EX 17 Movement/Motion Blog Exercise-Option 1

Image Source: http://dornob.com/dynamic-movement-inspired-artistic-table-designs/

This table was designed by Chul An Kwak, who was inspired by images of running horses. This table is a good example of implied movement in product design because it moves away from typical four straight legs of a normal table. Instead, the legs of this table are curved, with all of the legs coming from one side of the table. Because of this, there is an implied movement of direction. The table almost seems to be leaning and moving towards one direction. This implied movement works well with this table because the curvature of the legs allows the legs to shift the center of weight away from the left side, allowing the table to be more stable. Also, because of the space in between the legs, it gives enough space for a person to pull up a chair on all four sides of the table. It especially has a lot more space on the side without legs coming down from the table. The design of the legs makes the vision of the viewer move towards one direction as if the table is almost ready to start running towards that direction.

Image Source: http://www.interiordesign.net/article/482383-Seating_Residential_Lounge.php

This rocking chair was designed by Thos. Moser and is called “Pasadena Rocker.” This is a good example of implied motion in product design because of its functional expectation as well as its attention to detail in the flow of the material used. Just from looking at the curvature at the bottom of the chair, there is a sense of expected movement of rocking back and forth. The design naturally invites the user to not only sit down, but rock back and forth as his/her weight alone will naturally put it to motion. The extra length of curved wood in the back also guides the eyes of the viewer as it seems to suggest that this chair will move forward. Also, the details of the design accentuate implied movement. If one looks closely, the edge of one part of the chair seems to curve and swoop into the edge of another part of the chair, adding implied movement by directing the viewer’s eyes. The twisting of the edges also adds to this effect.

EX 14 Blog Exercise: Tone and Color

Image Source: http://www.interiordezine.com/images/interior/contemporary-ceiling-mounte.jpg

a. In this interior design example, different tones of grey are used to create a comfortable atmosphere for one’s living room. The curtains and tables are white, the walls are dark grey with black patterns, and the sofas are grey and light grey. The overall design uses minimal colors to keep things simple. The black pattern on dark grey wall gives three dimensional affect to the wall. The tone difference between the dark wall and light frame of the television accentuates the TV. The light curtains allow light to come into the room.

b. The tone in this interior design best interacts with the shapes of the objects in the room. The contrast between dark and light of the different objects gives more definition to their shapes.

c. The lack of color in the overall design other than shades of grey gives the room comfort and peaceful characteristics. Because of the overall grey tones, the few colors in the design makes those objects pop-out. The green bottle, the yellow cushions, and the beige rug gives life to the room.

d. The colors in the room interact with the textures of the objects in the room. The yellow color of the cushions and the light grey color of the sofas give them cloth-like soft texture. The green color of the bottle gives it a glassy texture.

Basic Elements - Product design

1) Shape:

Image Source: http://www.lmp-engineering.de/cms/front_content.php?idcat=3&lang=1

This is an example of a CAD work which is relevant in the field of product design. This shows a “process” of building an airplane and shows many shapes put together to form the final product. There are different shapes present such as squares and triangles seen in the frame as well as circles in the purple top part. The squares and triangles in the frame provide stability in the overall structure. The circles on the top leave spaces for other parts to be inserted.

2) Line:

Image Source: http://www.rahoint.com/english/cad_design_and_fea.html

This image shows a CAD design of a car. Cad designs are very common in my field. The lines in this design shows both the overall outline of a product as well as giving the design a 3-D effect. Lines are ideal for designing something at its most basic level and are essential part of sketching ideas for product design.

3) Direction:

Image Source: http://inhabitat.com/curvy-corregated-cardboard-chair/

This chair is a finished product that represents direction. It makes the viewers follow the curved flow of the outline of the chair. By using curve as direction, it provides aesthetic qualities as well as comfort. It represents simplicity and contemporary design by creating the whole chair in one piece.

Design Success and Failure in Relation to Syntactical Guidelines

1) Good Example:

Image Source: http://www.archithings.com/swamp-seating-by-michiel-van-der-kley/2010/12/19/swamp-seating-comfortable-chair

This is a good example of a chair design because it offers the user comfort and aesthetic qualities. The syntactical guidelines that were used to design this chair are balance in the structure, stress in the cloth pattern, attraction and grouping in the patterns, and the perception of comfort due to the material and the round edges. These factors are combined together to invite the users to relax in the chair.


