GREEN DESIGN
currently listening to: Bruce Springsteen's "Secret Garden"
Tonight's the last day of lecture for my Design History class. I'm sad and inspired: sad because an important part of my design life is coming to a close end, inspired because i'm going out with newfound knowledge not only on the basis of history but also practical applications and socio-cultural considerations in design. We ended the final lecture with Green Design, its historical roots, the important people/organizations who implement it, and a close look on its complexities, effectiveness, and its promise for a better tomorrow.
Throughout my whole career in design, i've been questioning my role in society, not only as a designer of products, but more so as a consumer of goods. The final lecture opened my eyes to so many possibilities in "better design in respect to nature". The fact that society is now slowly realizing the high importance of the environment as it relates to our lifestyle is a great case study. I HOPE TO BE AN ADVOCATE OF GREEN DESIGN IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER: be it design considerations (materials, processes etc.), environment awareness (knowledge of the implications), or responsible consuming (recycle, reuse, reduce), etc.
"AT WHAT COST?": 3 simple words that can make all that difference.
I'm continuously learning on how to be better: in attitudes, perspectives, opinions...I grow by every idea that filters through like a tiny, little seedling that sprouts up through the help of rain, sunshine and good soil. I will become a continually growing tree, with its roots held tight in the ground and its branches constantly reaching for the stars. I'm Jason-in-Progress.
SUSTAIN YOURSELF! with an interesting read: TEACHING GREEN: DESIGN WITH VALUES, a Metropolis magazine web article
FORMULA 17: excerpt from Rotten Tomatoes:
Directed by 23-year-old Yin-jung Chen (AKA DJ Chen), FORMULA 17 puts a lighthearted, humorous spin on gay life in Taiwan, painting an idealized portrait that contains no mention of the difficulties associated with the gay community. Ponderous topics like AIDS, societal pressures, or coming-out issues are absent, and there are no women or straight people--only beautiful young men with hearts more or less made of gold. This candy-coated depiction comes off as a refreshing celebration of the simple joy of being young, gay, and in love.
Tien is a 17-year-old country boy who has just arrived in Taipei to meet an internet friend he has been corresponding with. It soon becomes clear, however, that the prospective man of Tien's dreams--whose online handle is "Beast Man"--is only out for one thing, so Tien flees to a nightclub where his childhood friend, the flamboyant Yu, slings drinks with enthusiasm. Yu takes his na�ve friend under his wing, scoffing at Tien's dogged insistence on waiting for love before he loses his virginity, and attempting to educate him in the ways of urban existence. Tien persists in his virtue, resisting the advances of a hunky plumber hired by Yu and his crew of queens for the purposes of deflowering the boy. Meanwhile, it seems Tien has caught the eye of the local playboy, Bai, whose reputation for loving and leaving is well-established. Tien is likewise drawn to Bai but is justly wary of his past, and the two enact a halting courtship fraught with misunderstanding that stems from Bai's fear of intimacy. The entirety of the film takes on the structure of a Greek comedy, complete with a chorus--Yu and his friends, who provide humorous commentary on the action--and a deux ex machina that pretty much saves the day. There is never any real doubt as to how this love story will end, but the pleasure of the story lies in the telling.
MY TAKE ON IT:
Rotten Tomatoes was head on in describing this movie. I didn't expect much in the beginning, I'm just happy another Asian movie is hitting the independent movie arena here in SF. All I know from the beginning was that the movie was banned in Singapore because of subject matter (homosexuality). After watching the movie, I can truly say that THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES I'VE SEEN IN MY WHOLE LIFE. It could be due to the fact that it's candy-coated and fantasy-like but the fact that it was able to bring so much life and relatability to the characters is super amazing. In a strictly serious time that we're in, it's quite refreshing to see such innocent hope for optimism and love. To say that Formula 17 is just a typical coming of age movie would be an understatement. The movie is layered with extremely vibrant personalities, cross-cultural humor, creative story-telling and just an overall feel for self-expression. It'll tickle the "cuteness" in you. Last time I checked, they were trying to appeal to have this movie disbanned and shown in Singapore. I support that. One can learn and appreciate so much raw talent in the way this film was handled, the way the story was wrote, and the way the characters grow on you. Formula 17 is romantic comedy with an added heart and laughs. By the way, I just pre-ordered the DVD that's coming out on 11/29. I'm psyched.
