Design in Our Lives

      Design arts surround us, their applied in our everyday life. Some designs are completely conceptual and hard to use and some are practical and ergonomic. In my opinion low functioning design forgets the human element, that the intended user is human and that we desire comfort on most levels. Designs should appeal to the eyes be pleasant to look at, feel comfortable and not cause any physical pain. High functioning design appeals to all the senses, its interesting and comfortable.
      The first piece that I found to be high functioning was the “Experimental Lounge chair” made in 1944 by Charles Eames andRay Eames. The chair is made of  Molded Plywood and Steel Rod. I felt the design was very interesting and new, not ordinary in any way. The chair just appealed to me I liked to look at it. You felt as though the designers thought about human use when designing the chair but didn't forget to make it appealing and beautiful. The second piece that I though was high functioning was the “Chaise Lounge (LC/4)” made in 1928 by Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand and Le Corbusier Chrome. The chair is made of plated steel,fabric and leather the design element is greater then that of “Experimental lounge chair” but the designers didn’t forget about human use. The chair I feel is pleasant on the eyes, the design is stream lined and has a good concept, yet still looks comfortable and easy to use. I liked both pieces, I felt the deigns were interesting, contemporary and useful.
      The first piece that I though to be low functioning was the “XXXX Sofa” it was made in 2010 by Yuya Ushida. Its made of Polyamide and makes you feel as though it would be painful to use. The sofa feels over designed and totally conceptual, I feel the designers didn't think about human use and just designed straight from idea and forgot all outside factors. The sofa is unpleasant to look at it gives one of feeling sadism and makes you think of toucher. The second piece that I found to be low functioning was the “Carna Folding Wheelchair” made in 1989 by Kazuo Kawasaki. As with the “XXXX Sofa” it looks like the designers completely forgot about human use and completely over designed its made of titanium, rubber and an aluminum honeycomb. Its pleasant to look at and the design is very interesting, you want it to work and be comfortable but it looks like it would be to hard and uncomfortable. I feel it was completely over thought the designers didn’t forget the human element but I don’t feel that the concept worked.
     The design arts is almost more subjective then the fine arts, whats functional and interesting to one person can be boring and painful to someone else. A good design should appeal to all the senses be pleasant to look at and have a certain level of use.

1. Experimental Lounge chair
Molded  Plywood and Steel Rod
1944
Charles Eames
Ray Eames


2. Chaise Lounge (LC/4)
Chrome plated steel fabric and leather
1928
Pierre Jeanneret
Charlotte Perriand
le Corbusier

3.XXXX Sofa 

Polyamide

2010 

Yuya Ushida

4.Carna Folding Wheelchair
Titanium, rubber and aluminum honeycomb
1989
Kazuo Kawasaki