Dangerous Design: Earbud Headphones

The invention of earbud headphones was successful in many ways. It allowed the transition from public radio to a personal music experience. Most importantly, it allowed individuals to listen to music without disturbing others around them.

(Image taken from Google Images)

Although earbud headphones were created improve the lives of individuals, the way earbud headphones were designed ultimately causes danger to the individual's health and society as a whole. 

With earbud headphones, the consumer's health is at risk. A single earbud is designed small in size and fits within the socket of the ear's exterior. The miniature speakers on each earbud allows the earbud to be in contact with the individual's ear hole, sending audio directly to the eardrum. In modern society, the use of earbuds has become pivotal to the individual, either for personal use or for practical use. However, people seem to overuse earbuds. When individuals are surrounded by the loud surroundings of a public setting, they are usually tempted to increase the volume of their music playing through their music players. This reliance on earbuds can eventually cause hearing loss to the individual.  Earbuds cause more health risks other than hearing loss. With its small-size, bacteria builds up on the earbud and in the individual ear socket due to its direct contact with the ear. This bacteria build up can eventually cause wax-build up in the ear, having a risk of ear infection. 

Not only do earbud headphones have a harmful effect on individuals, but it also causes negative effects on society. Earbuds were designed to be portable in benefit for individual use. Earbuds allow individuals to disconnect from society due to its portability, transforming a personal music experience into an individual sphere of isolation. Multiple "spheres of isolation" are being created with the mass-use of portable earbuds, breaking the individual from society.

Design in Utopian Society: Shards O' Glass

For the past decade, the Truth campaign has been informing the world about the negative effects of tobacco and attempting to improve society for the better. They are most famous for their television advertisements that are used to promote their campaign. The advertisements are designed to be able to relate to society by depicting society as a whole within their commercials. One of their earlier advertisements show thousands of living people, representing the statistical deaths caused by tobacco use, and having them pretend to drop dead outside the building of a major tobacco company.



Although the design and execution of the advertisement may seem subject to exaggeration, its overall concept supported Truth's message in getting through to the public.

With one of the campaign's more recent advertisements "Shards O' Glass," Truth attempts to make the problem of tobacco-use more obvious by communicating the problem indirectly to society.



The "Shards O' Glass" campaign is designed to show the dangers of tobacco use and the tobacco industry. The design of the advertisement uses satirization by over exaggerating society's obliviousness to the danger of tobacco and applying it to the fictitious product "Shards O' Glass," a product that imposes an obvious danger to the consumer. By showing the obvious dangers of Shards O' Glass, Truth is able to inform individuals to become more aware of the apparent dangers that tobacco imposes on them, taking one step forward in improving the minds and health of society.

The content of the Truth campaign's performance art in the form of advertisements - the instantaneous death of thousands of people and a product as ridiculous as Shards O' Glass - can be criticized as being over exaggerated. However, the conceptual design of the campaign allows individuals to focus on the concept of anti-tobacco of the advertisements rather than its over exaggerated content. Overall, the conceptual design of the advertisements effectively informs society of Truth's message and aims to improve society for the better.

Color Transforms: Traffic Light

There are a lot of designs that stir up conversation in society with the use of words and visual text within the design. Most of these designs use text to directly communicate with the minds of individuals, allowing our brains to interpet the words we see into meaning. On an eight-sided stop sign, we would look at the four letters that make up the word "STOP" and interpret the visual aspect of the word into a meaning that makes us cease movement.

However, design in society cannot always communicate with us through the use of text and type. Most designs communicate with us my means of other visual aspects, such as color. Take, for example, the tri-colored traffic signal. 

(Image taken from http://www.deviantart.com, by username "monsterlienchen")

The traffic light signal found in most traffic intersections is a mere box that shines three lights at upcoming vehicles. However, with the use of color, the design of the traffic light signal is transformed into an object that communicates meaning to all vehicle drivers. The three colors used - red, yellow, and green - are are used to inform drivers when to stop, slow down, and go - respectively. 

But what about these colors helps the traffic light signals communicate these meanings to the drivers? Red implies alertness, stimulating the mind and increasing circulation in the body, which allows drivers to be attentive and step on their breaks in time. With the bright red light standing out in the middle of the dull-colored surroundings of the street, drivers are able to notice the traffic signal even more. Yellow implies caution, stimulating the driver's nerves. Because yellow is the first color that the eye notices, it gives drivers a signal to slow down, even when the driver is hundreds of feet away from the traffic signal. Green implies growth and acceleration. Being the complementary color of red, green relieves the stress and tension that is given off by the red stop light. 

The traffic light signal could have been designed differently, having it use text saying "STOP," "SLOW, and "GO" to communicate with the drivers of society. However, with the use of color, the traffic light signal is transformed into a simpler and more effective design that communicates the same information to society.

Ergonomics of the Water Bottle

In recent history, the distribution of water to the human population has changed drastically: from the flow of rivers, to the development of irrigation systems, to the pipes and conduits of water treatment plants, to the sinks of our houses, etc. One major development of the distribution of water is the packaging and marketing of water by means of plastic bottles.

(Photograph taken by me, Daniel Daquigan)

While I look at (and take a photograph of) my water bottle, I think about its importance in society. As college students strive to achieve academic success, we also have to take our health into account. One major component of this is being hydrated and drinking plenty amounts of water. The portability of water has become an essential factor in maintaining our health in the fast times of our modern society. With the invention of the plastic water bottle, portability and easy access of water has become possible in our society.

