Why can be not just create O-Zone? (Environmental Design)

Hello all! As there were no lectures that I could Blog productively on, I have decided to do one on the current debate on the Environment.

The government has plans to tax the car user soooo much in the future to the extent that people stop people using cars at all! This as a view of having no cars on the road is great....all fine...but what are we supposed to do without them? Plus this will effect only the mass less wealthy people and not the wealthy ones who it is the main aim to cut down.

My view on this is that the Government is taking this the wrong way. It is taxing so that people leave their cars. But their is no alternative. The transport system in the U.K. is really bad and expensive. So that is not the alternative.I own a bike. It is impossible to ride on the roads without atleast one time in your journey a "fat cat" in his Landrover beeps you and almost runs you over. So that is dangerous. Walking? Do you know how long it takes! In our busy life style we donot have the time to spend walking to places such as school, activity centres, work, shops etc. Plus are the streets safe for your children to walk on? With paedophilia on the increase and the prisoner re-offending rate increasing would it be wise? There is no other transport option. That is where design must step in....Why have a car at all! Why try producing a car which runs on electricity but takes more energy and pollution making it (Honda Prius)! Why not have a Chuklevision cart using the mechanics knowledge of gears to make things easier?

The taxation on energy is also stupid. Taxation on the humble washing machine and light bulb! What is the alternative, the government are not doing enough...they say they are to implement 20% renewable energyby a fluctuating time. So why 20% renewable energy and 100% tax? It's just out of proportion. What about the government's street lighting? Is it necessary in some areas? Do they have to be soo close together. Do they use energy efficient LED's instead of Bulbs?

So what difference will it make if all polluting transportation in the U.K. were banned. A recent report reveals that China will increase their pollution production to replace our saving in just 76 days!

So to the title question. Why in a day and age where science is developing so fast have we not yet found a way of creating/repairing the o-zone layer. If you can clone the cells of a human being can you not make a simple gas. If it is complicated why not clone the gas!...or something beacuse that is a short term fix that we need if the world is to survive.

Maybe it's just me and the process is actually more difficult....following the theory of my last blog , why has the cure for cancer and aids not here? Why is the o-zone layer not repairable? Maybe the answer is that our brains are reaching a peak or has peaked in history with minds such as Einstein, Newton & Brunel and now we are having to adopt so much more thinking that we cannot cope with the harder/high thatquantity of challenges are to follow.

This is an important issue....please comment even if you agree, disagree or have no veiw at all.
Thanks
IMRAN LOBANIA

Why has innovation slowed down in design?

A new discussion point that i was chatting to my friend on msn messenger included:

Has innovation slowed down looking at history?
We concluded conclusively that invention and innovation has become slower. Things that we compared from the technologies today and the past included:
- The invention of the car (from nothing to an automobile) = We havn't found a way of making a car totally environmentally friendly that can be mass produced at an affordable price (we were predicting to be having floating cars by now!).
- The first man on the moon and the technologies to go into space (from scratch)= We havn't yet been able to put a human on Mars yet and we are still confused about pluto.
- The exploration of foriegn countries (at a time with no planes/proper navigation) = We havn't even found a way to explore our deepest ocean's yet etc.

And now to the question of the post assuming that i can actually go on forever about how we are not as advanced as our predecessor's.

Why has innovation slowed down in design?
I think media and society in this day and age are to blame. Why are most NASA scientists total unsociable geeks? It is because they are not taking into account the manipulation of the mind that the media and properganda is inflicting upon us.

The media is controlling the minds to an extent that fashions and trends are no longer a personal view of the mind. Instead they are adopted as a way to stay sociable and to stay fashionable. So design is now leaning towards a more fashionable product rather than a new cutting edge never seen before product hence suppressing design into a form which conforms with the taste of today. Why not try and make a product for the taste of tomorrow?

There are many issue's concerning this and the media is just one....the main one in my opinion. I can't wait to hear jonathan's view of this....but other's must join in the debate that could change the view of designers to become more innovative and creative.

IMRAN LOBANIA
Comments appreciated

DECO RULES!

The portugeese footballer and the form of art!

I have to mention how at the beggining of the lecture I was really touched how Mr Carr backtracked to show the furniture slide and how he thought it was clostraphobic. If you read one of my previous post's you'll realised he'd echoed my words. This was flattering because he either looked at my post/got told about my post and responded or that we have the same level of thinking. Considering that the guy has a really good level of thinking (hence almost standing ovation after each lecture) it's flattering that he has the same level of thought.

Anyhoo...
... The Art Deco lecture clearly showed why I did not like the Art Nouveau lecture.

"I am a man of straight lines, I am a stick man"

I found it hard to do research as i could not follow most of Richards sources as i ahve spelt the names worng i.e. anna lassiert....i can't even google her!

Anyhoo my own research had to be done *Sigh*

These are some example of what I like in Art Deco:
- Architectural: The Chrysler Bulilding is instantly recognisablie because of it's spire. It's in an Art Deco style which suits the building along with the use of it's strong silver stainless steel colour.







