DSDN171 Blog Assignment 3 (Week 3)

This week we discussed Owen Jones' argument that "[c]onstruction should be decorated. Decoration should never purposefully be constructed;" The Grammar of Ornament 1856. He reasoned that any decoration may be symbolic or suggestive of the represented object, but never so close as to attempt to imitate them. It is amusing to me, then, that murals are so freely produced today - is this a purposeful resistance to Jones and other succeeding design reformists? I think so - murals are the very pinnacle of imitation - they are literally an interior painted to 'imitate' another scene. It is possible for a mural to be stylised, but the picture attached is an example of one that looks almost too real - the way the curtains are painted with shadow, the bird, trees and ivy with so much detail and depth, and the landscape with perspective - all direct opposites to the standards prescribed by Jones who believed that impersonation especially of nature, which was a perfect thing created by God, could not, and should not, be copied.

http://www.alltackle.com/ceiling_murals.htm

DSDN171 Blog Assignment 2 (Week 2)

http://aaronborrill.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/mazda-3-mps/

The new Mazda 3 car design is a perfect example of the hegemonial relationship between the yin and the yang of design - the balance between the organic/curved and the straight/geometric. The yang is the rational, functional side - the practicality of the materials of the car and their function in providing a relatively safe mode of transport. However, the yin is the emotional and elaborate side – here, the outer design of the car, the sleek curves and moulded shell, says everything about beauty and sensuality - an attribute of the rococo art design period that has inspired the 'curvaceous' parts of following design periods, although in a less overt and more refined manner.

Design since the rococo period has appeared to swing back and forth between yin and yang, at most times having at least some attributes of either one.

This is an example of the ‘sensuous impulse’ in that the fluidity and aesthetic beauty is valued higher than rationality, however it is not overdone, so there is a balance between the yin and the yang. With the constantly curving shell, however, it is obvious that this design is part of an evolution of rococo design.

DSDN171 Blog Assignment 1 (Week 1)

Andrew Kim's Coke Bottle Redesign

http://www.minimallyminimal.com/journal/2010/3/15/eco-coke-bottle-design.html

This new coke bottle is eco-friendly, both in plant-based materials used and in carbon footprint, with stackable bottles, wasting little packing space. Bottles are ribbed to enable easy compression for recycling. For a drink that sells 1.6 billion servings per day globally, this proposed redesign is important for future sustainability.