Saturday 28 February 2009

Paul Bennett. IDEO

Another talk on TED- this is a lovely talk by Paul Bennett- talking about user expereinces, and techniques developed by ideo for designing interactions- and focusing on the small details that amke a huge difference- somthing that I think is often missed.


TIM BROWN TALK. TED




POSTED A LINK PREVIOUSLY TO TIM BROWNS BLOG ON DESIGN THINKING- AND I HAVE JUST WATCH THIS TALK ON TED THAT I FOUND REALLY INTERESTING- HE TALKS THROUGH A NUMBER OF TECHNIQUES USED AT IDEO ALL BASED AROUND PLAY, AND HOW THIS CAN LEAD TO REALLY INSIGHTFUL OBSERVATIONS. ITS A REALLY GREAT PRESENTATION.

Tuesday 17 February 2009

fresh.




new trainers. saw a sweet nike t shirt today with the slogan "nice airs".

sketchy time.
















Sunday 15 February 2009

Siftables. Amazing



David Merrill works on Siftables, tiny computer blocks that interact with each other to make networks

Friday 13 February 2009

Tom Dixon


Went to the Tom Dixon lecture at the V & A tonight- was part of their Friday night lecture series. It was a really interesting presentation he gave and the discussion after was also insightful. The lecture focused on the opening of his own "brand"- as hes now producing his own stuff through his own company. After going to his show at Milan furniture fair last year it was nice to hear the story behind it.
I found that he thought about things in a very similar way to alot of people I have spoken to- and struggles in a way that I do with the concept of design. He spoke very eloquently and humbly (if that's a word) about what interests him- that he is interested not specifically in crafting an idea- but the entire process- so from raw material to the consumer.
He also discussed what is meant by "Britishness" to him. This is a subject that I have been thinking alot about recently- as I am working on a range of projects with a friend of mine who is German- and I find he has- in many respects quite different approaches- and we think that this is cultural in some respects.
Dixon spoke about a heaviness, and an honesty to British design- and also it being less "wizzy". He thinks that's British design focuses on what the thing has to do, and how it will be made- and applies style based on this. He spoke about differences in aesthetic between different design cultures.
He also said that design is not a "thing"- it is something that everyone does in some way- and also talked about the links with his musical past- in terms of entertaining and performing- and discussed how most of his best ideas come from his mistakes.
It really has inspired me and revived my interest in design- as if someone of his stature struggles with some of the issues surrounding "design" then maybe its not such a bad thing. I think that trying things and experimenting is such a positive thing- and I am going to continue to follow in this vain.
It was really interesting- and he was a very charming, reserved and modest gentleman.

More hasbro stuff.
















Amended the sizes- so they can be produced from one piece of ply on the laser cutter bed. also made the slot at the bottom and started making the figures- should be finished next week. need some nice rope/ string to hang it.

mess

The last three weeks or so have been so hectic. tomorrow is a day to catch up on the menial things- letters ect- and tidy the pad- its a dump.








Tuesday 10 February 2009

New project up on site!

New project with school up on site. take a look would love to hear some feedback.

link: http://josephsmithdesign.carbonmade.com/

SWAGGER LIKE US...

Sunday 8 February 2009

Tim Brown IDEO. Interesting.




Tim Brown is cheif exec at IDEO, and has some interesting ideas on design thinking. He also has an interesting blog.

http://designthinking.ideo.com/

sunday morning ride.


too cold. too tired. too hilly........not a happy chap!

Saturday 7 February 2009

Work With Carl Clerkin.

Last Saturday I was given the opportunity to go and help out someone I really admire- Carl Clerkin. I went down to his studio in Hackney to help out with some illustrations for a outdoor seating project he has been working on. The project is really lovely- its a series of classic chairs that are made from extruded concrete- that provide a perch for people to sit on. He explained that they were meant to be like statues- and that Wycombe was the furniture capital of England for a very long time.

I cant post too much jst incase but I wanted to post up because it was really nice of Carl to give me the opportunity- and although I had so many technical problems- (PHOTOSHOP!!!!!) I hope he was happy with the outcome of the illustrations from the line drawings.


Anyway cheers Carl and thanks for the support!

Friday. studio. and Crazybones for the kids








went to the studio friday- after a week of snow, and then now sleep for around 40 hours to finalise a presentation friday was my first free day in over 3 weeks. So I went into the studio to tie up a few bits for a series of projects. No one was there!




Then Tsuyoshi, Martin, and Ben joined me.

I managed to get my Crazybone sketch model 3d milled. it was amazing to watch- as the project is based around digital technologies I thought it was important to do so.



Martin had hes finished up by mid afternoon and it looked cool. think its called Raygunranger. somthing like that.




After I went through a process of sanding and filing it was done! also had a 3d printed version. This actual design I am not using- me and my partner for the project Keeley have 4 different designs- but this one was the most finished so were uning it for now- and taking renderings of the others with us to get some feedback. Ill post the photos after the school visit.


Then had a friday beer. (may become a regualr occurence- i will bring a cup for next time!! Cheers Martin!

More Lasering.




Still working on this- its taken a backseat because had a busy few weeks. but its a really fun thing to work on- and is helping me learn alot more about illustrator and laser cutting- its given me tonnes of ideas for furniture- going to design some soon- as I will be moving into new place in July- with Tsuyoshi Matsuura. should be good. Anyway now just working on the final mechanism for the base- and tinkering with the hole size and depth and then should be done.

Tuesday 3 February 2009

I want one! 99 quid on muji UK


Naoto Fukasawa wall mounted cd player for muji- superb!