Emphasis and Focal Point

     Emphasis relates to how a designer will catch a viewer's eye, the emphasized element can attract a viewer and encourage them to look at it further. One way an artist can do this is through a point of emphasis also known as a focal point. In the painting below (left) by Johannes Vermeer The Art of Painting (oil on canvas) we see that emphasis is placed on the young girl that Vermeer is painting in the painting. We see that the light in the painting draws emphasis to her body, as well as the complementary colors between the blue of her dress and the yellow of the book she is holding. In addition she is also centered in the painting, and is lighter in comparison of the darker gray and muted colors surroundings. The curtain in the foreground is pulled back allowing us as the viewer to see the young woman, the wrinkles in the curtain also forms lines that point to her.  There are other lines that also lead straight to her, she is the intersection point of the horizontal and vertical lines of the map in the background. All of these elements bring the emphasis and our focus to the main character or focal point, showing the concepts of emphasis and focal point. 

     Focal points also occur naturally in the 3-dimensional world. When we look at the picture above we see that the emphasis is on the tall steeple (the tall spire erected as a tower of the church) of the church. This steeple serves as the focal point of our attention because of its unusual size as well as color. It is much bigger than any of the other surrounding objects. The cars and even the large semi-truck and tall pine tree are dwarfed by the size of the steeple. The white of the steeple also plays off the blue background of the sky, making it "pop out" at the viewer. In addition to this, the steeple is placed near the center of this photograph (in real life, the steeple may not be as centered, but in the function of this picture it contributes to the aspect of it being the focal point).  

[Images from:
 http://www.essentialvermeer.com/catalogue/art_of_painting.html, http://gis.deat.gov.za/isrdp/More_Info/Photo_K/Focal_point2.JPG]

Unity

    Unity is "...the presentation of an integrated image, [and] is perhaps as close to a rule as art can approach (Design Basics, p.28)." Unity is found in many things including both 2D and 3D designs. In the picture above (right) we immediately see that these figures are similar. The unity between them is not just because we recognize all the people as women, but also through the repetition of their arms sweeping outwards toward each other. Their arms intertwine and we see a connection or unification of their bodies. In addition the vertical lines of their long dresses draping downward and blend together. We also see hints of red and orange with accents of the contrasting blue color throughout the figures unifying the composition and adding to the overall unity found within the painting. 

     We also see unity in not only 2D designs but 3D designs as well. In the picture of a seven headed African elephant unity carving above on the left, we see unity through repetition. If we took this statue apart and only saw one of the figures we would not be able to understand the meaning of this piece. The repetition of the 7 heads facing inwards and interlocking bodies greatly emphasizes the unity we see in this object. The different angle variations as well as the slight variations of the hand-carved heads in help balances unity with variation. This approach of using a common theme (in this case a repeating image/ head of the elephant) and the variation of the angels are the backbone of unity.


[Images from: http://www.art.com/products/p12153447-sa-i1540138/monica-stewart-unity.htm,  http://www.acaciawoodcarvings.com/servlet/the-113/elephant-seven-head-unity/Detail]

Gestalt Theories

     Gestalt theory states that the mind and brain function together, to unify that which may not be there. We look at the whole and the overall perception of that whole is different from the sum of its parts. Together our senses work to recognize whole forms and figures instead of just simple lines or parts, we may even add information where there is no actual information just to “complete the picture.” One of the major gestalt principles is that of emergence. Demonstrated in the picture above 

(from http://christianhubert.com/writings/Gestalt1.jpeg) shows a Dalmatian dog sniffing at the ground.  Instead of recognizing different parts of the dog (such as the tail or ears or paws), we immediately recognize the dog as a whole. From the formation of the way marks are made on the paper, in conjunction with the negative (empty space) and positive (filled space) spaces we infer the boundaries (that don’t really exist) of the dog. In addition to that, the way the marks are placed or the space between them, it makes it easier to unify them; as viewers we tend to group objects that are close to each other into a larger unit. And in turn, the dog pops out of the background in which it is set. Thus we see the gestalt theory in action!

