CLOCK PROJECT

Different kind of wall Clocks

CLOCK PROJECT

We are asked to make a clock,which has to be within 20 pounds. It's a bit challenging but I feel really exciting about this project. To start designing a clock, I went to several clocks/watches making shops to search for the materials/pricing of making clocks.

25 Jan (Wednesday)

I visited several clocks shops in Clerkenwell Road.

Visiting these clocks shops gave me a basic mind 

about clock's making and selling

ANTIQUE WATCH CO. UK

 

Grayson Time Management Systems

 

 

27 Jan (Friday)

I visited the Clockmaker Museum.

There are many antique clocks and pocket watches,

which belongs to the Worship Company of Clockmakers. 

They tell the story of the dominance of 

UK clockmaking over centuries.

 

I quite like this Rolling Clock.

I stood and stared it for more than 5 mins, 

and experienced how fast 5 mins could be.

Also, I went to Selfridges and looked around the clock's wall.
It is a good way for me to know more about how
department store displaying clocks.
What is more it's good for me to know
a bit more about the pricing of wall clocks.

UNIT 2

Evaluation

      In Unit 2, we got 3 projects: Sheet materials project, Toy project and the Articulate project. During the process of each project, I gained several knowledge and tried to learn from my mistake.

     Start with the Sheet materials project. My main idea of this project is to take the advantage of sheet materials. I try not to use any glue and tape to join the elements together. To start this project, I tried folding and unfolding paper and I enjoyed the process quite much. The outcomes of unfolding paper make me feel excited. While folding paper, I discovered a sharp, which I felt quite interesting with and would like to work with it’s shape. Unfortunately, after trying either on cutting it, re-shape it or enlarging it. The outcomes were not as good as I except. Then I changed my mind and back to unfolding paper. My final pieces are 3 mulit-used boxes, which made with cardboard and colour paper. I produced what I intended to do and the boxes could be use in someway, for example: stationary storing. I gained from this project and get inspiration from manipulate sheet materials into 3D forms. However I think could explore the sheet materials deeper, e.g. experience the metal, plastic, etc. Also, I didn’t really make use of the reference I found. I think next time I should take more time in materials experimentation as well as looking into other designer’s work and get inspiration from some of the works. I think my final pieces are not ambitious enough and there are rooms for improvement.

    For the Toy project, personally I feel quite satisfy with my final piece. I tried several tools and machine in the workshop and gained a lot of experience from that. In this project, I tried to create a toy for grandparents to play with their grandchild. During the process, I tried to contact the V&A childhood museum and asked for a place to do interview and testing with visitors. That is a adorable experience to me. Most of the time, we ask opinion about our designs from friend or family members, it’s so different when you asked some people that you don’t know them. To deal with different people as well as contact with museum’s staff are the experience of what I gained from this project.

    Last but not least, the articulate project---spring. Honestly it is a project, which make me feel really lost. Spring could means too many things, it is too board to go for research and think of what should I do for it. Lately I remember the big earthquake and tsunami happened in Japan last year. I am quite interest to go deeper into it and trying to design something for it. Although I am not feeling really good with my final piece, I learnt quite a lot in this project. I understood a topic is just a start or a guide for us, which leads us to think of other relative stuffs. From this project, I suddenly realize that sometime we may have to take risk when we are designing. I am so afraid of taking risk before. This time I tried; I know I have to be learning from risk and failure. Always staying in a comfort zone could not help me to become a good designer. It is a challenge to me; yet, it is also a good experience.

ARTICULATE---SPRING 

SAKURA RAIN with faithful seeds

In 2011 March 11, Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami happened. The disaster ruined the east Japan.

Last year spring in Japan was instinct with sadness and hopeless.

Sakura(Cherry Blossom) a well-known and ubiquitous symbol of Japan, which means fervent, hope and arose Japanese the coming of Spring.

May all the sorrows being wash away by the Sakura rain.

May the Sakura rain brings the seeds of love, peace, joy, courage, grace, support…… to those who suffered from this disaster.

faithful seeds

 Stool Project

Finally I made my own stool.
It's a good experience and I enjoy doing it.

I feel so excited when I finish it!

Hurray!!

Here's my first handmade stool!!!

CAMBERWELL NEEDS...
(2012Jan.10 to 2012Jan.13)

Last week, we had our first joint project with the Graphic Design and Illustration year1student. I really enjoy while I was working with my group mates (Mai and Nisha from Graphic Design & Kemi from Illustration). 

To start the project, we discussed a lot of theme. We found it's quite interesting that people have different accent sometimes may led to a misunderstanding of other's word.Apart from that we thought about teaching people some new things. Soon we came up with the idea of getting people to think and chat on subjects they may not know or have heard before. So we came up with the idea of:

Camberwell needs A CONVERSATION

Our design is a set of playing card. We found people usually chat while they're playing card games. Why not chatting about some new things when you are playing card games?

Our game cards has 8 well-known people which you may/may not heard before. 

[Plato,Peter Higgs, Nguyen Thi Tam, Eileen Chang,
Yayoi Kusama, Lee-Ru-ma,Jan Tschichold and Edgar Allan Poe]

To know more about them, you could read the basic information on the card. 

There are the name of the person,with the pronunciation in the front side of the card. On the other side, there are information about the person as well as their portrait. 

KNOWLEDGE is SWEET.

We could like to share this sweet things within Camberwell. We wrapped lots of sweet, which with a little paper of a person's information. 

Grab one and enjoy the sweet of knowledge.

OUR FINAL OUTCOME

People are reading the card.

