Good Design and a Smart Gift for Kids and Adults Alike

Sifteo Cubes have arrived! Long hyped as the most exciting new development in table-top entertainment, the cubes -- part Lego, part video game, part board game -- started shipping to American and Canadian customers today.The cubes are 1.5-inch, motion-aware blocks with full-color screens that wirelessly connect to a computer and can be shaken, tilted, rotated, and clicked to play a vast array of games.



www.sifteo.com

In the latest installment of their "Off Book" series, PBS explores the power of type with some of its most talented practitioners.



PBS Off the Book Series Website

Visualizing Data: What Does it Mean?

A book by Nathan Yau who writes for FlowingData, Visualize This is a practical guide on visualization and how to approach real-world data.




FlowingData Website

A Leader in Fashion Design: Natalia Allen

She share her story in the video below. Natalia proves a powerful argument for the role of a designer in creating sustainable products.



Design Futurist Website

Designing a Better Tea Experience

The second most consumed beverage behind water is tea, its preparation is now being considered and products designed in support the ritual.

Tea Time: A Conversation on Tea (NPR)

Kicker Studio:Kicker Tea Project

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The Breville One-Touch Electric Tea Maker is unique in simplifying the tea making process and is currently on the market.

Chris Conley Speaks on Design Thinking

Chris a favorite professor of mine when we were both at the Institute of Design shares his thoughts on design in the video below.

Stamp: Pioneers of Industrial Design

The USPS includes the following background information on the profession and those honored on the stamp.

"Industrial design is the study and creation of products whose appearance, function, and construction have been optimized for human use. It emerged as a profession in the U.S. in the 1920s but really took hold during the Depression. Faced with decreasing sales, manufacturers turned to industrial designers to give their products a modern look that would appeal to consumers. Characterized by horizontal lines and rounded, wind-resistant shapes, the new, streamlined looks differed completely from the decorative extravagance of the 1920s. They evoked a sense of speed and efficiency and projected the image of progress and affluence the public desired.

Consumer interest in modern design continued to increase after World War II, when machines allowed corporations to mass produce vacuums, hair dryers, toasters, and other consumer goods at low cost. Industrial designers helped lower costs further by exploiting inexpensive new materials like plastic, vinyl, chrome, aluminum, and plywood, which responded well to advances in manufacturing such as the use of molds and stamping. Affordable prices and growing prosperity nationwide helped drive popular demand.

Even as streamlining gave way to new looks in the 1960s, the groundbreaking work of industrial designers continued to transform the look of homes and offices across the country. Today, industrial design remains an integral component of American manufacturing and business, as well as daily life.

Frederick Hurten Rhead
Frederick Hurten Rhead helped pioneer the design of mass-produced ceramic tableware for the home. He is best remembered for the sleek Fiesta® line (shown on the stamp) introduced by The Homer Laughlin China Company in 1936.

Walter Dorwin Teague
Known as the “dean of industrial design,” Walter Dorwin Teague believed that good artistic design fit both form and function into a single aesthetic package. During his career-long collaboration with Eastman Kodak Company, he designed several popular cameras, including the 1934 “Baby Brownie” (shown on the stamp).

Norman Bel Geddes
A founding member of the American Society of Industrial Designers, Norman Bel Geddes was a noted champion of streamlining. “Speed is the cry of our era,” he once said, “and greater speed one of the goals of tomorrow.” The author of highly influential books on design and urban planning, Bel Geddes created visionary new looks for cars, trains, planes, buildings, even entire cities.

Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy arguably did more to define the look of modern America than perhaps any other industrial designer. Loewy created the distinctive look of Air Force One and worked with NASA on the interiors of America’s first space station, Skylab. In 1971, he created the logo for the newly formed U.S. Postal Service, and his designs have appeared on several postage stamps.

Donald Deskey
Donald Deskey is best known for the lavish Art Deco interiors he designed in 1932 for Radio City Music Hall in New York City. However, he was also one of America’s most innovative industrial designers. A founding member of the American Society of Industrial Designers, Deskey was instrumental in winning public acceptance for modern design.

Gilbert Rohde
Gilbert Rohde was one of the most influential and innovative furniture designers in the U.S. His designs for Herman Miller in the 1930s and 1940s were based on simplicity and practicality and marked the beginning of modern design at the company.

Greta von Nessen
Greta von Nessen specialized solely in lighting, and none of her designs is better known than the “Anywhere” lamp (shown on the stamp). Introduced in 1951, the lamp featured a tubular aluminum base and an adjustable shade made of enameled metal. This and several other of von Nessen’s lamps have been featured in industrial design exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art.

Russel Wright
Specializing in household products, Russel Wright revolutionized the way we live at home. He designed at a time when growing numbers of Americans were shedding the prim conventions of the early 20th century in favor of simple and informal practicality. During his career, Wright created affordable modern furniture and tableware characterized by minimal but elegant forms.

