Design Sojourn

Updated: I have moved!

2006-05-19T11:00:00.000+08:00

At the fork junction, I decided to turn left and leave the beaten track and into the unknown.

After some advice from websites and fellow bloggers. I have decided to move! As it is i've already purchased this http://designsojourn.com domain name for use, but never did anything about it.

So now I have! See you all over at http://designsojourn.com or just remove the .blogspot in the url!

Note: Domain forwarding in process, so if you keep getting a server failure please try again later!

Note: Its been 1 server reset, 2 domain re-configurations, and 5 software re-installations...it hope this time its for real...sigh. Going off the beaten track is tough, really tough.

My Birthyday Present.

2006-05-17T14:16:00.000+08:00

Check out my wonderful surprise birthday gift from my lovely wife. This cool laptop bag from Acme Made. Its pretty slim and perfect for that designer look, or wanting to look like a designer! The key takeaway in the design is the wonderful material. Unlike other laptop bags, its finished in a very nice cloth material with various patterns. The dotted patterns of my design makes the bag a wonderful tactile and haptic holding experience. I highly reccomend it. Oh one more thing I use it to carry a sketch book!

Concept Design Equipment Shoot-out: Part 2

2006-05-12T17:25:00.000+08:00

The Usual Suspects!

Ok here are my tools and a short description about it and how I intent to use them.

Sketchbook + Drafting Pen

I'll start off with the classic. I 'm currently using a brand new Paperchase Paperbound sketch book. Paperbound because I cant stand the spiral wire spine. This is especially after some time the wire ends come undone and basically start to rip your bag apart! The paper is pretty good. Its a bond type paper they always advice you to use in rendering class. Its smooth with good tooth, and bleed resistant.

For my drawing tool, I'll use my trusty Staedtler Mars Professional Drafting Pen 0.3. That I picked up in, of all places, Korea's Incheon International Airport.
Its has a pretty smooth ink flow and pretty comfortable to hold in the hand based on the ergonomic designed grip.

Wacom Intuos 3 Drawing TabletWow is all I can say. Ignoring everything else, the Industrial Design of this product is just beautiful. The large one piece clear plastic top is a manufacturing marvel.

I bought the 9"X12" size or A4 sized version as I tend to sketch from my shoulder. Though in thumbnail sketches I also use a lot of wrist movement. In this situation, I actually reduce the active area on the tablet to an 6"X8" or A5 size equalivant.

The other thing is that I use the 9"X12" both at home and in my office. At work I have a 19" LCD monitor and the full 9"X12" sizing actually works pretty well as the mapping is almost 1:1. Athome on my 14" laptop, the 9"x12" is just too big as the active area is bigger than my actual laptop screen. Thus at home I use the reduced 6"X8" size mapping to get a closer match to my 14" laptop screen size.

In both cases, work or home, there is no lag between stylus and drawn line with the fast USB 2.0 connection the tablet uses. Software wise, I use Photoshop 9 at work, and at home I use either Artrage 2 Trial or Sketchbook Pro Trial.

Toshiba Portege M200 Tablet PC

I wont go too much into the review of this Tablet PC as a Latop PC as there are tons of reviews on it on the internet. Here are some if the better ones if you are interested:

Notebook Reviews

Tablet PC Buzz Review

In this blog I'll focus on the more important aspects to designers, the act of sketching and painting.

The specs of my loaned machine are a Pentium M 1.5 Ghz, 1GB RAM, and a 32MB NVidia Video Card. The system runs pretty smooth in most aspects.

I have also installed the latest Wacom Tablet PC drivers. This gives a lot better sensitivity control, than the standard Microsoft ones, making the Tablet PC a lot more of a drawing tool. The pressure sensitivity, however, is not as good as the Intuos 3, but its fairly decent.

Another thing to note is that when you drawing on the M200 Tablet PC the drawn line appears on the screen to lag about 5mm behind the stylus. Its not that noticeable during drawing as the line forms up behind the stylus smoothly and is not jagged. I not sure why this happens, but my guess is that its a hardware digitizer problem.

For sketching and illustration on the Tablet PC, I am using Paint shop pro, Painter and a trial version of Sketchbook pro. All the programs run and load fairly quick, but will as part of this blog go thru some intensive graphic exercises at a later time. It is important to use Painter or Sketchbook pro as this programs allow you to use the pressure sensitive drivers. Took me awhile to set every thing up the way I like it, but its finally good to go.

As an side note, I ran my copy of Rhino3D on the M200 with a large 50" TV 3D file and it operated the Nurbs modeling aspects pretty well. Shading and possibly rendering, however, is as expected a little slow.

What's Next
In the following days, I will be splitting this analysis into a few more parts and they are:

Portability: I will be accessing all the 3 tools in a pick up and go situation.
Ease of use: Actually navigating the system and using the tools to do sketching or painting work.
Design workflow: Incorporating the tools into the design process and in the work environment.
Final considerations: Last parting thoughts.

Right so stay tuned for the next installment!

To comment or not to comment?

2006-05-11T14:24:00.000+08:00

Ugh! Doh! Stupid me, I realized that I had turned on comment moderation but turned off comment notification! Imagine, here I was bemoaning why no one was leaving comments on my blog?

I was pleasantly surprised today on all the comments left on my blog from the past and immediately approved them all. I have also since modified the settings to get notifications for future comments!

So I like to apologize for not replying to all your comments, and will do so from now on, so please leave more!

