Compare/Contrast

On October 11, 2010, the new CoHo opened on the U.C. Davis campus. Under construction for almost two years, the new CoHo looks more modern and aesthetically appealing. Not knowing what the new Coho would look like while under construction, I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in on that Monday.

When I first encountered the CoHo when I was a freshman at UC Davis, I honestly didn’t think anything of it. Since I never needed to buy food or drinks there (thank you, DC!), I didn’t feel an urge to ever go. This changed my sophomore year, when I was on campus for longer parts of the day and needed some sustenance to keep me going throughout the day. However, I never actually liked spending time in the CoHo. It was just a place to go in, buy my food, and leave. It looked like a typical cafeteria area that every college had. It was a little old looking, but it served its purpose. The food counters and cashier stands were plain blocks with very little color to them. The tables and chairs were just standard chairs you would see on campus in a large room. Basically, nothing was very attractive at the CoHo.

After years of construction (or that’s what it seemed like to me), the CoHo finally opened and WOW. Compared to the old one, the design of the new CoHo has improved tenfold. It’s definitely a “happenin’” place to be and is always bustling with people. There are new booths that my roommate and I so fittingly call “comfy booths” because they look like just that – comfy! The new signs, counters, and cashier stands are a lot more colorful and inviting. The furniture looks a lot more appealing to sit in and makes you want to actually spend time in the CoHo. Each food counter has accents that make it unique and entices you to look at its menu. In my eyes, this new CoHo is modern, up-to-date, and a place UC Davis will definitely be showing off in the following years.

Design as a Conversation in Popular Culture Part 2: Street Art x TV

The Simpsons and Banksy are two well-known figures in today’s popular culture. The Simpsons is an animated television show that parodies the working-class American lifestyle. Banksy is a street artists known for his graffiti art that displays dark humor and his political activist’s views, particularly on British society. In this blog, I will examine another form of design as a conversation through a collaboration between Banksy and The Simpsons.

Posted above is a video of the famous introduction of The Simpsons, directed mainly by Banksy. As you probably have noticed, it is quite dark and not the usual satirical scene you see while watching The Simpsons introduction. This introduction, instead, is shown in the usual Banksy style, criticizing the fact that The Simpsons have been accused of outsourcing much of its animation and merchandising to a company in South Korea.

Here, it is obvious that Banksy’s message is about the mainstream program’s outsourcing to a lesser developed country. Here lies a conversation with his fans, The Simpsons’ audience, and America as a society. Aware of the fact that both he and The Simpsons have a large fanbase, I’m confident that he designed this introduction knowing that whatever message he sent out would have a large impact and would be seen by many. Thus, in Banksy style, he chose to design the intro as a criticism of the show, which is in fact, already a parody of the “American life.” We then have a criticism on top of a criticism, or a conversation within an existing conversation.

Like many artists, Banksy used his art to relay a message about American society on one of the most popular shows in the United States. This is a great example of how design can be used as a conversation, as Banksy tells the American people exactly what is wrong with their own society.

Design as a Conversation in Popular Culture Part 1: Music

In class last week, Professor Housefield showed us a video of Lady Gaga singing with Yoko Ono as a example of design as a conversation. This led me to think of music in general as a conversation. Many musical artists, from the Dixie Chicks to Nas, use their music as a medium for political and cultural discourse, or even as a conversation between rival artists. Just as many artists use their art to send a message to its audience, musical artists use their music to do the same.

The first topic I bring up is music as a medium for political and cultural discourse. Here, music as a conversation towards its audience can hold a lot of power within society. For example, rock and roll was once deemed as “music of the Devil” and many parents and adults did not want their kids to be influenced by rock and roll because they believed it would lead them to a life of violence and crime. The parents believed that the conversation between rock and roll artists and their audience would corrupt the innocent youth of their generation. This eventually led to stricter censorship guidelines and parental advisory labels on albums deemed too “explicit” for children under seventeen.

Another conversation held within music can be seen between “rival” artists, such as Nas and Jay-Z and Mariah Carey and Eminem. Here, conversations are held between artists as a means to “diss” the other, or bring the other down, while bringing your own reputation up. The feud between Nas and Jay-Z involved many internal and external factors, which ultimately helped in record sales for both artists due to this “conversation.” The rivalry between Mariah Carey and Eminem was a result between an alleged relationship and were the fuel to several songs between both artists. We see, here, that conversations between artists can be used to restore/destroy a reputation, increase record sales, and a means of publicity.

All in all, the conversation within music can involve a variety of factors and can also have multiple results. Music as a conversation, just like design as a conversation, has a larger affect on society and pop culture than one may realize. We see, then, how these conversations are pertinent in keeping the culture alive and allowing artists to voice their own opinions.

Hello Kitty

Words cannot express how infatuated I’ve been with Hello Kitty since the tender age of five. Sure, she may be a cultural phenomenon in the U.S. right now, but any true Hello Kitty fan would have known about her since their childhood. What made Hello Kitty so appealing to me as a child?

