Assignment 10 - Postmodernism+Remix

This artwork is by a famous 'graffiti artist' from England called Banksy he often uses famous images or ideas and conveys a different meaning within them. He is very creative and clever with creating messages that people can contemplate. 

The idea that is portrayed in this art piece was that consumerism has over taken the true celebration of Christmas. Religion has been forgotten in the mist of materialistic things. Instead of Jesus Christ being hung on the cross he is hung up by shopping bags with present in them. This shows irony and displays contrast between the original image and the remixed image. It shows a very cultural and symbolic approach to embracing this idea of a holiday that has lost its meaning.

The comparisons between the to are undeniable and i clear link between religion and the lost meaning of Christmas to consumerism is established.  When Christmas is thought of it is the materialistic objects that enter most peoples minds not the birth of Jesus Christ.

Politics of Design: the Cold War, modernism + democracy

The design of advertising for branding strongly displays ideological messages.

This is usually done to allow people to buy there product. Corona advertisement does this very blatantly. At first glance this advertisement makes me want to buy this beer because of the way corona is conveyed. But it seems the more the advertisement is looked at it is obvious that it is not just the beer that is desired. 

Once critically analyzed there are signs that Corona have created ideological atmosphere. It is not the beer that is wanted so much as the environment. When i see this advertisement that is were i want to be. I want to be on a beach with the sun setting with friends around me. If these factors are taken away corona is just another beer. Even coronas slogan shows an ideological message. " FROM WHERE YOU'D RATHER BE" This is the most obvious ideological message but would always be brushed over by the consumer unless it was looked at critically .   

Assignment 8 - Modernism: standardisation, rationalisation, and the search for the universal

I believe that it is a combination of science and art that makes good design. Hannes Meyer's view on design and how it is a product of 'function x economy' was because of the time period it was placed in. The new era of industrialization had just begun , mass production was a new accomplishment and the technology was slow advancing. Now days mass production is not new to us making our views on design more open and free because of the resources we have acquired over the last century.

While function and economy are necessary factors to consider in design consumption and manufacture, there is also the other factor of aesthetics behind it. The aesthetic value needs to be thought of because for a person to buy something it must interest the buyer with its aesthetic appeal. Something will not become popular if the aesthetics are not considered and this apple is so popular.

I believe apple is so popular because of its aesthetic appeal. Of course its function is a vital part of its design but it is the sleek look of apple that drags the customer in.

The link to the photo - http://images.appleinsider.com/macbook17090106-2.png

Assignment 7 - Narratives of Progress

A 'Symbolic universe' was an idea that was portrayed in the 19th and 20th century's. The idea of a 'symbolic universe' was to create hope for the future when the world was in dark times. In this period of time it was mainly the great depression that brought these hard times, when people struggled to get employed . The hope of a symbolic universe was made by the Worlds Fairs. The Worlds Fairs show societies the progress of the worlds technology and where this was heading the the future. Electricity was starting to advance in America and was seen as a symbol for power, making America very dominant. In the 1901 Worlds Fair in Buffalo(the city of light), New York a 400ft tower was built that illuminated the sky. It was said that it was 'The Birth of Power' - Willy Pogany.

Technology was slow integrated into everyone's daily lives and with this integration of technology brought along many business and advertising opportunities. Now days the 'symbolic universe' still exists. It is very apparent in company's wanting to sell products to people. this is the difference between a symbolic universe now and an symbolic universes in the 19th and 20th century's. Back then it was used for hard times and now it is used for profit. An example of this is the lynx deodorant. Lynx advertisements created a symbolic universe by using girls.

It is insinuated that when this product is used then girls will fellow you everywhere you go, despite your attractiveness. This provides a dream for men and convince then to by it.

Although this type of 'symbolic universe' is false i still believe that it is need in the world of today. The adverts allow hard working people to have a small taste of what it could be like.

