Halloween

(Happy Halloween!!)

October 31st was a day of traditions for preventing unnatural or scary events happening in the early European countries. The people used many traditions to prevent evil form coming to them. The word ‘Halloween’ was also a Christian modernized word for October 31^st;; it has little to do with evil. However, Halloween has gradually become a holiday for dressing-up, and a day when wearing odd costumes is publicly normal. Halloween is now modernized to fade away the idea of scary, and bring creativity in society.

Orange and black are the symbolic colors for the Halloween theme. There are also many other events symbolizes Halloween, including pumpkins, ghosts, bats, witches, villains, and more. Moreover, Trick-or-Treat was one of the famous American Halloween tradition that still exist. This was a modernized event designed for Halloween, and for people to interact through their creative costumes.

Around the time of Halloween, Disneyland and Disney World will have Disney villain characters come out, and the whole theme park will be covered with Halloween decorations. Halloween is taken more seriously in society as a time for play and fun. More and more stores and companies are noticing the Halloween idea in the society, and making special offers and designs like it is for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Undeniably, it is a great time for a break and for some creativity; people role play and dress up. The costumes do not have to be scary; it is just a way for people to be entertained through ‘the creative communication through costumes.’  Halloween has become a chance for creativity and design to takeover.

Halloween is a time to be creative with costumes, decorations, and character.

The Facebook

(The Social Network movie about the making-of Facebook.)

Designs can change in seconds.

Facebook is the example of creating a social network on the Internet; it is a new level of communication. The Internet world connects worldwide, so it is important that the design of the website is socially agreeable, including all the functions and layout. Moreover, Facebook has become a public drive system; everyone knows what everyone is doing everyday if they ‘Facebook’ every minute. The word ‘Facebook’ is not only a noun, but people are also using it as a verb.

Facebook was created by a Harvard undergraduate, Mark Zuckerberg. He is now the CEO of the Facebook company and the youngest billionaire. Zuckerberg grasps what people browsing on the Internet are searching for. He created Facebook to be a multi-functional space with simplicity designs.

This marvelous idea of Facebook, without doubt, would be make into a film. The Social Network, a movie about the development of Facebook. The movie has great rating and reviews. The Social Network has become so successful not only because the making of Facebook has a dramatic story, but also it is a significant communication design for one’s social networks. I have witnessed the change myself.

During the summer, I went to Haiti and found out the educated or wealthier Haitian families are also using Facebook to connect with people around the world. Moreover, my friends in Asia abandoned their old social networking websites and they are all dedicated to Facebook now. Facebook started in Harvard University and grows worldwide in an unbelievable speed. Facebook has successful become iconic.

Design is always chasing time, but through the fast technology we have right now, the race between design and time is increasingly faster. 

The Social Network Official Trailer

Hungry Yet?

(All images via it will stop raining)

Food is one of our motivation to Design.

Food boosts our energy and make us happier even when we are frustrated. Tasty and visually pleasant food usually makes people happy, that is why food art exists.

Food art entertains our senses of sight, smell, and taste, sometimes all five senses are affected. There are informal food display designs; however, there are also outrageous plate designs in expensive restaurants. For example, Al is the blogger and photographer for her blog, or a food journal of what she eats at every meal. She delivers clean home-cooked food and photographs to bring the readers to the atmosphere of her perspective on her food. I have seen a lot of food photograph since food is a common object to shoot, and she easily captures the beauty and desire that food has. 

(Apple Pie)

Paris and Japan have excellent culinary institutions, and they are two of the areas that design the most desirable pastries and all food in general. Whether it is the texture of an apple pie, to Julia Child’s delicious Bourguignon, the visual decor of the food makes it extra appealing.

Food art is not only visually beautiful, but it designs interaction and communication in society. Food brings people together and closer they meet up or go on a date. Food can be more than a satisfaction for hunger; food art can change a social atmosphere by creating happiness.

Design as Conversation.

(Typography by Thomas Broome)

Design colors society and our conversaitons.

The images by Thomas Broome – Typography gallery are amazing typography that combine graphic and interior design together to communicate a deeper level of design. Design is always around us whatever we see, hear, smell, or touch. All of our senses allow us to communicate with the environment, which informs more than aesthetic shapes and forms, but also meaning and messages through words and letters. Communication is based on our language, and for English, typography design takes big part of our expressing skill.

Typography is now designed to be more illustrative; however, during the making of types and fonts, people in different period or culture were gradually discovering typography. During the earliest period when China had drawings that were created as symbols, and later developed to become the typography for Chinese. Moreover, the types were decorative, extravagant, and pointy during the Medieval period because reading was not yet opened to public. People had to be wealthy enough to have the privilege of reading the beautifully designed fonts. Gradually, the English and Americans started to design clear and understandable typography after reading became public.  And capitalizing was also a method for easier reading based on the scale change in letters.

Different typography design gives its own style and characteristics. For example, serif typography was becoming the most common font with the finished lines at each edge of the letters. But through Industrial Revolution and modernizations, sons-serif becomes a more popular typography design without all the finish edges.

