Saturday, January 28, 2006

Design






2 Comments:

Blogger Stefan Smagula said...

Nice work, Jaime. Could you post that design that you showed me last week? The one that looked like a 3-D, blocky, explosion in red? And could you tell us a little about how you created these illustrations? What tools do you use, and how'd you learn them?

4:51 PM  
Blogger Jaime C. said...

I use photoshop, 3d studio Max, and Bryce. I also use flash to make illustrations. I am currently learning to use vb macros in Corel Draw, which open a whole new world of design. I am also learning "Processing" by myself, and design of efficient algorithms with Matlab in my "intro to programming" class which could be directly associated with mathemtical design(is there a term to describe this?) that includes design based in mathemathical formulas.

Design is based on experience, practice and inspiration. I believe that the best schools of design only teach students to use the tools and maybe a little bit more, but the students have to find inspiration and creativity by themselves. Of course there are methods of design, and color theory etc, but in the end, teaching design is just like teaching an artist how to use the pencil, and everything else depends in the artist and his imagination. Nowadays using the pencil is becoming more difficult with all the new software, but the idea is the same.

I start learning design since I was a kid, playing with lego, and drawing all the time. Then I discover "paint", and from there on I began to learn other applications, while also learning programming and website design. I started constantly looking for good design in magazines, and all kind of advertisements, movies, paintins, artpieces, internet, etc. I got to a point where I thought that I knew all the types of design and all the styles, and at that time I was deciding if I wanted to take the path of technology and engineering, or if I wanted to take the path of design and art.

One day I was walking in Barnes & Nobles when I found this book called "Creative Code", from John Maeda which open my mind to a whole new world of design using algorithms and mathematics, like the designs of Joshua Davis, Ben Fry, and Jared Tarbell. I start reading about fractals and stuff like that, and I began discovering that there is a bridge between mathemathics, engineering, art and design.

Today I am studying aerospace engineering where I am learning to develop complex algorithms, and I am also learning some new methods of design by myself. I want to keep looking for ways to connect both worlds.

11:42 AM  

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