schulzdesignsurveyjournal

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Week 15- Final Thoughts

In the least question-dodging way possible, my response to this is.. It’s not really up to me to know. I think I see myself following this closely though, hence my choice to study this for school and my goal to become an artist or designer of some sort- Ideally, a freelance graphic designer with my own clients someday. This class was 15 weeks of observation on design and figuring out the difference between what is art and what is design, and how they mesh, or stray dramatically. I found it pretty valuable and now I can explain and articulate things I thought I knew before, but never thought about upfront. It could just be my hope, or the result of what discourse I’ve been exposed to outside of class, but I think politically design choices like anti-homeless architecture are getting called out and noticed and that is a take I hope impacts design in the potential future.

I also think with styles of clothing moving in and out so fast with online shopping, people have noticed and voiced their morally backed opinions on large social media platforms (TikTok) and their voices have reached many people. I hope to see (and already have noticed in my observable personal life) an increase in secondhand shopping and a decrease and general attitude of guilt surrounding buying large amounts of clothing online, for cheap. Consciousness of ethics may be increasing and may affect design in its potential future- or maybe that’s just my hope! Who knows.

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Week 14

I think it is particularly interesting how much we rely on design but how much it is background noise in our lives. I think what I got most out of this class was a learned/gained awareness of what is going on around me visually, and how it sways my decisions. I’m not going to buy the phone charger with a crappy package design because it looks like I shouldn’t trust it, and I don’t! When design is bad, cost doesn’t even factor in… I’m going to buy the expensive apple charger because of its sleek durable heavy packaging even though the gas station charger could work completely the same. Marketing is huge and I am interested in graphic design and marketing personally. As for the actual production of materials and engineering… This class was huge for me because I used to not consider that as design, but it most definitely is. I just wasn’t interested in it. I guess a question I still have about art versus design is really personal and only affects me, but could be relatable to others, I think especially people who are very art-leaning and look to design for career but art for personal expression. Is it fair to say that art is selfish while design is selfless? I think that’s a conclusion i’ve come to but it’s more a moral debate than a technical one. I think comparing art to design is thought provoking.

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Week 13: New Media 2

Expanding on the whole ‘digital aesthetic” thing… I think it is interesting how a technology that was developed by people so mechanically.. can produce SUCH immersive imagery. That is always what will blow me away about the smartphone specifically, because it’s the device I use most frequently. I would guess it’s the most prevalent in my world too. It would be very very hard to walk around and find someone who does not have a version of this personal device. The level of enmeshment humans have with this technology today is insane. I’ll admit, there are days where I never get off my phone from the minute I wake up until the moment I go to bed. It’s an entire world. It is made of design. Of course it’s going to develop aesthetics and obviously it is digital. It’s just what I think of right away. Digital aesthetic- the looks and defining visual characteristics of the digital realm seem hard to contain in a simple explanation because I feel it’s expanding… the portrayal of things online is not one thing to me. You can find just about anything there. Contemporary examples are important to recognize especially since it wasn’t something that even crossed my mind originally, as I talked about the iPhone and could not expand my thinking past it, which I think is also funny because the phone has a tendency to do that- make me ignore the world and hyper focus on something within it. Glitch art with paint on canvas is intriguing because it is a mixture of realms and that communicates that. I also think of AI rendering.

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Week 12: New Media

Expanding on which fields that have the greatest impact on interactive design, and how they do, is a tough thing to determine! My initial thought was to better understand what interactive design is. Obviously I think we can determine that this refers to design that fosters interaction between user and product. More in particular I think of furniture or architecture, interiors and setups for things like crowd control or a house made to be serene and adapt to nature like a house on stilts or an open concept mcmansion or something…which I know is not an official way to describe architectural nuance and it’s more of a catchphrase but this is just a thought.

New media… is everything right now and it only becomes more and more prevalent because smartphones have given us access (arguably, to way more than humans were ever supposed to). We see so much, and that is a marketing dreamland. Every application whether related to, or intended to be for shopping, or not- sells stuff. Graphic designers are huge now because there are so many things to be designed beyond just our real physical world. We opened a realm with the iPhone and as previous lectures from this class have stated, what we think of as “new media” isn’t actually new anymore, because we can actively perceive it. True “new media”, the “newest” of media, has yet to come to life. So in that respect, you could say that it’s the engineers and visionaries, the people working to expand and transform what technology is already in our hands, who are among the most impactful on interactive design.

