The Chair!

The experience of an uncomfortable chair is not a new concept and most people are familiar with this situation. On Monday I was sitting in class for more than 2 hours on a very uncomfortable chair. It was making my back hurt and I could not concentrate on the subject. I decided to do some research on how some chairs are comfortable and some are not? What is significant about the design of a chair that provides a great comfort? And why people buy uncomfortable chair?

According to an article published on Utah State University, a seat can be evaluated by the height, depth, width, slant, and contour. One of the most important aspects of a comfortable chair is the back. The back should provide support to the shoulders therefore; it has to be high enough. Also, the slant, which is the angle of the back of the chair, needs to be more than 90 degrees to support the lower back. Furthermore, a slightly curve on the back of the chair allows the shoulder blades to roll slightly forward. This curve is important; too much curve will cause damage to the muscles and less curve makes the back of the chair uncomfortable.

Comparing all these specifications with the chair I was sitting on, I discovered my chair was nothing near a comfortable chair. The back was too short and did not give my shoulders any support. The angle was 90 degrees straight which forced me to seat very straight in an uncomfortable position for long hours. But most of all the very straight back without any curve caused me a back pain that lasted all day.

Students spend lots of time on their chairs and having a very good, comfortable chair is essential for body health and also to help students concentrate in class. Most of the time, people who are purchasing school equipment, do not consider these factors because the main factor for them is the price! 

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/HI_06.pdf

Fusion Table

In small and contemporary apartments which are common these days, there is not an extra room for a pool table. But playing pool is a trending entertainment and more people are interested to have a pool table at their home. Aramith, a well know leading manufacturer of high quality billiard balls, noticed the need of pool table with modern design. Their design, called Fusion Table, is combination of a dining table and a pool table which is very easy to switch from one mode to another.

Fusion Table is manufactured in Belgium and their business is growing very fast. Their company produces the tables and sidebars, chairs and benches, lightening, and the necessary accessories. The table is very functional; it can fit 10 people easily and comfortably to enjoy a meal. After dinning it takes few minutes to turn the dining table to a 7-foot American style billiard table.

The Fusion Table teamed up with Veuve Clicquot Champaign and created a limited version of tables using yellow color, which is Veuve Clicuot’s inspirational color, and also created a set of yellow balls to match the set. The catalog says “The numbered series designed by Fusion Tables combines French art de vivre with innovation, two traits that capture the essence of Malson Vwuve Cliquot.”  

The unique design and quality makes Fusion Table a great investment for people who enjoy the game and the contemporary look and have a budget of almost 8,000.00 to purchase the product.

http://www.fusiontables.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Fusion-Pool-Table-And-Dining/dp/B006KLI492

Swing Table

Sitting for long hours on an uncomfortable chair at school or work and paying attention to interesting or boring topics happen to most people. But just a group of people took the initiative to find a solution to this painful situation. Swing Table is a very creative way to put an end to boring settings of meetings or classrooms and add some joy and fun to their seriousness. With Swing Table, people can have meeting while they are swinging in their comfortable chairs.

Swing Table, designed and manufactured by duffylondon Studio, is a table set with swinging chairs fixed to the table frame instead of the usual 4 leg chairs and can be produced according to the customer’s personal preferences. The personalization can be done on the number of the chairs and lamps, the color of steel and the chairs, the shape of the table, and of course, the material used for table top. The pricing is high, but considering all the enjoyment and comfort it can provide, it is worth every penny. In the Duffylondon brochure the price for a set with 4 chairs and a Geo lampshade with walnut table top is £ 5,285.00* equal to $ 8500.00. The art studio uses this George Bernard Shaw quote as a tag line for its product “We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”

The table set can be used in different settings. In an art studio it can help the creative designers to come up with innovative ideas while enjoying comfortable seats. It can be useful in conference rooms especially the ones which last long hours. It can add some interesting visual and entertaining values to dining rooms and, of course can be used in casinos where people sit for long hours playing poker or black jack. Moreover, from the housekeeping point of view, the vacuuming will be super easy with chairs that hover around the table. The chairs look very comfortable, but they would be much more comfortable if they had cushions or pads to make it more comfy and cozy.

