Course reflection 4

This past week we talked about designing for accessibility. What I found the most interesting was that not long ago there were designs that did not incorporate everyone who would use it. An example of this would be cooking utensils or tools. Something as simple as making something exclusively right handed can impact multiple groups of people. This is where the concept of universal design takes place. Gabe explained to us, and I agree, that in order to design for the future we would need to design for everyone. After the lecture we watched a video about a new kind of wheelchair, designed by Dean Kamen (I believe). Personally, I think it's a great idea but it would cost a lot of money that I am almost positive most people do not have

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Assignment 02 Main Article

3. Eric Owen Moss
Sources: The Uncertainty of Doing by Paola Giacona
Eric Owen Moss Projects and Designs #2 by Brad Collins

My more in depth research is dedicated to Eric Owen Moss. As I was looking for my first two subjects in the Architecture Library I came upon several books that held his name. I first looked at his Projects and Designs book and from seeing those designs; I decided to dive further into the life of the man. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California which is where he also started his career attending the University of California in 1965. From there he went on to the Barkley College of Environmental design to earn his Masters of Architecture in 1968. He then went to the Harvard School of Design and earned his second Masters of Architecture in 1972. He spent the years revitalizing a once defunct industrial tract in Culiver City, California. His work there showed his innovation in building techniques and his passion for constructing a community and promoting job creation. In The Uncertainty of Doing he was described by the author in this statement: “It is impossible, by examining his work chronologically, to find an evolutionary logic to it.” With that statement I give you works of his that I found the most unique.

All of the following pictures were referenced in the book Projects and Designs #2 but the pictures were found on the internet.

The picture above is called The Box

Beehive

Samitaur or Hayden Tower

Glass Tower

Stealth. From the triangle view.

Assignment 02 b

2.Frank Lloyd Wright. Sources: An Interpretive Biography by: Robert C. Twombly, Frank Lloyd Wright His life, His work, His words by: Oligivanna Lloyd Wright.

An American designer, architect, writer, and teacher, Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the most well renowned designers in the world. He has written over 20 books and has designed over 500 completed projects. What I found most interesting that because of the time there was no evidence he graduated from high school and when he left the University of Wisconsin-Madison he didn’t take a degree. He then spent most of his time in Chicago working to repair the damage caused by the Great Chicago Fire and eventually established his own practice in 1893. What interested me the most about this man was the fact that going through such turmoil through his life, such as, abandonment of his family, his relations with Mamah Cheney, her death, fires that destroyed his home, custody battles, his third wife Miriam Noel and that relationship falling through he still kept it for the most part together. Some of his most significant works occurred in his later years included the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Price Tower.

Assignment 02

1. I.M. Pei. Sources: Profile in American Architecture by: Carter Wiseman, I.M. PEI. Mandarin of Modernism


I.M. Pei is a Chinese-American Architect who is well renowned the modernism he uses in his work. He was originally born in Canton China and was raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai. His family is also well renowned in China because his ancestry in Suzhou dates back around 600 years. When he first moved to the United States his original intentions as a career were becoming an architect, but he switched to engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Though he wasn’t too keen on the arithmetic but more of the aesthetic aspect of design he switched back to Architecture. After his academic achievements at MIT he joined the Harvard Graduate School of Design where he expanded his knowledge further. Some of his most notable works are the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, The renovation of the Louvre, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Journal 3: Survey and Results

Here is my survey I administered

Survey: Environmental Concerns and You
1. Paper or Plastic?

