Week 6 - NO SCHOOL

We had no class this week because of Presidents day, so all the more time to catch up on homework!

Week 5 - Tool Presentation/ DIY Aesthetics

This week we did our presentations for our tool design. We had the pleasure of having some designers from MAO studios come and critique our projects and show us some designs that they have produced, which was really, really, cool! My group was hectic to say the least. First, week 4, the week we had the whole day to work on our projects, both of my group members were gone. So we didn't have a lot of work to show everybody, but thank god Ryan did a lot of work in a short period of time. We decided to name our brand SimpleCraft. Our tag line was " Because Everyone Can Create"

This is the logo

Basically our design was this little hand drill that was tiny enough to be one of those "impulse buys" next to the register. Our demographic was the crafty, stay at home mom, or the not so good with tools kind of man. Our drill was just a craft drill, like for putting up pictures on the wall or something like that, not a big Makita drill that is too heavy for the average woman to hold with one hand. So we didn't have many other drills as competition because we were almost one of a kind. I thought it was a fantastic idea, I stand by it one hundred percent, but I just wish we had more time to revise it. We could have made the package design a little more refined maybe, and also we could have had a better, practiced, presentation. We could have all three worked on illustrator or whatever and drew out a drill on the computer so it looked more professional. Sure there was a lot of things I would have done differently, but at least we did have a great concept, and great logo.We simply just didn't execute our ideas well. That was all we did this week, because we ran out of time. We still have a lecture for this week to blog about though. 

DIY Aesthetics and Design: working class and design 

What images are used to create images of the working class?

 Here are some images of  "the working class" that I found online. It seems like all of the images had people in work clothes and they all looked kind of distressed.

However, when I typed in " middle class" I got images like these :

Some of these images look a little more like upper class but I guess everyone's perception is different.

 What products are considered middle class?

These products are products of the middle class. They are considered middle class because they are a little more expensive than the average things people buy for their family. There are many more products but I chose to stick mainly with electronics because people kind of judge you by your electronics these days. For instance when your on the bus and you pull out an Ipad, people are going to look at you differently than they would if you pulled out a old 80's boombox.

How much money does a middle class family make?

    I found out that the average middle class family earns, according to the 2009 Census,  $50,221 annually. Now that is not that much money a year, especially if your family has more than one child. In this day and age the cost of living is going up dramatically.

Could you briefly write about how this might be political?

 This could be turned into a political debate because the president has something to do with the economy, which, in turn, kind of determines the gap between upper class, middle class, working class, and poverty level.

Ultimately when I researched this working class vs. middle class info, I discovered that the more our economy gets worse, the bigger the gap gets between upper class and working class. In other words, the rich are getting richer and the people that were struggling to pay their bills are now losing their homes. I know alot of people that were pretty well off, and now because of a layoff in the family, they are fighting to keep the house. I think that is so sad. What else is sad is the fact that the people living in poverty are hungry, and we shouldn't have a hunger problem in the United States! Something needs to change. Obama isn't changing it fast enough, and I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking that. That's just my opinion, I don't mean to offend anyone if I have.

Week 4 - Aesthetics of the Extreme

When you think "extreme", what do you think of?

Tattoos? Piercings? Extreme sports? Well those are the first three things that came to my mind. In this day and age extreme could refer to many things, but overall, things just aren't as shocking as they once were. I can remember when I saw a face tattoo for the first time and I was so shocked, I thought, wow, that is crazy. Now you see people with tattoos on their face all the time, especially neck tattoos. Neck tattoos are more popular than ever. What about those ear extenders called plugs!?!?! I remember when I was younger, me and my family went downtown to the science center and as we were walking on the street I saw a guy with these weird things in his ears. Now everybody has plugs. The bigger they are, the cooler they are. I don't even notice people with them anymore, and actually now the new thing is nose plugs! People are actually putting plugs in their noses, so that their nostrils are extended. Now that's extreme.

 

What about this new extreme fad called flesh removal tattoo. I think this is VERY extreme. I had never seen this until I searched extreme tattoos on google. I cant believe people actually do this, and don't they get infected?!?!

With all these extreme activities, there is, of course, going to be some extreme design. These extreme athletes like these very busy, extreme layouts. For example, every MMA fighter has their own "look". MMA fighters have these extreme t-shirt designs that they wear before the fight to promote themselves. Its very smart, because not only do these fans know who you are by your "look",  but now they want to buy that merchandise that these fighters are wearing.

