DESIGN IS DANGEROUS

Consuming water from a water bottle is something part of the norm around the world. However, lately, that has been changing with the designs of the steel/aluminum containers.
Bottle Water is the type of design that is constantly used by many Americans. It is actually more expensive creating the plastic water bottle than the water contained in the bottle. Not only is the water bottle create a hole in your wallet, but it also affects your health. However, I am not just talking about water bottles, but all types of plastic bottles, including the baby bottles children drink from everyday. Why is it dangerous? The chemicals can potential harm you. Plastic bottles tend to be marked with recycling codes in order to distinguish them apart. The Plastics #1, #3, #6 and #7 are among the varieties that are not recommended to be used for certain items. However, scientists say #2, #4 and #5 tend to be safer among the other plastics.
 "The last category of plastic is number seven. Number seven means the plastic used is either a combination of two or more of the previously mentioned plastics, or that the plastic used does not fit into any of the previously mentioned plastic categories." mentions EHOW.com This plastic can be good or bad, depending on its specific qualities. In example, Polycarbonate is used in many containers and is considered highly dangerous, while biodegradable bio-based plastics are considered to be the "good" plastics. Both of these are number seven plastics. It is usually common for the bottle to be marked with the number seven. In addition to the health problems, plastic bottles depend on cheap labor. I think we would rather prefer not to help cheap labor, right?
 

Credits: google images, thisplastic & this bottle

COLOR TRANSFORMS

If you asked someone to imagine the color red, they will most likely imagine a different color from you as stated from Josef Albers' Interaction of Color. Even if we all have seen the same COCA-COLA red sign, our own vision of the COCA-COLA sign would be different from the next person to me imagines.

When it comes to digital photography or black and white film, color of course plays a big role. Whether you're trying to bring more contrast into the photo, or get rid of a certain image, it all requires the usage of color.

Albers' state that in photography, the dark image tends to come out darker. While printing out a photo in the dark room, there are three main colors available in order to mess around (or change) the contrast. Those colors are YELLOW, MAGENTA, and CYAN. However, only Yellow and Magenta tend to be

usage. Those two tend to be the typical colors to create a great contrast between black and white in a photo.

Color plays a big part on staging your photography. If the picture is too black, it can either dramatized a photo (or ruin it).

The colors green, blue, and mauves are the introverted colors. Those colors can often give a different feel of reds and yellows in your pictures. However, colors like yellows, reds,oranges, and pinks can portray and energetic or lively picture. If you would like to have an example of this, imagine fruits such as cantalope. Apples, or bananas.

Credits: Josef Albers "Interaction of Color", This, Google Images 

Chairs - ( Design in Society)

If you have lived in the UC Davis dorms, you have probably come across the desk chairs that are either wooden, small sized, with the fabric on the seating area (the are where your bottom is be “resting”) or if you live in the newer dorms in Wall, Campell, Potter or Kearney-Laben, you will most likely have the plastic rolling chairs. Is there really a difference among those two types of chairs? Some of the biggest complaints in the dorms has been about the chairs. Yes, the chairs. Although just having a chair to seat in should be enough, it really isn't. The bad thing about the wooden chairs is that its smaller and its up to a certain height. Unlike with a rolling chair, you are able to raise its height or lower it. Furthermore, there are not handles on the wooden chair. With the rolling chair, you are able to get move the arm handles out of the way or have them if you wish you rest your arms. The biggest negative for the wooden chair is probably the seat that has fabric as a comforter. Although having fabric can probably make your bottom feel more comfortable, it can make the back of your thighs uncomfortable if your skin is sensitive. Since the rolling chairs have passed down from freshmen to freshmen every year, it has collected dust and of course it has been overuse by many people, therefore making it unclean. At least with the plastic rolling chairs, one is available to avoid discomfort and able to move free in their room. Yet, the wooden chair does has its own pro; it can also serve as a ladder while the rolling chair can kill you if you are not very careful.