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Week 11- Graphic Design, “Citizen Design”

The citizen designer is something I appreciated reading and learning about, and I connect with it because it has to do with something I think about often. Sometimes the window for creativity can seem so narrow when stacked on top are the expectations of a client and technicalities, rules that cannot be broken. Coming from a background of freely drawing and painting, making ART, not design, it just seems like a drag. I have to remember the reason I am pursuing design is for a career. My art can exist as a hobby outside of design work, and in that I am preserving my heart, and beyond the confines of my free time- for WORK, I can get technical, accept critique, and let my work be judged/changed/commented on/dictated by a firm or customer.

The idea of the “citizen designer” explores the enmeshment of those two sides. The reconfiguration of branding, the direct confrontation of societal issues, taking it on as a narrative for a design project! The Arts and Crafts movement could be considered to foster more “citizen” oriented designers. It’s like an artist’s form of self care to be acknowledged and feel heard, and that preserves their mind and probably prevents burnout. It’s so important to honor a designer’s idea. I can really appreciate it when it is talked about! Pushing boundaries is how things evolve.

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Week 10- Graphic Design

There’s the history of graphic design and typography, and then there’s the actual origin, the very first experience with it, and the thing that started everything. The Bible needed to be written to be passed on. The characters, graphics, and layout were not just arranged to relay the information, or they could’ve been handwritten probably. Gothic typefaces are still considered sort of standard. Default. For example, times new roman or helvetica. The Gutenberg bible was in textura. The reason bibles were perhaps the earliest of early explorations into typography, and page design/layout, was because the positions of elements could aid in understanding the info when done strategically- like making a headline large and making text wrap a graphic blurb. There would also need to be many copies and the solution was printing.

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Week 9- Industrial Design and Brooks Stevens

As I read about Brooks Stevens and his relation to Milwaukee, some background knowledge and context enhanced my understanding. Even before the reading- just by being a Wisconsinite living In Milwaukee who now pays attention to design thanks to school, I have a little bit of prefaced insight. For one, Milwaukee is Wisconsin’s largest city. Living here, I notice a lot more of the industry, buildings that aren’t so glorified like the tall BMO building or Potawatomi Casino. I travel through industrial areas to get to the local places I frequent and Milwaukee has some huge manufacturers like Starline (power distribution and monitoring systems), Materson foods (food processing), Miller Brewing of course, and Bay View packing company. These are just local businesses but the architecture from the outside and processes going on inside all involve design, design that helps produce products, the products being a design too.

The history of industrial design seems to be about breaking down the evolution and constant advancements into discernible movements. Fitting them into categories, classifying them, understanding them in general. So to put it plainly, Milwaukee, being a place where industry currently exists, and where industry at some point had to begin, fits in that timeline. Brooks Stevens was born here in 1911, he studied the design that came before him and contributed to design throughout his life in Milwaukee. His limitations due to polio were harsh, but revealed his passion. He never stopped! Because he stayed here, only moved away once, came back, pursued his career, made up the term “planned obsolescence” (meaning that customers should crave newer products a little earlier than their releases, and that desire would contribute to sales in the end)... makes Milwaukee was the spawn point of all this progress. The reason Stevens stayed could be attributed to his polio if you give his story the once-over, but learning about him it seems like he didn’t find inspiration quite as powerful anywhere else!

https://mam.org/collection/archives/brooks/

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Week 8- Industrial Design Observations

1. Latch: It keeps people out, there’s already a turning lock about a foot below this on the door. But the need for added security caused me to buy and install this latch. That was the selling point.

2. Hook: 

What a good invention, and it’s disposable and not permanent. Most college students I know own and use Command brand hooks because they are strong but can be removed and disposed of easily to avoid messing up the wall. A good option for young adults who rent a place and can’t install their own hooks.. I don’t know how to do that. That’s why I got these.