For more info:
Official Website: Formula 17 (website is in Chinese w/ no English translation)
SF Frameline 29 Review: Formula 17
YawningBread.org on the movie getting banned: Formula 17
SAN FRANCISCO SCREENINGS:
at The Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114Nov. 19-25
Sa, Su, W, Th (1p), 3p, 5p, 7p, 9:15p & M, Tu, F, 7p, 9:15p
Directed by DJ Chen 2004, 93 minutes, Mandarin with English Subtitles
Cast: Tony Yang, Duncan, Chin King, Dada Ji, Jimmy Yang
"This is an honest, touching, and hilarious depiction of Taiwanese gay teen life, chronicling an innocent 17-year old boy’s summer of love and adventure in the big city. Banned in Singapore for creating “an illusion of a homosexual utopia, where everyone, including passersby, is homosexual and no ills or problems are reflected...It conveys the message that homosexuality is normal, and a natural progression in society”.
PROBLEMS:
Required Components:
1. Time: expressed through text, imagery, page turning etc.
2. Space: express spatial relationships through area, length, depth, connection, or imagery
3. Sequence: consider division of the book, the pace, tempo, rhythm, breaks, repeats, format and buildup
4. Narrative: first, second, third person? short or lengthy? more than one voice? conversation? memory? conscience?
Physical Form Requirements:
- Physical form should be appropriate to the concept. The book should have at least 10 spreads (not including cover). Photography is the visual medium. Requirement: Use of original photography.
SOLUTIONS: Utilize San Francisco Love Parade (an incredible experience) to illustrate my own concept of journey. Format is a non-traditional timeline with heavy emphasis on original photography and color considerations. The book itself has to speak to the vibrance and energetic feel of the event. I did these by: First, highlighting each individual's personalities (the costume they wore becomes the main focal point) and slight outlines. Second, the use of a unified color system (the idea is not to go for the obvious neon colors but to show vibrance without being too obvious: bump up saturation). Third, typography considrations: The Font "Rosewood" was prevalent in the years and topic headings (the structure of Rosewood type signifies celebration, fun, craziness). Fourth, the layout is consistent with each and every panel; the timeline requirement was achieved by setting each and every panel to contain a year's summary for the specific Love Parade Festival event for that particular year. A super long horizontal format (kind of like a cd booklet you pull out and opens up horizontally) is utilized. Not only does that speak to the basic concept of a "parade" but it also dual functions as an appropriate format for a timeline.
currently listening to Syntax' "Pride"
the cheap $2 plastiTAc I bought to put my pictures up in the wall is slowly losing its grip...being the icked-out doodie that i am I can't help but look at it constantly, been wanting to push it in again/to make the stuff adhere once more but somehow I noticed a certain beautiful imbalance as they fall apart. Maybe it speaks to the higher concept of ineffective perfection: that no matter how much one tries to make everything clear cut...the reality is that imperfection is inevitable, i'ts bound to happen, it's what it is intended do. I then remember a lecture in Design History about the dynamics of chaos. The idea was brought up that imperfection and imbalance permeate the natural order of things.
today consisted of: a day late call-back to a friend who initially wanted to invite me to go clubbing last night, a cocophony of thoughts and ideas as I detailed my way through CommArts: Design Annual, the dryness that is canned corned beef, Breyers Twix ice cream, text messages from a really close friend who lives about 10 mins. away, a casual conversation about relationships, The Office on NBC, heart-warming comments from Mr. Gilliginich, a desk overflowing remnants of creativity, laziness, responsibility, hunger and utility and an overall thirst for iced cold water.
