Tweets until 3.29.11

tips to designing a website: dont use too many colors. learn more http://bit.ly

sometimes subtly is a notable quality.

The Office of Digital Coordination is seeking an intern skilled in social media tools and strategy. http://ow.ly/4bVsk

#MassimoVignelli "There is no design without discipline. There is no discipline without intelligence."

#PaulRand "Don't try to be original. Just try to be good."


VID: How To Blog: Your Content Strategy http://youtu.be/zJQB92KJ0O0

#LorenaDuran "essentially if you want to succeed, it's whatever it takes"

not all artists are starving!


#LorenaDuran loves design methodology and she finds it important when working with a company. she wants to feel a purpose

iPad vs Nav9 battle of the tablets

#LorenaDuran says feng shui is all the energies that run through a space and charge it positively or negatively.

You can have a tinker with your customisable 2012 Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville, here http://mascot-games.london2012.com/


Crossing Australia in a Kite-powered Car - @Core77 core77.com/blog/sustainab…

the wheel has been reinvented! http://www.inventist.com/solowheel/ #solowheel

We have an archive of 44 behind-the-scenes videos describing the filming process in #Egypt http://ht.ly/42CKe

@coriekupferberg points out that function includes dysfunction #community

#community : being a member vs. BEING a member

#SethPriebatsch wants to create a game layer on top of the world. http://bit.ly/cRkr3C play along :)

"follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness" #jackkerouac = best advice to being creative

#miltonglaser graphic designer who created one of the most seen designs in the world: #iloveNY http://www.iloveny.com/

#mikestolworthy has no background in design but his creations have an organic technique which look like modern design http://bit.ly/hpGxd5

#Erik Spiekermann says font is about rhythm and space. The letter is formed by the space around it; the emptiness in it.

what is it about chubby little creatures that appeals to us? http://vimeo.com/17656844 http://mymilktoof.blogspot.com/

Ask Ray | Driving blind | KurzweilAI kurzweilai.net/driving-blind via @kurzweilainews

Blind Man Drives Car on Daytona International Speedway | KurzweilAI kurzweilai.net/blind-man-driv… via @kurzweilainews

connect with your audience before you throw information at them. key.

design needs value to be effective.

let the tweeting and blogging BEGIN!!

design a comfortable life jacket, maybe people will actually wear them now. http://bit.ly/9mMDl8

not how cut and paste was intended to be used, http://www.boingboing.net/art-and-design/

fool burglars with a fake TV light! http://bit.ly/8ZMzYA

apparently colors are open for purchase. http://bit.ly/91nYIZ

be clean cleaning your home. http://bit.ly/bMkg5S

Final PowerPoint

Proj1final

View more presentations from amaure1.

mix-a-drink!

This just blows my mind.  You can mix a drink simply by combining sound waves with certain molecules to produce alcoholic drinks.

Simply add in the Rubyjock solution and chose your desired alcohol content and BOOM you have yourself a delicious cocktail.  The physics and brilliance of this invention goes far beyond my comprehension but I can't help but think of all the doors this opens.  You can basically turn water into wine right in your own home.  I've heard that matter can't be created nor destroyed but this makes me second guess that theory.  Before you know it we will have pop-up dinners and why stop there!  Create a masterpiece my interacting sound waves with paint and decorate your home from top to bottom.  Thomas Ruby you are brilliant.

Ditch the pencil!

Monocomplex has done it once again!  The newest concept from South Korean design is the Free Form Ruler.

Rulers are only good for a few types of measurement, you can only fit so many numbers on a long flat stick.  Not to mention it is not easy to convert the lengths that you get from this ruler.  Let us not forget either that rulers, also called a straight edge, are only useful for perfectly straight lines, but what if you want to measure a curved line?

This "ruler" works similar to how a pencil would.  The idea is that you drag the sensor tip along whatever curve or line that needs measuring and the numbers are displayed through LED.  By rotating the dial, the unit of measurement changes or resets the measurement.

This instrument will be very helpful as a school supply or something architects can use in the field.  Nice job Monocomplex.