Concept Design Equipment Shoot-out: Part 1

2006-05-11T10:21:00.000+08:00

I have been reading a lot about the new new in computing technology for designers. This technology has had a strong foot hold in 2D (visualisation) and 3D (detailed design) parts of the design process over the years. However the computing technology has now moved into the holy grail of design. The concept design stage. This has lead designers to learn new ways of designing or applying their trade. But does this new technology actually help designers do better work, or hinder them? It has been said that poor designers often hide behind technology.

Thus I have decided to write a review as well as its practical application in the design field as I have actually manage to get myself into a position to try them all out!

I have with me the 3 different types of concept design and sketching equipment. A traditional sketchbook, a Wacom Tablet, and a Tablet PC. I plan to talk a little about each as well as do a comparison of each as a design tool over time.

First a little background. First came CAD or computer aided drafting. Lead by AutoCAD it basically was a 2D drafting tool for architects and designers. Then about 10-15 years ago, with new more powerful computing technology, the design world was introduced to 3D CAD. Also called 3D modeling, it herald a new way of doing design, and boasts a much faster time to market.

With today's fast computing technology and miniaturization, we now have Tablet PCs and Laptops for fast 3D modeling and design sketching on the fly. When the first generation Tablet PCs had a lot of pen lag due to poorer processing power, the Tablet PC computer can now keep up with humans. The lines drawn on the Tablet PC touch screen are now almost able to move as quickly as the pen!

Stay tuned in the next couple of days as I will talk about each different tool in detail as well as my experiences in the following days.

10 Tips on landing you an ID job

2006-04-20T12:01:00.000+08:00

I think this is a big issue for many the graduating designers. So I have compiled 10 Tips of things they don’t really tell you. This is based from my personal experience and from other design professionals that I have spoken to.

1. The 10% Reality
I think this is the biggest tip I can give and something nobody likes to talk about. Only about 10% of any graduating ID cohort will find a job right out of school as industrial designers. Yes that is the hard reality. Many fresh grads need to come to terms with this, and move on. How to move on, we’ll see below.

Many ID grads become just as successful but in other design or non-design related professions. I have ID friends who become owners of their own Interior Design or 3D CAD businesses, or even internet marketing managers. I have also a friend who is a successful writer and drama/play critic. As you can see, you still can be successful in what ever you do. Take heed an ID degree arms you with problem solving analytical skills vital in any organization.

For the record, I was not one of this 10%. I graduated just out of the top 10% of my cohort.

2. Be true to yourself and know what you want
This leads me to the next point. You now need to look deep inside and be true to yourself and your dreams. Do you really want to be a designer? If you really want to be an designer, you will need to recognize the path will be long and hard and will need to put in a lot of work to be one.

Determination, passion, persistence and drive to work hard are the key, as the road will not be easy. Notice I left out creativity and ability to design? Creativity is important, but the difference between the great designers and the so-so designers is really the first few points.

I have seen many designers complain on how they cannot find a job, but don’t do much to help themselves by improving their own skills and work first.

3. Figure out your strengths and weakness
This is also a very important point, and ties back in to the point above. You need to face the mirror and tell yourself you suck in this X design skill or that ability….its humble pie, and a good exercise.

Its funny, I have interviewed candidates who are totally oblivious of their own ability! They go on bragging about their work and how good it is when in reality they are no where close. Perhaps its confidence and bravado, but you need substance to back it up, and if you don’t have substance, you are totally off track.

What a budding designer needs to do is literally sit down and write out his strengths and weakness. And you need to be totally honest and frank about it. You may also want to talk to people who know you well, like your fellow design graduates or school lecturers. Also look at the portfolios at core77 or at IDAsia.org, see how people react to good design work, and by noting the fine points, you can learn to do good design work too!

The worst thing you can do is announce strengths you think you have, but in reality are not your real strengths. This process is also important when you go for an interview as you can tell your prospective employer what you can do best.

The other reason for this listing exercise is to look at your weakness and improve on it. Suck in sketching (as I was), go out to buy sketching books and practice. Suck in presentation and speaking skills, look for self-help books or attend classes. During my time of unemployment (6-8months) when I graduated, I was in book stores almost 3-4 times a week and the rest of the time working on my portfolio, and improving my skills.

4. Portfolio presentation and improvement
Ah, another of my favorite topic. I won’t touch so much on portfolio and resume design and execution because there are lots of articles on this. But what I want to say about this is this point. Nobody else can be as excited about your portfolio as you! Your portfolio is your crowning glory. You must be proud of it and thus only show work you are proud to show. If you have to apologize for a piece of work, take it out!

You will be surprised to hear that there are a lot of tired designers droning on and on about their work with little enthusiasm, or portfolios full of white fungus with bits falling out. If you don’t take time or effort to prepare you work, how can an employer feel confident you will take the same effort for their design work?

Another thing is always look to improve your portfolio at least once a year. This way you take the effort to collect the pictures and data required, and not have to panic if you don’t have the images. Every 6 months even, if you have the time. It’s a good habit to have and ensures that you will be prepared when that juicy job opportunity arises.

5. Cold calls and attend as many interviews as possible and ask for feedback
Many great job opportunities are passed by word of mouth only, especially in the creative field. So pluck up the courage and cold call the design organizations directly. At the very least, just ask to put your resume/portfolio on file so that when something comes up they will call you. If you are lucky, they may call you up for a chat, and you will have your foot in the door! Also you could be referred to other organizations that are looking. I have been asked for recommendations and even have resume/portfolios passed to me from others. The trick is to get into the thick of things by making your self know to the design community.