2) Bad Example:

Image Source: http://weburbanist.com/2009/10/11/oh-sit-the-worlds-13-most-uncomfortable-chair-designs/

This is a good example of the syntactical guideline use that is not put to good use in relation to the goals for this product. It uses attraction and grouping, balance from symmetry, and sharpening. Although these three guidelines are present which helped with structure of the chair as well as aesthetics, it does not provide comfort for the user which is the most important thing for a chair.

EX 9: Visual Thinking Research

1)
Mine:

Answer: E

I used several methods to figure this puzzle out. First, as such problems typically present certain sequence in certain order, I looked for certain patterns among the first four shapes. This is known as the “pattern seeking” method in which I am “activating my perception” by actively searching for the missing pattern to be filled in. Next, I also used the “filling in” method to try to figure out what kind shapes are being presented in each square box in order to find correlation between the first box and the second, second box to the third and so forth. I also used the “categorizing” method by finding the “common features” which is that they are all square shapes. Next, I used the “pattern completion” method by drawing lines in each square.

Friend’s:

My friend used categorizing to find a pattern then noticed that each pattern was only at the right half of the square. Then he cut the squares and came up with a solution in his mind of what it should look like. Then he used the matching method to select the answer.

2)
Mine:

The goal of this puzzle is to count how many triangles are compromised in this cat image. First I used the “finding” method to spot the triangles hidden in this image as some are not as apparent. I also used the visual memory method to remember where each triangles are since it involves counting of each triangles.

Friend's:

He looked for the big triangles first through categorizing, then went back to search for smaller triangles. He left the complicated tail until the end. He used the visual memory and finding methods as well but his approach was more strategic.

Visual Perception 1 Blog Exercise - Top-Down Visual Processing

These chairs were designed by Bora Cakilkaya

Image Source: http://blog.ponoko.com/2009/12/29/the-playful-face-chair/

This is a good example of both Top-Down Visual Processing and Product Design. As Top-Down Visual Process is defined as “goal-biased attentional looking (fixating),” it starts with “short fixations” to get an overview and recognizing a chair, then we notice the face on the chair and fixate our eyes on it. The scan path of the viewer for this chair would be to first get an overview of the object, the chair. Then, the viewer will focus on the area of interest, the face, by repeatedly scanning that area. This “fixation” occurs based on our prior knowledge or experience that enable us to recognize it as a face image even thought it’s not a real face. In this case, we are mainly concerned with the “cognitive goal.”

Interactions Between the 3 Levels

Industrial Design

-This picture shows two different shelves stacked on top of each other to make a taller shelf.

Representational
-This represents multiple shelves with differently shaped grooves to put in files or papers, and folds and ledges to place different objects on top of. It can also be used to put books and decorations on it. The two individual shelves are stacked on top of each other to form a taller shelf. The impact of the representational level is the function, which is to place things on top of it for storage or decoration. It relates to both abstract and symbolic levels by giving its object its purpose so that the other levels can build on top of it with its purpose in mind.

Abstract
-The abstract aspect of the object is its different parts that make up the whole object. First, they are abnormally shaped which are different from the typical shapes of shelves. Second, they can be taken apart into two different parts and when stacked together, it manipulates the viewers by making it look like it’s one piece. It is related to two other levels by having unique details that also can be used by the other levels. The different artistic details such as grooves can be used as functionality (representational level) and stackable nature creates another shape that’s symbolic of another object. It is very simplistic by having minimum materials and craftsmanship which makes it very modern and abstract. The angles of the metal give it a kinesthetic quality as well.

Symbolic
-The symbolic aspect of this object is that when the parts are stacked up together, it makes it look like a big cabinet or an art exhibit. As a whole, it resembles other furniture such as cabinets but it is actually a shelf with special details that can make it subjective. The different abstract details resemble an art display or other furniture (Symbolic). This resemblance to an art display adds on to its functionality (Representational).