Coming Soon : Obsolescence

I often write “coming soon” as titles while I am working on my posts even if I post other ones before they are finished. I will publish a new post before the previous is finished, not rendering it obsolete but making it “old”, and in the world of commerce that means it is past its prime. This got me thinking about the concept of commercial design and how whenever a new product hits the market, there is a new one in development and ready to replace it.

Design has become a promise of the next best thing, a cycle of planned obsolescence that results in more than just a waste of materials, but a waste of craft and engineering. I can use the trite example of electronics but I’d prefer to look at the design process itself.

Once one project/object is finished, another is already underway or scheduled to begin in order to replace the now old project/object. This seems like an unnecessary waste of resources and talent. While there may be budget or technological restraints, as designers, we should push ourselves to design the best possible product anyways and not hold back innovation in order to introduce it in a few months after an inferior product is introduced in order to make money. Therein lies the crux of the conflict though, money. Our profession is a capital driven craft and if we were to stop concerning ourselves with profit and just emphasizing ideals and philanthropy we would just be artists (no offense intended). I find myself turning in projects only to be thinking of how I can make it better and essentially replace it and render it obsolete. I have become resigned to the notion that is just how we as designers think. We create what we can in the time we have. Our nature is to never be satisfied with the status quo and engage in a never-ending process improving the world around us.

Artist Wayne Thiebaud In Conversation With Art Critic Kenneth Baker At The UCD Alumni Center

Wayne Thiebaud is an iconic painter and part of the esteemed faculty at UC Davis. Regarded as a master painter, he is one the few who succeeds in expressing what Kenneth Baker, art critic for The San Francisco Chronicle, describes as the purpose of painting which “…summarizes inexpressible feelings of experience”. In front of a maximum capacity audience with more waiting in the wings watching on monitors, the two engaged in a witty and informative conversation that I will not soon forget. The conversation the two shared at the UC Davis Alumni Center on November 18, 2010 was a privileged insight into the thoughts of Wayne Thiebaud and his perspective on painting, its purpose, form, content, and context. Thiebaud begins by asserting that choosing to be a painter is “a clear vocational disaster” and that painters should “be prepared for the worst and hope for the best”. The remarks draw laughter but speaks to the competitive and anonymous world of the artist (or designer). Thiebaud is the exception. His reputation may precede him but he is phenomenally down to Earth and displays a self-realized understanding of his fortunate career. There is a calmness and sincerity in him that remind me of his paintings. He went on critiquing paintings of other artists and his remarks were like a raw edition of a textbook coming to life. His knowledge and perception detailed the paintings and enabled the audience to see them through his eyes. His keen observations are a rare glimpse into the mind of a master artist and a unique chance to learn how to look and evaluate a work. For one painting of a figure he instructed the audience to raise their hands to cover the head of the figure and look at the body. Without the head the arms became unrecognizable forms and he explained how the head gave context to them enabling us to recognize them as arms. When referencing a landscape painting he emphasized proportion and scale and detailed how the spectrum of focuses employed created space and atmosphere. Out of every subject touched upon, I found his introspective comments the most useful and profound. Like when he said “I do a lot of painting…and a lot of bad painting” it was comforting to know that even the most prominent aren’t perfect and that it is “not a sin to use accidents”. He gave advice on originality and finding your own voice in the art world as he had done so successfully and rationalized that it doesn’t need to be extraordinary, just different or as he stated, a “new visual species”. When asked how he became a realist painter he quickly replied that “it comes to you as much as you go to it” which resonated with me in my quest for identity in a sea of artists and designers.
His answers, as well as his demeanor, are quick and concise and reminded me of Charles Eames in Design Q & A in the way he is confident in his ideas and perceptions of not only the world, but art, design and himself.

Image courtesy of NGA Classrom

"Bone: Tall Tales" Designed By Artist Jeff Smith On Exhibit At The Cartoon Art Museum Of San Francisco

The exhibit of graphic artist Jeff Smith’s Bone: Tall Tales is an intimate look into the process and mind of an artist. The exhibit of Jeff’s work featured uncolored pre-print production pages that were raw and complete all at the same time. The pages show how creativity and alterations continue throughout the entire drafting and production process until they are inked.

Blue pencil and ink on board displayed a window into Jeff’s studio. The pencil doesn’t show up when photocopied and enables Jeff to finesse his images until perfection is perceived. When the blue pencil lines are juxtaposed with the final line he has chosen to ink it evokes a wonder of: why that line? The rawness of the composition, not usually seen by its intended audience, stands as a stark reminder of the work and craft involved in order to arrive at the attractive curvilinear splash of color that is Jeff’s art.

