MELT: Tealight

Our Studio For the Design of Everyday Things had to design a tealight. While there was a lot of light experimentation what seemed to capture the imagination the most was the idea of spilt wax. Enjoy, let me know what you think!

design fun

Please let me know I'm not the only one with a room that looks like this...

Struggling with the Archetype/ In search of Novelty

As a designer you are constantly in a battle against the archetype. You don’t even really realize it is there until you tackle on a problem. Any problem actually. When you are a designer the goal is to be creative. Being creative has become synonymous with the term - individuality. How do you prove your creativity? By doing something that no one else has done. 

Archetype: A very typical example of a person or thing

Is design just the medium for the designer’s whim?

I am currently trying to design a chair out of foam. Now chairs are an archetype. When I say chair, certain images come to mind. Expected images, a seat, a back, some legs. As a designer you try to defy these notions of chair. In order to seat someone you don’t necessarily need to produce a chair. I’ve sat on window ledges, steps, the floor, But the term implies a form in order to solve the function. The possibility that my chair will revolutionize the world is very unlikely. Outside of the designer posse, general people could not identify a chair that has changed the world. So why do we design chairs?

Towers are archetypes, courtyards are archetypes. The issue is that they are not the only solution to house the function. So in attempt to defy form, do we create something for the sake of creating something? It’s like when arguing with a pubescent brat who’s only response is “you don’t know me”. You know what I’m talking about, they don’t listen, they don’t have a purpose other for than the sake of defiance. Does my young enthusiasm and stubbornness transfer into my design practices? If I am willing to accept status quo as the ultimate, then I might as well retire my designing hat. 

The technology sector can be an example of design and marketing taken to extreme possibly unnecessary levels. There’s so much of it and it just keeps on coming out faster and faster, greater and greater. Blue tooth, wi-fi, 3G, 4G,,, smart phones, iphones, androids. I’m re-iterating an accepted and to an extent boring statement, we all think it. Technology is fast, and it’s being produced faster. It’s all in the attempt to produce something that people will purchase, something necessary for our lives. Novelty as status symbols, nothing new, displaying our riches as justification of our existence. How do you as a designer interpret this?

I think ultimately what I need is a design counsellor, to answer these questions. Someone to guide me in my quest for design. Cause ultimately there’s no correct answer, you either embrace and continually strive for something new or attempt to defy these natural tendencies. The people want it, I want to make it for them, I could be an imbecile for thinking new is better. 

Oh art!

The definition of art is debatable. The value and worth of it is debatable. Is calling it "art" enough? Either way I enjoyed this piece very much

Not Just a Box

So when you say I want to be an Industrial Designer when I grow up, people normally say "Ohhh that's interesting." In reality they have absolutely no clue what you're saying and think it's another garbage degree that universities are spitting out that will NOT lead to a proper job. But it's everything, it's product design, it's the chair you sit on, the i-pod in your pocket, the kettle you pour with, it's even the box you bought your new tv in. Even packaging is considered part of industrial design. There is a lot of value in packaging, and ridiculous amounts of money are spent on it. It's the beginning of an experience that gets people into the product. Thus begins the birth of a new series on Design-UD, Not Just a Box. Whenever I see a cool packaging that isn't just a typical box, where a company/designer has made an effort into the packaging. I'll post pics whenever I find a new packaging. Below is a Cinnabon box. I know, Cinnabon, not glamorous but ridiculously yummy. The shape is like a typical hamburger box, but the corners are unique. The way they poke out, adds a little bit of color and a way to hold it together. Not the sturdiest, but props to Cinnabon for trying.

AB-EX

The Ab-Ex - aka Abstract Expressionism

There’s a moment in my life, I replay it over and over again in my head because I am constantly experiencing deja vu coming to the same realization again and again. Learning about design is like entering a whole new world. It changes your perspective on everything, You end up constantly thinking about design and end up analyzing the world ad nauseam. I acknowledge that everyone’s experience is different from the rest. To each his own, right? A girl and what appeared to be her “date” walked in while I was there. She was dressed way too early for the night, like 8 hours too early. She came in way after me and probably left way before me. This is me being judgmental, but my best guess is she didn’t have the same experience as me.

OCAD taught me about modern art movements. After all that through out the exhibition I could not help but think Po Mo, Po Mo, Po Mo. Post Modernism. This period is characterized by experimentation and emotion. The experimentation was intense every artist was unique with respect to each other. But the epic moment was seeing Ad Reinhardt’s Abstract Painting. It’s a large painting. I call it Black. It really is just a black painted canvas. But you don’t really appreciate it until you look closer, from different perspectives, really how the light reflects off of it. There’s a video describing how he actually mixed black paint, a little bit of color and tons of paint thinner, shook it up, let it sit, poured out the thinner, and then painted with the sludge. 

http://www.ago.net/abex-multimedia

What looks like one black square there are actually 12 squares, each with a slight color difference between each. It was a product of technique. The only way the piece could have existed, was through his method of separating the paint. When art is so subtle, and slight, to the point that even a camera can not capture it. I’m going to put this out there. the piece is slightly genius. 

While you may not be able to enjoy the exhibition in Toronto, I can only assume they are on their way back to MOMA in New York, and if not, the AGO has pretty good documentation on it, you may find an experience unique to you. 

http://www.ago.net/abstract-expressionist-new-york

sigh

It's August. I know I should be shot for how much time has gone by since I last posted. This one will be short, but not due to lack of effort. I'm big on combining images together, I would by no means call myself an illustrator, that would involve having some sort of talent. But i've been inspired to create, by Garance Dore's clean lines, and Coco Rocha's fierce posing, and Carlos Buendia's interesting water color layering have lead me to this creation. One day I will find my own style, but for now it's about experimentation, such is life. Let me know what you think, whether it be the style, good or bad, should i continue, or quit before I really offend someone?