"Stress Relief" - ink on paper
Inspiration is a fickle thing. Sometimes you search for it, but can’t find it. Sometimes it finds you, when you’re not even looking. For the first time in a long time, things have slowed down enough for me to let inspiration tap me on the shoulder and say hello. I’m looking forward to seeing how this affects my professional work.
Baseball in the 1980's vs 2010
What’s the difference?
- 1980: Baseball game
- 2010: Baseball game, scrolling banner, team branding, teams, score, inning, count, out(s), runners-on, MLB branding, broadcasting network and series standings.
The broadcast may be in HD and the instant replay’s may be better than ever but baseball, like other sports, is not getting easier to watch. In fact, baseball is focused more than ever on taking your attention away from the game. Just take a look at the difference (above). What used to be a baseball field has become a billboard. What used to be served up by commentary is now handled by a persistent heads-up display. Leaving the door open for guys like Joe Buck to somehow end up announcing the World Series.
I remember when I was 9 years old, I had a subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids. There was a cartoon that depicted $100 hot dogs in addition to athletes and their field of play covered head-to-toe in sponsors. It looks like that cartoon wasn’t too far-fetched. Sadly, this makes the sports we love harder to watch. Here’s hoping for a renaissance in broadcast design.
Apple Computer's iPad
This past week Apple Computer announced it’s highly anticipated tablet. Now christened with the somewhat odd monicker “iPad” the product surfaced as what basically amounts to an iPod Touch XL. The bare bones feature-set combined with a handful of functional holes make the iPad a tough sell as a game changing computer. It’s also raises the question: How this device fits into the consumer home?
As a professional, I’m not sure what I would do with a device like the iPad. It’s not a phone, communication device (of any sort) and it’s also not a computer. So, what is it? I guess it’s somewhere in between. Like the iPod, it is a device that is built around consumption, intended to bring what was once static media (magazines, newspapers etc) to the interactive space.
In the end you can look at the iPad in one of two ways. It is either a crippled computer or an amazingly feature-rich eReader. With competition like Amazon’s Kindle on the market at a comparable price point, I would expect Apple’s iPad to shine. I would also speculate that the iPad is a prelude to a growing suite of touch-driven devices.
Filmed by Philip Bloom in Dubai over 5 days and nights. Made in memory of Sky Vassar who died recently at a tragically young age.
With the looming housing crisis in Haiti, the SEED project provides a feasable solution to quickly provide shelter to those in need. The project , called SEED, was conceived last year by Clemson University Architecture as a solution for the aftermath hurricanes in less fortunate countries. The project is referred to as follows on Clemson’s SEED site:
Utilizing an existing surplus of shipping containers and working with industry partners including Container -it, Intermodal Steel Building Units Association, Sargent Metals, and Tri-County Technical, Clemson University designers from the Department of Architecture and the Department of Landscape Architecture are researching and developing an affordable housing solution for the Caribbean Region. Caribbean nations inherently import more goods than they export generating a steady surplus of shipping containers. Shipping containers are designed to carry massive amounts of cargo and withstand extreme weather conditions making them a logical housing component. Completely constructed of steel and reinforced with eight corner post moment connections and corrugated steel walls a 40? shipping container can carry 67,200 pounds and resist overturn when exposed to winds up to 140 mph. Without modification a 40? shipping container has 304 square feet of floor space and eliminates problems associated with insects, fire, and hurricanes. With modification a 40? shipping container can be a safe, comfortable, and environmentally friendly home for numerous local inhabitants who would otherwise have less.
Visit the official SEED site for additional information and more video >
I spend a lot of time reading about design processes, comparing and contrasting different approaches found within design savvy organizations. Although I have read about Apple Computer’s design process several times, last night I took a refresher.
The essence of Apple’s approach to design is 10-3-1. The basics of the process are fairly simple:
- Designers come up with 10 entirely different solutions for the product (this applies to all features, software and products)
- Later those 10 designs are whittled down to 3
- Fianally, a winner is selected and built
For each of the 14 phases of the process, pixel perfect mock-ups are generated. This “removes ambiguity” in the design development process, which ultimately results in less revisions down the road. Considering the number of products (both software and hardware) that Apple generates, it is amazing that Apple is able to design 14 pixel-perfect design candidates for every 1 it delivers to the market.
Check out the Business Week write up on Apple’s design process here >
Braun Pocket Radio circa the 1960's and Jonathan Ive's iPod
Today I was browsing through Fast Company’s write-up of ”The Decade’s 14 Biggest Design Moments” and in the beginning of the list was “2002: Midcentury Modern Renaissance”. The list continued to include several items that themselves were filled with hues of design past (smaller is better ideals, iPod, propaganda posters etc). It struck me, because I was not expecting a look back to be one of the biggest “moments” of today. Recently, I watched an indy film called “RiP A Remix Manifesto“, the film focused on a generation of music which borrowed pieces of it’s past to create it’s present. When reviewing Fast Company’s Design moments it was clear that this extended to design as well. We are a generation of remixers.
Quarry turned Opera House by AllesWirdGut Architektur
Created by AllesWirdGut Architektur of Austria. This is perhaps on of the best, if not the best, uses of an abandoned quarry to date. This is truly a creative use of a space that had been left to the wayside.
Check out all of the nerdy Architectural details at Archdaily.com »