the start to my journey in design

Moving to Melbourne in the hope of finding a new and exciting opportunity for myself as a young designer seemed like a far-fetched challenge a few weeks ago, but now I have taken the first step to developing my career in graphic design. I have just started as an intern working at the FlexArt Group in Reservoir, Victoria alongside designer and printer Jason Milani and his team.

At the moment I am currently working two days a week in the studio from which I will move into full time for 5 weeks in January 2012. 

My first day in the studio...

And what a big first day it was. Jason set me up with a newly purchased monitor screen and began teaching me the insides and outs of design program CorelDraw. Coming from a completely Apple and Adobe background, working with PC's and a foreign program became my new challenge! I also had to learn how to use a tablet, something I had never done before, but I have since become addicted to their amazing ability and the ease they allow when you are designing! With my new workspace and set up I firstly explored CorelDraw to find my bearings and become competent in its use so I could start doing some work. 

There's nothing like being thrown into the deep end on your first day, with Jason asking me to develop a new concept for a website - http://www.nvirocare.com.au/

I will be posting my developing concept in later posts!

Whilst coming up with new ideas for a website, Jason also gave me my first opportunity to work with a client in house! The client was one of the managers at Preston Hire - a local building solutions company. 

The client wanted us to design for them a series of promotional items including pens, usb sticks, lanyards, mouse-pads and stubby holders. It was a great learning experience to actually work with the client there, making sure that the designs I was creating were exactly what he and the business were looking for. These designs would then be presented to the Board who would then make a decision to use or make alterations to develop the final design solutions.

See these designs soon! 

a paper world

The intricate 'worlds, cities and countries, heavens and hells' of artist Beatrice Coron

The Design Rainbow - Colours and Consumers

I found this on KISSmetrics http://blog.kissmetrics.com/color-psychology/ and found it to be a really interesting discussion about how colour affects the consumer and the items that we purchase.

I think these kinds of ideas and theories should be considered when creating new designs or brands in order to attract a target audience and ensure that your design or product is seen through the eyes in which it was created. As designers I think it is crucial that we address the requirements of consumers in todays society to ensure our work is recognised in an overpowering world of visual imagery.  

'Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand' - Albert Einstein 

Wearable Technologies, Hype or Hope?

A video produced for Design History, Theory and Aesthetics 3

DESIGN FUTURES - SMART TEXTILES

Are ‘wearable technologies’ providing ‘hype’ or ‘hope’ for the fashion and textiles industry?

Kate Hartman also talks about wearable technology...

Golden Vienna

I recently went to Melbourne to see the Vienna: Art and Design Exhibition 
at the National Gallery of Victoria. What an experience, finally getting to see all of the works that I have learnt and am still learning about at Univesity. I think the more I see the better experiences and explanations I can provide for my future students when teaching them about Visual Arts and Design.

One of my favourite artists from the exhibition...

Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the founding members of the Vienna Secession movement, a group of unconventional young artists that rejected conservatism and instead, explored the possibilities of art outside the confines of academic tradition.

Klimt came from an artistic but impoverished background with his father being both a goldsmith and an engraver. He left school at the age of 14 and made the decision to train at the Viennese School of Applied Arts where his artistic talent soon became apparent.

As an artist, Klimt first made himself known by the decorations he produced for numerous theatres and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches and other art objects which were admired for their sumptuous beauty but notorious for their erotic content, marked by his primary subject of the female body. This was one of the most common themes that Klimt used in his artworks – the femme fatale.

Klimt’s ‘golden period’ reflected his success and ability to blend the various elements of his style into a unique fusion of visual splendor and eroticism. This golden phase was marked by positive critical reaction and success with many of his painting using gold leaf. This period of Klimt’s artistic career was made up of three basic components: art nouveau, symbolism and early mosaics. The most obvious links that Klimt has with art nouveau are his use of sinuous, flowing lines and exuberant pattern making.

Klimt’s work is also distinguished by elegant, gold or coloured decoration, spirals and swirls, and phallic shapes used to conceal the more erotic positions of the drawings upon which many of his paintings are based. As an artist, he was largely interested in painting figures evident in his works. Klimt’s use of bright colours and striking figures allowed him to break with the taste and morality of the time which allowed him to shape a new era and create change in the art world.

