Designverb

Month: January 2009

Hong Kong: About and Around

January 16, 2009


So besides the overwhelming food adventures surrounding Hong Kong during my holiday break, I also had some time to shop around, observe, and absorb the ever changing cultural landscape. Above is an image my sister took of me waiting for, well, my sister and mother shopping for shoes. I’m the younger sibling, so I’m use to waiting around in woman’s clothing stores which generally have more styles to look at, so it helps a bit being a designer and materials addict.

Check out the pictures after the jump with some notes:

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GetPeek: 1 Day Lifetime Service $300

January 16, 2009


Okay, it’s late, I’m a bit tired, but this grabbed my attention. GetPeek, the thin simple mobile device that let’s you email and text message (through email) that usually cost $100 with a $20 monthly service fee is going all out and offering a 1 day lifetime service purchase for $300! Yes, I said Lifetime!

I’m not sure what to think, besides this is tempting… but then again, do I need it, do they need it, why are they doing this. Anyhow, it’s a 1 day deal, so I’ll let your mind make up a decision. As far as I know, if it’s a lifetime purchase and I can change the email several times, then I might just get it and pop it in the car, or hand down many generations, or, just use for some bizarre project.

Kudos to GetPeek for doing something first… or at least this is a first I think…is it? Buy it here.

Hong Kong: Food

January 11, 2009


Over the holiday break I spent over a week in Hong Kong visiting family and the unavoidable addictive food! Yes, Hong Kong is a city of culture, shopping, people, and high quality Asian food! I thought I’d share a bit of my break with ya’ll and figured out I’d start off with one of the best things, Food in Hong Kong! Other topics will follow of course.

I’ve always spoken about how Food is very much like designing. You have to pick out your ingredients (materials), what’s in season (material cost), cook it (assemble+manufacture), use everything (be sustainable), plate it (package), eat it (consume), brand it, get a reputation, rinse and repeat. “A week eating in Hong Kong makes ya go on a 1 year diet when you return home!”
Enjoy the collection of pictures!
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Objectfied Film Trailer

January 9, 2009

Gary Hustwit, creator of the incredible documentary Helvetica, brings to us his journey in discovering the world of Industrial Designer in Objectified, premiering in March 2009.

“Objectified is a feature-length independent documentary about industrial design. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the people who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability. It’s about our relationship to mass-produced objects and, by extension, the people who design them.

Through vérité footage and in-depth conversations, the film documents the creative processes of some of the world’s most influential designers, and looks at how the things they make impact our lives. What can we learn about who we are, and who we want to be, from the objects with which we surround ourselves?”

Some appearing in the film are Paola Antonelli (MoMa), Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Naoto Fukasawa, IDEO, Jonathan Ive (apple), Marc Newson, Karim Rashid, Smart Design, and more…

This line up already tells a tale of what to expect from the film (more of a euro flavor about objects, furniture, materials, service, space, and the simple obsession with emotional design.), but I’m sure it’ll be just as good as Helvetica, and if so, bravo! I cant wait to watch it! Watch the trailer above or here.

Discursive Design: Design is a Mess

January 8, 2009


As I return from this years holiday break I’m reminded of the everlasting question “What do you do in design?” Fields such as transportation, furniture, shoes, toys, and electronics are a bit easier to describe in a few sentences, but for those like myself that do a bit of everything both tangible, emotional, interaction, print, marketing, biz, branding, spacial, manufacturing, packaging, art, the future, the past, research, etc it’s an adventure to describe the simple question “What do you do.”

Core77 has an interesting article describing the everyday hurdle industrial designers have had defining the evolving Industrial Design discipline. Simply put, “Design is a mess”. This isn’t bad, it’s just that the term Industrial Design is still fairly new constantly defining itself, hence, we as designers today, are defining what industrial design means.

Check out the full Core77 article here, or after the jump. The Book project is by Stephanie M. Tharp and Dr. Bruce M. Tharp at DiscursiveDesign.com.

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