Social Design

The idea of Social design is to create positive change in the community and see how design help solve issues within the community. Also, how you take on a responsibility as a designer and many opportunities present themselves for you to have a leading role. In the Citizen Architect: Rural Studio, students who were majoring in architecture helped the people who had no home and in areas of the community where they needed the most help. So as architects they were taking on a very important role of building one man a home. In trying to think of how design could help a community this is what I came up with.

            In many areas of the country, whichever state, some of the more underprivileged towns cannot serve to many senior citizens needs. I know in the more privileged areas of living Senior Citizens come first, but for an example in the area where I live, there is one home for Senior Citizens and it is just awful. The building is a nasty bright blue and has no areas for recreation, nor other activities besides sitting outside and watching the birds fly by. This may seem like just an architectural job, but not only would I like to focus on the construction of building; but the actual facilities and events within the building. A lot of these people in the area where I live are also homeless, so meals being served to you at the door or in a white walled cafeteria isn’t exactly comforting like home. How could art or design serve as a help to the community? By coming up with an easily accessible, comforting Senior Citizen/Homeless shelter in areas where they can’t afford to build one this would be a project for us as designers.

            This would be a collaborative project along with architects of course. For starters; have the dining area designed to feel more like home. Tables that seat six, with placemats and everything. Not only will this make them feel like they are back at home, but it won’t feel like it’s a cafeteria at a soup kitchen. This will also encourage them to socialize and avoid sitting alone creating isolation. The “recreation” area that most of the other homes include 3 or 4 tv’s with chairs or a few lazy boys to watch. That is just awful. I find it more interesting to create a cinema ambience. I’m not saying we are going to build movie theaters either, take the size of the projector screens in the computer lab for instance. Have four rooms where different selections of movies are playing or tv shows and have comfortable couches, or individual lazy-boys for them to rest in. This would be a purpose of entertainment or even the daily ritual of watching the news. Last but not least; an open Art Expression area. This would be the biggest construction of the whole home. It would ideally be an open area, with a glass roof so the daylight would be visible. I just feel the enclosed areas are too depressing especially people that are homeless and of age. There would be easels for painters and drawers; open space for collaging/scrapbooks/ knitting etc.etc. an area for music such as pianos; guitars; etct..not any electric guitars of course. The original card playing table for all our big time gamblers. For outside, depending of the location we can’t really build them a huge landscape and build a swimming pool. A small walking path would be nice, with a small garden here and there.

            The purpose to come up with this project is to give accessibility to people who don’t get it because of the area in which they live in. By holding campaigns and asking for local business to chip in this could hopefully be a successful project. We could design posters for fund raising events; have a benefit dinner in which hopefully government officials from the area could attend and hopefully offer to make some donations. I believe in helping out the communities that are in need. It’s part of making them feel like they have not been forgotten about, and I think about my own family. If there was no other place for them to go for some odd reason, I would feel horrible knowing their only option in an underprivileged area was the worst. It’s about reaching out to these communities and reminding them there is always opportunity for them to experience the goodness of people. Hoping everyone cooperates and playing the responsible and ambitious as well as generous designer, this could be a successful project. 

Pascal Pixel Perfect

Pascal Dangins virtual reality.

-Pascal Design is the premier retoucher of fashion photographs. Everyone calls on him when they want someone who looks less than great to look great, someone who looks amazing, more amazing..etc.

-Celebreties rely on him to insure that any portrait of them that appears in any outlet passes through his shop.

-Pascals success comes from the combination to marry technical prowess to an aesthetic sensibility.

-Uses principles of anatomy and perspective

-Sees things in a way that the majority of people won’t

-Is able to work with the photographers, channel the style they are going for in the shoot, and even composes the sets.

-He is a translator; choreographer; a conductor; photo whisperer

-Fine art prints are distinguishable; “It’s immaculate, and there is a kind of richness to the pixilation. It feels like you could almost sink your finger into it.

-Knows how to do a lot of jobs, if he doesn’t know how to do something he figures it out through trial and error.

-In a photograph, he makes sure the hues on the colors are believeable, corrects color and contrasts, focused on the correct anatomy and tries to stay away from disfiguring the human figure, instead idealizing it.

