Form follows Function

Form - the shape, size, mass, weight and visual appearance of something.

Function - the practical use and purpose in a design

Louis Henry Sullivan defined the style of form follows function, which conveys simplistic forms of buildings. He specifies that the best architecture is which that 'walks the fine line between Art and function'

Form follows functions is widely associated with modern day architecture and product design. The key aspect of the design is the purpose of the building or product and not the visual appearance which follows after.

 

 

 

In the seminar, we had a task to find any object that we were carrying, my object being an iPhone 5s charger, and think about the relationship between its form and its function. Which do you think has been given priority by its designer?

 

The priority of the iPhone charger has definitely been given to the function and rightly so. The charger doesn't need to look good or interesting, it just needs to simply be able to charge up the iPhone, which is all its function is.

 

 How prevalent is the relationship between its from and function?

 

The design of the charger is very simple and plain, which follows the very simple function. People are not bothered about the aesthetics feature of the charger, however I think the aspects of the form of the product that has been well thought through is the shape and size of the product. The plugs are small enough to be able to fit into plug sockets behind tight and small gaps. Also the length of the wire is an average length for peoples needs.

 

Do you think that ‘The way something looks should be determined by its purpose’?

 

Yes, as the product needs to be the certain shape or to be able to be used for its function. Then I think the product needs to look as user friendly and be able to relate to the product as much as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Artist Typeface Transcription

 

 

In John's process and production session, we was given different pieces of artwork in which we had to take inspiration from to begin to form shapes of the letters A N E S G. I found this an interesting but challenging task.

 

 

I am happy with my initial designs as I feel that I began to from some interesting letter shapes from the pieces of art. The second and third designs are the ones I feel with the most potential to develop.



 I then developed a couple of the initial designs further to make a more readable and simplified font compared to the first ideas.

I feel that these rough typeface designs have room for more improvement. Also I think that the scale and dimensions of the letters are off. I will therefore create a neater and developed typeface on Adobe Illustrator.

 







 

I am very pleased with my final design as I think that I has finally got the more professional feel to it that I wanted. I enjoyed this task and I felt that it helped me understand the development process further.



WWF Advertising Campaigns

 

A propaganda poster is aimed at a wide audience to persuade, influence and change attitudes of people towards something. Wartime posters are the most popular and recognisable propaganda posters. They use creative and very effective ways of conveying information.

I decided to look at more contemporary propaganda posters and techniques that are used. I have found a couple of posters from a series of WWF advertising campaigns.

 

 

This poster gives the viewer an influential message about the importance of acting for the planet sooner rather than later. It compares the emergency services responding to an accident very slowly and casually, something that would be seen as shameful, with us not realising the importance of having to act fast for the planet. It shows that they are both as equally important and both need the same level of action taken as soon as possible. I think that seeing it explained in this way puts it into perspective, influencing people to think and take action immediately.  

This image sends a powerful message about climate change to the viewer, by using a thought provoking picture to shock the public and almost scare people into changing the way they think and live their lives. Sometimes it needs this kind of message for people to take note. I think that this method works very well.

 

Texture and Appearence in Illustrator

 

 



In this workshop, I learnt how to create an image in Illustrator using as few shapes as possible. We started the rocket illustration by firstly transforming an oval into a rocket like shape. Using the same shape, we created a dashed line on the inside of the rocket.

After getting the general shape of the rocket, we learnt how to add texture to an image.



The Uncanny Valley

The uncanny is something that is usually more mysterious and disturbing, rather than surprising. I find an uncanny likeness to be a similarity that is strange and not complete. This is why twins can give an uncanny effect.

The 'Uncanny Valley' posited by Masahiro Mori in 1970, is a diagram that I think explains the uncanny very well. The more realistic a cartoon becomes, the more you notice the gap between it being real. Cubo girl looks very realistic, but doesn't look it when moving, giving an uncanny effect. You don't tend to notice this with cartoons such as the Simpsons, as it is not meant to look realistic, so it is not seen as strange.

Josef Albers, Stencil, 1925

We was shown the stencil components of Josef Albers typeface (1925) and was given an optional task of constructing our name out of as few of these components as we can. My first thoughts was that this would be very difficult as they are very simple shapes.

 



 

I am pleased with my outcome of this task as I feel that my name is clearly readable. However, I struggled with using as few components as I could, I felt that there wasn't a way of making it any simpler, unless it became harder to read.

 

 

I think that the original typeface has quite a lot of similarities to the name that I have constructed. However I feel that it is also a lot cleaner and simpler than my version.

Overall, I enjoyed this task and found it quite challenging.

 

 

Signifying Absence

 

Absence is a lack of presence of something or someone. I think that footprints are one of the biggest indexical signs of this as they indicate that a person was once in this place and also show the direction in which they went, giving the same signal as an arrow or somebody pointing. I feel that the absence from footprints are amplified because of the eerie feel it brings, you can sense the lack of presence more than if there was nothing there at all..



Rachel Whiteread, Ghost 

 

Casting is another method of signifying absence. The positive attributes are removed and leave the negative of an object, this is when we can see the absence of the object. I find this quite uncanny as even though you are looking at a solid object in front of you, it signifies to you that there is nothing.

A particular argument that intrigued me in Anna's seminar was whether a blank canvas or piece of paper is a picture of nothing or just nothing at all. When I would normally look at it I would usually see nothing at all, but this argument has opened my eyes to think it could mean either. I don't think there is a particular right or wrong answer as it just depends on how an individual perceives it.