Link to photo - http://stimulantonline.ca/content/images/l/1595.jpg

Assignment 6 - Modern Vision

Walter Benjamin believed that something authentic was a singular object that had not been reproduced. If it was the only object that existed then it was valued a lot more. Once replications of it were made it was no longer as special or it was not valued as much. Donatello's statue of David is an example of Benjamin's idea of 'authentic'. The statue was made in the 1440s out of bronze. It is the only one of its kind and it has a history to it. It is recorded as the centerpiece of the first courtyard in the Palazzo Medici during the wedding festivities of Lorenzo de' Medici and Clarice Orsini in 1469. But now there are two more versions of the statue; one is a full-size plaster cast (with a broken sword) in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the other is a full-size white marble copy in the Temperate House at the Royal Botanic Gardens. Benjamin thought that singular existing objects were special and had a certain aura about them.

I agree with Benjamin and the idea that authentication is lost once it has been reproduced. Once  something is no longer 'authentic' it has lost its aura about it. It is not valued knowing that someone owns something that you own that is close and dare to you. It would no longer harbor that meaning as much as it used to. One of the best examples of authentication is people. Every person is authentic because they are the only one of them in the world. Essentially everyone it different. People would not be very authentic if everyone looked the same.

I believed that in this day and age Benjamins idea of authentication has been lost. Any digital photo taken can be reproduced with a simple click of a button. There seems to be fewer and fewer things were there is only one of its kind. I think this be mainly be due to modern technology and how advanced it is getting. The most authentic thing i have found is my own artwork. I think that if there is a reproduced artwork then its value is little to none. Benjamin quoted ' That which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art'. 

Assignment 5 - Colour- Abstraction , Perception and Modernity

In 1704 Issac Newton was the man who brought attention and the understanding to colour. He did this by reflecting a beam of sunlight through a prism which created the colour spectrum. These colours were put back into another prism turning it back into white light. This experiment led to great discovery's about colour and the colour theory.

You could say Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe was on the curved side of the spectrum in regards to colour and the colour theory. Goethe did not care for the mathematical perception that Newton had on colour but more the human perception. This is expressed through his quote "Newtons error…was trusting math over the sensations of his eye.” Goeth believed the sensations on the eyes was much more important then mathematical explanations. Artists saw painting as an opportunity to manipulate colour. In the 20th century the post impressionism was born. Artists started to use the own perception of light for example Vincent Van Gogh .He painted a very famous painting called starry night which was his on perception of a night sky, using swirling colours of violet haze.

Through out the course of history experiments on colour ,both scientific and artistic, has given us great understanding. Over time our understandings have developed our vision of colour so that we can contemplate and understand both sides of colour.

Assignment 4 - Ornament or Nature

I disagree with Adolf Loos' quote “The evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornament from objects of daily use.” Loos thought that ornament does not increase the pleasure of life.  He believed that ornament was a crime and express hatred towards it in his quote “Ornament is not merely produced by criminals, it commits a crime itself by damaging national economy”. Ornamentation was expensive due to the labour and time put into the objects. He believed that ornamentation was a waste of manpower and that it was unnecessary. He expresses this through his quote " If I wanted a piece of gingerbread I will choose one that is completely plain, it tastes better that way".

This picture above of the door handles would be exactly what Loos was against. It was most likely hand made and has a lot of craftsmanship to it. Loos would find it pointless.
I believe that ornament can enhance the aesthetics of a design. It is evidently shown through these door handles. I think the fact that it shows craftsmanship makes it more valuable and meaningful.  I think that our culture is in need of ornamentation still. In correlation to loos quote " If I wanted a piece of gingerbread I will choose one that is completely plain, it tastes better that way"  if i wanted a piece of gingerbread I would want it to be a different flavour every time, its a lot more interesting to contemplate that way.