The lettering of the graphic novel is printed from a type based on Jeff’s handwriting and pasted into the appropriate captions bringing the audience closer to Jeff as he tells his stories. The sound effects and expressions, however, are done by hand to emphasize the emotion of the lettering. They become more than indications of audible and visible action but incarnate to sounds and sights directly from Jeff as he sees, hears and feels them.

The lack of color combined with the blue pencil, ink and pasted dialogue walks the viewer through Jeff’s process. Un-inked blue lines show thought-process and development. It is interesting to see all the lines and work that lead to the final form. There is certainly a more personal connection made when viewing a graphic novel at this stage of the process. Jeff Smith’s Bone may be a tale for all ages but this exhibit is a special treat for the eye of a designer, an inquisitive mind and a child at heart.

Goudy Old Style Designed By Typographer Frederic Goudy

Frederic Goudy is an American icon of typography emerging from the arts and crafts era. His turn of the 19^th century style bridged the properness and clear visual conveyance of old style serifs with a contemporary look that emphasized the beauty of the letter giving flow to horizontals and character to cursives creating a typeface that is proudly American in style and form. Issued in 1915 by the American Type Founders where Goudy was employed briefly, Goudy Old Style is still considered a pinnacle of elegance and appropriate for many different employments concerning printed visual communication.

Goudy was enamored by books and was driven by unifying the book as a work of art. He concerned himself with presentation and balance from cover to cover leaving no page neglected. He applied the principles of the arts and crafts movement to commerce and book production. His major influences in his type designs, of which he is credited with more than 100, are of Venetian and French Renaissance tradition.

Goudy Old Style’s uniqueness comes from its subtle nuances. These nuances include the diamond shaped punctuations of the ‘i’ and the ‘j’ as well as the period and the contrast of thick and thin strokes. A barely noticeable employment of balance but it is soft touches like these that make Goudy so pleasing to the eye and legible. The serifs on the capitals bow slightly in the center creating a taut, clean letter that commands respect as the eye is subtly directed to the heart of the letter. The serifs that cap the lower case verticals slant as they descend to the left and ascend to the right creating a smooth transition from letter to letter and word to word for left to right reading.

The character of the typeface comes from its flowing lines found on horizontals like the capital ‘E’ and ‘L’. Traditionally flat and rigid, the horizontal bases of Goudy Old Style capitals have a curvilinear flow that are very natural and no doubt an influence from the arts and crafts movement. The most captivating letters of the Goudy Old Style alphabet is the lower case ‘g’ and the capital ‘Q’. The “ear” of the ‘g’ turns up and back towards the letter creating a presence of calligraphy and echoing the smooth serifs found throughout the rest of the typeface. This quality is embellished on the cursive ‘Q’ with the undulating, curvilinear stroke beneath it.

Goudy Old Style is a staple of American print. Some may argue it is outdated but its continued use begs to differ. Clear, precise, elegant, conceptual, and quirky compiles a brief description of Goudy’s masterpiece of typography. It is as enjoyable to read as it is to write with and garners the attention of the audience as well as their respect. Goudy Old Style embodies American literature and stays relevant with its harmony of curvilinear accents and contrasting strokes of thick and thin. It is an ageless typeface whose beauty grows as it stands the test of time.

Poster designed by me, TRS

American Airlines Logotype By Designer Massimo Vignelli

Massimo Vignelli is a patriarch of contemporary corporate design. His desire for clean lines and direct communication with the audience manifest in concise use of line, color and typography that coalesce into identities that have stood much more than the test of time, they have withstood the test of consumerism in a disposable capitalist society. Perhaps his most recognizable and “classic” design is that of the American Airlines logo. This simple logo speaks concisely what the brand is and appeals to the audience that they target resulting in a brilliant execution of design.

The American Airlines identity was introduced in 1967. This new, subtle yet overpoweringly patriotic branding was a departure from the gimmicks of past advertising. It announced American Airlines as the professional airline. It let the corporation’s reputation speak for itself and garnered prestige. This is one of the earlier uses of the Helvetica typeface which has since inundated not just corporate identity but all facets of visual communication and graphic design.

