10-28-09 Frogger

Ribbit Ribbit. The arcade game Frogger came out in 1981 and the game was developed by Konami Corporation. The Frogger game is known as a classic and is still popular. Many versions of the Frogger game can be found on the internet and has been updated many times to advance the game which added new power-ups, bonus levels, and new obstacles. The goal of the game is to help the frog get home with having to go through many obstacles to get there. The obstacles are trying to avoid being hit by a car and rivers. The game starts with a person having three, five or seven frog lives and throughout the game there are cars, vans, taxis, logs and much more. The frog must movie quickly across to move to the next level and once a player gets to the fifth level it starts to get easier, but harder at the same time. The game Frogger was licensed by Sega to many other companies for conversion. There have been 18 sequels of Frogger and; the most recent is Frogger 2 for Xbox 360 and there is one called Frogger Returns for Wii and Playstation 3 that is to be announced. I loved playing Frogger when I was younger and I do not think the game will ever get old. I think it is really cool how much the game Frogger has changed through the years and how realistic it looks currently compared to when it first came out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frogger

10-28-09 PS3 Netflix

On Monday October 26th Netflix has partnered up with Sony to allow users to use their PS3’s to stream movies to their TV. Netflix is the world’s largest online movie service and provides service for over 10 million members. Monday through Friday Netflix ships out a whopping 2.2 million DVD’s to all of their members. Netflix has been voted the #1 retail website for customer satisfaction since 2005. I recently saw that Netflix is now going to stream directly through a person’s TV from their PS3 system. It will cost $8.99 per month for a membership and you can watch an unlimited amount of movies. The way it will work to stream the movies is to slide a special disc into the PS3 to start the movie. Netflix will provide the disc free of charge as long as you are a member and you request a disc. Netflix is projecting that they will have a significant amount of the discs in November. I think this is an awesome idea and that there will be a lot of people that choose this option. It makes me wonder if there will be an increase in membership since it is now going to be allowed on a PS3.

www.netflix.com

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/28/netflix-details-ps3-disc-distribution-for-november-confident/

10-28-09 Stride 5

Did you know the average American chews 300 sticks of gum per year? Chewing gum has been around since 1870 and was invented by Thomas Adams. The brand Wrigley gum is the largest company and there are over 20 chewing gum manufactures in the United States. I always buy Stride 5 gum and I have always liked their packaging. I went on the website for Stride gum (http://www.stridegum.com/) , but I could not find anything about the packaging and design of the gum. All the website had was advertisements, new flavors, and games. I searched on Google and found that the gum is called “Stride 5” because Wrigley thinks it excites a person’s five senses: sound, taste, smell, touch, and sight. Also each piece of gum only has 5 calories. The Stride 5 gum package is unique because of its sleek design; and has a tab on the flap of the package with ridges on it so it opens and closes smoothly. I think the design being so “cool” looking is targeted for teens and young adults because that age group always wants to look “cool.”

http://www.packagedesignmag.com/issues/2007.09/wow.shtml
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/chewgum.htm

10-22-09 Nanoflower

In lecture a few weeks ago we had talked about nanoart and I wanted to find out what it was so I searched on Google. I found many picture of nanoart but I thought the nano flowers looked very interesting. I really like how detailed it is and I could keep looking at it and seeing different parts of it. There was a little bit more information on the website I found the picture and it says that it was made out of tiny bunches of wires and were created in a laboratory. Each of the flowers is several billionths of a meter. I can’t believe that this is made out of wires and I think it makes it more interesting that it is made out of wires. It looks so lifelike and that I could just put my hand to the screen and touch it. I also really like how it looks like there is depth to the flowers I think that aspect makes it more interesting to look at. I think it would be better though if it were all different colors than just blue. The color blue reminds me of sad and I think different colors would change that feeling. Overall I think it is a very interesting design.

