tend to dislike yellow seeing as it scientifically proven to take more chemicals in the eye to perceive it, which can take away from other brain functions. Red food tends to make the eater hungrier as the color causes a spike in the viewer's metabolism. Blue and Pink have calming effects. Gray promotes productivity, and surprisingly creativity. Color can create a multitude of effects on someone viewing them, and can even induce actions if placed in or on the right things, ie. a fridge that's red, it's not too practical a color for a fridge but it can increase your appetite every time you walk past it. If you'd like to read more visit: 
http://www.writedesignonline.com/resources/design/rules/color.html


On top of color's effects on the real world the virtual one also reaps it's benefits. With much of consumerism going to the internet, companies must appeal to customers' perception of them, or provoke a response from them. In the case of web design, colors such as red induce more impulsive decisions, yellow serves as a great attention grabber, and green seems to just drive people away, except if the company is associated with nature (environmentalism, etc.). With the many responses people have to colors on a website people can almost be persuaded just by a color scheme in front of their eyes. According to psychologists 60 percent of product/service rejection or purchasing can be attributed to site's colors. If you'd like to read more visit: http://www.pepfx.com/articles/web_design/webdesign_colors.php

CR06

This week's lecture was certainly not the most exciting, but it was very eye opening especially to the corruptibility and overall greed that can be found in industry. Unfortunately we had to learn about the power of patents and copyrights, but better than coming across them farther down the road. Though it is sad that many large companies expend copious amounts of money just to sit on ideas but it is their right to do so, and since they are the owners of it, they can choose to withhold someone else profitability off of the same or similar idea. I also found it interesting the amount of technical and legal jargon that a designer must be accustomed to when working with a client. Of course it is to be expected when drawing up a contract, but it seems that the more we look into the process of design, the more complicated it becomes. We talked about lags in the process, and now it's perfectly understandable how such lags can exist. There are so many spots in which either the client or the designer can get snagged up in a small detail, whether it's the price of the service or the many steps in bringing a product to life to just the technicalities of looking/researching patents (for industrial) and copyrights (for visual communication). It's a wonder that anything actually gets to production. But it seems manageable and I still look to pursue the profession.
Something that especially got under my skin both with the powerpoint and the film, is the term "intellectual property." Granted I could go into an hour debate on this topic I just want to say everything is stolen/inspired from something else. As we've said many times in this class, design is building upon or bettering something. Innovation happens, but design is about taking precedence and using it to create something better. The problem though is that people that pay or claim the idea is their's just seem limiting on both our potential in advancement (especially in the field of medicine) as well the simplest of ideas, as it seems everyone's out for a buck, or at least big business is. Taking this info from my MacroEcon class, yes it is important for money to be circulated through companies, and big business having more resources to allocate and expend on research is a good thing, but when they deny the little man from pursuing what may be a revolutionary idea (that they are sitting on) or something that could become the inspiration for other bigger ideas, they restrict man's ever lasting drive to come closer to perfection. Intellectual property is fine and dandy, but if you can't do anything with it, it is simply an idea/dream, and until it can be fulfilled no one should have right to an idea. Throughout history we see products being built at the same time but in different countries. The first engines were able to be put in production in the US as well as France in a very close time table, so ideas are found/developed by more than one person, but its the person that does something with it that should be able to call it theirs.
As for the movie I'd like to say that I'm entirely for the idea that they conveyed, but it comes down to how far they go. I like mashups from time to time, and I can understand that it's art, but I disagree with the statement that the music of past was believed untouchable, it's not, but I feel they should be respected. They are well known and liked for a reason, and though some mashups can be good, some can pervert the idea and message being delivered by a song. But being so opposed to the idea of intellectual property I have to support that once something has been released into the world that it should be public domain, as it is just that, in the public's hands.

Shut up and look around!

