May 2009
4 posts
CH 9 + 10 TLOS
CH9
In chapter 9, Maeda explains that some things cannot be simplified. A flower, for instance, would lose much of its beauty if it were simplified. He also uses his book as an example of failure, saying that the laws established in the book are either incomplete, have too many acronyms, or have bad gestalts.
CH10
Subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful is the concept introduced in...
CH 7 + 8 TLOS
CH 7
In chapter 7 Maeda talks about the importance of emotion in design. Feeling in design is a very important aspect. If there is no emotional connection to the design, then it can be hard for a viewer to relate to the design. I think that feeling and emotion in design can also help to communicate a message more clearly. For example, Maeda talks about how typewritten smileys can communicate...
Chapt 8 + 9 of TLOS
Chapter 8 Maeda talks about the simplicity in design by teaching us that we need to be able to be comfortable and relax. When learning to swim as an adult, Maeda learned that he had to trust the water before he could grasp the concept of swimming. If he were to panic, then swimming would have become that more difficult. It goes the same with design. When we relax and become comfortable with the...
CH. 5 + 6 TLOS
CH 5
I thought the story he tells of the imperfect tea cup was a good illustration of the interaction of simplicity and complexity. When I am working, I don’t often consider how simplicity and complexity can interact with each other. It is interesting how these two concepts can compliment each other.
CH 6
In chapter six, Maeda talks about paying attention to the background. In the...
April 2009
1 post
Chapt 7 of TLOS
Chapt 7- Emotion in design. Maeda talks about using emotion and feeling when we design. There is something that emotion can do that nothing else can. Even just a simple :) can mean so much more than the word smile. It is interesting how much we use emotion without even realizing it when texting one another. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?!?! instead of- where have you been? There is a different feeling...
March 2009
13 posts
Chapt 5+6 of TLOS
Chapt 5- Law 5 is about simplicity and complexity and how they need each other. “Nobody wants to have only simplicity.” As designers, and even just people in general, if we continue to have the same thing over and over, we get tired of it and it becomes dull unless there is something that can break up the pattern. In this case, we need complexity every once in a while to contrast...
More Process Work...
Diagram Sketches
brain storming with diagrams below
February 2009
7 posts
PDF Presentation
DownloadPDF
January 2009
19 posts
Maeda ch. 3 + 4
CH. 3
What I found most interesting in chapter 3 was the section on “hiding and embodying time”. The example Maeda gives about the progress bar was spot on. It is interesting that we perceive that less time has passed if we are watching a progress bar move across the screen compared to one that does not move at all even though the same amount of time has passed for both.
CH. 4
The...
Chapt 3+4 of TLOS
In chapter 3, Maeda talks about making things feel simple by saving time. After reading this I began to understand how important it is to design something that not only conceptually and aesthetically good, but also think about how time could be saved by using the product. Products like the ipod shuffle is a good example of this. Personally, I never understood them and would get frusterated at the...
Mmmmm...
Shop till you drop. then get up and shop some more. there is never enough food, so buy, buy, buy. money doesn’t matter anymore. The thought of flakey cereals, pure white milk, perfectly diced onions, smooth yellow butter, creme filled doughnuts, holy white cheese, fluffy slices of bread, blood red tomato soup, silver wrapped tuna, roman made noodles, two halves of a bagel, chocolate chipped...
Hunger
We follow our stomaches. We run through huge stacks of food. We roll our silver carts, and fill them with love. We enjoy every second with cold ac in the meat section blowing on our face. We hunt for coupons. We search for the shortest line. We pay for our Goods.
-We are Grocery Shoppers.
Maeda Ch. 1 and 2
The concept of simplifying an object yet retaining it’s complexity was interesting. His example of remote controls was good because they seem to be overtly complex and confusing. The question seems to be how do you reduce the complexity without losing functionality.
It is interesting to think that people can be confused by the simplicity of an object. At the end of chapter two he talks...
Chapt 1+2 of TLOS
First of all I really enjoy the way Maeda breaks down his methods of learning. I can understand what he is talking about through the way he writes and categorizes information. Chapter 1 was about the process of Shrinking Hiding and Embodying when designing. As designers, these are things we think about when trying to create or improve an existing design, but Maeda went into full detail why we...