Henry Dreyfuss
Considered by many to be the first designer to apply ergonomics systematically to product design, Henry Dreyfuss considered the user to be the center and focus of his industrial design work. During a career that lasted more than 40 years, he designed products that touched all corners of American life, from household appliances like clocks, sewing machines, and vacuum cleaners to tractors and even the comfortable interiors of trains and planes.

Peter Müller-Munk
Peter Müller-Munk is best remembered for the “Normandie” pitcher featured on the stamp. Introduced by the Revere Copper and Brass Company in 1935, the mass-produced pitcher was made of chromium-plated brass, an alternative to silverware that was affordable and easier to care for.

Dave Chapman
Honored by the Industrial Designers Society of America for his “vigorous sponsorship and backing of design research and high standards of industrial design education,” Dave Chapman is probably most known for his innovative and award-winning designs for classroom furniture. He also designed household appliances like refrigerators, hairdryers, radios, and electric heaters. Shown at the first exhibition of the American Society of Industrial Designers in 1947, Chapman’s streamlined sewing machines (shown on the stamp) featured a chrome grille that evoked the sleek look of contemporary automobiles.

Eliot Noyes
Eliot Noyes bridged the gap between business and art, transforming the industrial design profession into more than just a commercial venture. Rather than continue the practice of changing a product’s design every year, Noyes persuaded his corporate clients to adopt long-lasting design principles instead. He is best remembered for his long working relationship with IBM, for whom he designed buildings, interiors, and a range of office equipment, like the iconic 1961 “Selectric” typewriter pictured on the stamp. He also helped IBM and other companies develop a distinct and consistent identity.

Art director Derry Noyes selected objects designed by 12 of the nation’s most important and influential industrial designers to feature on this colorful pane of self-adhesive stamps. The selvage features a photograph of the “Airflow” fan designed by Robert Heller around 1937. Denis Farley photographed the fan for The Macdonald Stewart Foundation.

Each stamp includes the designer’s name, the type of object, and the year or years when the object was created. The pane’s verso includes a brief introduction to the history and importance of American industrial design, as well as text that identifies each object and briefly tells something about each designer."

An iPad App for Type Design 101

Dong Yoon Park has produced a great tool for learning the basics of type design.

Typographic Insight - New ways of learning & teaching typefaces

The Power of Prototyping

One of the keys to the process of designing is modeling the idea. This can take a variety of shapes, but the idea is find a way to stimulate and test the idea. This will result in many discoveries (failures) before the final solution is identified.

Article: Rapid Prototyping: The Wright Way to Fail

Also check out Method's series on innovation, 10x10, from which this article is taken.

Method's "Innovation: Wrapped, Packed and Stacked"

Howest University College, (5-day hands-on prototyping course)

Rethinking Product Design Education

In 2012 the first class of the School of Visual Arts MFA in Products of Design will begin a discovery of how to best teach a product design program in the changing landscape.

"I’ve come to believe that designing the process that creates the product is way more important than the object itself."

Interview with Allan Chochinov

Steve Jobs Presents Plans for Apple's New HQs

Steve Jobs does a great job presenting the concept for a new Apple headquarters before the Cupertino's city council.



Below he describes the building itself.

A New Way to View the Food Pyramid

This new graphic clarifies Michelle Obama's effort to encourage healthy eating habits for Americans.

Choose MyPlate.gov

NYTimes Article

The plate is a great metaphor from which to base the discussion of food. It also makes the message of portion size and relationships between food groups so much clearer.

Grapic Designer: Michael Bierut

Michel describes the development of his interest in design and highlights of his career during his presentation before a D. Crit School audience.

Michael Bierut, “Designing, Writing, Teaching: Not My Real Job”.

Design History: Dieter Rams, The Father of Modern Consumer Product Aesthetics

Dieter Rams prefers being described as an architect, because of the over use of the term designer/design that has lessen the value of the word in his opinion.



Article and More Interview Videos

Furniture Design: Clear Concept

Few furniture items could serve the new nursery better than this cool dresser. The graphical elements speak to the developing mind of a child learning to store their essentials.


Training Dresser

Fashion News: Olivier Rousteing

Wow! a black (mixed-raced) man heading a fashion house in Europe I wish him the best. With a number of talented fashion types trashing and burning in the high pressured world of fashion I hope Mr. Rousteing is prepared for the riggers of the industry.

"Just two weeks ago, the 25-year-old Olivier Rousteing was one of the legions of nameless, faceless designers, patternmakers and stylists toiling behind-the-scenes at a fashion company. Now, he heads one of the most storied, influential luxury labels in Paris, Balmain, and will debut his first, hotly anticipated collection for the house this fall." - Forbes

Forbes Article: Name You Need to Know

Daily Beast Article: Balmain's Olivier Rusteing

2011 Solar Decalthon Empower House

The collaborative approach and life after the competition is the basis of a strong conceptual approach to Parson and Stevens Institute solution. All the models will be on the national mall in late September.