For my journal entry I chose the trip to the library, here was my findings:

1. The columns in the west reading room composed of solid, unchanged concrete greatly contrast the rest of the room's sheik design. 
2. "BY MAKING THEM SPEAK;" "THE MOMENT FLEETING, AND;" "ALLAH, SAYS THAT MAN AND WOMAN." A sampling of the bold faced words found on the floor, pulled from many sources of books and worldly regions, Middle East, Europe, etc.
3. The wood trimming on the wall match the windows. 3 ft of window and a bar, the trimming on the opposite wall has 3 ft of siding then a separating piece of wood to the next. 
4. The room's lighting is symmetrical. There are the bar lights which appear to be in an indistinct pattern until you look to the other side, as well as the regular inlaid lights which go around and through the center of the elliptical roof. 
5. The PA systems are also symmetrical located exactly near similar lights on the opposite sides of the room.
6. Up at the computer stations on the floor above which overlooks the reading room you can see the shadow of the underside of the table as if a light source is being shined from directly behind them. It creates an intricate design of legs and wires. 
7. The grand window bows outward but is bolted to the concrete columns at every third window, does that do anything for the structural integrity?
8. There are two fire alarm notifiers one on each wall at the entrance to the room. I find it interesting that despite a lack of needing another they still continue the symmetry. 
9. The books on the particular shelf in the West Reading room are nearly all the same color to a shelf. A volume of turquoise books, red books, black books, magenta, etc.
10. Similar to the fire alarms there are fire extinguishers on both far ends of the room. 
11. Despite being horizontal (2D) the dots in the ceiling appear to be lined up at a slant, optical illusion. 
12. The glass on the walkway above is clear, but the glass that covers the actual walkway is frosted. 
13. From the lights' reflections on the ceiling panels it appears that they are concave toward the floor. 
14. There are four people in the orange chairs that go around the outside interior of the room who are slouched in their chairs reading something, as opposed to the rest who are sitting up and over their material at the end of the chair. The funny thing is the symmetry continues with where they are in the room. 
15. A girl just yawned for a good 15 seconds. 
16. This rooms overall size seems to unnecessarily big at first, but it's openness does seem to allow cluttered thoughts to float away to the top. 
17. A girl just took the brown armchair that opposed mine, it creates yet another symmetry with the table to my left as they have a couch that faces my table's couch and a chair that faces outside as mine faces inward toward the library. 
18. There is a commemoration to OSU Student Athletes for the room on the South wall, but not on the North wall, a break in the seemingly ceaseless symmetry.
19. The floor which has all of the book quotes is aesthetically pleasing but when it comes to moving a chair or if you're just sitting in a rolling chair can be distracting as you roll over the letters. 
20. There are 4 square lights at the room's entrance which again create symmetry. 
21. There are three sets of semicircles on the ceiling in a diamond pattern on the South, North and Center of the room. They appear to metal but not the stainless steal that the ceiling panels look to be. It contrasts them.
22. Of all the long bar lights that hang from the ceiling none of their chords are straight or taunt, they all have noticeable curvatures in their chords. 
23. On the central book shelf floors, the pieces which hold the glass to the floors alternate by floor. One floor they are found in an x shape the others two parallel lines. 
24. The chairs more inside the building are deeper hues, blood reds as opposed to the brown, pastel orange and light beige colors of the chairs in the West Reading Room. 
25. The majority of people in the room have some sort of beverage, but overall the majority of them have some sort of reusable bottle. 
26. Do those who tend to go elsewhere to study usually have reusable sources to drink from or disposable sources like coffee cups and water/gatorade bottles?
27. The rolling chairs in this room are like toned down versions of Aeron Chairs, as they contain an ergonomic back rest as well as bucket like seat that contour to a person's body. Unlike the Aeron they cannot adjust many of these features except the height of the chair. 
28. The foot rests appear to have prints with cursive written on them, but I can't seem to make out any of the words. They look like chicken scratch but for all that I know it could be in a different language (one of the words looks like fuo).
29. There are three placards which tell that the books on the shelves are Presidential Papers. 2 on the most inner (to the center of the room) bookshelf and most outer shelf on the right side and one on the the outermost left shelf. Not on the inner left shelf, again disrupting the symmetry of the room.
30. There appears to be an equal amount of people on both sides of the room, but the right side of the room seems heavier, (perhaps from the imbalance of small items such as #18 & 29 or because the right looks over mirror lake and many trees where as the left looks off to North campus and some white building off in the distance. 
31. The table I'm sitting at has many overlapping rings from a cup, they appear sticky. 
32. At first glance this room appears fairly clean, but I'm am SURROUNDED by crumbs and dirt between the letters on the floor. 
33. Of the people using laptops in the room, only 5 have something other than a Mac.
34. The windows at both sides of the room reflect the hanging lights and kind of mimic the image created when two mirrors are facing one another and you see on forever. It is obvious that they can't reflect that far especially in the daylight, but the excessive amounts of symmetry do create that illusion. 
35. There is a floor which is nearly empty of books on it's shelves which causes rows of repeating book holders which are there only to hold themselves up.
36. Should their name change with their current function? Are they art or just un-utilized pieces of metal?
37. A janitor just walked across the walkway a floor above with two trashcans, one red and one gray. Funny enough he was wearing a red and white striped shirt and a gray vest. 
38. The majority of people in this room look as though they need sleep, or are asleep (as is a couple on one of the couches and someone in the orange chairs.
39. None of the chairs in and around this room are made of the same material. The brown chairs are (pseudo leather), the beige rolling chairs are a plastic polymer, the orange are a kind of texturized beaded fabric, and the red appear to be suede.
40. I'm surprised there isn't something written in the red suede chairs' sides. If I were sitting in them, and were to get bored, which is highly possible I'd probably end of drawing something in the opposite grain as the rest of the chair. 
41. There are only one directory on each floor just left of the stair case (as there should be), again removing symmetry, but they again are on the right side.
42. If you're walking into the West Reading Room (facing west) all of the things I've talked about have been on the left, is this because people favor their right, and will typically go toward that, which also appears less cluttered (in the sense of the little things I've mentioned)? Or do people even notice? Or does their subconscious?
43. There are electrical outlets built into the floors, they stick out being black on the bronze floor. They on the other hand do not appear to be symmetrical.
44. The window seem to have a blueish green tinge to them. 
45. The concrete pillars/columns are smooth but have pock marks in the surface.
46. The central column/open space in the middle of the library reminds me of many hotels that use that, notably the Embassy Suites. 
47. Why are the stairs on one side of the building stone/granite, while they are glass on the other?
48. Amongst the bold letters in the floor there are (double) bold words in the very center horizontal axis that are descend alphabetically from the South side of the room to the North.
49. The armchairs (orange and brown) have tables with lacquered wood, opposing that, the beige chairs have tables which are metallic with the neutral colors of black and gray. Does this make the armchairs more inviting for reading and rolling chairs for studying?
50. The orange chairs have strange foot rest which are made of plastic with a concave curvature, they appear to be better for collecting dust and dirt in their shape than the human foot.

