And so it begins...

Let's see where this one goes...

Solid Works

The first of the many Solid Works models I'll be making... It seemed too simple so I went along and made another one.

First Ever 104 Post

I'm about 2 weeks behind now.
Great. But thanks to the influenza, I can now blog post in the comfort of my own home as I can't go to uni and put this back any longer.

For our first project we are making an abstract form (inspired by precedents of course) and modifying it into 81 iterations using Solid Works and 3DS Maxxxxx. To aid this process we chose words to describe these forms.

Let's do an episode recap type thing:


tutorial1:
Met Sunny. He's a cool guy. I think he knows what he's doing.......?
We chose (or at least I attempted to?) our three words - a noun, an adjective and a verb.

crustacean
fractuous
respirate

I ended up with these words after one of the longest trains of thoughts I have ever been on.

I wanted to be a little bit different and wierd and so I chose crustacean. And as I know it, crustaceans are creatures with an exoskeleton that occur as marine uhh... things. They are deathly tasty. To be exact, the precedent image I picked up for this word is not a crustacean.. well it is.. but its an amphipodal crustacean. You should probably wikipedia this because I did and I didn't understand enough to put it in my own words.

epimeria? with its crafty little feet

I thought the word 'fractious' was a good motivator for the 3DS Maxx iterations because I myself can be quite fractious sometimes.

As for 'respirate', I liked the direct juxtaposition of this word to fratious as for some reason 'respirate' as an aura of calmness around it - probably due to its relationship with 'breathe'. I liked how it linked with crustaceans because they need to respirate too. I chose the image (below) of an ATP molecule as a lot of the time people will look over the scientific aspect of cellular respiration. And it looked kinda cool.

Then as we isolated our precedent images on Photoshop I decided to merge the two images of the amphipod and the ATP molecule together to base my Solid Works model on.

Awwwwww yeaaaaaaa.

world.

Reeaally badly done but I like how the trees on the cliffs end up looking like a baobab tree...

PROJ1 First Shoot + Proposal

I may have gone overboard.

Four Hundred and Eighty Nine.

Photos.

proposal
For the project SPACES I wanted to show areas in which we make unspoken social contracts. One such space I think is the elevator. They are not just mere modes of vertical transportation, but they have the magical ability to turn each of us into a socially awkward penguin.  

shootONE
Today and earlier last week I went elevator hunting. Needless to say, I found some. I ventured around central Wellington and took photos of a few different elevators and now I will proceed to decide whether or not I want to continue to shoot in this style/setting or try an alternative approach.

Here are the contact sheets. SOMANY. Click to enlarge!

During my little trip, I found an empty room at the Telecom gen-i buildng. It looked new and it must've been waiting for some lighting and furniture as it was right at the foyer but was almost completely empty.

Later on I also found myself in an alleyway that led to an almost finished construction site where I was told by the electrician that I could take some photos without a hardhat and what not. So I did.

After looking through over 400 photos, I have come to a decision about my photography - no more elevators. There were a few good shots, but I'm starting to find the whole 'not yet furnished area' thing much more interesting. Or the EXIT signs of Wellington. Maybe it's because I've been looking at elevators the whole day. I'll discuss this at tutorial tomorrow (where I'll be sitting at the front this time because I definitely don't want to wait 40 minutes again).
 
I'm quite the photography noob so I ended up taking the same shot over and over again because I wanted a lot to choose from. Little did I know that I would be going through 489 photos to come to this sort of uninteresting conclusion.

Panoramabama

My aunty at Piha Beach (2012)

I think I did a pretty sweet job. Time to make the WORLD....

Testing: Attention Please

Checking the label and links for my new DSDN courses for Tri2!!

TODO:
104
Come up with some words for inspiration re:proj1
Find precedent imges
Scan and upload sketches
SolidWorks tutorials
141
Experiment with more materials
Make a flickr account
144
Pick a theme/scene for proj1SPACE
Make a panoramabama

Also my flickr url:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hkiiim/

This is a very backwards blog, isn't it?

