its chair time.

back in cincinnati, and loving the weather down here! its good to be home with santa. while running a crap-ton of errands today i headed to half price books to see if they had any good books on chair design- bingo! not only does this book explore ideation, it also explores materials and manufacturing. ill bring it to studio and you guys can check it out if you want.

on a side note, i also picked up why orwell matters by christopher hitchens (<3). who knows, maybe i can find some metaphorical inspiration while tapping my inner trotskyist.

rainbow temples

bismuth is awesome. i remember when i was 7 and geodes and crystals were the neighborhood nerd wampum. (on that note, i still have a hunk of amethyst my brother got in a trade back in the day... a trade involving some of my awesome geodes. i swiped it when i left for college. yes, college.)

this would be an interesting source of design inspiration... a cool chair? insane night club interior? oooooh the possibilities!

ick.

feeling rather crappy today, i decided to check out the show mental on hulu. has anyone seen it? i was really, really bothered by the depictions of mentally unstable patients. it's ignorant and stereotypical. people with mental issues are not subhuman, nor are they good entertainment between personal episodes of relationship anguish and snarky "cool-doc" escapades. rarely am i offended this much by television (surprisingly).

on a side note, i feel overwhelmed by pop culture and coolness. i suspect (in response to sylvia's post) that i react negatively to bad design, but have no reaction to "cool" design. OOPS. now what? this would certainly confirm my contempt for bent wood. not that i haven't sold out before in that category (very intentionally), but it leaves me feeling a bit unsettled... like i need to wash my cintiq.

well, i have to return some videotapes. cheers.

personal update.

hello all. i am back, and it's blog overhaul time. i hope to reduce this blog to its essential components.

new blog rules-
-this is not a professional blog. there is no such thing as a professional blog.
-pointless link posting is simply for entertainment purposes.
-any and all criticism welcome.
-malcolm gladwell will quit writing books.

that about covers it.

a doodle.

is blogging an effective tool for communicating design?

well, yes and no.

i have yet to find a happy medium between ignoring design blogs and burning my retinas at notcot.org (honestly, i can click "random" on that site for hours). one of the downsides of design blogging is the way popular design can pollute and homogenize good ideas into.... another bent plywood whatever. It is important to be inspired by people, problems, life, and random good stuff... not just other designs.

the upside is the way you can communicate thoughts about design, which i find refreshing. theory interests me, and i enjoy having an outlet to discuss the theoretical side of design.

final USBs

tim brown (CEO of IDEO) on creativity and play

i found this video on TED.com (one of my favorite sites) and thought i would share it with you guys.

i think the kind of exercises we have been doing in DesComm really reflect the playful nature of the design process, in particular by projecting yourself into an experience with role play, as well as limiting self-editing by allowing even ridiculous ideas reach paper (or whiteboard.)

the value of knowing the consumer intimately

what brand communicates a clear message? i was considering this while i was in the shower this morning and it occurred to me that there is one brand i have not only been loyal to, but one i have helped shape as a designer: dove.

i am a bit of a shampoo nazi, typically smelling every single shampoo before i decide which one to buy (i really, really like products crammed with potentially irritating frangrances.) i remember when dove made it's appearance on the haircare aisle, and i remember because i recognized the bottle before i even saw the logo.

after a few hit-and-misses, (which still occur in australia and the UK,) dove finally modeled their bottles after their iconic bar of soap that has been around for at least a few decades. although i was just pint-sized, i have distinct memories of being bathed by my mother with dove's beauty bar. (talk about some deeply-rooted brand loyalty.) in any case, anyone who has used that soap could probably tell you exactly how it smells; i was sure that whatever was in that shampoo bottle smelled good. dove did not disappoint... "fragrance" is only 1/3 of the way down on the ingredients list.

dove has also been successful in knowing its consumer intimately, utilizing scathing critiques of the beauty industry to sell it's products. conversely, it has typically been the trend among cosmetic companies to sell their products with ads featuring impossibly beautiful women. you can see some of the online dove ads here. "Amy" is particularly effective, and there isnt any soap in the ad. its just so damned adorable and sappy. all eye-rolling aside (i get a bit cranky when a company shamelessly attempts to appeal to my unequipped sensitive side,) i had the experience while at nottingham spirk to participate in a brainstorming session for a dove self-esteem related product. let me tell you, nothing tugs my rusty heartstrings more than a couple of serious-faced engineers addressing a little girl's self esteem issues.

additionally, i also love the visceral go fresh ads that highlight the user's experience of the product rather than making any claims about it's effectiveness... even if they do share an uncanny resemblance to those drug-use montages from "requiem for a dream." apparently dove is also aware of the appeal of psychotropic substances. smart advertising! i should consider this for my portfolio teaser.