This leads me to the next thing about interviews. Attend as many interviews as you can manage and don’t be afraid. Its nerve wracking at first, but the idea is the more you attend the better you get at selling yourself and answering questions. Soon you will know of keywords employers like to hear and you can use this skill over and over again in anything that you do.

Also interviews are a great place to get feedback from professional designers. That’s the most important thing a budding designer can get when he/she starts out. But you will need to ask. This is because most people will actually not tell you. It’s also a nice way to end the interview, as it shows your keenness to improve one self.

6. Network: Ask bosses out for lunch, talk to people
This is kind of an extension of the last point, but it can be a life of its own. If you seem to get along with an interviewer, take that fellow out for lunch and have a chat. Outside of the job environment, you can get a lot of soft information. For example what is the design culture in that organization like or how is the design scene like in that area/country etc.

Also attend talks and designer activities and talk to other fellow designers whom already have a design job to get their opinion of things as well as your work.

However you need to temper this a little, and don’t go overboard. Otherwise people start to think the only thing you do is network instead of do actual work!

7. Look for a mentor
I have been blessed with someone that really took the time to look over my work and gave me fantastic feedback. I had met him when I interviewed with him for a job at his organization. He has somehow been quietly in the background all these years giving me feedback on and off. (Though we lost touch for about 3-4 years) Recently I hunted him down and now I talk to him maybe once a year. Unknowingly he actually was my unofficial mentor, and of everything I have done, I have learnt the most from him with actually very little input from his side.

So I do encourage you to look for a mentor or someone that will take the time to guide you. Don’t ask anybody that comes along, make sure that person likes you and has your best interests at heart.

The great thing is they can come from anywhere, just keep your eyes open.

8. Do any job you can find, but make sure it’s at least remotely ID related
That’s right people. If you have to pick between doing freelance career to finding a job, pick the job. This is because being in a design job is not only about doing design. Being on job you learn so much more things, like administrative matters, dealing with colleagues and such.

However do ensure that it’s at least related in some way to design. The product development process is a very long one and an ID graduate can actually work in any place down and up stream in the process.

I spent the first 3-4 years of my life doing all kinds of things, and it has really given me a strong foundation in my career as a designer. I was designing ethnic Asian furniture, bending metal and acrylic for kiosks, sanding/painting rapid prototype parts, and even project managing Tender projects.

Just make sure you communicate your work scope to each new employer you interview with.

9. Freelance work and going it on your own.
A lot of people go “well I can’t find a job so I’ll start my own business”. Yes that’s a good plan to have but it should be a medium term one. Unlike the other design professions, industrial design is an extremely complex and rigorous profession. Thus my advice is spend a few years in the work force to learn the finer details and do freelance work at night to build your portfolio.

On the side, to date I actually have not heard of any successful designer or founders of design organizations that started straight out of school. Most worked for a few years before going out on their own.

Another thing about freelance work, is that most companies do not like the fact you do freelance work,. If you do any freelance work, make sure it’s not related to the work of the company you work for. For example if you are designing taps and bathroom fittings, make sure you don’t do the same for someone else. Use freelance work instead as exposure to other fields and to broaden your portfolio. Also keep the work out of the office. It is tempting to combine the two, but it’s a “firing” offense for most companies.

Freelancing and sub-contracting work for companies you want to work for is also another means of getting your foot in the door. But I do caution, if you are already employed its considered as working for another company. However if you are currently un-employed, as I was when I did this, it’s a good opportunity for a prospective employer to see how you perform in a work situation. I was actually offered a job after my freelance project!

10. Keep in touch
Last but not least, keep a black book of your contacts, and keep in-touch with your prospective employers.

Design companies constantly get tons of resumes and people looking for a job. You don’t want your resume to be at the bottom of the pile, so by calling up once or twice a year, you move to the top of the pile, and when a job arises, you could be the first they think of, as its very likely are design organizations are often small and flat in reporting structure. Plus any company likes a potential enthusiastic employee.

IDAsia.org

2006-04-10T14:32:00.000+08:00

Sigh, been up to my eyeballs in work and developing content for this forum, www.IDAsia.org come visit all you design junkies!

B&O headphones: Part 1

2006-03-23T11:52:00.000+08:00

Check out my latest purchase. I must say its one of the most amazing products I own. And I only own 2. The other one is my Wacom Intous3 9x12 Tablet.

I’m a product designer by profession, and so it’s pretty hard for a product to really impress me. I actually own very few electronics products, being very fussy in general. I only buy products of a certain quality and innovation level. It’s never the same when you know how cheap a consumer electronics product costs to make. Some of the other good, but not great, products I own include the Sony Clie TG-05, Sony Ericsson Phone K700i, and perhaps my Nintendo DS.

However I just simply love my new B&O headphones. I had this amazing feeling putting it on the first time, and plugging it in, and walking down the street, and getting on the bus…

I’m deeply intrigued, of this “feeling” I had. I don’t know where it came from. The only other time I had this feeling was when I test drove the BMW Mini Cooper, and first used my Intous3 Tablet. It’s had to describe, it’s a mixture of pride, exhilaration, happiness, and sadness when you put it down.

Interestingly enough the B&O ear phones, BMW Mini, and Intous3 are all products of premium brands.

So this leads me to wonder, what is in this product mix, that these premium products and brands have, that the other mass market brands struggle to find?

BBD Part 2: Have a healthy curiosity

2006-02-24T14:54:00.000+08:00

Some of the best designers I know are curious about every thing in their environment both natural or man made. So much so that it annoys the non-designer people around them. Imaging having to stop and look at the way a stop sign is connected to a sign post often annoys significant others.