Department of Energy/Solar Decathlon Website

Newletter:Building Positive

NYC Taxi of Tomorrow

New York City announced the winner of its Taxi of Tomorrow competition. I must say its about time that to Ford Crown Victoria is retired as a taxi. Hopefully, other city's will follow New York's lead.

NYC Taxi of Tomorrow Website

Video of New NYC Taxi

Fashion Design: Alexander McQueen a Master at His Craft

It was only after his death in 2010 that many outside of the fashion world including myself began to hear of the influence and talent of Alexander McQueen.

The power of his skills are now being celebrated at a Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition and more recently at the annual fashion gala at the Costume Institute. From what I have been able to understand, McQueen was both a skilled craftsmen, designer and performance artist, a very rare feat to master.





Exhibition Review

The New Yorker Magazine Review

NYTimes Review



More photos

Now is the Time for Electric Mobility

Now that electric car are being produced for the mass market and a gallon of gas is fast approaching $5 a gallon, the tipping point for all things mobile is moving to electric power.

From bikes to motor cycles more products are being made for the plug-in and go crowd.

Brammo Electric Dirt Bikes

NYTimes Article: Electric Car Proved Useful after the Disaster

Article: How is the transition to electric cars going?

Wired Article: Electric Superbike

Marc Newson Thinks Design is Easy

In the attached article one of this generations most successful product designers explains how he experiences design.

His latest creation is the RFID luggage tag. So if you would like to track your luggage now you can.


WSJ Article

Super Light Athletic Shoes from Addias

The design team at Addias kick started the design of their super light weight basketball shoe not with sketches but prototypes, using scissors glue and strips of material as the starting point.

Article: Fast Company

Article: Wired Magazine

Video: The Making of the Eames Lounge Chair

The quality of the craftsmanship is as beautiful as the chair itself.

Article: Design Gets More Diverse

"Economically, design was defined by standardization, and the need to exploit economies of scale by making huge quantities of the same things.

Design is becoming more eclectic, but surprisingly slowly in some respects. Digital technology has eroded the economic benefits of standardization. And design increasingly reflects the cultural diversity both of its established Western markets and expanding ones in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where a new generation of designers is emerging. Those designers are defining their own approaches, which are influencing their peers elsewhere.

Designers of color are benefiting from these changes, not least because design is largely a meritocratic profession. It is tough for everyone, especially at the top. No designer secures a sought-after job like Mr. Boateng’s, or coveted international commissions like Mr. Burks’s, without talent, courage, charisma and determination, but they do tend to be judged on performance.

“Of course some inequality still exists, but I’ve never personally felt discriminated against,” Mr. Burks said. “I would hope that the color of my skin doesn’t change the way people see my work, or in any way change the voice or impact my work can have.”

“I really haven’t encountered any problems,” Ms. Anderson added. “When I worked at The Boston Globe way back, someone at the front door asked if I was a messenger. I thought: ‘Are you kidding?’ Every person of color has ridiculous stories like that. But I don’t think the creative industries focus on the color issue as much as others may. It’s all about talent and your ability to communicate effectively.”"

NYTimes Article by Alice Rawsthorn

Type Designer: Erik Spiekermann

Type is about rhythm and space according to Erik Spiekermann.

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Automobile Designer: Ralph Giles

Ralph Giles is leading the pack of the new generation of car designers. Focusing on the needs and desires of the end user, understanding business strategy and maintaining an aesthetic sensibility is the quality of this generations design leaders.

Designer: Eddie Opara

Wow! The newest partner of the most prestigious design firm in the world is also its youngest and he happens to be black.

Audio interview

Designer of the Apple Logo

Rob Janoff has the distinction of having designed the logo of arguably the most successful technology company of this generation, Apple Inc..

Interview with Rob Janoff

Social Media's Challenge

Social media has lowered transaction and collaboration costs and enhanced people's capability to collaborate. Hierarchical leadership models are becoming more and more outdated, stalled and failing. The Industrial Age and its institutions have run out of gas. In short, Tapscott says, we are facing nothing less than a turning point in human history, and this creates friction, of course. The huge challenge for us now is to shape this emerging open network paradigm which, to many in charge, seems to lack structure and organization. There is no easy answer in how our societies and businesses can deal with the challenge of rebuilding themselves along this new model of networked intelligence. We do know the principles though -- collaboration, openness, sharing, interdependence and integrity, and you may want to see the presentation or read Tapscott's new book Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World to understand how these principles are currently starting to be applied in business and government. -core77

Design Knowledge Online Community: Design Boost

Design Boost Website

Fifty Famous Designers and the Books That Inspire Them

Designers and Their Books

Toy Design: Hot Wheel Video Car

Toy cars provided me hours of enjoyment as a child. Hot Wheel's new car that video records and plays back the car's environment as it races down the track is "way cool" and promises to add value to the experience.