I don't know why I've left the storyboard till last, but I'll try re-ordering my posts for the sake of this blog.

When I was looking through print-outs of my photos, I originally wanted to make a contact sheet-esque  storyboard. However, I accidentally the photos and I quite liked this random aesthetic.

The 10 images are representative of each scene or stage in the clip and although very rudamentary, it does not detract from the very nature of the clip. Experimental.

The Clip - The Experiment

Please read post above for additional details

Apocalypse Aftermath

Wow, that was depressing. But 'depressing' is the mood I wanted to set for this clip and I've obviously done so well if even I think its depressing.

The BGM is very well suited, Les Jours Tristes, meaning sad day. Other than that, I used Adobe Photoshop to edit a few of the stills (but not much as I wanted to keep the raw, accidental quality of the photos) and Sony Vegas Pro for post-production. I slightly desaturated all the frames and added a 80's TV filter to enhance the dull look.

Storyboards - will be uploaded soon!

New World Order

Psychology is my minor.
Just so you know.

And here is a post with some of my ideas on what INDN + PSYC =.

By the last week of this project I became increasingly frustrated at my lack of motivation. And as I sat around at the desk, being disappointed in myself, it hit me.

As Max Ernt once said (I can't cite this or confirm that he actually said this, by the way), "All good ideas arrive by chance." And while I do admit, the idea behind my final clip isn't good, I would much rather submit this than some cliche narrative animation I found dull and uninteresting.

Also I'll quickly mention now, how were we supposed to "cite" the 300 words in APA style? What is there to cite? I should've asked this long ago. But then again, I should've done a lot of things.

Please consider the following my official 300ish words.

So, my realization.

Is it just me that goes through this horrible, painful process of mental stasis? I don't know. So I decided to make a film about it. Documenting the final days of this project, spent both at the studio and at home. This was, in fact, a study of the effects of the environment of the mental stability of a design student. This was the idea that kept me going for the last couple of days.

So what is the relationship between the environment and the output, or achievements of those in it? The environment for this experiment was quite mundane. The environment I was immersed in was typical of a 20-year-old female living in idle surburbia to be. Constant access to internet, food, chilled and warm beverages; the ease of getting to and from school; the thought of a deadline not yet triggering the reaction it needed to.

The final clip illustrates the frustration involved with having come to a complete halt in creative mental functions. It also deals with the nature of an individual within a bubble that let nothing out, and nothing in. It deals with the consequences of procrastination and the idea that there are always a select few that dares to challenge the brief in all disciplines. The idea that I found a "new way of seeing" came in real-time as it was only after I had seen the random footage of my workspace that it hit me. I decided to focus on the psychological warfare within one's own mind, rather than purely industrial design.

I would have liked to spent more time on filming this clip and I would like to make this clip into a longer short film that investigates the creative process more thoroughly.

The background music is Les Jours Tristes, by Yann Tiersen, and I was lucky enough to have permission from Yann and his team to use this song for my clip. Special thanks to Matt McGreevey from Anti-Records US for being especially helpful with this process.

Oh Boy - long post

Where do I begin?

First by regretting not having done posts throughout this assignment because now it's going to be difficult to explain my work. However, I think this last-minute-effort concept ties in really well with this.

My original concept for "industrial design" began with the group brainstorming, and as we all know, that went down the drain. Afterwards, I struggled to find alternate ideas for this project and began thinking in a more holistic way abotu design in general. This came to a point where I was willing to do the entire project in frame-by-frame, hand-drawn animation.

This idea was good. But I still did not like it, which is why I think I had come to a halt in production.

I was no longer satisfied with not only the quantitative output of my efforts, but the qualitative. The issue I was drawing about was unoriginal, cliche and expected. The initial idea being that one should let design take you places and that one should not be bound to a metaphorical box, or a grid composition in terms of imagination and creativity. Having said that, if I had thought of a different way to illustrate this idea, I may have produced a decent piece of work. However, I did not like the idea in the first place. I was stuck.

