Ten Principles of Good Design- Reflections

Reading: 

Ten Principles of Good Design by Dieter Rams

 https://www.vitsoe.com/gb/about/good-design

I felt I really understood Dieter Ram’s Ten Principles of Design. The item I chose for the first project covers many of the principles, which includes: innovative, useful, aesthetic (to a point), unobtrusive, honest, and environmentally friendly. Although I did find two principles almost contradictory, a design should be thorough down to the last detail and still retain a simple design. When I thought of thorough I usually related it to something that’s very detailed, the fact that something can be thorough and simple seems really amazing. Now that I think about my own “good design” in some ways it is very simple and shows to have been thoroughly though out.  Another design that I really feel shows numerous design principles is the image above of the Berg Cloud. It’s an upcoming small device that prints out daily papers over various subjects that an individual can choose from. The device is simple in design, innovative, useful, aesthetic, honest, and especially environmentally friendly. Although there are numerous devices that barely show any of the principles. I know many children’s toys are advertised as these stupendous things and are actually terribly made. Dieter Rams has made a fine list of principles that are truly something all designers should try to obtain in their designs. 

A Sample of My Color Project

Here are some of my gorgeous pictures for the Color Project. I felt like my camera skills grew better throughout my picture taking yesterday. Also, I now feel like I've been noticing hue, value, and chroma everywhere!

Chroma Dominance: This was one of my last pictures of the day. I feel the strong chroma aids in the overall flow of the picture. It gives balance and it makes the subtle colors on the butterfly necklace nicely stand out. 

Transition in Hues: A dress I own and especially love the transition in hues. The differences in all the purple hues helps to form the overall image of the flowers. 

Harmonious Values: The dancer's outfits and background are dark values whilst their faces and limbs stand out in light values. These values make the piece dramatic and help portray the emotions of the dance.

Contrasting Hues: Aesthetically, the contrasting hues look really bland on the car and remind me of Christmas. Yet, if you think practically, the red sticks out immensely against the green and makes the car’s lights really visible.

Limited Palette:  The limited value on this piece helps lead the eye to the main feature of the watch. It also, provides an overall feeling of warmth. It feels almost like a valentines piece, but it isn't and that can be something the designer should've been wary about. 

Harmonious Hues: I really enjoy how weather maps are colored. They help reveal the heat and cool weather through the showing of color. In this cause the harmonious hues explain the immense heat hitting the United States. 

Contrasting Values: This skirt’s values are all over the place. It varies by the horizontal rows and goes from completely dark to light and everything in between. The piece feels very confusing as a whole and it makes it hard for the eye.

Harmonious Chroma: I really like the look of this chair. It is simplistic in color, but the shape is enough visual appeal that color would tarnish the piece. Personally, I usually don’t like simple colors, but the harmonious chroma works really well in this case. 

Contrasting Chroma: I love this fabric because of the contrasting chroma. It varies between bright

 and subtle. It really looks sharp and unique.

Soften the Contrast: This fabric has numerous colors on it and usually wouldn’t work together. With softening the usually hard colors the piece works and flows well for the eye.

Use of Neutrals: The plate stands out with its use of yellow and floral print, but it works because of the use of the neutral gray in the background. 

Key the Color: This book is a little outdated by the looks of the stars, but I do like the look of colors and how to portrays a feeling of warmth from all the yellow and it makes me crave food. 

Think Make Reading 1- Reflections

Reading:

Think Make Reading I 

Design not only covers visual objects, but things a person needs. I personally loved the “designed” protest against the segregated movie theater, even though I originally never recognized it as design. The fact that they designed a plan to change the owner's ways was brilliant. I’m an Illustration major and I used to only understand the visual side, yet design encompasses more than just beautiful imagery. Some clothing stores sell terribly designed pieces. I always wondered, “What was the designer thinking?” But now it seems there could have been multiple conclusions, it could have been cost issues or a rise in sales of similar style pieces, etc. Design has many various meanings and can be used to define numerous situations. The design process is in many ways, an evolution. It starts out with primitive first designs and evolves over time, solving the various design problems until the final work forms. Designers rarely work alone and usually have to consult specialists and other designers to get a completed piece. I feel social skills are definitely needed to survive in the design world. This quote makes me really excited about design and inspires me to try my best, “Design is a game with very few rules. Design problems are extremely complicated, so we must use all our wits and creativity to solve them. The results are what counts, and we will use any means to get us there.” The design world seems tough and fast-paced, but I know I'm going to do just fine.