DESIGN | FH JOANNEUM

Nagoya Design Meets Graz

Katja Kraiss — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:07:32 +0000

“Nagoya Design Meets Graz” shows from the 3rd of May until the 2nd of June portraits and design objects of well-known and (as yet) unknown designers from Nagoya.

Japanese Design is characterised by thought-out concepts which are always aimed at consumer needs and yet are gifted with a sense of beauty. The UNESCO City of Design Nagoya in the heart of Japan is the perfect place to experience such great Japanese Design: many design organisations, about 50 design-related universities and a lot of resident designers in Nagoya frame the picture of this industrial-oriented city.

About 30 japanese students and students from the master’s programme Exhibitiondesign (AUD11) and Media and Interaction Design (MID11) from the FH Joanneum have met in Nagoya in March 2013 in order to prepare the exhibition “Nagoya Design Meets Graz” at the Designmonat Graz 2013. Under the direction of Erika Thümmel and Anke Strittmatter (both FH Joanneum, Exhibitiondesign) and Kiyofumi Motoyama (Graduate School for Information Science) supported by Eriko Esaka (Head of International Relationship of the International Design Center Nagoya) the students collected design objects, information and interviews for the exhibition.

Divided into the categories “Graphic Design”, “Fashion Design”, “Product Design”, “Architecture”, “Social Design” and ”Manga & Anime”, the architecture of the exhibition design invites the visitors to discover design from Nagoya in each corner – like the students did in Nagoya. The two students of the Master’s programme Exhibitiondesign (AUD11) Anja Schwendenwein and Katja Kraiss from the FH Joanneum created the architecture and the display of the exhibition design as their master’s thesis.

Photo & Text: Anja Schwendenwein & Katja Kraiss

Motoyama at Design FH

Karl Stocker — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:16:34 +0000

On may 6, Kiyofumi Motoyama, professor of the Graduate School of Information Science at Nagoya University, gave a lecture at our institute. Professor Motoyama studied architecture at Kyoto University and his academic interests are visual literacy, and visuality and spatiality in the electronically networked society. He is also a member of steering committee of university gallery [clas].

Under the title “Photography as Creative Media for a City: The Landscape upon which the Artists Gazed”, Kiyofumi Motoyama talked about the possibilities of visualizing the potential of landscape in images created by artists. In this lecture, some Japanese artworks and traditional notions of space were introduced. After his presentation of a very nice art photography project his lecture was finished by an improvised tea ceremony.

Photography: Karl Stocker

GALIT AVINOAM at Design FH

Karl Stocker — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:50:16 +0000

On 2nd may Galit Pnina Avinoam was lecturing at FH JOANNEUM on especially tailoring design to meet the customers‘ expectations. Combining her innate sense of truly understanding people with her aesthetics, Galit has created her unique vision on design: she is constantly looking for proportion and context, striving to achieve a balance between the customers‘ personality and architectural goals. Quite interesting was the discussion focussing on differences and analogies between interieur and exhibition design.

Galit Pnina Avinoam is a graduate of Holon Institute of Technology (H.I.T) Israel. She is lecturer at the Bvd Design Academy and previously at The Open University, H.I.T Holon, and others, spezialized on design, interior design and architecture.

http://www.galitavinoam.com

Photography: Karl Stocker

On Personal Projects

Joris Rigerl — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:35:59 +0000

Almost every single person working in the design industry could tell a story about how client projects usually turn out differently than they had hoped at the start. Although this is in part due to the creative process itself, mostly it’s about catering to the client’s taste or wishes, regardless of how viable they might or might not be. What this leads to is masses of designers who are unhappy with their portfolios since they never reach their full potential.
In this article, I’d like to break a case for personal projects and their importance, both as a design student and during the working life.

No constraints.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of working on projects just for oneself is the lack of time and client constraints. The only person satisfied by the result has to be you – the designer. Although this is way easier said than done, it’s actually a good thing. Often times, I find myself setting a much higher bar for my personal projects than I would with client work – resulting in pieces that I’m proud to show off.
Depending on your work ethic though, sometimes it is a good idea to set yourself a time constraint. How about taking 3 days off, defining a goal and seeing what you can come up with, just like Andrew Kim did, when he decided to rebrand Microsoft.

Challenge yourself.

So now that we’ve agreed that it’s a great idea to take some time and spend it working on a personal project, what exactly should you be working on?
The answer, at least if it were up to me, is quite simple: something new. Try to find something you’ve never done before or at least on a scale you haven’t dared to tackle yet and have a go at it. Getting out of one’s comfort-zone is the best way to evolve as a designer and artist.

Build a portfolio.

Not only are personal projects unbelievably fulfilling as a creative past-time, they’re also quite valuable for professional reasons. Working for yourself allows you to fully tap your creative potential and unleash your energies, which will show in your results. And as it turns out, that sort of thing is not quite unsurprisingly exactly what every possible future employer likes to see in your portfolio. Take for example Ji Lee who – working for an ad agency – got fed up and started the insanely successful Bubble Project. Sure, you’ll always have to earn a living and you’ll quite possibly have more than one project down on your career path you’re not going to pour your heart out on, but nobody has to see those. Instead, use your portfolio and your personal projects to show the world what you’re passionate about.

I promise, it’ll pay off.

Photo: The Next Microsoft Project by Andrew Kim (photo used with permission)

How to turn a simple idea into a great e-commerce!

Micol Magnani — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:31:39 +0000

It all began in St. Etienne, UNESCO City of Design …

“Are the Archduchesse’s socks dry? (Yes they are) very dry!” This is one of the most famous French tongue twisters and is the origin of the name of Archiduchesse.com, a French eCommerce website that sells socks.

It all started in France where the idea to produce funny coloured socks was born. Archiduchesse is the name of this brand launched in 2006 in Saint-Etienne.

The idea to produce these socks in at least 30 colors came naturally because of a limited offer in the traditional trade. They could not find colourful socks to match Converse shoes, and because they even could not find any on the internet, they decided to try to set up their own e-commerce to sell their socks which are made in France worldwide.

Their concept is very easy to understand and remember, and expresses the real needs of our modern society. They use their blog and facebook page to communicate the positioning of their trademark and to talk about the products. The blog targets customers who want to learn about Archiduchesse, and the Facebook page serves to interact with current customers and understand who they are and what they want.

In my opionion, Archiduchesse socks are not that expensive considering their high quality: €6 for the “De ville” and “Bouclette” models, and €4.50 for the “Soquette”….and they offer a rainbow of beautiful colors!

If I made you curious and for more info, please visit their website www.archiduchesse.com !

Photos by Patrice Cassard