Design Is {revisited}

Design is communication.
It is used to carry a message to people.
From a poster informing you about an event, or to show others what kind of person you yourself are by having a stylish iPhone.

This can either be direct and in your face, or subtle enough to miss the first three hundred and thirty four times you see it.
Design has purpose, meaning and function.
That is what separates it from art.

Design is everywhere. Everything is designed.
I'm looking around me to find an exception, but cannot find one.

Design is changing.
Design is becoming more interactive, more immediate.

But through this, design is still communication.
It has its purpose and its audience.
We can classify design as "good" design on how effectively it delivers it's message.

Sure, a poster may look pretty, but does that make it good design?
What do you get out of it? "Oh that use of Helvetica is very nice. The green is very greeny - I like that!" but do you understand what the poster is saying?
Do you learn anything from it?
Again, I repeat, this is what separates design from art.
Art doesn't have to communicate with us. It can simply look pretty for the sake of art.

Design has its one, ultimate task, to better inform the audience.

Design is communication.



/I sure did blather on and on there, didn't I?/

Breaking down my life

I recently recorded how much I use technology over a 7 day week.
I find these recordings quite frightening.

time spent on the computer: 78hours (EEP!)
time spent surfing the internet: 26 hours
time on msn: 78 hours (if I'm on the computer, I'm on MSN)
facebook: 3 hours
twitter: 5 hours

emails sent: 19
emails received: 118 (SPAM SPAM SPAM)

texts sent: 42
texts received: 63
phone talk time: 126 minutes

listening to music: 42 hours
listening to radio(1): 3 hours

television/movies: 68 hours

reading news/online: 6 hours
reading magazines: 45 minutes
reading books: 4 hours

playing video games: 2 hours.


By doing this I have reassured myself that I indeed have no life.
But keeping in mind this was recorded of the week of 9th to the 16th, in which I was in school. Had this been documented over reading week, the number of hours of computer and television would have been drastically lower.

I am in awe at how much of my life is being consumed by this aluminum box of mine.

That is all.

Design Process take 2 {short blog}

After receiving feedback from last weeks class I revisited the design and made appropriate changes.
Now I will get new feedback tomorrow that will allow me to produce a piece of work I am proud of and that I hope communicates the desired message.

I have also started to record how much time I spend on my computer, listening to music, radio1, etc. I already know I live at my computer, but it may be an eye opener if I start documenting it.