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Entry 12: The future of Design

In parallel to any advances in design, the design movements of time past will continue to serve as inspiration and a lesson for future development. Despite any trends in design, we seem to be able to recognize good design. Just as past music movements continue to inspire one of the future, past designs can serve as a reference point for future development, as it seems that good design resonates with us.

The future of design will involve widening of the bounds of what we consider "design". Designing experiences will become a big part of the design profession. We will look at the ways technology, design and our life all intersect.

The the incoming self-driving car revolution, we will be faced with an opportunity to redesign our cities. Without a need for a place to park cars, parking lots could become obsolete, opening up acres of new land in the middle of downtowns throughout the world. We can create new community spaces for everyone to enjoy and to bring people together. And, hopefully, we can reverse the suburban revolution of the post-war period.

There will be a fierce battle for the future of design. Who will benefit from these future innovations? In the automotive revolution of the United States, the profiteers were auto manufacturers and oil companies. Unfortunately, the planet suffered as a result. We need to carefully consider any new vision for the future. Nowadays, marketers benefit by tracking our actions, online and off. If we want a world that can help everyone, designers need to reject to design a world that only benefits a few. 

A future kitchen may be able to track every item in your inventory. A future kitchen could keep track of expiration dates to prevent needless food waste. This kitchen could give you recipes based on what you have on stock. Alternatively, a smart kitchen could prepare food for you, but this make take the fun out of the culinary arts.

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Week 11: Postmodern Design

Postmodern design is, at its core, a rejection of modern design, modern design being exemplified by the work in the documentary Helvetica. As postmodern design is a rejection of a design movement, work sprouting from this movement is very diverse, and it is hard to put a finger on what postmodern design "should" look like.

Instead of saying what it should look like, it may be easier to define postmodern design as what it is not. While modern design love straight lines and orderly fonts, postmodern design often rejects this, such as in rock and psychedelic design. These design styles use wavy lines and bubbly fonts to reject the “institution” and to put forward a mystical feeling that could never be conveyed by modern design.

Postmodern design is also famous for its use of detournement (Eskilson 2012). This describes the use of other design styles to undermine what the original designer wanted to say. One of the most famous examples of this is Jamie Reid’s cover art for the Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen, where the Queen’s official portrait is used, overlaid with the title of the name of the British national anthem, to criticize the British government, or “the institution” as a whole. 

One of the most prominent postmodern designers is Milton Glaser. Glaser caught my attention because a few of his works have entered the public consciousness. His I❤NY design is now one of the most effective pieces of city rebranding ever. His work, Bob Dylan, is especially postmodern for a few reasons. It satirizes an older work, a common theme throughout postmodern work. The font is rounded and decidedly not “Rational”. Finally, perhaps there is a bit of humor in the poster: the poster was created when it was rumored that Bob Dylan died (The Museum of Modern Art 2016), however in the poster his hair looks dyed. So, perhaps he planned this play on words.

Works Cited

Eskilson, Stephen. Graphic Design: A New History. New Haven, USA: Yale University Press, 2012.

The Museum of Modern Art. "Dylan." moma.org. 2016. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/8108 (accessed 11 23, 2019).

Milton Glaser, Bob Dylan, 1996, Poster, Museum of Modern Art, New York.

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Week 10: Helvetica

Helvetica was designed in 1957 by Max Miedenger in Switzerland (Linotype 2019). It is one of the most important typefaces of the Swiss style and became a hallmark of the international style. This new style was created post war in order to move on from the design of the past and design a new world, influenced by the Bauhaus school and the new typography.

Helvetica is a sans-serif typeface and has very little variations in line thickness. The ends of the font are cut at oblique angles. For me, what always catches my eye on Helvetica is the curly tail on the uppercase “R”. Being designed in the mid-20th century, the design wasn’t limited by the printing techniques of previous eras and was freer to experiment.