Art historians have noted an eclectic range of influences that contributed to Klimt’s unique style including Egyptian, Minoan, Classical Greek and Byzantine inspirations. He was also inspired by the engravings of Albrecht Durer, late medieval European painting, and Japanese Rimpa School.

As an artist, Klimt was also interested in exploring Freudian issues surrounding psychoanalysis in his works such as sexual repression and castration theory. These issues gave his work a dark intricacy that would be highly influential for future artists.

Klimt’s most celebrated painting is ‘The Kiss’ which was produced in 1907 – 1908 at the peak of his golden period. His exploration of the ‘embrace’ and the ‘kiss’ was a very common theme prevalent in symbolist art. These themes also featured in the work of Edvard Munch and Egon Schiele which all emphasized suggestion and evocation, rather than on representation of the concrete world.

Gustav Klimt
The Kiss
1907-08

Other key works of Klimt include ‘Music I’ 1895, ‘The Beethoven Frieze’ 1902, ‘Danae’ 1907-08, ‘The Stoclet Frieze’ 1909-11 and ‘Death and Life’ 1911-15.

Gustav Klimt 

Music I 

1895

Gustav Klimt

Detail from the Beethoven Frieze 

1902

Gustav Klimt 

Danae 

1907 - 08

Gustav Klimt

The Stoclet Frieze

1909 - 11

Gustav Klimt

Death and Life

1911-15

Bibliography

Damy, J. (2011) Gustav Klimt: His Life & Work. Retrieved 9 August 2011 from http://www.iklimt.com

Expo-Shop (2011) Gustav Klimt. Retrieved 9 August 2011 from http://www.expo-klimt.com

Gibson, M. (1997) Gustav Klimt. Retrieved 9 August 2011 from http://www.artchive.com

Gustav Klimt: The Complete Works. (2011). Retrieved 9 August 2011 from http://www.klimtgallery.org

Prestel Verlag (2007) Gustav Klimt. London: Prestel Publishing Ltd.

Vaughan, W. (Ed.) (2007) Encyclopedia of World Artists. London: The Brown Reference Group 

Imagining Overseas Travellings - MoMa and the Vitra Design Museum

A research task where we had to find out about the collecting practices of both an overseas fine art and applied art collecting and display institution.  I cant wait to see these places in the flesh!



Fine Arts vs. Applied Arts


Fine Arts
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. The fine arts commonly include the visual art forms such as painting, sculpture, collage/assemblage, installation, film, photography, conceptual art and printmaking.  The term can be defined as ‘art produced or intended primarily for beauty rather than utility’.


Applied Arts
Applied art is the application of design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use. They incorporate design and creative ideals to objects of utility. The fields of industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design, decorative art and functional art are considered applied arts. In a creative or abstract context, the fields of architecture and photography are also considered.  The term describes ‘the use of the principles and elements of design to create functional pieces of works of art’.


A Fine Art collecting and display institution…The Museum of Modern Art, New York

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Manttan in New York City. This museum has been significant in developing and collecting modernist art and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world. Its collection offers an unparalleled overview of modern and contemporary art including works of architecture and design, drawings, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated books and artists books, film and electronic media. It also has a library and archive that holds over 300,000 books, artists books and periodicals, as well as individual files on more then 70,000 artists.


Considered by many to have the best collection of modern western masterpieces in the world, MoMa’s holidings include more than 150,000 individual pieces in addition to approximately 22,000 films and 4 million film stills. The collection houses important and familiar works including ‘The Starry Night’ by Vincent Van Gogh, ‘Water Lillies’ triptych by Claude Monet, ‘The Persistance of Memory’ by Salvador Dali, ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’ by Pablo Picassor, ‘Self Portrait with Cropped hair’ by Frida Kahlo and ‘Number 31, 1950’ by Jackson Pollack. It also holds works by a wide range of  other influential artists including Marcel Duchamp, Hans Hofmann, Paul Klee, Roy Lichtenstein, Rene Magritte, Joan Miro, Mark Rothko, Frank Stella and hundreds of others.