Another huge issue for me was incorporating industrial design into the clip as the methods of doing so were also cliche. I could foresee countless industrial design students filming in "industrial" environments, experimenting with materials and all those other things that come to mind. Expectations are not to be met, but exceeded - in my opinion, of course.

Back to me being stuck like Augustus Gloop up a chocolate drainage pipe.

From here on I thought of ways to reinvigorate my neural synapses, to see if I could think of a better concept. By this I mean that I sat around procrastinating - no longer animating my original narrative, eating, sleeping, browsing the net... It was fruitless and a complete waste of time. I read the brief over and over again, unable to trigger any creative response. This went on for days - a majority of this project and there I was. At the studio. After the "break" had started. With nothing but food-related rubbish and a blank piece of paper in front of me.

The paper wasn't actually blank, it was a blue graphing paper that I had purchased with the intention of using it in my initial animation. Little did I know that this would become the backdrop of my final clip.

James (the tutor), if you took the time to read this entire novel (almost) then you will surely know from my final clip that it is NOTHING like what I had been working in class. I am going to say, right now, that this IS my development.

Usually I loathe "development". Sure, initial ideas aren't perfect but with me if I find a fault in my concept, I will probably start all over again. So with this in mind, I will now begin uploading the work I was doing, then begin explaining how I ended up where I am at now. There. Development.

Long post, heres a potato

Blog V: Locovisual - The St James Theatre

St James Theatre in 1986 - Now Showing Delta Force, starring Chuck Norris. Rated R13 (McGIll, 1998)

“Don’t let theatres be pulled down. The building of theatres seems to be an art we have lost.”

-          Lord Laurence Olivier, October 1948 (as cited in McGill, 1998)

The St James Theatre on Courtenay Place, downtown Wellington is an iconic structure with a magnificent presence. Built in 1912 with the architectural direction of Henry Eli White, The St James Theatre is considered the Shakespeare’s Globe of New Zealand (McGill, 1998, p. 2). Clearly, the St James Theatre has Baroque and Rococo influences. White, being a frequent audience to the performed arts called this ‘cheerfully theatrical Rococo’ style 'Louis Quinze' as this style was extremely popular in 18^th Century France (McGill, 1998, p. 12). 

fig.1 the St James Theatre Stage (McGill, 1998), fig.2 Borromini's Carlo alle Quatro Fontane, Rome (Millon, 1961)

fig.3 laurel-crowned theatrical masks above the royal boxes (McGill, 1998), fig.4 Kloster Oberzell bei Wurzburg (Popp, 1913)

The façade of the building features many half-columns and pediments that frame the windows but do not serve a structural purpose. These are then decorated with plasterwork. The interior of the theatre is ornamented in this style but also with Greek comic and tragic masks, cupids and caryatids on columns which again, serve little structural function. The interior is beautifully painted and ‘gilded’ in gold with a large ceiling lamp that resembles a dome found in some of Borromini’s work in the Renaissance (Millon, 1961, p. 63). White also took into account the comfort of those not seated in the Royal Box, by using a shallow curve and minimal columns to maximise the visibility and audibility of the stage. 

St James Theatre in December 1997 nearing its complete refurbishment (McGill, 1998)

Those who identify with the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19^th century may find White’s use of ornament and material (incidentally, cement, plaster and metal framing) something of a ‘false magnificence’ (Pugin, 1843). However the St James Theatre is more than meets the eye. White was concerned with not only the location in that it uses rimu and totara, and that White, a Dunedin born man was selected as the architect. White also stayed true to the function of the building – a theatre. A theatre is a place of opulence and drama and although very heavily ornamented, the St James Theatre is a masterpiece of New Zealand architecture and theatricality. 

The St James as it stands today.