 

Try this Gestalt Image: Do you see a woman or a saxophone player?

[Image from: http://www.skagitwatershed.org/~donclark/hrd/history/gestalt.html]

Not all designs were created equal!

       As humans we have learned to be critical and judge. We judge and compare everything we see. We also give into what is popular or “cool.”  However, this idea of “cool” is deceptive. It builds upon human weakness – our need to fit in and be accepted. “Coolness” was created in the mind and is only in the mind. Sometimes we even believe we are being original – we’re probably not.  Originality stems from archetypes of primitive models, which were the first models of all things.

     Designs are indeed solutions to our problems, but sometimes we take design too far. We have solved our basic problem or need and now use design as a means of classifying people. Sometimes we even use design as a hierarchical status symbolizer. Jeans are an example of this. These jeans all serve a functional purpose and the only real difference between them is the design on the back pockets of the jeans. Perhaps some of these jeans have nicer quality fabric, but that is not always the case. But one thing is, if your jeans don’t have one of these iconic little symbols stitched onto the back pocket of your jeans – who are you? To some, you’re a ‘nobody.’ So why are these jeans better? Well because they’re ‘in.’ At one point in time these jeans were new and no one heard of them. Someone, the innovator, began to wear them and that was the beginning. When society tells you what jeans are in, you don’t tell society they’re wrong – to them you’re wrong. It accept the fact that these jeans are popular, weather you wear them or not – they are. But what about all the failed designs?  For every design that becomes popular or in style there are about 500 others that are forgotten. Maybe one day, they’ll be rediscovered, but for the most part the will go unnoticed for the entirety they are in existence.

        Jeans are not the only things as you can imagine that was not created equal. Cars, furniture, dresses, shoes, etc. There is a hierarchy or popularity rating for all these things. Going back to our original question – why do we accept some things over others? Because it is our human nature yes, but I believe it also has to do with money. Money or objects as a sign of wealth or social status is something the human culture will never give up. We all try to outdo each other in some way or another and in this day in age it is what you have that is important. We don’t really know ‘who’ controls what is popular, what stays popular, what is accepted and what isn’t. But in some small way we can help to decide what is in or not. As consumers in this day in age we drive the business, we tell the designers what we want we pull the designs we want out of them – they don’t push their designs on us (it used to be this way back in the 1800s).

      So when I say not all designs were created equal I meant in terms of popularity among the masses. In the case of the individual or the personal heart some things are priceless. As expensive as your designer jeans might be or some other popular symbolic status indicator, a lot of the time it is the sentimental value of things that make them special to us – and nothing can buy the design of affection.

Pictures in order from start to end from: (paige jeans) http://www.mystyle.com/mystyle/, (true religion jeans) http://dionsdailydeal.wordpress.co, (citizens of humanity) http://www.chrisabraham.com/COHKellyStretchJeans.jpg

A little peace of Mind -- or design?

 [http://www.cavemenvsaliens.com]


         I was going to start this post by giving a definition of what design is. It is both a noun as well as a verb (and even an adjective in some cases). And for me to try to define design would be more of a personal perspective, instead of an objective view of what it is. But before I dive in head-first I must say, design is not something I fully grasp the concept of yet … I am still trying to solve my problem of understanding design through design…

     Design is everywhere and everything. Design touches and affects everyone. Design is all around us, and sometimes we don’t even realize it. Next time you step into your car check out your glove compartment. Someone had to design that, to make sure it works (opens and closes), to make it aesthetically pleasing or blend into the car. Design goes into the process of everything.  After we being to think of something (even things such as our math homework), we begin to design it (one lays out the math homework on paper – or should I say designs their math homework on paper). Design is used to be the solutions to our problems. In order to create we must first design. Man has been doing this throughout the ages. In order to hunt, man needed to first design a weapon or tool to use.

