Are you an Artist?

Whilst doing a bit of browsing on my topic of "Are you a Designer?" I found this interesting blog post that is questioning the difference between Designers and Artist. Reading the comments below is just as interesting. Do you agree? What is the division between an Artist and a Designer? Or even I suppose, The difference between somebody working in manufacture for example and a Designer?

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/designers-are-not-artists

Konstantin Grcic - Umbrella

A fun piece here designed back in 2006. Taking an existing product and making an almost un-noticable change in order to make a difference. This Umbrella caught my eye as I tried to establish what I would utilise the modifiction for? What would you us it for?

Taken from his website it says:

Sometimes it‘s more difficult to resist than to act. As designers we‘re easily tempted to renew, replace or change things. One of the virtues of working with Japanese no-brand Muji is using what already exists, simplifying, even leaving things alone, creating objects that blend into the environment rather than making a strong mark.This idea is exemplified in the umbrella project we did as part of our long standing collaboration. The only intervention we made to an existing umbrella is drilling a hole into the end of the handle.

Project assistant: Alexander Löhr (KGID)
Producer: Muji

Konstantin Grcic - CRASH

A piece that caught my eye is this chair, called CRASH. This was a piece Konstantin worked on in 2010 in conjunction with the british designers of Establised & Sons. It is a rather simple piece that focuses on the way we treat manufacture when designing things. well, at least, thats what I understand he was aiming to do. Taken from his website it says:

The key characteristics of CRASH are its generous dimensions; it is wide and spacious ... and extremely comfortable. To crash out is a nice English expression which comes to mind.
Something I’ve been concerned with for years is the way how upholstered furniture is made. There is a huge industry out there producing endless upholstered furniture all made in the same banal way; glueing foam onto cheap wooden structures, then stapling fabric over it. CRASH consists of the same elements, a supporting structure, a piece of foam and the fabric cover. However, we do not bond these elements together. There is a supporting framework made of tubular steel, very simple and straightforward and a loose piece of moulded foam that gets pushed over the frame. The fabric finishes everything off, it is streched over the foam like a jumper.

Project assistant: Pauline Deltour (KGID)
Producer: Established & Sons

However, this description was not the reason I was drawn to the chair. The simple reason was that to me he had taken a beanbag and made a simple change which makes it so much better. A beanbag, although it deforms easily to fit your body… it is convex! Useless… you just roll off! What we need more of  is concave beanbags. That would be problem solved in my opinion. You do get them, but you also still get the useless convex versions.

Turns out that this chair is not of beanbag construction at all, but it brought this issue to my attention anyway. And also, I think it is a nice looking chair and looks like it does well what many chairs do not; it looks comfy to sit on! Would love to see some of his chairs for real.

Konstantin Grcic - Some examples

I said that I would focus on a product or two and go into them in a wee bit more detail, however, whilst looking into his portfolio of work i found more than just a few that are of interest. Take a look at his website: http://konstantin-grcic.com

Lets have a look at a couple anyway…

Design award 2010 - Konstantin Grcic

In 2010 konstantin was awarded the "Designer of the year" award by Design Miami. For this he designed and provided an installation in Miami. The installation involved a series of suspended netting chairs. Here is a couple of links to tell you more about it:

http://www.dezeen.com/2010/10/18/konstantin-grcic-to-receive-designer-of-the-year-award-at-design-miami/

http://www.dezeen.com/2010/12/09/netscape-by-konstantin-grcic-at-design-miami/



Also, check out this youtube clip of Konstantin discussing the award, his development of the chair and some other aspects of his designing methods. Very interesting:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UshQicFbKME

Panorama… Konsatantin Grcic

Konstantin currently has an exhibition on at the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany. Looks rather intersting and is on until September. If you get the chance go and check it out. Here is a link to the website for more info:
http://www.design-museum.de/en/exhibitions/detailseiten/grcic.html

Konstantin Grcic

As part of our Design and Technology course we were each given a designer who were were to explore. The designer I was given is the German designer, Konstantin Gricic. 

Konstantin… the designer who is always thinking sideways. He describes himself as "very german". in that he means he sees himself as a rational, very logical, very industrial type person. But, he still works in a very practical manner. This is something we, on my course, are encouraged to do as practical experiments give tactile and multidimensional information and insights.

A unique aspect of Konstantin compared to other designers working on similar products is that he is not scared of the commercialisation. Many designers see a piece of work going into a more mass for of manufacture as the point where the avant garde-ness of a piece is lost. Konstantin does not see it as this, he more see this process as a natural progression of design and he supports this process fully. I like that about him. it shows his lack of pretentiousness. He does not see good designs as something that should be held within the arms of the designers and a select elite.

