dsgn

Monday, January 24, 2011

Chip Foose, Foose Design: Automotive Career Day

Ch 4-6

In chapter 4 "A major constraint on design is presented by legislation on a variety of matters that might not specifically mention design, but set tight parameters for performance." I had never thought about what kind of criteria that designs were held to. I find this very interesting because even if you have a wonderful design if it doesn't comply to the constraints of the legislation the design is therefor worth less. This could effect all design field. The majority falling on the interior space and industrial designers. Also how in different societies there is different regulation to comply to. I can see this being very difficult for a designer to create some that complies to all the different regulation in the world.
At the end of chapter 5 where they are talking about the role of communication I found fascinating because I had though of how other societies and culture influenced the way we communicate. For example how we say Whats Up? instead stead What are you doing? You could talk about music country music of to has change to more of a hip-hop feel to the beat and went away from the twang that used to be country. I guess what I am trying to say is that we change and adapt are forms to fit the dimicrafic we are trying to communicate with and we pull from things know, learned, seen, and heard.
Chapter 6 "Enviroments are a frameworks for activities, significantly affecting patterns of use, behavior, and expectations in home life, work, leisure, and a range of commercial ventures." I can see how enviroments can be use as a blue print on how to manage space. I think the objects within the in enviroments play a larger role in defining expectaions and behavior.

Henry Dreyfuss

Henry Dreyfuss is the designer that I choose to talk about. I had never heard of Henry Dreyfuss until starting this assignment. I grab a book flipped through it and saw a John Deere tractor. Henry Dreyfuss was the designer of it. This sparked my curiosity to find out more about his career and design.

In 1937 Henry Dreyfuss change the face of farm equipment for John Deere (Phaidon 264). I grow up with John Deere tractors. My grandpa had both unstyled and styled Model Bs. In the agricultural world John Deere before Henry Dreyfuss design are known as unstyled because they look more mechanical. John Deere built after Henry Dreyfuss are known as styled because they had body panels. I like both types of John Deere tractors. I believe that the styled models had a long lasting effect on all John Deere products because even new model today have similar lines on the body panels.

("1951 John Deere Model A")

In 1938 Henry Dreyfuss designed the Hudson J-3 locomotive (Phaidon 276). The Hudson J-3 increased the top speed because of the sleek shape. I think the Hudson J-3 design played a major role in how today’s bullet trains were designed.

("locomotive")

Henry Dreyfuss also designed products for around the house. Henry Dreyfuss worked for Hoover while there he designed the 150 vacuum cleaner in 1936 (Phaidon 249). This changed the face of the vacuum cleaner by hiding the mechanical pieces with covers that made the vacuum look more appealing to consumers (Phaidon 249). I think it is cool how over the year the vacuum cleaner has changed from using bags and hiding components. To using bag-less designed vacuums where we can see the dirt collect.

Round thermostat produced by Honeywell Regulator Company was designed by Henry Dreyfuss in 1941 (Phaidon 294). The round thermostat was introduced to the market in 1953 and is still on the market today (Phaidon 294). It is amazing that a design form pre WW II is still in production today. That to me speaks values about a product, design, and the designer because most designs normally have to change over time.

Henry Dreyfuss designed three telephones during his career. The first in 1937 was the Model 300 Telephone which put the microphone and ear speaker in to same piece (Phaidon 261). The Princess Telephone was design in 1959 to widen the market of user (Phaidon 543). The Trimline Telephone another design from Henry Dreyfuss that really changed the phone. The Trimline had all the components to make a call from the receiver (Phaidon 548). I believe Henry Dreyfuss work with the telephone show that if you think outside the box that you will come up with designs pushes technology forward. I think that Henry Dreyfuss built a strong foundation for the phone to be developed further.

("Trimline")

Henry Dreyfuss did not just design products he was also an author of four books. The titles of the books are as fallows “Design for People (1955), Industrial Design a Pictorial Accounting 1927-1957 (1957), The Measure of Man: Human Factors in Design (1960), Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols (1972)” (“NNDB”). The Society of Industrial Design was founded by Henry Dreyfuss (Phaidon 276). I think that Henry Dreyfuss’ career was very impressive and changed the world with his designs. I hope that I can get time to read some of his books when I get a chance. I also wish that I could have half the amount of great designs that Henry Dreyfuss did in his career.

Work Sited

(Phaidon 249,261,264,276,294)

Phaidon, Editors. "Henry Dreyfuss." Pioneers Products from Phaidon Design Classics. 1st. Vol1. New York, NY: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006. Print.

(Phaidon 543,548,652)

Phaidon, Editors. "Henry Dreyfuss." Mass Production Products from Phaidon Design Classics. 1st. Vol 2. New York, NY: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006. Print.

("Industrialchic")

("NNDB")

locomotive: Dreyfuss design. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Web. 23 Jan. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/95014/Locomotive-designed-by-Henry-Dreyfuss-1938>.

("Trimline")

"Trimline." Ide Virtual Design Museum Henry Dreyfuss. Web. 23 Jan 2011. <http://vdm.io.tudelft.nl/fda/dreyfuss/drey64.htm>.

