DSDN 171 blog assignment 10

This course has been influential towards my position and approach as a designer. The weekly readings and lectures have helped to synthesise various themes and issues relevant to the practice of design and what historical influences different design shows.

I have certainly found this class helpful as it taught me so much more about the different design eras, what inspired them and what they were really about. Before the course I had only a braid knowledge of the fundamentals of the main design movements, nowhere near as in depth as we learned in this course. I not tell you who belonged to groups such as Deutsche Werkbund and the Memphis design group as well as the founding members of the Bauhaus. I was also surprised how much deeper design actually goes, changes in design were also dictated by political and social issues such as the industrial revolution effecting the arts and crafts movement to the cold war’s effect on modern design.

History has usually been a subject which I would steer clear of but I believe history has been the most helpful subject in the first year programme. It has provided skills and knowledge that can be applied to design in any form. I now know so much more about the evolution of design and will most likely use design/works studied in this course as precedents in assignments later in my degree. I value highly what I have learnt from this course and think the structure of the readings and lectures was very helpful to the learning process.

DSDN 171 blog assignment 9

Steven Heller wrote 'Historical reprise has been a mixed blessing.' Postmodernism or 'remix' design has become inconsistent in its redesigning of history. Some remix design has reprised design eras successfully so that the historical elements have become relevant and 'invisible', therefore served to educate and inspire creativity. However, at times, the reprise has served to be a 'cut-and-paste' job and becomes a cliche.

An example of postmodernist or contemporary design is the Carlton Bookcase by Ettore Sottass Jr. Sottass sourced from many different cultural references in his design and combined contemporary imagery with aspects derived from ancient mythology and symbolism. Sottass was one of the founders of the Memphis design group which at the time became the 'standard bearer of the 'new international style'', it is comparable to the Bauhaus in the aspect and had members from all over the world. They believed in the idea of banality, by redesigning everyday objects through the use of pattern, colour and other elements so that they became objects of 'aesthetic contemplation'. Sottass described this style himself 'non cultural imagery', meaning the design is devoid of historical or cultural recognition by aesthetics.

The Re mixer's Manifesto states that 'the past always tries to control the future.' The critics of the historical reprise feared postmodernist design would demand originality, which is why I chose Sottass as my example. I believe the idea of banality and the Carlton Bookcase itself display unique remix techniques without the need for quotation, irony, ornamentation or unnecessary abstraction.

Carlton Bookcase

Ettore Sottass Jr.

Memphis

1981

http://www.treadwaygallery.com/ONLINECATALOGS/MAY2005/images/0836.jpg

DSDN 171 blog assignment 8

The Marshall Plan involved America pumping money into the European countries decimated by the 2^nd world war. The strategy being to halt the spread of socialism and re-establish the local economies. By this time the arms race had become a battle of social popularity rather than military might, an argument over whose ambition or way of life was better. Design was one of the tools which America used to spread capitalism by advertising it as the ‘good life’ and were using consumerism to promote this.

It is hard to think of a modern political issue that is comparable to the time of the Kitchen debate in terms of its influence over design. While consumerism and the idea of the ‘good life’ is still very much alive I believe sustainability has become the biggest change in the branding of design. Global warming, carbon emissions, energy efficiency and even the growing and aging population have become some of the greatest political issues of today as seen by the G20 summit and carbon emission taxation. Sustainability is now a huge influence on consumerism and the branding of design, a selling point for any product or organization now is to be labelled ‘green’.

NZ itself has promoted itself with the “Pure” brand which leverages off the sustainability and clean/green concepts. Every product right down to paint is using the environmental friendliness of their products as a marketing tool, as seen in Resene's line of VOC free Eco paints.

DSDN 171 blog assignment 7

When it comes to my approach to design I try to be as unbiased as possible. As far as my cultural background goes I would be classed as a New Zealand European despite my heritage. My great grandparents were Maori and German my dads family have a Scottish heritage as you can probably tell by my name.

