FADN102: Design Fundamentals: 01/27/13

Thursday, January 31, 2013

favorite art

City planning is my major, and I really enjoy looking at street plans of cities. This is the city plan of Washington DC, done by Pierre L'Enfant. Though its mostly a good design in terms of efficiently mapping a city, I also think it has an artistic aspect to it.

Best Square Design

I chose this square as the "best" design of the day because of its simplicity that also establishes a feeling of depth through the use of the rule of thirds and the lines that diagonally reach towards the horizon line. The image exhibits an aesthetically pleasing composition that guides the viewer along the diagonals lines that extend towards the focal point of the drawing (located in the center, two thirds from the bottom of the image) to give the sense of endlessness. The image's simple symmetric composure stood out to me as both unique and efficient, which earned its place as the most "successful" design for all that it accomplishes with only ten lines.

Best Square Design

This is the best square design because the designer took the material he was going to be tracing and turned it into the design. Very innovational, and creates an interesting balance between the positive spaces of the clovers and the negative white spaces in the background.

Best Square Design

The strengths of this design are the use of size, rotation, repetition, and point progression to create a feeling of central focus, movement, and depth to an otherwise flat image. Your eyes are guided from the edges of the square along various lines of length converging into multiple points forming a central point of focus. In my opinion a key component of a successful design is the ability of an artist to capture a viewer's attention while sustaining their interest.

Best Square Design

I think this design is the best square in the class for a number of reasons. One reason is because it is visually stimulating. The zigzag motion of the lines forces the eye to travel across the page diagonally. Because the diagonal lines go up to the edges of the square the viewer feels compelled to follow these lines, thus looking at the entire page. The use of lines this way also forces the viewer to continue looking at the image longer. Another reason it is successful is because the point of the project was to explore lines and this line embodies many qualities that a line can have. The line’s diagonal, zigzag shape forces one to look directionally. The line has different shapes within it, sometimes thin, sometimes thick. It also has different values because some points are much darker than others. Lastly, the manner in which the artist shaded the lines gives them an interesting texture. For these reasons I think this drawing is not only successful or good, but the best in the class.

Good Design (best square)

In my opinion, good design is typically a combination of different qualities. As we have mentioned in class, these qualities or elements can be anything from function to aesthetic appeal. The best square that exemplified good design can be seen in the picture below. I feel as though this qualifies as a “good” or successful design because the unique shapes draw in my curiosity and attention. It makes me think that I’m only getting a small taste of something larger (perhaps a close up of an animal’s skin), and in doing so, the sketch leaves it up to my imagination. Having said that, I believe that this design is ambiguous as it gives power to the spectator to determine what it is and what it means for him/her. In a sense, the spectator is challenged to think of what these shapes make up or what they could possibly mean. Overall, I think good design invokes either an emotional, social, or psychological response in people, but this is largely based on what viewers bring (their experiences and so forth) when they observe the piece; that is, successful design is negotiable in that as design, our sensibilities, and tastes/preferences change, so do our relationships with it (to creativity/art/style). In short, good design, for me is something that stands out uniquely and is able to communicate something that one can appreciate (and I believe that the square that I have chosen, does just that).

Best Square

This design to me stands out as the strongest from Tuesday's class because of the unique way it uses line to make up a recognizable form. I didn't notice anyone else in the class take this approach, and I have to appreciate the innovation of the artist. Beyond the technique, I also like the way the figure is arranged in the square. It has good balance in it's composition.

Accidental Art

I went to Venice Beach on the day I did this assignment. I took walk up the boardwalk and found some interesting things.

Chemical reaction in water fountain

The Best Design

This line sketch to me is arguably the best design. This image overall is very captivating and aesthetically appealing. Using just ten lines, the designer was able to capture a feeling of movement and flow that guides the viewers eyes toward the center of the field. Not only do these organic lines imply motion but also direction through the use of lines with changing character--from thick to thin and back to thick. Using curved lines, the artist was able to even capture a calm, soothing emotion.

