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Designers need to be 3 People at the Same Time!
2008-08-01 08:39:00
To be an industrial designers you have to be three people at the same time. You have to be the crazy person. Then you have to be the person who reviews those crazy ideas and says, "no, not that, and not that either". The third person has to be the observer who stands off to the side and managers that process. If you fall in love with what you're doing too soon in the process, you're eliminating all the chances to come up with a different variation of the idea. There has to be a disinterested observer of the process. You have to recognize your ego structure, and you have to be very humble and know that you should be sort of scared each time you start something new because it could go horribly awry. ~ Syd Mead, from a Concept Design interview in Axis Magazine, 6 June 2008, Vol. 133 (Note: I've broken down the original quote into paragraphs for a better read) This fantastic quote from, Futurist and Industrial Designer, Syd Mead describes the mental challenges Ind...
More About: People , Time , Designers

A new experience at Design Sojourn: Curated Shopping
2008-07-31 16:45:00
Quite often, I get emails from designers giving me information of their great products for sale. While reading these emails, I often wonder, how nice if my Design Sojourn readers could also get an opportunity to buy such great products? Now you don’t have to wait any longer! I like to introduce you to a ...
More About: Shopping , Experience

Disappointed with Objectified
2008-07-30 06:22:00
[Edited: Grammar and Phrasing] I really was not going to write much this week, being sick and all. But after a blog post and comment exchange, I cannot help but feel fired up to share some of my thoughts here. I'm sure by now most of you would have heard about Objectified, a documentary on Industrial Design by Gary Hustwit of Helvetica fame. News of it is running all over the design blogosphere, I caught wind of it from Core77. When I first read about it, I thought "GREAT!" more exposure on our wonderful industry. But after reading about the list of designers being considered, I could not believe my eyes! The list seems to cover the stereotypes what Industrial Designers "are" or "should be". Not surprisingly, the documentary picked a "sample space" of designers which were the usual list of design superstar suspects.

Photo Musings
2008-07-29 04:27:00
A little slow down in postings this week as I'm feeling much under the weather. So instead, I though I might share a blog post of my latest photos taken with my brand new Canon G9. Enjoy this Photo blog...*cough cough* Lizard's Suntan
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Meta Design Links: 25 July 2008
2008-07-25 05:11:00
1) Billy Graham: Technology, faith and human shortcomings. A presentation he did on TED about the real problems we should be using design and technology to solve.
More About: Design , Links , Meta , July , 2008

Think of Creating a Language Rather than a Form
2008-07-23 16:31:00
Heard in a fictional design studio near you. Me: Yo man, how is it going? Designer: Great! I'm just sketching/developing/refining this concept. Me: Cool, so how do they look? Designer: Here they are... Me: Hmm...so what are we looking at here? Designer: Ah...I'm inspired by [insert suitable object] and creating this to match [insert product], but then to make it different, I'm using [insert line description] to create [insert dynamic] between these two elements... Me: But, it does not look anything like your inspiration nor is it logical to what we want to do here? Designer: Eh...what? Me: Ok, basically what are you trying to communicate with your design? Sound familiar?
More About: Creating , Language , Form , Concept

Sketch Techniques with Michael DiTullo
2008-07-22 16:59:00
Michael DiTullo, Design Director at Converse, sent me a quick note about Core77's new Show and Tell series that features his sketching techniques in a nice 4 easy minutes. Now you don't have to draw like this "Form Monster" (Heh-heh!), but have a good look at his techniques of shading, line weights, market use and hatching that can give any sketch a lot of punch and definition.
More About: Michael , Sketch

Post Occupancy Design - Life after the Designer
2008-07-21 00:00:00
Domus Magazine has recently launched a signature edition offshoot called Domus d'Autore. This first issue, entrusted to Editor-Architect Rem Koolhaas, was designed to allow readers to listen "...to the voice of those who know how to look beyond current confines and have the strength to direct and influence our way of perceiving the city and the spaces beyond it."
More About: Design , Life , Post , Designer

