Design is Dangerous

                Ever thought if design is ever dangerous? There are dangers in almost everything. The computer cause radiation, small toys are choking hazards, guns are design to protect but are dangerous, and etc… One design that is the most dangerous of all is the Atomic Bomb or bomb in general. Of course they are used in wars and battles, but as a way of fighting off the enemies. But the Atomic Bomb is not an exception. It is simply inhumane, it can kill many innocent civilians that had probably never committed a sin before, as innocent as a child or a baby. It is made of atoms compress together to create a powerful force when it is release, and when it hit its target, it releases radiations all over a certain radius of a location, obliterating everything within its range. 

                It can be use as a threat to other countries and who ever obtain this bomb will become the world power. But if other countries start having this kinds of bomb, no one in this world is safe. Atomic Bombs will destroy everything and everyone, simply ending mankind on earth or ending the world itself. This kind of design should be thought out carefully, such as the consequences, and how it affects the world before it was utilize. When this design was use, it was already too late to call it back; thousands of innocent people lose their lives. 

Design in Society

What is the main product and the most popular in the world? The computer is the most wanted item in society.  Why? It is because it makes tasks more efficient and convenient. This is product was design to makes the lives of everyone easier. It can organize, keep data, help with other designs and etc… Without the computer, many other products in the world would be design by hand and made buy hand. There will be factories all over the world in every city and every town. But because of computers, there are no needs for so many factories around the world. 

Not only does it help with factories but also students. Without the computer students would spend lots of time hand writing essays, writing down notes and have limited resources. It’s efficient and helps saves some time for students who are busy. For example, if they are in sports or clubs and have no time to go to the library to look for references and information for their school work, then they can turn to a computer and start their research there. They don’t have to rely on type writers, which if there is a mistake they either have to start over or erase it with whiteout. But on a computer and word processing students can simply delete and erase with ease, making easy corrections. 

Color Transform

                Many things or designs are better left as black or white. But sometimes adding some color brings out the characteristics and make the design livelier. Take movies and films as an example. If the movie or film is in black and white then it portray originality and classics. But if the film is in color it makes the whole film livelier than it was before. It catches the viewers’ attention and letting them notice the surroundings more from a color film than a black and white film. In a black and white film, the audience focuses more on the characters and the storyline instead of the setting of the story. In a colored film, the audiences are able to experience the colorful environment instead of complete contrast of black and white. 

The photos above are an example. The wizard of Oz is a classic movie in black and white. Of course it is an enjoyable movie, but once it is transform from black and white to color, it portray the beauty of Dorothy’s dreamland. When the golden path is describe, viewers can actually see the bright yellow color of the path instead of the washout white color path in the black and white film. The green, castle, Dorothy’s companion, and the whole surroundings come to life with more color added. 

Ankle Boots

There are all sorts of boots in the shoes industry. There are rain boots, high boots, low boots, heel boots, western boots, etc… These boots fit only a certain sort of outfit or a certain style. If a person want to have a western look, they’d where a western boot to touch up their look. If a person wants a funky or punk look, they usually wear knee high boots of thigh high boots.

 I’d like to discuss about Ankle boots. These boots are really fascinating and fashionable. Ankle boots allow the wearer to wear it with any outfit they have and will match perfectly. It goes with western style, punk style, funky style, casual, formal, just any fashion style. These boots look casual if worn with casual clothing or fashion. It can be worn outside, in the rain, in dirt, or grass and look fashionable in every way. If it is worn in a formal setting, an ankle boot with heels can fit in. It would look just like a pair ordinary formal heels shoes.

This product is made with all sorts of fabric. Some are made from leather, some are plastic, some have lace, etc… all sorts of boots are made of all sorts of fabric that fits the customer’s liking. That is why they are so fashionable or allow it to match any style of clothing.  These ankle boots are comfortable and easy to wear. They are warm during the cold season and perfect for the hot summer.

Ergonomic Design: 3 Hole Puncher

Ergonomic is a Greek etymology. Ergon meaning work and nomos means laws. In Ergonomic design there are five important elements, safety, comfort, ease of use, performance, and aesthetic, these have to be incorporated in the design to make it a useful product. An example of this product is the three whole punchers for binders. Why is a three whole binder puncher an ergonomic design?

