Visual effects in product design

Visual Effects in Product Design Piti Khuptawathin Department of Product Design Faculty of Decorative Arts, Silpakorn University

Abstract การเห็นหรือความสามารถในการมองเห็นเป็นสัมผัสรับรู้ภายในของมนุษย์สิ่งหนึ่ง ที่จะเข้าใจความเป็นไปตามธรรมชาติได้อย่างดีและใช้ตัดสินสิ่งต่างๆรอบตัว รวมทั้งใช้ใน การยอมรับความคิดที่หลากหลาย โดยเฉพาะพิจารณาการปรากฎตัวของงานออกแบบผลิตภัณฑ์ แนวคิดจากงานออกแบบผลิตภัณฑ์นั้นๆล้วนมีผลต่อการมองเห็นทั้งสิ้น เช่น การแสดงตัวด้วยแนวคิดจากการสร้างพื้นผิวที่ไม่ได้เกิดจากฝีมือมนุษย์ การหลีกเลี่ยงการ ใช้รูปทรงที่สืบทอด และชั้นเชิงการลวงตาในการออกแบบ มิเฉพาะสิ่งที่กล่าวมาข้างต้นเท่านั้น ยังมีแนวคิดในการปรับเปลี่ยนรูปทรงวัสดุจากตัวเนื้อวัสดุที่มีสภาวะคงรูปร่างได้ และกระบวนการทางเคมีที่เรียกว่า “โปรโตเซลล์” หรือเซลล์เทียม ที่สามารถสร้างสมดุลย์ ด้วยตัวของมันเอง บางส่วนสามารถเลียนแบบ ปรับตัว เสมือนดั่งธรรมชาติได้ การสร้างงานออกแบบเฟอร์นิเจอร์ให้ดูคล้ายของหวาน การใช้แนวคิดในเรื่องการขจัด ในการออกแบบฉลากบรรจุภัณฑ์ ผลกระทบจากการได้สัมผัสเห็นงานออกแบบผลิตภัณฑ์ขึ้นอยู่กับ ความสามารถของแต่ละบุคคล จากประสบการณ์ การแสดงออกของงานออกแบบ และวัฒนธรรมการวินิจฉัย ไม่ว่าผลิตภัณฑ์นั้นจะเหมาะสมกับความต้องการ คุณค่า และประโยชน์ อย่างทีห่ วัง ท้ายที่สุด ผลลัพธ์จากกการสร้างสรรค์ที่ได้ก็คือเครื่องช่วยเหลือมนุษย์ และเครื่องช่วยฝืนธรรมชาติ เราจะยังเสาะหารวบรวมและใช้อะไรก็ตามแต่ที่เรามี ชี้นําเครื่องมือเหล่านั้นดั่งที่ใจเราปรารถนา แต่ความเข้าใจที่แท้จริง อาจจะยังไม่สัมฤทธิ์ผล บางครั้ง สิ่งที่คุณเห็นอาจจะไม่ใช่สิ่งที่คุณกําลังมอง ข้อมูลที่ได้รับเหล่านั้น หากผิดพลาด ผลลัพธ์อาจทําให้สิ่งรอบๆเกิดความยากลำบาก เราทําทุกวิถีทางที่จะเอาชนะธรรมชาติ เพื่อจะเติมเต็มความว่างเปล่าในจิตใจ สิ่งเหล่านั้นล้วนเป็นไปตามวัฏสงสารของมัน