The font is used frequently due to the positive associations given off by the font. It can make a corporate entity look fiscally responsible, open and trustworthy (Eskilson 2012). Most corporations use these sorts of font, and Helvetica, being the poster child of modern sans-serif typefaces, is used as a default unless the designer has a good reason to use anything else. Brands like Target or Staples use Helvetica to represent themselves an affordable and reliable, while a brand like Mercedes-Benz use a serif font to appear as luxury brands, perhaps to make the brand appear as one that is traditional and well-established.

It’s easy to say that the font doesn’t say anything, but I think is a case of the fish not recognizing the water it is swimming in. Helvetica very broadly represents our contemporary era. One could say it doesn’t say anything in this regard, because any statements the font can make are accepted truths of our society.

The font might have been once cutting edge, but now is entirely normal. In fact, in domains like technology, it would seem slightly odd for a font not to be a sans serif.

References  

Eskilson, Stephen. "The Triumph of the  International Style." In Graphic Design: A New History,  286-318. New Haven, USA: Yale University Press, 2012.

Helvetica.  Directed by Gary Hustwit. Performed by Gary Hustwit. 2007.

Linotype. "Helvetica Font Family." Linotype.  2019. https://www.linotype.com/1308886/helvetica-family.html (accessed 11 15,  2019).

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Week 9: Brooks Stevens and Post-WWII Design

Post-war industrial design had several effects on American culture. It represents the beginning of contemporary American consumer culture. Products were designed to catch the eye of consumers (Rhodes 2013). Products became streamlined like Norman Bel Geddes's Futurama exhibit. Products became colorful like the early Tupperware containers. New products were used as status symbols, rather than products simply having an appealing design.

With wives being pressured to return to their pre-war positions as housewives. Products were coated in chrome or wood vernier to make them look classy.

New innovations were created for housewives to ease their work around the house. The spherical Hoover and Tupperware promised to turn housework into something glamorous and modern.

With the end of the Second World War, the advertisement people saw changed. Gone were the prayers asking citizens to enlist and buy eat bonds, and in were advertisements showing consumers the latest appliance.

New streamlined design is connected to the new optimism for the future. The Futurama exhibit shows a vision for the future of American society (especially as opposed to the Soviet socialist vision for the future). With the beginnings of the space race, it's only appropriate that refrigerators and toasters would be shaped like spacecraft.

One of the most important changes brought in this era was the concept of "planned obsolescence". Brook Stevens coined the term to describe the changing tastes in design. (Milwaukee Art Museum n.d.) To Stevens, owning something new makes you more glamour, more modern. Plans obsolescence is becoming increasingly controversial, as it predicates the death of old products will exist that need to be disposed of. E-waste is a growing problem, as toxic discarded electronics are frequently not properly disposed of.

Shown is an image of Brook Stevens's Olympian Hiawatha Skytop Lounge design. The design appears like a starship, acting as a moving advertisement for itself, showing that this is the fast, modern way to get around.

Bibliography  

Eskilson, Stephen. Graphic Design: A New History.  New Haven, USA: Yale University Press, 2012.

Milwaukee Art Museum. Brooks Stevens Biography.  n.d. https://mam.org/collection/archives/brooks/bio.php (accessed 11 9,  2019).

Rhodes, Margaret. A 2-Minute History Of American  Industrial Design. 06 24, 2013.  https://www.fastcompany.com/1672853/watch-a-2-minute-history-of-american-industrial-design  (accessed 11 9, 2019).

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Week 8: Universal Design

Universal design is the idea that an ideal design can be made for everyone. This stems the idea of essentialism, that there is a base human form and that all humans are derivative of this base form. Essentialism poses a number of problems when we try to apply it to the world. For example, what race is this base person? And what sort of class distinctions do any variations to this base form suggest? Is any human form not traditionally beautiful a corruption of the human form. An essentialist’s answers to these questions could reveal some of essentialism’s true nature.