The plastic water bottle has set its mark in our society, but what about the the plastic bottle and its relation to the individual in society? How does the plastic bottle function in relation to the individual? We could observe the plastic bottle's functionality by looking at the ergonomics of its design. 

With its size and form, the plastic bottle can easily be used by a consumer while being able to contain water. The hollow cylindrical shape of the bottle allows the consumer to hold it with one hand drink from it with physical comfort. Also, its plastic cap allows water storage for later use and portability without the consumer having to worry about spilling. 

The bottle's transparency gives the bottle a clear and pure aspect like that of drinking water itself, giving visual comfort to its consumers.

The form of the plastic bottle allows for the consumer's safety. Because of its round cylindrical shape, the  plastic bottle can be used without causing any physical harm when it comes into contact with the consumer. Although there are some companies that choose a square form with edges for their plastic water bottles (such as Fuji water), the bottle is designed so that the 90 degree angles where the sides meet are rounded out to allow physical comfort and avoid harm upon contact.

However, plastic that comprises the bottle can cause health issues for the consumer. Being in direct contact with the plastic, the drinking water can cause chemical changes to the plastic and can be toxic. Over time, the plastic's toxic waste eventually collects in the drinking water. Although minimal amounts of the toxic substance may have no effect on the consumer from drinking one bottle of water, the effect can be drastic on the health of consumers whose daily lives rely on bottled water - like that of a collee student.

As for the aesthetic factor of the plastic water bottle, the visual comfort of the bottle's design also accounts for the design's beauty. The clearness and transparency of the plastic gives the bottle an aesthetic feel of pureness, like that of drinking of water.

"Check It Out" Music Video: Word & Image

During the last lecture of Introduction to Design, the music video of Nicki Minaj and Will.i.am's new song "Check It Out" was incorporated into the class discussion.



Within the video, a Nicki Minaj and Will.i.am sing and dance on the stage of an Asian-esque TV show. They both wear futuristic outfits while they perform for an audience of Asian people who are wearing sunglasses. As they sing and dance in front of the camera, Korean words pop out from behind them, giving the video a vivid aspect.

The interaction of words and image (or in this case, motion pictures) draws a conversation between the on-stage performers and the Asian audience, as well as the music video itself and its viewers. Although the announcer in the beginning of the music video spoke Japanese, the words used were Korean characters. While the Nicki Minaj and Will.i.am performed in English, the show's audience was Asian.
In contrast, while the words used in the visual aspect of the video were Korean, the majority of the video's viewers are probably English-speaking. With this interaction of word and image, a conversation between eastern and western cultures draws Global attention.

The words in the music video also act as images. The Korean text popped out, giving it a more three-dimensional aspect rather than the typical two-dimensional aspect of all words. With the use of neon and pastel colors, the words are more vivid and brighter compared to the dark colors of the set of the stage within the video. With this interaction of word and image, an indirect conversation is created due to the colors and visuals of the type that make up for the eastern/western cultural barrier.

Business Cards

Over the weekend, I went back to San Francisco and visited my brother's house. I was looking through his housemate's library of books and stumbled upon a book called Business Cards: The Art of Saying Hello.

(Image taken from Google Image Search)

That day while my brother was hosting a housewarming party, I was quietly sitting on the living room couch looking through this book while friends and family interacted with each other. After hours of looking through this book, my brother's housemate showed me that she also had the sequel to this book, Business Cards 2: More Ways of Saying Hello.

(Image taken by me)

By the end of the day, I was completely fascinated with the concept of business cards that I ended up borrowing the second book and bringing up to Davis for the week.

But what's so special about business cards?

Just as the title says, business cards say "hello." The business card is one of the many ways people indirectly communicate with other people. It has become a major part of business, allowing companies and entrepreneurs to make a first impression to potential consumers.

While a business card can communicate what seems to be an unlimited amount of words, it has one major constraint: its size. When communicating through means of business card, people are limited to fit the information they want to communicate - name, business, address, contact information, etc. - into a little space that has to be able to fit into the pocket of a wallet.

Words are one way of communicating through a business card, but by looking through the collection of business cards shown in Business Cards: The Art of Saying Hello and Business Cards 2: More Ways of Saying Hello, images help support these words in communicating information. With a limited amount of words hat a business can contain, images can take the place of words supply an unlimited amount information by visual means. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

Obama Campaign Poster: Word and Image

In some aspects of visual communication, word and image work together to communicate a bigger message. Sometimes, a work's message can be perceived with only the use of words. Other times, the message can be received by looking at the image only, paying no attention to the text of the work.

In the United States 2008 presidential campaign, a series of posters created by artist Shepard Fairey promoted Obama during his run for the presidential artist. Although the images were not official campaign posters of Obama's presidential campaign, the posters have become famous icons, symbolizing what the posters say: hope, change, and progress.

The interaction of word and image on the poster design above supports the image in effectively communicating a the message of "HOPE" to its audience. With the use of colors in the portrait of Obama, the neutral beige color in the center conveys a sense of hope when surrounded by the more bold and darker colors of blue and red.

Like the colors communicating a message of hope in the previous poster, the use of colors in the portrait of Obama also effectively communicates the poster's message of "CHANGE." The bold change in the contrasting colors of red and blue conveys change within the poster as a whole.

Lastly, colors and line within the portrait also supports the poster in effectively communicating its message of "PROGRESS." By alternating the light blue and beige colors using lines, the poster shows an upward progression throughout the image. 

With the use of simple details such as line, color, and contrast within an image, the message that a mere word can communicate on its own can be amplified with the word's interaction with image.

(Images taken from Google Image Search)