Things you should know by now

Moss does Bowie

2011-12-01T21:32:00.001Z

Croydon girl Moss impersonates Beckenham boy Bowie.

Like this...it's very well done

WTF picture of the week #1

2011-11-10T20:49:00.001Z

Love the furry little thing - and the koalas too...

Sorry joke was too obvious...

1 Hyde Park: The Build

2011-09-03T20:47:00.001+01:00

Amy Winehouse 1983-2011

2011-07-25T19:01:00.001+01:00

The finest performer to emerge from the BRIT School in Croydon, and another reluctant member of the 27 club.

Society and the media has made many addicts outcasts. It says a lot for the talent of this woman that so many were willing to forgive her flaws in the way they were unable to forgive the likes of Pete Doherty and Charlie Sheen.

Forget the conjecture and horror stories, just listen to that raw talent.

Gil Scott-Heron 1949-2011

2011-05-31T00:53:00.006+01:00

For future reference - effective fundraising.

2011-03-24T01:14:00.000Z

Dear BBC,
Please don't bother with Comic Relief next year.

From an entire night of entertainment, I really only needed about 8 minutes of it to convince me - the 2 clips below.

Who needs the star names and once-in-a-lifetime sketches, when you've got the best of british talent producing such beautiful and compelling moments as these?

Honest, stripped-back performance by Elbow of a song which (I feel) completely personifies what Comic Relief is trying to do.

Comic Relief is an important 'brand' in the UK, so how about having a Comic Relief single that is 'on-brand', and actually makes us feel proud of what we as a nation are doing to help people all around the world?

OK, a bit of a guilt-trip, maybe.

But why shouldn't we feel guilty? Those of us that don't donate to causes such as these?

I'll admit that I've watched Comic Relief for years without donating - this year was the 1st time that I've given directly - and it wasn't the glitz and glamour that convinced me...

Not even Kate Moss and a Teddy Bear (!!!???) could convince me

So, BBC - PAUSE, REWIND, REPEAT.

Positive marketing is overrated.

2010-11-25T14:12:00.004Z

Absolutely priceless spoof promotional tourist video for Cleveland, Ohio.

Who still uses a payphone!!??

Also check out the sequel - it is possibly even better than the first, here: Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video: 2nd Attempt

I first saw this in 'Capitalism: A Love Story', by Michael Moore, which is well worth a watch.

Giulio Cappellini speaks at the V&A - 23/9/2010

2010-09-30T00:59:00.001+01:00

During the London Design Festival, I was lucky enough to attend a forum with the legendary Giulio Cappellini at the V&A Museum in London.

After stumbling across the event, I was surprised to find that 5 minutes before the commencement, there were still seats available at a free (FREE!!!) event such as this. For anyone who booked but didn't make it - shame on you, you missed a great one!

Also present were Yael Mer & Shay Alkalay of Raw Edges, and Jay Osgerby of BarberOsgerby, who were more than willing to profess their love and admiration for their serial collaborator. Jay Osgerby even went as far to say that Giulio Cappelini is the main person responsible for the British design scene today, as well as being the most important person in design.

High praise indeed, but possibly justified for the man who jump-started the careers of, amongst others, BarberOsgerby, Jasper Morrison and Tom Dixon.

I even had the opportunity to ask him a question, of which young designers he was looking to work with in the modern day - which he skillfully sidestepped in a classic, charming, Italian manner. After spending an hour in the man's company and hearing about his great legacy, I can't speak highly enough of him.

Giulio Cappellini:
" Design equals big sellers; but good design equals long sellers. "

Don't.

2010-08-31T00:16:00.001+01:00

The best advert of the past 10 years?

Could well be... but DON'T ask me.

One Million percent so very wrong.

2010-08-23T12:04:00.002+01:00

So apparently almost 50% (over 11m) of the people watching TV on Saturday night in Britain were watching this...

The X-Factor - a show so toxic that they were forced to put the X in front to remind parents to put the kids to bed before it starts, for fear of permanent, irreparable damage to their idea of what the word 'ambition' truly means.

More of the usual from Cowell & Co., but with a new twist - they have started to admit that it is purely a money-making scheme, or at least I like to think they have. They now judge the contestants not only on their singing ability, but also on their image, marketability, and how many phone votes they think they will get.

Obviously this has always been the case, but they have just begun to vocalise it during the show, through the mention of this phantom 'like-ability' characteristic that so many seem to possess. The problem is that the 4 judges really need to look up the word 'likeable' in the dictionary, as they seem to have no clue about how to use it.

10 things the X-Factor mistakes for 'like-ability':

scantily-clad 23 year-old girls
telling everyone it's your dream
crying on stage
having an average voice, but also having a 6-pack (which you're happy to reveal when commercially appropriate)
teen mums
single dads
having a 'crap job' (bin-man, cab driver, England team football manager), but still managing to scrape together your bus fare to the audition
a funny hat
being from an ethnic minority
being 'far too weird-looking to have a decent voice' - AKA Susan Boyle

The X-Factor is dressed up as a rags-to-riches fairytale, with Cowell as the fairy godmother willing to grant your wish of super-stardom.

In fact, what it really is, is a hideous Pyramid Scheme whereby contestants invest an ever-increasing amount of their personal resources and emotions, until they end up 3 years down-the-line spending 3 weeks on I'm A Celebrity... with Bananarama and Big Keith from The Office... if they're lucky.

P.S. I watched it and I loved it - which terrifies me.

Lump of PlayDoh speaks to Justin Timberlake shocker!!

2010-07-16T16:48:00.007+01:00

This sums up Cameron (and a lot of modern day politicians) completely...

Piggyback on the latest buzzword;
get 'down' with the kids using (relatively) new technology;
distance yourself from the 'fuddy duddy' culture of "people who say that people aren't really interested in politics, not interested in participating";
read pre-prepared, cliched drivel;
leave with a smart remark, showing yourself as a 'cool guy'.

He may as well have said: "Yo M-dog, next time you're in the L-D-N, best holla at me homeboy!"

... I apologise - but trust me it's only a matter of time.

Also, check out Zuckerberg's face from 0:18-0:30, as he watches Facebook's share price plummet as a result of this massive charade he is partaking in.

I'm just off to throw up...

BoJo has lost it.

2010-06-25T23:42:00.000+01:00

I am not ashamed to say (I am a little) that I was a big supporter of Boris Johnson as London Mayor when it first happened. I liked that he wasn't satisifed to just sit back and let things happen in front of him; he wasn't a 'YES MAN' and would say what he really thought, even if it wasn't in agreement with David Cameron.

However, during one train ride today - in one newspaper, I read 3 different stories that made me almost certain that I want someone else in when the vote comes around.

1. Boris refuses to erect screens around London to show England football matches
The reason for this is that it would "attract crowds" (DUH!!??) which could be difficult to control. The fact that the same thing has been organised with no trouble by the councils of Bristol, Manchester and Leeds only compounds the disappointment of England fans.

2. The Olympic Orbit Tower
It will cost £19m, and will tower above the 59 metre-high Olympic Stadium in Stratford. Most of this money no doubt has been thrown at Anish Kapoor, who is designing it.

On top of that, it will interfere with the television signal for thousands of people in East London, which may mean that a new antenna will need to be installed to rectify the issue. Nothing like rewarding tax-payers, eh?

3. WiFi on the tube
Boris is looking into installing WiFi and phone base stations on the underground system of London, meaning that commuters will be able to use their BlackBerries, mobile phones and laptops while travelling.

I honestly cannot think of anything worse. As if the tube wasn't bad enough already on hot days such as these, who wants to hear inane conversations and the tap-tap-tap of a computer keyboard, hurriedly sending e-mails to all and sundry. And don't even get me started on Twitter...

Boris himself has said: "There are big technical difficulties. It's very expensive." and plans to have 'quiet carriages' where mobile phones are not allowed - yet more infrastructure required to facilitate something I'm sure not many people want. And forgive me Boris, but didn't we already have 'quiet carriages'?

I find it quite liberating to know that when I descend below London's streets, I am uncontactable, if only for 10 minutes...

Sorry Boris - you've lost my support if you carry on like this...

Words I don't understand (but like the sound of).

2010-06-25T22:44:00.004+01:00

My music tip for this summer:

I'm usually not into this kind of thing - but it's one of those that just repeats in your head on loop. Try to ignore the stupid DJ.

Also an oldie but goodie:

Makes me feel like a rock-star every time I'm walking down the street with it on... which is a big leap for me!

Jonathan Ive - Fashion Icon.

