Aesthetic Exploration: The Golden Ratio
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The golden ratio is a ratio of 1 to 1.618 that seems to be abundantly demonstrated in nature. This is mathematically represented by the Fibonacci series, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 – each number being the sum of the two previous numbers. The ratio of one number to the next number approaches the…
Aesthetic Explorations: Ski Photography and Filming
Photographing something that is extremely bright is hard. Adding in a moving object makes it even more challenging. Ski photography has come a long way since its start, around the time of the camera. It can be inferred that ski photography didn’t really come about until the camera had become more portable. It was around 1931…
Aesthetic Explorations: Starr Kempf’s Kinetic Wind Sculptures
In my hometown neighborhood sits a house with a peculiar front yard. Enormous metal sculptures clutter the lawn: some swaying in the breeze like a wind vanes, while some lay on their sides too gargantuan to stand up. A man named Starr Kempf designed and created the steel kinetic wind sculptures, displaying them across the…
Aesthetic Exploration: Touch of Color
The aesthetic called a “touch of color” or “dash of color” has been used in still art, photography, and film for years. The aesthetic uses backdrops or settings that are substantially desaturated or even gray-scale with a single saturated element. It forces an instant response from audience to focus on the saturated element and uses the…
Aesthetic Explorations: Baroque Composers
The aesthetic I have chosen to explore is that of Baroque musical composition, a period of European musicianship lasting from 1600 to 1750. Well known within this period are composers such as Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713), Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751), Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), and George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) among…
Aesthetic Explorations: Lava Lamps
Lava lamps have been glowing in people’s homes ever since they were invented in 1960’s in the United Kingdom. The inventor, Edward Craven Walker, took particular interest in the way two contrasting liquids behaved together inside a container and strived to learn their properties. Several years later, he released the first lava lamp known as…
Aesthetic Explorations: Juggling by Preston Marcoux
*** Note most of the videos below are long, I would advise scrolling through them briefly to get a general sense of the juggling patterns displayed in the videos ** While in class, I was amazed by the extreme differences in aesthetics of the popularized dance seen around the world, compared to the far less popular swing…
Aesthetic Exploration: The Wild West in “Westworld”
The “Wild West” includes the time period ranging from pre-Revolutionary America to the early 1900’s, but is most commonly coined between the Civil War (1865) and about 1912. In movies and shows, the setting is the American Frontier, or Southwestern United States. Today, this would be Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Utah, and Nevada. The…
Aesthetic Exploration- Art Deco Revival
Art Deco was an art movement that started in France during the 1920s. It influenced everything from jewelry to architecture. Art deco focused on repeating geometries, non-dimensional illustrations and liked incorporating things that had to do with the influx of modern era technology. Art Deco was a backlash against the WWI mindset of rationing and…
Explore an Aesthetic: Psychedelic / Technologically Advanced EDM Stages
Electronic dance music stages have significantly evolved in design over the last several years from simple lighting setups, akin to what one would see in a standard theater production, to highly technologically advanced productions involving many moving lights and other elements on the stage. The effect is that the light shows displayed from psychedelically designed stages create a deeply…
Aesthetic Exploration- Psychedelic Poster Art & the Counter Culture
The 1960’s were a time of change and drastic social movements in the United States. The 60’s led to a sort of rebirth of America, one with more freedom in many aspects. This desire for cultural change led to new developments and techniques in music and art, among many other things. These movements were pro-peace and…
Aesthetics Explorations: Camera
While brainstorming for an interesting aesthetic exploration topic, I began to realize that the very thing we use to capture the aesthetics in our everyday lives is an aesthetic in itself. While most people will immediately picture the black, square DSLR cameras owned by almost every household, cameras have progressed greatly over the years. The earliest…
Aesthetics Explorations: The Hofmeister Kink
The Hofmeister Kink A Simple Twist https://charlesng.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/bmw-hofmeister-kink1.jpg The Hofmeister Kink is a design feature named after BMW’s chief designer Wilhelm Hofmeister during 1955 and 1970, where there is a “kink” on a car’s C-pillar or D-pillar. Wilhelm Hofmeister http://www.bmwism.com/designers/wilhelm_hofmeister.jpg The Hofmeister Kink has been on almost all BMW cars since 1960, with very few exceptions of some…
Aesthetics Exploration: Park Guell, Barcelona, Spain
Park Guell lies on the northern face of Carmel Hill in Barcelona Spain and overlooks the city as well as the Mediterranean Sea. (On top of Carmel Hill in Park Guell – Photo Taken by me) (Inside the colored-tiles in Park Guell overlooking the city – Photo by Traveldigg c) The development of this park was…
Aesthetic Exploration: Camouflage
The history of camouflage art is based in survival, but it has since evolved to mean many things. Up until around WWI many armies and navies were dressed in the bright uniforms of their profession. This included items such as red jackets and white gloves [1]. Fighting in this period of history was undergoing a…
03 Aesthetics Tour 1, and Upcycling
Today we reviewed definitions of art and aesthetics, and started looking at examples. We also spent a little time towards the end of the hour on what is upcycling. Lecture in pdf format 03 Aesthetics tour, Upcycling Lecture in OneNote format
Aesthetic Explorations: The Utility of Maps
I am a strong believer that everything I own must have a purpose. This purpose could be physical or abstract, but should have enough of an impact for me to NOT throw it away each time I move. If it does not have a function, do I need it? If a stranger were to walk…
Aesthetic Explorations: The Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a famous aesthetic that sits in the San Francisco Bay, connecting the city of San Francisco to Marin County. This aesthetic is actually characterized as one of the Wonders of the Modern World. A birds eye view of the Golden Gate Bridge It was finished…
02 Definition of Aesthetics
Plus Hertzberg’s Theory of Art: a vision instantiated. Lecture notes in pdf format: 02 Definition of Aesthetics
01 First Class 2017: Fresh again
Design, art, engineering: all iterative processes. This will be the third offering of the Aesthetics of Design course. The class is full, the students are eager, and I’m stoked to do this again: learning and presenting new content, expanding and honing what I already have, greeting students from previous courses and meeting new ones. Looking…
Laser cut automaton
I wish I could give better attribution for this than a tumblr post! Can anyone read the artist’s name?
