Drummers of Japan.

Taiko, meaning "drum", originated in Japan involving myths with the sun goddess, Ameterasu.

Taiko would be considered mainly percussion instruments and has been a strong foundation in the music stylings called Gagaku. Gagaku is a type of music that is played during the Imperial Court for many centuries.

I've been able to see witness such a beautiful show at the Mondavi Center: Yamato, The drummers of Japan.The way the drummers performed moved me and my soul. It was truly an outer body experience, very exquisite and their timing was so precise. Their synchronized movements are flawless, its like they are dancing while creating wonderful beats, exuding all their energy to the audience.

Like I said in my previous blog about wushu performers also being designers, so are these drummers. The way they produce music with     Credits: Yamato                                their bachi's is clear-cut and in complete unison that you can feel
                                                         it through your body.
Everything about taiko has a design to it. The outfits they wear, the settings that they perform in, and the style of the drum all play a huge role in each performance. Their outfits are designed in a way that expresses their culture. The setting changes depending on the mood of the song and it helps convey the emotion and energy.
Taiko is just a very expressive and beautiful entity that everyone should give a try.

Credits: Yamato

Sustainability.

 Credits: To photographer, unknown.

"Don't do things today that make tomorrow worse."

Designers in society need to ponder on sustainability. How does this effect us and the earth? How can we bring the earth back or create new ways to increase efficiency and performance of our objects and systems?

I believe that the competition of who can make the better product is destroying our planet. We don't need five hundred different styled toasters or three different versions of the iphone, we just need one that works well. Instead of working against each other, we should work with one another to produce the ultimate product. If we could find a way that can work for everyone besides just pleasing one person, we could eliminate the need for being the best producer, resulting in a more sustainable planet. We'll being using less material, handling financial needs more properly, and at the same time having plenty of ideas from everyone.

Designers affect our society and how we work, function, and live. Many people think that designers don't really play a big role in their personal life, but if they think about it, we're part of their everyday world and every tomorrow.

Objectified.

In the film, Objectified, by Gary Hustwit, shows the relationship between objects and ourselves, and the people that designed them. It gave me inspiration to look at design and how the design process is done in a completely different perspective. Designers need to create things that benefit the world and the people in it. What's the point in making something that will only cause devastation.

Design is simple like cutting a bonsai tree. Not that trimming a bonsai tree is simple work, but the design of a bonsai tree should be simple. Design is best at simplicity.
Instead of looking into the past designs, we should look into the future of design. Reinventing the old to fit the new. How can designers design something that will benefit people now? Designers need to think about society and how their products can be put into good use.

"Everything in our world was designed for something" [quote from documentary], like a coffee mug or a pair of scissors. We never think about how's it made or think about those who thought to make it. Who said a coffee mug should hold coffee? But whatever the answer, we know that it was made to help us one way or another.

Credits: Nick Montreal

The Art of Wushu.

Photo to the left: A woman demonstrating a traditional wushu form. All rights to Wong Kiew.

Photo to the right: A woman demonstrating the Jianshu form. All rights to Tricia Woo.

Wushu originated in China long ago meaning, martial arts. Wushu consists of many different styles of fighting that developed over the years including fists fights, weapons, and fight routines. Wushu is considered a sport, but also a form of art.

Wushu forms contain so much detail to body movement from your toes to the tip of your fingers. The flow of your body, the intensity of your emotions, the way you execute your routine are all looked at. It takes years to master a form of wushu.

You may not think about it, but people that perform wushu are also designers. They are the type of designers that design with their bodies. The angles, lines, jumps, etc. they create with their body show their precision and awareness of how they use their bodies. Also the outfits they where, the silky clothing accentuates their movements. It adds on to the extra flare, giving them the smoothness. Even if the designer is going for the tough and sharp movements,  they illustrate shapes and excellent skills.

Design in society can be many aspects of the world, design is everything.

The Art of Ads.

Photo credit: Coca-a-cola.