Credit: Google Images

Nippon Cinema.com (Design as a Conversation)

Nippon Cinema.com is a website that I recently found out about. Being a self proclaimed lover of Japanese cinema, I was intrigued when I first found the website. It was like finding a candy island. Despite being amazed by the information I found throughout the website, I couldn't help and notice later on that the website reminded me of a blog. Maybe the designers of the website did this on purpose? Maybe.

The design of the website has the information regarding news on Japanese cinema on the left side, while it has “other” information regarding news from Japanese cinema on twitter. While twitter is on above, the “like” for Nipponcinema.com on Facebook is below it. What makes the website remind me of a blog style is that simplicity of the website. Also, each article has the “comments” section below it. Though I know that websites that feature articles feature a “comments” section below every article (once you click on the full story), this website has the comments sections appear on every article straight ahead.

The fact the NipponCinema.com has the style of a blog makes it look more personal than professional. However, that is what makes the website more accessible and easier to use and look at.

Credits: Nippon Cinema.com

Sony Vaio VGN-NS330J ( 5 Areas of Ergonomics Research)

Laptop hunting is what the incoming college freshmen does right before he or she decides to attend his first year of college away from home. I happened to be one of those students the year before . Although a desktop is something that I would much prefer, a laptop is the most convenient item that the college student can have.

Since I was did not have the money to afford a Mac Book Pro laptop, I decided to go ahead and buy a SONY VIAO. Unlike the other PC laptops that I have seen (including HP Pavillion, Dell, Toshiba) the SONY VAIO is flat. When I look at other PC's, they are rather bulky. I must admit that I was looking for a laptop that was a bit similar to the Mac Book Pro that I wasn't able to afford. The texture of the SONY VIAO is completely different when compared to almost, if not all laptops. The texture is smooth, but it has very small type of dash all across the outer layout of the laptop. I think that very feature makes the laptop light weight. In general, not all laptops are lightweight, but this laptop.Therefore, there is not safety hazard for this laptop. The college student won't die from carrying this laptop weighs six point five pounds, making it accessible for the college student to carry t to class/lecture.

The keyboard feature of the SONY VAIO is one of the best features about the laptop. The keys are black. However, they keys are flat and its easy to flow when typing up a paper. One of the things that I find a bit disturbing is the keypad of the SONY VAIO. Its not centered. I do not know if is is not supposed to be actually centered, but I think it should have been place a little bit more to the right side in order to have the key pad a bit more centered.

Because the laptop is flat, the keyboards are smooth, and the design of the laptop is tolerable, it is a laptop that is easy to use. Since it is a PC, the laptop is prone to viruses. It doesn't matter how much you use it or how you use it, there is a chance that you might get a virus. Because of this very reason, you will have to buy an anti virus program.

The SONY VAIO might not be the so loved Mac Book Pro that many college students want (but that some cannot not afford), but it is definitely a laptop that one can come to love. For the people that really wanted a Mac Book Pro, this laptop can be considered the imitation of the Mac Book Pro. But for the PC lovers, this is the “IT” laptop. I know that I grew to love this laptop, and I defend its honor from the overly popular and overly expensive MacBook Pros. However, the preference of a laptop is up to the eye of the beholder. Whether you like a laptop for its design or its functions, it does not really matter. Any laptop can be considered a “must have” item.

Credits: Google

WORD and IMAGE Pt. II – Foreign Films

WORD and IMAGE Pt. II – Foreign Films

A film does not necessarily require the usage of text. Why? Because sound is already used. However, this changes when film is in a language that we do not understand. There is a typical typography that is often used in international films. Unfortunately, I am not with familiar on what the exact style of font was used, but if you're a lover of international cinema, the same font appears over and over in most films. There is a difference in the type of font utilized. The typical font used is in white bold, and similar to a "Times New Roman" style. The other type of font that I have seen appear is bright, bold (bolder than the typical white), and yellow.

Why is this subject an importance? Because it can leave an impression on the audience.

Although international films are not viewed by everyone, it is definitely viewed by many people.

Translation of a language plays a big part in international films. What would the case be if the subtitles at the bottom claimed that that the character was mad, when he or she wasn't actually mad? Some words in another language can not be exactly translated to the English language, thus an exact translation can be made up for the lack of its translation.