Regardless of my families Maori background it does not affect my opinion on design, I am not a believer in the 'from Maori, for Maori' approach and think the alienation and categorization of design is backwards. Only through the integration and acceptance of all cultural and religious beliefs can we move forward as designers. This does not mean I am against the appreciation of such culture but design has to be contemporary. Artists such as Rachael Rakena have realised Maori design can move away from traditions such as whakairo, ta moko and raranga without going so far as to convert to a Euro centric view, or as Tracey recognised, accepting the universalising of design.

My view on design is mostly independent, I have no family with artistic background and my role models were and are my teachers. I went to an all boys school where creativity was sometimes confined within technically based subjects such as graphics and design, which led me to my unique style of constructive sketching.

In my opinion my background, whether it be my schooling, culture or sex does not dictate my design, I believe who I am as a designer is yet to be decided and that is why I am here. I approach design in the way I see fit at the time and it changes everyday.

DSDN 171 blog assignment 6

When comparing the philosophies and methodologies taught at the Bauhaus with those taught in the first year programme it is not hard to find similarities. The first day at the school of design I was told I was not an artist, I was a designer. This is because the school values craft amongst a technology based course, much the same as the Bauhaus, they believed the individual should be credited.

The Bauhaus has a unique pedagogy, that the values of many different designers can work together to create great design, hence the fact that Gropius, Itten and Maholy-Nagy were all teaching despite their sometimes conflicting views. In the first year programme the lecturers and tutors bring their own unique skills and design theories which contribute to the underlying outlook the school has on design as a whole.

The Bauhaus believed that a shared/universal design language was possible, as Herbert Bayer tried to portray in his universal alphabet. They also believed that the so called Utopianism of the future world should not intrude the creativity of designers, meaning they believed that as far as design is concerned, technology does not always equal progress. The school of design shares the same view, while many of the courses are based primarily on technology such as DSDN 104,112 and 142 as well as the blogging and photography elements of the other courses, the first year programme encourages a hands on approach to all projects with emphasis of craft and abstraction. This is so the essence of design is not lost through the ease that technology has created in the design process.

Ignoring the fact that we do not participate in gymnastics in the first year design programme the methods used by the school are very similar to those of the Bauhaus, the same can be said for the schools' philosophies and teaching style due to the view on creating a shared design style as well as emphasis of hands on craft.

DSDN 171 blog assignment 5

Walter Benjamin makes a sound argument that the role of the authentic has become lost in our modern age of industrious and mechanical reproduction. In today's society unique designs has become a rarity with most product being mass produced, whereas historically the Greeks could only produce 'Bronzes, terra cottas, and coins' to a scale. As the reading (Illuminations by Walter Benjamin) explains 'The whole sphere of authenticity is outside technical - and, of course, not only technical - reproducibility.' Which is a counter argument that the original will always be definable as the authentic despite ones best efforts to reproduce it, this is because copies lack 'presence in time and space' or the 'aura' of the authentic.
It isn't just modern designs created for the purpose of reproducibility. 'Man made artifacts could always be imitated by men. Replicas were made by pupils in practice of their craft, by masters for defusing their works, and, finally, by third parties in pursuit of gain.' However, today's technology has made more things possible as seen with the advancement in optic technology such as photography and x-ray, meaning we can see more than what we used to. This is seen in the series of photographs by Eadweard Muybridge which showed the movement of a racehorse and put a rest to the argument as to whether race horses really became completely airborne at any one moment as it was indefinable to the naked eye.
Now reproducing designs had become quicker and easier, this had caused the 'aura' of designs to become lost with the authenticity. But 'By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence.' So sometimes copying other art can become more than simple duplicates and can lead to new unique arts themselves. So therefore I will neither agree or disagree that reproducibility has become so common that the authentic is now lost, this is untrue. We must accept that design has and always will be reproduced but the authentic will always hold the 'aura' which the copies fail to.