Link to the picture is here

Assignment 3 - Beauty and Utility

Jones quote ' construction should be decorated, decoration should never be purposely constructed ' is a perspective of how he saw design. He saw design as very practical and functional.  He believed that the design of an object should be purely for the particularity of the object. He believed that anything else that didn't contribute to this was wrong. Jones had that idea that any ' decorations' to design took the focus off what the object was actually designed for, masking the functionality of the design with unnecessary design.
I disagree with Jone's thoughts towards design because i feel decoration is a key aspect to design. Obviously design is about the purpose of the design but i believe that it is only part of design. design should be ascetically pleasing. If everything was purely based on function everything would be quite sterile and boring to look at (a bit like a hospital).  I think that decoration to design can turn boring design into beautiful design. I am not completely against Jones thoughts and opinions. To me i think there should be a balance between practical and decorative. If its to far on the function side of the spectrum then things become boring. If its on the decorative side of the spectrum then things become confusing and their initial purpose of the design is compromised.

http://www.newhouseofart.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/modern-sara-lovgren-furniture-design.jpg

This chair is a good example of a balance of beauty and utility.  This chair is functional but also decorative. The curving strips make the chair look a lot more elegant. Jones would say they are unnecessary because it is against what he believes in and they serve no functional purpose but i believe they are necessary to the design. The strips create a visual appeal to the chair.

Assignment 2 - The Continuing Curve

 

This staircase shows the continuing curve well. It has certain elements to it that express both the curve and straight-line. The staircase is quite clean and practical; it would have to be mathematically considered in order of the stairs to function properly. This shows it is on the straight-line side of the continuing curve. But then It can be considered that the curved side of the continuing curve is also evident. The staircase is very elegant and aesthetically appealing, the stairs are almost floating and in that sense makes it on the curved side as well. Through this it is evident that sensuous impulse is visible. I would say that the staircase is leaning towards the straight line, as it is very symmetrical ,geometric and simple. Despite having the curved quality's the straight-line is a little more over powering.

Assignment 1 - The Importance of Design

 

To me being curious is important to design. Questioning ideas and trying to take the idea further. Curiosity is what drives humans. 

‘If we don’t ask questions we will never found out’ – (National Geographic)

The Open Letter

 Overall View

Dear Pepsi

The rivalry between Coke and Pepsi goes a long way back and it’s been a continuous war for years, as I’m sure you’re aware.  This is why I write to you now.

Pepsi and Coke are enemies but they are enemies that work together. At the end of the day both products are virtually the same, their bad for you and they both contribute to mass-production of this sugary drink. Your greedy compulsion for profit is what fuels this war and I have come to realize that both companies are winning. It is the consumer that is losing. People will always have to choose one or the other, its inevitable so does it really matter whose winning or not. I don’t think that it does

Its not that I’m for Coke and against Pepsi but I feel that this pointless conflict and meaningless ­rivalry should stop. The reason I write to you, Pepsi, is because you are the weaker brand in terms of just Pepsi and excluding your other products. Although it is strongly opinionated and debatable, Coca Cola is the preferred beverage, well at least in New Zealand. It also contains less sugar then Pepsi. Your company owns a lot of products like mountain dew, Gatorade, 7UP, Lipton Teas and Doritos. Most people don’t even then know that there paying for your brand when they purchase these products. I’m sure this is more then enough profit to suit your needs.

I think that Pepsi is Cokes ugly sister. Coke was made first and then Pepsi copied what coca cola did and tried to make it better. I think that the question ‘Which is better’ should be put to a stop and in order to do this either one brand should step down or Coke and Pepsi should combined companies.  But if one of you were to step down I feel it should be Pepsi. Pepsi has the power to make the unavoidable avoidable. The choice of ‘which is better’ can never be answered but it doesn’t need to be anyway because the choice is inevitable. Pepsi has the power to change this.

Yours Sincerely
Robert Kani  

Graphic Compostion

In the photo i have someone for the Pepsi company reading 

the letter i had wrote . I have the man drinking Coke 

instead of Pepsi to emphasize the irony of the situation. 

I wanted to show the pointlessness of the war that 

is happening between the too companies.

Poster

In my poster i tried to show my opinion of how i feel about the war between Pepsi and Coke.

I made the whole poster black and white apart from a few sections which are red in order to emphasize important points about my ideas. I taped a Coke can and a Pepsi can together because i wanted to show how everyone would have to choose one drink or the other but it didn't matter which drink was chosen because both companies had already won. The reason for making the tape red was to make the idea stand out. In my poster I have me drinking the Coke and tipping out the Pepsi. This is because Coke to me is the preferred drink and that was the drink i had chosen. The red liquid from the Pepsi can pours on to the word 'Choose'. I did this because i wanted to reiterate the idea of having to choose one of the two drinks. This quote ' you will choose one or the other ' was to say that your being forced to choose one of the sides like a war. 

