About this blog: On Magic, Inspiration and Art II

this is part II of the About this blog series.

Part II: Communication & Interaction

Over the years I have realized that art & design count for little when there is no one around to appreciate it. More so, a relationship has to be able to develop between a project and the person. Traditionally, a piece will be able to communicate something to the spectator. It could also be said, the spectator interprets the piece according to his or her own life experience. Either way, a project should aid the feeling of emotions on behalf of the spectator, or in the case of a usable design, the user.

On that note, I consider the user & / or the spectator to be the two protagonists of any art work or design .

Users and Spectators

Spectator and user are two terms I have grown used to alternating. Spectator, for when talking about a person who watches. This usually applies to traditional forms of art, meant for contemplation. Paintings, illustrations,  sculpture and many installation pieces, even those developed in “new media” would fall into this category.

On the other hand, a User uses things. Big surprise right? I used this term often while studying Industrial Design at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. You had always to remember you were designing for a group of people who would have to act upon the object, and it would have  a physical effect on itself or on people. This effect could be static (like getting back pains from a poorly designed chair) or active (like a stove lighting up after you turn a knob).

I will cover the relationship of spectators and users  at some later time, but for now I want to point towards how User and Spectator, just like Art and Design, have a constantly thinning line between them.  Droog Design & interactive artworks are good examples of this, where it becomes hard to distinguish whether we consider something is just art or just design. Likewise, the distinction between user and spectator become blurred. This blog will cover not just creations that communicate to the user, but also those that the user communicates to.

What do you think about this first, 2 part post and the subjects covered?

I will expand on many of the topics here so all your  will likely influence future posts.

About this blog: On Magic, Inspiration and Art

This is part I of the About this blog series.

To kick off this Blog, I would like to let you all know what it is about.

Part I: Inspiration

My father used to talk to me about the magic in surprising people. He said this magic defined (good) art, and it would make the piece a classic, above and beyond technological innovation and trends.

Even then I thought this valuable advice, yet did not realize how much I could empathize with it.  This matter has led me to question why do people, not designers or artists, but people, enjoy and crave creativity? Answers to this question may be different and sometimes conflicting, but the one I am at peace with is simple. People want and like to be surprised. Both being inspired and being surprised stimulate us to do and to feel things in an unexpected way. They hint at magic hidden in color and in form, in sound, touch, smell, and even taste.

This blog will explore that which now inspires me. Going back to my father, I will present here the projects and ideas I find worthwhile sharing, those that have the potential to surprise others, thanks to a good balance of innovation, design and execution.

It is a place to post sources of design inspiration, plain and simple. This includes, but is not limited to, creative projects from talented designers, thoughts on productivity and changes in the design world, art world, print, illustration, interaction, graphic design, and so on. They are the projects that with or without intent, seem to change the way the design game is played.

This is part I of my About this blog posts. I decided to split them up into two thanks to a suggestion from a friend, as the contents both speak about this blog and its content, but deal with very different sides of the coin.

What are your thoughts on this? What do you think makes for good art, or good design?