CHOICE OR CHOSEN -- Continuity and Clarity

Coca-Cola (Coke) is something everyone knows and must have tried at least once in their lifetime. It is obvious that coca-cola is not something good for our health, in fact, it is something not recommended to be drank too much but it is also something very addicting. “Life tastes good”, “Make it Real”, “The Coke Side of Life”, “Open Happiness”, “Twist the Cap to Refreshment”...etc, These are slogans we hear everyday through televisions, posters, radios, any kinds of advertisements in the past few years. The successfulness of coca-cola is that its use of advertisements to bring up their popularity , their brand loyalty and most importantly, its consumers accessibility is to be “within an arm’s reach of desire”. Coca-Cola has earned itself a irreplaceable place in many people’s life. It’s identity is very vivd and has blended our daily life. 

J’adore is a perfume I use everyday and it is one of my favorite ones. This perfume is under Christian Dior and has become incredibly popular since it was created in 1999. Because of the popularity, there has been many different kinds developed under this line. I didn’t know this perfume until I was in the age of 12 which is also the age when we started dressing up. Charlize Theron is the spokeswoman of this perfume when I first noticed it and the femininity was the first thing that attracted me. The smell of it was also presented and promoted well in the advertisements. J’adore is a modern, glamourous fragrance and it also successfully continued for many years and still very popular in the market.

Vaseline is not just a product I consistently use but also a “daily must-bring thing”. It is also a product that has a long history and popularity so that it survived until now. Vaseline was made by a residue called “rod wax” that is periodically removed from oil rig pumps. It is a product used by oil workers as a substance to heal cuts and burns and most importantly (to me), is that it moisturizes our skin a lot. It is a product that has scientific proof which is the reason why it continues till now and that its usefulness has been generally acknowledged in the world. This is a product that doesn’t use “brainwash” kind of advertisements to promote their product but the actual functionality promotes itself.

MODERNISM

           During the period of Modernism, artists tried to create art that would take viewer out of the traditional setting and make them an active viewer of the artwork. This idea of interactivity has developed more and more and became one of the important aspect for designers nowadays. Also, one of the important change during Modernism is the definition of beauty. The idea of simplicity and use of geometrical shape was brought into Modernism and continued to be one basic “trend” today. The use of geometrical shape can be found in many areas including architecture, fashion and graphics. In the article written by Charles Jencks, he mentioned the shift “from repetitive manufacture of identical objects to the fast-changing manufacture of varying objects; from few styles to many genres; from national identification to both local and global consciousness”(Jencks, p. 224). As discussed in seminar, the idea of individuality is becoming more and more important yet the definition of it is unclear. The fact that people nowadays are looking for uniqueness but at the same time their perspective of beauty are basically similar or even the same. It seems like individuality has become a “dream” to people especially in Asia. The Western culture has become something for Asians to copy and that many people are still conservative that following the trend is something more comfortable to them. The idea of blending in a society has become an obstacle for people to become individuals and unique. It was shown in the lecture slides that Modern Design is reductive, rational, industrial, standardized, ideological, socialist, universal and timeless. These are something continued and also transformed into today’s design aspect.

Architecture

Fabric

Fashion

Interior

Jencks, Charles. “The Post-Modern Information World and the Rise of the Cognitariat”. The Industrial Design Reader : 223 - 226. 

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

   The poem “Jerusalem” by William Blake was mentioned in one of our lecture talking about the Industrial Revolution and its destruction of nature and human relationships. Industrial Revolution had given many different opportunities for people and had improved their living qualities but it is also undeniable that at the same time, it had great effect on our environment. Human population growth tied together with the increase use of natural resources, energy, land for growing food and for living, and most importantly waste by-products that cause pollutions. The exponential population growth led to the exponential requirements for resources, energy, food, housing and lands, as well as the exponential increase in waste by-products. As the population grow, the need of natural resources increase but the amount of natural resources does not increase as fast as the population causing greater need. This is an issue began when Industrial Revolution started but continued until today. 

Due to the realization of the limited resources, many designers use nature as their inspiration and some may even use waste by-products as their materials. In one of our readings, “Nineteenth-Century Design” by Edgar Kaufmann Jr., it is said that many experts believe that knowledge of nature was the best basis of design. Many designers are influenced by this idea and they were spilt into two groups; “some wanted to copy natural forms as the most perfect ones, a variant academic ideal; others wanted to analyze natural forms to extract their principals of structure and relationship, an approach modeled on scientific inquiry” (p.59). The idea of using nature as a reference and material to design began during Industrial Revolution and had been continually used. Many designers nowadays have interest in developing the relationship between nature and design and also how to combine them together including interior design, fashion design, and many more. One of the example is Alexander McQueen(1969-2010), many of his collections were based on nature. He had many collections that were inspired and based on nature including flowers and animals. It was said that the reason he was so into nature is that nature is unpredictable, spontaneous, something that cannot be controlled and beautiful. Many designers nowadays use natural resources as a medium to their designs because as the world develops more and more, our nature has a greater chance of distinction. As to what Edgar said in his article, nature is the basis of design and by developing accordingly to nature, great designs are created. 

Kaufmann, Edgar. “Ninetieth-Century Design”. Perspecta 6 The Yale Architectural Journal: 56-57. 

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