Well that's about all I've got for observations in this room. It only took 2 hours of meticulous looking, but hey sometimes it takes time to see what you are so blatantly surrounded by all the time.

CR05

There was a lot of things to pull from this week of class. First off, I found the color presentation to be both very interesting as well as informative. Granted I learned most of that stuff in art class in the 3 grade, learning the terminology to analogous and slit complimentary were good things to take away from the presentation. I also had never known about the advancing and receding of different colors (warm and cool) but it does make sense and now that I think about it cool colors do typically make areas look more spacious. As for eco awareness and design I thought I was at least more or less on the ball with that previous to class. But from the powerpoint the idea of built for disassembly really stuck with me. Most of the things that we consume are not capable of this, maybe for aesthetics or purely because the company just wants you to buy more of their products when they do inevitably break. Whether for monetary reasons or lack of research making things repairable not only takes away the production consumption disposal cycle it also creates jobs for those who repair them and makes companies think more about quality instead of quantity. Really the key to making eco friendly products work (in the sense of design that doesn't go straight to the dump) is the shifting of the societal norm away from massive industrialization and back to artisan work, work that was of quality and that people typically came back to for that. The instance that seems to do the best job at this is the Aeron Chair, designed to be the most ergonomic chair on the market. It takes recycled materials (94%), comfort from the many knobs which can adjust pitches and angles of nearly everything to the lumbar adjustable pad which can be moved up or down and in or away from the curvature of the back to be at maximum comfort. Overall I believe that concept of being green in design is a huge step that we should be moving toward in the future, as we move away from quickly made, cheaply produced and horrendously designed pieces with one thing in mind... money.  