Although a translated film is not exactly like a comic book, it some way it is. Like a comic strip, mostly every film strip will have a word and image in the same frame.

Credits: Google

CD COVERS/PACKAGE

Although in this era people do not buy CD's as much as they used to like in past decades, CD covers still play a critical part on a artist's impression on the public. Designers are limited on what type of package the CD should come in. It can vary in paperback, which is what I consider the old vinyl style from the 1980's and earlier. Except that it is in a smaller form. Or they can chose to take the current hard plastic cover. And of course, there is a paperback form that is not like a vinyl. It can either have three or two parts. One of the cd's I purchased a while ago was from a band called MGMT. All of the albums have been created in a vinyl type of form. Unfortunately, I do not like it. But of course, I still buy it because I want to support the band and a complain of the cd material should not stop me from buying it, right?

And then there is the image on the cd. Some bands prefer to be on the cover on the album, and a picture is utilized. Or an image is created specifically for the album. MGMT utilized a picture of themselves rather than a created image for the first album the album cover on the left. But they went ahead with a created image on the right.

Thinking of the texture and value of a CD cover doesn't necessarily seem of any importance, but it is a topic that I have discussed with my friends. What is you preference when it comes to a cd package?

Credits: Google

WORD and IMAGE Pt.1

About an hour ago I went to Trader Joe's with some of my residents. One of the things that I happen to buy (basically the only thing that I didn't consider so expensive from the whole store) was their KETTLE CORN.

The bag that contains TRADER JOE's KETTLE CORN is a peachy white with light pink stripes. And of course, the title of KETTLE CORN is on the first half on the bag with big font while there is a sentence below the title that says “With the perfect balance of sweet and salty”. But that's not the best thing about the KETTLE CORN bag. Below the quote mentioned above, is a picture. The picture contains a theme of late 1800's through early 1900's fashion. All of the characters in the picture are dressed from fashion of that era. 

However, the one character that catches your attention is the man with the TRADER JOE's KETTLE CORN bag on each of his hands. And it happens to be right below the words “ Perfect balanced between sweet and salty”. Yet, the kettle corn bags in the man's hands are not in perfect balance. The man is dressed in a style of a person that might be part of a circus act. What does this imply? Should we have TRADER JOE'S KETTLE CORN because it gives an old fashioned vibe? The other characters in the picture are children. The children looked amazed by the man with the kettle corn bags. And of course, so do I.

Credits: Google

Winter Fashion - Coats

It is officially (well almost there) winter season! The best thing about winter is simply the fashion. Once it is the start of summer season, I cannot wait for the heat to leave and for the cold to come.

It takes a while for the Davis summer heat to leave, but during the bi polar weather, UC Davis students take advantage of the few bits of cold that appears here and there and wear their coats with pride.

On Saturday, I actually went shopping to the Sacramento mall in search for "the coat". What was the coat I was looking for? I first I was looking for a black coat, and later on it became the search of a "black raincoat". Yet, I ended up purchasing just simply a black coat from Forever 21.

Although I was also trying to look for a coat that can actually provide me warthm, be comfortable, and block the rain when it rained; I chose a coat based on its design. Its the fashion the counts sometimes over the comfortable level that it may have in the end. The coat that I purchased wasn't the coat that I actually wanted, but it was decent enough to be worn with most of my clothing items. I am actually hoping I can find a trench coat, rather than just a regular coat, but who knows when that will happen. Maybe when I go to Japan one day?



Weather you chose to wear a coat for comfort or to be fashionable, or both, it doesn't really matter. Coats are an integral part of winter fashion, and it is the "it" clothing item that makes Winter season, well  Winter season of course.

Sandals - A Mass Production

For Californians, flips flops or sandals are common place. Even when it is in Winter temperatures at UC Davis, you might still see someone wearing Rainbow Sandals.