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Seeing or visual ability is one of the inner perceptual tools to understand the natural feasibility, judge the surroundings, including the acceptance of various ideas, especially in product design presented. The product designs were presented in various concepts that affect people visually. They could be presented by their unman-made texture, the concept of avoiding traditional form, and as the illusion tactic. Not only the three categories mentioned above, but they also were designed to be adaptable by solidity changing. Besides, the chemical process called “protocell” which could reconfigure itself and imitating nature adaptation artificially, and the product design that creating the candy-like object such as furniture were developed. Lastly, the products were designed to emphasize on label in the package communication, which could affect the masses. Visual effect in product design on people depends on the people ability, experience, expression and culture to judge whether the product presented is properly needed, valuable and function as expected. Climactically, personal assistance and natural resistance are benefit from human creation: we do explore, gather and use whatever references we have to orientate things as much as we desire, but the thorough understanding may be not exist. Occasionally, what you see may be not what you are looking. Improper information might get our surroundings in difficulty1, as a result. We do everyway to go against the nature, to conceal emptiness in our minds. Those are visibly mentioned for the cycle of exitences.

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“It must have to emphasize in thorough knowledge much more than opinions.

We have to demonstrate the opinions based on strong-knowledge. Nowadays, our societies have lot of problems, because people like to give their opinions without seeking the truth. Phra Brahmagunabhorn (P. A. Payutto)

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Introduction Long live design, This phrase has been overlooked since the end of World War II, when designers try to make their design’s lifespan last longer on the shelf. (Marcel Wonder had reminded this again in his writing)2. At that time, entrepreneurs had emphasis give funding into production pools, determine to choose the right process, mostly depend on time and volume. According to Alex W. White, author of The Elements of Graphic Design, to achieve visual unity is a main goal of graphic design.

When all elements are in agreement, a design is considered unified. No individual part is viewed as more important than the whole design. A good balance between unity and variety must be established to avoid a chaotic or a lifeless design. In Buddhism believe, It refers to the combination of human interception that works as transmitter and receiver, usually when we are seeing, listening, touching, smelling and thinking.

For instance, memorable products involve an embodied experience, determined by the reach and grasp from our hands, the touch of our fingers, the feeling of temperature by our skin, the sound of surrounding, the gesture we take in and the way we use it, and the feeling when we get involve with them, and then transforms this information into something by individual understanding which are humanly perceptual assuming, and determine it as a personal theory3 which may not the natural fact. To understand the fact of nature, the cycle of existence, we have to learn to control our combination of information for better judgment.

We could observe the design attitude from the following categories selected to present in this paper, which created a nice and successful works. Some works of those might be in the experiment state. All have the visual attraction tactics in their works that exact striking interactions to viewers.

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“Design is not as it seems today, just a style. It makes no sense if still we follow the rules of ancient machinery. We can no longer fall in total awe at a tube being bent. Today the industry is able to follow humanity and make its most exciting dreams reality. We as designers have to represent our public and their dreams instead of the machine and the anachronistic political dogmas it represents. We have to challenge the industry so they will learn to follow instead of to lead. It is upon humanity, which the design of the future can only be built. With love, passion and poetry we will take design to new heights. Design is dead...long lives design!” (Wanders, 2001) 3 ทฤษฎี(สันสกฤต) = ทิฎฐิ(บาลี) = ทิฐ(ิ ไทย) = a theory; view; belief; opinion; speculation; dogma.

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Tactic Models (1) Unman-made texture Design might have to so functional but actually the visual quality of the shell is in the top tier. Design elements are the main creative foundations that have been carefully picked up and integrated into product design process, then arranged in the right configuration. Moreover, to meet the perceptual meaning and artistic communication, good looking is the first priority to determined as always. “Love at first sight” might be one of the strategies to catch the viewers’ attention when an unknown object appeared in the design market.

Picture 1. Foliate Collection, Ross LoveGrove Many designers have overlooked and emphasized on aesthetic side in product design value, such as Ross Lovegrove, he had developed a new collection (Pic.1)4 which

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The Foliates collection was designed by Ross Lovegrove for Louisa Guinness Gallery and first launched at Art Basel Miami in December 2013. Each ring in the series has been digitally designed and manufactured using the very latest in 3D printing technology using 18ct gold.