RR05

I thought that the introduction of Cradle to Cradle was an interesting take on the environmental issue, but the authors did seem to go to extremes in explaining their mission. When you dissect nearly everything done to it's base components and look at their harmful effects or even what they're made of, you're bound to find something dangerous in everything, but the thing he doesn't mention is that the things found in the chair or rug or laptop, may be the smallest fractions that may not be harmful even with extended use. On the other hand he could be completely right, but I just found his manner of addressing it to be a bit on the "what if?" side looking too much into it. On the other hand I am environmentally conscious, and I agree with what the remainder of the chapter had to say. I was impressed by the authors' credentials and found the explanation of simplicity in design to be very interesting. From the lack of resources and adaptation that the Japanese made with the ancient houses composed of wood frames and paper walls, to the goat skin which became taunt during rains, insulating. It kind of reminds me of the short clip seen in class about the bio mimicry, in that we take things from the environment that have survived thousands of years and apply them to the modern world to more efficiently live our lives. The only difference here being that they were from nature doing what they were naturally designed to do. This within a world, as they said, within it's 150 years of industrialization we've destroyed so many ecosystems in peace, it can go to better our impact on the world by doing what designers do best, improve function.

Hunting Down Design

The partner in crime: Julia Langholt
The Objective: Explore the hidden designs both around campus and those in plain view.
The Materials: We used my digital camera for this project, and I transferred them to her laptop via flash drive.
The Tough Part: Together the two of us brainstormed the best possible ways to complete the tasks, how our composition should look (the creative mojo behind adding life to the pictures), and we both took pictures for one another at each of the checkpoints. Mutually we researched clues 3-5 having started our journey at Knowlton's Architecture Library taken from Clue 2, as well as Julia's knowledge (from class) of the Barcelona Chairs' location, I found the name of the chair at knowlton.osu.edu/files/vitualtour/tourchairs2.pdf. Next we travelled to Clue 4 at the SEL, followed by Clue 5 at the Thompson Library, and finishing our adventure at Clue 3 The Wexner.

The Clues:
Clue #1

Barcelona Chair, Knowlton Architecture Library.

Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

The Barcelona Chair is the only exception to the Bauhaus Design School's creed to design for the "common man" as it was designed for the Royalty of Spain. 

Clue #2

The Paimio Armchair 41 Chair, Knowlton Architecture Library.

Designed by Alvar Aalto.

The Paimio's design was inspired by Marcel Breuer's famous Wassily Chair.

I'm reading Dwell Magazine, devoted to the modernistic design and utility in the home.

Clue #3

The Wexner Center for the Arts.

Designed by Peter Eisenman. 

The scaffolding, typically a temporary aspect in buildings, and prominent part of the Wexner,  was added specifically as a non-building, to accentuate the lack of shelter, for a shelter of art works.

Clue #4

Science and Engineering Library.

Designed by Philip Johnson.

The symmetry and arches of the SEL are the most interesting detail, especially when you take in account it's brother building also designed by Johnson, the Mathematics Tower, which both go to display the mathematic classes and fields that both of these buildings contain. 

Clue #5

The Thompson Library.

Designed by Acock & Associates.

It's initial building was in 1910, the final stages of renovation and additions (3 total stages) was completed approximately 99 years following it's ground breaking ceremony. 