currently listening to: Ima Robot's "Black Jetta"
So i'm completely indecisive on the format of this effin blog. What can I do? i'm a freakin PERFECTIONIST. I was hanging out with Donna earlier today. Damn it's been forever since I last saw her. It's great to reconnect with friends I haven't seen for what seems like a century. I was back in Vallejo this last weekend. Grams cooked up my favorite Filipino dish: Sinigang and I ate like it's the last meal of my life. I miss real food...canned tuna, frozen pizza and stale sandwich can only go so far...yeeks...Totally appreciated what Grams did for me...Oober Awesome. I didn't see Edward though, our pet peacock back home (And yes there actually is a peacock in our backyard in Vallejo).
So my ass has been working on this GD3 infographic poster due this friday. Weird enough, I'm actually psyched about this one. After I fucked up on the book project last time, I felt the need to push myself and my capabilities in designing; I did a Fawesome great job. All the critiques and negative comments pushed my ass for the better. I have 3 days left to layer my poster with more information...the main problem I run into was that the oversimplicity of the poster led to that same exact problem: oversimplification. My goal in the next 3 days is to introduce that balance once again. At the end of the day though, I get iffy thinking that my control will transfer to the "printers" and if these people do a half-ass job, then i'm screwed! I'm anal like that...Guarantee is a good thing. Surprizes are sometimes scary. And Asha told me converting files to PDF fucks up the color...arrrgghh..hope it's not a radical shift in gradations.
The semester's ending in a couple of weeks. My experience here went by so quick that most of my memories revolve around me drinking coffee twice a day...sad but true. I seek balance and hopefully balance seeks me. And if we do end up meeting in between I wish to occupy the extra time I have with satisfying my cravings for social interactions or even possible relationships. It's great to know that after a really stressful day, that there's that special somebody who will just hug you really tight and make you feel all happy inside. Maybe then, I would reconsider cutting down on my caffeine intake. I might even break up with Hazelnut and Toffee.
What I need right now:
1. Haircut
2. Massage
3. Peace of Mind and Total Tranquility.
I miss Stitch. Anna got an Apple Powerbook and an Ipod Nano for her bday (As Gifts mind ya!). Norman saw a weird duck with a protruding side neck on the lake. Joey was putting up his storyboard photograph presentation for his Film class. Peter questioned why he was single on Myspace. Margie approved my testimonial. Mr. Giliginich is effin stressed on the GD3 poster. Donna dropped a 3-unit class and my milk is 4 days expired. I'm tired, sleepy and horny. GO FIGURE!
after a discussion on Electricity in Physics Class:
Jessica: I totally love this class. It's so cool!
Jason: Me too! I just wish our passion translates to good grades.
.MOMENT OF SILENCE. *smirks*
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"Angels Exist." : printed on a cute girl's t-shirt.
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JPL Library, 3rd Floor, Bathroom Stall (wall graffitti):
1. No Diggity, No Grout.
2. Grout Expectations.
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"Have a Nice Day." : text message received from a former nemesis.
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LIFE IS GREAT! Everyday...new objects of fascination.
Jason's Crash Course in Magazine Design:
1. find a pic of me (the cuter the better)
2. vectorize my face
3. think of a weird magazine title, do the unexpected with color, grid considerations (optional), follow hierarchies in text formatting and layout, and FINALLY just design your fuckin' heart out!
GREAT JOB! You get an "A" for the day.
Here was my costume for Halloween '05:
Cassanova: The ultimate lover of all time...
$19 papier mache' mask...stuff looks like porcelain though; it also has an abundance of RED, my favorite color of the moment!
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Today I learned about Charles and Ray Eames and their philosophy of Design for Social Change...
I'm living in STOKEDlandia right now!
Playin' around in Adobe Illustrator.
GREEN DESIGN
