Education Of Design Of Industrial Products - Book Report/Review Example

Education Of Design Of Industrial Products The Hochschule fur Gestaltung in Ulm is a school that concentrates on educating specialists in two different directions. One is the design of industrial products (namely industrial design) and the other is visual and verbal means of communication (information department). The school, therefore educates students for the field of production design and communication sphere – press, television, broadcasting, films. The Hochschule fur Gestaltung was found in 1953. The buildings were designed by Max Bell and the institution officially opened doors in 1955. Now it is known as the “Ulm School of Design”. The maximum number of students that can be accepted in the school is 150 and they come from all over the world, which gives an international image and character to the institution. The training programs last four year and combine teaching and research. The school also has a living premises and social facilities for students. All students during their first year of education cover foundation course. Afterwards, they specialize in practical and theoretical courses. There is industrial design department, building department, visual communication department, and information department. The author of the article tried to present a concise and accurate summary of The Hochschule fur Gestaltung in Ulm. Students interested in production design and visual and verbal communication and pursuing career in these spheres can be influenced by this positive information. The school has long established standards and provides excellent opportunities, has social orientation and deep understanding about the current trends in education techniques. I would recommend this school for people searching the ultimate knowledge and professional development in industrial design and communications. Staatliche Bauhaus in Weimar is an institution focused on architecture and design. Many famous architects had studied there – Adolf Meyer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius. The fundamental aim of visual arts is to show a complete building. Once all fine arts were inseparable, today they function in isolation – painters, sculptors, architects work on their own to compose a building. Now all of them have to learn how to erect a building both as an entity and in its divided parts. Once again drawing and painting must be merged and the artist should become a world that builds a unity. The author appeals artists to return to the crafts, because beings an artist is not a “profession”, this is a calling. He continues that there is no difference between being an artist and a craftsman. Both of them share a creative imagination and strive to proficiency in their work. The author proposes to create a new guild without classifying who is an artist and who is craftsman. Later in the article, the aims of the Staatliche Bauhaus are presented as well as the principles what lead the institution. In the school all practical and scientific areas of creative work are included – architecture, painting and sculpture. The training is divided into apprentice, journeymen and junior masters. In this article, the author explains the importance to perceive art as an entity and not so separate the different schools and to stop distinguishing between artist and craftsman. I find this argument very persuasive, because an artist is an artist regardless what this profession calls it, as long as he creates things, uses his imagination and applies his artistic abilities. It is fascinating to remember that an artist is not a profession, but a calling and even if artists are made, trained and educated to perform such creative functions, their vocation is to freely give away their artistic mission. John Ruskin was a prominent art critic who lived in 19th century England. Named the first Slade professor of Fine Art at Oxford, he was also a prolific writer and historian. In his three-volume “The Stones of Venice” Ruskin attempted to recapture and vindicate the Venetian Gothic style. Many historians say that this style is degenerate and imperfect. Ruskin argues that the imperfect forms and ornaments of the gothic style often symbolize social orientation and the freedom and dignity of its workers. In contrast the perfection of Victorian England demonstrated also a particular social relation which exposed that the artists are enslaved in it and dehumanized. Ruskin in this debate connects aesthetics to the work conditions at the time, which formed the foundation of the arts and crafts movement. I agree with the point and argument described by Ruskin. First of all it is important to note that each style contains specific ornaments which visually reflect the lifestyle, social organization and norms in the particular region. Therefore, Ruskin correctly argues that the Gothic period in Venice is in unison with the freedom of architects and craftsman to express themselves. Venice Gothic style demonstrates the pure spirit of its creators and the national faith and virtue. The might be superfluous, though it matches with the spirituality of workers at that time. Victorian architecture in contrast is slick and many ornaments are omitted to construct an image cleared of the surplus and showing the typical Victorian norms and social manners – reserved and modest. I agree with the point made by Ruskin that Victorian and Venice Gothic styles embody the spirit, social beliefs, freedom and constraints of the artists who lived and composed art during these periods. Edgar Kaufmann jr. is an American architectural historian and curator. He was an influential