This curiosity feeds your mental dictionary of things, doo-dads and what-nots. By understanding how everything around you works, how people or companies make things, you can be easily inspired to create the next fantastic design as this information will be at your finger tips.

As they say there are no real original designs just innovative interpretations of designs put under different circumstances.

I really like to look at how the insides of things work, also not to only look but to understand how they manufacture it. If there are plastic parts look for cavity markings, flow marks, sink marks, wall thickness relationships, draft angles, ejector marks and gating points. For metal parts look at the folding techniques, the mounting points and edge detailing. Also dont forget to see how internal PCB mountings are done as well.

Remember not to "look" but "see".

Just to start things off here are some of my favourite links for such information:
Creative Zen Disassembled
MacBook Pro Ripped Apart
Ipod Nano Trashed

Check back with yourself in a few years you will be surprised by how much you will have learn if you keep your curiosity radar on all the time.

Pitgreen!

2006-02-03T16:29:00.000+08:00

Wow, i absolutly love this product! Being a recient golf convert myself, i was quiet amazed to see that this little fellow could drive, putt, chip, slice, and even do bunker shots!

Check it out here

What is even more interesting is in the movies section, there is a short interview, in German though, about how this product was created. Its a really nice summary of the product development process.

What we can learn from Design Competitions

2006-01-27T17:01:00.000+08:00

I always wondered why I never entered design competitions. They are great! They exercise the mind, may win you fame and fortune and even money. Possibly I was wallowing in self-pity or to busy trying to live. Perhaps as my colleague, who shall be known as “tua_designer”, aptly put “we are all talents but no time!”

Anyways there is a nice little furor of interest in design competitions in the studio that I work at. I must say the most prolific participant of design competitions must be my other collegue “micro_designer”. She has quietly “kicked butt” ninja style by getting herself short listed for one recently. Kudos!

So here are some cool design competitions to enter:

Design boom’s Shelter in a cart

2006 Taiwan International Design Competition Theme Nomad

Also check out the winning entry of Design Within Reach’s Champagne Chair competition. It is truly a beautiful piece of art, and a forehead slapping, wonderful solution to a problem. I love to look at winning designs and what I can learn form them. So are down right odd, and I wondered “huh what happened?” However the truly great winning designs I would call it a “Doh!” solution. Homer Simpson style.

That’s what we designers should always strive for. Obtaining that elusive BIG “Doh!” solution. We have tackled many a design briefs, and in many case come up with countless of concept solutions. But the best solution is the most logical one. The beauty of this “Doh!” solution lies in that it fulfills all aspects of the brief, and has a form that is beautiful, unique, usable, manufacturing viable, and basically just RIGHT!

The great thing about us designers is that we know it when we see it. Well at least I hope we do?

Forum for Singapore based designers

2006-01-20T18:11:00.000+08:00

Seeing an opportunity, I’ve started a forum for local Singaporean designers to network and discuss about the design industry. It’s also open to designers from other nationalities who are interested in working or designing in Singapore as well as China and Asia.

Here is the link.

I do hope that as many of you will join and contribute to the community, and we can all work together to raise the standard of design in Singapore.

Evolution of iPod's Click Wheel

2006-01-17T18:12:00.000+08:00

While doing some research i stumbled on this gem. Cnet's MP3 insider Eliot Van Buskirk has given a really nice run down on the historical development of the world most famous and un-ergonomic interface.

Talk about a bad design doing good. The over use of the iPod click wheel may causes repetitive strain injury (RSI) according to Carl Irwin, from the British Chiropractic Association. Caril said:

"This is a really serious problem. The action needed to move the wheel on an iPod is totally unnatural and effectively separates the joint in the thumb every time you use it.
"This causes inflammation in the thumb or fingers and can be very painful. We have also seen cases of iPod users where the problem has spread to their elbow and neck."

Referred by usernomics

Electrolux Design Lab 2005 Award goes to a Singaporean!

2006-01-13T14:58:00.000+08:00

Who says Singapore has no Design Talent? Check out the winning design for the 2005 Electrolux Design Lab competition.

Designed by Gabriel Tan and Wendy Chua, both from the National University of Singapore, this waterless washing machine, inspired by a waterfall, uses negative ions and compressed air to clean clothes. Brings a new direction to dry cleaning.

Congrats to them both!

More information at Core77 and femalefirst.

How To Fold A T-Shirt

2006-01-03T11:59:00.000+08:00

I have been looking for this little gem for the longest time after i saw a video clip on this in japanese. I finally found it on the Martha Steward Website in a graphic form. Enjoy!

Oh and one more thing Happy New Year everyone!

Singapore Designers "lack identity"?

2005-12-27T17:23:00.000+08:00

My father in law eagerly passed me a copy of the “Today” newspaper, pointed to the article and asked me “Is this true?”

After reading this, my immediate reaction was defensive. I wanted to protect my passion and my profession, but stop myself short. I grudgingly replied “Yes it is, but its out of context!”

Here is the article reprinted just incase it gets deleted from the archives.

S'pore designers 'lack identity'
Friday • December 23, 2005

SINGAPORE'S ambition to be the design capital of Asia has suffered a dent with a recent survey that yielded less-than-optimistic views from industry players.

The 40 Singapore-based design professionals and experts surveyed rated Singapore's design hub status as "fair", and deemed Singapore design work to have "met the basic requirements", according to the report by Spire Research and Consultancy.

Most cited Japan and Hong Kong as better locations for design.

"Some believed Singapore possessed a pool of design talent with potential for development. However, none of the respondents were optimistic about Singapore becoming a design hub in the short-term," the report noted.