3. Chair

Whether or not it counts as industrial design? Something I’m unsure of. What I do know is that I don’t like the design, and I cover it with blankets to modify its appearance in my room. Industry’s a factor here because I am craving something different, and I’ve had this chair since I was 12. A sleeker look would be more mature, versus this round fluffy chair. It was cool then but now I am on the lookout for a “better” lounge chair. That opinion feels true to me but it is also the product of me being influenced by trends in design, to an extent.

4. Can openers?

An observation I’ve made on industrial design recently is can openers. Mine broke a week ago while I was trying to open soup. It was because it was a 5 dollar one from Target. I went back to Target, looked at all of them, and the heavier more durable ones costed like 20-40 dollars. With industrial design it makes total sense that a more complex object would cost more. Its weight and materials (like, stainless steel versus plastic) obviously affect cost so I really can’t be shocked when the cheap option left me needing more.

5. Wheely Chair? Ottoman?

It’s a chair, it’s a footrest, it’s on wheels, but it’s not really a movable object. It was advertised as a moving ottoman on wheels but the wheels are more of a stylistic choice here. Industrial design is supposed to work. I think this is more just a cheap prop? Poor design, limited functionality, but it looks cool!

6. Wheels versus doors argument

There’s some trend going around right now where people ask each other for their perspective on the question, are the more doors that exist in the world or wheels? I don’t know if there’s a definite answer, but there sure is debate, and that debate goes into which is more functional, and which is used more frequently. It also leads to the thought that, what people use is probably what is produced most, quantity wise. With perspective on industrial design I’m not so sure that’s true. Things are designed to cater to what designers think people will want in the near future! Not necessarily what’s currently out there serving us. Design is an innovation, and the stuff we see is of the past and we as customers are just enjoying it in retrospect.

7. Blenders

My blender is on the right, my roommate’s is on the left. I rarely use my blender so I let her use it (the one on the right) for a couple months and then it broke. The one on the left is the replacement. This contributed to my realization that industrial design deals with quality and prices it accordingly. And again, the relationship between design and functionality is basically pure overlap. 

8. The fashion industry kind of confuses me. There’s so much moral debate and discourse on “fast fashion” that I’ve seen recently. All-online stores with no physical locations (example: Shein), definitely fit this category (I think we all understand how the internet has made us speedier than ever). People also seem to claim that all other stores you find in the mall are also fast fashion. This class has given me a lot of perspective, and I think the “fast fashion” idea is just the general public’s realization that industry, in general, cycles behind our backs. Especially for clothing targeted towards women, they know that if you care about being trendy, you will buy what is put out ASAP.

The main argument/concern is that “fast fashion” is a breeding ground for overconsumption. But it happens with everything! Maybe a little slower, yeah, but as we’ve learned... designers design for the future, and every functional design we enjoy is from the mind of a designer in the past. I’ve realized this through exploring design, and especially industrial design. 

9. Lamps

I don’t hate these lamps, because they’re functional! They were really cheap, the lamp “shade” part is plastic and the metal pole supporting it is wobbly but the industry behind these is not super high end. Sometimes you just need a flexible lighting solution. It’s kind of minimalistic too, which I can appreciate.

10. Radiator observation

I re arranged my bedroom the other day and the giant radiator in the old 1920′s home I’m renting and living in is not that appealing. It serves no aesthetic purpose, it gets in the way of things, and it limits the ways in which my room can be arranged. But I understand how we’ve changed! Function came first before there were other ways to heat a home. 

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Week 7- Universal Design

I think the most central idea to this class so far is that design is functional. The history of design categorizes time and place, calls to different movements that have titles, and recognizes the names of designers who have been influential. Art is created for personal expression, or possibly for a number of other self-fulfilling reasons, made for viewers to enjoy and relate to. But design expands on this. Design is functional, and that is universal. 