2010-06-10T21:00:00.000+01:00

Brilliant!!
http://teqnolog.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/jony-ive-hasnt-changed-his-shirt-in-a-decade/

Just as I thought - Jony's coming up with all the amazing ideas and Apple are paying him peanuts!!

Can we please have a whip round to get Mr Ive a new t-shirt?

I would gladly be temporarily dutch for one of these.

2010-06-07T21:56:00.003+01:00

Inspired by the upcoming World Cup...

These t-shirts by dutch creative studio Wonder Years are so clever and cool.

Apparently it's only a student project though, with no plans to go into production - BOOOOO!

Even though the dutch aren't my favourite nation, I would still love to have one.

It's reflection time.

2010-05-22T21:13:00.002+01:00

A song to live your life by... beautiful song

On a similar note, the words in this one may strike a chord with a few people.

Really smart, poignant lyrics. However pompous this might sound - to me, this song comes as close as I have heard to a way of articulating what heartbreak and resilience is.

Which one are you?

2010-05-14T23:00:00.006+01:00

How many of us recognise these 'designer types'? click here

I honestly don't think I fit into any of them though - which is a bit weird (but also a bit of a relief).

I have definitely met all of them though...

Ugly, Unnecessary, Stupid.

2010-05-07T23:22:00.001+01:00

A quick comment also on the scenes that went on after the game.

This is how it really happened - regardless of what is written by the BBC and Sky Sports...

When the final whistle went, there was a complete outpouring of emotion - from fans and players. As the players celebrated in front of their own fans, some foolish Palace fans (about 50-70) thought it would be a good idea to get on to the pitch to join them.

This seemed to somewhat annoy the locals, who sought vengeance for what was perceived on many forums I've read as 'taking the mickey' by being on 'their pitch'.

Fans and players were attacked, with some running down the player's tunnel, trying to be followed by about 1000 mindless fans.

My verdict is:

any fan (Palace or Sheffield Wednesday) who went on the pitch was stupid and wrong to do so - it could only ever have one outcome
to attack opposing players is unforgivable - we can't ban Eric Cantona for attacking a fan in the 90's, but then accept the reverse situation
I hope that everyone who went onto the pitch is punished by being banned from attending football matches for a very long time
from what I saw, South Yorkshire Police (in riot gear might I add) were completely ineffective in all corners of the stadium - inquiry and much training needed

Don't let hooliganism creep back into football, it needs to be nipped in the bud before it returns. If this has to be at the expense of my club, then so be it.

Best day.

2010-05-07T22:56:00.001+01:00

After taking some time to recover from and digest what actually happened on Sunday at Hillsborough, I have decided to finally do a post on it. It was here that my supported football team, Crystal Palace, played against Sheffield Wednesday, with possibly the very future of the club on the line.

I have read many conflicting views about what went on, what was fair/unfair, who were the best team, who was to blame for the ugly scenes at the end, etc. So this is how I saw it, from very close to the action.

First of all - what a great match...end of. The best atmosphere i've ever been involved with, and although dreadful to watch at times, was everything you could ever want from a football match (and some you don't want):

1. Passion
I will always have maximum respect for anyone who travelled all of that distance to Sheffield on a brisk day in early May. I can vouch for the fact that it was very difficult to wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning to catch the coach, but it was all well worth it in the end!

The 5,700 Palace fans who made the journey never stopped singing, from start to finish - at times (I'M SURE) drowning out the 30-odd-thousand Sheffield Wednesday fans. The way we stuck together this season makes me proud to be a fan of the club.

2. Fire-in-the-belly
On the pitch, forgotten players rose to the occasion - running themselves into the ground and giving absolutely everything for the cause.

No question - everyone on the pitch in Red and Blue was man-of-the-match.

3. Joy
After a season where we up, then down, then up, then VERY, VERY down, the joy when the goals went in was uncontrollable. Grown men screaming, jumping, and dancing may not be everyone's cup-of-tea, but I was right there with all of them at the time.

I must confess that I completely lost my mind after we scored our goals - and I make no apology for it. I was pleased that, at least if we were sinking as a club, we were going out with a bang.

4. Heartbreak
Having to only get a draw was always going to be a difficult position to be in, and as the game got tied up again a few minutes before the end, 5,700 hearts and stomachs twisted in unison. We had been here so many times before - whatever you say about Palace, we never make it easy for ourselves.

A second may as well have been an hour, as the tension built in the last few minutes, and then...

5. Relief
In a season when it seemed as though it was us against the world, we had done it - avoided relegation at the last chance saloon when it had seemed impossible for so long.

So just for these people who tried to screw us over this season, we would like to say that you failed - you can't get rid of us that easily:

all of the referees and linesmen at the Bristol City game - for missing a clear goal that over 10,000 other people (from both sides) agreed was legitimate
the FA - for then giving our manager an unwarranted fine for passing comment on the previous incident
Roman Bednar - don't blame us for your misdemeanours. You were caught trying to buy illegal substances, now you must live with the consequences
Agilo - you'll get your money, just be patient
Simon Jordan - actually, I don't really blame you mate, but your accounting skills are lousy
Neil Warnock - hated you, loved you, now the jury's out. You need a bit more fighting spirit though - stick it out when the going gets tough
the Football League - deducting us 10 points in the middle of what had been a succesful season was below the belt, but if thems the rules...
Premiership managers - for trying to take advantage of our financial disaster by offering us peanuts for good, young players
Championship managers - for trying to get our 10-point punishment increased when it had nothing to do with you (special mention Paulo Sousa and Dave Jones)
finally, (some) Sheffield Wednesday fans - for trying to bully our players and fans in last weekend's match

RANT OVER!

Makes you question what's real these days.

2010-04-28T02:06:00.003+01:00

This is one of the many videos made by 'The Faking Hoaxer', using Adobe Suite and 3DS Max.

In my opinion, this is the most convincing, although more can be seen at the Hoaxer's Youtube channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFakingHoaxer

The fact that these powerful pieces of software have become readily available and easy to use by most people, will only increase the amount of these types of practical jokes in the future.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? ... really not sure.

Young, Autistic and Stagestruck.

2010-04-25T04:21:00.001+01:00

I've been impressed by and glued to a documentary series on Channel 4 in the UK recently. It is called 'Young, Autistic and Stagestruck', and shows the process of preparing a group of young people with autism, in order to put on a show.

It is of particular interest to me at the moment, due to my involvement with regular music therapy sessions, in which many participants have learning disabilities.

There are a wide range of challenges associated with this group, including discipline and devising a way to extract the large amount of creativity that these people have, but are unable to express.

This is dealt with in the programme, exemplifying how Andrew, 17, struggles with imaginative thought. He is unable to reflect on the past, or plan ahead for the future - he lives completely in the moment. This may sound idealistic for a lot of people, but has severe drawbacks for these people in real-life situations.

Andrew is unable to learn to drive a car; a rite-of-passage for most 17-year-olds. Although he has no physical impairment that would prevent it, he would not be able to assess potential risk factors, because of his inability to think ahead.

The best moments, for me, are when you see the small daily victories that are achieved, which would seem very run-of-the-mill for the majority of the population. Going to the cinema without the support of Mum and Dad, a first independent journey on the Tube, are among the milestones we see. The young people take it all in their stride, but it is lovely to see the pride and happiness of the parents in these scenarios, and the recognition that their children are growing up fast. The learning curve on a daily basis for autistic people is staggering.

The programme does what these types of programme should do, in that it doesn't take pity on the subjects; but instead celebrates their difference and uniqueness.

If you can, I would encourage anyone to watch it. CLICK HERE, THEN 'WATCH NOW'.

Mmmm...fudge.

2010-04-02T03:47:00.001+01:00

A post in absolute praise for the BBC for their latest cookery show, 'The Delicious Miss Dahl'.

Presented by former model Sophie Dahl (non-chef!), this show is much more than simply a formulaic how-to of recipes.

You can see that every millimetre of what appears on screen has been rigorously designed - from the utensils to the bubbling mixture (see video, below).

There has been some controversy and criticism over the choice of host, with many arguing that Miss Dahl is not a professional, and has merely been chosen as a Nigella-a-like in order to try and "sex-up" the art of cooking.

I cannot really see a link between the two shows. There is no doubt that the 'Nigella' shows were much more overtly, and blatantly, sexually-motivated in their production, and probably just about stopped short of gratuity.

'The Delicious Miss Dahl', however, is very charming and appeals to me (as a complete disaster in the kitchen) a lot more than the pretentious-ness with which I associate Nigella Lawson's style.

It is such a relaxing watch, with a great soundtrack. Whatever the food equivalent of airbrushing/photoshopping is, this must be it.