 Image of poster in situation

 I decided to hang my poster up in front of the army supplies shop. 

I felt that it would fit well in relation with Coke and Pepsi being at war. 

I wanted it to show this idea of war in a literal sense and that

people should get there army supplies for this pointless war 

between Pepsi and Coke. The Quote fits well because it 

is saying you will have to choose which side of the war 

you are on. It is impossible to avoid not choosing a side.

Precedent Images

     Jessie Jackson

This Poster by Jessie Jackson appealed to me because i really 

liked the simplicity of it. The black and white colours show nice contrast. 

I liked how she didn't use lines to define the head so it blended nicely.

I would like to use this technique in my poster 

Osman Granda

The main feature of this poster that i wanted to use was the paint 

spat behind the 'D' on the word 'David'. This effect would mix well with the first 

technique because the black areas would fit well with the paint spat.

They to would merge seamlessly creating a nice result.

tandemodus

In this poster the contrast is really evident.

I want to be able to show contrast in my poster because of the 

contrast between Pepsi and Coke should be expressed. 

I also like the technique of the running paint

Word - Inevitable

For my word 'inevitable' i went to the cemetery at Kelburn. I wanted to show the word 'inevitable' because the choice that you make between Coke and Pepsi is inevitable. The choice that you make doesn't matter because Coke and Pepsi have both won. This make the question 'which one is better' inevitable. So this shows that this battle to be the better company is meaningless. I decided to use my word in a cemetery because i wanted to show the ultimate thing that is inevitable which is death. No one can cheat death, it is unavoidable. Everyone has to die eventually. I used the grave as the grid and wrote my word with dead leaves and sticks to emphasize this idea of inevitability. In this photo i showed a front on view of the word and the grave. The photo as taken and a cloudy and windy day which created a dark and dull atmosphere which added nicely the photo and is what i was trying to express.  

This Photo was taking with the flash on which created more of a scary effect then the other photo. I wanted to capture the other graves in the background to highlight this idea that no one escapes death.

Mindmap

My mindmap is expressing the way feel about Pepsi 

and also a few facts about the company as well

The Company

The company i have chosen is Pepsi.

I want to show the comparison between Pepsi 

and Coca Cola and how the conflicts they have 

are pointless 

Group Work

 Team Names

Robert Kani

 Renee Warner

Katherine Carpinter

Iron Curtain

The name of the company is 'Iron Curtain' and the product they sell Interior Furnishings. To my group the name made us think of very manly furniture. So we have come up with the idea of the furniture being for a garage/man cave. We are going to have a very manly look to our logo and slogan for the company. 

The different types of furniture would be: bar stools, tool bench, tool holder, manly looking fridge, table, chairs, bar, couch etc. - everything you'd expect to find in a 'Man Cave'.

We will use bolts, nuts, iron etc to get our manly image across.

Slogon

Logo

 Advert

 

This is the link to our advert 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9kO9IHLoCg

Our group decided to make a manly advert as the company is main for men. At the start there is a large person pushing a small person, the large person then goes on to walk through a series of photos that show manly things that a man would want in his household. At the end it comes up with ' turning your boy cave into a man cave with '

'IC

Iron Curtain

What a Man Wants'

Project 3

Final Stopmotion Video - Youtube - Good Quality

Its best watched in 720p HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbBrt3tGY6w&feature=channel_video_title

Stopmotion Video - Bad Quality

This video was in good quality but seemed to decrease in quality when uploaded to my blog. To solve this problem iv put my video on YouTube and pasted the link above.

Storyboard

Quote -

Design is Always Changing

Media Mindmap

Project 2

Resubmission - Draw

DSDN 101 Tpyography

DSDN 101 Axonometric

DSDN 101 Sketch

DSDN 101 Section

DSDN 101 Hatch

DSDN 101 Draw

DSDN 101 Identity