Design Critic: Alice Rawsthorn

Alice Rawsthorn writes a weekly column on design for the International Herald Tribune.

She has access to a design world that can lend to general insights and identifying trends but you can decide if she is mining any new ground.

What is Good Design?

Package Design: The Bar Code

I really like the visual quality of barcodes, if I were to consider getting a tattoo it would make use of the same graphic elements (e.g. lines using positive and negative space maybe with an eye readable pharse underneath).

This tracking tool has become a fundamental component of all packages, providing essentail information to allow effiecent business processing of all kinds.

History of the Bar Code

More History

How it Works

Product Design: Puma's Bike for Urban Environs

I came across this bike in downtown Washington DC and thought it was unique. In the city where space is a premium this collapsible solution offers a few real advantages, like storage within a home closet. It also addresses another issue - traveling with a bike. It would be so much more convenient to store this inside the trunk of my car on my next trip to NYC.

It comes in an 8 or single speed version for about $800.

Puma Online

Design History/ Exhibition: Shaping the Future

The National Building Museum here in DC has a wonderful exhibition on the work of Eero Saarinen (b.1910-1961) called "Shaping the Future" running through August 2008.

Eero's work was part of the maturing modern aesthetic that explored new materials, technology and processes that ultimately soften the hard edges of modernism with the inclusion of organic forms. Major corporate projects like the IBM training, General Motors Tech Center, Gateway Arch of St. Louis, JFK and Dulles airline terminals etc. he captured the an optimistic postwar American cultural identity.

Shaping the Future

Design Policy: United Nations Report

The first report produced by the UN to seek understanding of the class of economic assets defined by images, sounds, text and symbols.

Creative Economy Report 2008

Design Thinking: Tim Brown of IDEO

IDEO, a leading product development firm, founder writes about design thinking in the Harvard Business Review (June 2008).

"The design process is best described metaphorically as a system of spaces rather than a predefined series of orderly steps. The spaces demarcate different sorts of related activities that together form the continuum of innovation. Design thinking can feel chaotic to those experiencing it for the first time. But over the life of a project participants come to see—as they did at Kaiser—that the process makes sense and achieves results, even though its architecture differs from the linear, milestone-based processes typical of other kinds of business activities."

Article :Design Thinking

Design Writer: Allison Arieff

Allison Arieff is a contributing writer on design with the New York Times, the former editor and chief of the architecture magazine dwell, which still remains as one of the four magazine subscriptions I maintain.

She is also the editor of several books on art and culture, including Airstream: A History of the Land Yacht, Hatch Show Print: The History of a Great American Poster Shop and Pre Fab.

Book:Pre Fab

Design Opportunity: Improving the Airline Experience

Anyone that travels by plane knows that the experience has become less pleasurable with each passing year, with few exceptions. It can be predicted that the latest fuel cost increases will be felt by negatively by consumers as airlines cut more services.

Virgin Air and to a lesser extent Jet Blue have used design in planning its business and ensuring a reasonably comfortable experience is maintained.

Article: Fear of Flying

Time Magazine: Design 100 for 2008

Annually, Time scours the planet to pull together their list of what's happening in Design.

Design in it broadest sense continues to be covered within the pages of an expanding number of publications that compile similar lists including The New Times, Fast Company and BusinessWeek.

The Time's List

Progressive Architecture in China

The New Yorker magazine's architect critic, Paul Goldberg describes two of China's new structures built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the most innovative on the planet.

"At least two of the buildings on the Olympic Green—the National Stadium, by the Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, and the National Aquatics Center, by the Australian firm PTW Architects—are as innovative as any architecture on the planet, marvels of imagination and engineering that few countries would have the nerve or the money to attempt. The Chinese, right now, have plenty of both. These buildings, some of the most advanced in the world, are made possible partly by the presence of huge numbers of low-paid migrant workers."