- Furniture: This is the side of Mackintosh i like. The firniture is absolutely amazing and the switch that he made just shows how he was a major influence in both styles of designs but more so in deco as he made the change unlike some others.








I have very little time and hope to do my own blog of research into my choices of design.
Comments appreciated. Thanx.

Does Form function follow form, or form follow function, or neither?

Well I understand the theory of why function follows the form. For example in terms of an engine it looks as it does because of the materials it has been made from and because of it’s job that it has to do.

I also understand why the form follows the function. For example the humble screwdriver can be simplified to a simple form but it looks as it does for purely aesthetic form first and then function secondly as it is sort of standard.

But I was arguing (on Friday) the fact that the aesthetic of a product can be the function of the product. In simpler terms it’s the product’s job to look good, bad, or simply how it does look. The example given by Gus was house lighting. Every house light does the job but the fact that it looks like the way it does is so that it differentiates to every other product on the market. Therefore is it Function follows form? No definitely not. Is it Form follows function? I don’t think because the form (how it looks) does not affect the function of the product in anyway.

I think that the aesthetic of a product IS the function of the product. Do you agree…disagree? Tell me what you think, comments appreciated.
IMRAN LOBANIA

Art nouveau…Not worth the hype.

This is my blog about the art nouveau movement lecture given by Richard Carr. I went away of the lecture with the knowledge that art nouveau is a load of curves and got images as examples.

I don’t know about you guys but I found that to be Richard carr’s first boring lecture. I mean it didn’t inspire me it didn’t make me at anytime look at the board and think “That’s good”. I thought it was because I am constantly tired and that with a combination of dimmed lighting may have affected my mood. But I have been more tired and found at least one thing where I have said I like that. He gave just a list of main artists and designers showing the main products. All in my opinion were boring or un interesting. I tell a lie the Bernard story was amusing and the pictures sick and wrong which did bring a smile. But even the examples of mackintosh that he showed were…boring. I could have got what he had got from the net. He didn’t show us what he felt were inspirational examples of art nouveau but rather the key points along the way. So I had to do my own research on the art nouveau movement to find what I find inspiring about the era. My research follows:

I like this railing as an example of contemporary art nouveau as it show's great iron monger craftmanship and makes a change to the "bog standard" railing being implemented by low budget council's at the moment. The fact that it hasn't gone "over the top with the style also compliments in creating a nice image in my head.



I like this as an example of art nouveau as it show's the flow of lines clearly and not over powering with the connection to plant's with the use of colours. (As shown in richard car's first poem {not to hand})








(I'm in an absolute rage as at this point i had finished my blog but it randomly...for no reason at all decided to delete itself argh!!!!!!)

This is an excellent example of what i expected to see from Richard Carr's lecture. It show's furniture made from timber (the best material in my opinion by far) in the art nouveau style. The product again in that room would make me clastraphobic and dizzy as there is too many features happening for me. A normal room with the table only would be bettter as it would emphasise the feature better. A quote from the typography lecture can be said here that:
Don't be afraid of space, it can often make things

clearer

There are many examples that i put but have been deleted and now i have no time. So please forgive me and except this as my blog and to prove a point that there are better examples of art nouvaeu style. Tell me what you think, all comments appreciated.

IMRAN LOBANIA

Research in design by observation

From the top of my head observation brings three concepts to me:

- The Lost Approach where you confine subjects into a situation to see how it unfolds. In the concept of design we could make a workshop/group of people to do the thinking for us and therefore get not only your own view but a view of the group and if done in say a meeting of just in a break time of work with a group of friends it can produce something (even only one thing) That you may not be able to find in any other way. This is formally known as Naturalistic Observation this is a method of observation, commonly used by psychologists and social/behavioral scientists, that involves observing subjects in their natural habitats. Researchers take great care in avoiding making interferences with the behaviour they are observing by using unobtrusive methods. When using Naturalistic Observation, the researcher observes the studied behavior in its natural setting without attempting to influence or control it. Therefore, the studies are often conducted in places like streets, homes, and schools. Laboratory studies are rather uncommon for this method because the lab setting itself may "contaminate" the participants, who often act differently when they know they are being studied (bias). When a lab study can not be avoided, the researcher participates only as an observer. One advantage of this method is that the information collected is the direct response to a stimulus. However, determining the causes of the observed behavior is sometimes difficult, and special care must be taken to avoid potential bias.

- Another approach is the James Bond Approach where you spy on what people to everyday to see how if any places they adopt/think about what the question is about. Again in this design situation it could be applied by asking a person a question at the beginning of the day and see how they observe and think about the question throughout the day. This could be done as a diary format. This is formally known as a Contextual Inquiry. The contextual inquiry is a specific type of interview for gathering field data from users. It is usually done by one interviewer speaking to one interviewee (person being interviewed) at a time. The aim is to gather as much data as possible from the different interviews for later analysis.

