DSDN 171

mikaela-dsdn101:

Hey guys if you’re following this blog, its not the right one.

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Hey guys if you’re following this blog, its not the right one.

Click Here or copy the url above to go to my actual tumblr <3

+ Postmodernist and ‘remix’ techniques are a vibrant part of our design culture today. Find an example of contemporary design— 2D or 3D—and post it to your blog along with a description of what techniques it utilises (i.e. historical quotation, ornamental eclecticism, wit or irony, manipulations of scale, cultural symbols etc.) and how they serve to ‘add meaning’ to the work.

                Ogilvy. Would you care more if I was a panda? (2011)

Retrieved from: http://bldgwlf.com/would-you-care-more-if-i-was-a-panda/#.TpFIErIlR2I

“Our future is becoming less free” (Cross. D. (Producer). Gaylor. B. (Written/Directed). (2008). RiP!: A Remix Manifesto). This is one of the four main points in the documentary about the concept of copyright and remixing. These days, you can’t really design anything without it being similar to something else. The youth of today are always wanting to remix and live by their own rules. Post modernism has allowed us to break free from the constraints of rationality and the ‘straight line’ of modernism and standardization.

The ideal “Less is more” by Mies Van Der Rohe was too restricting and didn’t allow any room for cultural or individual expression in any form. This brought on the emergence of post modernism and the youths made a cultural swing to freedom. There were bouts of expression and remixing of all kinds everywhere, all enhanced by the use of LSD drugs which represented what they believed in. They had a new way of seeing. Nowadays, there is still lots of remixing happening even when we don’t realise it. Things such as covers to songs, re-blogging on social networks and DJ’s remixing songs.

This image is taking advantage of the supporters of WWF by using their iconic panda to replace the image of a whale. They are playing on the fact that most people care more about the cute animals, and the eye catching nature of it is controversial and would cause people to think about what they really think. Rather than the average poster about donating to save an animal that we usually ignore if it is not an animal we think is ‘cool’, this one creates eclecticism in its bold statement.

I believe that postmodernism always builds on the past and that you cannot avoid remixing.

+ What kinds of political or ideological messages inform design or the branding of design today? Identify one example and describe in what ways it expresses larger cultural, political, or ideological beliefs. Post your response in your DSDN171 blog with an image of the product, advertising campaign, etc. that you feel expresses a specific ideology. 

StudioKahn, Fragile Salt and Pepper Shakers (2008)

Retrieved from: http://designyoutrust.com/2011/07/17/take-a-break/studiokahn-i-design-fragile-salt-and-pepper-shakers/

One ideological belief in modern day society is that young people are unreliable and parents are to control their kids and not let them cause any mischeif or they will break things. This company intends to go the opposite way, they want people to break their products, that is what makes them useful. Useful for nothing in particular when intact, these salt and pepper shakers were made to be broken in half which is where its real use comes through.

The ideology of the 1960’s in America was to portray ‘the good life’. This was because America wanted to avoid the threat of communism through consumerism (Pavitt. J. (2008). Design and the Democratic Ideal. (p 75)). The proposal was named ‘The Marshall Plan’ (1947) which aimed for a free market economy and to generally raise the standard of living. This saw rise to a growing market in homewares and more freedom in consumer choice. Leisure became the replacement of expectations through products such as a wide range of tupperware, which was a contrast to the general ‘one bowl fits all’ ideal.

Not unlike the Marshall Plan, this company’s products encourage you step out of the norm. After the war and the Great Depression, the economy was set into turmoil and no-one had any money to buy anything. But the Plan encouraged people to buy so that they would have more freedom through consumerism. Even now, when we are in a recession, I believe that we should keep buying for leisure and not conform to the ideals of what we should and should not do.

In our reading this week, “The first machine age in Europe” by David Raizman, we learned that Hannes Meyer, the Swiss-born architect appointed director of the Bauhaus in 1928, argued that design is a product of “function x economy”, aligning design with a scientific model driven by new technologies and manufacturing potential.

+ Do you agree or disagree with the position that design is a result of “function x economy”? Do you think design today an ‘art’ or a ‘science’? Should it be one or the other, or can it be both?

                              Interactive Institute, Flower Lamp (2010)

Retrieved from: https://www.tii.se/node/5988

I agree that design is a result of function x economy, for example this lamp is both standardized and rational, fully designed by technology and the purpose in mind. However it is possible to design it so it is appealing to the customers, and serve the purpose they want it to without disregarding the style of it.

Design was seen as more of a science because when it came down to the basics, there was either some kind of science or math behind it. ‘Sensed mathematics’ is a term that describes an order in design, calculating how something can be made through science and math and the best way to do it in a way that is still in the best intentions of the designer.

This flower lamp is a good example of how design can be both technologically formed while still thinking about the looks of it. The way that it works is that it connects to the power supply in your house and depending on how much power you use, the more or less the ‘petals’ open. So if you used a lot of power, the lamp would close up and not allow so much light to come through, but if you used less the lamp would open up, letting more light out and looking more aesthetically pleasing. Although this could be seen as irrational design: ie. it being called a ‘flower lamp’ which would go against Owen Jones’ theory (Jones. O. (1856). The Grammar of Ornament) of never designing an object for the purpose of decoration or imitation of nature. This lamp was not trying to be a flower, it is simply just named that because of the fact that it has a similar appearance. It was also not designed that way to be a flower, the purpose was always in mind which was to reward people for using less power by letting out more light and but it also made it more visually appealing. Therefore I believe that design can be both functional and visually appealing, as long as you follow the rules of methodology.