Audio Review by Paul Goldberger

NYTimes Article

New Yorker Review

Slide Show

Structure and Images of the National Swimming Center

NPR Article/Audio

The ArchitectIntreviewed

Video Game Design/ Business Strategy

The success of Nintendo's Wii gaming system has been a demonstration of user centered product design. Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft introduced updates to their gaming systems in the summer of 2006. Both Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox redesign emphasized high end technological advancements in picture quality for the hardcore gamers; whereas Nintendo focused on interactive features (i.e. bowling, tennis..) that made gaming more accessible to families.

The market place has decided that Nintendo's strategy is a winner based on consumer demand and sales figures. This summer Nintendo extends their brand into the fitness arena with the introduction of Wii Fit software and balancing board.

Time Article

USA Today Article

The Designer

NY Times Article

Video Review of Wii Fit

Design History: The Brannock Foot-Measuring Device

There is something very appealing about the industrial quality of this classic tool used to measure one's shoe size.

It may just be my fond memories of shopping for back to school clothing and shoes in my youth.

More History

The Growth of a Young Designer: Garth Roberts

After winning the best new furniture piece of 2006 by Elle Decoration France for his table - RAW (pictured below), Garth Roberts has been busy shuttling between continents establishing himself as a hard working designer looking to make a lasting impact on the world.



Metropolis Interview

Threelayercake Interview

National Design Musuem 2008 Awards

It was nice to see a friend and mentor, Charles Harrison, receive recognition for his contributions to the profession of industrial design by being honored with the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Cooper Hewitt 2008 Awards

Chicago Sun Times Article

MoMA 's Design Curator Explains Her Latest Exhibition

Paola Antonelli shares her view of the role of design and its potential to aid our acceptance of technological innovations, science and the future. She is truly a design thinker, and clearly articulates where the designer fits within society.

Slide Show of: Design and The Elastic Mind

A Better Fly Swatter

Mexican born, product designer José Rodrigo de la O Campos brings his cultural knowledge to bear when designing an attractive solution for eliminating flies.

"The use of a plastic bag full of water hanging from the ceilling of several taco kiosks on the streets, is a traditional way to scare flies away in Mexico. The refraction of the water, amplifies the colors and movements for the sensible eyes of a fly reflected on this sphere, scaring it away."



José Rodrigo de la O Campos web site

Milan's Furniture Fair

I didn't get to attend the world largest furniture design show, but a friend (Keith Parker) did so I am still waiting for his first-person account of the show.

Video Review

And so until then, the reviews provided by the press will have to do.

"The dominant theme at the fair might best be described as survivalist: in piece after piece, designers explored how they can help us (and themselves) navigate the perils of contemporary life — in particular, the big problems of recession, environmental crisis and design’s neurosis about its role in a saturated consumer culture."

NYTimes Review


"...every so often a new chair comes along that confounds the cynics by proving its worth. The latest contender is the MYTO, a plastic chair, which is strong, comfortable, light, stackable, compact and comes in a coolly angular shape that is made from a single piece of plastic using (eco-responsibly, of course) the minimum material possible. In short, it's just about everything a new chair should be."

MYTO Chair

Design Director for NYTimes.com: Khoi Vinh

I've noticed some graphic elements like the colorful illustrations (see below) that run along side some of the feature articles that appear to be the handy work of a design professional. I wonder is it Mr. Vinh's?

"As design director, Mr. Vinh leads a group of 11 visual designers, information architects and design technologists in continually improving and extending the user experience at NYTimes.com. Mr. Vinh also writes and lectures extensively about design and technology, and serves on the national board of directors for AIGA, the professional association for design."


NYTimes Profile

Khoi Vinh Website

Student Design Competition: AIGA -DC

The local (DC) chapter of the professional graphic design organization AIGA is sponsoring its first design competition for student in the metro area.


Competition Details

AIGA-DC Website

Design Problem: How to Accomodate the New Oddly Shaped Toothbrush?

Well this very question followed me through graduate school.

My first design assignment during my foundation year (2001) brought the issue of storing toothbrushes to light. My early solution focused on protecting toothbrushes from contamination.

