Waste Nothing . . .

Assignment 4

My Sentence: "Taking a discarded useless object and turning it into something useful and beautiful."

Taglines: "Something from Nothing.", "Stylish Rubbish".

Scenario

- Peanut shells piling up in a Baseball stadium or something similar.

- Shells are swept up, stockpiled and sent for recycling.

- Shells are broken into liquid form and poured into a mold.

- Final image: a beautiful chair in a loft apartment.

Shepard Fairey . . .

link to slideshow

Shepard Faireys rise from street artist to international superstar is pretty amazing.
Most people in the design world probably know him for his work "Obey". But i think most others had not really heard of him until his iconic portrait of Barack Obama and his subsequent legal battle with the AP photographer. We all need a good break . . .

Can one mans departure really affect a company so much?

Link to Slideshow

I found this article online at the New York Times.
I was particularly curious about this article as I own an Apple computer and other products; as do many other people within the design world. It seems as though Steve Jobs leave of abscence, though said not to be permanent, has affected Apple in a hugely negative way. Apple Shares plummeted dramatically after the announcement was made.

Nothing goes to waste...

link to article

This chair is such a beautiful looking chair and is designed by Brooklyn desing firm Mickus. The chair is made from sustainable materials. Even the scraps that are generated by cutting the felt fabric for the chair are put to good use. The scraps are put to good use in a pillow that the company has also designed.

TED

Link to article

This article is about the history of the TED conference. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and it is a conference that brings together some of the most ingenious innovators in the world. This conference started back in 1984 where it was only really open to the wealthy. Tickets are $6000 each!! But now the conference is a little more open. There is now a website that streams all of the talks from the conference, so the whole world is now able to hear from these great innovators and learn from their thinking.

Old news but still breathtakingly brilliant!!

I know that this is fairly old news but I still am gobsmacked everytime i look at this concept. First off the idea that we don't necessarily need a rigid metallic material to surround our cars is such a simple one; After all its the chassis that makes the car run and safe. The use of a fabric as the outer skin not only gives the car numerous benefits such as reduced weight, therefore less energy needed to power the car, and less material costs; But I also think it gives the car more of a human feel, it has more character the material behaves more like human skin.

A language reborn

I watched this video and realized that this is a new language that has evolved. But then I thought about it a little and realized that in fact it is not new but just a more modern version of Hieroglyphics. Perhaps not as complex as Hieroglyphics but the same basis of symbolism. The one thing that i noticed about it though was that not all of the symbols are obvious to the viewer therefore the language, just like any other, would have to be learned.

One of the best things ever . . .

I have nothing to say about this, I think it just speaks for itself!!! Brilliant

Better Air quality with the "Jetsons"

Image Courtesy of Core77
I thought that this was such a great article because it sort of ties in with the theme for my assignment; "More and more that was seen to be impossible is now becoming possible.". The image of 2-400 trees almost floating in mid air seems a little far fetched at first but then you realise that anything can be done. It could almost pass for a scene from the "Jetson's". With climate change,pollution becoming much more prominent on peoples radars many many designers and inventors are looking for ways to reverse the harm that we are doing to the environment.

My Texture Slideshow

Texture Slide

View more presentations from ptaylor10.

First person I met . . .

This is Daniela Lepore, she works as a production assistant at 

Moxie Pictures.

When I asked her the question "What is the future of design and how will it be different  than it is currently practiced?".

She replied : "I just feel that technology will keep on getting better and better,  therefore making the whole design process more efficient and cost effective." Daniela was in a mad rush so it was short and sweet but at least she talked to me, most people in New York won't give you the time of day!!

Categorizing Design

Image Courtesy of Core77
Link
What the author is trying to do here is to define boundaries within the field of industrial design. I think that he has done an incredible job seeing as there are so many different terms used to cover all of the different disciplines within the field. I felt this was interesting because i have never heard anyone go out on a limb and try to classify this a field of design i this way.

Learning from Africa

Link
This relates to the article below and why i believe that we must help people in poorer less technologically advanced countries!! A camping stove that extinguishes itself if it gets knocked over, therefore preventing fires!!! genius!!

Corporate Good will

Image courtesy of New York Times

This article was a real heart warmer. To hear that Google was backing a start-up company ,O3b Networks, that provides solar powered satellites to remote towns in Africa was brilliant. To be one of the inhabitants of these villages and have access to the same networking opportunities as that of the western world must be fantastic. Not only will these people gain access to information enabling them educate themselves, they will also be able to share their knowledge and ideas with the western world.

Let's stop making so much crap

Click here for the link

I reckon this is really great article on the state of Industrial design today. As designers we definitely need to start looking at how we design and produce consumables today. Do we really need a great deal of what is being produced everyday? We don't need these things and also they produce a great deal of waste when we need to start thinking more about sustainability.

Art for the public . . .

Image courtesy of New York Times

Link

I was looking at this link on the New York Times website and came to the conclusion that the people do not have enough access to art. There are so many people who could benefit from seeing such wonderfully playful and interesting works of art, yet they cannot because they are not able to afford the entrance fee for museums that house these pieces. Therefore Public Art (Works that are created for Public Spaces) such as Anish Kappor's "Cloud Gate" or "Puppy" by Jeff Koons are brilliant. I think its is a win, win situation for both artist and viewer.

"Less talking and more doing"

This is my first post for the required posting, so here goes nothing . .
here is the link to the article, CLICK HERE. Anyway part of the article is about how we are as people are trying to become more aware of green issues and the idea of sustainability; HOWEVER! the author reports that even though a great many people “talk the talk” when it comes to becoming a “greener” person, not many people actually “Walk the Walk”, (I am a part of this category). There seems to be a great deal of doubt on the part of the consumer, with regards to the effectiveness of green products. Clorox Greenworks which is used as an example by the writer, “Despite initial external skepticism that a brand like Clorox could succeed with a natural product offering, the good word got out and sales results have "far exceeded expectations," according to Kohler.”

Hello . . .

and welcome aboard the blog of the most novice blogger that has ever walked this planet. Please feel free to write what ever takes your fancy, but careful what you write because you never know who might be reading!! I personally don't care but others might . . .