What Is Design?: Hara

As I was reading What Is Design? by Kenya Hara, one thing stuck out to me: Originality. Hara stressed originality multiple times in this excerpt. I looked at some of his work and it’s very intriguing. I must say, it does look very original. It’s interesting how he speaks about a gradual progression of design. He’s very vague with a lot of what he is talking about, I think. Maybe I didn’t read that in depth. Maybe not.

It’s interesting to think of everything as being either a stick or a vessel. I’ve never thought of things that way. They are the basic tools that make up everything. You can use them separately or together and they can create many different things.

I like the part where he talks about the Bronzeware and how we are naturally drawn into the intricate items rather than the plain items. Such with life, we don’t seek to be bland, we seek to be intricate, different, unique, and special. We seek to be original.

High Concept, High Touch: Pink

As I was reading Daniel Pink’s High Concept, High Touch, it seems to me that I chose a good school to attend as well as a good degree plan. Studying an art might have been looked down upon back then, but it’s very reassuring that it’s becoming a necessity. I feel like I’ve made a good choice and that I will be rewarded for all my hard work. I will surely devote a good amount of time and effort into doing my very best here at St. Edwards.

It’s interesting to see the gradual progression from Agriculture to Industry to Information, and now: Conceptual. I had no idea that we were in a conceptual age. I did recognize a few things that Daniel was talking about, such as an immense increase in graphic designers, and the need for them. I was one of the first to take the “new” SAT test with the optional writing portion. Daniel did touch on that part in the excerpt, although I don’t know how old this information is.

We’re entering a new age, and it doesn’t feel like it. Maybe I’ve been in the Conceptual age since birth, or have gradually grown up in it. Who knows? I’ve never heard of this, and I’m interested in learning more about it. Time to check out Daniel Pink’s book: A Whole New Mind.

CREATIVITY and MAKING: Flusser

As I was reading The Photograph by Vilem Flusser, one thing stuck out to me: color. I’ve always been fascinated by analog color photography. I’ve taken so many “film” pictures and each and every one of them, no matter how bad it might look, is special to me. I’ve been using cheap Fujifilm Superia X-TRA for the most part and even though it’s on the lower end of the photographic film scale, there are some photos that the saturation levels are higher than others, and it looks so beautiful, at least to me. When Vilem Flusser was talking about “decoding” the “green” field, I think he was referring to how people will interpret it. For example, if I shot that field with Superia X-TRA, it might be oversaturated a bit, but if I used Kodak Portra, which might look a little flatter, in terms of color. We can take these two films and see that the “green” of the field will be different in both results, and this is what he was talking: how the creativity in the choice of what film you use will yield a more “abstract” result. If I used Kodak Tri-X, a popular black and white film, I would just see a bland field. The choice of using an oversaturated film would suggest that it might be mid springtime and there was a healthy amount of rainfall. Using flat film would suggest that it might be summertime or fall. This is the creative intent of the photographer who would use different films to convey different messages about their surroundings. Vilem Flusser is trying to point out that there’s an even deeper meaning to all things, especially in photography. He wants us to dive deeper and “decode” the photos presented to us, so that we can become masters, not slaves, of the camera.

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