    Instead of looking at the past, lets look at our present. When one thinks of design, they usually think “fashion” and “style” design. This is because this is the type of design that is widely publicized. However, design today is more than just fashion – it is the foundation of our society. In recent problems that have occurred such as finding a solution to alternative energy & finding an alternative to oil, we have begun the process of designing and re-designing. We work until we find the solution. 

     It is hard to put constraints on design, when you begin to do so you make tradeoffs. You take one thing away in favor of another. So for the purpose of this blog there are no constraints on design. How can you put constraints on something that is affects almost everything.  The beauty of design is that it creates choices. You can take one thing – a coat – it was once designed. But beyond that, that coat was taken and designed into more coats, different shapes, sizes, etc. And you have the power to choose which design of coat you want (the solution to your problem). Design shapes the world around us, from lampposts to buildings to socks. Stop and look.   

sock picture from: 
 [http://www.bicycleapparel.com/images/Socks/sock-features.jpg ]

world globe picture from: 

  [http://totalnautical.com/upload_files/photo/pwcf5v3.jpg ]

Finding inspiration in nature; Claude Monet

[http://www.writedesignonline.com/ ]

     Impressionist painting is an art movement that began in the 19th century. The short, thick strokes of paint and the vibrant use of colors characterize this movement. Optical mixing, or letting the 'eye' doing the mixing of colors for you (instead of blending the paint on the canvas) creates an image that seems to "be alive." Impressionist painters often look outside of themselves for a source of inspiration. Many times this inspiration comes from nature or human subjects.

       Claude Monet is one of the most famous impressionist painters. Monet was one of the first artists to paint outdoors (or ‘en plein air’ – a French expression, which means “in the open air.” Instead of drawing inspiration from old masters, Monet was one of the first to be in nature, while painting it. Some of his most famous paintings are the series of approximately 250 oil paintings of water lilies (or Nympheas). His source of inspiration was his flower garden at Giverny. These beautiful paintings show bright, vivid hues of purples and greens. Up close the images are difficult to depict, but far enough away your mind optically mixes the colors.  Although you can’t make out the tiny details, the larger picture becomes clearer. Because the image isn’t immediate, it causes our brain to subconsciously think about the subject matter. We sit there and ponder the strokes and how they formed. In some of his other paintings such as,  ‘Rue Montorgueil’ we see small vertical marks, lining the street. Our mind makes out these dots as humans, and we optically mix the reds and blues to form flags. Instead of showing us the picture, our minds must do the work. Monet and other impressionist painters don’t just give us something to look at, they give us something to work at. We connect with the image and in our minds we envision what all those little strokes of color mean. These artists give us the framework or tools to make their paintings into what we want. We can imagine what we want to and even put emotion on the paintings. As viewers we can put ourselves into the scene and in a way decide what is happening. The inspiration the artist uses to first create the painting rubs off on us and becomes our inspiration. Our visual literacy with which we read the painting or what we interpret the strokes of paint and color to be.

       Monet’s work can be viewed and enjoyed by people, in museums all around the world.  Monet shared his culture and experiences with us, and we have the fortunate gift of being able to read this visual literacy. Art has also benefited from Monet’s work. This impressionist style has carried on throughout the generations. Many artists still paint in the impressionist style today, some still paint directly from nature or 'en plein air' as Monet once did. All of them drawing their inspiration from sources outside themselves.

