Presentation Ideas

[AndrewLyle]

Hello,

I am currently in a college class that covers the basic modern history of the design movement from the Arts & Crafts in the 1800's movement through to Deconstructivism which they say is 1988-present...

I need to give a presentation in two weeks about anything i want really. The course is called "design, culture, and society," so the idea of the presentation is not really presenting art history, but rather how movements relate to culture and society..

here are some examples of ideas she seemed to like:

-how the creation of unions affected design

-design in war/wartime

-how a process like steam-bending wood changed design (i.e. Thonet Bros. Chair No. 14)

I was thinking about discussing something about disposable design of the 50's, and how it became a hot trend to make "throw-away" artifacts?


Can anyone suggest interesting things?

btw this is a 7 min pecha kucha (<-not sure about spelling)
but it means 20 slides at 20 seconds each. no words on slides

[shamrock593]

I'm doing design history at college, I'm not sure how relevant this will be but we recently went over the portrayal of the human body through history (and pre-history). The tendency for humans to exaggerate certain body features, etc. (even today we still do it in the media). We looked particularly at ancient Greece and Egypt.

Just a thought. :)

[AndrewLyle]

Does this ring any bells?

http://www.serastrawbridge.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/venus.jpeg


its a great discussion, but maybe one i could look at in modern design...(remember im doing a talk about design post-1800)

[shamrock593]

Does this ring any bells?

It certainly does! :)

[lucidmedia]

two ideas for you:

1. The influence that web design and computer interfaces have had on the design of traditional, non interactive media. Think about television shows like VH1's "pop-up video" or the multi-panel "interfaces" of CNN. Of course, it extends far beyond television...

2. For something a bit more historic, compare the representation of space within Persian miniature painting to our modern multi-windowed computer interfaces.

[bntz313]

Thats the venus of wildendorf..(dont know if spelled right) right

[lucidmedia]

Thats the venus of wildendorf..(dont know if spelled right) right

Yes, however most art historians now call it the "Woman of Willendorf", objecting to the term "Venus" as it has connotations that are unrelated to its original meaning. Archeologists and art historians in the early 1900s could be a bit romantic.

[AndrewLyle]

thanks for the suggestions...

i was hoping for something a bit more specific than human image

EDIT:

is also should relate to design after 1800

[adameels]

I don't know much about design after 1800 but I know a lot about after 1900. It was at that point when deisgn stated changing the most and people were more 'open' to new styles. Just look at Art Deco, Art Nouveau, and how it was used frequently in wartime propaganda poster. Other art styles at the time include Purism (works by Le Corbusier under a psuedoname) and De Stijl.

Purism is more fluid, facades on different vertices appear 2D, so the top of a bottle is drawn the same dimensions as the side of a bottle. De Stijl is more rigid, consisting of only horizontal and vertical lines.

Sorry I'm studying a different subject to you so I hope I'm not going off course. If you want to emphasis on change then show a contrast between 1800s and 1900s. Hope I've helped you somewhat

[AndrewLyle]

I think ive decided on:

The influence of concrete on modern design

[lucidmedia]

I think ive decided on:

The influence of concrete on modern design

"Concrete" as in the art/poetry movement, or that wonderful stuff that the Roman's invented?

[AndrewLyle]

i was thinking the romans

but i guess i was really looking for a topic that emerged within the last 200 years that radically changed the way we think of design, or building or construction

[jmnikricket]

I think what you're looking for is the impact of steel rebar on the design of concrete buildings. The first steel reinforced building was built sometime in the mid 1800's, and you could easily show the progression in building styles since then.

A slightly more interesting topic imho would be to look at how recent developments in "green" development are changing current and future building architecture, given the current concern with energy efficiency.

I'm a metallurgical engineer, and I have no idea what a pecha kucha is, so forgive me if these aren't what you're looking for. Good luck!

[AndrewLyle]

I think you're right, i bet rebar is the real game changer...


pecha kucha is a presentation style

20 slides, 20 seconds each, total 6:40 sec presentation time.

usually little to no words