For full pricing, refer to duffylondon brochure pages 9 to 17. http://duffylondon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Duffy-London-Price-List-2014-august.pdf


http://duffylondon.com/
http://www.psfk.com/2012/06/swing-set-table.html
http://dornob.com/dynamic-dinner-table-features-fun-swing-set-style-seating/

Stealth Switch

Privacy is an important matter in today’s life especially in work places. There are many instants that there are information on your monitor you do not wish to share with your visitors. Most common action when someone is approaching you is to minimize the application or turn off the monitor.  In both cases the movement of hand for grabbing the mouse or monitor off switch creates more suspicion for your visitor. There is another more efficient way that you can protect your privacy without drawing anybody’s attention.

Stealth Switch is known as “The Worlds first desktop cloaking device.” It is a small device, which is designed to serve a very simple but important purpose. Stealth Switch needs to be programmed and it is connected to the computer. It usually is placed under the desk and functions with a tap of foot. It will hide the windows on the monitor with a tap on it and/or witch the window with another application. Another tap on it will bring back the hidden application back exactly the way it was.The most use would be in the offices either for hiding confidential information or to hide extra curriculum activities from the superiors. 

Stealth Switch has two great qualities. First it is affordable; it is less than $30 in Amazon. Second quality is its ability to keep program running even when it is not visible anywhere on the monitor. For example if there is an application downloading in progress, it will continue downloading it even when it is hidden.

http://stealthswitch.com
http://www.amazon.com/H-Mod-USBSTEALTH-USB-Stealth-Switch/dp/B000BKQBIO

The Comedy Carpet

The International Typographic Award for 2014 was awarded jointly to Studio MMkoehn’s Eros und Thanatos Book designed by Maria Magdalena Koehn and Why Not Associates’ The Comedy Carpet designed by Gordon Young.

The Comedy Carpet installed in Blackpool UK is 2,200 m² containing over 160,000 granite letters embedded into concrete. The work is a collaboration of Gordon Young and Why Not Associates Studio. The project which took five years to complete, gives visual form to jokes, songs and catchphrases from past to the present. It grabs the attention of different age groups  and also tourists. The manufacturing which was the most challenging part was led by Gordon who opened his own factory to make something that has never be done before.

People really like the Comedy Carpet and connected with it so much. One of the associate’s in Why not associates says, “I was just very happy to see how the local people began to take ownership, and that it became part of the new popular culture of Blackpool.” Although the content is very British and foreigners would have difficulty understanding the references, the Comedy Carpet had gained an incredible popularity in all over the World.

The design is in three basic colors of black, blue and red which makes the design simple but appealing, fun and easy to read. The different scales used for the type, makes it visually interesting and the usage of the different typefaces creates movement and excitement in the piece as whole. Borders created boundaries and gave structure to the design. Also, simple symbols such as stars, diamonds, circles, and hearts have been used to fill empty spaces. The total product looks like a huge classified section on newspaper.

http://www.istd.org.uk/

https://www.grafik.net/category/news/last-laugh#

http://www.whynotassociates.com

Luxurious, Modern, Brilliant

Iran is a country in Middle East with a very long history in art, architecture, medicine, culture, and literature. Unfortunately due to Islamic Republic ruling the country for last 35 years, the country gained a very bad reputation among especially western countries. There are Americans who believe that there is no technology in Iran and people still commute on camels and live in villages. But the reality has another totally different story to tell.

Tehran, the capital city of Iran is one of the most luxurious cities in the world. The rich population of Tehran has an unimaginable wealth and they spend their money on various luxurious stuff.  One of the ways rich people in Tehran are spending their money is on their houses and villas. Sharifi-ha House, is a clear example of luxurious lifestyle in Tehran. The design of this building is from Nextoffice Studio, which is a group of innovative young Iranian designers, architects, and engineers.

This there year project was completed in 2013 and it is located in one of the most high-end neighborhoods of Tehran called Daroos. Three levels of this seven-story building can rotate 90 degrees to adjust with the weather. Tehran has very hot summers and cold and dry winters. In the summer the rotation will provide terrace and in winter when outdoor has no use the terrace area can be added to the interior area of the building. It is a very fantastic idea and very useful for that weather.

