Day 026: Visitor / Contrast of extension

We are happy to welcome our third professional to Bobola. Let us introduce Kathrin Alischer, a positive, forward thinking Designer from Finland/Germany. She is working in the colourful world of product and space.

Moi. My name is Kathrin Alischer. I am Designer in the wide field of product, space, photography and philosophy. I see myself as part of the development of tomorrow's surrounding space. Driven to understand how people behave and what their needs are, my projects show how design solutions can influence our daily life.

My hands-on design process, which I studied at the Academy of Art and Design Stuttgart, Germany, and further develop at Aalto University School of Arts Helsinki, Finland, is characterized by a social approach. I am convinced that there is something more than functionality - something that is additional to the function.

I see my project as communication objects questioning our existing surrounding. As Donald A. Norman states, “it is all about message, about culture, about the meaning of a product or its use.” For me, one of the greatest potentials of design is the inter-pretation and visualization of social and technological phenomena. In my projects I especially investigate the relationship of people to their products and spaces. The interaction between material and people is the focus of my work.

If anyone wants to see more of Kathrin’s colourful world of product and space ! https://kathrinalischer.com/

Projects Curve, Foresight, Gradient by Kathrin 2018-2019 © Kathrin Alischer

We at Bobola asked three key questions from Kathrin.

“I am inspired by social and technological phenomena of our daily lives.“

“In the future I will further study and explore the question of how objects shape people‘s daily lives. How do people shape their environment and what role do architects and designers play in this process?”

“Most important thing for me is to be never satisfied with a -that‘s just the way it is- and question existing rules. Why does the world we live in today look the way it does?”

Activity of the day:

Contrast of Extension

In my projects I often deal with the topic contrast. In Itten’s defined “Contrast of Extension“ it is all about proportions. This contrast is created by controlling the proportion of one color relative to the other. Surfaces, objects and spaces can be so balanced. Color extension alone can create interest. How much a color is used, over the others can affect your message and affect the balance of the hole image. One may seek balance of equivalence through proportionality, or imbalance through disproportionality, making one color more active than the other does.

In the pink-blue samples below, the first appears to be in balance. Both fields are of equal size and exert similar weight. In the second sample, the pink stands out due to contrast of extension. The smaller proportion of the pink to the blue, now draw emphasis to the pink squares giving them more importance.

Contrast & Colour Time!

To Get Started You Will Need…
Open eyes, some paper to make notes and sketches. Colouring Pencils, Pens, Paint, Crayons.. Anything you like to use when you colour in!

1. Open eyes and develop a detective view. Where can you find Contrast of Extension in your surrounding space. Your room, the apartment, the house, the garden, your whole environment becomes your scene of contrast & colour.

2. Make some notes and sketches. Where can you find contrast in your surrounding?. Don’t you have the feeling you see a totally new world around you? If you like, you can also take some photos and compare them afterwards.

3. Play around with the colour contrast. ... you can arrange the objects surrounding you in a new way. Don't the blue socks look great on the white closet? Create your own world on colours and contrast.