Hello Kitty & Friends

Founded in 1960, Sanrio Co., Ltd. created products featuring various animal characters inspired by the popularized segment of Japanese culture known as kawaii (cute). And that just what Hello Kitty and Co. was to me when I was five – cute. Their design gives the impression that they are fun-loving, huggable animals that live in their own fantasy world. They even have birthdays and personal life stories (FYI Keroppi shares the same birthday as me – July 10!). True, if I was introduced to them now, I would most likely think they were creepy, mouth-less animals. However, these Sanrio characters only remind me of my childhood.

The Sanrio characters have a simple design that matches the simpleness that is childhood. Their faces and bodies are basic shapes and have simple lines. Consequently, they give off the feeling of innocence. The colors of each character are bright and attractive to a young child’s eye. These factors combined create a sense of playfulness and easiness.

For the same reason that I find Hello Kitty and her friends appealing, the U.S. consumer market finds them appealing, as well. Hello Kitty has blown up in the last couple of years in popular culture and can be seen everywhere, from makeup to waffle makers. America loves the innocence that Hello Kitty portrays and her design is ubiquitous. The simple oval face with

rounded triangle ears, and a bow on one side is all that is needed to create a cultural phenomenon. As the saying goes, sometimes simple is better. In Hello Kitty’s case, being simple works in her favor.

Hello Kitty x M.A.C. Cosmetics

Creativity from Without

In class last week, we discussed the concept of “creativity from without.” One of the examples given was of a man, Andy Goldsworthy, who created ephemeral art from the nature around him. The specific piece that I remember was created from garlic leaves.

This concept of “creativity from without” lead me to think of other designers who have also found inspiration for their creativity from without. One designer’s work that I particularly remember encountering is Jay Sario, who created a dress for the Discarded to Divine Fashion Show in San Francisco in late April of this year.

Since the show was sponsored by Fiji Water, Jay Sario created a dress incorporating the company in order to be auctioned off for charity. A contestant on a past season of Project Runway, Jay Sario is a fashion designer that has had experience in creating garments inspired by various objects or ideas around him.

The Fiji dress by Jay Sario

For this particular dress, he drew inspiration from the color and design on the plastic Fiji water bottle. He cut out circles from the bottle and connected them to the bottom of teal blue dress that he constructed. Without knowing about the concept, many would not notice that the circles at the bottom of his dress were made from Fiji water bottles.

Jay Sario was able to find inspiration in a plastic water bottle – an object that we overlook on a day to day basis. He created a beautiful garment from an object that we know so well to just hold water. He is a great example of how we can find inspiration and creativity outside of our own selves and even apply to our daily lives.

Stone Soup

Last Tuesday, my Design 1 group brought various materials to class in order to make our own version of “Stone Soup.”

Stone Soup, as we were reminded in class, is about three soldiers who, after their inability to find a home to eat at, decided to make their own meal - a soup. However, they did not have any ingredients to make this soup, so they asked each villager or family of villagers to make a small contribution in order for them to eat. Eventually, the villagers became eager to contribute to the soup in order to make it taste good. Each villager collaborated and worked together to create a delicious soup for the soldiers and everybody to eat. Applying this story to our class, Professor Housefield wanted us to make our own version of Stone Soup through working together and collaborating our ideas to create something “aesthetically appealing.”

Our supplies included construction paper, raffia, paint, rubber gloves, markers, a dictionary, water bottles cut into shapes, and other “ingredients” that could be added to our“soup.” At first, we were puzzled as to what to create, since we did not see an obvious way to bring all of our ingredients together. After brainstorming some ideas, we finally drew inspiration from one of our Christine’s shirt, which from KDVS with a green octopus on it.

Thus the creation process began! We decided the best way to construct our octopus was to make a head first and then the tentacles. We chose to use the raffia for the shape of a head and then each one of our members would contribute their own tentacle. Each member expressed their views of how we thought we could best construct the head. After much trial and error, we all decided that our octopus was less than aesthetically pleasing.

On to Plan B. We chose, instead, to make baby octopus from the rubber gloves and put in on the existing octopus. While some of us made the babies, the rest worked to compile a better octopus. Someone even threw in the idea of using the words “create” and “design” from the dictionary for others to interpret

what these words meant.

In the end, we created a something that everybody contributed to and were pleased with. Though it may not win the award for “Best Design,” we were successful in creating something that expressed everybody’s ideas and creativity towards a common goal. We learned to work together and because of this experience, we have become closer as a group and are not afraid to express our own thoughts and opinions with each other.

Let them eat cake.

A phrase most often used to address Marie Antoinette, who many blamed for the political turmoil in France in the 18^th Century. Despite the politics, I absolutely adore 18^th Century interior design and fashion. Coined the term, “Rococo,” it represents the lavish life and elegance of the French royalty.