While more than half the respondents rated the quality of Singapore design work as reasonable and efficient, over 90 per cent believed that Singapore designers lack creativity and international exposure.

"A frequently-cited observation was that the work of Singapore designers reflected a lack of identity," the report said.

On a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being the best, Singapore design output was rated 3.6 in creativity and 3.7 in aesthetic sense.

In terms of the "pure quality" of design work, Singapore scored 3.6, after Japan at 1.7, Hong Kong at 2.7 and just above Thailand at 3.8.

Some 60 per cent believed that the local design sector was young and more development was needed before Singapore could aspire to be a design hub.

Half of the respondents felt that the current education system neglected the arts, particularly at the primary and secondary levels.

They also felt that the Government and several industries should lend greater financial support by awarding scholarships to young talents. — Tan Hui Leng

Ok I asked myself, well I’m an industry player, and nobody interviewed me? Who were this 40 people anyway? If it’s a general industry assessment, I must agree, but has the reporter not seen the recent International Architecture and Design awards Singaporean designers have won?

But jokes aside, I like to point out a couple of things that this article failed to indicate. Really this write up is very one sided, and out of context by the way Singapore was marked with other countries.

Singapore only started this design hub initiative in Aug 2003 with the launch of the Design Singapore Council by MICA (Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts). So looking at my calendar this initiative has only just turned 2 years old.

Japan on the other hand can trace its design roots all the way back to the 16th century. Japan as a culture is so much older compared to Singapore’s 40 years of independence. So considering that we have been doing this for only a short time, scoring and average mark on that 1 to 7 scale in creativity, aesthetic sense and quality is pretty damn good if you ask me. Honestly I wonder if these so call “experts” interview were misquoted?

"A frequently-cited observation was that the work of Singapore designers reflected a lack of identity," the report said.

Again what is this article saying? Are we to run before we can even walk? I recently attended a meeting with Design Singapore Council advisors where we discussed this very topic of “Does Singapore need a design identity?” In many cases, a design identity reflected in products such as the ones found in German cars, Swiss watches, and Japanese electronics, are carefully crafted initiatives that are a reflection of a positive culture characteristic with a global appeal. In every case they were both nurtured and marketed but never created or induced artificially. We all agreed at the end of that day, a small group of people cannot create this identity; it is one of a collective cultural nature.

Hey some people had 400 years to develop their cultural identity, we had just 40 years. As Dr Evil always says “throw us a freaking bone, why don’t you?”

At least Singapore did not stop and are still looking for it. Every year at the Miss Universe pageant, I am always interested to see, no not Miss Singapore, but the Miss Singapore cultural dress. And every year we still have some atrocious design that is paraded around the floor. I’m glad as this means we are still looking for that illusive cultural identity and hence design identity.

Some 60 per cent believed that the local design sector was young and more development was needed before Singapore could aspire to be a design hub.

This is my biggest beef with a lot of the harshest critics of the local design scene. They always bitch and moan about how they can’t find any good local designers and must hire from overseas. Yet they don’t do anything to improve the local scene or foster local talents. And believe me I’ve seen many diamonds in the rough.

That is also my main worry when I hear all the big names such as Lucasarts or BMW Designworks coming to Singapore, will they actually hire any locals? Honestly, if they have the chance, I think not. I’ve work in MNCs before and that never is the case, unless you are truly an exceptional local talent. I’ve seen many local guys passed over for foreigners who are really no better except having better exposure. Some foreign designers I’ve worked with are down right crap, they just talk good.

This leads me to the final rant, exposure and the local education system. Well I’m not sure when these people were interviewed, but I have seen many native Singaporeans who graduate from overseas universities with overseas work experience applying for jobs in Singapore. How exposed to we need to be? We travel more now, and with the internet the world is a smaller place? Furthermore in the recent 3-4 years I have seen many people opting to do design when they could have been a doctor or lawyer because of their A level grades. Kudos to them!

Really, it’s a matter of time, and though we are not running, we are not walking as well.

Copulator, a what?

2005-12-21T23:00:00.000+08:00

Just looking at this makes me want to cry.

What a waste of a good talent. Well at least you will know if your chairs dont stack correctly!

Parking

2005-12-20T10:29:00.000+08:00

Check out this really cool and innovative use of space conceptualised by the Rebargoup.

This could be an interesting concept for the urban jungle that is Singapore.

A Good Design Makes your Mind BLINK!

2005-12-19T11:14:00.000+08:00

I was at famed MIT Media Labs John Maeda's blog and he talk about how "good art makes our mind blink". This is so true, and if we extrapolate this alittle, I would say a "good design makes our mind blink too!"

Here's the link.

Here's John's influence.

I may need to pop down to MPH to see if they have that book...

BBD Part 1: Just Do it!

2005-12-19T11:02:00.000+08:00

This series provides little hints and tips on how to be a better designer. (BBD) The aspects mainly include how to improve productivity and better design management of your day to day concepts development tasks.

In this first installment we focus on “Just Do it!” Getting to work I mean, from our point of view, getting right into the sketching. I know we have discussed about “reflective” stops and thinking about what you are doing. But “reflective” stops assume that you are some where in between or have already started your concept development work.

In the standard design process, often a design brief is laid out or an initial research phase is done as one of the first steps. After this has been done, I have seen many designers, suffer from analysis paralysis, or just stunned in the scope of the work that they have to do, so much so that they do not know where to start! Subsequently many designers tend to work out the design concepts or idea in his or her head. This is extremely difficult to do efficiently as a person’s general mental capacity has only a limited space available.