Much of his work focusses around furniture and particularly chairs. Many well known designers and industrial seem to either start here or focus their work in this area. I am not very sure why this is the case. Maybe its just fashion. Maybe its easy. I dunno. Regardless of that Konstantins work stands out to me because each piece seems to strike a perfect balance between design that pushes whats already been done and feasibility. His work may be unique and design-y but it is usually also feasible. By feasable I mean it is feasable to manufacture it in a sensible quantity and feasable in that it can actually work well as a chair say. I really dislike chairs and such that are useless as a functional piece, especially if its in a situation that requires it to function well. Konstantin generally avoids this but he does seem to fall into this trap sometimes. 

I will post a couple of posts on some of his work, explore it in a wee bit more detail.
in the mean time… check out this short video I found on youtube. It explains alot about him…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctxNFlBmztc

What kind of company do you work for?

A recent lecture I attended as part of my Design and Technology course was by Tom Inns. He is the new Director of Glasgow School of Art. He has spent many of his years working in a similar area of industry as I am studying so is of extra interest to me I suppose. His lecture was titled: "Why I see things the way I do".
An interesting topic which we were discussing was; what sort of company do you work for? The answer is not "well, I work for an oil company" or " I work for a company making phones" , more we were looking at how, as a designer you have to adapt and alter your designs and working methods to suit the kind of company you work for. 

Lets use Apple as an example as we discussed apple in detail. Some of the main aspects a designer would have to understand when working at apple would be:

Brand identity: Apple is one of the most obvious examples here. Instantly when you see a product (both software and hardware) you know its made by apple. All of their products and services are done in a very "apple-y" way. Just look at the image of an apple shop below. As a designer, you would have to constrain your designs to fit within that model. Although I like apple products, inreakon I would struggle to manage these constraints.

Product cycle: Apple push out new versions of their products at rates that the avrage consumer cannot keep up with. I personally think the rate at which they do this is just too fast, unnecessarily fast. I suppose this is a valid tactic in that its one of the methods that keeps them far ahead of their rivals. By constantly advancing their products in small increments they end up with a faster rate of overall advancement and thus stay the market leader. Although, we discussed the risk involved here. Could this cause them to miss out on the next technological jump. If they afe focussing too much on small changes, may they miss out on the big jumps. We can see this with the iWatch. The market now has a few successful phone/watch gadgets on the market but we are yet to see apples attempts. So, again, as a designer working for apple, how would you handle this rate of product development? It probably makes the process exciting, but the pressure to deliver may restrict and restrain your ideas/design.

Who designs the product really: Another thing we discussed in detail is who designs the product, and who makes it successful? Apple is a difficult company to give an answer for? The proucts are good, but the marketing is superb. As a designer, do you truly design the product, or do other factors and people decide how it should be designed? I had already touched on this but will be going back to it in further posts...

Degree or an Apprenticeship?

Here is a wee link to an article by the Guardian newspaper. Has some interesting points and views: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/may/15/graduate-jobs-university-work-experience-apprenticeships

The need for a degree?

Currently I am in my 4th year of studying for a degree in Product Design Engineering at Glasgow University and Glasgow School of Art. Now this course is truly fantastic. Well, mostly, the standard of teaching can vary and I often think I learn more when working for a local haulage firm during my spare time.  This brings me back to my post about skilled manufacture. What way, what path is most likely to provide a successful outcome? I chose the university route for a number of reasons but the main reason was that it was understood that the only way to truly succeed professionally is to get a degree. That is what we are all taught at school it seems. Now, in my 4th year I am questioning that fact. Here is a list of pros and cons in my opinion:

University study path

Pros:

• If looking for a job with engineering for example, many employers specify the requirement for a degree in engineering .
• Access to a range of facilities and equipment.
• Time to gain a better understanding of what exactly you want to do. I am proof of that fact actually. I selected this degree as I wanted to be an engineer with and edge towards designing totally new products and systems. Now though I am more keen on designing products, businesses and services which much less of a focus on engineering. Although, the engineering understanding will be invaluable to me in future years i suspect.

Cons:

• Takes up 4 or 5 or more years. This time could probably be used more productively. Hense why I try to fill my spare time doing other productive stuff .
• Quality of your skill can largely depend on the teaching you receive and your willingness to learn. How can this be summed up on a piece of paper. This gives me cause for concern.
• I found that you learn loads of stuff that quickly becomes useless as too much emphasis is put on learning the the content rather than getting to put it to actual use and thus I do not feel xonfident with my engineering skills.

Straight into work

Pros:

• Learn how to actually do stuff in a practical and useful sense.
• learn from the best: the people currently practicing in that business/area.
• Get paid… always nice.