Reference

 McGill, D. (1998). Full Circle: The History of the St James Theatre.  Te Aro, Wellington, New Zealand: Phantom House Books

Varriano, J. (1986). Italian Baroque and Rococo Architecture. New York, USA: Oxford University Press

Millon, H. A. (1961). Baroque & Rococo Architecture. New York, USA: George Brazillier Inc.

Popp, H. (1913). Die Architektur der Barok – und Rokokozeit in Deutschland und der SchweizI. Stuttgart, Germany: Julius Hoffman

Pugin, A. W. G. (1843). An Apology for the Revival of Christian Architecture in England.  London, UK: John Weale

Blog V: Locovisual - A Preface

This blog assignment is the last one EVER from DSDN 171 (sad)

From attending 171 I have learnt a few things. DO NOT LEAVE BLOG ASSIGNMENTS UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!

And then there's the y'know design theory, history, APA citation and all that unimportant stuff - ha. As if.

It is currently 2pm. T-minus 10hours. 3 of which I will be spending at work. So fingers crossed I get this done.

About the actual assignment,

I have chosen to write about the St. James Building on Courtenay Place not only because of my obsession with Classical literature and architecture, but because of the historical significance of the building itself. Hopefully I won't babble about too much with the writing and actually get somewhere academic with this.

Lastly, I have failed to incorporate chairs into this piece, but I will find some way of mentioning seating.. You'll see...

UPDATE: SPOILER!
I've snuck in a Transformers reference and its 322 words?! 22 words over the limit but I hear that its 300 plus or minus 10%... So I win. HA.

DSDN 101: Milk Audio - Part II

Advertisement for sound production company Milk Audio with Daniel Campbell and Huadong Wang.

Unlike our poster, which was designed to have an universal (and particularly commercial) appeal, the advertisement was targeted towards a more youthful audience, without much sound production experience, either those new in the industry or just plain hobbyists. As a result, the advertisement contained only basic information that allows the audience to instantly recognise the brand. The intention was primarily to get them excited and interested in our product, and so we focused on the transformation sequence - the idea of our product being able to transform bad sound into good sound - just add Milk.

The aesthetic was again designed to appeal to that target audience - although it lacks the crispness of the poster, it has an informality about it, and has a more organic feel, making the company as a whole seem more approachable, more human, and so more likely to appeal to those new to the industry, or not in the industry at all.

Finally, we went for a genre of music that conveyed a sense of purity while still appealing to the target audience. It was decided that the idea of the 'pure' sound was adequately conveyed by the transformation sequence, where the noise and altered levels of the song were 'miraculously' transformed into the pure, original song.










aaaaaaand some proof

 

Chairs Chairs Chairs

I must really like chairs...

I remembered seeing this Marc Newson chair in one of the 171 readings (for the Rococo week) and I realised I could use this sort of 'slatting' for my model.

Put the link right hurrr

I made some test rigs using pens and masking tape - its literally all I had.. And over the weekend I'll be working on making this structure with wire and developing it. Looks fantabulous, no?

These sweet photos were taken with my iPhone on the spot, in class today so please excuse the ridic quality...

JOINT

Another project I've just started is JOINT for DSDN111.

Basically i take a joint, in this case an elbow, and abstract it.
Breaking down the components, movements and the overall effect of the joint. I suppose the elbow is kind of simpler because some of the others got assigned ankles and what not. Life certainly is a double edged sword.. I feel that the elbow does have simple movements but this also means that there is less for me to work with. Hmm..

Perhaps some inspiration is due...?

Childhood memories...

lol

 

Gurrrl, look at dem elbows

Enlightenment

So I was thinking about the phrase "a new way of seeing" and I realized that seeing is understanding and understanding the whole picture could be seen as enlightenment.

Here's my sample clip for the project, kind of a draft of where I'll be taking things. This, though, is not in any way an indication of what my final product will look like! I need to work on my storyboards actually... this clip doesn't describe at all what my cinematography and narrative will be like...

I decided to use natural card for this clip because I thought it looked cool. I was correct. I might film my final on this material too.