("1951 John Deere Model A")

"1951 John Deere Model A." The Tractors. Web. 23 Jan 2011. <http://greenbeltequipment.com/Pages/tractors.html>.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company an American started company that is well known and sold around the world. Here are some facts about the company, products and the designers involved with different models of vehicles.

1908 the Ford Model T was introduced. The Model T was designed by Henry Ford (Phaidon 089).

Henry Ford was founder of Ford Motor Company. He is also credited for how the modern factory assembly line operates. The parts move not the people (“Funding Universe”).

1948 Ford F1 was introduced it was part of the F-Series trucks. “The truck became more than an afterthought; it became a lifestyle option rather than merely a working vehicle” (Phaidon 354).

This truck over time became the truck that we all know the F-150. One of the most sold trucks.

1955 Thunderbird the person most credited for this sporty car design is Franklyn Hershey also Bill Burnett and William F. Boyer were involved with the design. The Thunderbird was fashioned to participate in the same class as the Corvette. Over the years it was transformed in to a lavish car for the family with for doors (Phaidon 466).

1961 Lincoln Continental was revealed. George W. Walke and Eugene Bordinat were the two designers responsible for it styling. This was the car the presidents of the 1960’s want to ride in. The car could also be turned in to a limousine. Ford also increased the months and mileage for the warrant (Phaidon 357).

1964 Ford produced the Ford GT 40 a supercar. The GT 40 was designed by John Wyer and Ford Motor Company design team. This was the super car that Ford ever built to race and beat other super car manufactures in Le Mans Racing (Phaidon 618). “Shaped was developed to be aerodynamic as possible” (Phaidon 618).

1964 the Ford Mustang was released (Davis).

Lee Lacocca came up with the inspiration for the Mustang. Designers that influenced the development of the Mustang project Joe Oros, Dave Ash, Gale Halderman, John Foster, and Damon Woods. The Mustang was developed in under a month from idea to a life size clay model (Editors).

The Mustang is a very well know sports car. It has had good and bad body designs over the years. Also over the years many well know automotive legends have designed special performances based models of the Mustang. Mustang models such as the Shelby, Roush, and Saleen. The Mustang is one of the cars that I believe will never stop being produced.

In recent years Ford has brought back some of the classic designs with a modern twist. The Ford GT 40 was engineer and named the Ford GT, but it still had very similar body lines. The Thunderbird was returned to having two seats and took many of the originals key features back to the car. The Mustang has also returned to more of the 1960’s body features. I think this is great because that means the designers from the past really know how to make classic looking car that can’t be beat.

Ford and Microsoft developed Sync a hand free system that allows consumers to change their music on their MP3 players and talk on the cell phones safely. Sync also has 911 Assist for emergencies it will contact the police in the case of an accident. Sync also has a Vehicle Health Report it will take periodically to see if anything is wrong with the vehicle and email it to the customer. I learned this when I was working as a certified dealership mechanic.

Ford vehicles new technologies “self-parallel parking, rear back up cameras and rain-sensing wiper” (“Ford Story”).

New safe feature (BLIS) Blind Spot Information System informs the consumer of many dangers while driving (“Ford Story”).

“Ford is the first automaker to introduce inflatable second row safety belts”(“Ford Story”).

Ford is work on being a green automotive manufacture. Many of Ford vehicles’ seat cushions are made out of soy-based foams. Ford also uses recycled to make “underbody shields, wheel arch liners and air cleaner assemblies” (“Ford Story”).

Work Sited

("Funding Universe")

(Editors)

Editors, Auto. "Joe Oros: Chief Designer of the 1965 Ford Mustang." How Stuff Works. ©1998-2011 HowStuffWorks, Inc. and © 2006-2011 Publications International, Ltd. , n.d. Web. 21 Jan 2011. <http://auto.howstuffworks.com/joe-oros.htm>.

(Davis)

Davis, Mike. " Wards AutoWorld Logo A History of the Ford Motor Co.." Ward's Auto World. © 2011 Penton Media, Inc., 01 Jun 2003. Web. 21 Jan 2011. <http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_history_ford_motor/>.

("Ford Story")

(Phaidon 089)

Phaidon, Editors. "Model T." Pioneers Products from Phaidon Design Classics . 1st. Vol 1 . New York, NY: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006. Print.

(Phaidon 573)

Phaidon, Editors. "Licoln Continential." Mass Production Products from Phaidon Design Classics . 1st. Vol 2. New York, NY: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006. Print.

(Phaidon 618)

Phaidon, Editors. "Ford GT40." Mass Production Products from Phaidon Design Classics . 1st. Vol 2. New York, NY: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006. Print.

(Phaidon 466)

Phaidon, Editors. "Ford Thunderbird." Mass Production Products from Phaidon Design Classics . 1st. Vol 2. New York, NY: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006. Print.

(Phaidon 354)

Phaidon, Editors. "Ford F1." Mass Production Products from Phaidon Design Classics . 1st. Vol 2. New York, NY: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006. Print.