Universally used design ranges from silverware and other cutlery and utensils like chopsticks, knives, strainers, and other culinary tools. I also think of things like beds and furniture, which are used universally. Of course, nuances in design and the designs themselves differ, but the functionality is all the same. Something to bring food to the mouth with, a place to sit, or a way to cut vegetables. Our world has become more and more enmeshed, which, on a different note, has had many effects on how distinct cultures are from one another and what kind of credit and recognition the original, authentic thing gets. Regardless, different designs are going to be used more prominently in different cultures according to their needs. It’s hard to prepare stir fry according to Chinese techniques without a wok. A “classic” “all- American” cookout would be better with a grill, versus a stone fire oven.

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Week 6: Architectural Elements around Milwaukee

I have lived in Milwaukee for around a year and a half now. That’s a pretty short time and I know there is still so much for me to explore. But I think there’s some value in being newer to the city, yet vaguely familiar. I am beginning to recognize where I am and effectively navigate around the city without having my nose in google maps the whole day.

As I was saying, I don’t have recent photos of my explorations. But I did draw some sketches, first from memory, then from online research and using photo references to make developments. I have to say- doing it this way was effective for me. I identified what truly stands out the most to me architecturally. When considering elements of architecture around Milwaukee that are most memorable, this might differ from person to person based on their experience, but, I think that can be an indicator of what the stronger designs are.

The Milwaukee Art Museum is, to me, one of the most distinct buildings around. Its official name is The Quadracci Pavilion and it was designed by Santiago Calatrava inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s prairie style architecture. It’s said to respond to the weather, the water, and the wind, calling sort of to the narrative of change and flow. 

The Phister Hotel will forever be iconic in my mind. I personally have a knack for buildings that are old. But investigating them further and learning about influences and eras has also deepened that interest. The Phister was designed by architect Henry C. Koch, and it became functional in 1893. The design is classified as Romaneque revival, and that came with a sense of roundness to parts of the structure like arches, and lots of use of brick. There are floors on top of floors, it’s relatively tall and fits in downtown amongst other tall buildings, and the first floor has large windows with arched panels on top of each one. The brick is articulate and patterned. Man… the masonry!

https://mam.org/info/quadracci.php#:~:text=The%20Quadracci%20Pavilion%20is%20the,Lloyd%20Wright's%20Prairie%2Dstyle%20architecture.

https://www.thepfisterhotel.com/boutique-hotel/pfister-history

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Week 5- History of Design

1. De Stijl, “The Style” is a crucial part of design history. I believe that without it we would see a different world, even though it’s of Amsterdam, there are definitely influences elsewhere (globally). And if not a direct influence, at least observational influences, comparable to what can be seen in day to day life living amongst art and architecture (and beyond). It’s the noticeable similarities that matter. Even in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

Graphic Design: A New History by Eskilson speaks to the main ideas of De Stijl and how what is relatable to us as viewers, in March 2022 America, is new stuff. Old stuff is appreciated of course, but in a different way. We are all looking to relate to the newest thing, which is why I was struck by the simplification of apple product chargers over time. I use them every day and I have ever since I got my first apple device  at age 13. The look has changed. What was once a more bulky block is now a sleeker minimal white part. The charger itself for a macbook has been changed to be simple and sleek, just a white rectangle with a metal end that is smooth. The correlation between simplicity and aesthetic appeal, the assumption that this product is nicer than anything more tacky and maximalist..is interesting. It may be a stretch, but this would not leave my mind. I had to include it.

left charger is old, right charger is new.

Page 179 of Eskilson’s book says “by limiting the number of expressive elements in their work, they believed that they could effectively represent their communal, abstract ideas in material terms”. 

Eskilson, S. J. (2019) Graphic Design: A New History, Yale University Press

2. The “machine aesthetic” Ekilson writes about in our book is interesting as well. I think of alarm clocks, not just because designer ones from Kem Weber are pictures on page 261 of Graphic Design: A New History, but because it’s what I wake up to each morning. Our phones serve as alarms for a lot of us but for me, that isn’t functional because I associate my phone with being distracted and off task from what I am meant to be doing. So I bought a real alarm clock. It mimics minimalism and is just a cheap one from Target. But the clocks from the 30s like Kem Weber’s Zephyr Clock follow this Machine Aesthetic that emphasizes the science and engineering of design. I think the contrast between this old style and minimalism making mechanics hidden is notable and their respective purposes appear different, though inside they are all working machines.

