Highlight tea

Saw this teapot on yanko design, stunning, beautiful, but not sure if it is practical though. How do you put the tea and the water in and cleaning?! Would be interesting to see an exploded view of this design, this could be a potential future project just to design but never realise... why is it when there aren't any datelines i feel like designing?

I'm trying to improve my design evaluation skills... so why does this product work?
I think that the clear chamber is in contrast to the rounded curves, of the handle and the spout. Despite this stark juxtaposition the language of the handle and the tea chamber is the same. Both the handle and the chamber have the same gloss finish and so ties it together.

Practical things to note would be that the handle wouldn't absorb the heat from the tea which is a good thing but when poring the tea out of the pot the tea leaves would clog up the spout.

Another thing that makes this teapot extra special is the fact that the tea chamber is floating off the table, so it looks lighter.

Just my thoughts, probably just a load of rubbish. Beautiful teapot.

Things to note.

I am on a quest at the moment to improve myself.. i love design but design does not love me and i want to change that.

Went online searching for just stuff. design stuff. came across an interesting site, Alltopdesign [link added to the others], it tracks all the latest design news from online blogs, feeds and what not. Looked at a few things and found an interesting statement about design...

"How to differentiate your product or service from theirs
This type of design grounds me. It reminds me that you can never go wrong by focusing on basics. To differentiate your product or service from your competitors you identify benefits, communicate your passion, demonstrate your uniqueness, and establish your style. "

Though it does come from a graphic design site... i think it is still applicable to ides.

I need to focus.

Focus on the basics
Focus on creativity
Focus on my own style and convictions

I need to forget about marks.
I think that if i try hard enough i should pass, but how well shouldn't matter as long as i get the best outcome for the brief in the given circumstances.

Thinking about marks kills it i think. It doesn't seem to be working, so something has got to change.

Aftermath... as well as other things..

I must say that a day after handing everything... I'm still a little dazed by it all. Starting to consider things in a different light...

But to better things, been researching lighting just for knowledge for when i make my mini chandelier. I'm not going to do vasts amounts.. but see how different lights achieve that wow factor. This is more for my own enjoyment more than anything else, i don't want to make my light like a studio project, that just produces stressed results, since there is none commenting on my every move and then MARKING it.. i think i will thoroughly enjoy my light and then hang it in my room when it is done ^^

This light i have to post up... designed by Alice Van, it is a beautiful floor lamp made of a thick paper.. i could see it being easily done in polyprop for a more sturdy [and not to mention water proof] light, but i wonder how the light would interact with the surface.

The thing about this light that makes it outstanding is the different gradients that the light casts as it exits the shade... diffused through the material... as well as escaping through the gaps. Simply stunning.

[pity the electrical cable is in the picture... but it does add a kind of 'accidental' charm to it]

http://www.yankodesign.com/2007/03/15/floor-lamp-provides-controlled-lighting-by-alice-van/

Intresting what you can do in 5 days

Apparently you can't upload word documents... but because i want to sleep earlier than later.. I've taken a picture of the document, I'll check to see whether it is reasonable or not. I'm also going to load some pics of the model in progress, this was the main body, it took a day to shape. When i say a day i mean a solid day from 9 to 7 or 8 with only about a few hours to eat and stuff, but i started priming that evening so i was happy.

Sidetrack # 1

Admittedly this is not the best time to be thinking of making things but i couldn't help it, I saw some beautifully shaped beads and it inspired me to create a simple chandelier. So white the paint was drying [and i was eating my lunch] i looked up some images for inspiration... nothing like what i have in mind.. but beautiful nonetheless.

Technology Diamondtouch + Projector phones

Just to make sure that i wasn't going crazy and confusing the technology with 3D holograpic touch technology i checked out projector touch screen.

This version created by MERL [Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories] is a little bit more sophisticated than i need. What they created was technology that was able to recognise the users hand and have various people using the screen at the same time.