(Ross Lovegrove is now principle at Lovegrove studio, he was former Chief of Design at Frogs)

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in collaboration with Louisa Guinness Gallery.5 The set of rings has carefully crafted in waxed process and laser sintering to create fascinating new unman-made texture.

As to Lovegrove had mentioned. “These collection appear is as if the very last virgin leaves of a tree or plant have unfurled from ones hand so that there is a relationship between the finger and the leaf, the gold appearing from the delicate void that I find so feminine and sensual and unattended.” The metaphor showed how to make anonymous objects at first, a fresh composition, the piece of arts which could influence viewers to stop and look.

(2) Unreal Structure Product design is a one of the most creative processes, which have been usually regarded as the tool of humanly meaningful perspective. The words “work” and “not work” fundamentally express the product quality, in term of functionality (How’s it work?) and beauty (How’s it look?). Understanding in product design would fundamentally experience of both the external and internal context.

Picture 2. Element, Tokujin Yoshioka

The concept of unconventional built structure had been experimented in architectural design since ‘70s by Morphosis6, and recently, Tokujin had explored the

5 http://www.louisaguinnessgallery.com/home/ 6 Founder: Thom Mayne, Livio Santini, James Stafford and Michael Brickler founded Morphosis in

1972, Michael Rotondi joined in 1975. The firm's design philosophy arises from an interest in producing work with a meaning that can be understood by absorbing the culture for which it was made, and their goal was to develop an architecture that would avoid the normal bounds of traditional forms.

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new structure and design of table, the table (Pic.4) that could create an illusion by using the rough side of pole to create enchanting shade of side view and the hidden fixtures, the table was just born. Construction was visually done the chaotic job. Users like us have realized the new way to play with visual and gravity.

For this work, designer had concentrated in building mechanism behind the seen to make the unseen appearance, the simple but unlike any tables.

(3) Illusion line The collection (Pic.3) recently won the Awards at the Interior Design Biennale, Belgium. Double sides of positive and negative made us change attitude, the collection consisted of a series of objects, were designed to look like the strokes, emerging in the space as Candle holder’s (Pic.4) made from copper, The line drawn connected deep down to the bottom, and emphasized the balanced weight.

A product designer from England, has focused on understanding the functionality of the vase as a two dimensional object.

Picture 3. Kishu Collection, Maya Selway

Picture 4. Candle Holder, Maya Selway

(4) Self-Sculpting Technology Familiarly in the work of arts, the notion of accessories design are equally fundamental in all form of art, the art of making humanly purposeful and meaningful things. Things, those can communicate the possibility in the form of changing. When the first design were born, it could communicate and make you believe in your sculpt proficiency, and sudden change to another design, which equally used the same solids amount. New material (Pic.5,6) from this Laboratory suggested the futuristic material. The

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material titled “Nanobot”7. We have seen the understanding in balance between arts and sciences in Kruli’s work. According to Bernnard E. Burdek, “From design’s history, we know that Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was the very first designer. He conducted countless scientific studies (experiments), in disciplines including anatomy, optics or mechanics, but he also designed and created numerous objects. For him, knowledge was based on visual perception and mental recognition: he developed, for his time, a kind of coherent synthesis between the arts and sciences”.8

Picture 5. Morph, Zbynek Krulich

Picture 6. Morph, Zbynek Krulich

In this process, Nanobots were shaped by hand without any machinery forming processes that required expensive tooling, such as for the injection molding or diecasting. From the first created form, the next design would be challengingly driven by hand. From now on, users have no limit in form changing requirement. The designs could regenerate the inspiration and surrounding adaptation.

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Made from 3D printing, Named Morphê, sponsored by “Objet” and found in the Zona Tortona area in Milan, each piece can morph into a different shape to suit its user's requirements.

8 Burdek, Bernhard E. Design. History, Theory and Pratice of Product Design. Cologne : 1991, p15.

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(5) Fake skin The ability of living creature such as lizard to grow its tail back after losing it to save itself after being attacked is well known as its natural adaptation called autotomy.

