The first image is what visitors will see when they first visit the page. The second image shows what’s “underneath” each tile. When visitors hover over an individual tile, the “original” typeface will appear.
The phrases “Gr” and “Ind” will be linked to PDF versions of my graphic and industrial design portfolios.
“I think the old definition of designer-as-problem-solver is a bit limited: here’s a problem over here; there’s the solution. The problem isn’t static. It’s moving. It’s a living organism. To think you can simply ‘solve’ it is ridiculous. Rather, you need to negotiate it.”
– Allan Chochinov, Designing the Future (Metropolis Magazine)
After all, ambient electronica can, depending upon the artist, seem random and somewhat repetitive, and admittedly it’s not for everyone. But if this music makes me happy, there must be something here worth understanding.
If you’ve taken any type of music theory class, you’ll learn that music patterns developed hundreds of years ago can be heard in virtually all types of music today. A basic example is the use of a repeating chorus – nearly every song on the radio today uses this pattern. This isn’t true with ambient electronica, but yet it still “works.”
A useful comparison is modern art – i.e. art that isn’t a visual replica of a particular scene or person.
When I was younger I thought modern art was just a random collection of brush strokes and didn’t require a tremendous amount of skill. I would sometimes go as far to claim “Even I could do that!” And, of course, some modern art is made out to be more than it really is. But at its core, this art style encompasses solid design principles and embodies true creativity. While randomness is an aspect of creativity, they are not one and the same.
So, is ambient electronica random? For the listener to truly appreciate a piece of music, true randomness doesn’t work; there has to be a true sense of progression and structure for the piece to resonate with the listener.
To elaborate, I believe music embodies three main characteristics: joy, comfort and a sense of forward movement; joy being a natural byproduct of the latter two principles. So, what is it about these latter two principles that is so important? And how do these relate to ambient electronica?
One could argue that comfort is synonymous with predictability. For example, I’m comfortable in my residence because I know that it’s structurally sound, the water and HVAC systems are working properly, and I have electricity to make everything else happen. My comfort is closely linked to a (safe?) assumption that these core facets of my residence are going to remain intact for the foreseeable future.
“Interruptions produce a heavy mental workload. For example, if we were reading, an interruption means we have to find our place and rebuild our mental structures to resume. If we are involved in deep concentration and mental activity – such as might be required in programming, writing or design – the disturbance that results from an interruption can be even more extreme. The psychological literature is filled with studies demonstrating the high cognitive workload caused by interruptions and the resulting inefficiency with which tasks get completed. The research literature on the performance of tasks shows that interruptions lead to errors: people forget where they were, sometimes resuming by repeating a task already done or by skipping a step not yet done. Both can have serious negative consequences. In addition, when tasks interrupt one another, each gets done more slowly due to startup time. The total time taken can be far greater than if none of the tasks were interrupted.”
Living with Complexity, Donald A.Norman
