DSDN 171 assignment 3

Owen Jones argued in his book The Grammar of Ornament (1856) that "Construction should be decorated.  Decoration should never be constructed."  What Jones meant when he said this is that when you design an object, you should firstly design its structure in relation to its function, then decorate this structure, not make an object purely for aesthetic because in his opinion it does not cause great design.  I agree with this idea as designing something based entirely on it aesthetic rather than its function can cause the intuition behind what an object is and how it works.


An example of design that has been constructed can be seen in the above example.  This is a gas lamp designed in the 19th century, it is however not immediately obvious that this is what its purpose is meant to be.
From the look of the object I believed at first that it was just an ornament that looked nice but had no real purpose.  If I had not been told otherwise I would have probably gone on believing this for a very long time.  This is why Jones wanted designers to first think about the use of an object and design accordingly then add the decoration after so that people are not buying objects which while do have a use, are not being used as they have no immediately apparent use except looking nice.

DSDN 171 Assignment 2

pendules d'alcove

Juste Aurèle Meissonier 1735-40

This clock, designed by Juste-Aurele Meissonier, is an example of the continuing curve.  I believe that this clock is an example of an object that was designed on sensual impulse, rather than for the true purpose of the object.   This can be seen in the unnecessary amount of detail on the entirety of the clock.  Firstly the face of the clock is difficult to read due to its small size compared to the rest of the clock and the small hands which look very similar.  Next is its florally, leafy design is attracting away from the main point of the clock which is to tell the time.  This makes the clock look nice but does not help the purpose of the object.  Finally the details of the decoration on the clock is there to give the object curve rather than having any definite theme or reason.  For example the angel reclining underneath the face does not really belong in the floral design as angels are typically depicted in amongst the clouds.  So in conclusion this is a design based off sensual impulse as the design is made to look interesting and invoke emotion rather than serve its purpose to the best of its ability.

DSDN 171 Assignment 1

A design which I believe is important is the written language.  It allows us to communicate our ideas to ourselves through notes and diaries, to specific individuals through letters and emails, or to the entire world and over many generations through books and the internet, just like in this blog.