10-22-09 Jay Pritzker Pavilion

I also like going to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago which is in Millennium Park. I think the design is very interesting and I love being there at night because there are lights that constantly are changing colors. I have never been there for concerts. I also think the design had to take a lot of time for the artist to create and figure out what would be most appealing to the eye. Also the structure had to be able to support the sound system for the structure. I wanted to know more about the Pavilion so I went on millenniumpark.org. The architect is Frank Gehry and he won the National Medal of Art. The Pavilion is 120 feet high “with a billowing headdress of brushed stainless steel ribbons that frame the stage which is connected to an overhead trellis of crisscrossing steel pipes.” There are 4,000 permanent seats and the Great Lawn allows an additional 7,000 people. This pavilion has a state of the art sound system which is the first type in the country and was designed to imitate the acoustics just like an indoor concert hall. The Grant Park Music Festival is held here along with other free concerts and events. The name of the pavilion is in memory of the Chicago business leader Jay Pritzker with his wife and created the Pritzker Architecture prize in 1979. The design commencement was in June 1999 and finished in July 2004. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion has a 95,000 square foot lawn area. The architect was Gehry Partners from Los Angeles, CA and the team consisted of Frank Gehry and Craig Webb. If you ever visit Chicago I recommend visiting the Cloud Gate and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion.

10-22-09 The Bean

I only live about 50 minutes from Chicago and every time I go to Chicago I love going to the Cloud Gate, but I always know of it as The Bean. I searched on Google for pictures and found many with people gathered around, but then I found a picture of the bean with the skyline reflecting. I think the reflection is the coolest part of the design of the bean. I would imagine the designer of the bean thought about the idea of having the reflection of the skyline and people’s reflection just like a mirror. I think the designer spent a lot of time on the design and figuring out what angle the bean would have to be at for the reflection of the skyline to reflect. I think a lot of people spend time going and taking pictures at the bean. I also wanted to find more information so I looked up on Google. It weighs 110 tons and there is a 12 foot high path underneath the sculpture. Visitors are able to touch the sculpture and have their image reflected to take pictures. The sculpture is the largest kind of sculpture in the world and is 66 feet long and 33 feet high. It is called the Cloud Gate and is located at the AT&T Plaza which was given by a gift from AT&T. The artist was selected in 1999 and then the Cloud Gate was completed in the summer of 2005. The artist of the Cloud Gate is Anish Kapoor and the engineer is Chris Hornzee; both are from London, England. The artist was inspired by liquid mercury. I love the bean and think it is an awesome sculpture of art.

10-15-09 C Shatter

I was searching for designs and on the website I was on there were many pictures of glass shattering, but this one caught my eye most. My favorite part of the picture is how the red liquid is in the shape of a letter C. It makes the movement for the eye to follow the red liquid down to the shattering glass. Also I really like how there are little drops of the liquid falling down from the top. The light background with the bottom of the picture being darker adds to the picture because it makes me eyes go down to the darker colored background. Also I like how it looks like there is a shadow from the red liquid and a darker shadow from the glass. The way the glass has fallen over makes me wonder how the red liquid can be flying up so high in the air. I know that this photo might be made in photoshop, but if it were real I do not think it would be as interesting because the red liquid would be just on the bottom of the photo. Either way I love this picture and find it very interesting to look at with the red liquid shaped in a C which makes the eyes move towards the glass.

10-15-09 iPod

I found this iPod website while I was searching on Google for designs. I really like the way the iPods look like a domino effect. Also I like how there is a shadow of each iPod even the ones on the far right side that are falling down. I dislike how the bottom of the page has so many pictures and information because my eyes go directly down there when looking at the pages. On the webpage that I found this on there was an article about a designer who was critiquing the page and he thought it was too cluttered but good use of white space, color, fonts, and white space. I agree with the page being too cluttered because there are so many pictures to look I feel like my eyes get lost. I think it would be better if there was only a little bit of text at the bottom; also just have the picture of the iPods like they are and then the tabs on the top stay the same.

10-15-09 Glass Shatter

In lecture I thought the picture of the glass shattering with the object in the middle looked really awesome so I wanted to find more. I like the way the glass shatters in stages. The first glass is fine then it gradually shatters more and more. Also the height of the glasses causes movement with the eye because the glass is tall and then it gets shorter as you look down the row. The last picture of the glass on the right side still looks like it is in the shape of the original glass, but it is just all shattered. I think it is neat how the glass looks like it is falling in slow motion and is not just in a pile. While looking at the picture of the glass it feels like the glass is falling that instance. Also a little past the middle of the glass it looks like there is a line in the glass and it makes me keep moving my eye to the next glass even though the line is fainter in every glass after the first.