The only thing that i was intrested in was that the 2D image was projected onto a white table, and was able to be manipulated by peopls hand gestures.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that it is already commercialy viable where as microsoft's surface is still not. to have a read the site i got the information off is...

http://google.about.com/od/experimentalgoogletools/ig/SIGGRAPH-2007/MERL-DiamondTouch.htm

Another intresting development that i found in the world of technology that is applicable to my design is the development of projector phones. These phones contain projectors that are the size of matchboxes, the first example of one created and showcased is one by a chinese company CKING, a very ugly and chunky candy bar phone, but the technology seems to have come off the drawing boards and into reality. BUT it's commercially available so the technology is mature enough to be produced en mass.

This is definatly a development that benefits my design as it means in 5 years time that the size that the whole device is is limitless really.

Once again the website for that one is.... http://www.symbian-freak.com/news/008/06/the_worlds_first_commercially_available_projector_equipped_phone.htm

It's promising technological advances... that really lend them selves to my design.. pity they design my project for me.

Blood and Boom... not as exciting as it sounds.

Went to the power house yesterday hoping to comeback home enlightened and inspired, but unfortunately it was not the case. I was sorely disappointed with the whole thing.

Along with the design exhibitions [and looking at Rina's lamp], i was particularly interested in Design boom mart as well as the young blood market, hoping to glean new and interesting ideas. As an avid follower of markets i can't say that these were any different. Design boom mart was slightly better than Young blood, as the ideas were more fresh and different... and less overpriced [but still overpriced non the less].

The ideas in Young blood weren't particularly interesting or inspiring... i saw a few clothes that were quite innovative and cool [not the Shirts with a stiletto printed on them... they were -no comment-] but all had scary pricing. A lot of jewellery, not much else. There was one thing that stuck particularly in my mind from design boom was a poly prop bowl and light folded origami style in the form of a lotus, very beautiful. There was also a jewelry stand with laser cut pendants, while it was overpriced i couldn't help but marvel at how fine the cutting was. Oh what i would do for a laser cutter. I suggest to anyone thinking that young blood market is going to be an inspiring event, design boom mart is better for fresh ideas, but just to let you know... design boom is small... so don't expect more than 1/2 an hours worth of entertainment.

Reasearch: is it reality?

I went searching on the net for information on holographic touch screen technology, i wanted to put to bed doubts as to whether it really existed and was feasible or not in 5 years time... what was being done now? So i looked around and found some really amazing stuff.

1] the technology exists... someone even has a patent out on it. The link for the specs are as follows.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6377238.html

Bit dry and boring but pretty much what it is saying is that touch screen holographic technology exists!

2]I found other peoples applications for the technology... because if there is insufficient interest in a technology it won't get funding or flourish.. this would be a problem. In 5 years time the technology would be the same as it is today, but according to this site they are thinking of marketing applications which is great because that is a great industry motivation to develop a technology to use. The site also has some technical explanations on how it works.

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/article.php?id=13688

It is more concerned with 3D holographic display.. I'm really only interested in 2D but if 3D is available then i don't see any problem.

There is a bit of an explanation on how it works...

Image display = "The optics module is the heart of OPD's display system. It collects light from a target source inside the unit, then directs the light through the optical system, focusing the light rays in the space out in front of the display. At the point where the light rays converge on the focal point, the optical system creates a 3D image of the object."

Touch Sensor = " The infrared detector scans the plane of the holographic image to detect the intrusion of a finger into the desired portion of those images. It then identifies the selected number or symbol and transmits that selection from the equipment's internal software. Basically, the infrared emitter points at the area of the hologram and tells the kiosk which letter or number was pushed."

Other advantages of the technology is that, "the actual hardware for the system is a sealed box containing a light source, the infrared beam and a plastic 5-by-5-inch plate bearing the image to be projected." So it is very durable as there are no moving parts to become damaged.

I also found some Youtube clips that illustrate the point that it is out there and can be used...

Minority report style 2D touch screen interface

I think that the sensors for this one are based on holographic technology, but the screen is not.

3D holographic touch screen Demonstration

Touch screen interface Demonstration

[The last clip is really long... but interesting]

The last clip is more to do with the interface of using technology but i think that it is still important to put down here as it shows a potential interface for holographic touch screen technology. I can see both of these technologies merging... [if they have not already] and becoming something that is so easy to use and yet really just something intangible.

