Hourglass Traffic Light

This was a proposed new traffic light design by Thanva Tivawong. The concept was based on a traditional hourglass. LED lamps were used to show the movement of sand trickling down from the top compartment to the lower compartment. It was a straightforward design, which had an obvious message that the sand indicates how much time they have left.

I like the design because it is sensible and communicative. It also looks better than the common boring circle traffic lights. However, I think there might be a problem for people suffering from color blindness. I am also not sure whether this design is actually better in terms of function compared to the traffic lights with numeric countdowns.

Japanese Lolita Fashion

Lolita in fashion was originated from Japan which was inspired from Victorian era. It was a knee-long dress which has a swelling skirt, supported with petticoats. There were some types of Lolita, such as :

·       Sweet Lolita which was usually had pastel colors and had lots of ribbons.

·       Gothic Lolita, a Lolita mixed with gothic style which has dark colors such as violet, maroon or black.

·       Classic Lolita, a simpler Lolita that was inspired from aristocrat fashion.

·       Wa Lolita, combination of kimono and Lolita.

·       Sailor Lolita, combination of sailor uniform and Lolita.

·       Etc.

Some people in Japan sometimes wore Lolita especially girls to young adults. Some of them considered it as a hobby and even nowadays people like to combine Lolita with a characters as a cosplay costume.

 a rilakkuma lolita 

-photo does not owned by me-

Assemblage Art

In general, assemblage is the process of joining or putting things together.  While in art terms, assemblage is a piece of art which consist of found things joined together and formed a two-dimensional or a three-dimensional works. Assemblage was a famous artwork around the 20^th century since war happen in that era, which was hard to find art materials.

This was an assemblage sculpture by Julie and Dave Burton. They made this sculpture using recycled metals and other found objects like door knob and a wheel from unused toys. Lastly for more aesthetic they did the finishing touch by painted it, so it looks neater and more beautiful.

My Swatch Watch Design

This is probably a watch that i would absolutely buy if i was able to design for my own.

In creative thinking lesson we were told to design our own swatch watch based on a country. Mine was inspired from South Africa.

Actually at first i really want to design based on Japan since i like their culture so much, but then knowing that many people does Japan (and i hate being common), suddenly there was one thing popped into my mind, a silhouette of wild safari in Africa.

So i did my search about South Africa besides the safari. I found out that South Africa has this magnificently beautiful blue crane, a national bird on that stunning country. It has greyish blue feathers and going black to the tip of the wings.

So that was my design, a blue crane face in the middle of the watch, feathers and feet at the bottom part, and more feathers at the upper part.

WWF : Tsunami Poster

This is a WWF poster in March 2010. The purpose is to raise awareness on the dangers of tsunami caused by global warming. The theme for this poster is “If you don’t use it, turn it off.” The poster encourages people to switch off appliances when not in use so electricity, reducing the usage of electricity and hence, global warming.

The poster is very creative. It combines two objects; an electric fan and a painting of a tsunami. The objects are cleverly placed, making it looks like the fan is blowing the waves of the tsunami towards a beach. It sends a powerful message on how dangerous the matter of global warming is, and that simple actions like forget turning off the fan can be dangerous later on.

Chasing Fish

Latte art has been used in cafes or coffee shops. It can put a smile on the customers’ faces when they see something cute on their coffee. A barista usually draw a leaf or a heart with a toothpick or other tools. However, nowadays there is a new way of making this latte art more attractive. They use foam to make 3D figures that pop out from the surface.

Catching Fish features a cat peering over two fish in a pond surrounded by rocks. It is a creative way of joining two cups as one piece (and also a creative way of tricking customers to buy two cups instead of one). I really like on how they could make the cat pops out from the cup as if it was really chasing a fish. They also make cute characters to support the mood that they want to make.

The Face Shelving

The Face Shelving is a creative furniture design by Alexi Mccarthy. It is a funny and interactive bookshelf in a form of a cartoon face. The horizontal planes on top of the head, eyes, ears, nose and mouth can be utilized to put things on. The main concept is how people can create different faces and expressions depending on what and how they put on the shelf. For example, they can give the face a moustache or a Mohawk with books.

I think the design is nice and quirky. Other than its purpose of storing things, it can become a unique wall decoration. We can change the face of the shelf easily when we get bored.