Reflections on Intro to Design

Many of the recent materials covered in the “Intro to Design” class have changed my awareness on how to see, not only design principals, but the elements that make up our perception of design. I began to see animals in nature showing elements of design, and realize how smart these animals truly are when it comes to the ways they camouflage with the environment. I now understand the cognitive abilities of so many animals once viewed as unintelligent. My own intelligence was fooled, as I learned how color is perceived in the eye, and how illusions can play tricks on our eyes and the information they send to the brain. I now understand there is communication when these signals are sent to the brain, and that every living animal using non-verbal communication in some form or another. With all this information, I have gained a deeper appreciation for design outside the realm of the conventional terminology.

Starting with the Gestalt principals, I began to see how design can be found in nature. After reading about how animals use many of these Gestalt laws, such as the law of similarity, I discovered we have taken much of these same principals and applied them to many of our own designs like camouflage for the military. After watching the Nova documentary, “How Smart are Animals” I discovered how animals have the ability to change not only their color, but also their texture and shape to mimic their surroundings. The cuttlefish was an amazing example of Gestalt’s laws of Similarity to the extreme. I discovered that the cuttlefish can measure the amounts of contrast in its surroundings, and then alter its skin to display similar amounts of light and dark. It can create contrast in three different ways; uniform, which is very little contrast, mottled, which shows a pattern of light and dark bits, and disruptive, which has the greatest amount of contrast, it can even change the texture of its skin.

By understanding how animals use these principals I can see where many of the same concepts can be applied in design. There are many Gestalt principals that are used in the design of logos. An example of one of these laws is how we can group objects together or complete a line even if it is not completely touching. The logo for World Wild Life Fund is an example of this. You can complete the image of the Panda even if the line is not complete. Another logo that uses the Gestalt concept of Figure and Ground is the logo for FedEx. You can see the figure of the arrow between the letter “E” and the letter “X”. After learning several of the Gestalt principals, I now have more awareness of how to apply them to my own designs.

My biggest take away after reading “Seeing Black and White” by Bill Christ, was how the amount of light reflected by a surface into the eye is received. The key aspects to what we see however are types of surfaces and the intensity of light. This can change with the perception of color. I can relate a lot of this to how light effects Photography. One of the key aspects of photography is how light effects the subject in an image. The quality and type of light make a huge difference in how an image is portrayed. This is why many landscape photographers only shoot during the early morning or late afternoon when the sun is at the right angle to give everything a soft warm glow. This is called the Golden hour. It’s the best time to capture a photo because the intensity and illumination of the sun are just right and surfaces take on the perception of a warm color in the image.

Another great example of how we perceive color was in the Ted Talk by Beau Lotto. Beau shows several examples of how our mind will associate colors based off, not only the color of the objects themselves, but the space between colors. His examples show that our brain has a need to find patterns and a relationship in information and associate those relationships with behavioral meanings. I was surprised when Beau showed examples where the color I thought had changed was actually the same. My perception of the color changed because of the relationship the color had to the surrounding area. This shows that the light that falls onto our eyes can be very misleading. Beau made me start to question what I was “truly” seeing in the world around me.

Beau helped me to better “see” my world, and the last readings helped me to better understand communication within this world. I had not thought about how the inner workings of one’s body communicate in a non-verbal way as different parts of our eye work together to form an image, and nerves work together to send those signals to the brain. Before reading “Routledge Critical Dictionary of Semiotics and Linguistics” I did not realize how powerful these nonverbal communication techniques are. I found it amazing that bacteria, a single cell organism, can shift and share information in mere seconds and quickly adapt to new surroundings. These cues of non-verbal communication need to be recognized and reviewed when thinking of design. One wants to be sure their design conveys the correct meaning and these icons, indexes, and symbols need to visually represent the concept being expressed.

Each of these pieces of information broaden my understanding of what truly is “design” and how we perceive our surroundings can impact how we create and incorporate design. I feel enlightened, having gained insight into the way animals are designed and how well they can adapt to their surroundings. I understand how light can change the color of an object, and how non-verbal communication can be expressed in many different ways. I will look at my world differently as design can be found everywhere, not just in those things made by man.