MMA isn't the only sport that has extreme design, motocross is also a very good example. Motocross riders have all these sponsors on their jackets and shirts. They also have these designs that usually have this distressed font as well as a bold graphic of some sort. 

These extreme designs usually have distressed fonts like these ones I found. These fonts are all relatively new to the design world.

How much more extreme can we get? That's the problem here is that nothing shocks anyone anymore, so whats next? At least we know as long as there is anything extreme there will be extreme design. Extreme sports aren't going anywhere, so as long as Shaun White is progressing in the half pipe, or as long as Twitch keeps doing tricks on his dirt bike, there will be a need for designers to create extreme designs.

Week 3 - Field Trip Downtown

This week we went on a field trip downtown to the center of the shopping district (5th and Pike, and surrounding areas). We were supposed to pick three stores that generally had the same aesthetics. I went with everyone else and chose the stores All Saints, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. I personally had never been to any of these stores,  so I was pretty intrigued by the look and feel that these stores were conveying.

First I went to All Saints.

 I had never even heard of it, so I wasn't expecting what I found. The experience I got out of it was "Why do people pay this much to look like this." Sorry fans of this store, but I just don't get it! Why are you willing to pay one hundred thirty five dollars for ONE PAIR OF JEANS. I mean I guess I'm not the right one to judge about clothes because I'm comfortable coming to school in sweats, but seriously, $135 for one pair of jeans that looks like they have been ran over by a car and worn when you were working outside all day is the most insane concept to me. This company takes pride in wanting you to look homeless, or broke. I just don't get it!

Look at this ad I found online, the guy looks like he has been in those clothes for a week with no shower, and yet that whole outfit costs well over 300 dollars, its crazy.

Look at this one! She is next to a dirty pig for gods sake! I just don't get it! This brand is weird and over priced! They are supposedly this hip, urban, cool clothing store, but to me its just dirty, un-attractive clothes that cost more than my pay check every two weeks. Sorry but not a fan, lets move on.

Then there is Anthropologie.

 This store is much more cuter than All Saints. I liked going through and looking at the gifts and kitchen ware in there as well as the clothes. Anthropologie's clothes are much more affordable. A pair of jeans here were sixty to eighty dollars. I didn't find any jeans over a hundred dollars. This store also has kitchen ware,  as I said earlier, which was very cool to look at.

The first picture is an outfit that is so cute and totally affordable! This whole outfit costs under two hundred dollars. This second picture is an ad I thought represented this store the best. This brand is definitely inspired by the earth, and elements, and this ad represents that. These clothes are more "normal" than All Saints. If I was a mom and like 15 years older I would totally wear these clothes.

I saved my favorite of the three for last. The next store is Urban Outfitters.

 First of all I walked into this store not knowing anything about it as well as the other three, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I really related to this store. I would totally shop here. I also love to read so I was happy when I looked over to my left and saw the little selection of quite unique books. This store is quirky, unique and I love it. This store and Anthropologie have way more in common than All Saints, but Urban Outfitters caters to more younger people I think. Anthropologie seems to be more 28-40 year old people,  and Urban Outfitters looks like its more 16 - 30 year olds. Seeing as I'm 23, I relate more with Urban Outfitters. There is something about this store that, to me, screams Seattle. I don't know what it is, but the clothes are like more made for rain weather, and the items in there are what people in Seattle like. I hate to stereotype Seattle people, I have lived here for 4 years now, but seriously there is something about this store that fits right in with Seattle. I can't pin point it, but it's not a bad thing, I really love this store. Here is a couple ads I found and I just love them.

This ad is so fashion forward I think, I mean I'm not a fashion major, but to me it's very hip, new and fresh. I love it!  Its very attractive, it draws me in.

                       

This ad is awesome. First of all, it is so Seattle! The flannel, the ripped shirt, it screams Seattle and Urban outfitters. It's also very interesting. It catches your eye and forces you to come  closer to read what its all about, and that's what a great ad should do.

This is my favorite Urban Outfitters ad, I love it!! It is very attractive to the eye, these beautiful people with there cool, hip, clothes, its an amazing clothing ad. It draws you in in more ways than one. First with these attractive people, than with the intriguing clothes, than with that sexy demeanor and pose it has everything me, as a consumer, wants.

  Here are the stores' websites, in case you are more interested:

http://www.us.allsaints.com/ 

(make sure you are on the U.S. site not the United Kingdom one, don't just type in Allsaints.com that's what I did and it and it takes you to the UK one, lol.)

 www.anthropologie.com/

www.urbanoutfitters.com/