blog assignment 10

 

‘Nighthawks’ is a very famous painting painted by Edward hopper in 1942. It depicts a scene where people are sitting in a downtown diner late at night. It is his most famous painting as well as one of the most recognised in American art history. Banksy’s painting ‘are you using that chair’ is what some would consider a rip-off of Hoppers painting but others would call this a remix. 

Banksy’s version shows the people in the diner looking at a football hooligan, who is dressed in only a pair of union flag underpants, who has just thrown a chair at the diner window. ‘Are you using that chair’ is a classic example of Banksy’s style and use of cleaver wit. Even though a lot of aficionados still don’t acknowledge Banksy’s work as art his work has been growing in popularity and recognition much like Andy Warhol’s did in the 50s. Thus nurturing the interest if art in the youth that without him may not of happened.

[Edward hopper, Nighthawks, 1942. Banksy, are you using that chair, 2003] http://www.lovethecool.net/2009/05/14/banksys-nighthawkes/

blog assignment 9

In the world of car design today there is a trend that is starting to emerge, one that used to just be a fad for the ‘environmentally conscious’ celebrity, but now it looks like this fad is here to stay. That fad is the hybrid car.

The political and ideological message that is reverberating around the word these days is that we are leading ourselves into an energy crisis, and that one of the biggest contributors to this is the automotive industry. Car companies that used to brand themselves on performance and luxury where bigger was better are now re-branding themselves as being economic, clean and green. The most famous of these hybrid cars is the Toyota Prius. It still has a petrol engine but is coupled with an electric engine. When this technology was released on the world in 1997 it was laughed at but now more and more companies are getting involved. Manufacturers like Audi, Porsche and even Ferrari are now producing concept cars that have been designed to combine their companies old brand of high end performance with what they are going to have to turn to in the near future. Culturally and politically this is sending a message that this technology can be taken seriously and that there is hope and promise for not only the automotive industry but all the technology and industries that derive from it.

Toyota Prius

Ferrari 599 hybrid

[photo of Toyota Prius] http://getonlinecar.com/car/447/toyota-prius-pictures.cnet

[photo of Ferrari 599 Hybrid] (20.02.10) http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/02/sneak-peek-ferrari-hybrid/

blog assignment 8

In today’s day and age design can most definitely be both art and science, yes there are situations when a design might only be one or the other, but in most cases design today will be a combination of science and art.

In the corner of design being a science the most obvious examples are things that are designed to be completely practical, they are to serve their purpose and nothing else. A fighter jet for example, it is made to be fast, nimble and stealthy with no thought or consideration to how aesthetically pleasing it is. But there is no denying, they still look awesome and as the saying goes ‘art is in the eye of the beholder’. I’m sure to a large number of people around the world a fighter jet is art.

In the other corner where design is just art there will be plenty of examples too. Take a decorative lamp for example, a lamp that one might buy purely for decoration and never to use as a lamp. This object would have been designed with one thing in mind, ‘does it look good’. However even with just that thought in mind it is still restricted to what materials it can be made out of and how those materials will behave in the form of a lamp, and if I’m not mistaken science will have a lot to do with that decision.

So ultimately there will always be aspects of design that will be considered to be just art or just science but no matter what there will always be a hint of its counterpart.

[photo of f-15 jet] (05.03.09) http://www.hightech-edge.com/f15-strike-eagle-us-air-force-usaf-navy-fighter-jet/3577/ 
[photo of decorative lamp] (23.01.11) http://homedesigndecorates.com/modern-fashionable-lighting-and-futuristic-round-chandelier-designs

blog assignment 7

Today the internet and the digital age are changing how media and design is purchase, shared and spread. The internet is an ever growing part of our lives.

Producers have picked up on the fact that online stores, digital media and social networking sites have become an integrated part of our lives, and they are now designing and creating for this new universe. A great example is how people can now buy online content. Music, movies and games can all be purchased online, already in digital form, ready for our i-pods, phones or tablets. This digital content is beginning to render the need for products physical counterpart useless. Why go to the store to buy a CD when you can just get it off i-tunes for cheaper and less effort? This in turn also illuminates the need for the design of physical storefronts. This digital universe has also changed the way we advertise. Posters are becoming more and more scarce thanks to social networking sites like facebook, all you need is a few posts online in within days thousands of people can know about an event.

The internet and digital media that it gives access to is a symbolic universe and designers are having to change their ways to keep up with the new generation of consumers that use the internet as an everyday part of their lives.

[Picture of i-tunes online music store] (13 September, 2006) http://mac.sillydog.org/archives/001521.php