2. Do you recycle? Y/N
3. Off the top of your head, what is the best source of energy besides fossil fuel?


4. Do you think we, as a human race, will remain dependent on fossil fuel for years to come?




5. Do you have an idea to “save the planet”? If so share:


The survey that I gave consisted of five questions. Since the questions were somewhat specific I figured that only a small number of people (5) would be sufficient enough in order to get a unique trend. The results are as follows

1. Everyone I surveyed used or preferred using plastic bags than paper
2. Out of the 5 people I surveyed. Only one actually recycled on a weekly basis.
3. The answers were: 2 for Electricity, Bio Fuels, Wind, and Hydrogen Fuel Cells.
4. Sadly only one person said that we as a human race would eventually stop using fossil fuel in the future.
5. All of these were different. The first to last: Water turbines, Conservation, Hybridization of fossil fuels and alternative energy, Construction of wind and solar mills used to help power large cities or towns, and finally the last was nothing. The final survey subject said that oil would be in such high demand that there would be no point in having a “save the world plan” because we were doomed.

Course Reflection 3

This week in Design 200 we focused on the steps in the design process. What was the most interesting was watching a design team, namely Ideo, come up with a new design for a shopping cart within 5 days. At first I was a little worried because if I was faced with that task I wouldn’t be so sure if 5 days would be enough. However, for Ideo this is what they do daily and to make something new in 5 days is truly testing their skill. In my opinion, the end product of the teams work was amazing. What interested me the most was that Ideo had their own version of a design process, which was letting people vent their creativity so that even abstract ideas were taken into consideration. I also found that when the team came together, all of the best ideas were put into the shopping cart. As for Design 200, I am still very interested in learning more.

Reading Reflection 3

This week’s reading introduced me to three more concepts of design: Objects, Communication, and Environments. After reading the 3 chapters I had more of an insight about the history of design and the processes some designs go through. The chapter Objects stood out the most to me because it explained that while things are designed for uses, they are heavily based on appearances as well. I also found it annoying that some designs are primarily based on looks and as a result the efficiency can be severely impacted as well as the cost extremely high. Still, what pleased me is that some designs took in both efficiency and appearances so make one beautiful looking functional thing. For example the first iMac used see-through colored plastics to give an identity as well as a modern look. Innovations like those are what I would feel proud of if I were a designer.
From the communications section most of what I gathered was that using symbols or pictures can have a universal meaning. Seeing examples in the book reminded me and also made me more aware of the symbols I see every day while at school, or riding the bus, etc. For the environments section I realized that design, mostly interior, was heavily based off of the “feel” of the place. In lecture we talked about the environment that designers create to make a person feel immersed in where they are or what they are doing. For example Gabe talked about how he would design a bank so that customers would feel a sense of innovation as well as a comfort while inside. Knowing this helps me understand some of the big ideas behind design and I am intrigued to learn more.

Found Patterns

For this project I decided to take an entire day and find things around campus that had a pattern. The one day shot didn't work, but I've assembled a majority of things around campus that stood out to me, plus I had a few that were in my house as well. So, here I go! Top Ten. Boom!


The first picture is snapped from the architecture building a.k.a. Knowlton hall. This...support beam, I guess you could call it was massive. The fact that it was multiple blocks was intriguing enough to snap a pic. 


 This second one is from Hayes Hall. I noticed that this building is just all kinds of interesting but I liked the archways the most especially since they had beams throughout.













 I can't say for sure which building this is, but I took this picture after a late night in the architecture studio. the building is on Woodruff near High St. I believe.

 This Picture is from my house. I found it interesting because if you look closely you can see the lines making somewhat of a zigzag. I found out that since my house is so old the plaster can sometimes move with the wood of the house, thus creating thin, but harmless cracks in the ceiling.

 This Picture is also from my house. What I found interesting was not only did this mirror have etchings on it but it is composed of different squares that can be re arranged(I think) to form a new combination. I have no idea how old this is but when i cleaned my grandmothers house I found it still attached to a wall behind a large dresser. I'm guessing it's from the 70's, just saying haha.

 This picture was snapped just outside of the Wexner Center. I found it interesting because I was going for a pillar theme at the time and the marble looks very nice.

I decided to put this in because while being such a basic pattern, it has another special quality. These are all down high street so in other words, it is the longest pattern I have on this top ten.