Photo from page 261, Eskilson, S. J. (2019) Graphic Design: A New History,Yale University Press

(I know the date is wrong...I should really update that)

3. In the chapter about Russian Constructivism, it talks about the importance and origin of photomontage. Collaging is a pretty popular method and it doesn’t take much outside knowledge to know what that is, or to have used it, but I found it interesting because it is everywhere. I use photomontage in my personal artwork, I draw and paint and then add my digital renderings to it to enhance it, collaging it together. In the world we see photomontage a lot with book covers, band posters, and clear glass-top bar counters. Those are the examples I think of right away.

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Week 4- Found Objects

I find it interesting how the list of any specific number of “elements of design” is slightly different each time I encounter it. There’s color, line, texture, space, shape, etc. that are pretty standard. Some reappear, but the comprehensive list seems to be ever changing! This is just something I’ve noticed, not a criticism. I think there’s something to be said about design itself and how it changes, and as a designer you should probably never get too comfortable with sticking to what you know. Always learning, always accepting change, and always researching and paying attention to influences, deciding if it’s more effective to accept or reject them. 

Speaking of influence (and influencERS, the rising opportunity of social media careers), I try to get away from that realm as much as I can. I appreciate how with the internet and technology, jobs are opening up for creatives and there is still going to be so much to explore within that as things open up and innovation continues! I think it is equally important to get outdoors. A hobby my roommate and I began last spring was geocaching. Around Milwaukee (and pretty much anywhere else!) there are more than 30 enclosed “capsules”. I see this as demonstrating form, or even more so, space. Most of these capsules (geocaches) look like a wide thermos and they’re camouflaged into the outdoor scene with a green or brown covering. They are designed to be tricky to find and make it so that finding one on a trail or around your city is a challenge and an adventure. They’re near impossible to find in winter so I was excited when the weather got into the 40s earlier this week and all of the snow and ice pretty much went away! That’s when I took my walk and figured I’d search for one. Inside the form of the air-tight and weather resistant container, there was a notepad for you to write the date of your find, a pen, and some little trinkets. The geocache as a whole is definitely a design. I feel like each  individual element incorporated, from the camouflage duct tape pattern that decorated the outside of the canister to the thermos canister itself, design was everywhere and it was cool to see what had been thrown together to create the geocache as a unit. A thing with things inside it, meant to live and survive outside yet still be hidden and serve a purpose. To play a part in a game. The trinkets inside ranged from little toy cameras to a figurine dinosaur, those served the purpose of entertainment for little kids, designed to be fun, miniature, arguably minimalistic but I think mostly just as cheaply made as possible. 

Obviously so much has changed over the last few years, and rapidly. I think staying in touch and getting in contact with tangible objects in the physical world is more important than ever for personal (and I would even say, spiritual) balance! I can also see how useful the tool of exploration outside of your normal, self-curated world truly is. Exposure to things beyond just the objects in your house, the functions of your computer, or your Pinterest feed. Exploration is an expansive tool for understanding design and taking care of yourself as a creative person.

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Week 3- History of Design

Historical elements of design remain among us, all over each of our own worlds.

Here is ‘A combination of 10 drawings, photos, notes on design observations you see in the world’ ...

1. 

This is John Lennon’s childhood home in Liverpool England. I took this 3 years ago when I was lucky enough to have visited. The stained glass detail is pretty but a more important element that is design is the function of the double entrance door. Both decorative and functional, I think it’s a notable thing to post. (Though not taken recently, I’d argue my reasoning for including this is, that I came across it again this week and was able to understand how my perception of design has been enhanced since last month. I see it in a new way as of this week! I felt it was important to note, this one specifically).

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2. 

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3.

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4.

Sometimes I refer to some of the architecture on UWM campus as “hostile architecture”... I have no idea if this is a proper term to use or not but I say it jokingly to express how understated yet reeking-of-70s, and depressing some of the scenery on campus is. We’ve got a weird clash of industrial, modernist, and actually modern buildings here. The building in my photo is definitely older, late 30s or 40s, and it reminds me of a German anti-Bauhaus type thing. I’m not saying this is a direct reflection of German architecture that was anti-Bauhaus because of course, this is UWM, and this is America. But I am saying, I see parallels and enjoyed relating them to that idea in the history of design. Because of the “geometric purity” and simplicity, it stands out from other buildings on campus from different times. The welcome center right by it is very new, like, 2018. Still in this building though, the clear calculation and design thinking behind the architecture is communicated by the columns of window panels and shapes that creates. Depressing in my opinion, but made for a reason.