- Another approach is the Watch Out Beadle’s About approach. This is where you trick someone/observe a situation similar to the one that you have adopted to things that have gone wrong so that you avoid doing them in your own solution. This is formally known as Design Walkthrough- A design walkthrough is an examination of a design artefact, or group of related design artefacts in an attempt to find flaws or problems.

- Usability Roundtable- You have the most design freedom in the beginning when you know the least about your users. Getting smart early lets you incorporate good ideas before the site is frozen. People bring things to the table and think what to do. In Islam this is called Mashwera. Mashwera is the Sunnah (tradition) of the prophet where all member of the group consulted/collated all information that they got in a day and told them to the leader with the group present the leader also tells what the next step is. Invites analysis.

Please comment about what you think of the theories of observation thanks!

IMRAN LOBANIA

Gothic Era Lecture

Hello everyone! Hope you are keeping well.

Week 2 was an o.k. week but it could have been better if I wasn't so tired. I am getting few hours sleep each night and I am finding it hard to stay awake in some of my lectures. To tell you the truth I am feeling quite sleepy now lol.

Luckily enough the Design history lecture last week was really interesting. I had always liked the architecture of the churches and thought the lecture taught me a thing or too about them. The gothic style is really good and I think it adds to what makes this country nice to live in. The gothic style has these main features:

- Tall Buildings

- Large Interiors

- Large Windowa

- Incresingly more decorative

- Vaulted Roofs

- Pointed arches

- Stained Glass Windows, Masonary

But I prefer the Arabic style of architecture. I have researched that the shouldered arched windows had been discovered along with the theory of arches in the medieval ages of Islam (before 1300’s at least) for making windows larger much earlier than the British along with more detailed calligraphy and Islamic designs. It also makes sense as all literature agree that the Arabic countries were the leaders of science and maths at this time, hence the first complicated maths and innovative designs to house the mass amount of people who pray in the mosque five times a day. The Arab’s were also more innovative in moving on this trend and style which swept through countries taken from Arabia to Egypt, Persia, North Africa, Turkey and Spain. This architecture using domes for roofs, shouldered windows, and decorative designs echoed by the gothic movement of Britain shows that Britain made a copy of what was done elsewhere. The Arab’s were more innovative as they started using materials such as gold, marble, and ivory as new ways of creating a better aesthetic look of of the superb architectural design.

An adaptation of a quote off Chris rock’s hit series ‘everybody hates chris’

‘Like most things, the gothic era was invented by the Arabs and stolen by white people’

So the question I ask now is the Gothic style just a retaliation by the church to the rising dominance of Islam and the Ottoman Empire? I think so which is nothing wrong….but to say that British designed the concept is wrong….what do you think? It’s very controversial I know but…

… Controversy creates attention…

…Maybe I will get more comments on my blog. I am happy to reply and prove my case. Thanks for reading…

IMRAN LOBANIA

My first Random Rant...Sorry Blog

Hello!

This is my first blog so please forgive me for any mistakes that I make.

I do like blogging but the thing is that in my life I don’t have time to spend as long as this on the internet. On the internet alone I go on:
- University e-mail
- University VLE
- Hotmail/MSN Messenger
- Ebay/PayPal
- Google News/BBC News

All Necessary and all time consuming. Then in my life at the moment I have no time to go one the computers either:
-6am ~ 9am, Work (M&S)
-9am ~ 1pm, Work (Uni)
-1pm ~ 2pm, Mosque
-2pm ~ 5pm, Work (Uni)
-5pm ~ 10.30pm, Mosque/Serving food
-10.30pm ~ Whenever, Uni Homework
-Whenever ~ 6am, Sleep/Get ready for the next fun filled day!

Weekend...What weekend?
There's the cooking, cleaning, ironing, more work.... I mean I have to do this to survive at uni. I have no wife (yet) I have no parents support because they are poor and too far. Now you want me to find time in my week to put up a blog....not bloody likely....I’ll try my best but I have no internet at my flat which doesn't help and like you see I have no time.

But as the first one let's do the proper work shall we, what are you hoping to get out of DHTP/CMT? How do you think it will help you in practice? What do you think will be most interesting?

What is DHTP/CMT? Let me have a look. The human mind does not have time to remember all these silly abbreviations that this "fast world" is churning out every minute. Well I do the DHTP I am told, which is Design History Theory and Practice. Why they don't call it Design History is beyond me. I am hoping to get knowledge of the key design changes that have occurred in history before I was born. I must grasp this knowledge in order to make myself competitive in an industry with old fogies! But more to a company's advantage,

'History repeats itself'

So I must have this knowledge so that I can follow trends and past events to predict the fashion and design that customers will buy tomorrow. It is also interesting to pick up influences of the past in order to solve a problem of today. For example the fashion industry realises that the trend of long jeans/trousers means that they rip/fray from the bottom and sometimes drag creating more cleaning for me to do. But now they have brought forward the 3/4 jogging pants. In order to emulate this in other products I must understand past design and why it was like it was.

Sorry for it being so long.... I have tried to make it interesting to read... honest.

Random quote:

'Women, can't live with them, Can't live without them'

Goodnight! IMRAN LOBANIA