There's a hole in my cup

Some people consider drinking to be quite elegant.  They get dressed up, hold parties, buy expensive liquor and serve drinks with fancy glasses.  Well until now you could not stack your decanter and glasses into a stylish centerpiece.

Its called an Art of Degustation drinking set.  Designed for Ballantine's by Kacper Hamilton, scotch and whiskey drinking will never be the same.

The glasses have a hole in the center, same as the decanter, so they can be stacked on a silver tray with a long spindle attached.  When it comes to serving the drink, chilled metal inserts are used to plug the hole and keep your beverage pleasantly chilled.

This drinking set is a cool mixture of design and ingenuity.  What a space saver!  I especially like that the bottom of the glass is tinted so you do not have to fill the glasses in order for them to be decorative.  Not sure how the tray would look without the decanter and glasses on it though...

Who Needs Stairs? Take the Slide

A man living in a New York City duplex penthouse makes his money through playing online poker.  Not the most honest or dignified way to make a living, but he lives a life of luxury.  His apartment is beautiful and... wait he has a slide inside?!

I loved going down the slides at recess in elementary school!  I'm not quite sure what would happen if I got one installed in my house.  It might be a good thing to get in case you broke your leg and couldn't walk down stairs yet.  Or if it was for an elderly individual who could not handle going up stairs anymore.

Well regardless of if it is practical or not, it is a great conversation starter.  How many people can say they started their day off going down a slide?

cut and paste design

Italian design is coming home is having a celebration of Swiss and Italian design.  11 Swiss designers are collaborating with 11 Italian designers to create new work to celebrate the design heritage of both countries.

To mark this occasion Alberto Parise and Giovanni Pasini constructed a large paper model and documented the entire process.  The paper masterpiece is made, believe it or not, entirely of paper, which was offered by Polyedra.

This massive creation is two and a half meters wide, features 30 different colors and types of paper.  It's no surprise that this took an entire MONTH to construct.  To make this an even more impressive task,  these two designers used no pencils, felt-tips or paint.

Not only is the entire Italian design is coming home project an amazing idea and concept, but then these designers had to go and create this cool behind the scenes look into what they can build.  Fascinating, and well put together!

Time for an upgrade!

We have all used the Heinz ketchup packets that you pick up by the handful at McDonald's or any fast food restaurant.  Seems like there is never enough ketchup in them and you end up using all twenty that you grabbed.  Well fear no more!  Heinz has finally gotten around to a re-design!  And they really went all out!

Not only do these packets allow you to squeeze the ketchup out, you can also pull back the label to partake in a full dunking of your food.  Did I mention that these newly designed packets holds three times as much ketchup!  Finally one ketchup packet for one order of fries; it just makes sense.

This is a small step for man but a huge step for ketchup-kind.  The re-design might seem insignificant but I am glad to know that Heinz has not forgotten about the little guy.  Hope I see it in stores soon!

Exceptional Person in design, media and innovation - Colin

Colin

I am an amateur photographer and painter.  Mostly I use acrylic paint and recycled wood; we all have to work on a budget, this is easier than stretching my own canvas.

Art and music culture have always been a passion of mine, and after high school I wanted to dedicate more time to it.  Many of the bands that I listen to have members that are amazing artists -- one of the reasons I strive to be proficient in multiple medias of the creative world.

In the near future I will have some of my work in galleries in the New England area.  Right now I have a few pieces that I am finishing up and some I have yet to start.  My hope is that I can continue to create these pieces, share them with the public and inspire others to follow their passion to express themselves through art and design.

3.8.11

Corey on the Valorized Designer:

on designing:
read - do research
take notes - draw attention to things that make you think
sketch - get your ideas flowing
choose - which idea has the most potential?
make it perfect - cross your t's dot your little j's, make sure your point gets across
don't look at it after its done - "the fault seeker will always find faults"


be curious
ask why
be ready to encounter situations that challenge your thoughts or support them

Comfortably view your tablet!