-Before his successful career, he worked at a salon. He began defining the style of a person. “I look at life as retouching”. Began working for photoshoots and became interested in the relationship between the computer and camera. Learned programming, and became very secretive with his tricks of the trade.

-Likes to present an image with a hierarchy guiding the viewer at what they should be viewing first.

-People hire Pascal for the assurance that behind every abstruse technical step there will be an artistic intention.

-Pascal is a purist; believes technology will lead to creativity rather than the other way around.

-Creating a software package called Photoshoot in where its main purpose will be to imbue digital photography with a specific sensibility.

                   My Opinion

   In this article there is also a lot of controversy on how much is too much retouching. No doubt Pascals work is amazing, but in certain cases it has been said he went overboard. He said himself his purpose was not to disfigure the human figure, but to idealize it. And the main reason he was doing it was because it was at that very persons request. He says the first people to complain about the retouching being too much are the very people that ask for it. So he is just doing his job. Also, when it comes to the fashion industry you have to portray a certain image, and have to do everything to achieve it. I found it interesting and contradicting that the Dove ad where all the more voluptous woman with more curves were trying to portray embracing the body as is, in that shoot there was a lot of retouching. I guess it all depends on how this retouching is done. Certain ads do disfigure the correct anatomy and make body parts seem really fake and anatomically incorrect. Corrections for blemishes; facial imperfections; incorrect placement of hair is all fine I think. But when the retouching reduces a woman thats a size 8 to a size 4..thats going too far and changing the person completely. Pascals work is said not to do this, he just wants to idealize and create an image that goes with the area of work, i.e. fashion, film etc. etc.

David Carson: Most Influential Graphic Designer of the Era

David Carson

We mentioned David Carson during a discussion on the evolution of magazines and type, as well as the imagery in them. David Carson was known for his successful meshing of both of these elements. David was listed as one of the top 5 most influential designers, along with Milton Glaser, Paul Rand, Saul Bass and Massimo Vignelli. Numerous groups including the New York Type Directors Club, American Center for Design and I.D. magazine have recognized his studio's work with a wide range of clients in both the business and arts worlds.

Carson began his life as a designer thanks to all the traveling he did. He has been to Puerto Rico, West Indies, did a two week graphic course at the University of Arizona in 1980, from there he went to the University of San Diego to earn his BFA in Sociology in 1983, which then later brought him to Switzerland meeting his biggest influence Rudolph Lutz.

In the late 1970’s, Carson became a professional surfer and in 1989 he was qualified as the 9^th best surfer in the world. By having this hobby as a surfer, he based this sport as the influences and main subjects of his designs. He began designing surfing magazine layouts, brochures, books, equipment design, and the latest was his own luggage design. Carson is principal and chief designer of David Carson Design, Inc. with offices in Del Mar,California and Zurich, Switzerland.

By the late 80’s after having taught in California, he began to immerse himself in the world of design and became interested in the artistic and bohemian culture of California. He began using “dirty type” and non-mainstream photographic techniques. His style was not seen anywhere before and he soon became the “Father of Grunge”. His layouts are composed of distortions of “vernacular typography” and fractured imagery, rendering them as almost illegible. Carson’s whole body of work is subjective and largely driven by intuition, with an emphasis on reading material before designing it, and experimenting with ways to communicate in a variety of mediums Carson broke all the rules Typography was putting out there, he did things no one else did. A lot of his work is consisted of distorted designs as well as some of the headlines, focusing a great clarity on the body text. For example a great deal of his designs were for surfing magazines, or brochures and the photographs were of great quality, some were blurred or made with some photographic filter but the rest of the design was surrounded by well organized body of text, and distorted designs that added just a  bit of contrast to the layout. The International Center for Photography (NY) singled out Carson as the "Designer of the Year" for his use of photography and design. Print Magazine proclaimed his work "Brilliant," while USA Today described it as "visually stunning," adding that his design of Ray Gun Magazine "may actually get young people reading again."Some of his clients include Giorgio Armani, Samnsung, Microsoft, Ray Gun magazines, twSnowboarding, twSkateboarding, Toyota etc.