His latest project the interior of the Astrium leisure spacecraft will take people into space for three hours and passengers will be charged up to $265,000 for a ticket when commercial flights start in 2012. 
The name IKEA comes from the initials of its founder, Ingvar Kamprad, I and K, plus the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, which are the names of the farm and village where he grew up.
He is proposing that there is a better way to dry wet hands than the traditional hot air blowers. Can fast moving air alone dry wet hands?
Since its beginning Patagonis has run its organizatino based on principles that have come to define a sustainable business philosophy. The organization has sought to balance: societal, ecological and economic concerns while creating quality products. A sustainable business model has come to be defined as one that measures its success beyond profit and takes into account (that is measures and rewards) achieving social and environment goals.
The group brought together the panel: Paul Kusz, Associate Director of the Stuart School of Business Center for Sustainable Enterprise at Illinois Institute of Technology; Dr. Elizabeth Turnstal, Associate Professor of Design Antropology at University of Illinois at Chicago; and David Walker, of RTKL Associates - Chicago, an Architect and Urban Designer; and Ricardo Gomes, Professor and Chair of the Department of Design and Industry at San Francisco State University to discuss examples of designer's facilitating positive solutions to some of society big issues.
Though the potential has been talked about for decades more tangible evidence is coming to light on how design thinking can be used in facilitating the discovery of solutions that could effect some of the worlds most pressing problems.
There are many detractors that think the design misses the mark. I guess we will see if over time it will grow on us?
Yes, I was shocked by the suggestion, but grew to understand how dominate the digital components of many products had become in creating the value of a consumer device. At the same time manufacturing capabilities worked to cheapen the value of form as a design element that created value through appearance.
Interview Link
Its nice to see the consistent transfer of the same visual ques carried through their line of vehicles. This often indicates a recognition and value of a unified design strategy. And it successfully communicated in the form of the product it reinforces the company's brand.
Amazing as it might seem, I had a design planning class that tasked teams to look into various aspects of the emerging small plane industry in 2001. It was the same week as September 11, and no one in the class saw a value in considering any proposal that would result in encouraging more planes to leave the ground. The class petitioned for a different subject but to no avail. 
Materials and production can force compromises in a design. But in the case of ubiquitous white lawn chair, the low cost and the ease of producing its simple design from a single piece of plastic out weighted a more asethically pleasing seating solution?
I am working on developing a view of what is happening around the world in design. Its going slow but it is under way. One source that has been helpful and affordable is the magazine Monocle which reports on design and culture from far flung corners of the globe in each issue. 
Another retailer, Forever 21, the student discovered that the aspiration of many young women idealize the age of 21 and once reaching it wanted to remain there, and so incorporating the infinity symbol in the company's logo became the goal.
The company under the leadership of Steve Jobs seems to fare much better than other companies at growing a profitable and stable organization.
Time Magazine's List
The first step on the path to developing an identity package for a self-selected retailer, was to use found type (type from newspapers, magazines etc.) and images to create a 11x17" composition capturing the personality/brand of the retailer.
Design is a problem solving activity with an aesthetic component.
The design team has slice the old logo into 64 segment boxes that when rotated and placed in different configurations produces a sophisticated looking identity that will rival Tiffany's blue box.
Designed by Arne Jacobson a Danish Architect in the late 1950's. This chair with its organic shape has since come to symbolize Danish furniture design for the world. 
In the 1980's Helvetica was include among the dozen typefaces included in on Apple's computer's. And with the growth of desktop publishing it has become the most widely distributed typesfaces in the world.
This is an example of a very practical solution to a daily task. It slices as well as stores bars of butter, a wonderful answer to a problem I have each morning that I prepare buttered toast.
Recently, I stumbled into a Brooks Brothers store almost by mistake, that is to say I do not remember what lead me through their doors, but I was impressed with the level of customer service and a reasonably fashionable choice of clothing. 
And, in environments like Washington DC, where land is scarce and existing structures some over a century old run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, designing an efficienct dwelling is really appealing. 
BusinessWeek Article
The cover panel was an extension of where the first assignment left off, using an 8"x8" formating which to place the song title and artist. The facing page spread allowed the students to gain practice in setting and compsing a long string of text.
Logo History Online
Monocle Online
One of the eight concepts offered as part my (2003) graduate demonstration project on 'parking' was an automated garage system built beneath the street. In the attached article the concept has been made a reality .
The students in my Lettering, Typography and Layout class responded well to the first assignment, producing products that demonstrated their growing knowledge.
The class was ask to develop a three part series that would: 1) form a shape from a letter of the alphabet, 2) make a composition using a word that includes the earlier letter and 3) finally adding an image that supports the message of the composition.
It was a good work experience and it had a direct impact on my desire to go on to college. 
Minnesota's Public radio has looked at Design from many angles in its series: Life By Design. They use the many media tools; like video, audio and slide presentations to create and engaging forum for the discussion of the impact of design on our lives.
This professional organization has a great archive of graphic design work, thousands of examples of projects by talented designers can found.
It seems that toy design has taken a liking to computing power as much as other industries that have moved to producing electronic products . Are children less interested in the challenges of simple activities like kite flying, and are more enamored by all the remote controlled gizmo's coming to market?
Well the opportunity to teach a class on Typography, Lettering and Layout has not allowed me time to post an entry this week. Instead, I have been formulating projects that would assist my students in their understanding of graphic design fundamentals. I look forward to posting at least one of the students projects in the coming week.