Just like making a To Do list, pick up a pen or pencil and start sketching! Get in there, don’t wait! This moves the idea or concept from the mind and on to the paper, freeing up mental storage space. Once you do that you will find that you can think clearer and better.

The act of starting is also difficult for many, especially when you are faced with a huge blank piece of paper. What I suggest is warm up by drawing a few horizontal lines, or little thumbnails. Also sketching buttons are my personal favorite way to warm up. Once you have turned this into a habit, it will be easy to just bang out the sketches.

Finally, the act of designing is making an intangible idea into a tangible object. This is in itself is a difficult task, as there could be many solutions to a design problem. The question is often “which is the best solution for the problem on hand?”

In many cases, if the solution is thought up exclusively in the mind, it’s often not the best solution. Visualization skills, just like sketching skills, need to be developed especially in a young designer’s career. The best design solution that solves the design brief often comes when you have considered all the options. Getting your sketches on paper is essentially that, listing out all the options. From there it’s easy to apply your design sense and ask yourself if this sketch solution is “logical” or not!

Design Theory Pt 2: Is this logical?

2005-12-15T17:28:00.000+08:00

Most of us are designers because we like design and at least (i'm hoping) can innately tell a good design from a bad design. This innate "design sense" most designers have, though some more than others. This "design sense" is both a function of designing experience and a "gift".

Fortunately in many ways this "design sense" can be developed just like drawing ability or learning to ride a bike. One good way, as part of your mental "reflective " stop, is to simply ask your self

"Is this logical?"

Logical is terms of everything:
"Is this a logical line?"
"Is this a logical form?"
"Is this a logical solution?"
"Is this a logical target market?"
"Is this a logical position for a button?"

I think you get the picture.

The best designs are logical and logical in almost every aspect:

Often in the complex world of industrial design, we are faces with many constraints. These constraints can come from branding requirements in design language, engineering aspects, marketing and even a designer's philosophy. All this jumbled up in our melons at the top of our shoulders have a tendency to over load our mental faculties. This often causes us to lose sight of the big picture, and we end up doing stuff against our inner design voice. Or just doing things that just does not seem right

In many ways that's the difference between a designer and non-designer who appreciates design. A designer identify and correct the different aspects of a bad product. A non-designer will know that is wrong, but will not be able to say what it is.

So stop, and ask your self, "Is this logical?" so to bring yourself back in touch with your innate design sense. Because it is the type of situation that if you do it people cannot tell the difference, but if you dont, everybody will know.

Unsung heros, are we not?

Why i hate digital media? Part 2

2005-12-09T10:46:00.000+08:00

Lets give a quick summary from the previous installment before we go on. Basically due to problems of tangibility people do not respect digital media and have trouble managing it. This means digital media will not stray far from the PC. However for digital media to really become main stream it will need to skip the PC middleman.

So now lets have a quick look to see where we are today with some "post-pc era" products.

Philips Media Centre HTS
This is the second product in Philip's foray into the digital media center home entertainment system (HTS). Looks pretty good. If we used the first version as a basis for discussion , the system has a lot of functions (internet surf, Mp3, Movies, photos etc.) and can almost be seen as a normal "PC" media centre converted into an interior object. Sort of a more lifestyle version of Mac-mini. However as they removed alot of the interface devices like keyboard or mouse, you would still need the help of a PC to get and manage the information in the system. That being said you should be able to rip music from your CD directly into the built in harddrive.

The system also streams, via Wi-Fi, digital media content to other small "waystations" that you could put anywhere in the house. However if its anything like the first generation system I reciently saw, it suffers for Wi-Fi drop out which leaves the user wondering if he pressed the right button or not.

Conclusion: Still needs a little help from the PC.

Squeezebox by Slim D evices

Easy to use and set up—It takes just a few minutes to install: simply load SlimServer, our powerful and free Open Source software, onto your computer and connect the player to your network. Squeezebox automatically configures itself and is ready to use.

Nice design and a cool package. But in terms of post-pc product, its not quiet there yet. This system basically plays off the computer's content, and can be thought off as an extension of a PC. Nice idea, but it assumes you have some knowledge of the PC environment, as you need to set it up. After that the device can connect your MP3 on your pc's harddrive to any other device in the house.

Conclusion: A cool but complex PC add on.

B&O Beo4

The Beo4 is a CD player, FM radio and has an SD slot. If you’d like DAB radio, you can get it factory fitted as an option. B&O says this is the first audio system of its kind to be able to record music from a radio or CD to the SD without a computer

From the Gizmondo rumour mill. If this product is true and sold, it will be one of the few, that actually focuses on the creation of digital media, and playing it thru removable media. Another one is the Teac CR-H255. As it has no harddrive in the specifications or PC connections, we can assume the system it targeted to people who have the original CDs, andwant to digitize your collection.

I like this format because I can mange my collection via flash memory chips and the ability to move it around to various other devices, if necessary, like say the Beo3 clock radio (left image). The downside, is it looks to be only a task specific music system (a start of a trend?), and probably not play Divx. Take a look at the Beomedia 1 for that visual media angle.

Conclusion: Targets non-music downloaders, but music-downloaders can find a place too.

Roku Soundbridge Radio

Internet Radio – Listen to thousands of free Internet radio stations from around the world - one-touch access to talk, jazz, rock, pop or your old home town favorite! You do not need a computer to listen to Internet radio; you just need broadband and a Wi-Fi home network.

This is currently the closest product we can get for avoiding the pc middle man. This internet radio, connects directly with out a computer. Notice also its a pretty task specific product, and it does the job well.