[ http://www.monet-on-canvas.com/ ]

ARMADA - The Future Of Ski Design

Is skiing a form of design? The answer is yes. But instead of looking at the abstract, lets go straight to the visual.  Skiing is more than slapping on two sticks of wood and flying down a mountain, unreasonably fast, with your life in critical danger. Skiing is an expression of individuality and currently skiing is taking on a new trend. It is following along with current fashion and in some cases even leading the future of fashion. Bright neon colors and crazy designs that make absolutely no sense are giving skiers the drive, passion and motivation to feel like they are able to achieve anything they want; including launching themselves off of 15 ft. high snow mounds into the air another 15ft, doing some extreme contorting of the body and landing back on their skis. It is truly crazy. However I am a follower. Skiing is becoming more than just a winter hobby; it is turning into a way of life. Some people dress with the attitude of new-fashioned skiers year-round. Some of my friends from the Ski Team, are intense freestyle/slopestyle skiers. They spend 50+ days a season in the Park (this is not an exaggeration). They live, eat, breath the latest gear that will make them look they way they perform, extreme. Check out Armada Skis … if you don’t know about them – you should. They are one of the latest companies to spring up selling ‘steezy’ (a word for the new trend of ‘style’ with ‘ease’ – commonly used in the ski  & snowboard world) ski gear.

 “Armada is a family of athletes, artists, designers, and engineers that didn’t just push the envelope—we blew it wide open. And the industry is scrambling to catch up. We are Armada. We are what skiing will become.”

Armada isn’t your average ski company; they were started by a group of extreme skiers. Professionals actually, including Tanner Hall, JP Auclair, JF Cusson, Julien Regnier and Boyd Easley. They are the first rider-owned, rider-operated manufacturer. They have high-profile sponsored pros, making their company ‘more legit’ (or cool). Armada is also associated with the Winter X-Games. Armada is working toward shift the perception of skiers from old, sweater-wearing, uptight people to a younger, more dynamic crowd of kids that loves skiing for the more extreme aspects of the sport. 

The graphics they incorporate onto their skis, jackets, and other gear are more than just some random graphics someone came up with. They incorporate actual artists’ work directly onto the skies themselves. The apparel follows the latest fashion trends, this year along with some of their wild designs they are also doing color blocked jackets (jackets that have different sections of solid colors). You can see this type of color-blocking fashion on many high-fashion dresses these days. However, instead of going with neutral colors I believe Armada has found that bright neon-colors makes the rider not only stand out from the white snow and natural scenery, but also gives a natural energy boost of confidence.  The designs of Armada are not just for the pros, they are available to the masses. Giving all skiers a little piece of design that may give them the confidence to land that Kangaroo Flip or DJ Flip (two very difficult tricks).

Check out new Armada '09 - ' 10 skis: http://www.armadaskis.com/product/skis/index.php

[Photos Thanks to Aaron Sanders Facebook, Ingmar Prokop Facebook, http://www.proctorjones.com/pjonline/assets/product_images/ar62010.jpg, Armada Skis Facebook Page, and ArmadaSkis.com]

Video Courtesy of YouTube

Design in the Sky -- The Blue Angels

[ Images found at http://celebrationsonthebay.com/ & http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/2932848591/ ]

   Sometimes to find design, all you have to do is look to the skies. This week in San Francisco (in accordance with "Fleet Week") the Blue Angels from the US Navy flew overhead as crowds of onlookers gazed upon the skies as if heaven was opening up. It is tradition that every year I head over to San Francisco and take my place with the crowds of other people and watch in amazement as the jets fly overhead twisting, turning, diving, aligning, twirling, and all other words you could use to describe this fantastical event. I sit there in awe wondering how such feats can be accomplished (how do they even practice these moves?!). 


        Today I sat at home and thought to myself about how design is much more than anyone is able to define or even express ( I plan on seeing the Angels tomorrow). When I see wonders such as the Blue Angels I realize design is so much more; it is everywhere, everyone and all encompassing. This design of moves the Navy choreographed is one of the most magnificent things I have ever seen. The planes twist through the Golden Gate Bridge, spin around Coit Tower, fly high over Treasure Island and low over the icy waters of the San Francisco Bay. I have found that design can be found in unusual places. 