Have you ever started rubberneckin' on ads you pass by on the freeway, because they're all so attractive and bold. Do you ever think about why they designed it that way? It's not just to cause traffic accidents, but to grab your attention on their product!

How does advertisement in society play a role in design? design in society?
The people that design these poppin ads know how to get you thinking about what they're doing. They want you to want what they got, to desire their products, go out and spend your money. These advertisementscan show us how society thinks today. In the past we can see that the design is much more relax and comforting, which people wanted back then to have a good life and home. Nowadays, ads have become more sexual and lusting, because society today thinks about image and outer appearances.

Designers need to be aware of social changes, so they can be on top of their game. Ads have become so elaborate and loud, meaning brighter and bolder. People are attracted to these kinda things, especially younger audiences. If you go around town in San Francisco, you'll see plentiful of exciting ads that make you say, "OHH!, that looks gooood!". The design in these ads manipulate how people think and how they act. If they see some model wearing something, they might want to be like that model and spend loads of money to look like that. So be careful on which ads you take into consideration.

Bauhaus.

Bauhaus Art Movement was influential for the fact that it brought that different worlds of design/art under one roof.  The school was founded by Walter Gropius, an architect. He brought together crafts and fine arts such as architecture, typography, and weaving.

People like Bauhaus deserve to be appreciated a little more than they are. They are able to bring the idea that all sorts of designers should be together like fashion designers, computer graphics designers, exhibitionists, etc. All under the same roof, we can learn and grow from the different experiences that we get from different departments.

It goes to show that people should take initiative and join forces to make a change to impact society with positiveness. Design in society plays a crucial part in setting up how the world is.

Photo above: Bauhaus
Photo below: G Core

Design Analysis.

Blue trees. Blue waterfall. Blue mountain. Blue clouds. Blue moon. This reminds me of that one song, Blue by Eiffel 65. I believe the artist, Lewis '03 has gotten his inspiration from that song.

The painting is approximately 15 x 10 ft. It covers a whole wall. Colors used are blue, black, gray , brown, & white. The repetition of the trees make the painting a forest as a whole, while the waterfall connects the emotion of being calm and soothing into the painting. The moon seems like it holds a smiley face on it, is the moon smiling down upon us? maybe it is. The color brings a sense of unity tot he painting as it connects each individual object. When looked from afar, the picture seems to be in proportion to its surroundings, but individually the trees seem to be thicker than they should be, the waterfall looks like a stream, and you think you can touch the mountain in the background because its so close and big! The way the painting is designed, you can feel a sense of motion as your eyes wander down the waterfall, the clouds have an illusion to moving across the night sky. The depth of the mountains with the moon shyly hiding behind it creates distance to the painting. To me, my subjective view of the painting allows me to look at the painting without seeing the blue, because I know from experience that the trees, mountains, and moon are not blue. But by allowing yourself to see the blueness of the painting, you allow yourself to see the beauty that Lewis has created. My interpretation of his painting is that nature is in unity and the color blue lets you see that connection.

B-Here, Aware of Hepatitis B.

Today I visited the Hepatitis B exhibition and learned a lot from the images and sculptures that were display around. The one that drew me in the most was the sculpture done be Eric Koo of the mother and child.

The sculpture was intensely life-like and the details  of the baby's skin, eyebrows, the mother's hands, everything were definitely incredible. Mad props to an amazing artist, Mr. Koo. The mother-child piece was beautiful,  warm, real, and different. I remember thinking, did he kill someone and put it up there? I wasn't sure what to make of it.

He grabs inspiration from those around him and whom he is affected by, along with his environment. He is able to bring his work to reality and express to society that a normal mother and child can be one that is infected with Hepatitis B and not even show it.

Society tends to overlook matters that are indeed important to this world and with the help of Gilea, they are able to connect design to spread the word that is affecting the world. By hosting a gallery, they are able to spread the awareness of Hepatitis B. Design is more than a show or beautiful object. Design is a message, a bridge for understanding whats been put under the doormat by the world.