Silver Swan Automaton 200 years old!
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/robotic-silver-swan-has-fascinated-fans-nearly-250-years-180962024/ I wish I had any confidence that any of our current technology would still be working in 200 years!
Is the Aesthetics of Design course right for you?
This is the letter I’ve been sending to students, both enrolled and waitlisted. The idea is to clarify expectations. Thanks for signing up for the Aesthetics in Design course. I’m writing to give you a bit more information about the course, and get you thinking about your design project for the course. An updated flyer…
Solidsmack
There are plenty of tech and design blogs out there, but this one seems well-curated, with frequent and interesting posts: Solidsmack
Spring 2017 Enrollment is Open!
So excited to offer this again! There were a lot of changes and development last spring; I think we are getting to a good place with the course. Final tweaks will involve setting it in the context of our ME design curriculum for both grad and undergraduate students. Here is the enrollment info: Aesthetics of…
Tyler, Sam, and Sophia’s Aesthetics of Design Game
For Our team’s aesthetic of design game categories were the modern style aesthetic and LAMPS. The essence of modern style is to use angular, geometric shapes with swooping curves, and simplicity. We know that there are other possible definition, but these were the key aspects of the design that we were trying to capture. The…
Erick Pena final report (Part 1 and 2) Bluetooth speakers
Final Product Starting out with the cost of the project as seen in Table 1, the total price to complete this project came out to be a little over $160 dollar. My budget that I set out for this project was $150 dollar, but one thing to take into consideration is that I did not…
Spider Toy: April 13th Update
I have made a lot of progress this week by building the wind up toy’s skeleton, but there is still a lot more to do before the ITLL Design Expo (4/23/2016)! First I began the week by going to the ITLL machine shop to start the fabrication process of my wind up spider toy and…
Spider Toy: Wednesday Update March 30th – Industrial Aesthetics
Just got back from spring break, and the project is coming along slowly. I went to McGuckins Hardware Store to collect several “solar powered hobby cars” to collect small plastic gears and metal parts to build a prototype of my design, and then salvage the parts for the final design. I also bought spring steel…
Reflections and Plans for the Living Room 3D Printer
Aesthetics Project Reflections As previously mentioned, this project really started out as an aesthetics challenge: how can I make something that inherently has many wires, motors, rods, and fasteners look like it belongs in a living room? This was the first project that I’ve ever done which focused more on aesthetics than pure functionality, and…
The “Electric” Hourglass: Final Report pt.2
Why and What’s Next? Much of my intention for this class was to construct pieces which were art in themselves. While, the electric hourglass does not function to serve any purpose other than visual art, I believe it conjures an interesting aesthetic space. The design is far-fetched in nature but provides depth for further contemplation.…
Spider Toy: Wednesday March 16th Update – Fabrication Timeline
The wind-up spider toy is off to a rocky start! There have been a few issues related to collecting my materials through online distributors, because some particular crucial components for building sets of 125 plastic gears only cost $13.oo but two months to ship from China. These gears would not arrive at my apartment until…
The “Electric” Hourglass: Final Report pt.1
Introduction The intent of the “electric hourglass” is to create a new perspective on the age-old timepiece. Its initial concept was to construct a wood stand and hourglass section in which a lighting display would imitate the movement of sand. However, this scope was narrowed by the capability of available lighting options. More idea were developed while thinking upon…
Fabrication Timeline
For my design, I will need to fabricate both a wood structure for my hourglass and a light installation to go inside. As of now, I am not settled on the details of my light installation so I will focus on fabricating the wood base. Taking inspiration from traditional hourglass forms, I want the wood…
Nixie Clock | Case Update
Boom! A block of the finest Silver Maple- so fresh, it’s still kind of damp, and has wax sealed sides! This was an unexpected extra step; I definitely wasn’t planning on having to spend time drying out (“seasoning”) my wood. This block was purchased from an exotic woods dealer online. I picked this silver…
Nixie Clock | Electronics Update
Progress! After receiving all the parts, I spent 6 hours straight soldering. The board arrived blank, with a bag of components- all it took was some caffeine, and one late night! https://www.aesdes.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/IMG_2523.mp4 I’m really excited with how these turned out! While I was debating on a case at first, I’m really glad I decided to…
Nixie Clock | April 6th Budget Update
