DSGN 264-403 Fall 2021 Blog
Vexillography, defined as the design of flags, is an important but often overlooked part of global and cultural identities. The United States flag, for instance, has gone through many different iterations of its flag design, resulting in its current iteration with 50 stars and 13 stripes. But, like many territories Read more…
Cultural Appropriation: The use of elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that does not respect their original meaning or give credit to their source. Cultural appropriation has been an ongoing and present issue– especially in the fashion industry. It is crucial for designers, fashion enthusiasts, and everyone else Read more…
The image above, Untitled (1982), is currently owned by Japanese billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa, who bought the piece in in May 2016 for $57.3 million. He has decided to resell the painting, which is now estimated at $70 million. Basquiat’s work generated the second largest amount of money for any Read more…
Recently, I applied for and successfully got into the design team of a Penn student organization called Unearthed. The club creates children’s educational magazines, one themed issue per semester, with exciting articles and immersive illustrations that hopefully get Philadelphia students more interested and engaged with science and learning in general. Read more…
Color sets tone. Color establishes importance. Color invokes interest. Color is a critical aspects of visual design, photography, and art. Interesting, monochrome designs, photography, and art do not detract from the tone, importance, interest, or visual appeal of a visual artwork. “Colour may show the actuality of a scene while Read more…
Henryk Berlewi, who lived from 1894–1967, was born in Warsaw, Poland and engaged in the creation of art for his entire life. He was a proponent of the Russian avant-garde movement in the early 20th century, alongside other Jewish and non-Jewish artists in Europe. His life, largely obscure because of Read more…
Why are Icons so Iconic? We see icons everyday in our lives and these magical and useful symbols are able to encompass words, meanings, and sometimes even abstract concepts in a simple ‘icon.’ “Icons are everywhere; some are so powerful and universal that we instantly recognise that they represent a Read more…
Agnes Denes reminisces on creating “Tree Mountain-A Living Time Capsule—11,000 Trees, 11,000 People, 400 Years,” a collaborative bioremediation artwork and a human-made virgin forest in Ylöjärvi, Finland. www.agnesdenesstudio.com
A presentation by Aggie Toppins – CAA 2020. www.aggietoppins.com/
How does design shape society? In this film, artist Mika Tajima traces the legacy of the influential Action Office furniture line—developed by Herman Miller—and how it serves as the inspiration for her own work. Introduced in 1964 and still in production today, the Action Office is a modular and customizable system of semi-enclosed cubicles. www.mikatajima.com