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Do Designers Visualize or Articulate?
2008-09-12 16:35:00
I have always liked to use the term “Strategy Visualization” as an activity for designers to solidify, by design, a company’s business strategy. So recently, I was having a chat with my boss about getting some “visualizations” done for a design strategy by our client. My boss correctly pointed out to me that Designers should ...

Learning about my Design Sojourn Brand
2008-09-10 07:59:00
I am a strong believer in self-branding. This website and everything online that I participate in should be a measured expression of what the Design Sojourn brand should be. So it was nice to stumble onto Mel’s blog and his research on Industrial Design brands. Design Sojourn is a very post modern industrial ...
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The Underbelly of Design: Brand Dilution from Sourced Products
2008-09-08 16:40:00
A couple of months ago we had an open call for guest bloggers, we had a few responses with some great ideas. This week's Design Article, written by MB, was one of them. MB has written a very powerful article on a side of design and product development that the majority of the Brand s practices but few actually talk about. I myself have had similar experiences and can vouch for much of his. I am surprised that such product development strategies are not covered in many design education programs. So sit tight and welcome to The Underbelly of Design. ---------- I am a designer in a corporate consumer product company. A lot of my observations and commentary will be more on corporate design and product development. The business I work for has sadly become a commodity lately, driven by retailers forcing our company and our competitors into a price point erosion game. You would know these retailers I'm speaking of though they will remain anonymous. At this point of my co...
More About: Products , Dilution

100 Push ups : Week 1 : Pushing through the pain
2008-09-06 02:43:00
Oh man. I was still hurting from the initial test on Monday, 4 days after I took it. I had serious doubts on whether I would be able to continue the program faithfully. Partly chicken and partly due to dinner with friends from out of town, I missed Day 1’s set on ...
More About: Fitness , Pain , Week , Push

Where do you Think?
2008-09-04 17:29:00
Dear Designers, Where do you Think? What level should we be playing at? What sort of conversations should we be having? Think about it? Sincerely, DT

Tasty Books I Bought this Weekend!
2008-09-01 16:42:00
I hate going to bookstores as I always end up spending money! This weekend was no different as I bought two books that I've been looking for! Cost me just over $90 Singapore dollars. Things I Have Learned in My Life so Far by Stefan Sagmeister.
More About: Design , Books , Weekend

Has Chinese Design Arrived?
2008-08-28 16:23:00
In my opinion, design in China has leapfrogged ahead faster than the West did. But have they arrived?
More About: Design , Chinese

My 100 Push Ups Challenge!
2008-08-27 17:08:00
Get this crazy toy from Amazon! Something off the beaten track today. I usually I don't talk about non-design issues here on Design Sojourn, but as I made a 2008 New Year resolution to lead a healthier and fitter lifestyle, I like to catalog this challenge here to help keep me motivated. Yes, I know its almost September, but better 8 months late than never!
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Thinking about Sex?
2008-08-25 16:48:00
One of the world's leading product design consultancies, Smart Design, has a spin-off initiative called Femme Den that focuses on Designing for Women. Set up by 4 female designers, their motives do not stray far from the Smart Design methodology which uses "the understanding of people's perceptions and emotional connections" as a strategic competitive advantage for their customers. It seems this is more important than even their customer's brand! Very interesting.
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The Lifecycle of a Designer: Part 2
2008-08-21 17:00:00
Thanks for all the great comments and input you have left from Part 1. It has really given me a great insight to what you want to see here on Design Sojourn. So onwards to Part 2! In the Part 1 we looked at the hierarchy and life cycle of a design professional. Here in Part 2, we will take a deeper look at the roles and responsibilities of these design positions. I hope that at the end of the day, I can give you a small insight on how to prepare yourself for your next big position. Each role will start with a short description, then an expectation of the roles and responsibilities. The finally a list of what sort of work should be highlighted in your portfolio. But before I go on, I like to make a disclaimer. These examples are based on both my personal experience, opinion as well as observations. They may differ to what you may or will experience as it depends a lot on individual capabilities, job environment and even the country you are in. However I will strive to ma...
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Never Let Your Client do Design for You
2008-08-21 03:06:00
Designers often complain about Client s that don?t know anything about design and how they have to spend more time educating them. On the flip side, working with well informed and design savvy Clients can be a headache as well. One thing the latter tends to do is over specify the type of design that they want. The end result of such discussions is designers, as a colleague says, become another "pair of hands". That is dangerous on many levels especially if you are responsible for the quality of that design. Also this can be a difficult situation as there is a fine line between Clients giving a clear brief and becoming too involved in the design creation process. In general, discussions about configurations and how the product is used is great, but when the discussion starts to lean towards how it looks and how the form should be created, it is time to nip it in the butt, and re-educate. In general there is no perfect Client, education and good communication is the key.
More About: Design

Old Habits are Hard to Break?
2008-08-18 12:49:00
So last week, I got issued with a work laptop. It was a 12" Screen Dell Latitude D430 no bigger than my A4 sketchbook. It is a pretty decent, abet slow, system with an Intel Core 2, 1.2 GHz with 2 GB of RAM. But when I held it in my hands I immediately balked. My very helpful and friendly IT manger (ITM), looked at me and said: (the conversation roughly happened as follows, sorry my mind was a fried egg at that time.)
More About: Habits , Break , Hard

Invent Singapore Conference 2008
2008-08-16 16:37:00
Today I presented "What is Design?" at the Invent Singapore Conference 2008 , Design for Life workshop. I had a really great time as we had a really friendly audience that asked great questions. As promised to my audience, I have uploaded my presentation to Slideshare for reference viewing right here on Design Sojourn. On a side note, I designed the slide show not as a Design definition exercise. Far from that. In fact designers are still debating on how to define what design really is. This slide show was really more about looking at design on a holistic level and how design like the subject itself is constantly evolving. Not only that, the focus of the presentation was more about creating a design mindset and for inventors to understand what design can do for them. Do enjoy the slide below after the jump!