Best Square

I think this is the "best" square. This is a successful design because it is visually stimulating. The balance between angular geometric lines and organic lines creates a circular visual movement that keeps the viewer stimulated. The composition does not get boring because the content is aesthetically appealing.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The Best Square

I really like this design because of how clean it is. I tend to gravitate towards more organic lines and shapes, so when I saw this, it stood out to me because it's something I normally wouldn't ever think of. This is what I would consider to be a really smart design... By that I mean the artist worked within the constraints in a really effective way. Each line has a distinct purpose and place within the space provided.

Favorite Design

This is not my favorite design per-say, but I definitely found it to be the most creative one. This person really tested the boundaries given to us. I think this may have been the only drawing that represented something beyond just abstract lines. I love the delicacy and fluidity of the lines, as well as the way the face (in my opinion) fills the page. The bunching of lines in certain places helps to bring direction to the piece. There are also a wonderful mixture of wavy, straight, angled and scribbled lines, which brings a very interesting quality to the piece. Beyond this, I love the simplicity of the drawing. I find it to be extremely emotive and mysterious because it can be perceived in many ways. Unlike some of the other designs, this one is extremely visually stimulating to me. I find a new meaning each time I look at it.

Best Square

This is a great design because it encompasses multiple physical characteristics of lines. This square gives the illusion that there are many lines when we were constrained to only 10. Also there is a difference in character to each of the lines; if you look closely you can tell with some that the pen was pressed down more towards the outside. The character and the position of the lines help to create direction. Even with so many different lines at once like straight, curved and angular, they still give direction.

The Best Design

I consider this to be a successful design and arguably the best design from Tuesday's class because the designer was innovative with his/her line movement and subtly enforced direction. The negative space balances well with the several other larger shapes too. There are also different levels of distance and groupings of lines. What struck me most was the manner in which this was probably made--it seems like a tracing of an object, with each time being shifted slightly about the square. This mechanical movement, however, led to something extremely organic and satisfying.

best design

I thought this was the best design because of the effect the lines have in drawing the viewers eyes to the center of the square. The lines are positioned well and make the piece aesthetically pleasing. It's interesting to look at without being overly cluttered.

Accidental Art

Accidental Art, underneath the dock at Manhattan Beach

favorite design

I thought this was the best design because of the way that the lines were given extra thickness at their bases and as the lines got longer the thickness got smaller. I also liked the way the images work within the frame. The different sizes and the shapes of the images almost give the impression of being the teeth of an animal.

Good Design

I think one of the most important aspects of a design is that it catches the viewers attention, especially when viewed next to many other designs. This design did just that. Your eyes follow a purposeful direction towards the center of the square, and the harsh, straight lines convey the emotion of fear or pain. The negative and positive space is balanced, and the focal point is not directly in the center.

Paint Splatter

. . . from the row

that ended up

on our hall wall

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

A$AP ROCKY

. . . is a New York with

an inspirational flow and

beats to accompany his

unique character of voice

*the image is a product of a drawing I made in the journal and then post edited in photoshop

"Accidental Art" Assignment

For this exercise, I have documented various objects on my walk, which are both artistic and inspiring. These objects range from squashed persimmons and cracks in the road to feathers, beaded water on a car hood, and even pieces of trash.

-Kaley Farr (Kay)

Observation Exercise

ACCIDENTAL ART!

I documented some "accidental art" in my sketchbook. These are some pictures I took around campus. I realized that a lot of the smallest things have art in them, you just gotta observe carefully.

Favorite Artist/Designer: Feng Zhu

My favorite artist/designer is Feng Zhu. I talked about why I like him and why he inspires me in my sketchbook.

He is very intellectual regarding design. He always knows what he is talking about and that's why he impresses me.

If you have time, check out his youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/fzdschool.

Observation Exercises

The wrapper that survived

This is my workspace.

you're supposed to use a cutting mat, and paint over newspapers...

but when you don't, you get abstract carvings and paintings on your desk

i also just like the compositional cluster of the thumbtacks and the holes that they punctured into the wall

Objects & Artists

Bookshelf....

are there assumptions about the forms that we assume objects to take? can an object have multiple purposes? challenge the conventional way of thinking.