Massimo Vignelli’s ubiquitous corporate identities are only surpassed by the diversity of his designs. He has dabbled in virtually everything that can be designed from packaging, to furniture, products, interiors, books, posters, and even transportation graphics. If a human can interact with it, Massimo Vignelli has designed it or something similar. His staying power comes from his simplistic design which is an echo of his contemporary Dieter Rams who said “good design is as little design as possible”. Vignelli creates direct links from faceless entities, such as corporations, with us, the consumer. We find comfort in his designs because they are familiar. We find comfort in his designs because they are relatable. We find comfort in his designs because they are so similar to the people who see them: seemingly simple on the surface, yet so complex beneath.

American Airlines is a registered trademark of American Airlines Inc.

The Function Of Form/The Form Of Function

Form and function are two sides of the same coin when it comes to design. Function can be derivative of form and form can arrive from function. The challenge is deciding which one takes precedent and creating harmony between the two. Many objects begin with an initial idea and the form and function are discovered on he fly.

One of the objects that comes to mind when I think of unified form and function are shoes (big surprise). To the untrained eye and uninformed consumer, many of the latest shoe innovations and technologies may seem nothing more than aesthetic evolution that is inevitable in any design. The newest technologies being offered by Nike are anything but. While they are aesthetically pleasing, their function is the underlying force behind their implementation.

These newest technologies come in the way of Flywire, next generation Flywire, and the new Hyperfuse construction method. Flywire is a high tensile strength fiber construction developed from technologies NASA uses to construct weather balloons. The new Hyperfuse is derived from the needs of basketball players in China and constructed without any stitching or environmentally harmful glues, giving the name to the shoe because it is fused together with heat.

Both of these technologies have become the pinnacle of lightweight modern basketball shoes and are appealing because of their innovative technologies, but these technologies are communicated with their form. The sleek styling of the Hyperdunk, which uses flywire, illustrates its cutting edge personality and lightweight performance without overpowering the consumer with its message.

The Hyperfuse exhibits a more utilitarian profile and conveys its intended use as a durable street/indoor basketball shoe that can withstand the heat, humidity, and conditions needed by Chinese basketball players. Both shoes found forms that are derivative of their functions. Both seamlessly (pun intended) blend form and function in a marriage of stable and sustainable design that appeals to informed and uninformed consumers alike. There is no over-embellishing of either and the two feed off each other the way any well-executed design should.

Stone Soup

Marcia Brown’s Stone Soup is a classic for all ages. While considered a children’s book it is still a fun exercise for adults, especially aspiring and professional designers. Dr. James Housefield, a professor of design at UC Davis and many other accreditations that would require a whole other blog, understands this importance and includes it in his curriculum. The emphasis of play coalesces into an activity of teamwork and creativity. Like the book, something is created from virtually nothing. Unlike the book, the design exercise focuses on the employment of recycled materials into a three-dimensional sculpture for lack of a better word. I was lucky enough to participate in this exercise in Dr. Housefield’s class twice, once last year as a student and again this year as a mentor to the students.

I found this year very enjoyable as I was able to watch my group confront design problems and solve them. They implemented the tools of ordinarily discarded “rubbish” into specific roles and worked towards a common goal. The aspect of play induced creativity that may be ordinarily hard to find with a group of people you barely know, but by the end they were working as a singular design team.

They constructed a humanoid figure complete with personality and style. Paper arms and legs attached to a box torso with ribbon hair became an identity of the group as all their personalities poured into the creation reflected back onto the audience. I am confident in their abilities in designers and found watching the design process as fulfilling as being apart of it. Stone Soup is a way of seeing the world and confronting obstacles that are to be overcome through unity and cooperation. This philosophy extends beyond just design and is a welcome refresher to the monotony of protocol.

Picture courtesy of Amanda Cheung

Creativity From Without

When I design I constantly look for inspiration or “creativity from without”. By that I mean the opposite of within. Design is a discipline that requires certain knowledge of self but I find the most out about myself when I leave my comfort zone and challenge myself to see things differently and work from a different perspective.

