Oslo, Norway

Last weekend myself and Kirsty of JMD took a short trip to Oslo, Norway. Amongst visiting the Architecture Museum, Contemporary Art Museum, Ice Bar, sculpture gardens, and general city centre, we also visited Snøhetta's Opera House. I was first made aware of their work when they were one of the six finalist architects bidding for the V&A Dundee project, to which Kengo Kuma won.

Upon getting home and reading up further on them, I have realised we also unintentionally visited another of their builds, in the form of Lysaker Stajon - a train station on the outskirts of Oslo.

I was very impressed with their work, as the Opera House in particular had a fantastic mix of architecture coming inside, as well as the roof becoming a fully open walkway for sightseeing. Upon walking up to the highest point (the walk ways were a series of flat angular planes that acted as "tiers" for visitors to meander around) you were able to see quite a distance, unfortunately a  lot of building work was currently going on in the immediate vicinity, causing quite a bit of visual obstructions. Aside from allowing visitors the ability of distance sights, it also allowed a view into the central glass atrium, housing the staircase to and from theatres, along with a general open space for crowds. This in particular was where you could see that the architects and interior designers had worked extremely closely to create a streamlined design from exterior to interior - without creating a mirrored shell of textures on the interior. On entering the reception area you are fronted with a large, somewhat overwhelming wooden organic structure, which is quite the contrast to the angular white slabbed exterior. It does not however feel too much of a contrast, as the floor flows from outside to inside, becoming a constant.

Their website informs me that Snøhetta have another company called Snøhetta Design, who provide (to quote):

"Snøhetta Design is a multidisciplinary graphic design agency incorporated within Snøhetta. Our services are based upon designing brand relations between corporate identity and architecture, between people and brands.

Snøhetta Design clients have projects integrated with Snøhetta Architecture or without any relation to architecture. They all, regardless of grapihic design, interior, landscape or architecture, are projects where we nurture concepts."

So basically, they are an all round design house who provide a service from start through implementation to execution and beyond.

I love them!

My Top 10 Free Fonts

While I currently waste what seems like endless hours changing fonts and layouts for my up and coming presentation, I thought I'd list some good fonts I've come across, and seeing as I'm a poor student - they are all free.

Note: These are all compatible with macs, if you are using windows you will have to check for a windows download.

1. Quicksand  

A sans-serif typeface with various styles (bold, regular and dashed, all with oblique options).

2. Val

A good font to use to make quick logos and headers. 

3. Portal

Another good font for making a bold statement.

4. 235MKSD - Ultra Light Alphabet

A clean, simple sans-serif.

5. Slukoni

A fun, chunky and best of all, free font.

6. Barnes

A playful font, however is only available in capital form - although I don't think for this type of typeface that this would be an issue. 

7.  Sketchetik

Possibly one of my favourite free fonts, available only in light. 

8. Walkway

Simple and crisp.

9. Dagny

Sans-serif, as you can probably tell by now, I much prefer these to serifs, that is of course apart from Georgia. 

10. Zag

In particular Zag Drops however, only regular and bold are available for free. The whole collection can be obtained for $75.

The Curriculum Vitae & Semiotics

I was surfing the abyss that is the interwebs when I came across a few sites that listed interesting resume ideas. This got me thinking - what will I chose to do to attract attention when it comes to looking for a job that doesn't involve serving drinks to drunk students?

Here are a few of my favourites:

The Origami CV

I like this one because it is simple and unusual. Imagine receiving something like this via post - it would certainly make me smile, especially if it was in a more interesting shape that you have to unfold. Takes folding paper to fit envelopes to a whole new level!

The T-Shirt CV

This is a cool idea as again it makes for an interesting delivery, but the only problem I can see with this is if you have never met who would be reading it - you may insult them by sending a size far too small or vice versa.

That aside though - I like this idea of printing on something other than paper, which leads me to what else could you print on?

The Infographic CV

For those of you who have read some of my recent postings - this one excites me a lot!