'The Delicious Miss Dahl' screens on Tuesdays at 8:30pm on BBC Two.

BOOTCAMP - Fred Deakin (Airside) - 25/3

2010-03-27T20:18:00.003Z

I attended Ravensbourne Bootcamp at 01ZeroOne in Soho on Thursday and Friday this week, an event focused on giving creatives the skills required to start up their own business after graduation.

Airside Showreel 2009 from Airside on Vimeo.

The first speaker was Fred Deakin of the band Lemon Jelly, and co-founder of Airside who work in Graphic Design, Illustration and Digital Media. (http://www.airside.co.uk/)

As expected for someone with a musical background, he was a very colourful character, who had the room in the palm of his hands with his presentation style. His enthusiasm for his work was contagious, and I got the feeling that his personality and energy regularly gives him an advantage when pitching to clients.

He seems to have also instilled a vibrant, collaborative atmosphere within the Airside studio, which must be a pleasure to work at. I learnt a lot about what it takes to start your own business, and really appreciate a lot better how much goes into doing this.

DesignWright - Jeremy Wright Talk 22/3

2010-03-27T01:06:00.003Z

Image: Rinse&Chop by DesignWright for JosephJoseph

To start this week, I attended a great talk by Jeremy Wright of DesignWright on Monday. He presented several of DesignWright's products, how they came to be, and tried to pass on his experiences to a new generation of potential designers at Ravensbourne College.

From first impressions, both Adrian and Jeremy Wright seem like ridiculously talented people. Both have studied Engineering in the past; and this can be clearly seen in their work, which makes complicated engineering feats seem as easy as finding a reason to dislike Ashley Cole.

Jeremy spoke eloquently, and with no sense of ego, about the folding colander designed for JosephJoseph. This seemed like a mammoth project, with 12 live hinges involved in the folding mechanism, and an astonishing 149 prototypes to develop the product for manufacture.

The overall feel that I got from Jeremy was that he was a modest designer, who is clearly loving the fantastic work he is doing.

I'm with stupid.

2010-03-22T01:59:00.000Z

"Stupid is the relentless pursuit of a regret-free life"

This Diesel ad is not far wide of the mark, I think, in terms of design.

As a designer, it is dangerous to go through your career basing your design principles on 'what you think you know'. This will very rarely produce a relevant and successful outcome.

That said, you have to ask the right questions to find the right answers.

Incompetence.

2010-03-22T01:23:00.000Z

What makes Royal Mail think that this can be considered a 'successful delivery'?

The postman does not know the value of what is in the Amazon package - it could be £5, or £200.

Surely the old adage of "Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself" applies here?

Things i'm loving this week #1.

2010-02-23T22:43:00.001Z

The film 'Blindness'
People you haven't seen in ages suddenly striking up a conversation with you
Learning something new every day while researching musical instruments
Playing a recorder cut in half
The fact that someone said 'WOW' when they saw my sketches
Louis Theroux does rap (the funniest show I have ever seen on TV) here and here
Having fun in the studio
All of the 'Big Swap Songs' which can be downloaded here (after you've donated, of course)

Sweet and Scary.

2010-02-20T01:00:00.000Z

Cool talk on TED: Jonathan Harris - The Web's Secret Stories

This guy Jonathan Harris has created 2 amazing interactive websites, shown in the above video.

The first is 'We Feel Fine', which gathers data from blogs around the web and presents it in the form of millions of tiny bouncing balls. Each ball represents a human emotion, and relates to a blog post by someone, somewhere in the world.

It is such a lovely piece to experience, and kind of helps to personify the internet to some extent. No longer is this information highway seen as an army of bloggers mechnically sitting at their desks writing about every inane second of their lives. We can see stories developing through this website, which gives it a really personal touch.

The second site that he has created is 'Universe', which scares the daylights out of me.

Think of Google. Now imagine that Google is a hacker that can access your personal accounts and any data that is stored on you anywhere in the world.

Now, 'Universe' takes that to the next level. Universe is your stalker. It follows you everywhere, it listens to your conversations, it watches you sleep, it hides in your wheelie bin. Universe knows everything about you - even the things that are not 'stored' anywhere.

The example given in the video (Bill Clinton) is particularly frightening. The fact that we know where this person has been, how busy they have been each day, is beginning to get into the realms of a nanny state. Of course, this is Bill Clinton, a public figure who can't really move without being tracked by someone; but imagine if this was taken to the next level, whereby we can find out what anyone is doing at a particular moment in time.

If someone managed to link Twitter, Facebook, blogs and the like into one super-application, this could come about quicker than we realise.

A victory for democracy.

2009-12-20T21:34:00.000Z

So Rage Against the Machine are the UK's Xmas No.1!!

I was surprised at how happy I was when I found out about it. It's not that I'm a huge RATM fan (I do love the "Killing in the Name" though); It's not even that I have any negative feeling towards that Joe guy.

The campaign was never against him, and was never in support of RATM. The campaign, I believe, was against Simon Cowell, who has an inordinate amount of money for someone with no discernible talent.

All the hoo-haa is that the campaign was not about music, but more about sticking it to Simon Cowell. But I look at it in this way:

19 million people watched the X-Factor final

10 million people voted in the X-Factor final

Over 5 million people voted for Joe

...yet only 450,000 bought his single

Doesn't this prove that the X-Factor is actually not about music either? Bearing in mind that probably 90% of the votes had been cast before they heard him sing the single, maybe the fact is that these voters don't actually like the song?

A theory disproved.

2009-12-15T00:29:00.000Z

Read recently that what we find attractive in a face is symmetry, and that almost nobody's face is completely symmetrical.

With this is mind, I decided to test out my photoshop skills and see what I would look like with a symmetrical face.

I'm not too sure about the result: it just seems to make my head look massive!

Always happy to disprove theories!

You are priceless. (Or is that worthless?)

2009-11-24T03:17:00.000Z

Clip credit YouTube

How cool is this?

It tells you how much you would be worth if you were gold or silver.

Questionable ethical code, but lovely idea.

IS THIS MORE DESIGN THAT IS MAKING A STATEMENT?! AAHH, MELTDOWN! Someone design a chair made of plasticine! QUICK!

Credit Card Cutlery.

2009-11-22T02:29:00.001Z

Credit Card Cutlery - remove card from holder and bend into shape for easy dining. Designed by Ineke Hans.

A bit more stylish than wooden chip forks, but i'd still rather have them any day!

Although if someone made one that you can pay with and eat with, then that would interest me. If someone doesn't do it, I will.

The future is Litl.

2009-11-14T21:27:00.000Z

Saw this yesterday on the website of Pentagram, whilst researching for my dissertation. It's the Litl Web-book, which has this 'folding-easel' look.

It is basically a stripped down netbook, with no menus; just access to your web-content. Without knowing too much about it, I think it is making a bit of a comment on the fact that we don't need to own anything on our computers these days, but simply access everything on-demand.

The videos that I have watched on it make a big deal out of Flickr, which would make sense with my theory. We now don't keep our photos private - we are posting them any place we can (Flickr, Facebook, etc.).

Every piece of kit for it looks so slick (just click here for example : pentagram.com/en/new/2009/11/new-work-litl.php#more)

Maybe my favourite is the business cards, which look and fold in the same way as the computer.

60 days until Christmas!

2009-10-26T22:51:00.000Z

Cool stool-type-thing by Out of Stock Design.

What with christmas coming up, why not get one and slide down the snowy hills. It's like a comfortable sled.

Who invited this guy?

2009-10-18T15:43:00.000+01:00

Love it. I bet he only did it to see if he could get into the newspapers or on TV.

The great thing is that this is an infinitely repeatable joke.

Stop giving your country a bad name.

2009-10-06T20:59:00.003+01:00

Now, I haven't been angry in quite a while, but seeing this today really got my goat, so to speak. As you may or may not know, Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future) is currently battling against Parkinson's Disease. I saw this video recently which is heartbreaking to watch - to see that a man so young, that you have grown up watching, is struggling bravely with the condition.

The guy they are talking about, Rush Limbaugh, is a radio host in the States. This video shows the reaction that he had to an advert that Michael J. Fox made to support a politician in their fight to increase the amount of stem-cell research being carried out in the US.

Having carried out some more research on this man, I find it hard to believe that he is still allowed to broadcast.

It shouldn't matter what Fox's political affinity is, all that matters is that he is trying to improve people's lives, and drawing attention to an issue that people are trying to sweep under the carpet. These kind of people who can't put their uneducated political views to the side and see people for what they are (who are definitely in the minority), are the ones who have given the US a bad name in the past, and it shouldn't be accepted.