But, it was two years later that I returned to the opportunity to refine my solution to also address the changing needs of consumers by focusing on the varying shapes of brushes as well as the increasing variety of interior configurations.
(see prototypes below)

NYTimes Article

Fashion in Context

I came across this photo on a fashion blog site (see below) and thought that it reflected how fashion can work in concert with the environment within which exists. In this case the connections are obvious.

Here the graftti scribed walls of NYC are juxtaposed to the cool posture and stare a young man dressed in a hoodie and baggy faded jeans capturing the young urban aesthetic oh so well.

Fashion Blog

Architect: David Adjaye

It is rare that an architect becomes known beyond their profession and national boundaries, but David Adjaye is on his way to achieving international recognition for his designs.

This African born European trained designer has secured major comissions on this side to the pound, like the Denver Musuem of Contemporary Art (lower right corner).

Interveiw with David Adjaye

Dwell Interview

Adaye Associates

Rebuilding the Lives of the Frustrated and Bitter in PA

Here is a great story of the power of a vision and the creative arts to transform the lives of displaced people.



Video: Bill Stickland

Design's New Influence?

Style Conscious or Style Conscience? that is the question.

Product design has traditionally been very focused on function, in that aesthetics (in the sense of style for style sake) had a limited influence. But since the turn of the century the art world has placed an increasing value on the work of product designers. In particular product designer Mark Newson whose Lockheed Lounge chair recently became the highest priced item made by a living designer sold at auction.

Article: Style Conscious or Style Conscience?

Contest Winner: Reactiv - Cycling Jacket

James Dyson, the British Industrial Designer and creator of the Dyson vacuum continues to influence international design community.

His annual design competition recently awarded it top prize to the Reactiv cycling jacket that uses LCD lights to indicate the actions of a cyclist: braking, turning etc. Wow! what a great idea.

James Dyson Award

James Dyson Foundation

Dyson's School of Design Innovation

User Centered Design: The Role of the Researcher

The profession of Design continues to expand as a response to the complexity that often comes bundled with new technologies, as well as the insatiable desire of companies to penetrate ever more diverse markets.

As such new professional opportunities appear in the design process, hybrids if you will, such as the design (user) anthropologist. The article below describes the role of the researcher in providing insight into the lives of users that can then be included in the development of products.

NYTimes Article

Why Ethnography?

A Case Study: When Technology Fails to Count

It is interesting to see the project that help persuade me that working within the public sector offered opportunity for design professionals fails so miserably.

What I have found is that there is plenty of opportunity, but that the organization itself must be taught how to leverage the value of design professionals to assist in the achieving its goals. This is no small task in any large institution, but federal agencies present a unique challenge.

So as the finger pointing intensifies I will not attempt to speak as I know all of the reasons why the program (to collect data from people living in this country with a small hand held computer will not be implemented) but I can speak to the possibility still being entirely achievable. Though it will not happen in 2010 as hoped the agency is further along than five year ago.

From my point of view, I would simply say that the strategy that focused on retro-fitting a commercial product to fit within the very specific needs and requirements of a census environment created was a faulty one.

In other words, the program would have had a much greater chance of succeeding if the strategy had focused on developing a product specific to the needs of the organization. The lesson for designers, get to know and understand your users; and for organizations technology is not the complete answer but how and what technology should be used. It is this latter lesson where designers talents are best suited to synthesize then shape products that people/organizations can use.

Wired Magazine Article

Popular Science Article

Logo Design

The center piece for Al Gore's newest campaign against global warming is a logo developed for the Alliance for Climate Protection, a advocacy group found with proceeds from his Nobel prize money.

Based on the context of how it will be used (as described in the NYT link below) the 'we' seems like an appropriate solution.

NYTimes Analysis

The Martin Agency

Designer : Frank Tyneski

I met Frank Tyneski at a design conference last year, a very talented designer and now the executive director of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).

Here he talks about the changing landscape of mobile phones.

Logo Design: Washington Capitals

Washington D.C.'s hockey team the Washington Capitals new logo caught my eye as being an effective redesign of the teams logo.