The collection at the Museum of Modern Art, New York can be broken down into 6 categories which are architecture and design, media and performance art, prints and illustrated books, painting and sculpture, drawings and photography and film.  These collections are managed by a Collections Policy which addresses each curatorial department in regards to acquisitions, deaccessioning, insurance, loans to the museum, possession of fractionally owned works, provenance, abandoned property, outgoing loans, records, archives and most importantly the care and conservation of the collections.  All of these areas are followed with regard to the Museums stated mission in which –


‘The Museum of Modern Art seeks to create a dialogue between the established and the experimental, the past and the present, in an environment that is responsive to the issues of modern and contemporary art, while being accessible to a public that ranges from scholars to young children. The ultimate purpose of the Museum declared at its founding was to acquire the best modern works of art. While quality remains the primary criterion, the Museum acknowledges and pursues a broader educational purpose: to build a collection that is more than an assemblage of masterworks, one that provides a uniquely comprehensive survey of the unfolding modern movement in all visual media’ (Mission Statement, Collections Management Policy, MoMa, New York, p.1).


Conservation and Research


Preservation of The Museum of Modern Art's collection is the principal responsibility of the Conservation Department. The department handles all aspects of the preservation and restoration of the Museum's collections in all mediums except library books, archival materials, and films—the latter is handled by and stored at the Museum's Celeste Bartos Film Preservation Center. Although hands-on restoration is the unique responsibility of the Conservation Department, it also advises on specific environmental controls and needs, special exhibitions, travel, packing, and installation requirements. These activities, part of an overall preventative conservation program for the Museum's collections, seek to prevent damage to and degradation of the collections through considered care and handling of the works of all times.


In recent years the department has established a scientific research program, dedicated to the study of materials and techniques of artists in the collection. Twentieth-century art uses of a wide range of materials in a wide range of ways, and identification and characterization of these materials are now essential parts of research, scholarship, and restoration program in the department. MoMA's Conservation Department is also committed to the education of new conservators of modern art, an emerging discipline within the field of conservation as a whole.


Provenance Research Project


The Museum of Modern Art owns approximately 800 paintings created before 1946 and acquired after 1932 that were or could have been in Continental Europe during the Nazi era. Researchers at the Museum have examined, and are continuing to research, the ownership, or provenance, records for works that fall within this category. The majority of these works were acquired directly from the artists or have provenance records that are sufficiently complete to eliminate the likelihood of Nazi misappropriation. Provenance research, however, remains an ongoing project, and a priority, at the Museum to ensure that they maintain a correct and valid collection of works.


MoMA’s current exhibitions include: Carlito Carvalhosa: Sum of Days, Harun Farocki: Images of War (at a distance), Projects 95: Runa Islam, Boris Mikhailov: Case History, Cy Twombly: Sculpture, Figure in the Garden, Crafting Genre: Kathryn Bigelow, I Am Still Alive: Politics and Everyday Life in Contemporary Drawing and Contemporary Art from the Collection which includes 130 works from all of the museums curatorial departments. 

 Contemporary Art from the Collection

Figure in the Garden

 Projects 95: Runa Islam

Harun Farocki - Images of War (at a distance)

An Applied arts collecting and display institution…The Vitra Design Museum, Germany

The Vitra Design Museum is an internationally renowned, privately owned museum for design in Weil am Rhein, Germany designed by the architect Frank O. Gehry.

The Museum’s collection, focusing on furniture and interior  design, is centered around the bequest of US designers Charles and Ray Eames, as well as numerous works of designers such as George nelson, Alvar Aalto, Verner Panton, Dieter Rams, Jean Prouve, Richard Hutten and Michael Tonet. It maintains one of the largest collections of modern furniture design in the world, with objects representing all of the major eras and stylistic periods from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present.

Special areas of the collection include early industrial bentwood furniture, turn-of-the-century designs by Viennese architects, Gerrit Rietveld's experiments, tubular steel furniture from the 1920s and '30s, key objects of Scandinavian design from 1930 to 1960, Italian design, and contemporary developments. A further area of special interest is American design, ranging from Shaker pieces to the postmodern seating of Robert Venturi.

