Color Transforms: Andy Warhol

The secret behind Andy Warhol's wonderful images is the way he plays with color. In the image above, Warhol is playing with the "camouflage" pattern. The original pattern and color can be seen in the upper left panel.  When he changes the color of the original camoflouge design, a different feeling and response is evoked from the audience. 

In the original design, with the green and brown colors, the intent was to have the person wearing the design blend in with a natural environment, so that people and animals do not see the person. So the colors chosen for this specific camouflage reflects colors one would normally see in nature; for example, green for trees, brown for dirt. But once Warhol changes the colors to blue, green, and pale yellow, the image that is produced in the viewer's mind is no longer one of forestry nature, but rather, a cold wintry one. Therefore, if someone was to wear this camouflage, it would not be in a forest of any type, but probably in a snowy place.  

But if Warhol changed the colors even more, for example, using the bright pink and yellow colors he chose for the bottom left one, the camouflage design becomes useless for anything related to the environment.  Bright pink is not a casual nature color. Therefore, this design would probably work more as a decorative design.

One of the tricks with color that Warhol manipulates in design (as so does the original camouflage design) is the optical mixture concept.  This concept asserts that when colors are places closely together multiple times, our perception blurs the two colors together, causing us to process that mixed color, rather than perceiving each color individually. With the creation of the original camouflage, that was the intention. If soldiers were to wear the camouflage design in the forest, hopefully the enemy's eyes would fall into that trick and not see the soldier.

Design in Society: Recycling Bins

                There are many things that get designed into society, billboards, clothes, sculptures, houses, laptops, musical instruments, and everything else out there. Most times, people don’t realize that a group of people had to go through a design process to create that object, whatever it may be. Some designs are useful, others useless. Recycling bins are one of those useful designs that many people tend to overlook.

                Think back to the time when recycling bins didn’t exist. How is life different?  Recycling bins allow us to use our resources intelligently, reusing whatever materials we can, and disposing of the materials we can no longer use again.  With recycling bins, the three R’s are reinforce: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  Anyone can be asked to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  But truthfully, not many people will take the extra time to initiate a recycling system into their daily routine.

With the advent of recycling bins, taking the extra step to help the environment just got easier.  The smallest contribution in helping save the environment can go a long way. Recycling The Aggie every day or just turning off the faucet as one brushs one’s teeth can be more helpful than one can imagine.

At UC Davis, there are recycling bins all over campus. Better yet, there are actually two types of recycling bins scattered around the campus: one for bottles and another for paper. Both are recyclable materials. Having two separate bins further encourages people to differentiate between the two and recycle even more.

                Visually, recycling bins make the streets prettier. If recycling bins didn’t exist, papers and bottles would go into the same bin as trash and garbage. That would cause those bins to fill up much faster. Once those bins start to overfill, the things inside the bin might start falling out, becoming litter on the floor.

Ergonomics Research: a Chair

In terms of ergonomics research, this chair would receive high remarks. It succeeds in each area of ergonomics really well by taking into consideration safety, comfort, ease of use, performance, and aesthetics. The chair is simple, but through ergonomics research, one realizes the extensive thought and effort put into the process to produce such a successful object.

            Safety is probably one of this chair's main concerns. People like to sit on chairs and not worry about whether it's going to break on them or not. The main safety support comes from its base: the wheels.  There are 5 wheels. This amount of wheels allows for a very firm and solid design as a base. The stronger the hold, the more weight the chair can support before breaking becomes an issue.  In addition to that, the use of metal as the main material for this chair also allows the user to not concern themselves with whether the chair will break on them.  Metal cannot be easily broken or bent. If the user was concern about the chair breaking, it would not be in the production process, but more so in the assemblage process.

Comfort would follow as another top priority. The comfort of this chair comes from the material used as padding for the seat and the back rest. Furthermore, the shape of the seat and back rest contributes to the level of comfort the chair provides.  The slightly concaved oval shaped seat and back rest is structured to receive the body of the user.  The cushion padding adds additional comfort by being soft, and by further shaping the seat to the person's body, if the concave oval doesn't already do so.

This chair is really easy to use. There are no hidden secrets or tricks.  With a simple push of a lever, the chair seat can easily move up or down for further comfort adjustments. The wheels are made of some sort of plastic material.  The plastic material against any sort of carpet for hard floor rolls easy. Therefore, moving around a room would not be a problem. If one wishes to change the seat covers, the replacement covers slip easily off and on, with the use of a zipper.

This chair performs well, especially since not much is asked of it. It provides a strong support and hold for the person who sits on it. In addition it provides a comfortable seat to sit on. The wheels slide easily on floor and carpet therefore mobility is simple. With that, its mission is accomplished.  If assembled properly, the chair is really strong. The back rest will not wobble or fall off. As a result, it provides good back support to the consumer.  The lever allows for an easy adjustment of how tall the user prefers the chair, creating additional options to comfort. 

Aesthetically, the chair is pleasing to the eye. Its basic color is black, but interestingly, the producers have made an additional cloth cover, so if the consumer wishes, they may change the color of the chair. They have the option of choosing a pink cover, or a blue cover. Changing the seat color is simple. Just place the cloth on top of the original black color one and zip it up. It’s a simple process; that’s an extra plus.

Following the five areas of ergonomics research, this chair is a successful product. It’s safe, it’s comfortable, it’s easy to use, it performs well, and it’s pleasing to the eyes. Overall grade: A