Tone and Color

Photo of the interior space of the Eames' Case Study House #8

How Tone is Operating:
One aspect that I fondly admire of architects and designers, particularly around the mid-century, is their use of tone is a room or piece. In this photo, the tone of the room is made by natural sunlight reflecting off the walls in the interior of the house, creating a very rich and warm environment.
How Tone is Interacting: 
Key aspects that affect the tone in this photo of the Eames home is the wood interior, and the slight combination of a natural setting. Both of these elements combined transform the area; making an entirely natural setting out of something entirely unnatural.
How Color is Operating: 
Much of the color found in the house contains very natural hues. The uses of the natural and warming earthy color gives off a very neutral atmosphere. As you can see in the picture, Eames has chosen colors such as the various shades of green, warm browns, and creamy whites.
How Color is Interacting:
Much like how tone is interacting, color is doing the same. By placing various shades of natural colors, the combinations of open area within the house, and the natural light and natural elements of color, Eames creates an atmosphere wherein the house feels very natural, yet tamed.

Product Design Elements

Shape:
Shape is, for me, a very important element to design. All design is created using shapes, without which design would have no form, and the world would have no form. Shape can either be regarded as geometric shapes, or the shaping of a material or object. Shape is the anchor of all form and relationships.

Movement:

I believe that movement is a very important aspect of design for many reasons. Movement is important because it is one of the most dominant forces in human experience. Movement is an aspect of design it is able to be felt and seen; for both functional and aesthetic purposes. Movement is often related to progression or change, from one state to another.

Scale:

Scale is another key aspect of design for me. The image above is a photo of a house in the desert. The original inspiration for the design came from the idea of a sushi roll. What the designer had created essentially in this house, was a large sushi roll, and it was all done through the use of scale. Scale is very important to design because it has the ability to manipulate the design's relativeness to its environment. Scale is also important because it can represent a balance, and a constant interaction in design.

Visual Thinking Research

-How many triangles can you find in this picture?
      A friend and I sat down to try to solve this visual problem. Initially, we both started with a top down analysis of the picture. Staring at the top, we worked ourselves down, making sure not to miss anything. We counted out how many triangles that we found, 16. After looking over the cat again, we were sure that our answer was correct. What my friend and I had failed to take into account was the combination of triangles that also formed triangles themselves. The final answer was 20.
http://www.puzzles.com/PuzzlePlayground/Cat/Cat.htm

- Count how many perfect squares of all possible sizes are hidden in the cross of dots above. A square is counting if any four dots are placed exactly in its respective corners.
       With the same friend from the previous visual test, we sat down to try to conquer another. We employed the same technique as the first puzzle, top down visualization. After that process, we both had tried to find more squares, knowing that there would be more. What we had failed to do was to find more squares by looking at the cross of dots from an angle. Initially we found 9 squares. After looking at the solution, we realized that there were 21 perfect squares. 
http://www.puzzles.com/PuzzlePlayground/HowManySquares/HowManySquares.htm