First, I want to tip my hat to a man who revolutionized the modern world of mass production. For my first designer, I chose Henry T. Ford. This man was born in the late 1800's and came to fame in the early 1900's. Thoughtout his life, he applied himself to various forms of work which included rural farm labor, work on steam engines (and on other factory based projects), and even in sawmills. He married, raised a family, and eventually became an engineer focused on applying a modified 'steam engine' design to a small, more personal, land vehicle. He created the Ford Motor Company who specialized in production of one of the orginal, 'modern', automobiles Now, how what was it that he actually designed? Henry Ford realized the production times/costs of these vehicles would be far too expensive for an average consumer. Thus, he is credited with designing and implemnting the traditional assembly line still used today. Ford made tasks simple, allowing unskilled labors a job, standardized parts, created a convayor belt system which brought the product to the workers instead of the other way around. In short, the assembly line was a modern work of genius from a fiscal stand point. It optimizes worker production effeciency as well as product output. I have mixed feelings myself, seeing as this design helps to greatly lower prices for consumers, making large complicated devices affordable. Because on the other hand, the assembly line creates often fast, physically demanding work enviornments which are boring and potentially dangerous. In essence, it allows companies to abuse and rotate workers quickly and efficently for profit. Regardless of personal feelings though, the assembly line design is vital to most prominant, large scale business today and thus, instrumental to the American economy.
Information about Ford - http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/default.asp#childhood
http://manassashyundaielantra.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/following-henry-ford/
http://www.johndclare.net/America4.htm
Next, I wanted to jump ahead and look at something a little more modern in time and culture. For the second designer, I selected Mark Zuckerberg. This man is best known for the extremely popular social website known as Facebook. Zuckerberg is actually a relatively young person, being born in 1984. He was an extremely talented programmer and gifted student. For example, he created several different software programs. One which allowed a simplified messenger system from computer to computer. Another that was a data collection program coupled with music apps in order to better 'read' the user and fine tune music selections. And obviously, his most known piece, the social networking site known as Facebook. He has had job/money offers from giant corporations, such as microsoft, but ultimately chose his own route by managing his successful website. The man has connected millions and millions of people now, and has gained a large amount of wealth. Due to the wide use and success of his software, the man has become quite famous. Now, for my personal take on the situation? The man knew exactly what people wanted socially, and has done an excellent job on delivering. His design has all but made Myspace obsolete, and brought about the creation of other streamlined blogging sites, such as twitter. With personal interaction, I must say I don't fully understand the appeal to the website. The main purpose is to share blog based material, yet somehow, people will waste hours on the site. Most of the people who would see the information are close friends, which means they already know the information. What suprised me the most, though, is how advertising firms and even professional businesses adopted the use of the site as well. Essentially, I feel the website is incredibly frivolous and useless. Yet, it continues to appeal to the recreational lives of large numbers of people.
Information on Zuckerberg - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7628850-mike-zuckerberg-facebook-founder-personal-2010
http://www.facebook.com/
And finally, I picked Joseph Strauss for my final designer of the three. I started with a production concept designer, moved on to a software and visual concept designer, and finally ended the trio with a large scale architect. Strauss came from good ol' Ohio. Yes, that is right, he was supposedly born in Cincinnati here in Ohio. He was born roughly a decade after the Civil War into an artistic based family. This inspired him to attend college (at the University of Cincinnati). He focused on art based studies following in his familys footsteps. But he also had dreams and ideas for large scale transit in the form of railway systems and bridges. After college, he began a career in drafting which allowed him to experiment with different bridge designs and building techniques. Over the years, Strauss worked for various companies and not only designed, but oversaw the construction, of hundreds of bridges across the nation. However, wasn't until an engineer in San Francisco approached Strauss that the idea of a suspended bridge came to him. After a long process of debate and opposition against the building of said bridge, Strauss finally was given approval by the city to begin construction of the Golden Gate bridge. It was his first suspended bridge, and by far, one of the longest in the nation. He designed it, with help from some other engineers who worked out the technical aspects. Sadly, however, the bridge would be one of his last major accomplishments. Less than a year after completion of the Golden Gate, he would die of a stroke due to complications which began during the construction of the bridge. I feel that the bridge itself was a major benchmark in modern design/engineering. The San Fransico Golden Gate bridge might even be considered a modern world marvel and is certainly one of the easiest to identify by picture. Personally, I find the bridge to be gorgeous and I'm impressed it has been around for so long. For the designer himself, it's always cool to learn that someone famous came from Ohio. But it was speculated he might have suffered from mental issues and physical illness for the last decade or two of his life. So, in hindsight, perhaps artistic genius put too much pressure on Strauss?
Information on Strauss - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldengate/peopleevents/p_strauss.html
'http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7283
http://essentialdegs.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/golden-gate-bridge-night.jpg
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