Designed Object Analysis
About this unit:
One of the assignments for this unit is to analyze an iconic object. I applied the same method that I used to work on my ambiguous object to do this project. I brainstorm things that I want people to know about bicycles, which is the object I chose, and why I choose this object. Things that impact the choice I made to choose this object are it relates to a historical period in my hometown, it is a common object and I want to gain more knowledge about it, and I grew up with stories that have bicycles in there. In this assignment, I have to do research, find images to illustrate my ideas, and do a little bit of design to get the picture I want. Another work I had is taking photos of man-made objects around where I live. When I go out to take pictures, I try to get a variety of shapes such as cyclical, rectangular, sphere, or shapes that I found interesting. Other elements that I keep in mind are angles, lighting, and sometimes I zoomed out to get a close-up pic of the texture of the object. For me, the goal of this unit is to get me to think about what I am trying to achieve in my illustration, poster, or text. In other words, what do I want the audience to know. Moreover, I also need to consider the resources I need for my work such as images, paragraphs, etc.
Chosen Iconic Object:
Bicycles have been used widely for a very long time. People use bicycles for various purposes. The most common use is to travel from one place to another. Some use them for exercise, others to carry stuff. During Thoi Bao Cap, a historical period in Vietnam where trade is not allowed and everyone is the same, vehicles that use fuel cannot be used, therefore, bicycles were really popular during this period, mainly to travel and carry stuff. It was also a symbol of wealth. The more bicycles a family has, the wealthier a family is. The reason for this is not everyone can afford to buy the accessories needed to fix a bike.
The shape and style of bicycles change through the course of history. Many have probably seen the picture of an old bicycle where the front wheel is really large, but it is opposite for the back one. Overall, everyone probably knows the basic outline of a bicycle. Each part of the bike has different shapes. The wheels are round. Inside the wheels, there are spokes that form triangles. The pedals are rectangular. The handlebars are cyclical, and so on. Those are the basic and fundamental shapes that most bikes have. The color of the bike depends on who the targeted audience is and the purpose. If they want to sell a bike for daily use for a girl, they would produce the ones that they associate with girls like pink, white, yellow; for a boy, it would be blue, green, black, red. Bikes that are for hiking, sports, or dangerous landscape usually have a mix of bright and strong colors, or ones that associate with nature like red, green, black, white, etc. Each part of the bike has different functions, therefore, the texture is also different. I would not consider bikes as lightweight, but people can easily grab them and hold them up when they need to change the direction or spot of the bike, or put them in a vehicle’s cabin.
Source: History.com
My first draft of my poster
Photo Dwelling