Ergonomic is a Greek etymology. Ergon meaning work and nomos means laws. In Ergonomic design there are five important elements, safety, comfort, ease of use, performance, and aesthetic, these have to be incorporated in the design to make it a useful product. An example of this product is the three holes punchers for binders. Why is a three holes binder puncher an ergonomic design?

To satisfy the first element of safety, many designs of this product or all of them have a handle or something to guide the costumers.  Some examples of the holes punchers are shown above. Take the black holes puncher as an example. It has a flexible area where the hand can be placed on it and gentle press down on it to get the result that’s wanted. The only time the user come into contact with this item is when they are going to press down on it to get their result. There is no hard in performing this task. The other example is the silver and blue one, where there is a handle that can be manipulated to perform the task. Also, the area in between the column that are making the holes is so narrow that not even a baby’s finger can get in between.

To fulfill the comfortable task, as mentioned before, most designs of the product have a handle or an area where it can easily be use to perform the task. It’s not just any handle, but it is design to fit the comfort of the user’s hands. If it’s just a straight metal handle, the hand will start to hurt after using the product for a while. If the user have to punch holes in a stack of papers, they wouldn’t want to use a hole puncher that will cause them pain and enable them to do their job.  That is why a rubber matted handle or a surface where it is soft and comfortable, fitting the hand, can allow the user to perform the task as many times as necessary.  This leads to the next element ease of use.

The user doesn’t have to use all their force to perform this task. They simply just have to pull down the handle with little force or just push down on the handle, as easy as opening the door of a car. It’s convenient in the office, at school, at home, outside, it can be use anywhere. There is no sweat involve when using this product.

This product’s performance can’t be doubted. The columns that make the holes are stable and strong. The handle makes it efficient and convenient to utilize. It produces clean cut holes in the paper, with perfect distance in between the wholes to make it fit perfectly in a binder or folder.

How is a 3 ring binder holes puncher conveying aesthetic? There are many ways to make its appearance stand out and noticeable. When the product was first produce, it comes only in the color black, really dull and common. Now to make it more eye catching and noticeable, they come in many colors in many designs. Some are thin and small like the one shown below, so it can easily fit narrow area or allow the user to have more working space.  Others are bigger or shorter in length, but they all have the same performance. There are all kinds of this design that fits all kinds of people’s taste. 

Fashion Belts

Belts are design for one main reason. They are made to tighten your pants if they’re too big to fit you. But over the years, belts have come into the sense of fashion. Now they are design not just for tightening your pants but also for appearance. Fashion belts are belts that design to go well with the outfit you are wearing. For women they are not just worn on the hip or waist but also above the waist. Many belts for women now are made to be worn above the waist. Why are they design that way?

 

They are design this way for many reasons, depending on how the customers want it to be worn. Mostly when the belt is worn above the waist it shows the shapes and curves of the body more than just wearing the plain outfit with no belt. As the image above demonstrated, the two models are wearing the same outfit on the runway but there is a difference. The first model has no belt on and her outfit is flowing everywhere. Whereas the second model has a belt on defining her curves and keep her dress in place as she walks on the runway. Her dress does not flow everywhere and gives the curves that every woman wants.

How Words and Images Works Together

My blog “Word and Image” gave a picture on how word and image works together to express an idea by using an example from Brian Fies’ comic Mom’s cancer. There are many ways to make word and images work together. One way is how Fies’ uses it in the example given in my previous blog. How the image serves as a metaphor to express the words or stress out the feelings of what was going on in the story.

Another way of how word and image works together is how the image portrays the words. Without the words the image wouldn’t make sense or without the image the reader wouldn’t have a good idea on how the characters or what the gestures and expressions are.

Above is a comic strip of Garfield by Jack Chick and Jim Davis. If there are not words or dialogue in the comic then the reader wouldn’t find it amusing like it’s suppose to be. All they’ll see is a strip of images where all Garfield is doing is getting up and laying back down again. They may misinterpret the comic strip, for example. Remove the dialogue and words and it may look like the two Grim reaper are just laughing and making fun of Garfield and he have no clue what is going on and just goes back to sleep. But with the words with the image, it gives a better idea of what is actually going on and what the grim reaper are doing and why they are there. This example shows another significance of words and image working together.