Craft Production VS Mass Production

There will be always some argument about craft and mass production, some might say craft production is better than mass production, some say otherwise.

	Craft Production	Mass Production
Workers	The workers know about the whole process as they will be the one hand crafting most of the product, to do that they must be skill enough to meet the clients or the boss needs. They are also self-reliant.	The workers only know parts of the process as they were in charge on that certain part. They don’t need to have much skills on making the product but they will have to know how to operate the machines. They also have to be dependent.
Product	The product are usually being customize for an individual if someone requested.	The product are usually in a common or standard design as they were produce in a mass amount in a short period of time.
Advantages	The price of the product is flexible depends on how much work must be done.	The products are usually inexpensive and easy to repair of discard.
Disadvantages	The products are usually expensive and long apprenticeship is needed to meet the requirement of skills to make a nice crafting product.	The designs are usually rigid and the workers usually alienating work.

There are still many arguments between this two production. But of course different people will have different point of view about it.

Craft Production

Craft Production is a method of making goods by hand or with just simple tools. Craft production results in items that have their own uniqueness in their own way as it was handmade one by one. Craft produced good vary in quality, though they are often thought to have higher production values than mass produced versions. It is often possible for a craftsman to achieve certain effects or levels of detail using techniques that are not viable in mass production. Depends on the ability of the craftsman, how good will they able to craft a product to make it better than a product produce by mass production.

A table stand

A baby crib which was handmade by the child's father

Everything will have the advantages and disadvantages .The advantages of craft production is that lots of effort will be put into it as the craftsman will want to make it as good as possible, thus the quality always tends to be seen as considerably higher than something that was mass produced. The product can also be customized to fit a person needs. This can often be desirable from the standpoint of a consumer that is interested in unique items, though it can have drawbacks if the product ever needs to be repaired. Much skill is often required for the craftsman, therefore they are able to charge more for the manufacturing of the product.

 The disadvantages of craft production is that although the manufacturing process does not require machines for the producer, it takes a great amount of time and effort, thus the product will be more expensive than usual. Craft production also will be not possible to produce a large amount of products in a short amount of time, it could made the manufacturer to loss their profit, however the higher prices of craft product can sometimes make up for this. Another disadvantages is that the product is not design to disassemble, so if something goes wrong during the making of it, there are no interchangeable parts. Every piece also becomes more valuable so any defects will be more important.  

In cases where the absolute uniformity of a product is not necessary, craft production has some benefits over mass produced goods.  Furniture, cabinetry and other woodworking is often craft produced due to the level of detail and quality that the method allows for. Handicraft is also practiced around the world in areas where industrialization has been limited.

Futuristic Motorcycle- The Bullet Motorcycle with safety

Motorcycle is a familiar transport to people ever since 1885. It was a convenient transport but unlike bicycles which are eco-friendly, motorcycle was powered up by petroleum. But compared to cars or others heavy vehicles, motorcycle produce less exhaust as the petroleum it needed was lesser than the others. The major negative point of motorcycle is the safety features for it. People have come out with an idea of a helmet to protect the rider’s head, but sometimes not only the head just have to be protected. People are just focusing on the speed of the motorcycle. Their concern is always on how to make it go faster? What kind of design that will attract people? To me, what motorcycles need the most is more safety so that motorcyclist able to ride on road with ease. Well maybe in the future, there will be a motorcycle where people can ride it without any worries.

A motorcycle with a rooftop to protect the rider from sunlight and rain, an airbag will also be install, just like a car. If one is concern is about the balancing, there will be a magnetic waves so that it can be stabilise and will not fall easily. And with the magnetic waves, people who love fast able to ride as fast as they want as the motorcycle did not produce any friction against the ground. Petroleum will be drained if we keep using it as our resources continuously as it will not only be one person using it, but all of the people in earth will be using it. If the motorcycle uses electricity as fuel, it might not able to run out but it will be costly. As well as if we use water as fuel, water is important to any living things on earth, and it will be somehow limited in the future, so it might end up costly too or finish its resources. Thus, a solar powered motorcycle is a better choice as sunlight is unlimited resource. If one is worried when it was cloudy or rainy for days? It is not a problem as the power can be store up to weeks depends on how much the rider used.

