Product Design

I found this interesting table lamp. Although it seems very IKEA-ish, I found it at the Design Town website which was made by the moma store and it's called the Lily Lamp.

SO I'm going to discuss the three elements which are the most active with regards to this image

LINE
This lily lamp is made of many lines that define a group of petals layering in on each other. They are composed of slightly angled curving vertical lines that created the outline of each petal. As a whole, you see a flower of made out of petals which in turn are made out of lines.

TONE
There is a strong light dark contrast going on here and it is very easy to see especially with the white color of the petals overlapping and layering with each other creating these shadows on each other with the light source coming from within the lamp's core. These shadows and highlights strongly define the outline of each petal. The dark and light also adds a rounded look on the lamp and makes it more interesting. You can also see a gradation of white to gray tone from top to
bottom.
TEXTURE
Because of the lines and the play with the light and dark, a very interesting texture is created on the overall surface of the lamp. You see a texture made out of strokes of petals or a texture of curving lines. The texture is strong, sharp and layered and 3-dimensional. And if you look closely and can see the actual texture of each petal, you can tell that it is not smooth. Fine subtle horizontal lines run across each petal.

Syntactical Guidelines

This ad(second from the top) seems so busy that the central message is just lost in the jumble of words (in funky almost unreadable fonts). The message appears scattered and it is not effectively conveyed with the arrangement of text and images. The elements appear to clash. The only interesting thing in this picture is the protruding shape on the upper right but it distracts from the message of the ad and leads the eye away. The words "The mania" which is typed in blue gets lost with the black and white background of the picture. The use of various font faces and sizes are confusing and inconsistent. Everything from the center and the rest that bleeds to the bottom right appears all compressed/stuffed/crammed while there's this huge bordering unoccupied space on other areas. It just does not look evenly distributed.

The ad on the very top is clean and organized. The text is easily readable and more or less consistent with each other with the exception of the two different logos. The focus is clear, it is balanced. The stress is on the image and the two logos but are harmoniously arranged.

Fine and Applied Art

This I think is a beautiful example of fine and applied art all in one.
FUNCTINALITY: First off, it is obviously a staircase with very obvious functions which is to connect you to a higher floor. But it is well designed to maximize its function as well as add aesthetic value to the overall architecture of the building. It's a spiral staircase that can go up many levels (probably two to three floors) that occupies a small amount of space yet takes you somewhere really high. The shape of the staircase while serving the functionality of minimizing space and reaching elevated heights.
AESTHETIC: It is also very pleasing to the eye as you view the elegant curving vertical waves the spiral creates against the horizontal steps and the small vertical pillars which hold up railings. It even slightly resembles the DNA symbol. If you look at it over all, it is a bunch of many different lines creating this sophisticated pattern to make a staircase. Each piece has a functional purpose which holds it up and makes it a whole. There is no unnecessary piece of this architecture and all is put to good functional use which doubles as aesthetic as well.
COMMUNICATION: I think that this staircase reflects culture, art and history. It seems somewhat 'modern'like Bauhaus in terms of functional aesthetic but somewhat has an Art Nouveau feel to it as well with the fine curves and lines and the nature aesthetic.
DECORATIVE/ENTERTAINMENT VALUE:It puts a 'twist' in going up the stairs. Many people will still take the stairs over an elevator for various different reasons from going around and around this kind of stair and enjoy some view. As a piece of architecture, it adds beauty and a style to the house as compared to an elevator.