DSDN 171 blog assignment 4

When we hear the word craft we tend to think of a tired old craftsman standing over a well built wooden chair over which he laboured for hours, as seen in the lecture in the Von der werkbund austellung drawing. But craft has evolved from its origins in the late 19th/early 20th century to the contemporary craft of today.

The exact definition of craft was heavily debated in our tutorial, some beleived it could be defined by the times taken or the skill level required to construct a design. We debated whether a knitted scarf could be considered craft, as many people can knit and a scarf is a common object. But I believe it is craft, while many know how to knit, the quality of the scarf depends on the skill of the craftsmen so two are never the same. This is what seperates it from the mass produced/industrially mase designs that William Morris and A.W.N Pugin disliked.

It is on this basis that I chose my example of contemporary craft, flax art. It is craft because it is easy to do yet requires skill to craft well, time consuming and original. I believe it can be considered contemporary craft because of the modern obsession with sustainability and cultural design, rather than the technology and materials used, these may be a define some contemporary design but not craft.

Kate Westerink

http://virtualbay.co.nz/teawhirito/kimwesterink/index.htm

DSDN 171 blog assignment 3

Image: Heywood, Higginbottom & Smith Crystal Palace 1850's
http://thetextileblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/false-principles-of-design-exhibition.html

From Owen Jones' opinion that 'Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposefully constructed.' (the Grammar of Ornament (1856)) that he agrees with the likes of A.W.N Pugin in terms of what he thinks should define design.

During the early to mid 19th century there was a great advancement in industry and mass production. This saw the gap between the classes particularly in Britain lessen as a previously unseen middle class emerged. This upset a natural and longstanding hierarchy that Britain held in which the rich stood well above the poor and the gap between the two was clearly definable. Now due to the low cost of goods from mass production some could afford to live more luxuriously and in turn began to mimic the upper class through design.

The style of design that was once considered rich and classy became cheap, mass produced imitations. Because the middle class were now buying these designs they were posing as the upper class which meant that a new design styles had to emerge so that the rich could stay above the middle class. So came design reformers such as Pugin and Jones who decided design should be relevant.

These reformers devised true and false principles which would outline what was good and bad design at the time. Two of the false principles were 'inappropriate decoration for function' and 'ornament constructed', these link directly with Jones' opinions. So when he said it he meant design should first made useful and then beautiful, if done the other way round it would not work, and I agree with him. I believe design look like what it really is, rather than falsifying it in an attempt to make it seem more valuable or classy than it truly is.

DSDN 171 blog assignment 2

The reading (The Continuing Curve by Penelope Hunter-Stiebel) refers to sensuous impulse with reference to the 'yin' side of design and architecture such as Rococo and Art Nouveau styles. It seems the reading is making the argument that these decorative and feminine styles are showing sensuous impulse and that the 'yang' side such as neoclassicism and constructivism do not, this I disagree with.

Sensuous is defined as appealing to the senses, I believe this goes beyond aesthetic appeal and can also be defined culturally, morally or ergonomically, meaning sensuous impulse is purely a personal opinion. This is why there are those such as Charles-Nicholas Cochin and Abbe le Blanc who object to the Rococo style even with its 'sensuous appeal.'

I do not believe design has to be unnecessarily detailed or lose functionality to have sensuous impulse. Nor do I think natural curvature is needed to show sensuous complexity, Art Deco displays complexity through the use of order and geometry. Even classical architecture has natural features within its order, seen in the volutes of Greek columns.

Sometimes functionality and order can be as sensually appealing as natural curvature, it all depends on which senses are being appealed to.

DSDN 171 blog assignment 1

The Chrysler Building is an important design because it's symbolic. It represents both New York and America being one of their most popular and well known buildings. It represents a great feat in engineering, becoming the worlds tallest building when first built and is the most iconic Art Deco design.