As a designer our vision is not necessarily what our audience is looking for and as a designer our audience are our clients and essentially our barometer of success. If we only concerned ourselves with what we saw fit in an attempt to express what’s within us we would be artists, not designers. Design is looking around us and finding ways to improve life and communication through color type and image. I adore companies that do this and take otherwise miniscule concepts and expand on them exponentially until it becomes its own individual creation that stands alone and can in turn inspire others. If you have read my blog you will know I am enamored by Jordan Brand. They have created timeless shoes inspired by, obviously Michael Jordan, but propelled by concepts such as a panther for the Jordan XIII, the X-15 fighter jet for the Jordan XV and more recently the art of fencing for the Jordan 2009. All of those inspirations are disparate departures from the sport of basketball but are appropriated and infused into the legacy of Jordan Brand and in turn the sport of basketball by the wearers of the shoes. It is inspiration and creativity like this that keeps design fresh. There is no need for these departures but by challenging yourself as a designer you expand your palette as well as your range. It is like an opera singer experimenting with hardcore rap. It develops an appreciation for all things because all things we come in contact with have been designed. Everything is inspiration and inspiration is everywhere. Creativity lies within all of us, but it is the creativity that surrounds us that propels us.

Design As A Conversation

Design is a conversation. It is a perpetual discourse between audience and designer, between consumer and brand, between reality and conception. The two inform each other in a never-ending dance of tug and pull, advancements and retreats until equilibrium is found…which it rarely ever is. The dynamic relationship of the designer and his/her audience is what makes this field so engaging. The conversation is not just confined to the designer and the audience either. It pervades the landscape of design before anything is ever produced. The conversation includes advertisers, marketing, engineers and accountants maintaining a budget. The conversation speaks in a universal language of haptic and optic and not necessarily words. The conversation speaks with numbers and colors and is a system of inputs based on outputs and vice versa.

Design must pursue the inquisition of what is needed or can be improved and not dictate what is appropriate. A good designer is never satisfied with the final product because satisfaction breeds complacency. A good designer is always listening, looking and feeling for a way to improve their craft. A good designer is a listener and does their talking with their ideas and contributions. This is why some of the best designs go unnoticed, because they fit so well and execute their function flawlessly so they need not be addressed. The conversation will never end because the world will always need improvement. The conversation will never die as long as life persists. The conversation is happening right now…have you spoken up yet?

Design Experienced

I was asked to remember my first positive memory of design. Not design as in the courses I am taking, but design as in a well-designed product or image. As I recollect on my past experiences with products I recall for their design I encounter a conundrum. Dieter Rams’ quote “good design is as little design as possible” from his ten principles of design comes to mind in that all the products I encounter that are well-designed I hardly notice due to their good design. Design I notice is obtrusive and counter-intuitive. Design I remember is frustrating and not good design at all. It was only until I was old enough to appreciate good design that I began to remember it.

I remember my parents VCR and how it ate tapes if the stop button was not pressed before doing anything. I thought “why is this not better? how come this was released with such an obvious flaw?” I remember one of my first raincoats as a child. The colors were sloppily chosen and their values did not harmonize at all. The coat also did not stop the rain due to inferior materials and bad ingenuity when it came to the construction of the garment. I remember awkwardly large and graphically cluttered advertising and packaging that was no more than a waste of color and materials. When thinking about all these bad designs I am able to draw something positive from it though. It left me asking “how can this be better?” and drove me to where I am today in pursuit of a degree in design and, more importantly, a career. My first positive experience of design is that I don’t have one because it was well-designed. I didn’t notice it because it became an extension of me and my needs, which is what all design should be; an extension of ourselves and our needs.

"Horus" Designed By Artist Fernando Chamarelli

Fernando Chamarelli’s Horus is a harmony of color and line. The two-dimensional piece jumps out of the page with its use of juxtaposed colors and fancifully connected lines that draw the eye around the entire piece in mosaic brilliance. While the central figure remains the focal point, one can’t help but be tempted to see the other figures that dominate and recede as more and more of the piece is studied. I would safely call it a bistable and even venture further into the prefixes of tri and quad. The analogous color scheme of violet, yellow, orange and red give an antiquated feeling of familiarity while thoroughly capturing modern geometric form.

Chamarelli describes his design as “…harmonic lines connecting symbols, legends, philosophies, religions, and customs of ancient and modern civilizations.”

The negative space draws the eye to the upper-right corner where it is met by shapes that descend into the figure and meld into the lines of the piece. What direction the eye takes next is up to the viewer. The piece may appear as a maze of line and color but is quite simplistic and organic. The color is the key to the texture and layers that almost pattern the print.

Chamarelli’s style and attention to detail display a love and deep understanding of his homeland of Brazil and its indigenous culture and art as well an awareness of the modern street art scene. It is work like this and Chamarelli’s contemporaries that validate street artists as full-fledged artists and/or designers. The means to create are fueled by technology and this piece transcends them all and would be appropriate in a gallery or adorning the wall of a building in Sao Paulo.