With every invention that comes out, more inventions to better that one and similar products from other companies are sure to follow.  This rule is no exception to the iPad.  We all know what the iPad is, and are very excited for the iPad2 that has recently been put to market.  There are few complaints about this product, but one of them is that there is no comfortable way to view the screen.  You either have to set it flat on your lap and hunch over it or hold it with one hand the entire time.  Now there is PadPivot, the ultimate tablet stand.

This contraption solves those awkward handling maneuvers.  You can place your iPad on this stand about ten different ways, landscape or portrait and at about any angle that you could desire.  This idea is very simple, but solves an uncomfortable issue for iPad users.  Another great feature the PadPivot has is its portability; the entire thing collapses and fits into your pocket.  So if you purchase this, it does not forfeit the convenience factor that you bought the iPad for in the first place!

Modern Illumination

We all need lights in our home, but just because we all have them, that does not mean we cannot turn our lamps into a conversational piece.  Flynn Talbot has developed a spherical lamp which changing light color and light intensity.

It is called an X&Y Lamp.  This name was chosen from how one controls the device; to change the color one turns it on the X-axis, and to increase or decrease the brightness one spins it on the Y-axis.  The device is pretty simple in form, it sits on a brass base (pictured above) and is similar to technology found in advanced computer mice.

I like this design. It's modern, practical and can change the tone of a room with a simple twist!

Exceptional Person in design, media and innovation - Joe

Joe

My name is Joe and I am always surfing the web, looking for new technology. When I'm not doing that, I build computers, gaming computers specifically. 

It's not easy to keep doing what I'm doing, because I am not getting paid for this hobby yet.  Nevertheless I've built my own PC, and constantly upgrade it to keep up with the new technology coming out each year.

Some tips I could tell you on how to become my type of professionalism: the only thing I can really say is, for my type of field, it's something you can get into very easily. It's a thrill for me to upgrade my computer constantly. From video card to video card, each upgrade changes the visual outcome that you get for your PC. But when you do that, you need to upgrade other things. Power Supplies, Motherboards, and RAM are the most important pieces of the computer, next to the video card and the HDD. But the best Tip I can give, is just be around people who work on PCs daily, and/or play video games daily. It'll rub off on you, and somehow intrigue you to make a better PC.

Exceptional Person in design, media and innovation - Ashley

Ashley

I'm a hairdresser, I work at Captiva Salon Paul Mitchell. A co-worker and myself are starting a photography studio. Our studio is focused on helping other professional and cosmetology students build portfolios of their work.

My journey started at North Haven Academy a Paul Mitchell Partner School, there I started doing photoshoots and being a part of their honors program.

Any advice I could give students or other professionals who are interested is - to just do it. Grab a friend, do their hair and makeup and start taking pictures. As you practice you see what works and what doesn't, then when you understand it all, help others with it!

Here are some examples of Ashley's work.  She not only works in a salon but does hair and make-up for photoshoots.

Vincenzo M. Landino- Hair, Photo, Education

Never wash another window!

Hate chores?  We all do.  One of the worst is cleaning the windows.  I always feel as if no matter what I do I can never reach every part of the window and they are still dirty.  It's a waste of time and I do not enjoy doing it.

Luckily a Switzerland company, Serbot AG, has a window cleaning robot!  There are 2 cleaning robots in use right now, Gekko II and CleanAnt.  They are "employed" to clean high-rise buildings.

They work by attaching themselves to the window, no matter what direction it slopes and uses a windshield-wiper type of brush to clean off anything on the window surface.  Although cleaning off skyscrapers is the main field of application of CleanAnt, it can be used as inspection or repair tool for dams and bridges as well.

The technology has room for improvement but overall this robot is great.  I hate that the windows on the outside of the house stay dirty.  They are too high up and just too large to clean on a regular basis but now buildings (and my house) can have clean windows inside and out!  While I do not like the idea of robots roaming the Earth... I don't mind them doing a few of my chores for me.

Lorena Duran

In class today Lorena Duran came to speak with us.  She is an Associate Director of International Design at Christie's art auction house and she was a designer of the 2010 AIGA annual exhibition.  She loves what she does, because she likes to communicate with people.  This is not limited to speech but art and drawings as well.  Being able to communicate with people on multiple levels helps you move forward "really fast."