Cons:

• Once you are in that job/industry it may be difficult to get out. I may have found this a bit more of a problem.
• Your learning is much less broad.
• In general it can be more restricting and blinkered.

However, one of my earlier posts may just reveal the ideal solution: An Apprenticeship! As discussed the apprenticeship seems to provide the perfect balance between learning and experience. I know this works well as I see many of my friends who have been through apprenticeships doing very well and they all talk well of their decision to go down that route. I think we need to be encouraging apprenticeships. In many, if not most cases the benefits of an apprenticeship out way by far the benefits of just getting a job or commiting to uni.  Maybe I will explore how better to do this.

The Wolf of Wall Street

The battle between Ethics and Money was brought to my attention after watching this film. I am unsure if you have been to see this film yet (I would recommend you do as it is excellent), so here is a brief introduction to the film: This is Martin Scorsese film and is based on true events surround a Wall Street stock broker, Jordan Belfort. The film explores his years running his hugely financially successful Stock Brokers where he was making for himself around $50million a year. Thats alot! Unfortunatly for Jordan, money was the controlling factor and nobody cared about ethics. You are making so much money why does anything else matter ae? That was the thinking at the time.

Why am I talking about a stock broker when I am meant to be exploring designers. Well, Jordan created his buisness from scratch. He had to design that business, so in that sense, I suppose he is a designer. His buisness model was designed by him and if it was not for those pesky ethics sneaking it, that model would have remained a succesful piece of design maybe. However, my main reason for focussing on this man is that he had another product that he created which was and is even more powerful that his business model. That is his Straight Line Persuasion method. At the time when the film is based he was using this product himself but barely knew it existed. I took until his professional and social demise brought him down for him to understand what he had.

We do not need to go into the product in detail but basically he has manifested into a package methods on which to sell anything to someone in a succesful and consistent manner. Now already, you can see issues with this product. The word persuassion rings alarm bells surronding the ethcically use of this proven product.
Using this method can bring immense benefits to any person or business, but when ethics are pushed out by the desire for dosh this product can become dangerous. Jordan Belfort discovered this for himself and is still feeling the effects of that mistake. He even discusses this issue himself. There are many clips on youtube but here is an example: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSU1GUD-NF4

He claims that his new product which teaches this method helps to prevent the lack of concideration for ethics. However, I wonder, if he used it effectively and ignored ethics, why can't anbody else. I could go onling right now, purchase his product for $1997 (which is astronomically expensive btw) learn it then start using it without consulting my ethical conscience. What stops me doing that other than me.

I think, whoever you are, when designing something you do not only have to evaluate your actions and your product for ethical soundness, you have to consider how your product can be used once in the hands of the public. For example, the Kalashnikov gun. That was designed by a man wanting to help his country but he got so engrossed in that ideal he forgot to consider its after effects. He then spent the rest of his life feeling a part of every time one of his guns were used to kill another person. So when designing we have to be aware all the time of ethics otherwise we will end up like Joran belfort or Mikhail Kalashnikov, rich maybe butcalone in jail, regretting our actions and hurting over the pain we have caused others.

The battle between Ethics and Money in design.

When looking into the role of the designer I feel it is important to explore the battleground that exists between two of the most influential factors a designer has to consider: Ethics and Money. As most "designers" work within a business money may be the ultimate goal and thus the overriding factor the designer has to consider. However, increasingly i suspect that the word ethics is being thrown around design studios and disturbing moneys control over the design process. What effect will this have on future designs and the role the designer plays within that.
My next few posts will be looking further into this topic and hopefully I will discover the way in which to perfectly balance the two. This will help us in become more succesful designers.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Last week we were introduced to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Well, that was an experience! Was not prepard for that. I do not know if you have ever seen the film, but I would recommend you give it a go…

… Did you make it through to the end? Some people love that film, but for me it has to be one of my least favourite films. Im a film guy, but that was not for me. "Really trippy" one of my course mates said. I think thats a good way to put it.
However, to the film and its makers credit, it pushed the boundaries of film. Today the film is consitenly ranked in the top 10 of films ever made. People see this as culturally significant piece of film, mainly due to the way it pushed the boundaries of the way film interacts with the senses. I suppose in this sense it is a significant piece of work but I personally will not be putting it anywhere near my top 10 films.

Discussing the film after we looked at the idea of "a box". This idea was brought up by my tutor when discussing the centinal (shown above) in the film. What was so significant about  its form and aesthetic. The designer of this, in this case, probably the director must have taken care to get this piece correct. And they did. In my opinion, this single object was the greatest part of this otherwise weird film. The design of the character shall we call it was excellent. You understood its meaning, or were at least able to explore its meaning. You never find out its purpose, I mean, its just a black cuboid. What the heck?! 