The Nixie clock is humming along! I received my block of wood, but wasn’t able to make a lot of progress this week on the physical case- I hit an unexpected road block. It turns out, when you order exotic wood, it comes “partly seasoned”- aka, still wet! This block has wax sealed…
20th Century Design Influences
My project is heavily inspired by 20th Century Design Influences. I really wanted to mimic this modern look: Straight sides, sharp corners, constant finish- this is the goal of my nixie clock. I was very inspired by a lot of furniture from this era. This is another piece I really like: Simple…
Pre-Spring Break Aesthetics Game
Dang! Didn’t see this up, so I wanted to add it to the Aesthetics Game section. Ashley Zimmer, Dennis Can, Yusen Ji, and I had “Post Modern” and “Office trash receptacle. These are the two designs we came up with! The right-side-up one is a curvey, three-piece set that nests together, and is made…
iPhone and Apple Watch charging dock: Part II
My project probably has the biggest difference from the beginning to the end. At the beginning I was planning on making a mirrorless rear view mirror for cars. However due to the natural difficulty of the concept and my tight schedule, I switched to a simpler and more practical project—the iPhone and Apple Watch charging…
Aesthetics of Design Timeline
Here listed is a rough timeline for the completion of my project and other posts: Week 1 (Jan 18) Research into different aesthetics. I found a particular interest in androgynous fashion Androgynous Week 2 (Jan 25) Experimenting with creating products with a given aesthetic with upcycled materials. Here I took function and applied an aesthetic…
Final Project Report II: What it all means, The Gospel of Two Wheels
I initially began thinking of what to do for this project with a lot of ideas in mind. All of them were projects I had considered doing independently of this class but never had the resources or resolve to give them a complete try. I knew that I wanted a product that I could use…
Surreal Stirling Engine: Timeline
March 3 – Ordered parts (Glass syringes, alcohol lamp) March 11 – Parts arrived March 23 – First parts printed March 28 – Begin assembly April 4 – Initial testing April 8 – Whale sculpted April 15 – Helicopter rotor printed April 18 – Final tweaks and details added to the whale April 23 – Expo Here…
iPhone & Apple Watch charging dock: Final Post Part I
iPhone 6 and 6s are famous for having small batteries. I have to charge my 6s all the time to keep it running. Not to mention the Apple Watch, it’s a watch that you have to charge on the daily basis. The iPhone is also very thin and slippery, once you lay it on the…
Final Report I: Concrete Details
I have completed my first custom bicycle frame. It’s a task I’ve been itching to do for year and this class and project was the perfect opportunity to pursue the experience with the support I needed. There were successes and lots of failures, but I have an end product, one that I intend to use.…
Ferrofluid Sculpture: Final Report part 2
Background and What’s To Come I chose to pursue this project because of my overwhelming fascination with ferrofluid. It is such a unique liquid that typically is used in automotive applications where normal oil will not hold. The magnetic attribute gives it an advantage in industrial applications, and a pleasing look. I wanted to take…
Ferrofluid Sculpture 4/13
I have spent the past week attempting to make the ferrofluid glass encasing completely sealed so the ferrofluid has no chance to leak (that would be bad). It has turned out to be a significantly more difficult process then i originally thought. The silicone sealant I am using requires at least 12 hours to cure,…
Ferrofluid Sculpture: Fabrication Timeline
Fortunately, my project does not involve too much machining. I will be able to get away with a few laser cuts and 3D printed parts. The only complicated fabrication piece will be cutting the glass encasing. Below is a layout of my current schedule for fabrication and assembly. 14 February – Acquire and test ferrofluid…
Bladeless Fan Timeline
Description This project is part of an aesthetics of design course which required the final product to be dynamic in some sort of way. My inspirations for this design is from the Dyson bladeless fans. I was fascinated by the technology and wanted to implement it in my own project. The product was to be…
Design Fabrication Timeline
The following is a layout of the schedule for my final project (Wind Chimes). Week of: March 28: Order supplies from McMaster Carr and pick up supplies form McGuckins. Also model the pieces in Solidworks. April 4: Begin work in the machine shop, starting with the aluminum pipes. April 11: Finish work…
Final Page
This project is a coffee brewer. It consists of a stand made from wood which holds a large jar that cold brews coffee. There is a valve to drain the coffee when it’s done brewing and there is a collection jar at the bottom. Below are links regarding the timeline of this project Inspiration Ideas…
Alcohol Stove Final Report Part 2