The building exterior is not the only great aspect of this project but the interior design is very modern and interesting. The building also has gym and pool in the underground level and the parking is located on the ground level. The link provided here is the website for the Nextoffice Studio and it is highly recommended to look for more interesting an innovating architecture projects.

 http://www.nextoffice.ir

Art with Purpose

Making art most of the time have a purpose, sometimes it’s for profit and sometimes it’s for pleasure. But the artwork that Asher Jay creates has a whole other level of meaning and purpose. She says “I art as I act and I act as I art.” This is a very strong sentence and it’s challenging to follow.

Asher Jay is a young contemporary artist who has a mission behind all the artworks she creates. Her mission is to fight with illegal wildlife trafficking and slaughtering animals for profit. She is an advocate for animal rights who uses different methods and materials to communicate her mission. She makes multimedia arts, creates graphics, paintings, and movies, organizes campaigns, writes articles, and speaks in conferences to raise awareness about wildlife cruelty.

Her artworks are modern, glamorous, evocative, and makes the viewer to take a moment and think about the message behind that beautiful art. She has made some products to carry her strong message to a wider audience in all over the world such as water bottle and cellphone cover.

She is very passionate about her work and she gets emotional when talking about those issues that she is trying to raise awareness. In the TED talk that the link is provided in the end of this post you can watch her emotional but informative speech.

She is an activist and her whole life and art is dedicated to her cause. Her project United Flotsam of Garbagea, is another innovative way to address a very controversial issue which is the issue of waste. It is a very creative way for addressing an issue that always have been talked about but so many people do not take it very seriously. 

http://www.asherjay.com/main.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141009-emerging-explorer-art-asher-jay-elephant-ivory-china-rhinos-science/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_fb20141009news-eeasherjay&utm_campaign=Content&sf5140961=1

http://www.garbagea.com/home/

Modern Animated Comic!

It can be argued that using images in sequence to tell a story goes back to ancient Rome and Egypt. But comics the way we know today was fully developed and started to get more attentions in 20^th century. Comics such a The Adventures of Tintin by Herge gained international fame.

One of the most apparent characteristics of Comic book stories is the usage of panels to divide each sequence from the next one. Panels can be in different sizes and orientation but their existence is almost essential.

The video posted in this blog is an animation made by Studio SYT-X based on an original idea of Andrew Kovaliov. The animation characters are moving from each Apple device to another while the story is moving on.

This video can be considered as a modern comic. The electronic devices (iPhones, MacBooks, and iPads) are being served as the panels used in traditional comics. The element of music has been added and the text is completely removed. Silhouette characters are moving from each panel to the next and telling the story.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/amazing-animated-music-video-tells-4346538

The Untold Story of a Photograph

In the last Concept Development session, the class was discussing about photos and how the facts they present are different than what viewers assume and this assumptions could lead to communicating some messages regardless of them being true. The War Photo No One Would Publish is an article by Torie Rose DeGhett which was published on theatlantic.com on August 8, 2014 and it is about some photos of the Gulf War that were not published in the time of war in America.

The photograph to be discussed in this blog is taken by Kenneth Jarecke from an Iraqi man who was burned alive while trying to pull himself out of his vehicle. The photo is black and white and it is showing a person who is completely burned. The fire burned most of his features and he is not recognizable. Was he young or middle age? Was he a light or dark skin? It is not easy to say. Overall, it is a very disturbing photo and it is really hard to look at because it is so graphic.

The photo can trigger so many emotions such as hatred (of war), sympathy, sorrow, anger, and revenge. But these emotions may vary based on the point of view of the person looking at the picture. But there is an important point to consider. Although, this person was a soldier who had fought in Saddam Hussein’s army against Americans, the soldier cannot be blamed for the war. He could have been a regular person that had no choice but to join the army. The photo has is not showing any facts about his characteristics, nationality, beliefs, or identity. What viewer instantly sees is the fact that a HUMAN BEING burned to death, a horrible death to even imagine. Maybe this was the reason that Press wouldn’t agree to publish it on that time! There is a very important point mentioned in the article, “the photograph was not published due to editorial choice.”

A photograph can be a very strong communication tool. This has been known for a long time and this may be why even now in the twenty first century in America, the land of freedom, we are witnessing censorship in media. 

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/08/the-war-photo-no-one-would-publish/375762/