Amit Pitaru

Amit Pitaru is an Israeli born artist, designer and researcher of Human Machine Interaction (HCI). Born in Jerusalem and raised in Tel-Aviv, he has played instruments since the age of 5. At the age of 23 he moved to New York and began to play in clubs. Pitaru took a loving to the Hammond Organ and it was through this admiration that the Hammond Flower Organ came about. The organ is an alternative interface that lets users interact with the instrument, allowing for a new and unique way of using the instrument. Pitaru does explorations in new forms of musical expression, while at the same time not discarding the overall notions that have revealed themselves over centuries, as to how and why music is listened to.
He began as a musician, but became interested in computers when he had downtime in the studio. He learned Flash first and that has no grown to other languages, including Processing. Being a musician first and then a programmer allows Pitaru to have a great feel for the sound and visuals that he uses. Pitaru has been inspired by conversations he has with people, drawing more from a simple conversation then from their work. He draws this inspiration from conversations with other artists, his father who’s a scientist, and his mother who is also an artist.
As a designer Pitaru’s focus is on assistive technologies. He tries to create new solutions to old problems. His latest project is an attempt at making a game that children with disabilities can play. According to Pitaru games are meant to motivate and challenge us to think, which in the case for children with disabilities games put their disabilities front and center. Through design itself, with a little bit of thought, the barriers can be overcome. His work examines the manner in which our current technologies have hindered our ability to learn and communicate.
By using processing/coding/programming Pitaru is able to create his own tools from scratch which allows for the most freedom. These skills allow for easy adjustment and to reapply of musical knowledge into the medium. Although Pitaru’s work primarily deals with games, his ideas and notions are applicable to other mediums. His work has the potential to change the way we teach children, with or without disabilities, and with that would require a change in design practice. User interface design, game design, computer systems, and teaching methods would all potentially be altered.

http://www.pitaru.com/

Saul Bass-Commercial Design Guru-Blog 5

There is a lot to be said for Saul Bass, the designer I have selected for my blog. I leapfrog to him, like a fly to light, due to his connection with Alfred Hitchcock, the master film maker and other film makers of his time.

Alfred Hitchock loved to use light, lines, shapes and all else to convey a sense of mood, urgency and cinematic direction. The protagonist and antagonist often in any scene in a Hitchcock movie were usually clearly defined by the use of light and shadows. The bad guy usually was encompassed in darks shadows.

Saul Bass reflects Hitchcock film making in his own print making. In Saul Bass’s Poster for the Alfred Hitchcock film “Vertigo” , he really encapsulates in a single image the message or the movement of the film. Even though there is not a lot going on in the poster as far as multiple ideas, the clearness and conciseness of the idea of the film is laid out in terms that can be understood . Less is more here. The lines, the figures, the color of the poster, all play important factors in helping to tell the viewer what is happening in the poster.

The characters at the center of the poster are identified as black and white, indicating some sort of interplay of characters. The orange color in the Vertigo poster and the spiraling movement of the white lines take the eye straight to these human figures in the center of the picture almost revealing the plot of the movie. Just looking at this Saul Bass piece almost gives too much of the movie plot away as a single image says so much about a story. www.designmuseum.org/_entry/3857?style=design_image_popup)

Saul Bass style would be describe as a modern, or commercial designer and has been shadowed by many artists as he himself has worked on many films. He has worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorcese and Otto Preminger to name a few of the great.

Saul Bass seems to design with a “less is more” philosophy that he has picked up from some of these film greats. . The idea that space can be successfully separate by line and color shows in his work.

In Saul Bass’s “the Man with the Golder Arm” poster, (www.designmuseum.org/_entry/3856?style=design_image_popup) even though the poster is a 2-D composite, the poster seems to have a time sequence going on. There are 4 separate visible images that are describing points of view in the story. One of the recognizable human elements of the piece is the mangy, crocked arm in the center of the poster. The style of the poster, which the big black and blue block defining space, is reminiscent of the 1950 and the modernist style of the time, and makes used of dark colors.

Looking at different Saul Bass movie posters, it appears that he has an experimental way of working with his subject matter. He seems to like using black text as well. In each example of black poster text, the text itself has a story into itself in the balanced way the letters in each typographical element add to the concept and story. The way the typography is crafted, the kerning and leading, of the text, all of which ads to the character of the piece. www.designmuseum.org/_entry/3860?style=design_image_popup) when typography is carefully staggered and created, it has meaning unto itself.

Stefan Sagmeister

Stefen Sagmeister has a very unique approach to designing in that they are mostly very organic and sensual in nature. The fact that Sagmeister himself says, "I would say we are probably best known for our hand-made quality," is characteristic of this approach. This can also be seen in the organic approach he takes to laying out letter forms, which are primarily handwritten, and in the found imagery that he uses in his works. According to designmuseum.org he is extremely good in conceptualizing new ideas for solving design problems. His concepts are brutally relevant and straight forward, which can be seen in designs like this.

