Blog assignment 3

Wallpaper illustrating the Crystal Palace, about 1853

Jones Farm Museum, New Hampshire

"a modern pattern to delight the heart of any boy or girl."
Sears wallpaper sample book, 1952.

Wallpaper with formalised floral motif, Owen Jones, mid-19th century. Museum no. 8341.57

Owen Jones (1809-74), was an architect and designer in the nineteenth century.  His authority about historic pattern and ornament can still influence contemporary design.  For example, one of Jones’ greatest research book The Grammar of Ornament (1856), is still an important source book for Jones’ later fellow designers and succeeding generations.  In this book, Jones argued that "Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposely constructed."  I am definitely agree with this point.

In my opinion, construction is a three-dimensional object.  It can be ornamented by 2D decoration such as flat wall paper or any printing image.  However, the decoration of a flat surface should be flat itself rather than giving an illusion of three-dimensional ornament or a three-dimensional picture, which will make the decoration look even worse. Thus, Jones’ “decoration should never be purposely constructed” is a good principle of design.  

Furthermore, I think ornament should not be a contradiction.  A good principle of ornament design should combine at least three factors include colours, construction and material.  A good ornament design makes all three factors support each other in order to achieve beauty and utility.  

The example I use is the wallpaper that illustrate in the Crystal Palace in 1853.   
The illusion in the picture was a building with depth and shadows.  I think this wallpaper is obvious not a honest and prior decoration design.   The pattern should composed of simple forms, which would confirm the wall as a flat surface, rather than disguising or contradicting it. In my opinion, wall should be decorated in a manner which won’t break its flatness and solidity.  

blog assignment 2

Integrated rococo carving, stucco and fresco at Zwiefalten

One of the continuing curve in design can identify from integrated rococo carving, stucco and fresco at Zwiefalten.  I believe this stucco and fresco represent a result of the "sensuous impulse" in Rococo style.  The stylistic movement known as rococo, which began in eighteenth-century France. It has infused design objects with a sinuous, organic, and sensuous impulse for three centuries.
Rococo style was a palace art and this style was deriving from French classicism.  However, French classicism was not very rigorous before eighteenth-century.

Rococo style, in other cause,inspired from "Learning from Nature". In particular, by the end of the king's long reign, rich Baroque designs were giving way to lighter elements with more curves and natural patterns. But it was not an inevitable consequence of the Italian Baroque style. During that period,  "Learning from Nature" just let nature subject to society , but society was not ready to make people feel in their natural being. Thus, the painters, sculptors, and wood house at that time were all the people flocking to the Rococo culture.  Rococo style was in every everywhere and every corner of society included royal paintings, architecture, and clothing. Though Rococo style admired by royal social class and became shine and glorious, it lost its initial concept of being nature.  Unfortunately, the characteristic of winding curves of Rococo style limited designers' creativities.  For example, the painters and sculptors tried to impress nobility by overuse continuing curve, instead of developing other techniques that might worked well in Rococo style as well. Especially, the late Rococo was too flashy and meaningless.

DSDN 171: blog assignment 1

By reading The Shape of Time I learned “Purpose has no place in biology, but history has no meaning without it.” And also understand how important design existence with meaning, as Kubler say, "...existence without meaning seems terrible in the same degree as meaning without existence seems trivial"

For example as the industrial project of the entire production system is basis on the structure and specifications of the product. therefore,industrial design getting very important. if some details of design is meaningless, then the production will spend a lot of time to adjust costs and replacement of equipment, materials and labor. Opposite, good product design, not only superior in function, but also ease of production, low production costs, so that will increase the competitiveness of their products. Many companies in the market competition are great attention to design details，to design a low cost but has a unique feature of the product. They knew that good design is the key to winning customers.

APPLE is the one of best industrial design in the world, the picture show that inside of imac without any wasted space.