Henry’s (2011) problems with universal design stem from issues of accessibility and diversity of people. As Henry shows as an example, you wouldn’t design a doghouse for a wolf, as dogs are ancestors of wolves. There are many breeds of dogs, each having their own needs and preferences. Architects and design The other motive for universal design is that of standardization: if an “ideal” design can be found, the production of this design and be mass-produced and mass marketed, making it and attractive design strategy for investors and managers. Henry argues that Architects want to design for an “ideal world” of homogenous people with the same preferences and limitations. The reality is that everyone’s quality of life could be improved if architects would design to these preferences and limitations. 

I do agree with how the article ended, that equality means “an equal opportunity to address our individual needs.” Certainly, not every person needs a wheelchair, but for others a wheelchair is necessity of living their life.

An example where “mass customization” would be useful is in web design. By allowing powerful customization of a website, a website can be displayed in a way to be accessible to everyone. Allowing color adjustments makes a web site better suitable for the colorblind. Text narration and text-to-speech make a website more easily accessible to those with vision impairments.

Works Cited

Christopher N. Henry, ‘The Plato Effect in Architecture: Designing for Human Diversity’, Arch Daily, 12 Oct. 2011. (Links to an external site.)

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Week 7: Le Corbusier

Weissenhof-Siedlung Houses 14 and 15

Le Corbusier was a French architect born in Switzerland. His five principles of architecture were:

1.       Using pillars to support the building. This allows more freedom because you can put the walls wherever you like. The pillars themselves can often be an important element in the design.

2.       The roof terrace provides an escape. This also predicates the roof being flat. This idea was taken from Islamic architecture

3.       Open plan. Because the pillars are supporting the weight of the building, rather than having load bearing walls, rooms can flow into each other, also making each room look larger.

4.       As another effect of the pillars, the Le Corbusier liked to have ribboned windows, so allow more light into each room.

5.       Because the outside walls don’t have to bear any weight, the architect can be more innovative with the outside facade. They can be made lighter or out of glass.

Weissenhof-Siedlung Houses 14 and 15 has the entire second floor supported by pillars on one side, and by single wall on the other. The roof is flat so one can relax on the roof. One can see how on the second floor, all the windows are in a single strip. The rest of the walls are very clean looking and consistent as result of the load bearing supports.

Le Corbusier’s influence can be everywhere today. The modernist skyscraper, with all glass walls is the natural extension of Le Corbusier’s work. One such example is the new Kenwood Undergraduate Research Center, which on one side has a giant glass façade which allows in lots of light and allows outsiders to see all the people working inside. Another element of Le Corbusier that is popular today is open floor plans, also known as “open-concept”. Turn on any home remodeling reality show and it is bound to be mentioned.

References

Eskilson, Stephen. Graphic Design: A New History. New Haven, USA: Yale University Press, 2012.

Stott, Rory. "Spotlight: Le Corbusier." Arch Daily. 2019. https://www.archdaily.com/434972/happy-birthday-le-corbusier-2 (accessed 2019).

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Week 6: Design and Diversity

The students at Burg University created posters for “Strange Lab” to celebrate female designers. (Morley, A Typographic Exercise to Readdress Design History’s Gender Imbalance 2019) One of these celebrated designers on the made-up lineup is Margaret Calvert, a designer best known for her work on transit signage in the UK. (McClatchey 2011) Specifically, I will be looking at her work on airport signage. One important feature of her designs is using image as well as design, showing understanding for the context that this work will be used in. By using a suitcase icon as well as the words “Left Luggage”, even someone with no knowledge of English can understand where to find their baggage. The signage is in a bright color, to easily catch the eye of a busy traveler. One clever feature is the variety of directions the arrows can indicate towards, this providing better clues as to where to find what you need in a large twisting airport. It’s almost hard to believe that these designs are almost 50 years old, such signage wouldn’t seem out of place in an airport in 2019.

