Wingsuit: dangerous design for those seeking danger

 

The Wingsuit is pretty much self explanatory. Made up of ultra light yet durable material and incorporating sciences such as physics and aerodynamics, the wing suit was designed to give the wearer the ability to fly and glide through the air with the ability to control speed, and direction, with precision that enables you to land unscathed. So who is the market that the designers of the wingsuit are aiming to reach with their product? Some would call them crazy people, while others might call them brave, but we can all agree that these are thrill seekers who's thrill is often found in dangerous situations often using high trajectory of the body through space. A niche market indeed. Naturally when designing for those who seek the thrills of danger we must incorporate danger as a factor in the design process. While the wingsuit itself is not dangerous, the environment in which it is meant to be used in (some 10,000 feet above ground, sometimes with mountainous peaks below) is very dangerous indeed. Safety then becomes an equal factor to danger in the design. With two opposing forces holding the same weight, one can only imaging the kind of troubleshooting that was done during the design process. The designers of the wingsuit had the incredible task of designing something that will intentionally facilitate danger while providing the necessary safety features to insure that the user will live to fly another day. After all, any product would fail without repeat buyers.  

Click on the link below to see for yourself what people all over the world are risking their lives to experience. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gUxnlE_mwk&feature=related 

Design transformed by color

Image done by Zotus Design.

The Macintosh Corporation was recognized in the film Objectified as being one of the few companies in the world who take design seriously. However, this has not always been Apple's legacy. One way that Steve Jobs and the rest of the design team at Mac were able to take their product design to the next level was with the use of color. In 1997 when the choice of computer color was either white or off-white, Apple came out with a sleek new design for their imac. These featured rounder monitors with clear plastic parts that came in a variety of colors. This use of color really set the apple brand apart and gave it big appeal to a younger up and coming market.While it's possible that someone on the design team might have just thrown out this idea while brainstorming, no doubt there was some serious research into color and the theories surrounding it.

Color theory is a vast subject that can go from strict laws of science to existentialism in no time. There is a psychology behind color and the way people interact to them. Red for example may give some people feelings of anger and violence while others feel romance and love from the same red. Colors have been assigned to represent genders, ideas, and even sexual orientation. Colors have been found to interact with each other in ways that can trick the eye into seeing change within their physical properties such as hue, and saturation.  Color and light are very directly related, in fact  color is absent without light because the parts of our eyes that receive the frequencies that transmit color need light to function. Light with respect to color has a different set of primaries and sometimes interacts in an almost contradictory way  to their cousins of pigment. A good example of this is what happens when you mix all the colors together. In pigment, the result is a muddy dark gray. I liken this to the taste of all the sodas on the fountain mixed together, undefined. In light on the other hand, the mixture of all colors gives pure white light. That would be like mixing all the sodas on the fountain and getting pure, clean water.
Weather the complex theories behind color were at the forefront of Apple's choice in the 1997 imac, or the obvious aesthetics drove the decision to diversify using color, Apple hit the nail on the head leaving behind the competition and convincing consumers that the whole rainbow was the "New Black".

Utopian Design in Mass Transit

Anyone who had ever had to depend on mass transit as their main form of transportation knows that the difference between a good day and a lousy day can often depend on the how smoothly the A to B and back to A commute runs.  The design behind high speed rail  incorporates all kinds of Utopian design ethics to improve the way society moves around.  All kinds of design related problems need to be solved, from the color and comfort of the interior to the aerodynamics of the exterior and the energy source that pulls at speeds of close to 300mph.  Still careful planning must take place to coordinate track lines, routes, and schedules. Seating size, dining car menus, foot rests, and toilets all have to have very important decisions made in order to allow for the functionality of the train as a whole.   Then there is the train station which serves as an access point for all passengers. Within the station design of waiting rooms, ticket counters, and loading areas are just as important in maximizing the efficiency of the system as a whole.   When any of these factors is not pulling at full speed the whole system slows down and so does society as a whole. This works in a way very similar to the major systems in the human body that depend on each other to facilitate life as a whole.  As technology changes so society fallows and much depends on the designers of our transit system to keep up with the needs for transport. This may pose a huge task for designers who live in the age of teleportation.

Color in Design

At the beginning of every season we are told what is color is "hot" and can be worn in any number of contexts. It is up to us, the designers to let the world know what is cool. As designers we need to take into careful consideration our color choices. Color is one of the most distinguishing characteristics that an item can have. Many times the decision of what to buy can come down to the choice of color. People would generally pay more for the same item to have it in their favorite color.  The way people perceive and identify with color is a major factor when choosing colors to use for a design. Toothbrushes for example, are always found in bright "fresh" colors like blue and green. Never do we see a brown or mustard colored toothbrush. This is most likely because the designers want people to associate their product with clean, fresh mouths. Just looking at the bright white and blue toothbrush can make you feel like it's really going to work.  Lawnmowers all tend to be red for some reason.The color choice in this case is not as obvious. Looking at a red lawnmower doesn't give you the feeling that it can really cut grass well however, any other colored mower looks odd. This color selection might have more to do with a tradition that has now become the status quo. This is another factor a designer must take into account. While it might seem like a fun and fresh idea to design a funky yellow lawnmower, it might not be accepted by the market. 

