I'm a Graphic Designer, I Fuel the Media

The many roles a designer plays in the construct our media society is outstanding. Designers and even more specifically, graphic designers craft the media that acts as the driving force behind our culture, politics, and market. News bulletins, sporting events, websites, commercials, political parties, stores; they all utilize the persuasive aesthetic that the designer offers. Graphic design in particular is so woven into our daily lives that often we hardly notice the effect it has on us, if we even notice it at all. Every sign, every book and magazine, every subway or amusement park map, name tag or business card, all of these things were thought up by a designer who put more consideration into their particular arrangement than one would think.

Branding is huge part of what a designer does. A brand is essentially the image of the company, establishment, etc. The brand consists usually of a logo, color scheme, photography style, and typeface hierarchy. These act to connect with the target market at an emotional and often times subconscious level. The graphic designer acts as the first impression that a person gets when walking into a store or opening a website. People today, especially consumers love this first impression whether or not they are aware of it. Design and branding can make or break a company regardless of what it is the company actually does.

Now every graphic designers’ dream is to be a successful freelance designer, meaning that they work for themselves and sell their own art as a main source of income. More often than not however, this does not suffice and designers employ their services to other companies, groups, or institutions. When this happens the designer gives up the ownership of the artwork to the client in exchange for a salary. Most designers make a living from using their art to visually persuade a target group of people into buying, joining, or agreeing with something.





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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand
http://blog.iso50.com/

Talk About Convergence, The New Toyota i-REAL

I was watching an episode of one of my favorite BBC television shows Top Gear when I first saw Toyota's latest 'vehicle'. The i-REAL is a Personal Mobility Concept that is planned to be put on sale in 2011. It functions primarily as a mode of transportation, standing upright it has a moves around at walking speed but press a button and it drops down to 'high-speed mode' capable of a top speed of 20 mph. This all seems great but its hardly what makes Toyota's new project a prime example of technological convergence.

The thing that struck me was that Toyota has put a communication interface in the chair. From this interface you can communicate with other i-REALs, search for desired locations, and even message your friends to meet you there. It acts like a fast wheel-chair with i-phone capabilities. Here is the actual Top Gear clip that I saw:



This chair seems like great fun but are the implications, for American's especially, really beneficial? When I picture the i-REAL or future versions becoming extremely popular one image comes to mind... Anyone who has seen the movie Wall-E i imagine would agree that the i-REAL seems like a less complicated version these:


In America especially, people are already overweight, spending loads of time in front of television sets, computers, smart phones, etc. Do we really need to combine these forms of media into a mobile chair? This is just a first try at a media convergence chair and I would expect that future models would combine forms of media in even more sophisticated ways. It seems that there would hardly be a reason to walk around when you could simple drive there. I can appreciate the i-REAL as a successful invention, and it is definitely cool but if we should fully embrace convergence technology such as this one, I cannot say.



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