The Exhibition “As, Not For” displayed the works of many African American designers, one of which being Eugene Winslow. (Morley, Celebrating the African-American Practitioners Absent From Way Too Many Classroom Lectures 2018) The work I chose to focus on is a souvenir program from “A Century of Negro Progress Exposition”. Winslow’s work often is promoting racial integration, (University of Chicago Library 2013) which the profiles on the side does eloquently. A black silhouette is layered atop a blue and white silhouette, subtly showing an idea of multiple colors living side-by-side. In addition, these silhouettes give an anchoring point for the rest of the poster. The red dot in the lower-right corner is a unique touch that acts as another anchoring point. The poster makes use of its blank space in a unique way. Since the background is black, even the background can serve to promote his ideology. The subtest is also in a different style font than the header, which was carefully chosen.  

References  

McClatchey, Caroline. "The road sign as design  classic." BBC News Magazine. 12 9, 2011.  https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-15990443 (accessed 10 12, 2019).

Morley, Madeleine. "A Typographic Exercise to  Readdress Design History’s Gender Imbalance." AIGA Eye on Design.  10 03, 2019.  https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/a-typographic-exercise-to-readdress-design-historys-gender-imbalance  (accessed 10 12, 2019).

—. "Celebrating the African-American  Practitioners Absent From Way Too Many Classroom Lectures." AIGA Eye  on Design. 09 24, 2018.  https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/celebrating-the-african-american-practitioners-absent-from-way-too-many-classroom-lectures/  (accessed 10 12, 2019).

University of Chicago Library. "Eugene  Winslow." University of Chicago Library Website. 10 14, 2013.  https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/collex/exhibits/race-and-design-american-life/kingdom-commerce/eugene-winslow/  (accessed 10 12, 2019).

 Eugene Winslow’s “ A Century of Negro Progress Exposition, Official Souvenir Program”

Margaret Calvert’s Airport Signage

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Week 5: Design, Old and New

Comparing Behrens’s AEG electric kettle with my contemporary electric kettle manufactured by Chefman, sever key differences can be found. Firstly, the materials and construction of Behrens’s kettle are simpler. Behrens’s design is constructed of several pieces of machined metal, almost appearing to be human made. The other feature is that all the components are made of the same material, that being brass. On the other hand, my kettle is made of multiple materials. The handle and base are made of injection-molded plastic, the top and bottom of stainless steel, and the water container is made of plexiglass. The tank being clear isn’t just for looks though, as it allows the user to see the amount of water in the container. Behrens’s electric kettle would indicate whether it is on with just a simple light, while the Chefman kettle uses an elaborate array of blue LEDs to indicate its “on” state. My instinct tells me that the AEG kettle would last longer than the Chefman, as its construction seems sturdier. Both devices were created using mass production techniques, (Eskilson 2012) and AEG pioneered many of the processes that were used on future devices, such as our contemporary kettle.

Continuing with the theme of tea, next, a 1910 Ludwig Hohlwein poster for Marco Polo Tee will be compared with a contemporary tin for tea by Harney & Sons. Holwein’s poster is a prime example of the Sachplakat style popular in the early 20th century. Both are very simple in their color schemes. (Eskolson 2012) Hohlwein uses three colors in his design, while the contemporary design uses only one. Marco Polo Tee’s marketing scheme bring images eastern traditional tea culture to western (German) audiences. The contemporary Harney & Sons tea does something similar, using floral designs to beckon back to an earlier time, summoning imagery of British high culture. The nature of tea often creates this marketing to an idealized past, or to a foreign unknown land.

Works Cited

Eskilson, Stephen. "Art Neouveau in Germany." In Graphic Design: A New History, 95-105. New Haven, USA: Yale University Press, 2012.

Eskolson, Stephen. "Sachplakat in Germany." In Graphic Design: A New History, 108-116. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.

One of Peter Behrens’s many electric kettle designs. Representative of industrial design trends of the early 20th century.

Harney & Sons Fine Teas tine. Found in a Milwaukee Grocery Store. Fairly simple design with ornamental floral designs.

Ludwid Hohlwein, Marco Polo Tee, 1910. Representative of the Sachplakat style of the early 20th Century.

Chefman Electric Kettle, Purchased around ~2016 in an electronics store. Represents new design trends for electric kettles.