Sandals is some of the earlier form of shoes. Or dare I say it, it can also probably be the actual first form of shoes. One can think that the Ancient Greeks wore the shoes, but usage of sandals can probably be traced EVEN earlier than that. It can be traced all the way to the Ice Age , or 10,000 years ago!
As I am writing up this blog, I am actually wearing my flip flops. However, the sandals that I am wearing right now are only meant to be inside than outside. I have another pair of sandals that I only use to wear outside rather than the inside. Both of these pairs of sandals look very different. Though the design is the same, the quality, the texture, and the color of the sandals are not alike at all. And of course, I also have my “fashionable” sandal that I wear in order to make my whole outfit look nice or at least decent.

My pair of sandals that are meant to be used inside my dorm room, is black with a pink "thong". And my "fashionable" looking sandal has has a thin white strap.

Like the description of my sandals mentioned before, sandals come in a variety of sizes and colors. There are sandals that are exclusively for men and for women only. There are the fashionable sandals and the exercise sandals are well; and they truly are different from each other. I know that I definitely won't be caught wearing a fancy looking sandal to a walk-a-thon around the beach lines.

The reason why sandals are so important is because everyone and their mothers wear them. A world without sandals, would be truly a weird world indeed. We need to be able to let our toes feel the sun and breath oxygen once in a while, right?

For more info and credits: Sandal History!

Objectified

Almost everything is designed, one way or another. Every decision has been made even before the product is about to me made.
See the film trailer here!

Although I did not had the chance to finish the film, "Objectified", what I saw so far impressed me a great deal. Some of the designers from the film were mentioning how by hearing someone's wife complain about the potato peeler, they actually went ahead and designed a potato peeler that is good enough for a person with arthritis to use.

Design isn't just about fashion, but also, and importantly so, everyday objects as well. Even the laptop that I am using has been designed...and of course I bought my laptop in the first place because I felt in love with the silver SONY VAIO design.

 The design has to stimulate people's mind and soul. Even the designers themselves, are actually the audience themselves.

According to the film, there are three phases:

1. Formal relation
2. Symbolism and the content that you are dealing with
3. The design has to be seen more than the bigger picture. It can be more than just an object. An example to this is the design of the Dirt Devil. It is also a product that can be both utilized and and look beautiful like an art piece.



As Henry Ford says, "Every object tells a story"...you just have to know how to read it.\\

Google: Images, Youtube

Your favorite clothing store~

H&M is a clothing store that can typically be found in an American mall; as well as in Europe, where it first started.

Being from Southern California, I heard about H&M, but the H&M franchise was only available in Northern California. However, I recall that H&M opened stores across Southern California before I came to Davis to start my freshman year last year.

I think the arch nemesis of H&M is most likely FOREVER 21. 

 

I remember my first year in high school wearing mostly clothing from FOREVER 21 and finding out that three other girls owned the same shirt as me; that was not pretty.

The same thing can be said for H&M; you'll probably find another girl (or guy) owning or wearing the same clothing article as you are.

The difference about FOREVER 21 is that is was started by two South Koreans in Los Angeles, California, while H&M as I have mentioned before was created in Europe.
I cannot blame the average teenage girl for shopping at FOREVER 21. During my Spring Break of 2010 I actually bought myself two denim skits, denim shorts, black sandals, and a dress for a bargain of $40; or at least it was a bargain in my opinion.

The same cannot be said for H&M, whom I think is a bit pricier when compared to their FOREVER 21 counterparts.

It doesn't really matter where you shop, as long as you feel great about your clothes and don't feel ripped of by these franchises, you should be fine.

Credits: Google Images, H&M and FOREVER 21

Comparison and Contrast

Hardcover vs Paperback?

Which one do you personally prefer?

If it comes to which one if the cheapest and the most affordable, I would choose a paperback book in a heartbeat.

Luckily, all the design books required for this class are paperback...but that does not mean that they were cheaper in the end.

The great thing about paperback books is that they can be bended to their side, unlike their hardcover counterparts. If you are to study for a test or just simply read a book, its easier to highlight and “torture” (yes, torture because you are abusing the poor book) when studying. With a hardcover book, its the opposite. Hardcover books cannot be bended unlike their paperback counterparts.

