Don Norman

3 Ways that Good Design Makes You Happy

Watching this video made me choose a stress ball. Don Norman jokingly gets to the point. An object is worth having because it’s beautiful and functional, and therefore has a long life span. Pleasant things work better. Norman examines the subject of how we approach wanting things. There are three levels: visceral, behavioral, and reflective. The visceral of processing is instinctive. Something we want is approached between disliking and liking. We dislike frowning faces, we dislike cold temperatures, etc. Behavioral is an experience that is all about being in control. Through behavior you create emotion, Norman says “emotion communicates” in the way you use it. Cognition is about understanding the world  and emotion is about interrupting the world. Emotion is all about acting and being safe. 

The third way that good design makes you happy is reflective. Reflective is the little voice in your head that you have no control over. Your subconscious craves happiness through your needs and wants. Norman was slightly making no sense at first but you have dig deep into what he’s trying to say.  He basically is pointing out that good design doesn’t necessarily have to be flawless it needs to attract you instinctually, uncontrollably, and emotionally. I chose the stress ball because stress is a feeling, a illness perhaps, that unknowingly forces to you to have a cope mechanism. Under stress, under fear, you are paralyzed with focus. You do things without thought or within habits. People smoke, people eat, people do whatever they can to feel some type of way other than stressed. A way that good design makes you happy is how design works in the notion that it makes you keep using it, because you want to and because you need to. Norman pushed me to chose the stress ball due to its need to grab it and keep grabbing it. 

First Very Rough Draft

This is a very rough draft of my project. Like I said, I thought the most eye popping thing about the object is the spheres it squeezes out of the netting. I chose this picture out all of the others because it demonstrates the viewpoint of using the stress ball, looking down at your hand. I included text without knowing the required font, but I did know what I wanted it say. I had more of a slogan then a title, so initially I chose the word squeeze and combined it with the word ease. I did this because unlike other ways of getting rid of stress, a stress ball is for you to calm down and not necessarily distract you from the stress but reflect on why you're feeling that way. I really like the color of the ball, red-orange, symbolizing anger or frustration.  Below is a web diagram I created revolving around a stress ball. Although, most of the information was not needed it made me more aware of why I was choosing the stress ball. 

Here are the photos I took of all of my objects. It was once I started taking photos of the stress ball that I knew I wanted to use it for my project. I was intrigued by the reflection of the light of the little balls within the stress ball. 

"Good Design"

Here is an in-depth look at my five objects and whats makes them good design...

Watch

            A self-explanatory object, the watch is designed to do one thing: tell the time. Yet, with endless possibilities, the watch is left with a large amount of room to create it in many different ways. The watch will always be around, even with advancing electronics, because it is stable, long lasting product that doesn’t necessarily depend on the future of technology. The watch is innovative while remaining environment friendly. The watch will continue to remain a watch while becoming more useful and doing more than just telling time.    

Car

            The car is good design because it serves our needs and gives a purpose. How do people get to work? How does a product get to point B from point A, without the use of a plane or boat? All with a car, making it a very useful tool. Although, the car is much more than a tool evolving from just a wooden wagon with fragile wheels to an electronic car that can go up to 200 miles per hour. The car is long-lasting and understandable. The way the car is made makes a good product of design, not necessarily how it is run or how it manufactures but the design of itself makes it a staple to society.

 Stress Ball

            One of most prevalent illnesses is stress. How do people cope with stress? Cigarettes, yoga, alcohol, exercise, and so on are all activities but what is a product that can help you with stress in a non-destructive manner? A stress ball is a good example of design because it is straight to the point and unobtrusive. A stress ball is innovative because you develop much further from just a ball. For example, the stress ball I brought is a rubber ball filled with gel in a close net. You squeeze it when you’re stressed or angry, rather than punching a wall or downing a drink, and you get to the see gel go through the net, a very simple yet appealing product of design.   

Multiple USB Connector

            The USB connector is a good product of design because it is useful for not one electronic device but several. While it could look like a bunch of wires or plugs, the designer had made the USB connector arms and legs of a small white, plastic character. The product is understandable and simple not attracting attention but remaining attractive.

Key

            Imagine the world without keys. Yet we will live world, most likely, where we can get in anywhere with our fingerprints, voice, etc. but for now the key is one of the most useful products of design.  If you took a bunch of keys a put them all together, they would all look pretty much the same, yet they all get you into somewhere different. The key is very useful and unobtrusive. You can have a key with a keychain, you can have a design on your key, but it still remains a key.

My Five Objects of Good Design

Key, Chicago Cop Car, Casio Watch

USB adapter, Stress Ball

These are sketches of the five objects I chose. I picked a key, a car, a watch, an unique stress ball, and an interesting USB cable that extended into multiple USB Ports. You can see here the beginning of my idea. I decided to chose the stress ball due to it's distinctive design. 

Color Theory Examples

Harmonious Hues

Blue, purple, and green are next each other on the color wheel. The flowers have harmonious hues which make them stand out of the jungle-like environment. Laurent de Brunhoff is the illustrator of Babar the Elephant. 