In the 21^st century, typography has gradually become a visual illustration. For example, patterns and photographic images were combined with types and fonts even before the common usage of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and other design software. But the common usage of computers and software, brings typography designs in to the "world of internet."

Typography embraces characteristics and personality. Every culture creates their language through their designs. The visual conversation started with imagery drawn by the Chinese, and transformed in to neat and easy fonts for reading.

Typography creates conversation.

Art and Design?

(Impressionist Claude Monet's Water Lilies)

How do we differentiate art and design?

People usually think of the word “art” as fine art or art studio, which includes basic drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, and more. The arts are developed with the aesthetic concept of artwork since ancient times. For example, the Impressionists in Europe studied the aesthetics and the relation to realism beauty.

Whereas, Design is the planning and idea that often connects to the usage of art skills. Design is often being categorized as a contemporary field of design. For design, the actual art studio skills or aesthetic art skills are not as important than the composition and idea behind the work. Art is often a supporting rule for design.

However, design is sometimes developed simultaneously with the making of arts. Many artists might start designing with an inspiration of an object.

Since the ancient years of human’s history, people have had the ability to create compositions, and then it is just about the practice of aesthetic fine art skills. In enchant Egyptian culture; they had all the walls full of drawings and ideas. Every culture has their unique style, but it all connects back to the basics of composition and art skills. And during the 19^th century art movement, the Impressionist style was much different from the aesthetic realism paintings and sculptures. Impressionism includes the style of small but thick brush strokes, and artists started to emphasize compositions.

So how do we know the difference? Sometimes the dominance of fine art is stronger in a work, and sometimes design has a stronger dominance. Art makes a closer connection to the resource or material of making a work; whereas, design has a closer relation to the idea behind.

Art and design are related. but not interchangeable. 

Coloring Life

 These are all amazing street arts from this freelance photographer and street artist, Color Me Katie. New York City seems to be more fun and playful with Katie’s creative mind around. Being able to secretly interact with strangers is sneaky and fun about one part of her job and life style.

The top picture was a brilliant idea out of a random wonder of hers. What is he or she thinking about while wondering around in the city? The unconscious performance brings more fun and laughter to the busy New Yorkers. People need some time in the day to simply relax and have a little fun.

“People need to interact more with each other instead of being so distant.” This was said by Katie during her miniature documentary with Babelgum: Film Radar Eleven - Color Me Katie. Even though New York can be full of inspirations and high capacity in population, people do not usually make any interaction on the streets. Design can bring laughs and create the most memorable time of all. Design can be the best bridge to connect people and communication together.

Design is not so much about fame, but what it impacts in others. I admire this type of Peter Pan-style design which people design tricks to humor others; moreover, make a quiet interaction with others. Katie’s humor works with the design because of it is harmless and amusing. Furthermore, this example of environmental design can brighten many people’s day with this simply cutout paper art. 

Keep out kind of a child, and be free to wonder, explore, and have fun.

Creativity from Without

(window display of retail store, Anthropologie, in Philadelphia)

Environmental arts are gradually embraced these days.

Anthropologie always amuse customers with their extravagantly natural interior designs whether in actual retail stores or on websites. They always use nature friendly materials or recycled resources to create visual amusements. A single piece of the art craft might be dull, but when it is build to become a sculptural paper artwork it will blow people’s minds. 

(Anthropologie organic display at Block 37 Chicago, IL)

Anthropologie’s visual works also made me thought of the British artists, Andy Goldsworthy. His most famous works are created in and by nature. Sometimes, Goldsworthy uses natural textures and resources to create unnatural shapes, including triangles and circles. However, Anthropologie designers create unnatural shapes and straight lines or use recycled materials to re-create natural movements in their window displays.

Every time I walk by the Anthropologie store, I have to go in and visit the remarkable detailed decorations. By looking at these images of their different window displays in different areas and seasons, Anthropologie’s display designs never disappoints. Even during the season of autumn, for example, every single Anthropologie stores has its slight unique organization and style to their store. It would be a blessing to travel around all the Anthropologie stores to visit their displays.

Anthropologie’s visual works also made me thought of the British artists, Andy Goldsworthy. His most famous works are created in and by nature. Sometimes, Goldsworthy uses natural textures and resources to create unnatural shapes, including triangles and circles. However, Anthropologie designers create unnatural shapes and straight lines or use recycled materials to re-create natural movements in their window displays.

Artists and Designers use ordinary materials to create their works.  But they open wide to their visual minds to create elegant and powerful sculptural displays. Anthropologie’s interior designs create an atmosphere that grabs consumers’ attention, not only temporary, but also permanently. 

(last two shots are for Autumn 2010. True Beauty.

Sometimes, the objects that seemed meaningless could be the ones to create beauty. 

Stone Soup

(Our passionate discussions)

(Our Stone Soup)

What is Stone Soup?

It was originally a children’s book illustrated by Marcia Brown in 1975. The lesson of the story was to work as a team, and combine random resources to create a delicious soup, or simply beauty.

