imagine:design::tell:story

[opus entry one]

S T O R I E S

With very little effort, one can find a story in everything around them.  Of course there are obvious resources like a book, a photograph, a song, a painting or a sculpture, but if you look a little closer at something as simple and mundane as a twig, you could find multiple stories. Maybe that twig came from a tree your neighbor's kid likes to climb in... on the child's way down the twig could have snapped from it's branch, then your dog may have brought it to your yard, but before growing bored with it, he chewed it into smaller twigs.  A bird then could have found a piece of it as the final element to her nest in the big maple tree in your front yard.  And after the nest was abandoned and survived a few summer storms, that same twig finally fell from the tree again and landed where you're standing about to pick it up.

The film A Midsummer Night's Dream was composed of multiple stories of multiple characters.  We tell a story when we design, and in that design, we use objects that hold individual stories so that our final work is like a big story book. 

 [my bowthazarr as a puppy and his love for GIANT twigs] 

A R T I F A C T S

Just like the twig and its story, all artifacts not only tell a story but behold a history and add on to that history everyday. Think about a dollar bill.  I'm sure everyone has wondered where the dollar bill in their hand has been when it feels dirty or looks grungy or has something handwritten on it.  Think about the pockets it's been stuffed in, the hands it's been dealt with, the counter's it's laid on, the number of times it's traveled in a car, on a plane, or on ship, how many times it's been in the same register, and think about just how many things it's purchased.

[link]

M U L T I V I E W 

I interpret this term as opinionated.  The beauty about an artifact is not only found in the story it tells but also in the reactions and thoughts it provokes in the beholder.  The existence of 'multiview' or 'opinion' allows expression.  A song or a painting  becomes successful because it is viewed in many many many different ways by many different people, forcing them to think about it, to express themselves through their opinion or even a painting or song of their own.

[link]

C Y C L E

Like Patrick said during Monday's lecture, "Style starts, gains popularity through time, fades, then later returns or changes".  Like clothing fashion or music - it either comes back decades later, or changes and evolves into a different style.  During the lecture, we talked about the ideal design cycle to be orderly and predictable, but in reality, it's very chaotic and unpredictable, like a bunch of voices screaming in your head.  We also talked about things to consider when analyzing a design cycle like its direct reactions & resonnances to preceding periods, regional influences & variations, views in and out, what becomes standard, and what does 'change' and 'no change' mean.  Personally, I love taking advantage of design cycles - I'm a very eclectic person and I consider myself an eclectic artist/designer as well.  I adore a mixture of clothing, housewares, music, and other objects from the Victorian era, to the retro 1950s and 1960s, and my favorite, the 1970's.  I'm addicted to buying anything and everything from places like Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, and Antique malls. And I don't just settle for my grandparents old things because I'm broke, I constantly nag them about sending any furniture, vase, comforter, or belt they no longer want because I'm caught up in the middle of a huge design cycle!  One of my favorite reCYCLED things is my grandmother's love seat.  It's straight out of the early 70's with a big bold floral print of browns, oranges, yellows, and greens.  It started out in her fancy living room where no one was allowed in, but once it became out of style, it moved to the den, then to the guest bedroom, and finally to 

her junk room cluttered with most of the treasures I ended up with.  It now sits in my living room and once again gets plenty of attention and compliments.

[the best ugliest sofa!]

T R A N S L A T I O N 

Sometimes an object's history is obvious or somewhat easy to guess, but even when we think we know its tale, we still must look at its every aspect and translate each one to a possible story.  To translate, you must convert. As designers, our job is to translate, or convert, a client's personality, interests, and experiences (each a separate story)  into a space that binds all of those stories together, or an artifact that further helps them tell their tale.  

Like in our first studio project, "FOUND IN TRANSLATION", we're supposed to translate key elements from our fairy tale into a more abstract idea, then translate that main idea or essence into an expressive artifact.  

[my inspiration board]