The logo leverages national symbols: the eagle being the most dominate along with the colors red, white and blue supporting the reference to the position of the city as being the nation's capital. The color blue is given the shape of a "W" for a specific reference to Washington DC and whose center axis forms a negative space shaped to reflect the capital dome.

Washington Capitals Site

Automobile Design: The Smart Car

The hike in fuel prices has been met with increasing interest in smaller vehicles.

The smallest car now on American roads is the European "been there done that ten years ago " Fortwo Coupe (aka Smart Car) brought to the states by the Damlier Benz company.

Car and Driver Magazine

Safety Performance

Information Design: Visualizing Data

The image to the left is a product of Chris Harrison which maps 63,000 Bible cross references. His aim was simply to visualize the relationship of the text, forgoing functional possibilities for the simple aesthetics of what the cross reference create.

"The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect". Chris Harrison Website

I referenced the very same subject matter for content for a course in information design. My goal was to find a way to visualize various relationships presented in scripture so that meaning would be revealed to the viewer. Unlike Mr. Harrison my aim was to produce a functional tool for understanding.

The Death of Design by Phillippe Starck

It may sound a little mellow dramatic for a well known French product designer to utter the words "design is dead", but it is not the first time I have heard the sentiment.

Larry Kelley, professor at the Institute of Design uttered the same phase in 2001 during my design planning class. Yes it puzzled me, especially because this was news to me having had returned to school at great expense to study the very profession that I was being told was in its last throws.

What I have come to understand about these pronouncements is that they are true to an extent. The profession of design is shifting as is most things due to the far reach influences of technology and the rapid pace of globalization, just to name two factors. So Starck being the old school form focused product design, now looks at his creations as stuff that is ripe for landfills, is underestimating the value creating potential that design still offer the world.

Design's contribution in the 21st century is less about the shape of a physical product but how it contributes to shaping the life experiences of users. Lifestyle products like the proposed iFitness system (digital product)Apple is said to be developing is the new front of design. So in that regard Starck is missing the forest because he is focused on the trees.

Article on Starck

NYTimes Editoral

starck's Website

Designing Digital Products: iFitness Software

There is speculation that Apple is planning a interface like iTunes that would add value to owning an iPhone/iTouch.

This software platform would allow the planning and tracking of fitness routines among other things. Ninetendo's Wii added a fitness component (Wii Fit) that has extended the value proposition of its gaming system as would an Apple designed lifestyle package for its iPhone platform.

Up to this point the existing fitness monitoring systems which I am aware of are limited and/or expensive. Suunto offers a watch, heart monitor and software that tracks overall fitness, but is limited only to PC's which I have found it to be buggy and is not worth the headache. So I would welcome it if Apple designs a usable system of lifestyle that allow archiving fitness data.

Apple Insider

Product Design: The Flip Digital Video Recorder

Here is a idea whose time has arrived.

The Flip, by Pure Techonologies, is a digital video recorder that addresses the needs of the YouTube generation with it focus of ease of use, reasonable cost ($150) a good mix of basic features that allows the masses to capture motion images with ease...the iPod of video cameras. And just think you can't even make a phone call with it.

The Second Generation Flip

The Flip

Video Review

Design History: The Cubicle Turns 40

In 1968 the young designer Bob Propst after years of studying the work habits of people came up with a system he believed would improve worker's productivity.

The Action Office launched by the furniture manufacture, Herman Miller, was based on the concept that if people could see their work they would be more efficient. And so, by including a series of work surface, partitions and display shelving the new office work space was born.

Fortune Article

The Man Behind the Cubicle

IDEO's Ultimate Cubicle

Seeding Innovation: The iFund

Great design use to be defined by the form of an object, but in the 21st century that definition has expanded to include the business model, interface, user experience to name a few considerations. Apple has been a master exploiting technological opportunities to fulfill consumers desires. The iPhone challenged the industry standard for cell phones and the carrier's control over the choice of plans and hardware, as the iPod did for mp3 players and the music industry's control over format and distribution.