New site.

2009-09-21T17:20:00.001+01:00

I have recently set up a new website to exhibit my work, at www.benlynamdesign.wordpress.com. I am also considering moving this blog to the new site, so that I can 'streamline' my operation!

I will post up a warning if I decide to do this, at which point anyone who is following this blog is more than welcome to make the transition with me.

If you want to be one step ahead and start following the new site now, simply add http://benlynamdesign.wordpress.com/feed to your blog reader.

The most enjoyable mis-use of time.

2009-09-21T17:07:00.001+01:00

Recently finished reading 'Design as Art' by Bruno Munari, and I have to say that I was amazed by it. The guy had some far out ideas, which is part of the reason why it has taken me so long to read it. It really is a page-turner, but it's usually backwards you are turning the pages, reading and re-reading each parable, just to make sure that you have understood it all.

The book is filled with his own projects, as well as his thoughts on design and the everyday-mundane. I would recommend it to anyone, not just those pre-occupied with design, as it has taken over most of my summer.

I hoped that it would help me with the writing of my dissertation, which it didn't really. Although I realised this about quarter of the way-through, I couldn't help but continue to read it, even though it would have been a lot more productive to stop.

My favourite fact ever.

2009-09-15T21:49:00.000+01:00

"If a middle-aged man is sitting in a chair with his lottery ticket 1 hour before the draw takes place, he is more likely to die than win the lottery."

Morbid, but true from Derren Brown, who successfully predicted the lottery numbers last week.

Test your awareness.

2009-09-03T13:43:00.000+01:00

For anyone who hasn't seen this, watch it. It's a commercial from Transport for London, for cyclists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4

The public gets what the public wants.

2009-08-29T02:26:00.000+01:00

YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

A genuine piece of research-based design. The Indian Sitting Style Chair by Darshan Nerkar, a design student at the Indian Institute of Technology's Industrial Design Centre. I don't want to completely rip the story from Core77, so follow the link to find out more: http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/indian_sitting_style_chair_design_14439.asp

Recently been reading 'Design as Art' by Bruno Munari, in which makes an interesting statement about the fact that designers all over the world are still designing dozens of different chairs.

He makes the assertion that this must mean that the problem has not been altogether solved, and that all of the attempts in the past have been nothing but useless, futile prototypes.

Considering that he passed away over 10 years ago, it is a mark of the man that his words still hit the nail on the head in the present day. And with no end in sight to this endless stream of chairs, i'm sure that he'll be spot-on for at least the next 10 years. Maybe in that time we will have evolved as humans so that we no longer have a need for sitting?

Crazy? Maybe.

But as our world continues to speed up, who can genuinely say they have time to sit nowadays?

How rude.

2009-08-28T17:42:00.000+01:00

This is a table at the offices of Wieden + Kennedy London. It is called 'Timetable' created for them by Ico Design and Sidekick Studios, and helps meetings to function better.

TimeTable helps meeting participants better manage their meetings by instilling a shared awareness of the passing time. It controls the meeting in an elegant and unobtrusive manner. A simple twist of a dial sets the length of the meeting at the start and a recorded voice announces, “Welcome to TimeTable”. Then ten illuminated panels appear in the surface of the table, each panel representing a tenth of the meeting time. As the time passes, panels are switched off and a sound effect is played, and once the allotted meeting time has elapsed TimeTable politely informs attendees, "This meeting is now complete, please leave the room in an orderly fashion."

Like it, but i'm sure you would be annoyed if the table interrupted you in mid-flow, just when you're giving it the "I have a dream..."

Would you Adam 'n' Eve it?

2009-08-24T19:25:00.000+01:00

"Cash machine offers Cockney slang
An ATM operator has introduced Cockney rhyming slang to a number of its cash machines in east London. People using the Bank Machine ATMs will be able to opt to have their prompts and options given to them in rhyming slang.

As a result they will be asked to enter their "Huckleberry Finn", rather than their Pin, and will have to select how much "sausage and mash" they want. Those who want to take out £10 will have to ask for a "speckled hen", while the machine may inform users that it is contacting their "rattle and tank", rather than bank.

The rhyming slang prompts will be available from five ATMs in east London for three months."

STORY COURTESY OF MSN

Es ist Funf nach Elf.

2009-08-24T18:13:00.000+01:00

Love this.

Red is my favourite, and I also think that the German one is so much cooler than the English one.

885 Euros is gonna hurt your pocket though...

http://store.biegertfunk.com/products/qlocktwo

Sustainability long-term is what we really need.

2009-07-27T23:24:00.000+01:00

Calendar system devised by Qaaim Goodwin. Found on http://www.industrialdesignserved.com/Gallery/Office-Calendar/263284
Really like the signpost-come-american mailbox-ness of it. What's more, it's reusable, and sustainable in the long run.

Read this.

2009-07-27T00:29:00.000+01:00

Found these quotes while researching for my dissertation.

Number 1 is funny, number 2 is TRUE.

…designers can make life more bearable by producing stuff that touches its audience rather than fucks them in the head. — Jon Wozencraft

Art is like masturbation. It is selfish and introverted and done for you and you alone. Design is like sex. There is someone else involved, their needs are just as important as your own, and if everything goes right, both parties are happy in the end. — Colin Wright

I'm booking my next holiday to Uyghurstan.

2009-07-23T18:13:00.000+01:00

This flag is called the Kökbayraq.

It has been seen at protests around the world in recent times, used primarily by Uygur nationalists in the East Turkestan independence movement, East Turkestan Islamic Movement and East Turkestan Liberation Organization.

Amazingly though, it is a flag without a country, since both countries it was previously attached to no longer exist or have been disbanded.

The flag has been banned in China, which seems like a strange thing to do. Doing this seems to only increase the power and meaning of the flag, defeating the object of banning it.

Less is a lot more.

2009-07-20T15:15:00.000+01:00

That's what you call thinking outside the box.
It's only a prototype, but still...

Clocks are not round.

2009-07-16T22:42:00.000+01:00

Amazing clock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeFeWINSaT8&feature=player_embedded

This is all over the internet at the moment.

Apple's goal isn't to make money (apparently).

2009-07-09T23:04:00.001+01:00

I can't believe what i'm reading. Something Jonathan Ive said at a recent event about what Apple's aims are:

"Apple's goal isn't to make money. Our goal is to design and develop and bring to market good products," he explained. "We trust as a consequence of that, people will like them, and as another consequence we'll make some money. But we're really clear about what our goals are." This focus, he continued, has driven Apple to produce only a small number of high quality products. "We try not to bring out another product that's just different," he said. "'Different' and 'new' is relatively easy. Doing something that's genuinely better is very hard."

And while Ive was clearly careful not to point fingers or name names, he was critical of companies that continue to lay emphasis on "new" rather than "better," churning out products simply in order to survive, with no thought of the impact of such rampant production. "It never ceases to amaze me what it takes to develop and bring to mass production a product," he said. "If you don't care, it's just wrong to drag so many resources and so much of people's time through that process."

To be fair, he seems like a decent, stand-up guy, but I think he's kidding himself if he really believes what he has been fed by his bosses.

Be prepared to change your mind.

2009-07-08T16:52:00.000+01:00

I am a big fan of Sam Hecht and Industrial Facility, but I saw this today, and to be honest, i'm not impressed. This is a USB hub he has designed for LaCie, and it's so bland and boring.

On the other hand, I was never really that interested in what Marc Newson did. But i've been researching about him for my dissertation and have to admit my opinion is changing quick.

He has just designed this bottle for Ajinomoto, a japanese food seasoning company. Maybe it's just the branding, but I like the aesthetic of it.

Not everything is impossible in the credit crunch.

2009-07-07T21:16:00.000+01:00

Blog about starting a design studio in the economic downturn. No time to read it now, will read it later. Leave it here for safe keeping.

http://www.fastcompany.com/tag/jennifer-bove

Making the iPhone accessible to blind people, by Bruno Fosi. One of my areas of interest for my major project next year - making products accessible to disabled users. Maybe have a rethink then...

The next big thing from Germany. (PROBABLY)

2009-07-02T00:26:00.000+01:00

Matthias Ries is a designer I found out about recently. His stuff is good, seems like he's got a sense of humour.

This might be my favourite, called Batphones, intended to help hearing in front-facing situations, like watching TV or listening to a speech from far away. At least he's got one satisfied customer(above), she looks happy with them.

And, for any destructionists (you know who you are), this light which can only be fixed by smashing it into a wall, or cupboard, or door. The other ened of this looks like Death's sceptre, which I guess makes it easier.

matthiasries.com

Simple, but effective.