In the future, if you were going to be late for work and driving a car will be even worse as it will sure have to face the major traffic conjunction, thus riding a motorcycle would be a better option. With just a few command, you can see that your motorcycle coming in a speed of the light, you hope on it, fasten your seatbelt and off you go. After you command your motorcycle to your destination, you have your light breakfast first. Due to the motorcycle uses magnetic waves, it does not touch the ground when it moves, so it will not have any shakiness during the ride. Halfway during your journey, the sky started pouring cats and dogs, but luckily your motorcycle has a rooftop to protect you from getting wet. Later, maybe it was because of the weather condition, a car did not notice you and hit you with your motorcycle straight into it. With the help of the magnetic waves, it did not lose its balance, it just ski through but did not fall of balance, meanwhile inside you did not get hurt as well as the interior was covered by cushion so that you will not get hurt even though it will not even fall. After some minor confrontation, you continue your journey back to work. After it reach your destination, you get off of it, it went to find its own parking spot, and after finding a parking spot, it will be starting to absorb as much sunlight as possible even though when the weather condition is bad. After you finish your work, you want to release all your stress which you accumulate for the day, you command your destination and it appear right before your eyes, and you command it to go to your destination, you just sit back and relax for a moment. In a short period of time, it reaches a remote but spacious space, and with your few command, the rooftop was open and it became manually controlled. You wanted to feel the air when you were speeding so you can put all your stress away.  When you feel satisfy, it will return to automatic mood so you can take your ride home comfortably without worrying about the traffic. 

Review on METROPOLIS (1927 film)

Metropolis is a 1927 silent film which was directed by Fritz Lang. This movie was about how people during 1927 imagine what will the future become, how will it looks like during 2026.

Metropolis (1927)
 by Fritz Lang

 In this movie, they clearly show that the different treatment with the higher-class people at the high-rise tower enjoying life, whereas the lower-class people will be at the underground dealing with the machines for 10 hours a day.

The city in the movie of Metropolis.

Freder, whom was the son of Joh Fredersen, the city's master, met Maria and later witnessed the explosion of the machine which killed and injure several workers, and so he decided to rebel his own father and help the workers. The fake Maria who was a robot that was invented by Rotwang, urged the workers to rise up to destroy the machines. Feder knew that Maria was not the Maria he loved. The Maria he loves wanted peace and not war. But the workers ignore Freder as they found out he was the son of the city's master, they beat him up and follow the fake Maria to the machines room, leaving their children behind to destroy the Heart Machine. As result, the workers' city has started flooding. The real Maria escaped from Rotwang's house and help the children with the help of Freder. The workers burned the fake Maria to death as they blamed her for the death of their children. Freder watches, not understand the deception until the fire reveals her to be a robot. Rotwang fall to death after the fight with Freder at the roof of the cathedral. Freder fulfill his role as mediator by linking hands of Fredersen and Grot to bring them together.

This movie was played in our lecture, and one of the interesting thing is that our lecturer wanted us to make our own dialog when the movie was being played. Well it may sound boring if we follow the plot, but we just keep making different dialog out of it which has no relation at all. We just say out any random thoughts which came out of their mind and what we said had actually match the actions of the character. Some of us had also even make the sound effects too. It was just so fun. But of course we were still on track with the story line so we'll know what this movie is about.

