Design Should Be

I find things far more interesting/attractive/fun if they are designed well.  If they are interesting and unique; different.  Something that catches your eye.  

I really believe that if you were to work at a 9-5 office job and your place of work was a simple grey wall, box cubicle kind of joint .. life could be pretty boring for the workday.  (Now, I know that it's ultimately the people and what you do that would make your work fun.. but design plays a big role)

If you're going to be a designer, why work somewhere that looks bland ? 

I would definitely want to work somewhere that inspires me everyday, somewhere interesting to look at when I'm stuck on what to do next, or out of ideas.  And lets not forget performance.  Not only does design need to look pleasing, but it needs to enhance the quality of living, I mean that's what it's for right?  Right.  It enhances the look of everyday life while making things go smoother.  However, when I say that design should enhance quality of life, I mean this mostly in the types of things like bathtubs, sinks, secret cubbyholes in the walls (because who doesn't want a secret cubbyhole?).  

If you were to live in the jungle -to be extreme with my example- then I'm not saying you need to decorate it.  Just embrace it, mother nature did a great job designing natural life.  When I say a space needs to be intriguing, I mean man made spaces like buildings, homes, shopping centers, libraries, schools, even hospitals.

The space you work in is like a habitat.  It should be comfortable and the atmosphere should be a good one.

...like a habitat... haha **notice the bird nest idea below** ;)

  http://homedesigning.tumblr.com/post/3363122570

I mean, why do people decorate their bedrooms ?  Why put all the work into something for no reason at all?  Just for the fun of it? I don't think so.   I think it's because in the end, it's more exciting, pleasing to the eye, calming, inspiring, or whatever the motivation may be for you.  

There's a reason behind every action we take.

Here's a staircase that makes something so typical like traveling from the second to first floor way more fun !  AND it looks awesome.

http://freshome.com/2010/01/15/amazing-spiral-staircase-slide/

Here's an example of how an exciting or interesting design can make the workplace more pleasing: (this is an office design)

http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2011/02/22/modern-office-in-paris/

The designs around us; they make the everyday little things more interesting, more engaging. 

Here are a few pictures of designs I personally like:

 

source unknown 

 

http://hippygirls.tumblr.com/post/3033684472

  source unknown

www.homedesigning.tumblr.com

http://www.home-designing.com/2011/02/landscaping-inspiration-hilton-hotel-pattaya-thailand

I had to add this one because I love piano, and this is just plain awesome!

 

http://shanghaiist.com/2007/09/30/piano_house_in_huainan_anhui.php

Finally, here's a really cool video on a staircase that was transformed into a piano keyboard.  When you walk on it, it makes music.  The idea was to see if making the stairs more fun would attract more people to use them instead of using the escalator right beside the stairs.  It's was done by thefuntheory.com 

Perspective, it's yours. So choose a bright one.

Everybody sees things from a different light.  Everyone has a past that influences their present.  We may forget certain things in our past, or try to at least.  But no matter what, our experiences guide our thoughts today.

Perspective is how you look at something, it's like the glass half full or half empty saying.

However, I want to focus on how we portray ourselves.  A picture is worth a thousand words as the old saying goes.  When people are photographed they can be shown in different lights.  They can be Photoshopped.  Personally I don't Photoshop things heavily, the only time I think you should Photoshop something is if you're simply enhancing an image, not to an unrealistic state, just things like brightness and contrast.  The other time things should be Photoshopped is if they are meant to be totally unrealistic like this photo:

 

http://thisbelife.tumblr.com/

This is a video that shows how simple lighting can change the mood of a photograph:

Colour from Rafael Hernandez on Vimeo.

Portraits show someone, without words, without sound.  They show who someone is in one take.  Portraits show one's identity.

These are some portraits that inspire me.  These are some that I'd like to experiment with in the future:

http://abduzeedo.com/beautiful-photographs-michela-ghio

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25800726@N08/

http://poisonedwine.tumblr.com/

Personally, I like contrast, I like things that leave you hanging.  The half faces and the cut off frames.  I especially love eyes.  If a photo has been focused well on the eyes and they pop I'm practically in love.  I mean, not love.  But pretty darn close to inspirational love.

The way one is presented in a photograph is something words cannot describe, something an image can only show.

I love photography, and although I'm not a pro or anything I do like to experiment with different ideas.  Not having lighting or set ups or special things like that limits it, but then it also makes it that much more interesting, like using a stop light as a lighting source.  I mean.. why not ? I have a fake working stop light in my room, may as well put it to use right ?!

Writing My Creative Life

Hey! It's Kristi, incase you didn't recognize my picture.
Anywho,
I have another blog that I started last April called My Creative Life, and since then I've just always referred to myself online as mycreativelife or something similar.
So as for this blog, I've decided to call it Writing My Creative Life since this is for the Writer's Craft course.

ps, I just switched into the course, so I'm a tad behind on posting so far.