Conclusion: As close as it gets, but as expected it suffers from limited scope.

Ok, thats it for today, stay tuned for the next digital media installment where we look at a little more of the aspects of ditigal media that influences the human psyche.

Design Theory Part 1: Reflection

2005-12-08T16:07:00.000+08:00

Today we start this new series on theories on how to possibly create better designs. I think central to successful design thinking and even to this series as a whole, is the concept of reflection. Looking back and onto one's self.

Often designers power away at a concept sketch, 2D rendering, 3D CAD racing to the end to meet many datelines. After that they jump on to the next project without much thought. Whether you are a student or a professional, time or the lack of it, is a common factor. This should not prevent you from reflection. There are many opportunities for reflection; one of my favorite places is in the shower.

What I do urge designers to do is occasionally STOP. Stop during the design production process, as well as after the end of the project to reflect on what has transpired.

This act of stopping to think and reflect is vital for personal growth as well as good design, as you can access if you are doing the right job, or doing the job right.

President's Design Award

2005-12-07T13:31:00.000+08:00

I was looking at the new President's Design Award and was a little troubled when I looked at the nomination guide. What was more confusing was that, this event was reported on a Mediacorp TV news coverage, with a clip with Singapore Famed Movie Director Eric Khoo. I was like, Eric Khoo a "designer"? I mean if Eric Khoo wins he will recieve a President's Design Award for a movie?. Is this right?

Technically by the dictionary definition it is correct, a designer designs. To design is to create, and Eric Khoo creates something and thus could be called a designer. Unfortunatly this will lead to a whole load of confusion, espically to a public just beginning to understand design.

I think the discussion here is two fold. First is the sope, the second is the title.

In terms of scope, we need to be careful, by recognising the people who is responsible in creating the actual design. Reciently there was an article in the newspaper about Singapore 10 most promising designers. One of the gentlemen features was from Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. My question was not of his credentials but of how close was he to the actual creation process of a ad compaign? I'm sure he leads in overall strategy, but I'm sure there are a lot of creative copywriters and graphic designers that made the ads a reality. My gist is that there are many people involved in the design process, so what aspect do you own, and at what level is this award directed to?

The next that could make this distinction easier is the title and name of the award. If you win a design award means you do design, or a designer by profession. So what is a designer? In this day and age, even though "design" is a verb, being called a "designer" or doing design is tagged to a professional title, such as Graphic Designer or Industrial Designer. It should like all professions should be given the respect that it deserves.

Fortunatly or unfortunatly, it covers only just these few professions (Interior, Graphic, Industrial, Interface, Web, Multimedia etc). The other prominent creation type professions has its own professional title. I believe Architects would not like to be called "Building Designers". I dont think copywriters like to be called "Sentence designers". Or Eric Khoo, be called a "Film designer". What about Accountants being called "Number Designers"?

The list is endless, perhaps by my 2 cents worth, change the name to The President's Creative Award? At least it a much more clearer blanket statement that covers all aspects of the creativite industry. Please not "design", as we know how confusing the term "design" has become.

Everybody is talking about design.

2005-12-06T14:17:00.000+08:00

The term "Design" is truly the in-thing theses days everybody is talking about it and how they are and are not related! Its also the new management buzz word and most people are all over the place trying to jump on the band wagon.

Source: Les Wynn, DMI 2000

Check out a graphic I got from the Design Management Journal about the new new in organisation management trends.

But is it really about design or just being creative? The chart above focuses on companies who create products and how they use design to differ themselfs and get ahead. But there is growing evidence that the term "design" or "designer" is used to in a too generic manner.

1) Is it design or creative management?
I nearly fell off my chair when i found out that Tom Peters, a well know management guru, is also telling designers how to be designers, when he is not even a designer himself! This again is creative management and change strategy?

Tom Peters on Design49
Prepared for the Better by Design Conference in Auckland, New Zealand, March 2005.

Dont get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Tom and a big inspiration in my growth as a manager, but this is like saying "Well I currently have a licence to drive a car so I can definitly drive a truck!" I feel sad that even him is jumping of the "design" band wagon rather than staying true to his creative management work.

2) Is this design or creative thinking?
After reading about Innovation vs Design at businessweek online, I was further intrigue about the general and liberal use of the word "design" and how its being intermingled or used interchangeably with "innovation".

At the recent IDF 2005, here in Singapore even all banding people are jumping on board. Jez Frampton from Interbrand indicated how "firms want to revolutionises by turning design oriented". I asked my self, even companies that dont sell products? Maybe its just me, but i have associated design with something tangiable like products or logos not services! The presentation went on to describe how every aspect of the communications strategy is "designed" including the way you answer the phone. I suppose if you put it that way, you could "design" a way to answer the phone. That comment made me a little afraid.

I got even more afraid when i read that design is really used to describe non-tangible things like processes. In Innovation is the New Black , Michael Bierut wrote:

"The new stars of design work on rather nebulous, intangible things such as services and business models. They collaborate, so it's difficult to see where their authorship begins and ends. And their arrival has caused toxic shock to the design world, resulting in an awful lot of bad feeling."

As an example:

There was a big outcry when the Council gaved an award to Hilary Cottam for her work in applying design principles to solving problems in health care and prisons. And Vicky Richardson, editor of Blueprint, has said that what people such as Cottam and Thackara do is strategic planning and should not be confused with design. 'Calling it that reflects the fact that design is very popular. It suggests to me an aspiration to be a certain kind of creative.'

Ooh what a high brow but interesting statement!