She has designed "space" by putting up four walls inspired by Chinese calligraphy.  The idea of this was to take an enormous room and give it a sense of intmacy and style.  The entire room was "put together" with four red walls. Strangely enough the same principle for a large room is applied to a smaller room she designed as well.

Feng shui is all the energies that run through a space and charge it positively or negatively.  Ms. Duran works with this to design her rooms.  You do not want your space to feel like it is aimlessly flying around.

When asked about how many type faces she used for a particular project she responded that the number of type faces you use depends on the brand.  Overall, the rule is no more than three, but again it depends on the brand.  Keep re-drawing it and see what works.

Best new extinct pet!

Want a pet but have a small apartment?  I think animals are a great form of companionship, but not everyone has the time to fit them into their schedule.  I do not say this to make animals seem like a nusance but instead that they require a lot of time, affection and attention which if you do not have the time to give, it is not fair to the pet.

Well now there is a choice for those busy people who still want companionship.  Innvo Labs has created an autonomous one month old dinosaur called Pleo.  The first time you "wake" him up he enacts being hatched.  Right away his emotions develop and his individuality begins.  No two Pleos are alike, they take in their environment and love to explore.  You have to feed him (and charge him) and he will reciprocate with affection.

I think this baby dinosaur is absolutely adorable, and he will even get along with real pets that you have.  If the price tag was a little lower, I'd walk him around with me all day!

Speedy Transportation!

Is a place too close to drive to, but you just don't feel like walking?  What a perfect time to pull out your bike and go for a ride!  But you live in an apartment and you do not have room to store a bike let alone have the money for a monorail!  Well do not lose hope just yet, Solowheel is here to help.  The unicycle has been taken above and beyond!

Its a motorized wheel that you ride more like a monorail.  The battery lasts for about 2 hrs but recharges itself when going downhill or braking.  This mode of transportation can be carried around like a suitcase, weighing only about 20 pounds.  Why didn't we think of this sooner!

Mine Furniture

I never thought I would have to worry about my furniture exploding!! But Estonian sculptor Mati

Karmin makes furniture out of Russian anti-submarine mines.  These pieces date back from WWII to the 1960's.  While one would think that using such an object to create furniture would be constraining, quite the opposite actually.  This sculptor has created fireplaces, armchairs, beds, bathtubs the WORKS!

These pieces can add such character to a room and are definitely a conversation starter.  If it weren't for this designer, these mines would just be tossed out for scrape metal.  Instead they have been transformed into unique furniture that people will love for years.

Deweaponizing the gun

Walton Creel is an artist; however his tools are not typical.  This artist creates beautiful pieces on an aluminum canvas, by using a gun.  His choice to use guns as his utensil stemmed from other artist who have used high speed film to capture a bullet going through an item or others who have melted and bent guns into sculptures.  Creels approach however uses the gun as an instrument to create art, instead of turning the gun itself into a design.

While Creel does want to create beautiful pieces of art, his true intention is to take the destructive power away from the gun.  He did this by using the gun as a tool of creation, which obviously not the original intention.  I really like the idea of using something doomed to be destructive and turning it into something much more appealing.  Good job Walton Creel.

Great Advances In the products for the blind

I am currently doing a project centered around the revolutionary new invention so that the blind can drive.  The driver wears gloves that vibrate which way to turn the wheel and the seat vibrates as well to alert the driver when to speed up or slow down.  Well now the blind can check the time just as easy and quickly as the rest of the world can.

Before the Haptica Braille Watch, the blind only had two options for wrist wearing watches.  What these options lacked were accuracy and privacy.

This watch quite simply displays the 10 digits in braille with the current time.  This product is attractive, sleek and easy to use.  Those of us who are lucky enough to have sight take for granted just pulling out or cell phones and checking the time without disturbing anyone around us; now the visually impaired have the same luxury.  I think that it is great that we are finally coming out with modern equipment to assist the blind  in becoming less dependent on those around them.