The Lifecycle of a Designer: Part 1
2008-08-13 16:37:00
One thing that I believe many designers, managers of designers, or buyers of design talent will struggle with is understanding a Designer 's Lifecycle within the design industry. Dealing with Lifecycle problems come in many forms. A few examples include, designers looking for the skills to get to the next level? designers wondering why they are stuck in their career? Or even why can't we hire the right designers for the job? For designers looking to rise up in their career, it will be one of those hard facts of life they have to deal with. The requirements of our professions do change as we move up, and the problem I see with most designers looking to move to higher positions is that they fail to realize what skills are required to get there. Another problem is also in the hiring of designers. The reality is that there are no job title "standards" and it is very common that "Creative Directors" in certain companies might be equivalent to Senior Designers in others. The ...
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Conducting Workshop at Invent Singapore 2008
2008-08-11 16:02:00
I have been invited to conduct a Workshop called “Design for Life” at the Invent Singapore Conference 2008 this Saturday 16 Aug 2008 at 2pm and also at 4pm. Invent Singapore is a convention like no other, where innovators, inventors and the business community come together to exchange ideas, learn about the process of ...

Taking a Bow
2008-08-08 14:00:00
Image Source: Showing Respect. With a sigh, I turn the lights and radio off, and shut my office door for the last time. After almost 5 1/2 years and 5 international design awards later, I have decided to resign from my position as Head of Industrial Design and Senior Manager at Nakamichi. Today the 8th August or 08/08/08 was my last day in the office. The decision to leave was a tough one, but I believe it is time for me to move on. I never realized it but this day happens to be a cosmically auspicious day to the Chinese, not to mention the start of the Olympics! "Eight" in Mandarin rhymes with "Fa" which means luck and prosperity. So while I'm pretty sad leaving behind some great colleagues, it looks to me like a happy ending that is going to lead into a flying start!
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Meta Design Links: 08 Aug 2008
2008-08-07 18:01:00
9 Nine Shane Acker Short AnimationUploaded by FrFKmeron 1) Check out this very cool short 3D film called "9" by Shane Acker. 2) Coroflot's Creative Seeds has a good article on how to keep your creativity flowing and also growing in their "Climbing out of the Genius Trap". 3) Design is all about Change, we are used to it, but what about the rest and is change, though exciting, really good? 4) Struggling with your Nurbs to Parametric modeling conversions? Can't get your 3D Computer Aided Industrial Design (CAID) to speak properly with engineers? Well help is on the way with this article that is almost a "cheat sheet" on how to get your Rhino to talk with Pro-Engineer. Nice work Sim! 5) Finally Go Olympics Go! How wonderful it is to finally be in Asia? Shall we forget about all our troubles and enjoy the cohesive spirit of the games? Anyways, if you happened to be interested in the Industrial Design of the Olympic Medals which are a combination of 2 materials (metal and s...
More About: Links , Meta , 2008

If You Were a Product, What Would You Be?
2008-08-06 10:59:00
Inspired by Jason Santa Maria's "If you were a Typeface", I thought it would be cool if we did a similar rendition but relate it to products? So consider this, if you were a product, what sort of product would you be? You could just list your favorite product, but it would make more sense to list a product that best describes your personality, tastes or interests etc. Along the same lines as Jason's post, perhaps you could also expand the the product description to include some background on the designer who designed the product and any other tit-bits such as the year it was designed or the materials used. Let me go first: ---------- I am a Lamy Dialog 1 by Richard Sapper! This beautiful ball point pen was designed and launched in 2003 by Richard Sapper who is also known for the IBM Thinkpads and the iconic Alessi Melodic kettle. In 1959, Richard Sapper together with Marco Zanuso was hired as consultants to Brionvega. Their resulting series of radios and televisions ush...
More About: Product

Question of the Week: What are the Responsibilities of Designers Today?
2008-08-04 06:32:00
Kenny, a clever chap who is also a chair of his local IDSA student chapter, asked my quite simply "What do you think are the responsibilities of designers today?" I was just about to rattle off the usual expected blurbs, sustainable design, user friendly design, ergonomics etc. But I stopped my self there. Designers have the power to convince and communicate if they know how. So why not do much more? Why can't designers focus on high level product strategies that encourages consumers to reduce consumption? Why must a new product be launched every 6-8 months? Why even have the need for an "Apple Tax"? Why can't designers work on product ideas that reduce, reuse and recycle? Why can't designers focus on making products that fit the needs of users so well that none other can better it or consumers don't see the need to change or upgrade? Why can't these products be so well designed that it lasts for years? Why can't designers focus on using unusual and innovative mate...
More About: Question , Today , Week , Responsibilities

Otaku Gundam Weekend
2008-08-03 05:36:00
Chilling this weekend with my limited edition "RGM-79 GM vs Zaku II" UT Uniqlo T-Shirt I bought from Japan. I Love it! And note the the little caption on the lower right side of the graphic. Looks like that Zaku pilot needs some target practice!
More About: Otaku , Weekend , Gundam

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