"Art: Architects' Furniture." Time Magazine 18 Feb 1957: n. pag. Web. 26 Jan 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,809146,00.html>.

"Paimio Armchair 41." Hivemodern. Hive, 2011. Web. 26 Jan 2011. <http://hivemodern.com/pages/products.php?view=sub_product&sid=3313&cid=>.

"Wexner Center - Peter Eisenman." Great Buildings. Artifice Inc., 2010. Web. 26 Jan 2011. <http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Wexner_Center.html>.

"Mathematics Tower and Science Library." Galinsky. Galinsky, 2006. Web. 26 Jan 2011. <http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/ohiomath/index.htm>.

"Thompson Memorial Library ." Herrick Archives Number 050 05/Jan/2009. n. pag. John H. Herrick Archives. Web. 26 Jan 2011. <http://herrick.knowlton.ohio-state.edu/building/thompson-memorial-library>.

RR04

It has always been common belief to me that a companies success largely depended on public perception of them, through the quality of their product or service and above all, their identity. What I found most surprising from this reading is a quote from the end of the chapter "A good product or service, however, does not necessarily require an expensively contrived image," which seems like common sense, but is often trumped by the social norm that society has placed on the business world. Though an image is just that, and a company cannot think to survive based on it, the power of a graphic is astounding, if lacks a compliance to the identity of the product or the company, it's contradiction can have adverse effects on the company's success much like British Airlines' multi cultural tail fin graphics. On the note of Britain I found how revamping an image is not always the best course of action, as tradition or precedent can go stand as a staple in a society, seen in the telephone kiosks replaced at the expense of public support and national image. Identity is a complicated essence though, as it not only about the product or a fancy logo, it can come down to how a company is run from it's dress code to efficiency in design of space/environment to the box in which it comes in, but is solely dependent on the company as each requires something different in order to continue success and expansion (IBM v Macintosh). I found the chapter on systems a bit confusing, mostly because of it's lack of definition and broad scale that it can be found. From the overall design of road way signs (multi colored, and using a universal code to create a simplistic set of guidelines) and metros or the Underground's map designs to the utilization of modular design to create many different variants of a single product that can be completed simply upon demand by the consumer, built when bought and quickly turned out and delivered. On a side note, I found the Japanese metro station design to be very interesting, making it completely accessible to all, as it created the easiest possible guidance from route to route as well as to the blind using braille as well as special floor tiles to guide those without sight even to the closest kiosk to buy a ticket for the train. It seems though, that design in systems is meant to decrease costs at all costs, with modularity or interchangeable parts first seen from the innovation by Eli Whitney, companies can make the same product cheap from the beginning or make themselves globally accessible by create changes at the last possible moment adjusting for regional differences as seen by Hewlett Packard. Designing to user specifications and creating something with interchangeable parts seems to be the most efficient way in which to make a product as versatile and widely accepted as possible.

CR04

The last lecture was actually why I looked into (bio medical engineering) Industrial Design, wanting to help the disabled to live more fulfilling lives. It began when I went to Obama's Presidential Inauguration, where I attended a conference of Young Leaders. One of our key note speakers was Eric Weihenmayer, the first blind man to scale Mt. Everest. With his determination he made his way up the mountain, this determination has carried throughout his life as he'd wrestled and rock climbed in high school. After this grandiose achievement he devoted much of his time to creating camps for the disabled to enjoy extreme sports, as well as putting together some engineering projects, such as one in which he a head mounted camera goes through a computer, and relays the image to a sensor that is placed on the wearers tongue, taking another sensory object and giving it two senses. It was projects like these and other prosthetics that looked outside of the box which fascinate me about this section of the field. Surprising though, I hadn't thought about the other physical disabilities. I mean I typically see ramps and handicapped parking spaces, but to make websites that are accessible to the color blind or even making things more accessible for those with ADD and Dyslexia hadn't occurred to me as disabilities or really needing attention to design. Overall this portion of the field excites me, and I hope that I can get into the program so that I can be making a difference in this manner one day.