2009-07-02T00:07:00.000+01:00

A brochure for Wells&More, London-based architects as far as I can make out.

This effect is achieved simply by cutting every other page by 5mm.

Nice idea.

The future is here.

2009-06-30T19:41:00.000+01:00

OH.MY.GOD - light transmitting concrete.

http://www.litracon.hu/

So you can throw those X-ray glasses away now!

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

2009-06-26T00:50:00.000+01:00

Undoubtedly the number 1 music star of the last 40 years.
Whatever you think of him, he was a musical phenomenon.
We'll never see anyone like him again.
I still can't believe it.

A real loss.

If you're Damien Hirst, you don't need to be creative to make money.

2009-06-22T22:47:00.000+01:00

Someone's re-made the iPod Mini shell, only using wood and screws. There's no glue involved, but my favourite part of it is the wooden dock.

This is a do-it-yourself kit of some of the most famous art pieces to appear in the last 20 years. There is Tracy Emin's Bed, Banksy stencils and the crystal skull by Damien Hirst.
It just proves the fact that he is a complete rip-off merchant.

Challenge convention and expectation.

2009-06-21T21:25:00.000+01:00

Project called 'Bamboolarule' by Baskerville Studio.

It is a ruler for use by Arthritis sufferers, based on the difficulties that they have picking up flat objects. It is made from steam-bent bamboo, and is used by putting pressure on the bent part, to make it flat.

Such a clever idea. Who says a ruler has to be straight?

This is 'Memory Stück' by Beta Tank.

In order to show the history of each object, a USB has been implanted into each, filled with words, images, animations and videos.

The project plays on the fact that objects have a story and a past behind them, by giving them 'digital memories'.

The collection includes chairs, irons, typewriters and tables.

Love the theory and idea behind it, and clearly a VERY preliminary prototype... I hope.

I was VERY bored.

2009-06-19T22:24:00.000+01:00

Wine decanter by Etienne Menaeau. Pointless as a product, because the pouring space is no bigger than that of the wine bottle itself. Defeats the object, leaves you sober and 2,000 Euros in the red. After that you'll need a drink!
A doodle I did yesterday. I was VERY bored. He started off as a 20 year old student who was talking at the front, and ended up looking like the guy who was sitting in front of me, a 30-something spanish tutor. I guess this shows the versatility of my drawing skills ;)

The Capital of Botswana is Gaberone.

2009-06-07T22:06:00.000+01:00

Watched this so many times in the past few days it's frightening.

Just genius...

Chase happiness, not money.

2009-06-07T21:16:00.000+01:00

About a week ago, I stumble across the SwissMiss blog, which is pretty amazing to me. Found both of these on that blog.
First is this ven diagram of 'How to achieve happiness in business' - everything is spot on. You can apply this to any walk of life.

Next is an experiment carried out by SwissMiss herself, where she gave each person attending one of her events a card, on which they were encouraged to write down what they feel they can teach other people.

I love this idea, to be used as an icebreaker at meetings and events. These 2 are my favourites:
The full set can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/creativemornings/sets/72157619285655844/with/3598410994/

Digital is replacing analogue, IN EVERYTHING.

2009-05-31T20:50:00.000+01:00

Pretty cool feature on Citroen's website, giving users the opportunity to customise their very own version of the Citroen DS Inside concept car. This is my effort.

website: http://www.dsinside.citroen.com/

Next, Twitter-on-Paper, which is a service at top.sampottsinc.com, transforming your tweets into a hand-drawn note.

Making digital things more analogue is of great interest to me at the moment, after a conversation with Martin (the guru) last week.

Finally, the new Polaroid camera, Polaroid Two.

It's a digital version of the old classic, only 5 Megapixel, but allows the user to crop and edit photos before printing them out from the camera itself.

It seems so obvious, and it was only really a matter of time before it happened. At £230, it could be a great purchase!

You can sometimes be blinded by aesthetics.

2009-05-29T20:19:00.000+01:00

Micah Maraia - Cord Management product 'Dotz'.
What a simple product! But both effective and great-looking. It would be a shame to tuck them away behind the computer unit.

Still......money for old rope.

REVIEW: Objectified

2009-05-28T19:37:00.000+01:00

'Objectified' is an independent film-documentary by Gary Hustwit, who also previously directed Helvetica. The documentary is centred on Product Design, with a large focus on our relationships, as consumers, with the objects in our lives.

Trailer:

The first words in the trailer ("When you see an object....) is the opening gambit for the entire film, and really serves as a platform from which the rest of the film grows and grows. This film SHOULD be boring, with various interviews completely filling the 75 minute duration.

However, these are interspersed with beautiful, artistic shots of those things in the world which we take for granted. This film is not simply entertainment, but also an education in how we, as designers and consumers, can change ours and other people's lives for the better.

Light relief comes in the form of the bickering Bouroullecs, the eccentric Dieter Rams and the frankly ridiculous style of Karim Rashid.

This is a film primarily for design purists, but also for film enthusiasts. The editing is astonishing, and when coupled with the industrial-themed footage and punchy soundtrack, really helps the film to flow, from San Fran, to Japan, to London, then back again in one seamless movement.

The film is on at the Barbican theatre until 4th June, maybe longer if public demand is high enough. If you have ever had even a casual dalliance with design, then this is essential viewing. It WILL change your life.

The simplest of things can provoke deep thoughts.

2009-05-25T21:55:00.000+01:00

Dirk Skreber installation at the Friedrich Pretzel Gallery in New York.

I don't like these crumpled cars as pieces of art, but they fascinate and scare me in equal measures. I also like that the cars are spotlessly clean, even though they are wrapped around a post.

T1mepeace watch by Denise Reytan. Made from stainless steel, the bracelet is designed to make the wearer "forget about time and enjoy life."

Taking the philosophy away, it is still a beautiful piece, combining old and new into one striking object.

It's always nice to see comedy within art or design.

2009-05-22T23:54:00.000+01:00

From photographer Ian Pool's 'Superheroes' collection.

Love the subversion of the ordinary and the extra-ordinary.

My favourite is Batman in the Cafe, but he also has The Hulk walking his Dog in the park on his website: ianpool.com

Inspiration has many forms.

2009-05-22T20:23:00.000+01:00

As I was trying to get inspiration today, came across this pretty cool stuff:

This is quite a nice, friendly little object, isn't it?

How about if I told you that it is used to cut a baby's umbilical cord? Just the other day, I was talking with a colleague about the fact that surgical and medical design should be ugly and unfriendly, to stop people from messing around with it. I think it is quite sinister that it has a character's face on it, staring up at the doctor as he does the dastardly deed.

Next, this bottle opener by Karim Rashid for Copco. Reminds me of a regular Karabiner, love the design of it. Ideal to be kept in your pocket for a barbecue, what with the summer fast approaching!

Told about this by one of the Product 1st Years (oh, the shame of it). Advertising campaign by Mini, making use of 'Augmented Reality'. And this is not just a made-up viral, this is actually a plausible and possible concept.

These are both by Bloomsberry & Co., who I already knew as the people behind 'Emergency Chocolate'. You've gotta love the first one, took some "cahones" to do that!This one is just so wrong though. I'm surprised there hasn't been a protest by any religious group about it yet, maybe I'll start one....

In design you create a persona, art is more your own personality.

2009-05-21T21:37:00.000+01:00

Defined my Dissertation topic this week - the 1st step in a very long process.

I've chosen a topic close to my heart, so I think it will be very easy for me to write it. I can't stop once I get going!

I'm looking into "Finding an identity as a Designer", but I haven't yet thought of a question to sum up what I want to investigate.

The first aspect of my thesis will be about the phenomenon of 'Design as Art'. This involves designers who design primarily for installations and exhibitions, rather than for people to use. As part of this I want to look at the theory of form over function, and how this crosses over into the art world. I am looking to interview an old-fashioned craftsman, who would be able to give a view on the differences and similarities between art & design, and how this may have changed in recent times.

Amongst my case studies will be pieces like this: Wheel-Stool by Marcel Duchamp and Aqua Table by Zaha Hadid.

I will then talk about designers who are using design to make a statement, bringing politics into their work. This links into art, in a sense that this was what went on a lot in the 60s, with the feeling of rebellion and making a statement, when art and music fused to "stick it to the man". I want to analyse if designers nowadays actually believe in the message they are trying to portray, or if they are just doing it to make money or gain fame.
Linking on from this, there are artists like Blek Le Rat and Banksy, the latter of whom has decided to hide his identity, whilst showing a political conscience in his art. I want to decipher how specific aspects of design affects a person's identity: working to a brief, company names, creating a brand & persona around yourself, working within a big company, working to other people's tastes.

