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