After watching this movie, the major thought in my mind was that: " Their acting were so dramatic." Compare to the movies nowadays, the actors and actress were acting naturally like how we usually do off screen, but for the actors and actress in metropolis, their action and expression was so dramatic. But then, Metropolis IS a silent movie, which of course, silent. The audience could not hear them talk, we could only know their speech when the dialog was shown on screen, and it's not all of it, only the important part. Thus the actors and actress have to act and show the audience through just actions and facial expressions only. Anger, sadness, happiness are only able to show through actions and facial expressions, how difficult is that.

Maria's dramatic reaction 

Freder's dramatic reaction 

Considering this movie was being film in 1927, the effects are actually good. Whether is sound or special effects, they are awesome. But there is a part where the city start flooding, the water movement actually makes no sense...Waterfall flowing down in the middle of the city....yeah...people makes mistakes and learn from it.

The ring effect

"Waterfall" in the city

People always wonder how will the future looks like, and this is one of the movies that assume what will it look in the future. It didn't actually change much from their current time, maybe the advancement of technology, but the humanity in this world would not change that much. What do I think of the future? I am not sure of myself.

Mass Production

"Mass production". "flow production" or "continuous production" is the manufacture of large quantities of standardized products, frequently utilizing assembly line technology. This process is to create large amount of products in a short amount of time. Few examples of mass productions such as cars, guns, fast food, and so does furniture. Mass production created at a low cost and with a small workforce. There are advantages and disadvantages for mass production. For the advantages, the typically results in high-accuracy assembly as production line machines are input with fixed parameters. Labor cost will also be reduce as the goods will be mostly made by machines. It will also assemble at a quicker rate due to increased automation and efficiency. Whereas for the disadvantages, mass production may result wasted resources as it will sometimes have production design error, not only will have resources wasted, it will also cost a lot due to the redesign and rebuilt mass production process. If one area was interrupted, the entire production process will be affected.

Goods that were able to produce in a short amount of time

Example of a mass production factory 

Furniture that undergoes mass production are usually simple but unique design, as machines are unable to make complicated designs and thus able to produce more furniture in a short amount of time. If the factory wanted to produce more product and make profit, the quality of materials will being reduce to save cost.

Chair production

Furniture production 

 To increase profit, it is a good production as it can be produce tons in a short amount of time. But for designers, it may be not as good as handmade or crafting furniture as the furniture has no feelings in it due to the ones that were making them are just a cold hard machinery objects.

Planned Obsolescence

What is planned obsolescence? Planned obsolescence is actually a strategy that ensure a product will become useless within a time period. It will let consumers will demand replacements in the future. It can even increase the number of sales of the same consumer. Obsolescence can be achieved through introduction of a superior replacement or a product design meant to cease proper function within a specific window.

Why would someone want to limit something when they were able to achieve a better result? Well, most of the reason behind it are because of money, obviously. When Bernard London started planned obsolescence in 1932, it is due to the depression of the economy back then.

Ending the Depression Through Planned Obsolescence by Bernard London 1932

From my understanding, they were really depressed that time and having a hard time to survive so they were force to come out with this plan. But not all the time they will be facing economy problem, so it was not necessary to work out this plan. Some company may be too focusing on making more profit and thus reduce the quality of a product even though the country's economy is not facing any crisis. So why not make something that is in its best?

Lets face the reality, it is true that company cannot make enough profit if the product can last very long, but why not come out with some other solutions? Maybe we can make some product at its best, but the price might be higher a little than the usual. It was not going to be random charge without though. If a product is good, this is because the people making it had put lots of their thoughts and hard work just to make it better, or even the material they used are special, and thus it will cost more.
Consumers had a choice of what they want to choose, if the product is expensive, not all are able to afford it, or even think that it was unnecessary to purchase it, and so they can purchase the product that the manufacture had already limited its timeline.

This suggestion had actually lots of unsolved holes regarding the marketing wise, but at least we can start from there maybe?  As designers, of course we always want to improve the product until it has no flaws, and so it means long lasting is one of them. But from the marketing point of view, this is not a good idea as they will not make any income if the consumers did not purchase anything again in a short period of time. So, how to make a product in its best quality and not lose profit throughout the upcoming years? Well...let us see then...