Where is Hip Hop Cover Art Going?

Does the latest Kayne West/ Jay-Z collaboration mark a shift in the aesthetic direction of the genre.

Both artist have been consciously pushing the art form to a new levels of respectability and acceptance with much critical acclaim.

The cover art of H.A.M. was created by the Italian born designer Riccardo Tischi as was Kayne's most recent CD's cover, Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Design's Strategic Advantage Applied Results in Apple's Rise

Apple has achieve a milestone by surpassing MicroSoft to become the most value technology company in the world. Now with a market valuation of over $300 billion Apple is now the most valuable company in the world being second to Exxon Oil.

What is Design?

Charles Harrison tackles the question, what is design? during an interview on the Smithsonian Spotlight series. Design is a thought process, not necessarily a product or a picture...

Postage Stamp: American Industrail Design

A limited edition postage stamp will be available this summer commerating the golden age (30's - 50's)of product design.

USPS 2011 Stamp Releases Link

Book: Designing Media

Where is the internet taking media? This question is considered in the many interviews that makes up the substance of Bill Moggridge's latest book.





Review of the book

The Video Interviews

Article: ...Can Designers Save the Newspaper

The Challenge of the New - Once Upon a Time There Came Along the Book

Embracing a new technology is a challenge for many of us, but a good coach, a well design product and an open mind can make it a little easier.

Product Design: Electric Snow Blower for Urban Dwellers

It was nice to discover that a great new product has reached the market that is affordable, well designed and a durable snow blower before any significant snow has fallen.

This electric snow blower is idea for snow fall greater than 2", and its 12" wide mouth can quickly clear my and the neighbors walk way with minimum physical effort. It compact size and electric (clean energy) motor allows ease storage.

The only comparable product I found was by Toro, but it was more expensive and its construction appears less durable.

Amazon Link

Medical Device: Mobi Legs

Few things inspire a designer more than being forced to use a poorly design object. This seems to be the case with the redesign of the crutch, called Mobilegs.

After product designer Jeff Weber broke his heel placning him for several weeks on crutches he had time to consider the flaws of the object and to propose a thoughtful solution.

Mobilegs Website

Beautiful Architecture: IAC Building by Frank Gehry

On a recent trip to NYC I was struck by the attractiveness of the first NYC building design by Frank Gehry. Its glass facade changes color and opacity as it responses to its external environment.

IAC Building Website

Design Classics comes to the iPad

The content of the three volume design conpendium "Design Classics" has come to the iPad which allows more flexibility to accessing to the wealth of design content.

IDSA's Design of the Decade Awards

The Industrial Designers Society of America has announced its selections of designed products that have best demonstrated the professions influence at adding value at the nexus of culture and business.


Designs of the Decade Winners

Digital Artist /Graphic Designer: Justin Van Genderen

This Chicago based designer is producing note worthy work.

Website: 2046 Design

LA Weekly Interview

Design Education: Where Do We Go from Here?

AIGA's Design Educators conference explored how design education should change to better equip students to be functional design professionals in the 21st century.

AIGA Conference Website

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The Design Observers Group Reflection on the Coference

Design History: Who is Eliot Noyes?

A pioneering advocate for design in 20th century corporate behemoths like IBM, Mobil Oil, Westinghouse and Cummins Engine Company.

An architect,designer and businessman Noyes worked for Gropius and Breuer, served as MoMA’s first director of industrial design, led Eliot Noyes and Associates, and lived his prescription that “Design is a means by which you see yourself and a means by which you express yourself to others.”

As the first industrial curator at MOMA, his design competition introduced the world to Charles Eames, Saarinen and other budding design talents.

Book Review

Beauty and Function: The Mark Albrecht Desk

This is a strikingly beautiful piece of furniture. The clean lines, durable construction and rich materials (leather desktop) makes this an object of desire, at least for me.



More Images

The Story of Eames Furniture

The authors of the latest book on the Eames LA office discuss in the video how the organization came to be and their first hand knowledge of the people and workings of the group.



The Book: The Story of Eames Furniture

Product Design/ New Business Model: Tik Tok

This is cool as a product extension, but also as a innovative business model. Apple's Nano music player is creatively integrated into to a wrist band thus extending its use as a multi-touch watch.

The Chicago based product design firm MINIMAL has developed a plan for financing the production of this idea to the public. So if you wanted to be a venture capitalist here is an opportunity to seeded a new idea.



Funding Options

MINIMAL's Website

NYTIMES Article: An iPod Watch Project Explodes Online