Last week, I had a privilege to experience a similar activity as the Stone Soup. Except, our team was working into create a visually entertaining craft using random materials our teammates brought, including scarf, cardboard, cotton balls, ribbons, magazines etc..

The start of a discussion is always dragging and vague. But when people begin to throw in random ideas, the conversation starts to get more enthusiastic. Then others start flipping over pages of magazines, and we realize there are several skiing and snow landscape pages in the magazines, so come to our first analogy to build a craft like a snow landscape.

Interestingly, one thing laid to another, our originally concept had a turning point. While we were shattering thin papers and stuffing them in colored plastic papers, we randomly made it look like a body with two heads.

So after our realization, the stuffed plastic paper did not fit well with our original idea anymore, so then we went ahead with the body idea and made another similar one.

Our team might have gone overboard with the idea of Stone Soup. We went too deep with the idea, purpose, and realism of this activity, but forgot it does not have to make any sense.

The breathtaking results are the ones we made unintentionally. The significant works are not developed in stress. Same as design and everything else. 

(smile.)

The Happiest Place

(Picture of part of Disneyland by Matthew Luedke)

Walt Disney connected imaginations with reality.

Disneyland and Disney World are one of the earliest and most popular theme parks. It all started with just a simple pen and paper, and then Mickey Mouse was created. Walt Disney always had the biggest and craziest dream of creating theme parks that are welcomed to all ages. It should not only be for children, but also for couples, families, and friends. And he succeeds in his dream.

Disneyland and Disney World were my favorite places to go as a child. However, I like the theme parks even more now that I understand the design elements. I start to understand there is a difference between theme parks and amusement parks.

Amusement parks means the most obvious, it is there to amuse the visitors. There is not an obvious concept or organization flow to the overall park. While theme parks have a clear subject on every detail in or around the park. Disneyland, for example, has unique designed Mickey night-lights and other iconic elements that give people a sense of fairytale. Moreover, there is no guidance on how visitors should go from rides to rides in a amusement park since all rides do not have any connection. But Disney theme parks have a guidance of what rides to go to in order; all the rides and sight seeing in the park are build in the position for their purpose.

The idea of building theme parks is brilliant. Disney is a great example to show that big dreams do come true. 

First memories of design

I believe several of you had had some kind of toy car in your childhood. Mine was this common red and yellow toy car above; however, it was the toy car that impacts me greatly about the field of design.

What is so special about this plastic cheap toy? Not only it is no ordinary toy, it is long lasting and comfortable. When I was about the age of three, I like the designed space when I was sitting in the toy car; secured but not overly crowded. And furthermore, there is a back open trunk to store my childhood treasures.

If parents are worried that their children are not getting enough active exercise, this toy car is Flintstone style. There are nothing to hold up the legs and feet, so kids need to row with their feet. While in my experience, children like racing their toy car, so there would be plenty of lower body exercise with this toy car.

this toy car stayed with me even after elementary school. Even though I was too large to be sitting in the toy, it does not mean there were no other ways to make use of it. The top of the car, which is also the rooftop of the toy, was the most comfortable spot. Luckily, I have small bones, so breaking the rooftop did not injure me. In addition, I laid down and take naps on the toy because the back of toy car has a curve down rooftop that makes it extra comfortable. 


The toy car was designed to be a children friendly toy with no sharp edges, the whole toy is curvy. And the usage of bright warm colors makes the toy more obvious to children. The color also excites children visually. 

The height of this toy car is recently half of my height, which is somewhat tiny. Even though I was not old enough to go on a road trip journey, this red yellow plastic toy car could be designed to let experience the idea of having a special space of mine.

Daydream and Nightmare

(image from the movie Amélie)

Our brain creates the most extravagant imaginations. Especially, the most exotic and creative imageries appear when we dream.

Whether the dreams are comedy or tragedy, it inspires people to create new ideas. The smallest brilliant details in a masterpiece could be made with a slight boost from imagination. Imaginations might simply be from dreams. But later by successfully sharing our dreams to others, all the techniques and terms help people design. Terms such as color schemes, angle captions, metaphors, and more. Dreams could help people create the best novels, photography, paintings, music, and also movies.

Amelie is a French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Jeunet successfully portrayed the metaphoric and poetic scenes in the film. For example, in the first minute of the movie, the narrator said “…the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth.” The clip portrayed the exact idea of the sentence; I got chills out of this beginning scene. Although it is a short scene, it was designed effortlessly.

I am sad to say that I finish watching this film only several days ago; however, it has become my favorite movie since. The movie Amelie was not like all the Hollywood movies that seemed dragging, it was full of little bits of excitements. Moreover, the color scheme is full of warm colors, whereas the camera angle and the characters personalities give a cold twist through out the movie.

Creativity can be everywhere, it can be what we see, hear, smell, or taste. It does not matter how chaotic or miserable our lives are, but our attitude of how we ought to live our lives is what matters the most. 

Dream big.