Scavenger Hunt

In class this week I think the scavenger hunt was probably the most interesting thing we did/discussed. It's not that I don't think people in wheelchairs are interesting, I just had a better experience with the scavenger hunt. Going to a school with 50,000 people, it is to just wander around. Through the scavenger hunt, I learned more about our campus and our classmates. I walk past by buildings on campus everyday and know nothing about them, except which ones have the good bathrooms. To actually learn something about these giant stacks of bricks was pretty cool. Now when I'm in a mood to sit in a really cool chair, I know where to go, Knowlton. I also appreciated getting to know my partner. In a lecture with eighty kids, it is also easy to just sit there in silence and not know anyone. Through this scavenger hunt I got to know a couple of people in class. Now maybe the beginning of class won't be so awkward when everyone just sits there in silence staring at the walls. Go Bucks!

Identities and Systems

For the reading this week, chapter eight wasn't that exciting to me but I did think chapter seven was interesting. I think everyone can relate when it comes to creating an identity whether it be for yourself or a business. When Heskestt spent a lot of time talking about corporate logos and their identities, that's what really stuck with me. I understand that businesses spend a lot of time and money to create the perfect indentity for themselves to give them that edge. However, I wonder how much that even matters and how much they even hit the nail on the head. I think it would be interesting to create a survey with a list of the top one hundred business's and their logos. The people taking the survey would reflect on what they think about the logo. For example, what kind of tone does this logo send off, is the identity clear, does it make you more or less likely to use their services or products. Designers design these identities and the public doesn't really have a say in what the finished product looks like. So I'm curious what the results would be if this survey was ever produced.

El Mac

Miles MacGregor, or as he goes by, El Mac, is a fairly young artist. There wasn't a lof of information on him since he is young and upcoming. But I do know that, he was born in 1980 to an engineer and an artist in Los Angeles. El Mac started creating and studying art independently since he was a little kid. During his teenaged years he started to graffiti. However, he is most well know for his huge murals that he paints on buildings and walls throughout cities. In 1998 he began painting technicolor aerosol interpretations of classic paintings by old European masters. Because of this, in 2003 he was paid by the Groeninge Museum in Brugge, Belgium to paint interpretations of classic Flemish Primitive paintings in the museum's collection. A few years later in 2007 he designed the poster for the Broadway production of Xanadu. He has also been paid to paint his muruals across the U.S., Mexico, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, South Korea, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Spain, France, Singapore, Germany, Ireland and Vietnam. He usually collaborates with another artist by the name of "Retna." His inspiration comes from Mexican and Chicano culture of Phoenix and the American Southwest. El Mac mainly focuses on human faces, figures and the public. His intent is to upflit and inspire through renderings of the sublime and humble. Some of his murals have been used in music videos. El Mac is a member of the Seventh Letter artist collective. He currently lives and works in downtown Phoenix in an old house filled with records, books, and art.

MacGregor, Miles. "Miles 'Mac' MacGregor." ELMAC. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. http://elmac.net/bio/
"Artist Bio: Miles 'Mac' Macgregor." Escape into Life. 7 May 2010. Web. 21 Jan. 2011. http://www.escapeintolife.com/artist-watch/el-mac/#

Piet Zwart

Piet Zwart was a Dutch photographer, typographer and industrial designer. However, he started his career off as an architect. Throughout Zwart's work he used basic principles of constructivism, primary colors, geometric shapes and repeated word patterns. He used repetition to strengthen his message. He despised every notion of "individualism, self-adulation, vanity and the picturesque" in his designs (people.ku.edu). He was also ahead of his time with his use of photo montages (he was born in 1885). While working for NKF (cable company), he created 275 designs in ten years and most of those designs were typographical works. At about age 48 he resigned to become and interior, industrial and furniture designer. He lived till he was 92 and currently has an academy named after him, The Piet Zwart Institute of the WIllem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam. Zwart happened to be a professor at this school too.

"Piet Zwart."  Wikipedia. 19 Nov. 2010. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Zwart
Kim, Allison. "Piet Zwart (Typographer)." Web. 21 Jan. 2011. http://people.ku.edu/~askim/pietzwart.html

Tom Muller

Tom Muller is from London and received his MA in Graphic and Advertising Design from the Royal Academy for Fine Arts in Antwerp. He has a modernist style infused with a contemporary design. He started his career in interactive design but specializes in typography, identity design, illustration, moving image and publication art direction for print and screen media. He was recently feature in this past November's issue of WIRED. He has designed websites for music artists Lily Allen, ACDC, Dido and The Script. He worked in the comic industry for awhile and also even did a little bit of animation work. When asked about working in the comic industry full time he said, "...too much of one thing, no matter how much you love it is ultimately going to become a drag" (comicblog).

Muller, Tom. "Information." Designed by Muller. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. http://www.hellomuller.com

Defina, Phillip. "The Work of Graphic Designer Tom Muller." Septagon Studios Comic Blog. 20 Aug. 2010. Web. 21 Jan. 2011. http://comicblog.septagonstudios.com

Objects, Communications and Environments

A lot of material was covered throughout these three chapters but when Heskett discussed objects in chapter five, that's what really interested me. He mentioned how objects are usually used for more than what they were designed for. I agree with this because I use my desk chair to stand on, store my book bag, coat and hold up my mattress when I made a fort earlier this year. After realizing how true his statement was, I started to think about the various ways in which I use objects for more than what they are intended for. I would say the majority of my objects in my dorm room right now are being used for more than their original purpose. For example, right now my TV is being used as a pumpkin holder, my printer is supporting my Nerf gun and my juice cup is holding butter scotches. If designers know ahead of time that their products might be used for more than just one purpose, I wonder if they consider this while designing. Do chair designers make chairs sturdier at the base in case someone uses it as a step latter? Do they make objects flat so people like me can rest their pumpkins on them? Further more, if designers do this, I wonder if their products sell better than those of designers who don't take these things into consideration.

Shopping Cart

After our discussions in class and reading Heskett's book, I knew there was a lot of work that goes into just one design but after watching the shopping cart video I realized how much work was actually involved. I thought it was really interesting that a lot of their team members were not all design majors. I think that's what helps them function so well because they all think differently since they have different backgrounds. I didn't realize how much brainstorming goes into designing a new product. When they were talking about all of the things they had to consider for the new cart such as slowing them down so they don't blow away in the parking lot, that really opened my eyes. They covered every little detail and really thought things through. Seeing this in action helped me see how much thinking outside of the box is involved in designing something. Plus I admired their new shopping cart, too bad I haven't seen any at my local grocery stores. Go Bucks!