Friendly (faces) by design

Just your average light socket always looking surprised just for you!

Sometimes they look sad. 

I always thought martini olives would be a bit happier.  

Making up for all of the disgruntled workers in the cold, this road department sign smiles to brighten your day while you sit in traffic. 

It's a wall. With two eyes and a bulbed nose, looks more like a badger than a person though.

I could make a runny nose joke here, but I'll spare you this time. 

The hook on the inside of the stall door in my bathroom. I feel like I'm being watched. 

Survey

I took a pole from a set of 12 completely unrelated questions to find out the preferences of people and to find consistent behavior amongst the problems of college students of OSU (the cold, comforts/freedoms or traditional/change, the lesser of two evils inconvenience/irritation and to see how curious they really are).
The questions were:

1.  If your feet were impervious would you prefer bare feet or shoes? 
2. Would you prefer to have perfect vision but could only see in grayscale or be able to see the most vivid colors but they be blurry?
3. Would you rather have all knowledge or the ability to learn?
4. Living conditions aside, would you rather bounce around on the dark side of the moon or swim in the sun?
5. Would you rather have your own life soundtrack or be able to hear others?
6. If planes and boats travelled at the same speeds which would you rather take?
7. Which do you appreciate more, music or writing?
8. Would you rather always have sticky or itchy hands?
9. Would you rather have one soul mate or many loves?
10. Would you rather live in an ice castle or sand castle?
11. Which would you rather have melt over your head, ice cream or chocolate?
12. Would you rather be the sole speaker of a language or the only one who doesn't understand it?

Insistently Curious

Funny how students going to college would prefer to learn something, rather than just know it all. Also people would prefer to find out more about others being able to listen to others life soundtracks opposed to one of their own.

Tradition or Change

It seems that those polled are less interested in what they have and more of what the possibilities could be. 

Heat

Enough said, it's below freezing and most of who was polled were just getting in from it, warm fuzzy feelings tend to trump.

Inconvenient or irritating

When it comes down to it, these questions had varying answers due to varying preferences to the specific questions. Some people despised stickiness others just didn't like the idea of being cold or isolated. Overall though, inconvenience was a winner. 

CR03

I found the process of design to be very similar to that of writing a paper. You can brain storm in all directions as in Branching, you can pick a topic and revise as you go as in cyclical or just take a straight shot through (much like last minute papers). Though I realize that it is widely used I still can't help but feel that it is overly simplified and the process is a little more complicated, but then again I have yet to try it, and I suppose I can't dock it until I've at least given it a go. I do like that you must analyze all of the constraints and limitations before proceeding with a design though. It ensures that only the best product, space design will be developed, instead of haphazard pieces thrown together. Like I said though, it does seem fairly simple, if not too simple a process, but it also seems tedious especially in the research and conceptualizing stages.

RR03

I found how cultural differences must go in account to space design. Interior designers attempt to make it the most efficient with space limitations and cultural standards such as bath and overall room size such as the Japanese bathroom in comparison to the American. I especially found the work of smart cards to be interesting as 20 years ago it was cutting edge and less seen, but now is ubiquitous and one is even in my pocket at this moment. Lastly I found the standardization of companies especially services (food or hospitality) to be off putting but brilliant, as it creates a familiarity through basic standard rules in space design and architecture, no matter where you find yourself. Whether you're in Columbus or Tokyo, if you seen one Hilton Hotel or MacDonalds you've seen them all. I wasn’t very fond of the Visual Communication chapter, as it seemed to drone on about the different firms and their achievements, it was less about what they did. I did find that the church of latter day saints had a staff of over 60 V-C designers to be interesting, as they do a lot of genealogical work and missionary work, that I suppose call for extensive public support, and this acts as a type of advertisement. I did find in the Environment chapter, the part about Nike Town and how it was more of a research field rather than a store was fascinating. Though they do sell shoes there, it’s more about the release and reaction of prospective costumers which can go to keep their profit margins in the green from behind the scenes. Lastly, I’ve always been around IKEA’s but I never thought about the sheer genius of their stores’ design and way of doing business. With the build at home style they reduce their costs as well as the customers, but they have to, and succeed in, designing the furniture to be simply assembled by the layman. It is truly brilliant to allowing them to not only reduce all of their costs but also on an economic level build these products in Sweden helping their economy all the more.  