Gestalt.

Gestalt is the organization  of patterns & the meaning recognition. Gestalt is proximity, similarity, closure, [context], symmetry, & figure ground. "Figure" as to what we look at & "ground" as a neutral remainder. Its the use of scale and proportion that also defies the laws of Gestalt.

There are plenty of patterns in this world and some make sense and some are abstract. Gestalt emphasizes the way pictures are arranged. In McClouds' book, Understanding Comics, he shows how closure is developed as the community let their minds assume the cartoon/artwork to fill in the blank and make it connect. People uses closure so many times they don't even know how many. They do it naturally in order to fix the "hole" they see in order to really understand the message.

Photos, artworks, images may be sometimes abstract but somehow always hold a story and have meaning. It may seem difficult to process but once putting the pieces together, it comes together and the picture starts to become more interesting. Similar to putting pieces of life together that seem totally opposites of one another, but together it'' make sense once you get the bigger picture of things.

GRR-THA.

"Feeling is All"

All Rights to Goetha.

Goetha. Tischbein, Portrait of Goetha in Roman Campagna. 1787.

The design of the portrait cab tell a whole story, if you know where to look. The details of where objects are placed and how they are placed signify the painters message of the self-portrait.

Implied observations. People can infer their own opinion of the painting, which makes a painting truly a thousand words. Goetha's work utilizes juxtapostions and contrast in color using focal points in order to illustrate the composition of the work as a whole.

A artist work can show a random person a lot of who they are. We can see that Goetha loves to sit. Maybe he likes to travel around. He likes to dress up and down to be fitting for where he is. An individual's work is like they are putting a little piece of them self into it, making it a part of them, putting all their emotions and imagination to make it work. When an artist does that, it makes their work much more intriguing and different. Feeling is all.

On a random note. I noticed Mr. Housefield has taken off his shoes during a lecture today. Was it meant to be purposeful, to make us comprehend the lesson, or was it just because he wanted to. Maybe we need to see the bigger picture of things if we take off our shoes to be comfortable. Well I was definitely inspired to take off my shoes every lecture in every class today. :]

Blog.

" Today I felt like blogging... so here is my blog. I woke up & did stuff. After that, I stopped doing stuff. Then, I finally finished me day." J.M.

A good friend gave me inspiration for my next blog.

Blogging now-a-days has become such a huge social media for the universe to engulf in. Your blog is your own creation, your own stamp in the world. Your blog is your own design, you're in control. Whether your blog is based on critiques or just a place to let out you daily thoughts. Blogging let's you build a community that you can connect & share personal experiences with. The internet has designed a new generation for communicating tot he public. 

Artists around the world can expand their inspiration through the simple blog of another artist. Design is not limited to just whats around you, but now it can be a thousand miles away across the world through a blog. A blog can be just for you & yourself, but if you open it to the world, that blog becomes part of the whirlpool of inspiration for others. Like the quoted entry above, a random simple blog can lead something else for someone else.

Design Process&Product.

During a group project today, I was able to see the process of designing.

Think. Coming up with ideas and brainstorming about what could be done and what works with all of us together. Similarly how society comes up with a design to keep things in order and how things should work in town.
Look. Gathering all our materials that we've got, that being recycled boxes, paper, strings, cans, buttons, etc. We imagine what should go where and what can we see in this to make it work with what we had.
Do. Now we assemble the mysterious art, forming something we wasn't sure what to think of it. We kept going and trying to put our individual thoughts to action.
Critism. Assessing our product, we identify what needs to be added and taken away, what looks right or wrong. Gaining more ideas from one another, being one as a group.
Do. We work together to polish up what we havent seen before, something we came together with, ending the final stages to our product in everyone's liking.

This process is greater than the product, knowing that the process helped us get to what we want. Dignifying how important the steps on creating a design is crucial in making the outcome a strong product.