And so, spurred by the success of the iPhone and the need for a mobile platform that can maximize the technological opportunities for wireless communication and internet access the venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) has invested $100 million to further stimulate development in support of the iPhone platform.

Interview

The KPCB Initiative

Business week Article

Design History: The Three Leg Stool

Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) a Finnish architect and designer of furniture and glassware designed a stackable stool for the Muncipal
Library project Viipuri (now part of Russia) in 1932.

Aalto played a major part in shaping 20th Century furniture. Though his work was based on the Modern Movement his designs demonstrated a sensitivity for people, materials and imagination.

Aalto is remembered for humanizing the age of the machine.


Alvar Aalto

Packaging Design: Lighting up the Retail Shelf

Finding cleaver ways to keep a product from getting lost on crowded retailers shelves is part of what make a package design successful. Here is a case where technology is used to call attention to itself using light emitting diodes within the packaging to light the product.

NYTimes Article

Designers Salary Survey

The one bright spot in the survey is that design managers are paid well in comparison to the other design professionals and that their salaries continue to rise. The hope is that this reflects an increasing appreciation for their skills in aiding an organization to remain viable in a competitive marketplace.

Survey

Logo Design: How Google Got its Color

The designer, Ruth Kedar, of one of the most recognized logo's developed in the last decade explains how the logo changed before its final design.
Wired Article

Google 10 Year Anniversary

Exhibition: Design and the Elastic Mind

This show(Feburary 24 to May 12,2008) organized by MoMA's Paula Antonelli takes a look at the intersection of design and technology providing both micro and macro perspectives on the opportunities just around the corner.

NYTimes Article

MoMA Site

Designing Overseas

The following article highlights the point that gaining international experience is invaluable and if you can, just do it.


Article

Scot Laughton's Website

Fashion Design: The Question Still Remains

It is my opinion that fashion design is unique aomng the design professions, because it is affected by so many subjective influences it falls in a gray space between Art and Design.


Beyond my personal opinions, each year the compliants about NYC Fashion Week seem to repeat themselves and don't move far from past traditions.

But this year Sean John (aka: Puffy) is planning a show that will only feature models of color. This is in contrast to the runway shows of most every other designer showing in NYC, Paris and Italy. The complaint has been voiced for decades that models of color are rarely used during these fashion events. And so, it is a hiphop mogul who is hightlighting the narrowness of the conventional wisdom that shapes so many shows and how it doesn't reflect the potential of the marketplace.

Backstage Video

Sean John (Combs) Profile

Article: Backstage with Sean Combs

Article: The Independent

Vogue Italia - Black Spring

Multi-Media Design: A Different Type of Political Approach

Communication Design has replaced Graphic Design as the term that best describes the opportunity for designs to convey a message.

Technology has expanded the number of tools designers can leverage to reach an audience.

Here is a different type of campaign advertisement that effectively uses words, music, and graphics elements to reach a generation of voters through the internet. The target group could very well change the political direction of the country if they are moved to participate in this year elections.

Yes We Can Video

An Analysis of the Video

Time Article

Design Strategy: Apple's Influence

It is note worthy to follow the introduction of an Apple product and recognize the amount of free publicity it is afforded.

Their new products are met with anticipation and covered in media as diverse as can be desired: newspapers, local and national television programs, cable, online blog's etc.. This no doubt leaves other company marketing heads envious of the millions of dollars of free ink that is provided to what is sometimes a competitor.

So two weeks age when Apple unveiled its Macbook Air laptop at Macworld, an annual event crafted to present all things Apple to the marketplace. The Air, and its story as the thinnest computer on the market, is routinely given coverage in the financial media outlets because of the response the stock market has to their announcements.

The IPhone Changes the Industry

Job's Interview

Product Design: Trash Can

Once again when a common problem is addressed so gracefully it then seems amazingly obvious.

This trash can is not only attractive, easy to manufacture, easy to clean it also allows the use of different sized plastic bags and hides them from view.

Tubelor Trashcan