Sexy? Yes. Ergonomic? Not so much...

 
Today I bought a pair of white, alligator, stilettos by Michael Antonio. These are the kind of shoes that Charlie's Angels could do karate in. The Angels must have had feet the shape of an acute triangle because the last thing these shoes are is ergonomically designed. There are five areas of research one must take into consideration for ergonomic design, safety, comfort, ease of use, performance, and aesthetics. The area of safety is probably one of the weakest for this particular pair of shoes. With 4 inch heels that are just over a quarter of an inch in diameter, balance is a constant challenge with the threat of a twisted ankle or fall. In the comfort department, the shoes score even lower. I measured a 30 degree angle at the tip, and with the 4 inch lift on the heel part, your toes are constantly being pressed by gravity to conform to that narrow shape while all your weight is bared on the balls of your feet.  With regards to ease of use, that depends on frequency of use. While the shoes slip on and of  with relative ease, while standing or walking in them you can't help but have a tight rope-like walk where your mind is always partially concentrating on the constant balancing act. While at the same time trying to look graceful and unforced. Performance is an area that also implies productivity. For shoes to enhance productivity they must protect the feet from the ground and enable the wearer to move around with little effort. The stilettos do protect my feet from the ground, however at the same time they impose other risks that not only limit mobility, they also cause discomfort when engaged. I would go as far as to saying that these shoes are actually counterproductive to what the performance goals are for ergonomic design. Aesthetics, being the last and the least of the areas of research is kind if like the top of the Maslow triangle. This section is considered the transcendental level where after the basic human needs of survival and success are met, one can do some self-actualization and think about happiness, and other abstract concepts. For this area my shoes passed with flying colors.  They look great both on and off the feet. The Cream colored upper has great scale-like texture from the alligator skin. The back of the heel and along the tip are capped with a brown leather strip that accentuates all 30 degrees of the tip of the shoe while bringing unity between the front and back of the shoe. The 4 inch heel is a brown wood so thin and subtle, it almost goes unnoticed as if I really am 6 feet tall, and my legs really do go on for weeks.  It is obvious that the shoes were designed for the sole purpose of aesthetics. They break every rule of ergonomic design. However, they meet the needs of those of us who are walking tall and proud, concerned only of the cosmos and the meaning of life. In reality, the only thing on my mind when walking in these shoes is "left, right, left, right, left".

Raider Nation

Yesterday I was lucky enough to get seats on the Oakland Raider's sideline and despite the rainy weather, there wasn't an empty seat in all of "The Black Hole".  The fans were as rowdy as ever and the victory in OT was sweet. While on the outside I was screaming and high 5ing left and right, I could not help but think a little about the emblem that represents the Raider Nation. After a bit of research I found that when the team was first established in 1960 there was a "name the team" contest.  The winner was the Oakland Senors. After being the brunt of a million jokes, the team changed it's name to the Oakland Raiders and adopted the now popular emblem.  Little has changed about it since, and yet it has become a symbol of fans who pledge allegiance to the Raider Nation. These are footballs most notorious fans. Shirts, ponchos, hats, and tattoos have been made in the likeness of this design and yet no one knows or cares much about the person who designed it.  I could not even find, with the help of Google, any designer given credit for the emblem. And yet, it is iconic, a symbol that could make a grown man cry. Whoever this mystery designer is, I want to salute him on behalf of the entire Raider Nation, as well as designers worldwide for giving us something that we can all appreciate. Great design.

Book Covers. The interaction of word and image

Last Tuesday graphic artist and published author Brian Fies lectured our class about the process of creating his graphic novel "Mom's Cancer". The part of the lecture I found particularly interesting was the process that he along with his designer and editor went through to create the book cover. As the popular saying goes, "you can't judge a book by the cover". This is true when metaphorically referring to the shallow judgment of a persons character based on their looks. However, literally speaking, that is exactly what we do when choosing a book on the shelf at a bookstore or library. This puts a whole different spin on the purpose of design for the book cover. Marketing suddenly takes center stage when decisions need to be made about how the use of words and image can best represent the book. Psychology can play a part in the choice of what colors to use or even the typeface. Fies showed us about 20 different mock-ups for the book cover and that was only a small portion of the actual number they took into careful consideration. In the end they chose the original idea which was an image of Fies's mom from the book with the title in the upper left hand corner. The simplicity of this cover allows the powerful image to speak for the book. The title fills in any blanks that might be there, but somehow I don't think there would be many.