This is might be my last post for Visual Cultures. I want to explain about The Design Age.
What is design?
From Oxford English Dictionary, design is a plan or drawing produced to show the look and function or workings of a building, garment, or other object before it is made.
Design is different with art. What is the difference between design and art? Design have a purpose to sell and make a money, but art not have a purpose, the purpose of art is just the aesthetics. So from that difference, we all know that design and art is not the same.
Design is very related to Bauhaus architecture. What is Bauhaus?
Bauhaus is a school of design that created minimalist design in modern era. Bauhaus described as the foundation of modernism. The Bauhaus was founded in 1919 in the city of Weimar by German architect Walter Gropius (1883–1969). Its core objective was a radical concept: to reimagine the material world to reflect the unity of all the arts. Gropius explained this vision for a union of art and design in the Proclamation of the Bauhaus (1919), which described a utopian craft guild combining architecture, sculpture, and painting into a single creative expression. Gropius developed a craft-based curriculum that would turn out artisans and designers capable of creating useful and beautiful objects appropriate to this new system of living.
This is the Bauhaus.
Second topic that related to design is semiotics. What is semiotics? Semiotics can be described as point of view of someone when look at something. Semiotics is an investigation into how meaning is created and how meaning is communicated. Its origins lie in the academic study of how signs and symbols (visual and linguistic) create meaning. It is a way of seeing the world, and of understanding how the landscape and culture in which we live has a massive impact on all of us unconsciously.
Now, look at this two things.
Those two things are the example of design that have many purposes.
What is the uniqueness in those two things?
The first thing is “Rolling Bridge in UK”. Yeah, it is a bridge that designed to be rolled when unused condition. The design is very unique, besides that, that thing also have a purpose as a bridge.
The second thing is “Ralph Lauren Solar Backpack”. Ralph Lauren’s recently released Solar Panel Backpack is a black or bright orange water-resistant bag that provides a useful 3.45 watts of power. The Ralph Lauren RLX solar backpack is made in Italy using water-resistant material, and has a large solar panel built in to its back. The design is very unique, and it has many purpose. It can be used as a backpack and also a charger. This backpack is the example of a sustainable design.
Other salient features include thick, adjustable shoulder straps, top flap with adjustable buckle closure, zip pockets on one side and the “RLX Ralph Lauren” cutout on the flap. Since it’s a RL thing, we expect it to cost some good bucks. The Ralph Lauren Solar Panel Backpack is priced at a cool $795.
References:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/design
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bauh/hd_bauh.htm
http://www.signsalad.com/semiotics-explained/
http://ymnation.com/2011/04/polo-ralph-lauren-solar-power-backpack/
Visual Cultures 