Comparing Behrens’s AEG electric kettle with my contemporary electric kettle manufactured by Chefman, sever key differences can be found. Firstly, the materials and construction of Behrens’s kettle are simpler. Behrens’s design is constructed of several pieces of machined metal, almost appearing to be human made. The other feature is that all the components are made of the same material, that being brass. On the other hand, my kettle is made of multiple materials. The handle and base are made of injection-molded plastic, the top and bottom of stainless steel, and the water container is made of plexiglass. The tank being clear isn’t just for looks though, as it allows the user to see the amount of water in the container. Behrens’s electric kettle would indicate whether it is on with just a simple light, while the Chefman kettle uses an elaborate array of blue LEDs to indicate its “on” state. My instinct tells me that the AEG kettle would last longer than the Chefman, as its construction seems sturdier. Both devices were created using mass production techniques, (Eskilson 2012) and AEG pioneered many of the processes that were used on future devices, such as our contemporary kettle.

Continuing with the theme of tea, next, a 1910 Ludwig Hohlwein poster for Marco Polo Tee will be compared with a contemporary tin for tea by Harney & Sons. Holwein’s poster is a prime example of the Sachplakat style popular in the early 20th century. Both are very simple in their color schemes. (Eskolson 2012) Hohlwein uses three colors in his design, while the contemporary design uses only one. Marco Polo Tee’s marketing scheme bring images eastern traditional tea culture to western (German) audiences. The contemporary Harney & Sons tea does something similar, using floral designs to beckon back to an earlier time, summoning imagery of British high culture. The nature of tea often creates this marketing to an idealized past, or to a foreign unknown land.

Works Cited

Eskilson, Stephen. "Art Neouveau in Germany." In Graphic Design: A New History, 95-105. New Haven, USA: Yale University Press, 2012.

Eskolson, Stephen. "Sachplakat in Germany." In Graphic Design: A New History, 108-116. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.

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Week 4

The way we do design is shaped by imperialism of the past and the present. The culture that a designer was raised in plays a major role in what they consider to be good design. In addition many of the designer's preconceptions may be based on colonial ideas.

Decolonization of design is a movement to remove the oppression that has been ingrained in design over the hundreds of years of imperialism. Decolonization of design is at all levels of the design industry. At the education level, it involves educating design students of foreign design styles and teaching students their value. At the professional level it involves designers using their talent to create work that empowers those from groups still oppressed by the imperialism's past and present.

Picture a designer who is designing an advertisement for a yoga studio. The designer may feel inclined to use traditional Hindu imagery in this advertisement. What the designer must consider, however, is whether this use of religious imagery in a commercial setting is appropriate. Firstly, neither the designer or the business owner might not be Hindu themselves. Secondly, both parties are profiting from this (mis)use of foreign religious symbology.

In our scenario, the designer has a few good alternatives. The designer could simply refrain from using this sort of symbolic imagery in the advertisement. The designer could consult with an expert to know whether this use of Hindu imagery is appropriate. A third option is referring the client to a designer who happens to be a Hindu themself.

A real world example of decolonization of design could be the title of this class – “Design Survey”. The content of this course seems to focus on western design movements, but the title of the course suggests that this is the most important essentials of design history, pushing other cultures' design to “other design”. Therefore, the course may better be titled “Western Design Survey”.

1. Anoushka Khandwala, What Does It Mean to Decolonize Design? (AIGA Eye on Design, 2019)

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Week 3 – Design Thinking

Design thinking can be seen in a variety of innovations around my house. One of the most useful and innovative ideas is the microwave oven. Before the microwave, food was always heated with, well, heat. The microwave oven offered a quicker, safer, and more energy efficient way to reheat food using high powered microwave rays to excite the water molecules in the food. The downside is that the wavelength of microwaves cause the food to be cooked unevenly. This is cheaply remedied by having the plate in the microwave spin. (Some more expensive commercial microwave ovens use a more expensive mechanism to avoid the need for the spinning plate.)