How to avoid ?Mental Masturbation??
2008-07-16 10:08:00
Image source: Cab Ride (Ecstasy) So what, you may ask, is "Mental Masturbation "? Well the first logical assumption that comes to mind is procrastination. Actually, though, it's not quite what I would call procrastination. Let me explain. A design lecturer friend coined that term over a lunch chat after a major design critique. We noticed that both design students and design professionals have a bad habit of getting into a mode of what he calls "Mental Masturbation". Though "tongue in cheek" at that time, I have since encountered it over and over again on many different levels.
More About: Design , Avoid

The Art of Selling
2008-07-13 21:44:00
One of my first bosses taught me an important lesson. Good designers are a dime a dozen, he said. Coming up with a great design solution is the easy part. The hard part, he said, is getting the client to accept the solution. "But if the work is good, don't the clients know it when they see it?" I asked. My boss just looked at me silently for a long time. And then, with gentleness and no small amount of pity, he reached out and patted me on the head: Poor kid. He was right, of course. In any creative activity where clients are involved, you have to make the sale twice. Before you get to the customer, you have to sell the client. I love this little snippet by Michael Bierut that highlights why some great designers don't really go anywhere. The ability to sell a design is one of those skills I would rank very closely to creativity in terms of important ones a designer should have. Via: Design Observer
More About: Selling , Creativity

Sustainable Brands 08 Video Log
2008-07-11 02:32:00
Mario Vellandi, Marketing Commando and part time Design Ninja, has published a fantastic collection of videos created after his recent attendance at Sustainable Brands 08.
More About: Video

Meta Design Links: 10 July 2008
2008-07-10 00:57:00
Wow it has been a long time since we did this. The last time was the end of Sept 2007! I had opted to send most of my links via my Twitter and Plurk accounts. But after monitoring Twitter for about 6 to 8 months, I think a lot of my links getting lost in the "river of news". So I've decided to bring this weekly series back by rounding up only the best links for you.
More About: Design , Links , Meta , July , 2008

30 Essential Books for Industrial Designers
2008-07-03 03:22:00
Image Source: Books by ijsendoorn. As requested and suggested by a few loyal Design Sojourn readers, I have compiled what I think are the essential books that Industrial Designers should either own or read. Now I have one disclaimer, and that is I have intentionally left out the design yearbooks or the ever popular coffee table picture book collections. Simply put, these books don't do much for you except provide visual eye candy. In fact I would go as far as advising you to dump them! The reason is that if you are looking at such books for inspiration, you will likely be recreating the same looks in one form or another. Not only that, because it is a publication, it takes time to get printed and out there. So by the time you are reading it, it is already outdated. So going forward, I have divided the books into 3 categories, namely Thinking, Process and Designer Skills. So without further adieu here is the list, in no particular order of importance, for you to enjoy!
More About: Essential

Bilingual Branding
2008-06-30 16:01:00
I was watching AXN's Super CSI Sunday (Yes I am a CSI fan, who isn't?) last night and there ran an ad of the newly branded Turbo Jet, a service provider that takes you from Hong Kong to Macau on board high speed ferries. What I immediately noticed with their logo and also with some other emerging Chinese Brands is that their logos have both English alphabet and Chinese characters in their names.
More About: Branding

Singapore?s 4th Multi-Disciplinary University
2008-06-30 03:17:00
Hot on the heels of my recent post Blueprint for Design Education 2.0, is the announcement of Singapore 's 4th University that has a niche focus on Engineering, Design and Business. With a target of 2,500 students a year, it will "...take an interdisciplinary approach to teaching, for instance, combining engineering and design or engineering and business so that graduates will go beyond having core knowledge in just one discipline."
More About: Multi

