Biography on Michael Young

            Michael Young is a contemporary designer born in Sunderland, England in the year 1966.  He is currently located in Hong Kong, with additional offices in London, Taiwan, and Iceland. Currently, his career has been about 15 years long as a designer.

            Young’s interest and specialty appear though his product and furniture designs. His works in general have very curvaceous contours and are colored brightly. His designs are intended to ‘put a smile on your face.’ For example, a brightly neon green chair and table set named “Yogi Family” done in 2002 gives off a childish vibe. His intention for his 'Yogi' set was for it to emit a cartoonist vibe and for it to appear as simply a  chair for children. However, the true nature of the chair is that it can be used for any age. Children can of course easily access the low furniture, however adults that try to sit and use the furniture are forced to unwind and relax as you cannot take it all too seriously because of the humor and silliness of the design overall. Young is known to have a comic book-like humor.

Yogi Family, 2002.

          Young had originally wanted to be in the music business with his band, however after the original plans fell through, he decided to attend Kingston University to study product and furniture design at the age of 21. Instead of taking the more common route of attending a university after high school, Young reveals that his age at that time actually helped him more because it was a 'do or die' situation since he felt like he had more determination and focus since he really needed to find something to do with his life. 

Young at designboom in Milan, April 15, 2009.

          Similar to many other artists and designers, the path to success can be slow at first. His career started in the mid 90's after he graduated. After the rough start, he became known for his noticeably new and fresh image that his products held. Everything was smooth, curvy, colorful, and for the most part, aesthetically pleasing. 

Writing Desk, 2005.

Magis Dog House, 2001.

         Michael Young is a contemporary designer that has grabbed my interest initially because of the bright and bold colors. After my eyes saw the chairs and desks of his, I decided to read more into him. His style of design, which is to create silly and bright product and furniture designs, is quite smart as it captures the attention of children and the young hearted with the colors, and also adults as well as they feel at ease while relaxing and using these designs. With the splashes of bold, and most of the time, solid coloring, it reminded me briefly of the 1967 film 'Monterey Pop.' It was a film that captured the 1967 musical festival held in California. The film, right from the beginning, seemed crudely put together at times, with handwritten opening credits and random splashes of color exploding everywhere. The color usage in these more modern designs reminded quickly of the young teenagers and young adults enjoying the loud and colorful concert in the film. There is also a modern feel to Young's work that is seen through the various curvy contour lines of the product. One example of this being seen and felt is Young's 'i24r3 wireless speaker system.' The speaker system resembles a lamp at first to the viewer because of the slick and slim design on the lower half. The simplistic design of the round base and the slim body that holds up the 2 main speakers resemble enlarged ear phones, or ear buds. The minimal and slick design, along with only 2 colors, work to create a product that is functional and futuristic in a sense. In fact, with a second glance at the product, one would even think that it could have been an Apple product, as it looks like a speaker system that could be used with their iPods. This comes to mind because of Apple being very well known for their products to be slim, practical, modern, and for the most part, white.

i24r3 wireless speaker system, 2008.

          Overall, the modern and fresh look that Young's designs have are quite intuitive and interesting to look at. I would definitely consider having something of his to add to my room as I find it the modern look quite nice and aesthetically pleasing.

Sources:

http://designmuseum.org/design/michael-young

http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/michael_young.html

http://www.michael-young.com/

          

Modernism & Movies

Monterey Pop (1967) directed by DA Pennebaker




          Monterey Pop is a documentary of the 1967 music festival held in California. Beginning with the title sequence of the film, it is immediately different than others. The title and credits are being handwritten on the screen, giving it a naturalistic and free flow, very much different to the film Playtime (1967) directed by Jacques Tati and its usage of straight lines and fonts such as Heletica. It is quite crude with free flowing curves and music. The splashes of colors and quick flashes of light give off a sort of funky and trippy feeling, which was understandable in the 60's and 70's period. The film shoots everything, from the many distinctively individual people walking around, to the performances on stage. The cameramen were not afraid to really get up close and personal to the people's style and faces. It's freeness can be seen through the camera techniques. The camera does not stay still like in Playtime, it does not stay traditional and is hand-held and moves around with the actual concert goers, filming them napping, eating, and having fun with one another in the busy atmosphere. The emotions evoked through the various musical performances are felt through the music and by the facial emotions of the audience. One example is the long performance by Ravi Shankar. His extreme speed and precision in playing his traditional instrument to play classical Indian music stunned the audience and myself as well. The camera that zoomed into his hands moving up and down his instrument at such a fast pace astounded me and it was quite the interesting performance. The camera does not forget to include the actual audience's shocked and open-mouthed expressions as well. 
          The colorful clothes and eccentric non-western style of clothing worn by the concert goers resembled to that of hippies. White's essay People in Motion describes how the looseness and freeness of the camerawork successfully captures people in the moment, like dancing to the music, eating to their heart's content, and simply having fun. Furthermore, various performances had lights and projections on behind the musicians similar to the title sequence; fast, quick-paced, organic, and colorful. 