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5.

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6.

I think my main point I arrived to was that Las Vegas strip and Epcot at Disney World are extremely post modernist in concept and in existence…

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7.

It’s post modernist… and so so weird…

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8. Arts and crafts being a movement is important, and the fact that it never ended is even more important to note. It was a rebellion against industry. It operates on the desire to be more ethical, working in opposition to industry. Farmers markets and art fairs are examples.

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9.

10.

If they designed their advertisement smarter, maybe they wouldn’t have to advertise so much..

Designers are always learning and I don’t know much, I’m about to learn a lot more, but what I do know is that designers learn that making products look nice by design makes people want them more. Revolutionary isn’t it, haha..

I think of the 1939 Futurama Exhibit, an evolution of industrial design that claimed to be “building a better world” and moving on from just constructing and toward constructing everything intentionally, efficiently, beautifully. Designing!

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Week 2- Design Thinking

After reading the Harvard Business Review “Design Thinking” and being exposed to those ideas which I’ve never considered before, I’d define design more articulately than just building visual stuff. That’s still true to what design is (and how I would’ve just immediately thought to define it quickest and easiest), but I can better define design as something all encompassing about a product or thing. Design is how something is built up to meet a specific goal. That goal could be to influence an audience (when thinking about marketing a product).

The design thinking behind Apple products is very apparent! Airpods for the ears, apple watch for your wrist, and iPad for a more tangible laptop size device, but also a MacBook as a computer, iMac desktop, the iPhone to carry around everywhere and to hold everything... Browse Apple.com and you are being advertised to see how these all correlate. And all of these devices are sleek and shiny (or matte! there’s so many options but still there is cohesion in the palette). And all these devices are somewhat compatible, if you start on one Apple device you might as well keep with that family as a consumer. Airpods don’t work on an android, for example. And because of the appeal of the Apple product, you’ll want an iPhone in order to use AirPods. That interaction is notable. This company was made and built with an extensive amount of design thinking. 

The Harvard Business Review article begins by mentioning how Thomas Edison’s “genius” went beyond the practical invention of the lightbulb- the mechanics. The part less considered is the most expansive part! Edison’s vision. The entire concept and goal for the lightbulb as an everyday interactive item for the average person. It’s the “ability to conceive of a fully developed marketplace, not simply a discrete device” (from “Design Thinking”). The greatest perspective I found from this article was seeing the entire vision and everything surrounding something as being a part of the design and making something powerful, influential, and successful. Design thinking is getting together your intentions for the desired audience response, and working to execute that!

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Week 1- About me

Hi! My name is Olivia and I’m a second year DVC student. The reason I took this class is because it’s a requirement but the reason I am excited for this class is because of what I’m already interested in outside of school and work. Getting school work and my interests (even passions?) to line up is the ultimate goal and as I get closer to that I feel more and more thankful. Classes that feel unlike chores and jobs that feel unlike work for me all have to do with the arts!  

That being said, I have no relevant experience in design. I’m coming into this fresh, college is my first experience with actual organized graphic design practice. I guess mostly everyone does the social media thing so to an extent I have general (minimal) “experience”..Drawing, painting, and photo are what I’ve mainly had a lot of experience in, and on a different subject I’ve been really involved with modern and ballet dance since I was like ten. What I have is that I know I am enthusiastically interested in design and love to make things.. anything!

If you want to look at art, general, from a faraway view, including anything from dance to furniture to fashion, art being the designing of anything of any platform in the universe...As consumers, we all obtain chose items based on design. Maybe it’s not a factor for some people, but in my eyes, is design not the deciding factor of anything we ever look to buy? I joy curating my life as much as the next person and design is definitely always a factor that influences me to choose one thing over a competitor.