"Form follows function"

Today the most interesting things were the Moebius strip and the variations of the London Rail map with topological distortions from the geographical map of the railway.

The Moebius stip activity was fun to do. I liked how you get two separate pieces get linked together when you cut some of them in half. It was interesting how it was applied to water wheels.

I like how simple the later versions of the map are. I adore simplicity, so for the task where we're supposed to make a new Auckland Rail map I want to make it as simple as possible with added artistic touches so that it doesn't look boring.

A key thing in the design of the later London Rail maps was "form follows function". This sounds exactly like something someone from the industrial era would say. At that time machines, mass production, functionality and progress were key things people thought about. It reminds me of Bauhaus and their design approach. How in their designs they consider the practical use of it and how many of their designs could be mass produced.

For my map these would be things to think about. It would have to be a very simple map, easy to read. Compact, easy to carry around and easily distinguishable. Should be simple enough to be easy to mass produce as well and be beautiful. For me, it would have to have colour coding. It's known that I'm a huge fan of colour coding everything, and I find it to be the easiest way to spot different things in diagrams which makes them easier to understand.

The phrase "form follows function" to me sounds like artistic qualities and personal touches are discarded and feels cold and distant rather than engaging, personal, and appealing. However, I suppose it depends on the purpose of whatever is being made though. For example, playgrounds are for the purpose of having fun, so of course it would look fun and youthful while technical graphs look very specific and formal. For my map, I don't want artistic appreciation and functionality to be mutually exclusive. So that's another point in the design of my map.

This week I'll have to make a decision on my focusing question of my literature review. I don't like the two questions given to be honest, so I'm going to make my own question. I'm sure we're allowed to do that. At the moment Islamic art looks like the top choice for me to do for the literature review. What I love about it is the intricacy in patterns for Islamic art and how religion is a key theme in Islamic art as well. It gives a glimpse of the beliefs and values in Islamic cultures.