Unfortunately for me I personally prefer hardcover books, but in actuality, I have more paperback books than hardcover books. However, if I truly know that I will enjoy the book that I am buying and know that I want to treasure it for decades to come, I purchase my book in hardcover. One exception to this is the Harry Potter series. All of those books are ONLY in hardcover. If I were to purchase the whole serious in paperback, I think I would die from the extreme tackiness it will result in after many uses.

The great thing with hardcover books is that the books probably outlast their paperback counterparts. Which is one of the many reasons I decided to buy my Harry Potter novels in hardcover. Also, hardcover books tend to have artistic dust jackets – something that the paperback can never have. Because of the dust jackets that hardcover contains, it makes them look more “fancy” than “tacky”.

You can't really hate on the paperback though. They're as flexible as you would imagine they would be.

In the end, it doesn't matter what type of style you choose to buy your book. All that matters is that you enjoy the book.

Credits: Google Images

Design as a Conversation - "Give me a break"

Candy wrappers?

Ask yourself some questions:

Do you ever notice the design of the wrapper from your favorite candy bar? Do you think it was the candy wrapper that attracted you to eat the candy in the first place?

One of my favorite chocolate candy is KIT KAT. 

 

The US version of this brand is only available in the regular old chocolate flavor. And of course, the wrapping of the candy comes in only one form:

The US version of the KIT KAT package is an red with the KIT KAT logo with white letter with the edges of the letters in red bold. However, when it comes to the non US versions of this brand, it does not limit itself to only one type of packaging and even flavors like the United States brand.

In Japan, the image of KIT KAT comes in a variety of ways. Instead of using the candy wrapping method of the American KIT KAT, Japan tends to box their KIT KAT (along with a wrap underneath of course). Not only that, the box are decorated based on the type of flavor the KIT KAT is. 

 

If the KIT KAT is “green tea”, the box of the KIT KAT features an image of “green tea” or a teapot that is pouring green tea in a cup. Or if the flavor was a strawberry flavor, then the image of the box will be red with an image full of strawberries. And of course, the box labels the KIT KAT in its original language, and the flavor in the Japanese language. One of the best things about the KIT KAT being in Japan is that it comes in a variety of flavors including “grilled corn”, “custard pudding”, and “pounded soybean paste”.

Founded in the 1930's as Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp in England, it became KIT KAT since 1951.Ever since then, people like me and all around the world have been eating this chocolaty goodness (or in Japan green tea goodness or whatever flavor you buy). In reality, I actually bought myself a "fun size" pack of KIT KAT. However, I am now looking into ordering some of Japan's intersting flavors from EBAY anytime soon.

Interested in looking more into Japan's flavors?  Click here and Here.


Credits: 1,2,3
 

Creativity from Without

Listen to this.
Its virtually impossible to creating something without having someone type of inspiration. As of right now I am listening to music. The tone of the music can possibly influence the way that I might write this blog. Earlier today, I was supposed to meet with a graduate student in order to help him out with his research project (basically I am his test subject). However, once he saw me, he refused to conduct the interview that was supposed to happen at that moment because he thought that my attitude will influence that way that I would response my answers. He was right. If I went through with the interview, I would've probably answered straight to the point, and I wouldn't have lingered with my answers. Yet, I couldn't help but tell him that the last time that he conducted the interview with me, I was in the same mood that he saw me in at the moment (with three hours of sleep I definitely wasn't in the mood to answer his interview questions). He told me that because I had some pupusas (a type of food that can only be found in my ethnic background and something I haven't had since coming to Davis) before that interview, it set me in a good mood.

Right now I am listening to Royksopp's The Understanding album. The music in the album is so mellow, that it has actually calmed my angry mood to well...a somewhat angry but yet mellowed out mood.
I think that an artist or designer who might be experiencing  a bad mood will probably have their creativity functions affected.