This is a painting I did two summers ago. I used red, yellow, and orange which fall next to each other on the color wheel. I gave it too much harmony and it might be hard to look at. Although, I used the same harmonious hues for the sky and the ground looking completely different, and it gave it a nice connection between the two.

Contrasting Values

I honestly have no idea who the artist is but I know his work. His paintings are usually very simple yet very unique. I took this picture at the Art Institute of Chicago and was very drawn to it's symbolism. The contrasting values here are blue and orange, which doesn't create the pop out effect but it does create a connection between the two young boys. 

This piece was displayed in the Spencer Museum of Art, and I unfortunately don't know who the artist is. The contrasting values are the powerful splashes of red and the soft, creamy, greenish yellow. I could have found a better example but I think this painting really stands out due to it's contrasting values.

Harmonious Chroma

These are two pictures of my mother and I in Miami. One is with the flash and the other is without. I thought this was a good example of harmonious chroma because of the pictures contrast in light. The top picture is colorful and bright representing strong chroma. The bottom picture is dull and dark representing weak chroma. 

Harmonious Value

           

This is a picture I took at the Art institute of Chicago of the surreal painting Midday Sorrow by Angel Planells. Surrealism is one of my favorite periods in art and I am inspired by the movement. This painting exhibits harmonious value in the sense that the values are all light throughout the work (besides the shadows). There is no hint of black within the colors used (blue, white, brown, etc) and all have light value. 

        

This is a work that I grabbed from the website tumblr and I am unaware of the artist. Visually, the piece comes off very dark with hardly any white showing. This gives it a harmonious value that is all dark. 

Contrasting Chroma

I took this picture at the Art Institute of Chicago. The painting is title The Banquet by Rene Magritte. The trees in this painting are dark green with brown. The sky is orange with hints of yellow. The sphere placed in the middle of the work is a solid red-orange that inevitably sticks out contrasting with the dark trees. 

I also took this picture at the Art Institute of Chicago. This is a oil painting titled Mund (translated into mouth) by the artist Gerhard Richter. While taking an oil painting class at SAIC, I had to replicate this painting and achieves the contrasting chroma. The light and dark value of this painting really captures the contrast of the red and brown. The lips don't pop out but stand out due to it's color contrast. The lips blend well due with the circular brushstrokes repeated in the brown colored face. 

Limited Palette 

This is a Picasso titled Women in a Red Armchair. This is located at AIC. Picasso used a very limited palette with a consistent tone. He used the color scheme: brown, purple. green, yellow, black, and red.  

I think this is a painting by Kazmir Malevich but I also think I could be wrong. The style is simple and is under the style of Suprematism. The work include a limited palette with white, yellow, blue, red, and gray.

Soften Contrast/Weaken Chroma

Strong chroma is less prominent in this image I took of my friends dog The lighting gives it a hue that connects the contrast of the picture, having the picture display a soft tone. . 

The strong chroma uses is slim far in the background of this photo. I grabbed this photo off tumblr and do not the photographer. The sky is subtle and fades into a delicate blend that exhibits a soft contrast. 

Transitions in Hue/Value/Chroma 

I took this picture at the Art Institute but do not the know the artist. The transition of value, hue, and chroma is very successful here. The background has a cloudy like essence with the blue capturing as a sky or ocean in the back. The dark gray and transition of the color's value gives the work a sense of dimension. 

This is a simple water color painting of a diamond. I do not know the artist because I had grabbed it from tumblr a long time ago. Transitions of value within the same hue produce a three dimensional object. The chroma is weakened in areas giving it space and making it look realistic while still remaining very simple. 

Use of Neutrals 

This is a picture I took in Miami in the area Wynwood where every building is covered with murals, graffiti, street art, etc. I really liked this work and the use of neutrals is spread throughout the typography. 

This is a work I grabbed from tumblr awhile ago, so the artist is unknown. The use of neutrals is practiced as your eyes go down the piece of work The pink, yellow, red, and orange color scheme is used within the sky and the sun. The mountains filled with faced uses green, blue, blending well together and contrasting the sky. 

Dominance of Hue/Value/Chroma

 The blue background is dominant over this cover of the book The Great Gatsby. The blue allows the yellow lights on the bottom to stand out in expressionism. The face somewhat hiding above is symbolic within the book and I thought this was a good example.

In this image I grabbed from tumblr, the sapphire blue stands out dominantly on the black background The nude women are in a position that is flashy and expressive, and I think the color chosen to outline them is successful symbolically. 

Key the Color

The top picture I took is in Barcelona at the top of the W Hotel. The lighting of the ceiling gives off an orange hue that is reflected throughout the whole room. The bottom picture I took from tumblr, and red is dominant connecting the background and the subject's skin. 

Contrasting Values 

This is a character from the infamous Grand Theft Auto video game. I've always like the animation and art direction of the game series, despite the content. The subject here displays contrasting value in her whole figure, especially her skin. Her skin tone being the same color (hue), you can tell the light source is shining at her from the viewer's left through the contrast of value. 

This is a design that stood out to me on the internet. With only the use of black and white, there are contrasting values within the use of line. The facade of the pyramid is brighter then the rest of it and the mountains, still black, contrast with the sky and foreground successfully.