Happy World Industrial Design Day!
2008-06-28 16:29:00
I like to wish all fellow Industrial Design ers or anyone in the Industrial Design profession a happy World Industrial Design Day! Marked by Icsid's anniversary on June 29, World Industrial Design Day (WIDD) is a day to actively engage design professionals and design enthusiasts to explore their creativity, innovation, vision and passion in recognition of the role of industrial design and designers in our society.
More About: Happy

Want to have your say?
2008-06-25 02:55:00
Unlike other design blogs out there that only focus on pretty pictures, Design Sojourn gets into the nitty gritty of design by basing our discussions on "How to do good design, Make clever products and Master the business of Design." Weekly, my partner and I look to bring you the latest in thinking, that will teach, inspire, or even push you along your own journey in design or any creative profession. With that in mind, Design Sojourn is looking for like minded individuals to be guest contributors, write articles, or even just provide link submissions. Content such as interviews, sharing your design experiences, or even just your latest thoughts on your design projects are more than welcomed. If you are interested to be a guest contributor or even be part of the Design Sojourn writing team, please do not hesitate to drop me an email via our online contact form. I look forward to hearing from all of you soon!

A Blueprint for Design Education 2.0
2008-06-18 06:06:00
I often like to get myself into a spot of teaching, collaborating with and critiquing students. I find it enhances and consolidates what I have learned in my career in Design . I do recommend that designers, especially the senior ones, take some time off work to rub shoulders with people in a learning environment. But I digress. During some of my short exchanges at academic institutions, I noticed that most design educators have to struggle with juggling and managing studio projects and yet still maintain the academic requirements of tertiary institutions. Many times these requirements do no align. So I had and interesting thought. Is it possible that the foundation of structured rigorous learning that academic institutions are built upon, is not really conducive for the more fluid project based and lateral thinking style of a design studio? If so, what if we had the opportunity to create a design program from scratch without any influence of, for example, a Unive...
More About: Education , Blueprint , Industrial Design

GINA - Awesome BMW Fabric Car
2008-06-11 21:58:00
Image via Core 77 This is probably all over the place by now. But frankly, not only am I impressed with the final result, I am ecstatic over BMW sharing their design philosophy which I think has a lot more importance in this discussion and likely missed.
More About: Philosophy , Design , Awesome , Fabric , Concept

What are the Differences between Chinese and Western Form-giving?
2008-06-11 05:32:00
"An introduction to formgiving in Chinese product design" is a research article, written by Vigleik Norheim from the Department of Product Design from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. It gives some interesting insights on the cultural influences that impact the form-giving methodology in Chinese Industrial Design. ABSTRACT The article is a holistic and cultural introduction to formgiving in Chinese product design, both theoretical and practical. Observations were made during a 4-week stay in China in a university and two design offices. Introducing and comparing various Western approaches to form in product design with the Chinese approach proved to a certain degree unfair, as their tradition in the field is yet very young. The aim of this text is thus to explain why form in Chinese product design is where it is today in a cultural and social context. The article concludes that Chinese designers need more freedom and authority, much like the early Western desi...
More About: Giving , Differences , Form

The Blackberry Prayer
2008-06-10 10:22:00
Image: Blackberries 3 by lemon_drop A phrase coined by an anonymous CEO who walked into a boardroom for a meeting to see every executive bowing their heads, operating their Blackberries. The Blackberry prayer is a plea to God to abolish the damn things.
More About: Prayer

The Blackberry Prayer
2008-06-10 03:22:00
Image: Blackberries 3 by lemon_drop A phrase coined by an anonymous CEO who walked into a boardroom for a meeting to see every executive bowing their heads, operating their Blackberries. The Blackberry prayer is a plea to God to abolish the damn things.
More About: Prayer

Why You Should Always Determine Your Own Design Schedule?
2008-06-01 18:01:00
Watts Humphrey, who retired from IBM in 1980, once led Big Blue?s software development. His group ?who had never before made a delivery schedule, did not miss a date for the next two and a half years.? Here is a persuasive list of bullet points from one of his presentations (courtesy of Scott Rosenberg, founder ...
More About: Design , Schedule