A New Way of Seeing

The theme for this film is "A new way of seeing."
I thought I'd go off and brainstorm what that phrase actually means to me, or in general what that phrase might mean. I broke down the phrase and defined and antonized each word, and I have come to the conclusion that I need to stop reading about conspiracy theories.

Good News or Bad News?

So I've just found out that the third DSDN 101 project (MANUFACTORY) isn't a group one.

I'm really quite bummed out I don't get to work with the group I had (because we were pretty solid I think) and our initial film concept.

But then I guess on the other hand I guess this means the project will be more personal to me and I can make it exactly how I want to.

In other news, I found some great stop motion films online (not that  my film will be any better or as good :/)

A promo clip for the anime Eden of the East.

And below is a REALLY good stop motion video. Its a music video for Against the Grain by Hudson in collaboration with VJ Dropbear.

SO GOOD

MANUFACTORY

a manual factory.

For the third DSDN101 Project we have been put into groups depending on our DSDN majors (INDUSTRIAL FTW).

The short, stop-motion film is to be based on

"A new way of seeing."

and below is our idea for this project.

Is the designer a machine made for production or a sapient creator? Probably both.

THE COLLABORAINSTORM

I am quite happy with what this team has come up with so far and I'm looking forward to making our concepts into reality.

INDN+PSYC=?

The second portion of this project is an individual brainstorm based on our design majors AND our minor. Mine being Psychology, I explored the human psyche and the relationship between us and design.

How does design make us feel? How do our emotions affect our design and how we see design?
Why do we design? What are everyday reactions to design?

More DSDN101 blogging coming soon - watch this space.

DSDN 101: Milk Audio

Milk Audio is a sound production company that is mainly concerned with the digital production of smooth, clean, pure sound. Our software products are aimed at both corporate, professional and independant, personal use.

Below is a poster for our company, showcasing the sipmlicity and purity of our products, services, concepts and ideals.

Those involved:
Huadong Wang
Daniel Campbell

Synthesis

Synthesis: a combination of ideas to form a coherent whole.

Is there a line between science and art? Or perhaps between craft and industry? This piece questions these boundaries as is combines the two sides of the coin. 

According to Bartneck (2009), design has moved away from craft and towards an academic discipline, but has not yet formed its own science. And today’s designers embrace science as analogies, metaphors, and in a few cases, tools to generate startling new designs (Mehaffy & Salingaros, 2012). The foundations of this model also lie in science rather than art. Extrapolating from the solar flare graphs of 2009, the planar discs of this model are suspended by a thick wire. It is science that puts this data into play and it is through design that this model is constructed.

Curves are the most basic expressions when fluidity is concerned. The curve is unpredictable, synthetic and molten. However, it is often forgotten that a curve is merely a series of points joined together in a nonlinear fashion. This piece uses points, lines and planes to illustrate a sensuous curve that envelops a string of discs.

This design was created to show the synthesis of materials, idea and form. The combinations plastic and metal; machine and handcraft; and most curiously, science and art is what makes this piece completely synthetic. It is neither here nor there. Its meaning is neither authentic nor fake. It has become that line between science and art. 

Reference

Bartneck, C. (2009). Using The Metaphysics Of Quality To Define Design Science. Presented at the 4th International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, Pennsylvania. doi: 10.1145/1555619.1555627

Mehaffy, M., Salingaros, N. (2012). Science for Designers: The Meaning of Complexity. Metromag.com [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20120330/science-for-designers-the-meaning-of-complexity#more-23581

Mehaffy, M. Salingaros,. (2012). Science for Designers: The Transformation of Wholes. Metromag.com [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20120413/science-for-designers-the-transformation-of-wholes

Wikimedia Commons. (2006). Courbe_niveau.svg [Image]. Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Courbe_niveau.svg

NOAA/Space Weather Prediction Center. (2009). ISES Solar Cycle Sunspot Number Progression [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/image/content/352128main_solar_cycle_prediction_lg.jpg