Shamelessly, I like that the tone of music has influenced the way I have written this post. Why? Because my mood needed to be calmed down. My stress level needs to be decreased. But of course, for some folks, stress is a good thing, and that's when all the creative chemicals from the body come within and put together a masterpiece.

Thank you Royksopp for being the soundtrack of my life right  now.

Credits: Google,Wikipedia and Youtube

Soccer Uniforms- Real Madrid edition

Since I am really into soccer, I decided that I should make a blog on the uniforms of one of my favorite soccer teams, Real Madrid

Real Madrid is known to have the best and well known soccer players on their team. Zinedine Zidane , David Beckham, and Fabio Cannavaro (who are now in other soccer teams or retired). Some of the current well known players are Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil.

Being a fan, I definitely want a soccer jersey of Real Madrid. But there was something that threw me off from the new jerseys- the typography.
 FRONT of Jersey

Back of Jersey

I'm not familiar with what the style of the typography was used, but I know for sure that I do not like it. The typography looks somewhat similar to the typography used for the Netherlands soccer team jersey (from the recently finished 2010 World Cup).

Other than that, I do not have the problem with the current Real Madrid jerseys. There are three different jerseys that the team uses. The HOME jersey is WHITE with blue stripes. While the AWAY Jersey is BLACK with WHITE STRIPES. There is also an AWAY AWAY jersey (which was currently used in the Champions League for an out of the country match) that is PURPLE with WHITE stripes. And of course, the jerseys vary between long sleeved and short sleeved.

Purple kits below:

Although the title of this post is about Real Madrid, I won't necessarily be talking about Real Madrid jerseys only.

Being a fan of the United States National Men's Soccer Team, I naturally liked the jerseys that the team wore.

Some of the previous jersey's from the American teams haven't been the best designs, but I must say that the current ones are amazing. The stripe on the jerseys make it a bit different from the other jerseys of other national teams. Some of the older kits of the American team included stars and the deep inclusion of every color from the flag. But the current ones has a stripe, which the American flag has and it does include every color of the flag as well, but not so much compared to the atrocious stars one from the early 1990's. The current jersey comes in two styles, the AWAY and the HOME. The HOME style is white and it has a grey stripe.

Current Jersey

Although soccer kits are probably some of the most simple designs, they make a great impact because they represent something bigger than just being another "soccer team". Real Madrid represents the city of Madrid, Spain. While the the United Stats Men's National Team's jersey has all the colors in their jersey representing all the colors of being an American.

Where I got my images from

Stone Soup

What exactly is Stone Soup??? We definitely did not make a soup in the Intro to Design class during lecture!

For Tuesday's Intro to Design class, we were all required to bring any type of item (except food) that we could use for a project called “Stone Soup”. Stone Soup is based on the book and illustration by Marcia Brown (put a link there). The basic thing about Stone Soup is that anyone can put anything on the soup or in this case, it was a project. When Professor Housefield told us about the activity the week before, I was very excited and nervous. I was excited because I had the chance to create something from scratch. The reason I was never was because my group is made up of about seven people. Sometimes its hard to get groups to decide on what to do together as a group because first you have to get the new group who is made up of new individuals to get their heads together and make them into a group.

At first, my group struggled on what should have been created with all the pieces that everyone brought to the activity.

In the end, the group decided that we should replicate the KING from the Deck of Cards. Honestly, I think at first that the group had trouble deciding on how to actually make the replication with the materials that we had. Although I wished that we used all of the materials (probably not ALL but at least a little bit of everything and in small portions), the replica of the King from of the Deck of Cards came together. 

It took us most of the class lecture to finish the activity, but we also had a chance to look at the other “stone soups” from the other groups. I was really amazed at what I saw from the other groups. The other groups in the class definitely knew what the meaning of “Stone Soup” was and used most or if not all of their materials that they brought to their groups.