       The formations the planes take are beautiful displays and the jet stream of USA colors (red, white and blue) shooting out of the back of the plane is the signature on painting they just painted on their canvas - the sky. Not all art and all designs are meant to last forever. In this case the design is meant to last for a brief period of time but leave an impression that will last a lifetime. The people who go and watch will always remember this wonderful, spectacular event they have witnessed. Beyond the elements of designs the Navy reaches out to the public and society. We see the unification of the people who fight for our country and the people they fight for. The Blue Angels represent all of us who make up the design of our nation.  This demonstration not only exhibits the skills the U.S. Navy aviators possess but also the patriotism we hold in our hearts. The Blue Angels are the pinnacle of Design in Society. The designs they make for us, using their planes as their tools and the sky as their canvas; paint a picture of respect that all Americans are proud and honored to watch and relate to. 


       For those few minuets of time, time freezes. Everyone stops what they are doing and looks up to the sky. Except for the planes painting their designs in the sky, nothing else seems to be going on the world and the city seems still. The loud rumbles coming from the jet planes are the only things that can break the silence of the moment. Then once the moment passes or the planes fly out of sight, your mind beings to come back to the present, the “Ohhs” and “awess” coming from the crowds start to register in your mind. If you haven’t seen the Blue Angles they are truly one of the most amazing things one can experience. Ephemeral the Blue Angels may be, but forever in my mind they will last. 


Sad Note: The Blue Angels were cancelled today due to famous SF Fog ...

The Nelson Gallery

     Currently the Nelson Gallery in Davis, CA is housing several exhibits. One is a brilliant display of African American quilts ranging from modern to antique all in a beautiful array of colors. The second is an exhibition of Merch Art. Before going into explanation of the exhibit, let me first define Merch Art. Merch Art is a fun and colorful way art is incorporated into everyday merchandise. The art in the gallery was fun, exciting and inviting and gives a glimpse into the more amusing side of the art. It invited the viewer into the object, or even become a part of the art in some cases. In using this everyday merchandise the person become apart of the art. Sometimes being able to show it off to the rest of the world as a means of self-expression – giving everyone a little clue into individual personalities.  The art transcends just the regular object and projects itself outward onto the viewer. One can’t help but smile when viewing the art.

       I have posted two photos from the exhibit (the photos came from the Nelson Gallery’s web page: http://nelsongallery.ucdavis.edu/). The first is an image by Pablo Picasso called “The Dove of Peace” and is a jigsaw puzzle.  There are for outward facing faces, all slightly different and each a different color. The use of the bright colors (the primary colors: red, yellow & blue) with the darker brown incorporated not only gives this piece depth but also lends to a nice composition. Turning a piece of Pablo Picasso’s into a jigsaw puzzle lets the viewer experience the art in a whole new way. Society is able to not only view art, but also really become a part of it.  In turn be the viewer can understand the art through new “lenses” and see details they might not have seen before.  Society can experience what it means and how it feels to be the designer.

      The second piece that I posted is called “Puppy,” (on the left picture found at: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin22LyC8ilPLIhL5JMOBrCNM6islfajOkK4sHlTPwtuBkS2bbQ7cOLtcYXYzOTURu5KS7QmSRIcE7-NUfyJOb6X0mZo4cZX3qhenX8uCtR2_n6QgJsvo37UAuGEmOdT3_naAPc-i4UBVk4/s320/jkpuppy.jpg) designed by Jeff Koons and is dyed plush fabric and stuffing. It was designed to commemorate the installation of Koons’ sculpture ‘Puppy’ at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. One might look at this and think ‘why is this art.’ This piece of art serves to allow the greater masses to enjoy and take home a little piece of it. And why can’t a plush puppy be art? It can be!  If you say it is art and this most certainly is, it is a wonderful representation of Merch Art!

Design can take many forms and through the exhibit at the Nelson Gallery, one can see that even everyday merchandise can be art. This art represents not only what we see in society, but also allows us to take a closer look at it to better understand it as well as have a piece of it. These deigns let us transcend the art and actually become a part of it. Bringing the art to straight to society.