I also want to explore the ideas of: design as a form of escapism, design as a leisure pursuit and test my own theory that:

" Art is for yourself, Design is for other people "

Just because an idea will make money, doesn't mean that it's right to do it.

2009-05-20T20:48:00.000+01:00

LEGO have just released a collection in conjunction witht the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, giving you the opportunity to recreate the great man's work in your own living room.

Or more likely lose one of the parts under the sofa, dismantle the model and end up making a crappy ferris wheel or something.

Has reminded me of my favourite piece of LEGO art, though:

Analysis is the key.

2009-05-19T21:03:00.000+01:00

Got so bored today that I started to anlayse everything that people were saying.

Here are some of my highlights:

"if you give a child too much information they will start crying" - What?!.... Oh you mean that th........WHAT!!??
"it's fashionable to be good" - well, duh.
"you are misreading what i'm saying" - well, I can't misread it if I don't understand it.
"the biggest and most important brand in the history of the world was the Nazis" - what are you talking about, have you never heard of Burger King?
"...after all, she didn't design the Holocaust!" - Hmm, interesting title for a book; 'Genocide & Scatter Cushions: Designing the Holocaust'. Idiot. No-one 'designed' the holocaust, it was just one of the worst moments in our history.
"the only thing a computer can't do is have ideas" - phew, thank goodness for that. Thought I was out of a job there for a second.

And my personal favourite:

"This is not a point-of-view from Germany, this is just what I think" - Martin you absolute LEGEND.

Hypocrisy runs riot in the UK.

2009-05-17T21:28:00.000+01:00

Went to Science Museum in Kensington AGAIN (2nd time in 2 weeks) to do some research for the Olympic project we are doing. Got some interesting conclusions from it. Here I am relaxing inside. Look pretty relaxed, don't I?

On the way back on the train, found what might possibly be my favourite leaflet.

I bet some of you haven't even got a favourite leaflet have you? Sort it out! (Ricky Gervais reference, link to video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTeB4KeeaQg)

In London, there's an election for European parliament next month, and this leaflet is trying to encourage people to vote against the BNP, who are a far-right, whites-only political group in the UK.

I'm just amazed in the way that they have decided to pitch this leaflet, take the above photo, the front cover. They are trying to deter us from voting for a party who they say are racists, but then are stereotyping all German people as Nazis in the same breath.

Then they go on to say that it could start a war in the UK if the BNP get a seat in European Parliament.

But, as you can see in the picture above, how they have characterised the party's leader:

"Nick Griffin : Same old racist."

What are you thinking?! Let's just throw random insults at this guy, that's a sure fire way to prevent a war!

Saying that, I did find most of the content very persuasive. Although I didn't need convincing anyway.

Graphic Design is interesting.

2009-05-16T23:07:00.000+01:00

Since we started a collaborative project with graphic designers, I have begun to notice graphic design a lot more. These are a few bits that I found, and liked, recently.

The first few are from LaMosca, and show a beautiful way of presenting information and data. Not too sure what it's about, but it's imacculately presented.

In 2007, ICON Magazine asked 50 designers, architects and thinkers to write manifestos for them. This is what designer Yves Behar came up with:

My sentiments exactly....

Misunderstanding sparks creativity.

2009-05-12T21:04:00.000+01:00

Shopping around on Amazon today and saw this:

As far as I can see from the product description, it is just a normal mouse, with no extraordinary features.

It has given me an idea though, because I thought it could do something else. I'm being a bit secretive about it because it's a pretty good idea, don't want to put it out there too early!

Last week was pretty good.

2009-05-10T21:37:00.000+01:00

Few things that happened last week that interested me.

1. Is this your worst nightmare?
In fact, it's Boris Johnson alongside his new waxwork in Madame Tussaud's. Funny thing is, it takes a while to figure out which one is real. I wonder which one is more intelligent? The waxwork is actually more life-like than the real Boris!

2. The presidential jet flying low over New York. What are you thinking Mr.O?
The story that the presidential jet flew low over the city last week, without giving anyone any warning.

And we thought that Clinton and Bush Jr. were stupid. Oh well, few more years and we can begin the search for another idiot, sorry President.

On that note, here he is being funny this week. I'm all for a bit of humour from politicians, but I don't think he should be joking about the incident above. But the rest of it's pretty funny.

Maybe he's lining up his next career move, because he won't be in this job long if he carries on with stunts like this.

I know what I like.

2009-05-06T17:39:00.000+01:00

Examples of work from Julian Opie's collection at the Kukje Gallery in Seoul.

I have been a fan of his since he did the cover for the Blur album, 'Blur'.

There is such a thing as WASTE chocolate, apparently.

2009-05-05T19:02:00.000+01:00

This is a Formula 3 Racing Car, made from vegatables and running on chocolate.

For example, the steering wheel is a composite material, made from carrots and other root vegetables. The wing mirrors are made from potato starch.

It runs on Biodiesel, incorporating waste chocolate and vegetables.

I have 1 problem with this statement:

What do you mean WASTE CHOCOLATE? Before you start powering cars with it, how about offering it around to the rest of us?!

Vending Machines could be the future.

2009-05-02T15:25:00.000+01:00

Pictures from Designboom:

First, a Smart Car vending machine. Unfortunately it doesn't dispense the car itself, but rather catalogues from the company. Still, that kind of thing shouldn't be too far off in the future, should it?

This second one is a vending machine dispensing 'ideas'. All you do is pay $0.50c, and you get:

1 fun idea - to fill your day with enjoyment
a map, if your idea requires travel
a standard toy that you would usually get in these kinds of machines
you get a quarter back, because the inventor only wanted to charge $0.25c per 'idea'
a lucky penny, that you can leave heads up for someone else to find

I really love this idea, and it seems as though the man behind it does a few other similar things, after looking at his website. http://zoomdoggle.com/2008/07/meet-the-fun-o-meter/

Nothing lasts forever.

2009-04-30T22:22:00.000+01:00

SAD NEWS.
Apparently, Chrysler have filed for bankruptcy today, after talks of a deal with Fiat broke down.
However, there is hope for the company if they can re-ignite the negotiations with Fiat, a proposal which is being given full support by Barack Obama.

I hope that they survive, if only for the reason that they are responsible for my favourite car design ever, the Chrysler PT Cruiser.

Full story: http://money.uk.msn.com/investing/articles/morecommentary/article.aspx?cp-documentid=16454814

Know your audience. Don't try to appear cleverer than you are.

2009-04-29T22:00:00.000+01:00

Sat through a few lectures in the last few days, and something is really starting to annoy me. Management speak, and trying to use words that make you seem clever even if you're not. This is not the design tutors i'm talking about, this is the so-called 'Senior Staff Members'.

SO please avoid using these words if you don't know what they mean, or if the majority of your audience don't know what they mean:

exponential - this word has occurred more and more regularly in my life, sometimes also as 'exponentially'. Means at a rate that is becoming more and more rapid.
ubiquitous - means something that is present everywhere.

When I first heard these words, I didn't know what they meant, but now after hearing them so much, I made up my own mind about what they meant, without the need for a dictionary.

Also, stop trying to make new words, we've got enough crap ones already:

If anyone tells me to 'chillax' or give them a 'guesstimate' again, I think I might snap and shout in their big, indecisive faces. USE EITHER CHILL or RELAX, GUESS or ESTIMATE. But don't waste my time by being too lazy to pick one!

Never be afraid to go to a lecture outside your field of knowledge. Noam Toran is a living legend.

2009-04-28T18:30:00.000+01:00

Yesterday (27/04/2009) Noam Toran (below) came to my Uni to give a talk about his philosophies and his work.
He spoke for about an hour, showing examples of films and TV series that inspired him, as well as some of the films that he had made himself. Although they are quite weird and abstract, after thinking about them for a while, they take on more and more meaning. I guess that his films are pretty much left open to interpretation by the viewer, as each person might see it slightly differently.

One film that he showed was 'Postponing the Inevitable', which is split into three sections: falling, faking and freezing. He showed the 'Freezing' part, which was based on the former US Baseball player, Ted Williams, who was the first person to be cryogenically frozen.

This video is a preview of 'Postponing the Inevitable', showing parts of all 3 sections. (the freezing part is all of the shots in a hospital)

He was also a really nice guy, who I had contacted previously to interview for one of my projects.

Check out his website: www.noamtoran.com

If you want to know the truth about life, watch Charlie Brooker.

