Forced connections

Previously on our lesson, we have learnt and discussed about Forced Connections.
Forced Connections allows us to think about a particular subject and force connects it based on the brain's ability to link two unlike things such as words, objects, feelings and ideas.

It's called Forced Connections because it relies on random external triggers that force people to make a connection between the problem at hand and the trigger. These triggers cause people to broaden their perspective. Its definitely one strong method to overcome problem in my personal opinion.

In class we tried practicing forced connections by linking words which are arranged at random from magneticpoetry.com . We came out with random hilarious sentences. Here's the list.

Done by our group of artistic human beings. Shernyne, Janice & Kim ;)

These are examples of using Forced Connections to link words into becoming 'your own language'.

Forced Connections can really help in problem solving, creating a juxtaposition or just maybe, entertaining yourself. Well we definitely had lots of fun and laughter throughout the class doing this. 

Peace out. 

Analogical Thinking Part II

On the previous post, we talked about analogical thinking. This time round we take it into another aspect. Just one topic that can relate to analogical thinking better, architecture.

Architectures takes a tremendous amount of time, making countless drafts until they get a final sketch of their design. But, have you ever wonder where did they get inspirations from ? Well, analogical thinking is definitely one of the ways to get ideas.

If we observe carefully, many buildings are made as a form of facial expressions.
Here are some examples.

The two windows represent the eye, while the etch in the middle forms a nose and a mouth that seems to be showing an expression of shockness below it. 

A house from far which resembles a face with a cute expression due to the small windows that represents eyes and mouth 

What seems to be a monstrous face with a big wide mouth sucking in all the water .

A face giving an expression of 'surprised or shocked' as the round window played an important role as a mouth to show the expression 

Here, we have some personal shots of what caught my attention when i was walking around exploring the school. Some are obvious to your eyes and some have only tiny details that you have to spot to conclude the overall picture.

Take a look ! ;) 

Interior walls of the class with a cool sticker which looks like a lightbulb and also a rocket

Our school balcony 'chilling' area with a missing table. Somehow it resembles a duck face due to the composition of the missing table, a chair cushion in the middle and the two chairs.

Here,the carpet looks like a bowling ball with my shoes as the bowling pin.

A box of rack with a hole cut out to give user a preview of what is inside. It resembles a persons eyes and the top flap makes up the straight brows. 

While architectural designers getting inspirations for buildings, other artist take opportunities like this to make use of what is available and tweak it to give another new look.

Street painting of an eye and the proportion of the building which compliments the artwork.

By using elements such as arrangements of flowers to show more obvious expressions.

There are countless of things to see and imagine if you really visualise and keep an open mind. From there, inspirations can come anytime anywhere. All you gotta do is, think ;) 

Peace out. 

Image ref 1 : http://theverybesttop10.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/the-world_s-top-10-best-buildings-with-faces-8.jpg

Image ref 2 : http://www.extralast.com/pics3/oban-building-face-1.jpg

Image ref 3 : http://www.geekfill.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/371.jpg

Image ref 4 :http://farm1.staticflickr.com/21/94222511_38ba492b92_b.jpg 

Image ref 9 : http://static.squarespace.com/static/52cad8a6e4b0037bd0e48475/52ea7b9be4b03440a7b337a4/52ea7c45e4b03440a7b3409a/1298889837000/28mm_women_Rio_111.jpg?format=original

Analogical Thinking

The definition of analogy is to basically make a comparison to show such similarity between two objects. Many of the modern things around us that are created by designers used analogical thinking to get inspirations for their form. Either form over function or function over form. Which one works best on the certain product depends on the designers.   

In terms of similarity between two subjects, it does not have to be in terms of physical aesthetic qualities only. It can also be in a form of function without the need to look similar to the related subject. One example i have here is the creation of the new Mclaren P1. Seemingly,the Mclaren P1 looks futuristic and aggressive.

 It was actually designed by Frank Stephenson Head of design for Mclaren Automotive,who got the idea of the P1 from a Sailfish. Why Sailfish ?????

From the image above,you probably could not relate a sailfish to this car. However there are some form of relationships to each other. 

The story was that while on holiday in the Caribbean, he noticed a sailfish on a wall in the resort where he was staying. A man working there told Stephenson that he was proud to have caught the fish because it was so fast. Stephenson was intrigued – he began doing some research on the species to find out why it was so quick. After his vacation, he then managed to get hold of a sailfish which he bought from a fisherman who had just caught it. He then took the fish to the lab and did a research on why was it so fast. The analysis revealed that the scales on the sailfish’s skin generate little vortices that result in the fish being enveloped in a bubble of air instead of denser water. This reduced drag allows the fish to move even faster.

McLaren’s designers applied the same texture as the scales of the sailfish to the inside of the ducts that lead into the engine of their P1 hypercar. This increased the volume of air going into the engine by 17%, improving the car’s efficiency. The P1 also borrowed from the sailfish little ‘diplets’ on the torso of the fin where it meets the tail fin that the fish uses to straighten out the flow of pockets of air and water that move past it. This, Stephenson says, made the car more aerodynamic.

 . The Mclaren P1 is a hybrid supercar which can travels up to a speed of more than 350km/h ! Which is extremely fast given the condition that it runs on electric battery cells. 

The second part of this post is about materials and structure. 

Weaving.

 Weaving was known in all the great civilisations, but no clear line of causality has been established. Early looms required two people to create the shed, and one person to pass through the filling. Early looms wove a fixed length of cloth, but later ones allowed warp to be wound out as the fell progressed. The weavers were often children or slaves. Weaving became simpler when the warp was sized. 

 

Weaving moved on to different materials such as silks and looms that created different kinds of apparels. Baskets and nets were then later created by the process of weaving.

In our modern days now, weaving has become an essential part of a technique to increase structure. 

One example is carbon fibre. Carbon fibers are usually combined with other materials to form a composite. When combined with a plastic resin and wound or molded it forms carbon fiber reinforced polymer (often referred to as carbon fiber) which has a very high strength-to-weight ratio, and is extremely rigid although somewhat brittle. However, carbon fibers are also composed with other materials, such as with graphite to form carbon-carbon composites, which have a very high heat tolerance. Many automotive companies used carbon fibers as they are suitable for making the aerodynamics of the car. For example the P1 as mentioned above. Its body is made out of carbon fiber. Sometimes people collects carbon fiber furnitures at home as it is unique apart from maple wood,plastic resin or glass.

Similar to Ebony, Carbon Fiber can give a classy yet simple look to the surroundings. However there is a price to pay. Carbon fibers are not cheap. 
Thus,analogical thinking can help us to get inspirations in various aspects and also give us more chances to be creative. In these modern world, almost every single thing that has been created were being design analogically to another subject. You just have to analyse and learn the structure and materials. From there, analogical thinking will help you in adapting what you need and what you don't for your particular subject. 

Peace out.