SEMINAR I "Why I Design"

Let's start a bit of self-introduction before getting on with the topic. First, I'm just a normal student who's taking BA (Hons) in furniture and product design (FPD), even though many people did not know about this course as it is not as famous as other design courses such as interior design, graphic design or fashion design. In this course, well just as the course name given, we learn about furniture and products, not only about the designs, but also how to construct the furniture or product, what material is suitable for the design, is it suitable for certain consumer...etc. 

Before I chose design, I've lost my direction in terms of what should I focus on. I wanted to choose design but people keep saying that design cannot earn for a living, design cannot this, cannot that....So what should I choose? I'm not interested in mathematics and science, I like to draw a little but my drawing is not even as good as my other friends whom really loves to draw. I've consult with my counsellor and even the assistant headmaster in my secondary school plenty of times just to know if design is a suitable option as my chosen pathway. They were supportive, saying that designers can be successful too, even their relatives were taking design courses, and some even graduated from a design course and is doing quite well in the society. After the consultation with them, I became clear on what I want to continue with. I began to analyse myself, I'm not that interested in drawing organic shape, but I like to draw things that are in geometric, I don't really understand the world of paintings, but I like to know more about furniture and stuffs. Instead of painting or drawing, I prefer to build or assemble stuff, which is why I started to look for courses that are related with furniture.

I don't really know why I design, maybe it's because its part of my interest? Well...maybe... People in my course have a clear thought of what they like, how they want to combine their likes into their design. People did asked me, what kind of design will I be focusing on, well, obviously it will be furniture that i want to focus on, but if they asked me what kind of specific furniture or design did I like, I did not know how to answer that...I just like to build stuff, the feeling of making the products on your own....is fun and sometimes it can help me to release some stress too. Even though design is just part of my liking, as I like to build more than I like to design but if I'm able to build something that was my very own design, it will make me feel more accomplish than just building something that wasn't mine. 

My parents told me that I like to build stuff maybe because it's part of the family gene, especially from both of my grandfather. My father's father was a bus driver, but he likes to repair stuff, or even build a new furniture on his own with some broken parts of other furniture. He can't really sit still if he cannot find anything to fix, he can even fix electronic products even though he did not even studied well when he was young, this admire me the most. 

Well, for my mother's father, I don't really know about him as he already passed away before I was even born, but I heard from my mother about him. He was a carpenter, he also have a small company on his own that's selling furniture which is made out of wood. He's skillful enough to build all those furniture on his own without anyone's help. Too bad he's not around anymore, if not I will be able to learn more things from him, maybe ask him to give me some of his skills too (just kidding > <). 

And I like stuff from IKEA too. Why IKEA? Well, I've always like to go there and have a look, whether is the interior ideas for homes, or the individual furniture, it was interesting with all of those display. Their designs are always simple yet elegant, which are popular nowadays. Some are also unique and creative, it will always made me think: "How can they think of that?", "What made them come out with this weird but attractive design?", "How can a simple furniture yet able to catch attentions of the consumers?".  Its not only their deigns that attracts me, it was also their packaging. One big furniture that can fit into a flat pack, and it is fun to assemble it. My father will always help me with assembling the furniture, but time after time, I asked my father to stop helping as I wanted to assemble it on my own, I wanted to challenge myself, whether if I can assemble it without anyone's help, which I have manage it and I feel proud of it.  

So...I don't have any specific liking towards my design, I still have lots of time ahead of me, I just want to try and explore everything. Some might be a scary experience but I want to challenge myself, it's not fun if I always limit myself to the end. Maybe later on I'm able to create a furniture that has different style, with this I can let people know that how designs able to change from this to that. Unlike the artists from the past that always stick to their own style, I just want to explore and not limit myself to just focus on one kind of style in design.