Alessandro Mendini: Innovazione in stare sederendo

In all of the designers I've both heard of and looked up in this project, there is no one who so successfully blurs the many very defined lines between art and design, and architecture and interior design. Alessandro Mendini, in his   
80 years has revolutionized the concept of design in chairs and architecture usually taking on rounded feminine shapes which Mendini believes simulates a sense of comfort especially in a house setting. The editor for three major Italian design magazines, Casabella, Domus and lastly Modo which he founded, he brought their focuses on neo avante garde concepts. 
Among his greatest accomplishments are his architectural designs which he created throughout his lifetime, the most famous being the Groningen Museum in Holland (seen below), the Teatro di Arrezo, Civic Tower in Sicily, Casino in Arosa, the forum at Omegna, and his collaboration to the Paradise Tower in Hiroshima, Japan. 

  He is most acknowledged for his creative, colorful and sometimes merely bizarre chair concepts. Mendini believed that a chair's design fell under the category of architecture, making each of his designs his next "artistic" masterpiece, designed to enlighten an individual or as he said "reawaken the [viewers] consciousness." His most notable concepts are the Proust (seen below) and Vassilij Armchair, Kandissi Divan, and the Dorifora and La Scala 

(seen below) armchairs. It was said that he took and incorporated the designs of the Bauhaus and Thonet, eventually creating his own school, the Global Tools Design school. As the innovator he was he was at the forefront, a driving force in the Nuovo Design or Neomodernismo movement classified by creating functionality alongside aesthetics in design.

In his many years in design he has gone through it all, designing products, teaching in Vienna, developing architectural concepts, writing and editing, working under many firms and starting many as well. As for his industrial/product design background he designed the geo coffee maker, Alessandro and Anna G. corkscrews (seen below), metroscape and cosmesis watches.

Of the firms he's worked with, he's worked for (mainly in his career) Aleesi, Cappellini, Cassina, Kundalini, Acme, Artemide, Zabro, Zanotta, Swatch (where he served as Art Director) and going into business with his brother, developing the architectural firm Atelier Mendini.
As legacies go, he has permanent exhibits at the Gilmar Paper Co., MOMA in New York City, the University of Parma, and the Aleesi Museum, as well as a commemoration at the Groningen Museum for designing the building. He has also received the prestigious Compasso d'Oro award for his work in and developing of Modo magazine. 



Alessandro Mendini. 2. Milan, Italy: Giancarlo Politi, 1989. 14;27;193. Print.


"Alessandro Mendini." Utility. Utility Retail, 2009. Web. 23 Jan 2011. <http://www.utilitydesign.co.uk/mall/infopageviewer.cfm/UtilityDesign/AlessandroMendini>.


"Alessandro Mendini." Alessi. Alessi, n.d. Web. 23 Jan 2011. <http://www.alessi.com/en/1/89/alessandro-mendini>.


"Alessandro Mendini." D-Side. D-Side, 2001. Web. 23 Jan 2011. <http://home.scarlet.be/d.side/pag43_074.htm>.


"Mendini Proust Chair." Great Interior Design. Web. 24 Jan 2011. <http://www.greatinteriordesign.com/search/design+blue+chairs>.


"La Scala Armchair." Retro Sofas. Web. 24 Jan 2011. <http://www.retrosofas.co.uk/products_view.php?prodpost=6&submit.x=66&submit.y=70>.


"Groninger Museum." Basvanderhorst. Web. 24 Jan 2011. <http://www.basvanderhorst.nl/school.php?page=profileschool&option=pro04>.


"Anna G. Corscrew." Herware. Web. 24 Jan 2011. <http://www.herware.com/>.