figure who stood behind the MoMa’s “Good Design” exhibitions between 1950 and 1955. These exhibitions were also sponsored by the Merchandise Mart in Chicago and their main objective was to advertise good design and excellent consumer taste both in everyday furnishing and in household objects. In his book “What is Modern Design” Kaufmann jr. explained the concept of the design and summarized that the modern design is a way of life which is grasped in a flash. The way people assemble things and arrange them in their everyday activities is what makes the modern design. And because design also involves other activities besides art – engineering, philosophy, aesthetics, it has expressive form. Kaufmann jr. states that design is different from art and engineering – art is embodies the free man’s spirit and engineering seeks perfection in the form. For him the modern design is a powerful movement that somehow intermingles with the democratic part of life. In order for a particular design to be perceived as “beautiful” is must follow the minimum requirements – integrity, clarity and harmony. After reading the extract of Kaufmann’s jr. work I would agree with the point made by him that modern design is highly influenced by all spheres of life – politics, economics and philosophy and not art alone. This argument is true because life nowadays is a mixture of human activities which are interconnected and the ability of people to employ ideas from different backgrounds makes modern design such a vast study area. I also agree with Kauffmann jr. that people do not follow trends and traditions in modern design. They have a deep sense of individuality and abide pleasure in seeking unusual and strange forms of beauty. Due to the technological changes life changed its course as well as people’s perceptions about that their interior should look like and how significant it is in our everyday life. For Kauffmann jr. modern design is a necessity, because it characterizes the perpetual desire of men to create, invent and be innovative. I agree with this, because for me modern design represents people’s spiritual accomplishment to produce and make real their ideas and to experiment with forms, places and dimensions. The artificial elements of style also confirm the point made by Kauffman jr. that modern design includes other spheres. Artificial elements stimulate the trade and increase the value that design has. Theo van Doesburg is a Dutch designer, painter and theorist, who is the founder of a magazine called “The Style”. Although van Doesburg occasionally worked as Dadaist his concepts were directed towards the rational, universal and essential aspects of life and art. In comparison the Dadaists believed in the irrational, absurd and uncertainty. In a lecture van Doesburg describes the characteristics which he found in the “new style”. For van Doesburg, the new style borders between the intellect and the instinct, the static and the dynamic. The machine now rules the style, because it embodies the unlimited human intellectual capacity. Consequently, materialism believes that hands craftsmanship is the purest manifestation of the soul. In the age of materialistic progress hand craftsmanship indeed embodies the notion that abilities properly used can create objects more magnificent than any mechanical production. Therefore, I agree with Van Doesburg that technology is only a requirement for the perfection of the form, but not the main moving element. The harmonious shape is possible only when the craftsman uses his hands to moderate the form and transform it into an object with aesthetic demands. I also agree with Van Doesburg that the new style is influenced by other artistic fields – music, literature, painting, film industry. The mechanization of art also brought the collective belonging and somehow limited the social liberation. However, with hand craftsmanship individuality is revived and style looks for appropriate forms which signify the spiritual reconstruction of our modern world. Calkins is a prolific writer who wrote extensively about product design and advertising. His work was especially popular during the Great Depression when he tried to answer and propose solutions so as to increase the standard of living in America. Another important issue that Calkins addresses in the consumer engineering and he investigates what this really means. A point made is that obsoletism is a witty device which encourages consumerism. For example, styles come and go and it them fashion lines. Clothes have seasons and often when the season is over, they are thrown away, even without being worn out, because the style has changed. For Calkins, consumer engineering is a business science and it should be approached scientifically. Consumerism is artificially created and people are pushed to demands goods which they really do not need. The distribution lines are so rapid that people have to ever increasingly speed up their consumption to keep up with the newer and newer models, fashions and trends. I agree with the position presented by Calkins. Consumerism was born because people were stimulated to demand goods which they can not really consume. The modern mechanical production led to overproduction which could not be consumed, therefore companies started to think of ways to market and sell their production. People engineered artificial demand and supply and consumerism was perceived as a normal consequence of the increased consumption. Now people do not seriously dwell on the engineering techniques of consumerism. They rather drift on the current trends, consuming goods and objects they are told they should possess. Read More