surprise the designer

It has been a long while since I posted anything here. I have been hard at work- almost non-stop- on my chair. We got an extension today (weekend+2 days!) so I have been taking a moment to recharge. I wanted to share this image as well as its source- informationisbeautiful.net . My friend Ben shared these with me yesterday, and I think the site and this image are great. It just goes to show that if you put time into anything it can be beautiful. As promised two weeks ago, a chair update and a des comm update are on the way.

74/ 365 Minty Fresh. Originally uploaded by V. Milone Photography © Here is a question for the ages (and the product designers): What makes something better with age (better when its old) and what makes something better when it is brand-spanking-new? Before you go thinking, well, "I get better with age," really stop and think for a moment. The basis of this question... 1. My car has been in the shop for one week tomorrow. As noted in the previous post, I am driving a 2010 model rental car. It is sort of nice to be driving a new car, but I miss my 2002 model. >This example hits on the emotional potential of our possessions. I prefer my older car because I like the actual car more- regardless of age- but my car also carries with it memories of many, many road trips. This new car is very sterile and rental car-y. On my car, I know where all the dings came from and the funny smell is from me. I like that. 2. It is insanely hard for me to purchase toiletries before the ...

HHR in a Field Originally uploaded by E. Brow This week I have been driving around a rental Chevy flex fuel HHR while my beloved mazda is in the body shop. The reason this is even worth mentioning is that the car is a 2010, with just over 1500 miles on it, and still has that new car smell. I'm pretty sure I have never driven a car this new before. This is a strange mish-mash of a car on the outside (the front looks like a cross between a minivan and a 50s era truck), but on the inside it works pretty well. There are little details- like a tray right next to the shifter that is the perfect size for a cell phone- that make it convenient and fun to drive. There is also a very informative information display on the dash that shows everything from fuel efficiency to tire pressure. Compared to my sporty little mazda, this thing drives like a boat (the suspension is very...soft), but if that is what you like, I think you would find the car handles well. As far as I can tell, the bli...

Don't tell anyone, but tonight- less than three measly weeks before our final chair crit - I went to go see a movie. It was fantastic. We went to see Julie and Julia, and I highly recommend that everyone see the film. Meryl Streep- and Julia Child- steal the show with stunning images (and acting) of France and cooking in the 50's. Even though she gets a little long-winded, the modern day character Julie does a good job of connecting Julia Child's story to present day (for anyone without a strong preexisting affinity for the Child.) Perhaps as much as the movie, I recommend that you go get a copy of My Life in France , Julia Child's semi-auto biography. Her story is a good one, and the book is well written. There is much left un-told in the movie.

I just got finished ordering a new set of business cards for the inoneweekend event later this month. I ordered through moo.com , which has a few cool features: -When you order a set of 50 cards, you can literally print 50 different designs. I went with 6 different designs- all selections of tea pot ideation sketches. Two of the images I used are shown above. -All business cards are printed front and back at no extra charge. The back of my cards has my basic contact info including my blog address and coroflot portfolio address . -When ordering, you have the option to get 'green' cards that are made out of 100% recycled material. Sweet. That's what I did. I think making personal business cards can be a big challenge for designers. You want to stand out, but not be too crazy, and as a student I do not even know how much I will use these cards. Will post an update when the cards come and/or when I pass them out!

I just put together this presentation on decorating and finishing plastic parts for our materials and processes class. I'm not sure how I managed to randomly get this fairly interesting and relevant topic, but I had fun (and spent waaaay too much time) filling my presentation with photos of toys. This is for tomorrow's class and I hope to keep people's attention at least for a minute or two...

When I was working at Chase design , a number of the designers there were big fans of LaCie . I have since purchased a LaCie external hard drive, joined the email mailing list, and continued to be impressed by the products they put out. I especially love this ulta -thin USB memory card that looks like a key. What a perfect, non-dorky solution to the need to have digital memory with you (everyone knows someone who has worn a flash drive on a lanyard around their neck...and it is just not great jewelry.)

Here is the next step in our design communications furniture project. This is my refined family- a book shelf, credenza, and coffee table. My design focuses on the simple combination of two very strong (visually and physically) materials. 3D models were built in alias, rendered with hypershot , and then significantly touched up in photoshop .

As I continue to develop and refine my chair concept- dealing with problems like tolerances, materiality, form- I continue to find good inspiration and interesting images. This chair is from Karim Rashid , manufactured in plastic, and is achieving what I hope to eventually achieve. The countdown continues...

Funny ad campaign that I don't altogether agree with... the premise is that when kids toys run out of batteries they will find other things to do. I would tend to believe they would run around and ride bikes instead of painting fido , but I could be wrong. Depends on the kid, I guess.

This morning I ran an all- women's 5k. There was something really special about a race where every participant was a woman, but it was a little... restrictive too. Women from all over Cincinnati came to participate in the special race, but the fact that it was a women's-only event easily cut the participants in half. Is it better to cater a race exclusively to women (pink race shirts and jazzercise before the start), or just put on an excellent event and let everyone be a part of it? This same question comes up in product design. My road bike is a trek WSD - women's specific design. I like that the proportions fit me better than a bike designed for a man, but more than one person has asked me what makes my bike so different (see the image above.) When does it make sense to design for a very specific target consumer, and when should the brief (design problem) be more broad? What makes any one segment (women) a potentially profitable specified market? I think pride...

The blog ecofriend.org recently highlighted my task light. You can see the post about my light here .