The AIGA poster he did is a perfect representation of his style and ability to conceptualize. The handmade, grungy quality comes through in the aesthetic that was achieved through carving on his own flesh with an xacto knife; while the concept of him being the subject of a poster that promotes himself is brilliant, as it allows for an immediate emotional connection to the viewer that signals Sagmeister's authenticity to them. His conceptualization is based upon aspects of sexuality and humor, which comes through in this design, as well as in others, and in some cases makes his designs almost inappropriate.

This testing of boundaries of appropriateness is exemplified well in his call for entries, which he did for the 1992 4As advertising awards. It was considered offensive and controversial and offensive by many, but was only so because it featured a four men bearing their asses, a traditional Cantonese image. This clearly demonstrates the humor with which he approaches design.

Another work that shows the diversity of his influences is the cover for Rolling Stones' album Bridges to Babylon. He was inspired by an Assyrian lion sculpture, which would have been symbolic of the concept behind the album as well as a symbol of Mick Jager's astrological sign. Once again his brilliant ability to conceptualize in a way that was impeccable can be seen. The cover design also features organic elements which look hand drawn to offset an almost photographic-like image of the lion.

From looking at many of Sagmeister's works, I have noticed that he draws inspiration from just about anything to keep his style non-existent, aside from having a hand-made quality. "Different influences are always helpful. Most designers I like, have big interests in other fields such as John Maida and his programming abilities, Tibor Kalmann and his political background in the student movement, Storm Thorgeson and his photo montage wizardry; they all stayed away from the typical influence of design annuals."(scene360.com) He uses the inspiration from these other innovative designers to keep his designs fresh and unique.

The only designers that I could find that were directly influenced by him are the designers who worked for him and formed Karlssonwilker. Their designs seem to be tamed reincarnations of his wild concepts, since they are all conceptually apt, but have evolved to have a more modern and refined look. However, it is evident that they have adopted his approach to style, as they seem to have no distinct style of their own either.

Kerr Noble

%3Ca%20onblur%3D%22try%20%7Bparent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully()%3B%7D%20catch(e)%20%7B%7D%22%20href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.designmuseum.org%2Fmedia%2Fitem%2F4960%2F-1%2F118_1Lg.jpg%22%3E%3Cimg%20style%3D%22display%3Ablock%3B%20margin%3A0px%20auto%2010px%3B%20text-align%3Acenter%3Bcursor%3Apointer%3B%20cursor%3Ahand%3Bwidth%3A%20382px%3B%20height%3A%20330px%3B%22%20src%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.designmuseum.org%2Fmedia%2Fitem%2F4960%2F-1%2F118_1Lg.jpg%22%20border%3D%220%22%20alt%3D%22%22%20%2F%3E%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%0AWhile%20this%20design%20firm%20recently%20shut%20their%20doors%2C%20the%20work%20the%20pair%20(Amelia%20Noble%20and%20Frith%20Kerr)%20did%20in%20the%20design%20world%20under%20their%20firm%20name%20Kerr%20Noble%20is%20impressive%20and%20interesting.%20%0A%0ANoble%20and%20Kerr%20met%20while%20attending%20the%20Royal%20College%20of%20Art%20when%20they%20were%20put%20together%20for%20competitions%20and%20subsequently%20won.%20Noble%20found%20that%20she%20was%20drawn%20to%20Kerr's%20style%20of%20work%2C%20while%20Kerr%20on%20the%20other%20hand%20thought%20that%20they%20had%20two%20quite%20dissimilar%20styles%20and%20even%20viewed%20her%20future%20partner%20with%20mild%20suspicion%20bought%20out%20from%20a%20sectional%20rivalry.%20Working%20together%20they%20found%20that%20Kerr's%20opinion%20on%20their%20different%20styles%20was%20actually%20revealed%20to%20be%20a%20very%20similar%20approach%20to%20their%20work.%20In%20fact%2C%20Kerr%20has%20said%20that%20%22In%20fact%20when%20we%20disagree%20we%20are%20usually%20in%20agreement%2C%20but%20it%20takes%20us%20a%20while%20to%20work%20it%20out.%22%20which%20shows%20that%20they%20come%20to%20the%20same%20conclusion%20when%20a%20problem%20is%20presented%2C%20they%20just%20don't%20always%20think%20they%20do!%0A%0A%3Ca%20onblur%3D%22try%20%7Bparent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully()%3B%7D%20catch(e)%20%7B%7D%22%20href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.designmuseum.org%2Fmedia%2Fitem%2F4965%2F-1%2F118_6Lg.jpg%22%3E%3Cimg%20style%3D%22float%3Aleft%3B%20margin%3A0%2010px%2010px%200%3Bcursor%3Apointer%3B%20cursor%3Ahand%3Bwidth%3A%20416px%3B%20height%3A%20330px%3B%22%20src%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.designmuseum.org%2Fmedia%2Fitem%2F4965%2F-1%Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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Blog "5": Yugo Nakamura