What attracted me most to this type of design was the excessiveness that it entailed. Though this was a large part of the reason for the French’s failing economy, it was a necessity to the construction of the Rococo era. In modern terms, the mentality of the ruling class was, “Go hard or go home.” Thus, both the architecture and dress for the French royalty embodied a sense of luxury through intricate designs, volume, and excess. All architecture was accented in gold, intricate patterns were woven into fabrics used for upholstery and fashion, and the women wore gowns made from the best couturiers in Paris. The French royalty wanted to make a statement that they were the ruling class and how lavishly they could live. The excessiveness of this era was to ensure that the French royalty had absolutely the best and most expensive of everything.

Though I know what this era represents in terms of French politics, I still can’t help but admire the gilded architecture and beautifully structured gowns of this time. My love for 18^th Century design was reaffirmed when I went to the Palace of Versailles during winter break of my junior year at Davis. Here, I truly saw how beautiful these designs were. What I fall short of in attempting to describe the miraculous designs of the Rococo era, I can show in some of the pictures I took on my trip:

This is Marie Antoinette's bedroom and one of my favorite rooms in the Palace. A perfect example of how excessive the Rococo era was. Here you can see how the patterns on the wall and curtains are almost too much for the eye to handle, in addition to the gold accents along the railing and lining the furniture and walls.

This is the Hall of Mirrors. Though hard to see in its entirety, the walls are lined with ceiling-to-floor mirrors and the hall itself is adorned with a multitude of chandeliers. Again, the walls are accented with gold, as well. The mirrors and chandeliers signify luxury and the amount that is used to decorate this room reaffirms royalty.

(Excuse the people in the picture...) The gold gates to enter the Palace is already a sign to the public that royalty lives here. The message: "This is a elegant and luxurious estate."

How did design first impact my life?

When we were asked to remember the first object that had a positive memory of the impact of design, I had trouble thinking of the things in my childhood that I actually noticed the design of. To me, I couldn’t think of the literal design of anything, but rather only the action of playing with or using certain objects. But then it dawned on me…L.A. GEAR LIGHT UP SHOES. How could I forget about something whose design was such a defining point of the era I grew up in?



A self-proclaimed shoe addict, of course I owned a pair of L.A. Gear shoes. Every kid had them or wanted them. But what about this shoe made it so coveted? The most defining part of its design is the “light up” sole. Different than any shoe, the lights catch your eye automatically. Every time someone wearing the shoe took a step, lights lit up the shoe. Whether or not this design was used as a gimmick to attract children to beg their parents to buy shoes that were L.A. Gear brand, it worked. The lights in the shoe honed in on every child’s attraction to bright, “shiny” objects. Thus, whoever had L.A. Gear light up shoes was the center of attention, as all eyes focused on the lucky one running away with lit up feet.

Furthermore, what made these shoes so acceptable among adults, was the fact that they were still sneakers. An important factor for parents, their children’s feet could still have support with these new shoes (unlike let’s say, Crocs, whose design may be comfortable, but not practical for children running around).

Most tennis shoes at the time looked the same to me, except for L.A. Gear light up shoes. The design of the shoe made this pair of sneakers a hot, standout item for me and as a result, a memorable part of my childhood. It’s hard to notice the design of something when you are young, but I can say for a fact that the design of these shoes are definitely the reason I remembered them.

The Spirit of the Times

In one of Professor Housefield's blog posts, he discusses the term "zeitgeist" and proposes the question, "Will we see cultural responses to echo the rise of disco and punk in that earlier decade (in reference to current designers' work reflecting the 1970s and its economic hardships)?"

This question prompted me to think of trends in fashion design. As mentioned in Professor Housefield’s blog, “Fashion perpetually resurrects ghosts from the past.” A known fact among fashion aficionados, fashion trends tend to “recycle” every twenty or so years. However, what does this mean and why does it happen?

One explanation I have come up with is that with each trend that recycles comes a new generation. So, the “zeitgeist” of one era can be resurrected and reproduced via the next generation. Designers of each generation draw inspiration from the last, changing and modifying their designs to modernize what has already been done. Take disco for example. The design of the platform shoe grew popularity during the 1970s. Concurrent with this trend and the trends seen at New York Fashion Week Spring Summer 2011, platform shoes are making a comeback.

[A red, glittered platform shoe from the '70s vs. A pair of gold, glittered shoes from Steve Madden]

We are constantly on a search for the new, but we are reliant on the past. However, as Walter Benjamin puts it, fashion is a "now time," and "eternal present." Thus, fashion defines time itself.

Yet, this poses another question. What really is the “spirit of the times” if fashion is always recycling? Fashion designs have always acted as physical evidence to trace part of a society’s past and culture. Yet, if fashion is always recycling, does that mean what we value in our society and what defines our generation is recycling, as well? A complicated question, with no right answer, I can only point out the intersectionalities design has with the rest of our life and why I think design is important. Design is everywhere and takes part in everything we do. It is connected with what we represent, who we try to be, what we value, and what we want to express.

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. " - Coco Chanel