Water + fashion = beauty

I saw on trend watch the photo shoot done by Alix Malka, simply stunning, the composition on each piece is just beautiful. I must assume though that the images have gone through some heavy photoshop editing. So kudos have to go to both the photographer and also the image editor i suppose. Pity there is the magazine spine line in the middle of the pictures such a shame. It seems to be a popular photo style i found quite a few other people who take underwater fashion photos Zena Holloway is also another awesome underwater photographer... amazing..

New Technology as easy as a cup of coffee?

I must admit that currently I'm only looking and browsing Yanko esign, so please forgive me for posting ups so much stuff from it. I think that it's my current obsession because it is filled with what i like to term 'fantasy objects'. Objects that are cool and have been designed but don't currently exist in functioning form [but hopefully will in the future].

I was specifically looking for new technologies that might be popular in 5 years time, that would be applicable to a working GenX dad, this caught my eye.

It's 'creatively' called "The Cup" and the creators seem to think that it is intuitive that your information is stored in a cup and that spilling the contents is how you share the information it contains..ummm what? I must say that spilt coffee isn't to me sharing information, it's not a positive thing its a negative thing. Stacking Cups do not collect information... it collects more grime... and means that i have to wash them, again a bad thing.

I love the fact that they are trying to integrate new technology in a quirky way, but i think that the metaphor that they decided to use was inappropriate. How does information = coffee? Trying to get my head around it but its not really connecting... also what about if someone mistook 'The cup' for a real cup... i doubt that it would be able to survive real coffee. From the comments that other people left everyone else seems to think that its lame. I must say i quite like it... minus the cup bit.

The technology of 'the cup' holographic touch infrared communication, it's very interesting, the information can be displayed as small or large as you want. I wonder how lighting affects the resolution of the image, and more importantly if this technology even exists. I think i will go hunting around for more information about it...

My verdict on 'the cup' interesting technology, inappropriate application. I'm not sure why they seemed to want to put the whole cup motive in, but i think it's a little confusing.

But it's very very interesting, going to keep searching for more information on this technology.

Link if you were intrested:
http://www.yankodesign.com/index.php/2008/05/27/cup-of-java-script/

Lessons from marketing

I found a good site a while ago about how we market to GenX, i think it's kind of useful as a designer to see what kind of things appeal to this generation.

The main take home messages of this web page that is relevant to this project is that:

Lesson 1] Value sells -- and permanence, being such a rare commodity -- sells even better.

Lesson 2] While "quality time" was the much-quoted goal of boomer parents, GenXers also want "quantity time" with their kids. Bear that distinction in mind if marketing family-related goods and services.

Lesson 3] Put those Ward Cleaver stereotypes in the shredder. Fathers have an ever-growing say in their kids' lives and day-to-day upbringing. If you ignore this social and cultural change, you do so at the peril of the bottom line.

The reasons and further explanations are on the site below. If you are interested in knowing the reasons behind these lessons take a looksie.. its pretty short.

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/apr2004/sb20040414_0567_sb001.htm?chan=search

I am now currently struggling to find what to make for the GenX dad... i have no idea.. any thoughts anyone? need to find inspiration.

Chandelier?

Just browsing the net and i found these awesome lights. Bendant Lamp...a "flat pack Chandelier" i do wonder if it really is a chandelier or just a lamp shade there has to be some definition difference between them. But i like the idea of the user being able to be part of the design process, it creates more of a sense of ownership and personalisation.

It also means that you can have various different shades made from one set! I do wonder though if you can change them when you felt like it... i assume not as the joint would eventually fatigue and break if moved too much.

I love how this light is so simple when flat packed, but so sophisticated when assembled. Beautiful design.

First blog? Project Gen X dads

It’s interesting to see how the different generations, due to the similar experiences that they lived through, respond in similar ways and have similar characteristics. That isn’t to say that we are all exactly the same as everyone else that was born and therefore lived in our generation but just how far do those similarities extend? I would really like to know.

We researched products that were aimed at Gen X dads and how the design language used was similar to the generally mainstream thought patterns: No BS, Efficient, Technology is good and so is individualism. As designers I think that the difficult part of connecting our products to the target market is translating those thoughts and ways of thinking into something tangible and emotive. I think that all the successful designers out there are able to take the ‘in-’ OUT of intangible to create tangible products that were previously just thoughts and emotions.