Yugo Nakamura (born in 1970) is a multimedia designer and one of the worlds most innovative web designers. His websites are www.yugop.com and www.surface.yugop.com. The interactive animations he has on his sites are both simple and user friendly while being very complex in their design at the same time. When Flash 4 came out he was one of the first to use it and showed how powerful it could be through version 2.0 of his MONOcrafts site.
MONOcrafts is the end result of over a decade of experimentation in digital media. According to the site “MONOcrafts is a net-based studio located in Tokyo interested in exploring new expression under this networked situation. And we are creating web-site / net-application with a new concept of interactivity. Our concept and techniques are expressed in every part of this site.” The site is definitely all about interactivity. Even while reading the previous passage you have to move your cursor over the screen to allow the text to appear.
Multimedia design was not Nakamura’s first passion though. While at Tokyo university he studied landscape architecture and civil engineering, and these are the fields that he worked in for the first part of his life. He became obsessed by his relationship with his surroundings and he formed a desire to create an abstract version of that relationship. This background in landscape architecture and civil engineering became an important influence for Nakamura.
Another important influence for him was John Maeda. Maeda is a graphic designer, creative technologist, computer scientist, and theoretician. He is interested in the merging of design and technology. This interest is also present in Nakamura’s work where design and technology have been combined to create user-friendly interfaces. Nakamura was also interested in how Maeda’s work at MIT media lab helped turn the computer into a creative device as opposed to a functional tool. Nakamura states “if I had not encountered his work six years ago, I would never have got into interactive design.”
Yugo Nakamura says he is inspired by everything that surrounds him. He is inspired by “the unique relationship which he can find in literature, movies and architecture.”
He is a craftsman for sure. He likes using his hands and likes to be able to create the feel of craftsmanship even in things such as websites. He believes the feel of craftsmanship can be felt most everywhere. “It is a spirit that has no relationship with media and technology.” He is using his Japanese background to try and apply the detail of Japanese craftsmanship to the things he creates on the web.
It seems as if his place in the design field is slowly falling though. Most of his great work has been done already and we haven't heard much from him recently. He hasn't won an award since his gold at Tokyo Interactive Ad Awards in 2007, hasn't had an exhibition since 2004, and his last workshop was 2006. I'm sure he is still working on projects and coming up with new creative design ideas, but it appears that his true claim for fame is in the past now.

 Post 5 R. Buckminster Fuller - Oliver

Did I just see a round  house made of angular triangles ?  A double take is almost always necessary every time you see a geodesic dome designed by R. Buckminster Fuller,  from a car window they pose a health risk. If you are like me seeing obscure things from the perch of drivers seat is commonplace.  We are so used to seeing square and rectangular shapes for dwellings the view of a circular house is refreshing. Once you take the time to understand this circular space you soon realize if you are trying to build efficient housing with the most usable square footage for your dollar you should invest in a geodesic dome!  Useful building reference for the homebuilder

With the green movement upon us and the need to clean up our carbon footprint everyone should take a look at Buckey Fullers research and design  The buckminster Fuller Institute. I had the opportunity to assemble and watch people interact with the space of Buckey's Flysey dome seen as the blue background image for the site mobile-living. Buckminster fuller was a visionary and an inspiration to many around the world for his work and dedication to making the world a better more conscious place. 

james jarvis

Born in London in 1970, and raised on a diet of Richard Scarry, Hergé, Asterix and Judge Dredd, Jarvis studied illustration at the University of Brighton and at the Royal College of Art in London. He has worked for international clients such as Sony, Nokia and Parco and contributed to a number of international style publications including The Face, Nova and Relax. He has also contributed to a number of art book projects and had a collection of his sketches published by Relax magazine in Japan. A Japanese friend suggested that Jarvis should turn the characters drawn in simple, sparing strokes in his illustrations into toys which he did by creating the engagingly raffish Martin, a moulded plastic model, for the London-based fashion company Silas. Jarvis then developed equally engaging characters to live with Martin in the World of Pain, the imaginary world inspired by Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings which he invented for them and depicted in a book and website. Eager to create different characters, who would not necessarily fit in to the World of Pain, he then invented the In-Crowd series of figures.

Hergé and Richard Scarry , Gary Panter and Gustave Doré were maijor influences to Jarvis. The Bauhaus and the whole of the modern movement has always influenced Jarvis as well.

I found this q&a to be a good one.

Q. What is the process for developing and producing your characters?

A. When I was at college I was massively influenced by Gary Panter and Javier Mariscal. I spent a lot of time aping their visions. I was encouraged to draw more from reality, so I went out and made a lot of drawings of car parks and other urban environments. When I came to populating these environments I came to rethink and refine the kind of characters I had been drawing. I started to reduce them to the simplest possible shapes and features while still retaining a ‘personality’.

Q. How have these processes evolved as your career has progressed?

A. I am always rethinking and refining.

This is also a good site that shows some of is illustrations and design projects.
http://www.formatmag.com/features/james-jarvis/