Principles of Design-Goldsworthy

I wanted to create images where water and light dance together to create dynamic splashes of color and organic shapes. In order to create these amazing abstract shapes that sometimes resemble colorful exploding mushrooms, or exotic birds, I had to go through a lot of experimentation and trial and error. By using different colored liquids, and a variety of lighting techniques, combined with proper timing and duration, I was able to capture these images that could not normally be seen by the human eye. These images show many design principles such as movement, contrast, and color. None of these photos were edited in Photoshop, only some adjustment to color, and sharpness, and cropping in Lightroom, however the image itself was shot as you see it.

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Elements of Design in Photography

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Leah Buechley: How to “Sketch” with electronics

 After watching this TED talk I’m excited to see how this technology will continue to grow and give new ways of using electronics to interact with all kinds of design. The ability to make electronics so small has given new opportunities to use this technology in many areas whether it be simple sketches or making music from conductive lines on paper. The designs that Leah Buechley showed in the video were not only fluid and beautiful, but they showed us how simplicity and technology can become a way to learn and create.

I found that this opens up so many new opportunities to create engaging and interactive artwork that is only limited by your imagination. The last piece that was shown reminded me of the pop-up books I had as a kid, only lit up like Christmas trees. I personally have a strong connection to using LED technology and have used it to add ambiance to my landscaping and studio design.

Aparna Rao: High-Tech Art (with a sense of humor)

Aparna Rao combines interesting technology with interactive, sculptural artworks that mimic many of our own human characteristics. The piece called “The Pygmies”, created an environment where people would engage with these mischievous like creatures that would react to sound. What I found most interesting was that at some point your forget the technology and focus on the human emotional experience your having. I also think that as technology advances, so will the need to create pieces just like this that will become more engaging on a emotional level.

Another piece in this video looked like an upside down man and acted on the human emotion of wanting to help someone before they fall. As the object almost topples to the ground , you try to quickly catch it but the object pops back up into place. Being in video production, I can see how it would be interesting to try the invisible camera experiment. There are so many different ways you could use this in a fictional story or even a commercial. The biggest takeaway from this is that the lines between technology and technology’s ability to connect on a human level are getting much closer.

Neil Harbisson: I listen to color

This TED talk showed how one man was able to use his color blindness disability to his advantage by using technology to find a new way to interpret color. I think this video showed how technology is being used in many ways to aid in peoples disabilities and in situations such as this, become even more advanced. By using this eyeborg technology, Harbisson is able to visualize color in his brain from sound waves. What was amazing about this in addition to the technology was that he could actually visualize more than what is normal in human perception.

With this technology he is able to turn sound into art which makes his work so interesting using two totally different types of mediums. Another interesting point is Neil Harbisson’s perspective that he does not feel he is using technology, he feels he is the technology. It makes me think differently about my current perception of a “Cyborg”. He is quoted as saying “Technology is made by humans so if we modify our body with human creations we become more human.” This brings up many different possibilities in what might be possible as humans and technology start to become a unified being.

If I were to use some technology that would make me more “Cyborg” like, I think I would like technology that allowed me to retain information, almost like a hard-drive on a computer, so that I could tap into any bit of information or memory at any given moment. It might be a stretch but who would have thought we would have technology that converted light frequencies into it’s own language by using sound frequencies. We just might be closer to this than we think.    

Janet Echelman: Taking imagination seriously

After watching the TED talk on Janet Echelman, it became clear that there is so many more possibilities to create art that is innovative, refreshing and brings people together. Janet Echeman creates giant breathing sculptures that flow in the wind and work in harmony with the surrounding environment. By finding inspiration from fishing nets, she was able to create something that really connects with nature in that it is always changing form. By creating this large living sculptures in the middle of cities it really changes the feel of that environment and adds some serenity and softness to the hard edges of surrounding buildings.

It’s also interesting that her inspiration came from fishing nets which have been around for hundreds of years and is combining the fishing nests fluidity and form with new technology to create this sculptures that will survive the elements and keep their fluid nature. After some further research I discovered that she is creating a piece titled, “Impatient Optimist” at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2014. I look forward to seeing it in person when it’s complete.