2009-04-27T22:16:00.000+01:00

For anyone who doesn't know, Charlie Brooker is an English comedian, political commentator and general cynic of everything. He does 2 TV shows; Screenwipe and Newswipe.

The clip below is from his Screenwipe show on BBC Four (ooh, very high brow), titled 'The 10 Biggest Cocks in Advertising'. This will be more relevant to british people, because we are familiar with seeing these adverts on a daily basis.

The way that he is so blunt is good to see, and of course it's hilarious. Go on, watch it...

After doing this, he realised that he had made an error, women can be annoying too, right?

So, presenting 'The 10 Biggest Cocks and She-cocks in Advertising'.

A few of my favourite quotes

on the BBC's 'Any Dream Will Do': "it's basically like the gay version of Virtua Fighter"

on 'My Super Sweet 16': "the kids act in a way that make you feel like getting down on your knees and praying for a nuclear holocaust."

He's rude, crass and opinionated, but he is just what this country needs at the moment. LONG LIVE CHARLIE BROOKER!

Imitation is not anywhere near flattery.

2009-04-27T21:27:00.000+01:00

Designboom are running an article about the Shanghai Auto Show 2009.
Here are my highlights:

Geely GT Tiger (chinese sports car concept) - looks like it wouldn't look out of place in a Chrysler showroom (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, get your lawyers onto it). Its the kind of thing that a 10 year old would draw, in fact, it has an amazing resemblance to the old Batmobile!

Brilliance EV Concept (Electric Car) - This reminds me of the Fiat Punto in terms of aesthetics, YES or NO? Still, quite attractive to look at, more so than a Smart car or a G-Whizz.

Right what you've basically done here is you've made a car that is based on a bar of soap.

Lazy designers, giving us a bad name!

Must do better!

Expensive is not always best. Don't believe most advertising jargon.

2009-04-23T22:00:00.000+01:00

Quote from Live magazine, April 19 edition:

"Runners wearing top-of-the-line trainers are 123% more likely to get injured than runners in cheap ones.

According to a study by Dr Bernard Marti, carried out with 4,358 runners in the Bern Grand Prix, runners in shoes costing more than $95 were more than twice as likely to get hurt as runners in shoes costing less than $40."

So these might look good and have all the fancy-dan features, but they are like a silent assassin just lurking in your wardrobe.

The Olympics - sometimes disappointing, always inspiring.

2009-04-22T22:19:00.000+01:00

Went to the Olympic site in Stratford today. I was correct in what I said yesterday, and it was actually quite disappointing. I don't know why, but I was expecting to be able to actually walk around somewhere near the site, or at least be able to have a clear view of it.

In reality, we weren't able to do either. This was the sight that we were met with when we got there...hardly inspiring.

So we had to make do with taking photos from the top floor of a nearby car park...luckily today was probably the best day weather-wise in London this year.

And here's what we saw: mud, people in suits, a surprisingly tiny stadium that only has half an outer shell, and more cranes than you can shake a stick at.

One thing that the visit today did achieve, though, was that it actually made me feel excited about the Olympic Games coming to London.

Crazy as this sounds from what I have just described, just being there allowed me to imagine what the surrounding area will be like when the games are in full swing. It will be a hive of activity, with hundreds-of-thousands of people passing through.

My grandfather has always told me that if I ever get the chance to go to the Olympic Games, then I must. This now seems all the more likely now, so long as they actually get the building finished in time!

Danny Dyer is hilarious, but he doesn't know it.

2009-04-21T23:59:00.000+01:00

Couldn't resist looking up some Danny Dyer clips on YouTube, found these 2 gems.

This first one pretty much sums up his acting style. It's from a few years ago now, from Human Traffic...... NICE ONE BRUVVA!!!!!!!!!

I also found this one, which i had never seen before. It's when he was a kid, doing an advert for Coca-Cola. This one will be a lot funnier to anyone familiar with his work and style.

I love the last line from it...I wouldn't be surprised if he ad-libbed the last bit.

I strongly suggest you mugs look 'im up for yerself and take a butcher's at his videos, sweet as a nut...

Some things aren't what they appear at first, so do your research. Bad actors trying to be serious can be funnier than a good comedian.

2009-04-21T22:53:00.000+01:00

My thoughts and things I have learnt this week:

1) Our new project is all to do with the London 2012 Olympics, so i've been looking up a lot of information about the history and traditions of the Olympic games.

- apparently, the olympic torch commemorates when Prometheus stole fire from the Greek God Zeus. This seems quite a nice link, although depending on where you look, you'll probably find a lot of other explanations of it.

- while the story of the torch is quite poetic, the actual relay of the torch (taking place before the start of the games) was devised by the Nazis and put into practice starting at the Berlin games in 1936. Apparently Hitler saw this as a form of propaganda, helping to subliminally spread the Nazi ideology around the world.

Visiting the Olympic building site in Stratford tomorrow, don't know why! If I know British builders, there will probably be a lot of scaffolding and sandwiches, but not much in the way of work going on. Don't worry though, still 3 years to go!! (fingers crossed)

2) I found out that Danny Dyer ("i'll nut you, mate") of The Football Factory and Mean Machine fame, has turned down a role on the british soap opera, Eastenders.

Dyer ("nice one bruvva") is one of the worst actors i've ever seen. Add to that the fact that he thinks he's a mix of the Kray twins and Tony Montana from Scarface, and you can see why he struggles to get work and has resorted to fifth-rate soap operas.

Despite all this, though, I still find his films and documentaries strangely funny and interesting. Maybe it's just because most of the time i'm just laughing out loud at his terrible 'Mockney' accent.

For anyone who doesn't know who he is......

If you ever see him, call him a "Muppet" or something like that, he'll love it.

Cartoons don't have to make sense, they just have to be fun.

2009-04-20T20:54:00.000+01:00

I got so excited the other day when I stumbled across these videos from YouTube.

For anyone who doesn't know, they were popular cartoons in the late 90's and early 2000's. Can't actually remember too much about the cartoons themselves, but these are 2 of the best theme tunes i've ever heard.

First, Cow & Chicken, who inexplicably both had the same biological parents (???) whose faces you never saw.

Then probably the best theme tune ever for both tune and lyrics, CatDog, a beast that has the heads of both a cat and a dog.

Honourable mentions also go to; Hey Arnold, I am Weasel, Johnny Bravo, The Angry Beavers, Arthur, Doug, Recess and Ren & Stimpy.

Don't design the body, design FOR the body.

2009-04-13T20:20:00.000+01:00

These pieces are both by 5.5 Designers, who I found out about recently due to their involvement in the coin USBs that I mentioned a few weeks ago.

It follows on from what I wrote a few weeks ago, about taking measurements from REAL humans, rather than from books.

The first product is a clothes hanger, which is produced based on the measurements of the user themselves.

This picture shows the difference between the clothes hangers, depending on the user's body shape and size.

This second product is quite weird, but also quite cool too. It uses an image of your eyes to then replicate them into a lamp, as seen below.This is the lamp when turned on, kinda spooky isn't it?

SLAP Widgets are amazing. Cactii can be beautiful. You can rely on a bit of plastic to make your whole breakfast.

2009-04-08T22:03:00.000+01:00

This is a project done by researchers at RWTH Aachen University in Germany in conjunction with UC San Diego. They have created Silicone Illuminated Active Peripherals (SLAP) Widgets.

"SLAP Widgets are real live plastic and silicone objects that are used in conjunction with a multi-touch table to allow users to control interface values through physical push buttons, sliders, knobs, keypads and keyboards. When a widget is placed atop the surface projection, a camera can read markers located underneath it in order to identify and locate where it is." from core77.com

This video gives a better idea of how it works - it's pretty amazing when you see it working.

http://hci.rwth-aachen.de/~weiss/SLAP/paper1356-weiss.mov

Found this quite elegant cactus-themed vase on designboom, in an article about "cactus-themed" products. Just shows that reading something that you never thought you would can have some advantages. I don't think i would have one of these in my house, but it's quite nice all the same.

This product is completely mad. It allows you to: make a slice of toast, cook eggs and make coffee at the same time.

We've all seen the toaster with an egg cooker on top, but this just takes it to the next level. It also doesn't take a genius to figure out that this product comes from the land of mad inventions...Japan.

Make your whole breakfast in a quicker, easier and cheaper way.

Musicians can be poets.

2009-04-06T14:36:00.000+01:00

Heard that new song by Just Jack the other day, called 'Embers'.
It has this line: "we are all embers, from the same fire".
When you think about it, this is a good way to think about the way that everyone is the same at the end of the day, so why are we always trying to attack each other?