I will let you explore this film and come to your own conclusions about the significance and meaning of the use of this shape. I dont actually think I need to speculate myself. I think it is best if you explore it yourself. Once you have done that, do what we did and explore the idea of "the box" in design elsewhere. I am going to explore the designer as a box… (dont know what i mean by that yet, but im going to find out).

I also intend to blog about a number of films within this blog page. As we can see from this film, there is alot we can learn and take from films when concidering design, and even the question: "Are you a designer?

Watch this space….

Superstar Designers.

Often when we picture a "designer" we visualise the arty type, with a fancy studio full of strange objects and a head just as strange. We see the daft concepts, funkily formed, but hopelessly useless as a product. We may laugh with glee at these designers, but are we just laughing with ignorance? That is the question I have proposed to myself.

The question was challenged when we explored the designer Marc Newson - The Urban Spaceman. I would recommend you watch this programme created by the BBC a few years ago...

Before watching this film I was certain that Marc Newson was another Philippe Starck say, a seemingly pretentious designer with designs of little merit. However, as the documentary, and my additional research played out I began to understand the man better. I am still unimpressed by much of his work such as the chair shown above - his famous Lockheed Lounge, 1986. This is really just my personal opinion of the aesthetics. But what does impress me is the mans passion, his passion for his designs. A passion which is felt for every single detail of every single design. Is this passion the factor that makes him a "superstar designer"? 

Jonathan Ive (Apple Inc) said: "I think Marc is fairly peerless now. Marc's forms are often imitated, but what other designers seldom imitate is his preoccupation with materials and processes. You have to start with an understanding of the material. Often your innovation is just coming up with a new way to use material."

What allowed this man become famous in the world of art and design to such an extent that one of his pieces holds the record for the highest price paid for a single piece of furniture. I think his success is a combination of his passion, hard work and a wee bit luck.
But what happens if you do not come across this luck? That should not matter… you will just have to put more of the hard work in!! Simple as that. You don't have to be a superstar designer to be a designer. That may sound silly, but it makes sense to think about it. Often people are detered by the world of "design" due to this preconception of the designer type, but I know that this is not what the worls of "design" is like. 


However… that is the next question I suppose: What do you have to design to qualify as a designer? That then begs the question: What is designed? I would say everything almost, which in turn begs the question: Is everybody a designer?
I will be exploring all of this in much greater detail over the next few weeks...

The Demise of Skilled Manufacture.

In recent years the number of skilled craftsmen has decreased to dangerously low levels. The reasoning behind this is fairly obvious: mass manufacture, huge corporations fixated on maximum profit and modern technologies eliminating the need for these workers. However, a reason that is often overlooked is the lack of skilled workers that now exist. This may have been initiated by lack of demand for thier skills, but increasingly in industry the reverse exists. The demand is there, but the skills are not. This is turning many companies even more towards automated, low skilled manufacturing methods.

How can we solve this?

Craig Whittet (Programme Leader, Product Design Engineering, Glasgow School of Art) suggests that the way we treat and pay our apprentices may be the way to address this. For example, in the UK, the current minimum wage for a 19 year old apprentice is only £2.68. Compare this to £3.72 for a non apprentice. This can, and does leave apprentices feeling worthless, and their qualified seniors feeling devalued. Why would a 16 year old persue a career in skilled manufacture when they could simply work in a call centre for much more pay and minimal effort? If we raised the minimum wage for skilled manufacture trainees we may just spark new enthusiasm amongst the younger members of society to persue a career in skilled manufacture. This enthusiasm would hopefully spread into the potential employers who may see the value in the skills available greater than the cost savings of an automated factory.

Also discussed was the brand image of a company and its potential to thrive from skilled manufacture. This may be all we need to safe the skills of a craftsman. An interesting example is the company Brooks saddles. They are a company that relies on skilled craftsmen to manufacture their product. It takes 3 days to make 1 saddle! Unfortunately, poor marketing almost ended this company a few years ago. But then came Selle Royal, an Italian company who could see the potential of exploting the traditional image of these skilled craftsmen. This transformed the company so that they are now seen as one of the top quality saddle manufacturers in the world. But, more importantly than that is the fact that this boost made the workers feel valued again.

Take a look at this, the story of Brooks saddles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9w-y24Waz4

Design and Technolgy… The aim of this blog.

This blog aims to explore the role of a designer, the future of the designer and even the design of a modern designer.
This semester I will be taking part in a course at university called "Design and technology". This is a discussion and exploration based course with weekly lectures and events that should hopefully increase my understanding of the world of design, the emerging technologies on the market and the impact that both will have on the future.
I intend to post weekly updates on what I have been discovering and my reflections on the topics we have discussed. I will also try and relate the topics the the question that I have proposed: Are you a designer? Please get involved with this discussion...