It's simple, efficient, and interesting without being cluttered up with a lot of writing. The initial impact of seeing it makes it a very successful way to display your stats and traits.

 The Compact CV

This one is similar in a way to the origami one shown above, although is very compact. If you were to send this in a very very small box then it would be surprising to get in your in tray.

It's simple and clean, and a way of sprucing up a simple text based CV, but keeping a traditional format inside.

Probably good for those who are will to try a more ambitious CV style but not willing to risk a crazy graphic design style.

 The Whole Package CV

This one is good, although it is a lot of work.

Receiving a well thought out pack with miniature flyers, brochure of work, contact detail cards and a poster is a nice thought, and reminds me of a pull out in The Guardian or The National Geographic etc.

It's a nice idea, but as I say - it's a job in itself to make it all. I guess it depends how long you have been out of work, and how much time you have to make all of this!

The Comic Book CV

This one has a lot of impact. I like the simplicity, and the fact that you can get text on it without it being irritating - although how much text you need I guess is something I could tell you if I read more into semiotics.

The limited colours also mean it doesn't get cluttered as easily - something I'm sure employers like. Surely there is nothing worse than trawling through hundreds (and in this climate probably thousands) of applications for a single position, and being bombarded with busy sheets and a lot of pointless text. Although as these are all for creative positions and I myself hope to also be applying to something in the creative industry - you'd hope applicants would have a sense about this given their field. You never know though - they might just be the ones without a job.



I think I would write my website address on 50 bananas and send them in a basket to whoever I wanted a job with. Overwhelm them with fruity madness!

If that didn't work, I think I would perhaps make a box of teabags - but replace all the information on the box with my information - but fill it with some nice fruity tea bags and send them to an employer. Who doesn't like tea, right?

Design Studies: Does a picture tell a thousand words, or do you sometimes need them?

Our latest assignment was based around semiotics.

The dictionary describes this as the following:

"semiotics

plural noun [treated as sing. ]

the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation."

My group decided to do the second option for this - although I do not want to explain it fully, so you can try it out for yourself.

I showed the following images to 5 people; and asked them what it made them think - what did itmake them feel, and if it provoked any specific thoughts. Try not to click on the links below the images until you have read to the bottom.

Reveal

This was the first image. I got several answers:

"It motivates me."

"I have no idea what this is getting at."

"Metaphoric, the engine inside is driving us - giving us energy."

"Excitement in medicine."

"Cars, and The Stig."

Reveal

For this second image, a reasonably diverse selection of answers:

"This one makes me think of greed."

"Technology, it makes me think of things changing with the times."

"Diverse business, and consumerism."

"Reminds me of the saying many hands make light work."

"This makes me think of gluttony."

Reveal

 Third image:

"This makes me think of crime, I wouldn't say scared, but it makes me wary."

"Crime in general."

"A suspect in an ongoing crime. It also makes me think of authority and control."

"This reminds me of old fashioned police work."

"The police."

Reveal

Lastly:

"This makes me feel sad about the rain forests."

"This is making me think about supplies running out, i.e. oil etc."

"An attempt to generate awareness of depletion."

"This makes me think of recycling, and reducing the damage in third world countries and rain forests."

"The environment, and the fact we are basically killing it."

Next, I explained that these were all in fact photoshopped adverts, with their branding removed. I asked the volunteers if, on seeing what it was advertising, if their thoughts on the images changed. If you would like to take part, I have linked the original underneath each image. Feel free to leave your comments at the bottom of this page!

After revealing the brand, I got the following responses:

For the first image:

"This makes me feel lazy now, at first I was motivated, but not anymore."

"This still makes no sense to me."

"I can understand it now it is in context, but I would never of come to this conclusion without the logo."

"I still think what I thought before, although I do get it from the adverts perspective."

"It still reminds me of cars."

The second image generated the following:

"It changes my mind, I now think of cleanliness rather than greed."

"I can see that [it's the brand] now, it's quite clever."

"[The brand is] not what I would have expected."

"I still think what I originally thought."

"I still think it's creepy."