The abilities such as the metabolism moving and reproducing, has been accepted as cellular properties of living creature. However, London-base designer and scientist Shamee Aden recently worked on the chemical project called “protocell” (Pic.7-9) which material work as living organism. The result from chemical mixing that processed some of the abilities of the living cell . “This synthetic cells can reconfigure themself from other environment influences” Aden said. For example, Aden had developed the running shoe9 that could respond to the ground, inflated and deflated according to the ground’s texture. The technic artificially imitated from a nature adaptation, which was another step in materiality experiment. Soon, we might have our organ replacement which might be as good as the original one.

Picture 7. Visualization of Protocell

Picture 8. Amoeba Running Shoe

9 "The cells have the capability to inflate and deflate and to respond to pressure, "As you're running

on different grounds and textures it's able to inflate or deflate depending on the pressure you put onto it and could help support you as a runner."

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Picture 9. Amoeba Running Shoe People who lose their organs could have fixed their bodies and be back to normal life.

There would be an advantage in developing of synthetic biological product design.

Things could be self-repaired when needed, and maintenanced free. If they were applied to daily life products, next time, when the vendor told you “It’s life time warranty”, it would have been the truth.

(6) Sweet look Matthias Borowski designed the candy-liked object (Pic.10,11,12) for his graduate thesis at the Design Academy Eindhoven. The concept of the oversized confectionary project, named the importance of the obvious. “Attracted by the material characteristics of candies, I translated their colours, textures, layering, and expressions into designs,” said Borowski.

The mixture of wood veneers, acrylic, foam and several materials, were rearranged in new designs, however in the process he discovered the incredible reaction that occurred when the shapes, colors and textures were wisely mixed, it expanded into a food like appearance. Using this edible characteristic but over scaled concept is a new experiment. There was an investigation in three dimensional problem solving, which cross-filed between the areas of bakery image and furniture. Users extremely accepted sweetness by seeing; the kind we had rarely seen on the concept design, which could increase the objects’ visual value by flavor adding.

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Picture 10. The importance of the obvious

Picture 11. The importance of the obvious

Picture 12. The importance of the obvious There was an investigation in charming furniture, which cross-fielded between the areas of food styling and furniture, sweetness was extremely accepted by users seeing,

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the rarely seen concept design, interestingly attacked by both visual and taste perception.

(7) De-branded While the current consumer design took over a home's space recently, Selfridge10store were working to miniaturize character of well-known brand such as Heinz (Pic.13), La Mer, (Pic.14) Levi’s and so on in the new campaign called “The Quiet Shop”.

The most unusual aspect of the response to the concept was to focus on the packaging features by eliminating visual typefaces out of the label only recognizable ornaments remained. The inside products have pointed into their accurate tasks, the real contents without garnishing.

Picture 13. Heinz

Picture 14. Cream de la Mer, The Quiet Shop Campaign

10 Selfridges has known as Selfridges & Co. is a chain of high-end department stores in

the United Kingdom. Selfridges & Co. stores are known for architectural and excellent tradition for unique displays and unusual exhibitions to this day which is a major reason to visit the store. Selfridges believes in ever changing innovative window displays, which always attracts immense interest.

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The concept is to detect the power of quiet, and the beauty in function to remind the masses of what you exactly need from the product, which is a very imaginative approach to highlight the brand by getting rid of unnecessary communicate descriptions. Somehow this would be a very simplest technique to attract the crowds.

Actually, by creating these campaign "de-branded" items, shop collectors of packaging will rush to buy them, and increases more consumer demand as well.

Conclusion The transformation of Homo erectus11, from their first standing on two legs, had physical and mind developed to be the present human race (Homo Sapiens) didn’t take a few days. The development of design is also actually one of the anthropology episodes. The process started from making tools which had been developed, synthesized and design to make a better way of living in human life.