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Playtime (1967) directed by Jacques Tati


          Playtime is a film that required a lot of time,construction, consideration, and money. Tati's film took 365 days to shoot and an extra 9 months of post-production before it was ready to be shown. At first I was surprised that a movie would take that long to produce. But, then I remembered that this was the late 60's and considering the overall work that was put into the set itself, it really isn't too much of a shock. Everything in this film was the definition of modern and modernism. Everything from the sets, backgrounds, buildings, and more were all typical modernism. Most of the things and backgrounds in this film was neutral colored, mainly black, white, and grays. All of the lines were very straight and pinpoint. Any usage of colors was used scarcely and accordingly. Colors would work in contrast to the overpowering black and whites to catch the viewer's attention. There was also evidence of pop culture, such as in one scene where two teenage boys wearing bright sporty red and green jackets were interrupting a woman trying to take a picture of a florist on the streets of the city. All objects, such as desks and chairs, were geometrically shaped and were man-made. The huge and spacious buildings had a futuristic charm to it with a lack of human presence. Each scene and set in this movie screams out a successful attempt at modernism.

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Comparison

Playtime and Monterey Pop are quite the opposite style when put next to one another. Playtime is described more as tight, strict, geometric whereas Monterey Pop is more free, loose, and organic. However, the two both depict modernism. Playtime creates a man-made modernistic and futuristic world with buildings and objects that are mostly black and white with straight lines. Everything put together with the tourists all strongly show a modernistic style. Monterey Pop strays away from the traditional still camera shooting and incorporates a hand held camera to get up close and personal with the audience of the concert. It shows every part of life at that time and does not leave anything out. The scenes do not necessarily have to flow together either. One moment could be a musical performance on stage with a singer singing their heart out and the next scene could be someone lying on the grass relaxing with friends. Monterey Pop catches the heart and soul of the then modern world as it was. 

11/3/10

Pixel Perfect - Pascal Dangin's Virtual Reality by Lauren Collins

          Collins writes about Pascal Dangin and of the tremendous amount of work that he has contributed to many photographers, celebrities, and magazines. He is a professional retoucher of photos used for advertisements, magazines, etc. His view of life is that life is retouching. Make-up and clothes are simply accessories of what a person wants to transform into. Dangin owns his own company named 'Box Company' and has employed 80 workers to assist him. His seriousness about retouching shows because he requires employees to take anatomy and figure drawing class, along with a quiz before being hired. His retouching is basically all done on the computer on Photoshop. But, knowing the tools of Photoshop is not enough, Dangin has a wide range of knowledge in photography and anatomy. In the article, he says he believes retouching is only too much and overdone when it reaches the point of disfiguration. By disfiguration, he states an example where some retouchers slim down the legs of models so extreme that they would technically be missing bones. Dangin is usually not credited for his work, probably so readers and viewers would not easily be told that the pictures they see are not entirely real. Photo Retouching is interesting in that when put into the right hands and mind, anything slightly off can be fixed with a a little attention. Moreover, anything that the photographer might have messed up could be adjusted afterwards as well, such as lighting effects. Likewise, Dangin proposed that he could easily alter a model's character and personality by adding on eye make-up on Photoshop. Adjusting the colors and brightness of eyeliners can instantly make a model look and feel different to the viewer.
          I have a lot to learn about Photoshop as I do not use all the tools and features that it offers. Reading this reminded me of how I retouch some photos as well to make the people and lighting look better. Of course, I know I am an amateur and see how knowledgeable and serious Dangin is with his retouching makes me admire him for that.

• Pascal has clients such as Vanity Fair, French and Italian Vogue, Times Magazine, etc.
• There are times when the client being retouched will complain about something.
• Pascal slowly worked his way up, from the job of a shampoo boy at a no-name salon to where he is now.
• The magic of Photoshop and computers makes retouching an art form.
• Pascal is able to make anyone look better with his skills and knowledge.

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Museum Piece - Todd Hays

          Hays' article is about the process that designer April Greiman went through to create her poster for a show at the Museum of Modern Art titled 'The Modern Poster.' Greiman used the computer and various tools, including one named Paintbox in creating her poster. The Paintbox tool allowed her to draw, paint, and photocollage in real time. After creating the font for the modern poster, she added gradients to the letters and played around with the size and placement of the letters. Greiman states to readers that the poster and steps to create it was done in 1988. In the past, she stated that it takes $500 per hour to use the tool. Greiman was one of the earlier designers to use the computer to create her projects.

• Greiman had already had 2 posters chosen to be in the exhibition of 300 posters at the MOMA.
• She originally studied at the Kansas City Art Institute  (KCAI) and was introduced to the swiss 'style' of design.
• Greiman liked to incorporate classical with a bit of contemporary flair.
• The Modern Poster that was created showcases  the exciting and effective uses of hybrid imagery.
• The Paintbox tool is worth about $400,000 each and is a higher resolution tool than a television.
• The Modern Poster is also representative of all the tools that was available to Greiman at the time.

          In an interview with Josh Smith, it is revealed that April Greiman was indeed one of the first designers to ever touch a computer, specifically a Mac. In 1984, computers were just being introduced into the world, and Greiman was able to get her hands on one to test out. Greiman's use of the computer may be different in that she uses the computer for everything. One of her responses include that she basically does not have any hands-on things to do since most of it is all on the computer and done digitally, including all her photographs. Relating back to an earlier discussion of the difference between fine art and design, Greiman states in her interview with Smith that  she thinks "the best of art is all well designed. And the best of design is all pretty fine art." All in all, she believes there is no difference because they are very much the same. Fine art is designed well and good designs are all fine art. 

          Smith's interview was interesting as I got to see Greiman's other works described and of her view on design and technology. Her work is entirely done on the computer ad her work is a bit different than those of budding artists because of her typography which is known to be out of the box. It changes in size and orientation, whereas Smith mentions that students in school are usually told to keep it more straightforward and to follow a guideline. Greiman ends with that designers should enjoy what they are doing otherwise it would stink to live with.