The third image:

"This makes me confused, does it make it criminal to use [the brand]? I would of thought [the advert] was for something like drink driving."

"This image doesn't really relate to the product, I am a bit confused."

"I think this image is unrelated and has no purpose in this context."

"I get it, I wasn't too sure what it was about to begin with but I understand it now."

"This doesn't make sense to me."

The fourth image:

"This makes me feel the same as before."

"I still think the same - things are running out."

"I still think the same."

"I like this, it's clever."

"I can understand it."

I have come to the conclusion that out of our selected images, the fourth image is the most successful at conveying it's purpose without text. The third however, is least successful, as even in the context of the product, it still fails to be understood. The first and second one are reasonable, as they remain equally misunderstood with or without branding. 

Lecture: Tweeting, blogging, and getting yourself known!

Lauren Currie (@Redjotter), a former MDes student here at DJCAD gave us an inspiring lecture today with regards to service design.

Although she came from a Product Design bachelors background, I can see that every aspect of design is related. It's like one big pot of design, swirling in a vortex with all of our different disciplines competing in an olympic fashion - although I don't fancy the image of me in a swimming cap, sporting the I&ED team colours.

Service design is something that's been simmering in the back of my noggin since last years lecture on the same topic. I have since opened up a folder that I store all my ideas for fourth year, masters or future projects - wherever the wind takes me, with a hind of service design cropping up regularly. Something I'm very interested in developing is flat-packed care. Not just for the elderly, but for people suffering disability (short and long term), and those suffering injury. The environmental aspect of I&ED is getting to me quite a bit too, and have become very aware of my footprint. This is something I would also like to incorporate. Green DIY care. Flat-packed eco hugs. Making people feel better, and making the environment feel better at the same time - it's a nice thought anyway.

It was so good to see such a positive outcome from the simple things such as tweeting and blogging. I am quite an avid fan of both of these routes, as well as LinkedIn and Skype. I was astounded to find that when I started following the likes of The Guardian, BREEAM, and various magazines, people from the same industry began following me. Although I am somewhat of a small presence online, I can only imagine what I will be able to gain from persevering over the next few years as an undergraduate. I'd love to get even one of the many opportunities Lauren has got through these means. I've already taken on her advice about having a consistent image - although I change the hue for each network.

...and be controversial! (GFDA)

My only gripe is not with the lecture today (it was very good after all), but with the lectures in general. Us in Interiors get forgotten! Every time an example is given it's "if you are in jewellery", or "as a textile student", or "for example, if you graduate in graphics", and so on. We feel a little invisible. Will there be any future talks given from MDes students who are post grad I&ED? Or perhaps post grads in industry? Even a small specifically relevant part? Please!

But apart from that - another good week for Design Studies. All these people who moan and groan about having to do all these "chores" don't seem to get that it's all to aid their future.

They don't hire average joe, after all.

...And just to finish off, I thought I'd leave you all with a website I have been on recently: Good F*cking Design Advice. It's motivational yet light hearted - but perhaps NSFW. None the less it gets you back down to earth. Get fucking inspired!

Infosthetics!

The Illusion of Diversity

I'm still glued to my screen like a 16 year old when the new Halo is out, but I'm currently creeping on Infosthetics, which is another data visualisation website, similar to Infographics, which I mentioned in a previous post.

You will lose hours, if not days to this if like me you enjoy geeking it up on data, statistics and random facts.

It helps when they look cool too!

Infographics!

On possibly my new favourite website Flowing Data - which displays a variety of data visualisations called "infographics" - I came across this: 

Above is an image from the site, documenting the Beetles hairstyles throughout the height of their careers. Notice that the 1965-1966 styles seem to have resurfaced recently in the form of Dundee's youth. I think however, we have the more local band The View to thank for that one. 

Cheers.

Another example of fusing graphic design with data representation is this chart documenting the fractions of each ingredient for different types of coffee. I don't know why I find stuff like this so fascinating, but so far I have been going through this site for an hour and a half, and I can't see me quitting it any time soon!