Credits: Images- Carmen Zhou

Norwegian Wood Trailer (2010) Japan

Ever since seeing the first three minutes of Amelie in the first class lecture from Intro to Design, I couldn't help but analyze the trailer of Norwegian Wood. Its interesting how a person from the audience can immediately guess on what are the possible story lines and events that might happen throughout the film.
Norwegian Wood is a Japanese film that has been on my mind for the past year. Although I heard that the production of the film began in 2008, the film still hasn't been released. Originally based from a novel by Japanese author, Haruki Murakami, the novel exploded Murakami into stardom in Japan. I have not finished reading the novel, but I expect to finish it before I get to see the film. I have shamelessly only read about three pages, therefore analyzing the trailer wasn't a boring activity. Unfortunately, I have to wait until the film is translated since my Japanese is not good enough yet.

However, the trailer has so far been entertaining and dramatic to my expectations. So far by looking into the trailer, you can tell that the main character of the film, Watanabe played by popular Japanese actor Ken'ichi Matsuyama has different women who play a big role into his life. The background music, which i am unfamiliar with, sound similar to a soundtrack of a 1960's film. Thereby explaining that the the story of Watanabe takes place in his past. (As well that it takes part in the late 1960's to early 1970's by the look of the style of clothes).

In a way, the film shows that different types of people can change our lives. Whether it comes from love relationships or friendships, their inclusion make them a part of ourselves.

The Magical Impression of Nutella.

The Magical Impression of Nutella.
Similar to the numbing effect of foreign films, Nutella comes off as an un-American word. Chances are that the common person has not heard of Nutella until they witness the popularity of it within our college campus. I happened to be one of those students, ignorant to the bliss that Nutella creates. But what about Nutella really caught my eye? This little jar manages to break the monogamy that food spreads tend to have. I am so accustomed to the blue lids of the SKIPPY PEANUT BUTTER jar or the red cap used in the JIF Peanut Butter container. But the designing team for Nutella was brilliant in their conceptual ideas. Everything about Nutella has never been done before in food spread marketing. First off, they chose white background for the cover of the label, which sharply contrasts from the dark brown that is Nutella. I asked myself, “Why would a company make such a sharp shift in color for their design?”. The answer was simple, white is such a pure and clean color that gives a better feeling than the murkier shade of brown that Nutella is. Another major difference in the Nutella design was the switch from an circular to an oval shaped- jar. This slight difference at first appears so subtle that it would have little effect. However, this small change gives the Nutella company a slight competitive edge because their product seems to diverge from the common themes of their competitors. As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, the word Nutella seems foreign to us, and there may be some significance in this. The variety of Nutella is actually more abundant overseas in Europe through different packaging schemes. “European” Nutella is offered in jars and as a “to go snack”. This form brings together Nutella, biscuits, and tea which, in separate compartments, provides a unique experience to the consumer. I wish that the Nutella “to go” product would wash on the shores of the U.S. because I want a sample.

Early memories.

One of the things that I clearly remember from my childhood is the only television set that our apartment had when I used to live in Los Angeles. The TV was 34 inches between 36 inches big, and a greyish color. Televisions nowadays are flat screen and black. But of course some of those kind still exist in many homes today. My parents used to always see the most popular Spanish channel on Southern California called Univsion. Univision's channel is number 34. I'm not sure if all the televisions back then showed the numbers continuous, but this TV did. However, even if the television set was changed to a different channel, the shadow of number 34 will always appear in the bottom left hand corner. The shadow of number “34” gave the television a special touch because it meant that technology is not perfect like a human. Also, like a human, channel 34 left its mark on never to be forgotten.

Another item that occupied the living room at my old apartment in Los Angeles was the sofa that was in the living room. The sofa was greyish, but also had small but also thick thread lines that contained color such as reds, greens, and blues, but the sofa was overall a greyish color. The sofa was not made of out of leather, but I think it was made out of material that is some what like yarn and cotton together. Unfortunately, I cannot remember or know the actual word of the material that the sofa contained but I remember it being soft and comfortable for anyone to sit or sleep on. The sofa came in three parts. There were two parts that were about the same in length and one small part. The small part belonged in the middle, while the two parts of the same sides were placed next to each side of the small part. All together the three parts created a half of an uneven circle that took over half of the living room space. This sofa probably is remembered because it was the first thing I saw when I would come home from school. .