Why You Should Always Determine Your Own Design Schedule?
2008-06-01 11:01:00
Watts Humphrey, who retired from IBM in 1980, once led Big Blue?s software development. His group ?who had never before made a delivery schedule, did not miss a date for the next two and a half years.? Here is a persuasive list of bullet points from one of his presentations (courtesy of Scott Rosenberg, founder of Salon): -Unless you are independently wealthy, you must work to a schedule -If you don?t make your own schedule, someone else will. -Then that person will control your work.
More About: Design , Schedule

Question of the Week: How do I fix my Scattered Personal Brand?
2008-05-29 09:57:00
Image by: Dan Shirley The Question of the Week comes from Ezra, who read and wanted to expand on some of the ideas discussed in my Pillar Article: How to be a Design Superstar. I am a movie director (somewhere between newbie and "superstar" as I do manage to get paid now, somehow.. and am joining the dirs. union). I have just finished my third feature movie. In addition to directing movies, I do a bunch of editing (TV, film, commercials etc.) So my question is: how do I brand myself on the web, what is it that I want people to see when they look me up? I know this is left field of graphic design superstardom but it all seems related.. Obviously they will see my IMDB page which lists my past work but then they will click to what? I have a confusing and unfocused web presence and really need to get it on point..
More About: Personal , Brand

Question of the Week: How do I fix my Scattered Personal Brand?
2008-05-29 02:57:00
Image by: Dan Shirley The Question of the Week comes from Ezra, who read and wanted to expand on some of the ideas discussed in my Pillar Article: How to be a Design Superstar. I am a movie director (somewhere between newbie and "superstar" as I do manage to get paid now, somehow.. and am joining the dirs. union). I have just finished my third feature movie. In addition to directing movies, I do a bunch of editing (TV, film, commercials etc.) So my question is: how do I brand myself on the web, what is it that I want people to see when they look me up? I know this is left field of graphic design superstardom but it all seems related.. Obviously they will see my IMDB page which lists my past work but then they will click to what? I have a confusing and unfocused web presence and really need to get it on point..
More About: Personal , Brand

Ringshot: The Evolution of The Slingshot
2008-05-28 04:35:00
Image from Flickr Sometimes there comes a design so simple and so clever that I just have to share it with all my readers!
More About: Evolution , Industrial Design , Slingshot

Ringshot: The Evolution of The Slingshot
2008-05-27 21:35:00
Image from Flickr Sometimes there comes a design so simple and so clever that I just have to share it with all my readers!
More About: Evolution , Industrial Design , Slingshot

Where do Boom-boxes come from?
2008-05-26 03:52:00
Design Exchange of Toronto, which calls itself "Canada?s national centre for the promotion of design," claims that the Project G stereo, which Clairtone Sound Corporation produced, was "conceptually original, technically and functionally perfect, and aesthetically superior." It was "the epitome of a design icon." No sure about you, but I do quite like it, in a strange Monday morning way. The world's first boom-box or all in one lifestyle stereo perhaps? Nice emotional advertising layout iPod style eh? So what happened to this so-called design icon? Check out the rest of the article here at Nova Scotia News.
More About: Boom

Where do Boom-boxes come from?
2008-05-25 20:52:00
Design Exchange of Toronto, which calls itself "Canada?s national centre for the promotion of design," claims that the Project G stereo, which Clairtone Sound Corporation produced, was "conceptually original, technically and functionally perfect, and aesthetically superior." It was "the epitome of a design icon." No sure about you, but I do quite like it, in a strange Monday morning way. The world's first boom-box or all in one lifestyle stereo perhaps? Nice emotional advertising layout iPod style eh? So what happened to this so-called design icon? Check out the rest of the article here at Nova Scotia News.
More About: Boom