10-15-09 Pumpkin

I was thinking about it being fall so I decided to look up pumpkin designs on the internet. The pumpkin I found caught my eye because of the colors and the background design the pumpkin is sitting on. The flower shape that is on the top of the pumpkin reminds me of a sunflower. I like the bright yellow color and I think that is what caught my eye. Also the design around the flower on top of the pumpkin looks like the stem and petals of a flower. I think the background makes the pumpkin “pop” and that’s what makes the design eye catching. The light pink background has many swirls and circular looking shapes just like a pumpkin has. Also the light pink background has a similar design like the outer edge on the top of the pumpkin. I think it is really awesome how someone can turn an object into more than one object and adding a background similar to the design of the main object catches my eyes more.

10-8-09 ice-cream

I have always thought Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream flavors have always been unique. I think the name of the ice-cream would make younger children want to eat that kind of ice-cream. A product must have a good design for a product to sell but the taste is also important. I think the names of the ice-cream make people want to buy them more and Ben and Jerry’s is always having new flavors and clever names and when I was looking on the website one that caught my attention was flipped out. I thought the name was interesting and the design. I love how the name of the ice-cream “flipped out” is upside down but all of the other text and pictures are normal. I think the text being upside down makes the design more eye catching and more literal because flipped out means it would be turned over and; it makes sense for it to be upside down because it wouldn’t have the same message if it wasn’t.

List of the ice-cream flavors
http://www.benjerry.com/flavors/our-flavors/#

10-8-09 Slices of Summer

I was looking on the internet for summer designs and came upon this really awesome Kleenex box design for summer. I know that it is fall and summer in over, but summer is my favorite. I love the design of the Kleenex boxes because it looks exactly like the fruit. It is just like a watermelon and orange slice. I think the bright colors are important and are eye catching. Also the “orange slice” box at the bottom where the Kleenex label is really looks like how the orange peel looks when it is sliced. The details in both boxes are very detailed and look realistic because on all the boxes it looks like there are water droplets on them and a drop of watermelon juice. On the website there was also a lime that is shaped and detailed just like a lime sliced. I read a little bit on the site that Kleenex was having a challenge for someone to create a design that incorporates summer. A man named Hiroko Sanders created this design and the series is called a “Perfect Slice of Summer.”

Here is the website for the Kleenex boxes
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thedieline.com/.a/6a00d8345250f069e2011570ae7fb2970b-550wi&imgrefurl=http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2009/05/perfect-slice-of-summer-tissue-boxes-for-target.html&usg=__Tt5fBNPPd5I1m10_z7DhzFFtLjE=&h=456&w=550&sz=33&hl=en&start=53&um=1&tbnid=Qk6ZMfbE-ynXkM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=133&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsummer%2Bdesigns%26ndsp%3D21%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D42%26um%3D1

10-8-09 Summer Time

I searched Google for summer time and I found this design that really caught my eye. I think the best part about the picture is the colors that were used. Summer makes me think of bright, colorful pictures and this fits perfectly. Also the color in the sunglasses matches the glass and I can see the bottom of the glass through the sunglasses. I find it interesting that brown is in the glasses because I really do not understand where that color came from because the brown is not similar to any other color in the picture. The way the kiwis are positioned in the picture make a big impact on the picture and make it more interesting, very detailed and looks so real. I do not like how the sides of the glasses where they are all white because it makes it stand out too much. I really am unsure of what color it should be because the part that is white couldn’t match the front of the frames because the background is black. Overall I think this design is really eye catching and I love the color combinations because it really reminds me of summer time.

10-8-09 Windows Vista

I was searching on Google for different designs and found the symbol for VW. The design caught my eye because at the bottom someone put Windows Vista. I thought this was a clever idea because when a person sees the symbol of the VW emblem they think of the Volkswagen automobiles. I think the design is an interesting design because it is very simple, but everyone knows when they see the logo they know it’s the brand Volkswagen. It makes me wonder why they used the colors blue and white. I think the blue color is very plain, but I think the white letters look good because the letters on a dark blue background makes them stand out. Also I like the thin white circle around the circle and the really bold white circle around the middle. I think the company could make the design more interesting with different colors and font, but then people would have a harder time figuring out what the logo is for. People have a hard time with change and if the company was to change the logo I think people would have a harder time recognizing it.