We felt so exciting when people read the card but at the same time we felt worry that people will take them away(they are not suppose to be take away).
We kept telling people "take the sweet! but not the card!"

Other's work 

Camberwell needs FRIENDS---  2 group using this theme needs

I like this group's idea of using the name/objects on necklace,
and find your partner to make a NEW FRIEND.

Another group's work.

It's simple,clear and attractive.

 Camberwellneeds YOUR PEN
 I like this idea as well! That's really cool! 

*  *  *  *  *  *

The exhibition of "Camberwell Needs... "was really fun. 

I really enjoy working with my group mates.
It's a good experience for me to work and share ideas with other design students.

UNIT 1 MODERNISM---

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

1. Alastair, D. (1998) Modernism: modernist design 1880-1940. Minneapolis: The
    Norwest Corporation

2. Christopher, C. (1999) Modernism in art, design and architecture. London: 
    Macmillan Press LTD

3. Christopher, W. (2006) Modernism: designing a new world. London: V&A
    Publications

4. Droste, M.(1994) Bauhaus. Berlin: Benedikt Taschen Verlag

5. Penny, S. (2004) An Introduction to design and culture—1900 to the present.
    London: Routledge

6. Paul, G. (1997) Modernism in Design. London: Reaktion Books Ltd.

7. Remington, R. (2003) American Modernism: Graphic Design, 1920 to 1960.
    London: Laurence King

Websites

1. Michael, J. (2010) Modernism in Design. [Internet]. Available from<http://factoidz.com/modernism-in-design/ >[Accessed 4 December2011].

2. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Modernism. [Internet]. Available from < http://www.artsmia.org/modernism/index.cfm> [Accessed 5 December2011].

3. Artifice,Inc. (2011) Architect: Lugwig Mies van der Rohe.[Internet].< http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Ludwig_Mies_van_der_Rohe.html > [Accessed 9 December2011].

4. German Federal Cultural Foundation(2011) Bauhaus. [Internet]. Available from < http://bauhaus-online.de/en/atlas/werke/tower-of-fire> [Accessed 3 January 2012].

UNIT 1 MODERNISM---

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

     Taking revolution toward traditional exquisite design, modernism emphasized on the function of design:

“ Function was seen to be very important by Modern Movement designers, who saw the new technologies in industrial and commercial architecture ultimately influencing the construction of ‘civic’ architecture. The new technologies were seen by Muthesius (and other) as breaking down cultural barriers, transforming traditional environments, and internationalizing culture.” (Christopher, 1999 pp.49)

      In order to abstain from meticulous and luxurious design, modernism advocated of non-decorative forms. Clearly, Rohe’s Side Chair (image2) and Wegenfeld’s Tea service are good example, both of them have clear outlook without any complex decoration. Same as Hartwig’s Chess Set (image4), it made use of the geometric form and successfully created a modernism style Chess Set. Since modernism emphasized on “less is more” and endorsing non-decoration, geometric forms became mostly used in the design within this period of time.

“The language of geometry was seen as totally appropriate to the new machine age, particularly the straight line and the rectangle. Designed objects from the smallest kitchen utensil to the largest building were to be without decoration. There was a leap of logic in their pursuit of rationality though. Machine-led production was seem as possessing a sort of clarity and purity of form … “(Christopher,1999 pp.66)

Geometric forms simply made use of rectangle, circle which could be easily created less decorative design, like Rietveld’s End Table (image 1). Nevertheless, there is no absoluteness between geometric forms and non-decorative. According to Tim Benton’s “The Myth of Function”, it pointed out that there are no actually advocating a necessary relationship between function and form have held views which could be seen to have had bad aesthetic consequences (Paul,1997 pp.45). Rietveld’s End Table was not pure function that led him to design it as this geometric outlook. Looking into the aim of designing this table, it is easy to find that Rietveld designed it is to place on the upper floor of his Schöder House, in Utrecht. The Schröder House regarded as the best example of De-Stijl Architecture by a majority. There are several features obtained in the house, for example: there is no static accumulation of rooms, but a dynamic, changeable open zone. Also each component has its own form, position and color. What is more, colors were chosen to strengthen the plasticity of the facades, and there are a number of linear elements in primary color. In order to coordinate both inside and outside of the house, Rietveld designed a series of furniture, which in harmony with the outlook of Schöder House. The End Table is one of them, according to an article written by Scoot Burton in Art in America, noted that:

“…it is so satisfying formally, with its slight but sharp displacements, and coloristically. Notice its subtle concentricity of square and circle, its splitting of the vertical support into two not quite equal-size parts, its confinement of primary colors to top and bottom, its simultaneous expression and concealment of structure in the blue rectangle painted over the detail joining top and support…” (Alastair, 1998 pp153)

     Obviously, when Rietveld designed End Table, he aimed at coordinate it with Schöder House more than non-decorative nature. The End Table would be understood best original integrated setting. By using a number of linear elements, e.g. furniture, wall color etc. in primary color to define different component and areas, which is quite decorative interior design. Decorative didn’t only mean full of complex ornamentation, using line and color could also create a decorative design. Although End table is quite decorative in someway, its sharp angularity and delineation of color provide an excellent example of De Stijl concept in isolation (Alastair, 1998 pp153).

     

     Notwithstanding less decoration and functionalism were fundamental concept of modernism, some Modernists believed that what serves its purpose well is necessarily beautiful, or that beaut is of secondary importance, compared to use values (Christopher, 2006 pp155). On the ground that it is essential to bear in mind that modernism design could have decorative nature.