 Another sort of pillar theme. This photo was taken in my math lecture hall. It is a combination of two patterns, not to mention that it is on both sides of the room.

 This was taken around the oval. The Northern part i think. I chose it because it went with the pillar theme and i felt that because of it's huge size it seemed appropriate to include it. 

The last one in my countdown was taken at my friend's house above their fireplace. This is interesting because when I asked about it, origins and such, they just told me that it was a fake fireplace and I shouldn't worry about it. I asked again later but to no avail. Haha I love my friends.

Reading Response 2

For Reading Response 2, the assigned reading was Haskett Chapters 1-3. The First chapter opened up with the broad question: What is design? The chapter explained that the origins of design date all the way back to sentient life. What I found most interesting is that it is natural human nature to augment and make things better, thus the origins of design and the continuation of design are laid on the table. Fortunately, the second chapter rolls right into it stating the historical evolution of design. It first starts off with tools, then cars, and moves on to tell the reader how art was incorporated in design. The chapter also talked about the start of the first businesses and how they came to be today. The final chapter talked about the significance in design i.e. the influences certain designs could carry. The book gave an example how an art style was used in propaganda and how Adolf Hitler himself called for the design of the first VW Beetle because it emphasized the phrase "Strength through Joy".

Class Reflection 2

This week in class I was introduced to the different kinds of fields specific to the design major. What I've found the most interesting is learning what Industrial and Interior design. Now that I am familiar with what those specific fields consist of I can explain why they interest me. First, the thought of designing different transportation methods like cars, trains, bicycles, etc. has always been an interest of mine and I have noticed that I enjoy looking at the outer appearances of said transportation methods. Interior design has interested me for a while because in this day and age first impressions are everything. I've always thought it interesting to see what a designer does to make impressions on the people who see it. Class is going well for me and learning this information piques my curiosity to learn what else the field of design constitutes. 

Design Crave.

Having selected this website as my article base I stumbled upon a video. What intrigued me first about this video is that it had the word "Lego" in the title and I knew I was going to like it because I've been all about building with legos since I was a young child. The video was about a weird looking guy building whatever he wants but after he runs out of his own legos, he proceeds to take them from other people by means of reaching through a magical "cabinet" and popping out somewhere completely different. The people he steals from are most notably children which is comical because legos are popularly categorized as a child's toy. The thief's stolen bricks soon become live stop motion beings and play music. By the end of the film he has a whole band and he ends up dancing to the music himself. He is then seen as legos himself but a child is playing with him and a setting resembling most of the movie.

What kept me interested was the fact that stop motion was used in the making of this video and no matter how many bricks the thief picked up, he always created what he wanted. The ending remark that it only takes a few bricks to create something is important to me because it shows that something simple can still be a design. I feel like this video sends a message to anyone that we can be creative with the little things given to us. Other people should take note and watch this video, because sometimes it only takes a little bit to be inspired in the right way.


Lego Video

About me and Design 200

Hello, my name is Ian and i have two last names, hence the G.w. I am currently a student at The Ohio State University and my current major is exploring. I've lived in Ohio my whole life but I am well traveled, primarily on the east coast of America. Some of my primary interests include listing to music, video games, snowboarding, drawing, and cooking. I've also participated in multiple sports, among my favorites are Rugby, basketball, badminton, and racquetball. I also take interest in martial arts and am fond of exercise. In school I am currently listed as an exploration major but I originally was a pre-engineering major. Over time Ive become interested in other sort of similar majors to engineering like Architecture and Design majors. Having said such, the creation of this blog is due to my intro to design class, Design 200 to be specific. What I hope to get out of Design 200 is a basic understanding what individuals do in the field of design. I also hope that this class will help me decide what I want to ultimately major in.  Design is going well so far and I'm Intrigued to find out more.

I have created my Blog!

Yes, it's true. Ian has created a blog and he wants the world to know. So, Hello World, more info to follow.