I went to an ice cream parlor and saw a piece of design that piqued my interest, a holder for an ice cream cone. This way, the person at the counter can scoop the ice cream, then you can pay, then you pick up the cone from the holder on the counter. That way, you can deal with your money, while not having to deal with holding an ice cream cone at the same time. I like this innovation because it solves a problem that I didn't know existed, and now I think these devices should become standard!

IDEO's design process began with going to the supermarkets, then coming up with lots of ideas, voting on the ideas, creating mock-ups, and then finally fabricating the shopping cart. One of their mottos was not to criticize ideas. To implement this rule, there was a bell that was wrong whenever someone began to criticize an idea. Another rule was that everyone is expected to come up with ideas, not just the senior people. This was implemented by having roundtables and actively encouraging everyone to give their ideas. Perhaps a way I would improve the shopping cart would be allowing them to be stacked together, so someone could have a small shopping cart, or someone could connect to together in order to have one large shopping cart.

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Week 2: William Morris and A&C

The first work by William Morris to be examined is the Red House. This house has various features that allude to medieval European design[1] (or a romanticized version of it). Such features include the simple brickwork, arched entryways, and the circular windows. The house has a simple look. The house isn’t small but isn’t too extravagant. This fits with Morris’s socialist ideology, which rejects the over-the-top designs of the aristocracy. In this way, it could even be described as surprisingly modern. By rejecting the ideas of the aristocracy and with the idea that Socialism and equality are the way forward, the house’s design hides new ideas in an old looking house.

The second piece of design to be analyzed is the Tristram and Isoude stained glass panels. This stained glass has clear roots in medieval stained-glass design [2], which itself has its roots in the painting styles of the time. This style flattens the perspective, so that everything appears to be on the same plane. This therefore rejects the newer painting styles introduced perspective and vanishing points, which make the image look more realistic. In addition, the scenes depicted in the glass are based on a romance story from the 12th century, further cementing the piece as medieval revival.

In the arts and crafts is a rejection of the new modes of production that began to dominate in the 19th century. The movement attempts to “democratize” design. William Morris argues that that art should be accessible to the entire working class “rather than art should live this poor thin life among a few exceptional men”. [3] Morris uses his design to promote political change, as a way to reject the extravagant wealth accumulated at the top of the capitalist pyramid. In this way I agree with his platform. Good design shouldn’t just be something a small fraction of society gets to enjoy, but something the entire populace deserves.

1.       Hollamby, Edward; Hollamby, Doris (1993). Red House: A Guide. William Morris Society. ISBN 0-903283-17-4.

2.       Lawson, Paul (1985). "The Tristram and Isoude Stained Glass Panels". The Bradford Antiquary. Third. Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society. 1: 50–55.

3.       Morris, William (1877). “The Lesser Arts”

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About me

My name is Alex and I was born here in Milwaukee. I am a computer science major and a Russian language minor. 

I specifically took this course because design plays an important role in software design. In my computer programming courses we learn about the best practices to organize the code for a program. Similarly there are guidelines for visual design for making functional and attractive pieces of design. Similarly between these two fields these guidelines can be bent, and when this is done, this can often push the industry forward.

I have some relevant experience in design from high school. I took a design class in high school where we worked with Adobe Illustrator and designing with vector graphics. We traced objects and also created a book cover. This book cover still resides in my copy of The Hobbit. I also have created a number of works in charcoal, many of them based on Soviet propaganda posters. The 

I am inspired by a lot of retro design. Of course now I do not know all the terminology to describe everything precisely, but a lot of European design has is very attractive. I have heard of the Bauhaus design style, specifically in architecture. I often think that less can be more in design, focusing of the important elements. A designer must take the initiative to remove elements as well as adding elements.

It is hard to say any specific product that I purchased because of its design, because every purchase that we make is motivated by the design of the product. One may say not to judge a book by its cover, but the first impression of a book is always the cover, and whether we decide to read a book is often motivated by what is showing on the cover. How I choose a movie on Netflix is often decided by the design of the thumbnail. A well designed thumbnail points that the movie is well produced.