Current exhibitions held at the Vitra Design Museum include: ZOOM: Italian Design and the Photography of Aldo and Marirose Ballo, THE ESSENCE OF THINGS: Design and the Art of Reduction, HIDDEN HEROES: The Genuis of Everyday Things, RUDOLF STEINER: Alchemy of the Everyday, ANTIBODIES: The Works of Fernando & Humberto Campana 1989 – 2009, GEORGE NELSON: Architect, Writer, Designer, Teacher, JEAN PROUVE: The Poetics of the technical object, MARCEL BREUER: Design and Architecture, A HUNDRED YEARS – A HUNDRED CHAIRS, VERNER PANTON: Collected Works and JOE COLOMBO: Inventing the Future.

 The Essence of Things: Design and the Art of Reduction

 Hidden Heroes: The Genuis of Everyday Things

 A Hundred Years - A Hundred Chairs

ZOOM: Italian Design and the Photography of Aldo and Marirose Ballo

The Museum Collection also holds several prominent estates, including those of Charles Eames, Verner Panton, Anton Lorenz, and Alexander Girard. The Collection is complemented by an extensive archive and research library.


Re- Editions

During preparations for museum exhibitions, the Vitra Design Museum often comes across furniture designs that are aesthetically timeless and historically relevant, yet no longer in production. To remedy this situation, the Vitra Design Museum commenced with the in-house production of such pieces. This led to a series of museum products which, like the Miniatures Collection, also contributes to the Museum's financing.


These high-quality re-editions of rediscovered design classics have a museum pedigree, but are suitable for everyday use. The series includes objects by Charles Eames, George Nelson, Verner Panton, Isamu Noguchi, Jean Prouvé, Bruno Taut, and others. The re-editions are produced in close collaboration with the respective designers or their descendants, and contribute in a practical way to the preservation of design history.


Miniatures

The original intention of the Museum to give visitors access to design not only by means of publications, but also in the form of three-dimensional objects, resulted in the creation of a unique museum product: models of the most important pieces of furniture in design history on a reduced scale. The Miniatures of the Vitra Design Museum are exemplary teaching objects with regard to quality and craftsmanship, and also iconic manifestations of the Museum Collection. They not only fulfil the financial purpose of contributing to the Museum's budget, but also serve as ideal demonstration pieces within the context of academic studies or skilled trades.


Conservation and Research


A significant part of the Vitra Design Museum is its restoration and conservation laboratory as well as its research into the restoration of modern age materials and the Axa Art Conservation Project.
The care and preservation of art and cultural assets is an important concern of the Vitra Design Museum, which is why they have implemented numerous programs and services to ensure the conservation of its collection. ‘From everyday consumer items to craft pieces up to unique works of art and design objects, these collector’s items provide evidence of the time they were created and give information about the period when they were used. Preserving these things is the task the conservators at the Vitra Design Museum have set out for themselves’ (Vitra Design Museum, Conservation Lab, 2011).


At the present time, the Museum is conduction research into the aging of modern-age materials such as synthetics. They are doing this as it is becoming an increasingly significant field in the restoration and conservation of cultural goods as works of fine art, design furniture and everyday objects were made, and continue to be made from a variety of synthetic materials.  The Vitra Design Museum is working with AXA Art to develop active conservation measures to ensure that objects made with synthetics can continue to be experienced by generations to come and so their collection cannot only stay intact but also grow with new objects.


Bibliography


Definitions
Retrieved 12 September 2011 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine_art
http://www.albanyinstitute.org/education/archive/tiffany/tiffany.glossary.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_arts
http://www.bluemoonwebdesign.com/art-glossary.asp

Museum of Modern Art, New York (2011)
Retrieved 12 September 2011 from
http://www.moma.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Modern_Art
http://www.googleartproject.com/museums/moma

Vitra Design Museum, Germany (2011)
Retrieved 12 September 2011 from
http://www.design-museum.de/index.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitra_Design_Museum
http://www.vitra.com/en-un/campus/vitra-design-museum/