Why and What’s Next? I began this project with the intent to build a minimalist styled alcohol stove and for the most part I would say I achieved my goals. I started with the idea of making a stove that had a built in pot stand, variable temperature control and some sort of external fuel…
Alcohol Stove Final Report Part 1
Introduction I created an alcohol backpacking stove following a minimalist aesthetic. The stove uses denatured alcohol for fuel, features legs which function as a built in pot holder, and has a “simmer ring” to control temperature. Concept The general concept of how this style of stove works is illustrated well by these two images.…
Update 4/13 – Thundercloud
This week I started building the cloud. Here is an image of some of the progress made. I am using a poster board as the main internal support for the cloud and the hardware needed to run it. I attached a layer of pillow stuffing to the poster board using spray adhesive and some embroidery…
Design Fabrication Timeline – Liz
Below is a simple timeline of the design fabrication for my cloud. The main milestones are purchasing all the materials, completing a functional prototype, and completing the final build. Week March 20 – 26 Purchase all materials Week March 27 – April 2 Prototyping Purchase new materials as needed Finalize design Week April 3 –…
20th Century Design Movement: Mysticism
While thinking of a design movement to report on, I wanted to choose one that reflected the aesthetic intent of my project. I had difficulty narrowing down the aesthetic of my project since it is meant to create a more personal experience than convey a certain aesthetic. However, if I had to decide upon a…
Progress Update 4/13–The “Electric” Hourglass
As mentioned in my last update, my initial concepts of incorporating a plasma globe or electric arc were dissuaded against by Tim May. Moving forward, I am now focusing on creating a light display through use of a centralized object and light source. I intend for the central element to produce an interesting ambient lighting…
Illuminated Branch Divider Final Report (Part 2)
In my previous post, I described the process I took to bring this project to completion. It involved the design and assembly of a number of different pieces, and helped me grow my skills in woodworking, electronics and painting. But aside from seeking to sharpen these skills (and complete the assignment for class), I had…
Final Report 2 Longboard
The final product, as you can see, is a custom made longboard, optimized for cruising. Aesthetically, the board maintains a classic beach wood look with curvyness. This is both designed as a functional athletic piece of technology and as an art piece. Moving forward, this board will make its way to New York City/…
Macro Music Box – Project Update 4/13
The music box is coming along, in fact it’s fairly close except for final assembly. I realized I’ll need to mount each key to the octagon and then mount that entire structure to the base board. I could have chosen some alternate mounting method, though I wanted to keep the mounting hardware hidden, so that’s…
Coffee Brewer: The why
Overall this project is for a friend. This is my last year in college and he has been there for all 4 years of it, going through each up and down right alongside me. He’s the one who got me drinking 6 cups of coffee everyday, and someone who has left his mark in my…
Link to ‘Lazy Susan Kitchen Device’ final report
Lazy Susan Kitchen Device (LSKD) I am not sure if this is needed or not, but here is a link, just in case you need help finding my page.
The Illusionist Locket – Final Project Post #2
How did it turn out? Well, I finished the project as you can see from the featured image. However, I am not very satisfied with the end result. I was hoping for a very clean and professional feel while still working with wood. However, with a project this small, that feeling is a matter of…
Progress Update Useless Box (for week 14)
After getting all the coding and electronics done, the next step was to get the box created. This week, exactly that was done. In order to do this a number of steps had to be taken. First, the complete design had to be created. I started with an overall hand sketch so I could have a…
Wind Chimes in C Major Final Report Part II
For my final project, I created a set of wind chimes played tuned to play notes in C major. I felt that I could mold a set of wind chimes into the aesthetic that I wanted, specifically a mix of engineering and naval aviation. To accomplish this aesthetic I wanted to use an overall steel/haze…
Wind Chimes in C Major Final Report Part 1
Introduction: For my final project, I created a set of wind chimes played tuned to play notes in C major. I felt that I could mold a set of wind chimes into the aesthetic that I wanted, specifically a mix of engineering and naval aviation. To accomplish this aesthetic I wanted to use an…
Thundercloud Final Report Part 2
Inspired by nature I tried to create a piece that accurately mimicked a thundercloud. Much like the organic design movement took inspiration from different aspects of nature. I think the results were successful. At expo, the light fixture was received well by the public! Many comments were made about how realistic the lightning flashes…