Okay, I'm going to be incredibly dense here, but i was wondering what peoples intepretation of this weeks challenge is. Does anything man-made automatically fall within the remit of the challenge? I mean, nearly everything has been designed and engineered to work at one stage. or is it that a certain detail of something man-made is desired? A particularly stylish door handle from a car, or a certain part of an imac, say? Or am I reading too deeply into all of this? I've been racking my brains and I'm not sure if I should be taking a picture of a suspension bridge, or the bolt that keeps it together.
My idea of a design and engineering theme would include images where the actual design of the subject creates the impact in the photo. A spoon is man made and it is 'designed' but its not particularly interesting. A fork is designed also, and slightly more interesting photographically than a spoon. A computer circuit board shows some interesting 'design'. The insides of a mechanical watch... gears... pulleys, levers, etc... things fitting together... strong shapes...
I think either the bridge or the bolt would fit the topic. A flower or a cat would be a severe stretch. Use your imagination with the details of the topic as a very general guideline. Usually the voters will tolerate a wider divergence from fitting the topic to high quality images, and ones that show a lot of creativity.
And don't forget architecture, like buildings or structures that have a unique design. Or if you can capture a normal design and making interesting from a different angle.
I guess this is going to be one that will have a WIDE variety of subjects, and a lot of people may submit simple subjects that are still very well engineered/designed and others may not see it that way.
so you must look at from the voters perspective....what do the voters want to see??? Something different for sure....
John - why is a spoon not interesting? I mean, of course, in your opinion - this isn't a preparation for a flame.
Ed
Within the context of a 'design and engineering' challenge, a spoon is mundane when you compare it to an intricately designed mechanical watch. It doesn't hold much splendor compared to the wheels and armature of an old steam locomotive.
A spoon is more interesting in some other context :)
PS- I was one of your 10 votes on the simplicity challenge :)
PS- I was one of your 10 votes on the simplicity challenge :)
And very flattering that is too. I think my personal line on it would be that what we're after here is a coherence of form and function - be it in a steam locomotive, or a kitchen utensil. There's a strong idea that 'real' beauty is actually born out of such coherence. I'm not sure of an area in which i can think of an example of this at the moment - and I'm not sure that if I did I'd be letting everyone know, either.
A question all submitters might do well to ask themselves: why is a wine glass wine-glass-shaped?
A question all submitters might do well to ask themselves: why is a wine glass wine-glass-shaped?
Is that not design and engineering?
E
To play devil's advocate, the wine glass shapes devloped over a long period of trial and error and subjective anecdotal evidence (why should a champagne flute be shaped differenty than a glass of Bordeaux?). This is not the result of stating a problem, analyzing the science behind it, and predictively designing a viable solution. That we can "reverse engineer" the qualities and design which go into the manufacture of a wine glass, and say it was more a product of design but maybe not "engineered."
But if it's a good picture I'll certainly vote it high -- I'm a strong believer in stretching the boundaries of the challenge topics (just check my average!).
And very flattering that is too. I think my personal line on it would be that what we're after here is a coherence of form and function - be it in a steam locomotive, or a kitchen utensil. There's a strong idea that 'real' beauty is actually born out of such coherence. I'm not sure of an area in which i can think of an example of this at the moment - and I'm not sure that if I did I'd be letting everyone know, either.
A question all submitters might do well to ask themselves: why is a wine glass wine-glass-shaped?
Is that not design and engineering?
E
You are correct, but form and function doesn't necessarily equate to a strong theme in 'design and engineering'. A butter knife has form and function. So does a cotton swab. They don't show a strength in design IMO.
...form and function doesn't necessarily equate to a strong theme in 'design and engineering'. A butter knife has form and function. So does a cotton swab. They don't show a strength in design IMO.
How about a special aluminum and Dacron swab, designed to not poison the bacteria being sought (as the cotton does) and thin enough to not lacerate your urethra?
...form and function doesn't necessarily equate to a strong theme in 'design and engineering'. A butter knife has form and function. So does a cotton swab. They don't show a strength in design IMO.
How about a special aluminum and Dacron swab, designed to not poison the bacteria being sought (as the cotton does) and thin enough to not lacerate your urethra?
I think you should definitely photograph that for the challenge :)
There is a big difference between meeting the challenge by a stretch and hitting people over the head with the theme - it helps to be blunt but might bruise your artistic ego.
...form and function doesn't necessarily equate to a strong theme in 'design and engineering'. A butter knife has form and function. So does a cotton swab. They don't show a strength in design IMO.
How about a special aluminum and Dacron swab, designed to not poison the bacteria being sought (as the cotton does) and thin enough to not lacerate your urethra?
I think you should definitely photograph that for the challenge :)
Well the problem is, if I show it in use it violates the site's TOS -- I think I better get suspended over something more important!
How about a special aluminum and Dacron swab, designed to not poison the bacteria being sought (as the cotton does) and thin enough to not lacerate your urethra?
Does anything man-made automatically fall within the remit of the challenge? I mean, nearly everything has been designed and engineered to work at one stage.
Exactly, so it means that anything man made fits the challenge to some point... However those entries that fit BEST will do better. What fits "best" is a whole other topic.
A bridge is the first thing that pops into my mind for "Engineering" however bridges may be "Mundane" at this point, so even tho it may "fit" the challenge perfectly, doesn't mean it's the pic that people will like the best. I think anything that fits the challenge well AND is new or different or not seen so much will do well. I'll probably just roam around town looking for something interesting. I also have another idea, although it's a fairly common thing, I might be able to get a good perspective on this, not sure yet.
Any made object is the product of engineering design at some level.
If you are looking for inspiration, try reading something by Henry Petrosky, he writes about engineering design in a way that is accessable by non-engineers.