What to do with the wrapper!

I have always been a fan of recycling, especially when it comes to turning trash into art.  Well designer Emiliano Godoy has got my attention!  He asks companies to send him their misprinted or obsolete labels and wrappers so he can use them to upholster furniture.

The unfortunate fact is that almost everyone of these labels has the recycling triangle symbol on it meaning that it can be and should be recycled.  Why is it then that the companies producing these are going to throw them away?  Godoy makes sure they live up to their word and these otherwise useless wrappers are indeed recycled (probably an issue that someone should look into though!)

ppt for project1 as of 2.9.11

I am in the process of organizing a powerpoint, here is my progress so far:  seeing is believing

The Glue Project

Scott Heiferman has a solid but open definition of what he thinks community is and how to create one.  He organized "meet-up" so people with a shared goal could meet and work together to reach that asperation.  A community only exists if the people in it have passion, interest and all are actively participating.  If someone is not pulling their weigh, they are kicked out.  In that sense his idea of community is a gated one; but only to block out people who would slow the structure created by those within the collaborating community.

key terms:

• relationship
• causes
• participation
• contribution
• responsibility
• balance
• belong
• identity
• commitment
• collaboration
• codependency
• interdependence 

Color

can the blind drive? well Univ of Virgina is working on it and coming up with some amazing technology, but what colors represent this topic?

small sharp white pebbles - Not only white but shows a harsh touch, the blind learn their environment through touching it.

Fuzzy grey fur - Staying with the touch aspect, instead of harsh there is now soft.  What is softer than animal fur? 

dark blue night sky - The blind see no color.  The only time that everyone sees darkness is at night; night isnt really black it is more dark blue.

 

 Although my color swatches do have have to do the the product, since it is a prototype vehicle, my colors embrace the feel of the world which is how the blind currently navigate.

Valorized Designer Summary

Nigel Whiteley discusses the result of the post-modern condition on design theory vs design practice.  Arguably the line altogether has disappeared or blurred.  These are not the same thing however: "a blurring is not the same as a collapse, and designers still need skills which are inculcated only from practicing in the studio, as well as skills which drive from theoretical or academic teaching."  The reason for this debate on distinction is brought about by the computer:  "the main tool of the graphic designer."  This is because the research and the work are done in the same small digital space.  Whiteley offers "a design education suggesting a broader skill set taken from theoretical practice and practical knowledge."  Not all results from a blurred line are negative; intellectualism can no longer be ignored.

Some models discussed were:  The formalised designer, the theorised designer, the politicised designer, the consumerised designer, the technologised designer, and the valorised designer.  The author concludes that the valorised designer does not have the fundamental limitations that the others have; it instead consists of "critical and articulate, responsible citizen-designers."

Theme

http://www.kurzweilai.net

http://www.kurzweilai.net/driving-blind

http://www.kurzweilai.net/blind-man-drives-car-on-daytona-international-speedway

Winter Fun

I think people who make sculptures are especially talented; specifically when they are made from odd materials.  Sand sculptures are really cool and it is amazing what they can do.  Those that can carve creatures out of ice are amazing too.  What I did not know is that there is an art-form that I consider to be a combination of the two: snow sculpting!  Every year there is an International Snow Sculpture Competition in Breckenridge, Colorado.

It starts similar to how an ice sculptor begins (a large chunk of ice), the competitors are given a large block of snow and carve their design into it.  The creations are absolutely amazing, too bad they do not last all year round.

Bad Taste

It is not uncommon for someone to say "It's just not my taste."  What exactly does that mean?  If it "isn't your taste" or the particular style you go towards that does not mean it is off limits to everyone.  However if something is in bad taste, can anyone like it or enjoy it?  I was surprised to find a Bad Taste Exhibition that took place in 2009.  It speaks for itself.  All the products or "art" shown at the exhibition are offensive to one sense or another.

Unfortunately items like these make it out onto the shelves and the company that designed them accidently mixed the message they were going for; such as the Princess bell sip cup:

awkward.

While we might be able to find these items entertaining, they should not be labeled as anything but "bad taste."