Got me thinking about some other lyrics.

First to the master, Morrissey:
from 'This Charming Man'
"why pamper life's complexities, when the leather runs smooth on the passenger's seat?"

from 'I'm throwing my arms around Paris'
"I have decided i'm throwing my arms around Paris, because only stone and steel accept my love."

Neil Young on 'Hey Hey, My My'
"My my, hey hey
Rock and roll is here to stay
It's better to burn out than to fade away
My my, hey hey

Out of the blue and into the black
They give you this, but you pay for that
And once you're gone, you can never come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black"

But pretty much the whole song is genius anyway.

Even Oasis:
from 'What's the story morning glory'
"all your dreams are made, when you're chained to the mirror and the razor-blade"

Apparently the song is trying to tell drug users to 'wake up' and realising that what they are doing is slowly killing them. (Mirrors and razor-blades are often used to chop up cocaine)

from 'Some might say'
"Some might say that sunshine follows thunder
Go and tell it to the man who cannot shine
Some might say that we should never ponder
On our thoughts today cos they will sway over time"

"Some might say they don't believe in heaven
Go and tell it to the man who lives in hell
Some might say you get what you've been given
If you don't get yours I won't get mine as well"

Meanwhile, Beck is either an idiot or a genius, you decide which:
from 'Devil's Haircut'
"Heads are hanging from the garbage man trees
Mouthwash, jukebox, gasoline
Pistols are pointing at a poor man's pockets
Smilin' eyes whippin' out of their sockets"

"Love machines on the sympathy crutches
Discount orgies on the dropout buses
Hitching a ride with the bleeding noses
Coming to town with the briefcase blues"

from 'Loser'
"Forces of evil on a bozo nightmare
Ban all the music with a phony gas chamber’cuz one’s got a weasel and the other’s got a flag
One’s on the pole, shove the other in a bag
With the rerun shows and the cocaine nose-job
The daytime crap of the folksinger slob
He hung himself with a guitar string
A slab of turkey-neck and it’s hangin’ from a pigeon wing
You can’t write if you can’t relate
Trade the cash for the beef for the body for the hate
And my time is a piece of wax fallin’ on a termite
who's chokin’ on the splinters"

Designboom is the designer's handbook. Apple are scoundrels.

2009-04-04T02:41:00.000+01:00

I found these 2 articles on Designboom today.

In my experience, Designboom is the first port of call for any aspiring designers - I can't speak highly enough of it. http://www.designboom.com/eng/

Anyways... first one shows the results of a competition they ran a while ago, called 'Reinventing the Bic pen'. It includes this slice of absolute genius...

Check out the whole thing at http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/reinventingbicpen.html

The 2nd one is all about low-tech solutions and their place in the modern world. I would advise any young designers to read this. Actually, I would advise anyone to read this. http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/5917/decidedly-low-tech.html

Why do I need an application on an iPhone to replace my spirit level?

Why do I need one to help me split the bill at dinner? What happened to that thing called a brain that we used to all have?

One thing that is appalling by the way, is that new slogan from Apple:

"solving the world's problems, 1 'app' at a time"

Got one to abolish 3rd world debt and famine have you?

Got one to cure aids and cancer have you?

Oh and that one that stops people blowing each other up all over the world?

Thought not

The details can make or break a product.

2009-04-04T01:27:00.000+01:00

"Stem ray" is an LED desk lamp from japanese company Yamagiwa, designed by Studio Conran. It is one of 2 new lights that they will be displaying at Milan Design Week '09.

The tube is flexible, so that angle of light can be adjusted to your needs.

I love the feet on this light, it really is the details that make a product.

Their website is worth checking out, for some seriously gorgeous lighting and interior. It is http://www.yamagiwa.co.jp/.

Steel is dead. Long live British Steel.

2009-04-04T00:57:00.000+01:00

Tom Dixon chair made in British Steel, from his collection at the Mitterand & Cramer Gallery in Switzerland.

Is it just me, or is it quite beautiful?

I love the effect of the material on what would otherwise be just ANOTHER CHAIR. I especially love the curved armrests - some might say it shows the intense vulnerability of what is ordinarily a robust, invincible material .... I couldn't possibly comment.

Then there is this, from the same collection - a child's high chair, again in british steel.

This is quite sinister, looks like Alien VS Predator VS Mothercare.

Kasabian never cease to amaze and delight. Noel Fielding can't act.

2009-03-31T19:55:00.000+01:00

Check out the new Kasabian video for 'Vlad the Impaler' - 'tis class!!

Noel Fielding as Vlad the Impaler!

http://vimeo.com/3939888

Thinking about WKD for long periods can have just as much effect as drinking it. The japanese are the best at doing intricate, delicate things.

2009-03-30T23:42:00.000+01:00

WOOOHOOOO!!!!
Finished our WKD project - happy with the result.
I'll post up some pics soon.

This beautiful structure is by Ryuji Nakamura Architects, and are paper and ribbon installations. Just imagining the amount of time and painstaking focus it would take to achieve this beautiful result bends my mind. This delightful chap is called Kuma:

This 'Hechima' chair is made entirely from paper. Not too sure about it's structural integrity, but it is certainly a beautiful sight to behold.

Manpower is just as good as machine power.

2009-03-17T23:49:00.000Z

First job today - 3D scan a WKD bottle. We used a Picza 3D scanner, it's amazing.
Because the bottle was transparent, we first had to spray it so that the scanner has something to bounce light off of.
Then you just throw it in, press go and come back 30 minutes later............................
................. to be met with this, a perfect 3D version of your selected object, ready to use in Solidworks.
Noticed this thing today in uni, a USB hub which allows the usb to stand vertically. It manages to turn my boring old USB stick into some kind of monster, with its glowing orange mouth :)

It also has so much better ergonomics than the normal way of inserting a memory stick.

DANGER!! UNHEALTHY OBSESSION WITH USB's GROWING BY THE DAY!!

Hello, who's this fella?

This is mine and Esteban's WKD dispensing machine. He came out a lot better than we could have hoped for, and it was all done using manpower (none of this digital stuff needed) -

wood marked out using pencil and ruler
material cut using mixture of hacksaws and electric jigsaw
wood sanded down using files and sandpaper
vinyls marked out, cut and applied by hand

Chalk it up. Men 1 - Machines 0.

This is not just any old chair.

2009-03-17T01:18:00.000Z

This chair by Andrée Putman is amazing. It is made out of aluminium, and weighs only 7 pounds, BUT...

it can carry over 1000 pounds and is made from 80% recycled aluminium.

Product design can be fun.

2009-03-17T00:31:00.000Z

I want one of these!!! Found them today on DesignBoom.

They are inspired by the Euro coins and would look great sticking out of your computer.

They are the result of a collaboration between LaCie and 5.5 Designers, with a die-cast casing.
Check out this link, shows an animation of how to retract and push out usb component (you twist the top surface - genius idea and good interaction with the user!)
http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=11173

Wouldn't mind one of these either - convenient, subtle, look rock hard as well, so won't bend in computer.

Another product by LaCie. Good to see a company showing a fun side to a product which is usually quite dull. If only more would take on this philosophy...

Piles aren't always painful. Ride-on vacuum cleaners are the future.

2009-03-13T21:49:00.000Z

Why do we seem to pile things on top of each other all of the time?

I came across this sight in my house the other day - 3 pillows, stacked on top of a pair of curtains, all placed on top of a footstool, with a hoover attachment on the floor in front.

This also got me thinking about home appliances. If we can now have ride-on lawnmowers, then why can't we have ride-on vacuum cleaners. This idea was inspired by the picture above, imagine that it would be AMAZING! Certainly would get more (lazy, haha) men and children to do the cleaning!

(The contents of this post do not necessarily represent the views of the management)

Health & Safety can (but shouldn't) be forgotten when there is important work to done. Don't just rely on numbers from books, take real measurements.

2009-03-13T20:58:00.000Z

Using a heatgun to mould PVC around a glass WKD bottle in your hand - a minefield of health and safety issues (tut, tut, Esteban).

This was done to see if a flexible bottle neck would work. Amazingly it works a treat, so we're on our way now!

Time of death - 18:57.

This had a purpose, not only for me to have a lie-down (even though I was absolutely knackered.)

We drew around my body on a plastic sheet to use as a guide for our tests. This will be roughly the size of our dispensing machine for our WKD drinks.

We then translated this into wood, which we plan to use as a final prototype.

I seem to spend an unbelievable amount of time lying down these days, don't I?!?! Must be the effect of getting old.

Easy with that pencil, Esteban!!