Design in Society

Design has made a strong impact on society. The way everyone lives, eats, breathes, it's all part of design. Culturally, our world has belt itself on design and how everything looks. I'm still a little unsure  what design in society is myself and searching for some enlightenment, I stumble upon this article,

http://spy.typepad.com/

He talks about how society doesn't see design for what its worth. The world of design is trying to make a statement showing that design is worthy, taking on the economy and even politics.

When the world realizes how design can remediate our bigger issues, seems like the world will be plundering into a dark abyss. People need to be more open and accepting of design and feel grateful that we have it. Design in society lets us speak our minds in a non-violent way.

Inspiration from the Otherside.

Where can we find our inspiration? Is it within ourselves? Or is it around us? Inspiration is everywhere, just how design is everywhere. Finding inspiration can be challenging for many but it can come genuinely to some others. Attempting to discover inspiration within one self limits your ability to expand your range in bettering yourself. Letting your mind flow free and welcoming inspiration from all over gives you a broader sense of knowledge & creativity.

It's necessary to remove yourself from yourself in order to let inspiration come. No need for judgement, no need for negativity. It's all about letting yourself go, letting yourself go in design and not holding yourself to any limit can truly excel you into your best work you can do. Even if you think you reached your peak, you can extend beyond the peak of your greatness into a total bliss where you won't compare yourself with any other, letting your design live with the world.

Visual: Literacy, Thinkin', & Culture.

If someone drew a picture,                         ^, and asked, "Hey!, what does that look like to you?",  you would say, "That right there, is an eye my friend.", well that's what I would say anyways.

Our minds can read images like they are written in a book. It's because of the universal assumption that this image is this and that image is that. We can relate pictures that look similar to things in real life that helps us identify those images. Rarely people would say that image above is a circle filled in with a light sky blue shaded color inside an almond like shape line. It's just isnt common. A good example that demonstrates my opinion is the game Pictionary. People pick up a card and it contains a word that they must draw and their partner must figure out that drawing. If the drawer illustrates that word well, the guesser will have an easy time knowing what it is because they are able to familiarize that drawing to the things they've seen in person. And with those "rare" people, you'll just never win a game of Pictionary.

In our culture, visual presentations are how we understand best, or at least it's fun to look at and admire. Babies are able to enjoy the loveliness of cute images and laugh at their own will. Musicians are able to hear music from music notes on a piece of paper. Dancers can create visuals from their bodies. Images are a way for us to communicate and socially connect with others without having to say anything at all.

Most of my opinions formulate from Scott McClouds, Understanding Comics.

Design? Who? What? Where?

 

Design is everywhere. Design is everyone. Design is everything.

Design is such a broad concept that there are multiple definitions for it.  In my own understanding, design is everything that we do, what we are, and what comes to in life. It could be as simple as messages on a white board to architectural structures of a fountain to a box of kleenex. Design can take many forms and identities that it becomes this mysterious thing that everyone is trying to discover own their own.

Design is much more than lines on a paper, it gives us life, emotions, and design is equivalent to nature. In matter of fact, design is nature; the trees around us and the animals that live on earth have their own unique design.

Who benefits from design? Everyone in the world can benefit from design. People find inspiration in others, buildings, inanimate objects, games, music, culture, nature, etc. All those things are connected to design in some way that lets others aspire from it. There is no limit to what can be called design and who are called designers.

Yayoi Nishii Japanese Calligraphy

All rights to this photo belongs to Yayoi Nishii.

Yayoi Nishii works on Japanese Calligraphy is simple and yet abstract. Her understanding of simplicity enables her to create beautiful pieces of calligraphy. Through her work you can see her own unique style and love that she has for what she does.

In the photo above, placement and size of the figures create a sense of smooth and flowy movement making the atmosphere become calm and pleasant. The figures look like small creatures swimming in the ocean.

Nishii other works are also very flowy and soft, meaning her brush strokes are not harsh or edgy. She keeps most of her work simple and lets her artwork express how she sees the beauty of calligraphy.