Lately, we saw information from new designs onstage again and again, mostly through popular social medias. The designs, which have quite good concept, the concept, that may effect us. The only appropriate design would have lived longer life; the others would be fastly drawn into the designs cemetery, out of the grid of the gravity.

Design school might teach us how to apply design principles into our expression, and make a better design, a design of tomorrow, but experiences would determine the outcome. The functional design should not only suit our cultural demands, but also reflected responsibility from designer to all levels of concern, and due to the multiplicity of interactions involved in design, creating a theory of design with aesthetics as its core would certainly not have been sufficient (Burdeck, 2005). Thus, It’s the time to remind ourself of the exact creation values we had been looking for. The new questions would be asked before creating the designs, which would have been your favorite, chosen by yourself and you could live with it.

The visual effects in product design are the pool of combinations with the concept of seeing, bringing into mind the visual phenomenon of the imagining. They could influence those who experience, and realized from what they saw. Designers use those methods to catch the viewers’ attention, turning the unseen appearance into humanly purposeful and meaningful thing.

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Homo Erectus or “Upright Man”, was the first creature to stand fully upright, he was probably also the first to use fire.

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Kollektivpluszwei. Kollektivpluszwei Project : The Graduation Pieces, The Important of the Obvious(online). Access on 28 Feb 2014. Available from http://www.kollektivpluszwei.com/#!the-importance-of-the-obvious/c1q0y Lovegrove Studio. Rosslovegrove : Louisa Guinness – Foliates Collection 10thJanuary 2014(online). Access on 28 Feb 2014. Available from http://www.rosslovegrove.com/index.php/news/#sthash.xbAWHP58.dpuf Marcel Wanders Studio. Marcel Wanders: Writing(online). Access on 28 Feb 2014.

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Morphosis Architect. Morphosis(online). Access on 28 Feb 2014. Available from http://morphosis.com/architecture.php Thompson, Rob. The Manufacturing guides Product and Furniture Design. United Kingdom: Thames & Hudson, 2011.

White, Alex W. The Elements of Graphic Design: Space, Unity, Page, Architecture, and Type. New York: USA, 2011.

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Pictures Index Picture 1 Foliate Collection, Ross Lovegrove ที่มา http://www.rosslovegrove.com/index.php/news/#sthash.xbAWHP58.dpuf Picture 2. Element, Tokujin Yoshioka ที่มา http://www.tokujin.com/en/design/product/#gallerydesalto%E2%80%82%E2%80%82element%E2%80%82%E2%80%822013 Picture 3. Kishu collection, Maya Selway ที่มา http://www.mayaselway.com/Objects.aspx Picture 4. Candle Holder, Maya Selway ที่มา http://www.mayaselway.com/Objects.aspx Picture 5. Morph collection ที่มา http://morphe.cz/2010/03/morphe-collection/ Picture 6. Morph ที่มา http://morphe.cz/2010/03/morphe-collection/ Picture 7. Visualization of Protocell. ที่มา http://shameesaden.com Picture 8. Amoeba Running Shoe. ที่มา http://shameesaden.com Picture 9. Amoeba Running Shoe. ที่มา http://shameesaden.com Picture 10. The importance of the obvious. ที่มา http://www.kollektivpluszwei.com/#!theimportance-of-the-obvious/c1q0y Picture 11. The importance of the obvious. ที่มา http://www.kollektivpluszwei.com/#!theimportance-of-the-obvious/c1q0y Picture 12. The importance of the obvious. ที่มา http://www.kollektivpluszwei.com/#!theimportance-of-the-obvious/c1q0y Picture 13. Heinz “de-brand” concept ที่มา http://www.striiiipes.com/striiiipes-is-at-theuiteuiet-shop-in-selfridges/ Picture 14. Cream de la Mer, The Quiet Shop Campaign ที่มา http://www.striiiipes.com/striiiipes-is-at-the-quiet-shop-in-selfridges/

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