If I were to personally think of ways I could create something like this, it would be on a much smaller scale and I would design it to cover a back deck of a home or to cover an area of your outdoor living space. I would design the sculpture to provide the feeling of shelter and openness and create the illusion of a significant space. Combined with some LED lighting, you could create the same sense of an inviting form that interacts with nature and works with your own environment to create the ideal place to get lost in.

Synesthesia

Before researching Synesthesia I had no idea what this word meant. Nor did I realize that there were many different types of Synesthesia or that up to 4 percent of the population has some form of synesthesia. One of the types of Synesthesia which is the most common, deals with a person who may associate individual numbers or letters with a specific color. I tried to do this myself with associating a number with a color but I could not picture anything that solidified what the letter S represents other than it’s the letter of my first name and my favorite color is blue, so naturally S should be blue. I don’t think this qualifies me as someone with this ability.

If you had the ability to combine multiple senses, I think it would allow you to see the world in a more artistic way because you have a way to identify certain objects, sounds, colors or words and give them a distinct characteristic. It could also be very limiting for example if you associate the shape of a circle with the color red, then would every circle you draw have to be red, or do you just see it that way and can make a conscious choice to change the color to purple or something else, but still knowing full well that it should be red.

I found a website that gives you a little test to see if you may have any signs of this condition. You can check it out here: http://www.synesthesiatest.org/

What is even more interesting to me are people that have the ability to actually evoke a certain taste when they associate or hear certain words. This is a very rare form called, Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia. It would be interesting to see what words had what flavor, and if you could taste it after hearing a specific word, would you also crave that food or be disgusted by it?

The biggest take away from learning about Synesthesia is that everyone perceive reality in a variety of ways. This also makes me think how no two people see color the same way or how subjective a piece of art is to each individual. If I could pick a type of Synesthesia to have it would be the ability to taste color. I want to know what blue tastes like.

Thomas Heatherwick: Building the Seed Cathedral

The designs and Architecture of Thomas Heatherwick seem to break the mold of what we are use to seeing in design and everyday building structure. From the examples he presented in his TED talk, I was left thinking why are we not seeing more of this in modern Architectural design? Each one of his projects seemed to take into account how the design was going to be used, the message or experience it was sending to the viewer, and how well it was going to work with the natural surroundings.

I particularly liked the design of the rolling bridge that became a circular sculpture when it lifts out of the way. This was a completely new approach on how bridges normally would open and its not only still functional, but it makes the bridges purpose more interesting and exciting for the user.

The UK Pavilion project gave Heatherwick Studios the opportunity to create a unique representation of their country without employing outdated stereotypes. By focusing their design on a small area allowing the remaining area to become a public space it gave their design a focal space that kept it separate from the Expo’s other pavilions. The design itself reminded me of a sea anemone, that gracefully flowed among the waves.

What I observed most about Heatherwicks designs were the way he used arches and curved lines in most of his work. You do not see a lot of hard lines in his work and each design seems to flow in harmony with the surroundings. Each of his architectural designs and renderings of buildings are not only intellegent use of space but they are also very inviting to the viewer. If I could incorporate this idea in the way I design my next studio I think I will add some elements of curves and find more ways of making it work within it’s natural surroundings.
   

TED: Heather Knight: Silicon-based comedy

Heather Knight brings up an interesting point in her TED that explores the interactivity between robots, and humans. She states “ It’s just a robot. It doesn’t have feelings.....yet”. Which makes me wonder just how far away are we from robots making emotional decisions? I like the idea of using robots to tell jokes or for entertainment purposes but where will we be even 10 years from now when a Robot not only can tell the jokes, but maybe learn your emotional state and make decisions on how to react to you based on your mental state.

A robot that tells jokes seems harmless, but it just makes me wonder where do we go from here? As you watch the audience react to the robots jokes, you almost forget that its just moving parts and electronics up there, and you start to almost humanize the robot on some level. The technology used in robotics seems to be developing so fast that at some point we may have to ask ourselves “how human do we really want robots to be?”

 If I were to relate this to my own design it might be to think of how I could add that human element of connection to my videos. If you can connect with your audience with humor, excitement or emotional level that solidifies that human connection, than you have created a lasting impression.