If you want to talk about "Design and Strategy" it has been around for a long time, and we all know "Good design is good business". Refering the the chart at the top again, the companies like Nike who deploy it on a strategic decision making level are winning in todays consumer product race. It is this move from "Design" as being just surface aesthetics, to strategic design that I thinking is causing the confusion. This different positioning of design thinking towards a more holistic level is what I would define the innovation part.

The other confusiing part comes from the nature of organisations, when you need "titles" to define your job scope, as I've not heard of "Innovation Executive" (cool title eh?), design managers have been the traditional facilitators of strategic design in the board room. So when a non-designer jumps onboard, designers get a little defensive and start to protect their turf. (Like me vs Tom eh?)

3)Is this design or innovation?

Continuing from Innovation is the New Black Michael Bierut nicely summed up this debate:

...although innovation is always good, it isn't always effective. "We all know that reliable methods of innovation are becoming important to business as they realize that 96% of all innovation attempts fail to meet their financial goals...But thank goodness, a solution is at hand: "Business leaders are increasingly looking to design to not just help, but lead their innovation processes." So we come full circle. Don't say design, say innovation, and when innovation doesn't work, make sure you saved some of that design stuff, because you're going to need it.

4)Is this design or confusion?
I agree with Bruce Nussbaum and Niblettes, and I'm glad design starting to come to the forefront as an accepted profession, skill and capabilities. But we need to define what it means, and in particular we should call a profession for what it is. Call it my pragmatic self, but if we are going to be a respected profession such as a doctor, lawyer or accountant we need to some how find a way to name or classify the design profession correctly. If the design profession continues to be associated with some fluffy airy job scope, its going to be difficult to relate it to tangible aspects like money, or how much a design is worth, or ultimatly how much we should be paid as designers.

Be a Better Designer and Design Theory Series

2005-12-05T21:52:00.000+08:00

There is so much talk on design and innovation in an organisation and how to do it. But there is actually very little on how a designer can be a better one on his own steam. I supposed its expected for a designer to improve himself and the creative field can be very competitive.

So I've decided to start a little series to help the budding designers. The first "Be a better designer series" focuses on insider tips on how to improve as well as how to streamline the designing process by improving quicker thinking and design production skills.

The second "Design Theory Series" focuses on some of my personal theories of how to create better designs.

So stay tuned!

Singapore Design Festival

2005-12-05T13:56:00.000+08:00

Well its the end of the the inaugural Singapore Design Festival, that ran from from 9 to 23 November 2005. I must say a great back slapping "well done" and a round of applause for the team at Design Singapore who manage to pull it all together.

Like most of the design festivals I have visited, the satellite exhibitions were the best. Some of our favourites were at the Ann Siang Hill area, they included Asylum and Style: Nordic. However one of the main exhibition features at Ann Siang Hill are the really nice and well preserved Peranakan Shop Houses. I have a strong feeling that that area is going to become one of the creative centers of singapore. My dream is one day have a design studio in one of those wonderful shop houses.

The 20:20 exhibition showcasing the latest design talents at the spanking new National Library of Singapore, as well as the new Red-Dot Concept Award at the Red-Dot Museum were all great exhibitions housed in really interesting Architecture.

However what was disappointing were the two main events. The International Design Forum 2005 and Design Edge.

The IDF 2005 focused on driving business growth by design. But what it degenerated into was a platform for design consultancies to show off their portfolios in the hope that local clients would bite. Annoying particularly because you paid SDG$ 800 per person (early bird group discount) of cold hard cash to attend this forum, when you could easily invite said consultancies to visit you and do their marketing pitch for free. Of cause there were some gems like: Ravi Sawhney's "Design - What every business needs" Link to slides, and one of my favs Dick Powell from Seymour Powell on : "Better by Design".

But in general the design consultancies were pretty boring, with nothing new to show. Even IDEO was just a tired showcase of products you could have easily seen on their website, the worst was by far the design consultancy from india.

Essentially if you took a helicopter view most of the design consultancies on show that day all took similar approaches in design methodology, they just called it in different names, and all focused on creating and communicating that "Big Idea or Concept".

I think most Singaporean businesses or design related organisations at that conference are mature enough or already know the value and the need for design in a business context. (Thanks to in no small part to the efforts of the DSG!) They just dont need it being told to them over and over again. What we needed more that day were presentations from companies that have used strategic design sucessfully and how they want about doing it. What we needed were more of the kick ass presentations done by Nike and Virgin.

What we had were vague keywords, implacating the said design consultancies, and hinting that to know more we should have a chat. I left that day feeling like i just ate a bad hokkien mee. Full, slightly sick, but generally unsatisfied.

On now to the next big event. Organised by the famed IdN magazine, this expo was ment as a show case of designs and designers taking their art to the edge and back.

For $35 bucks what we got was a half empty hall, occupied by mainly seats, and small pavallions showing graphic works from many invited artists. Nothing again you could not find on the internet, or seen before. There was no free tote bag, nor booklet, sticker or toy for that $35 entry fee, mind you its for a single day pass! I find this cost pretty prohibitive to only the dedicated and interested.

In typical IdN style we had mainly toys, and more toys, street ware and graphic works. Not to mentioned the strategically placed (at the exit) IdN shopping booth.

I left the show feeling a little jaded. The IdN booth which was bustling and made me feel this was more of a sales event to flog IdN products, and the high entry fee was to cover the rental of the suntech location.

At least I manage to pick up a cool stikfas toy thanks to my buddy banyJ!

So what do you guys think of the festival?

Are you a blog slut?

2005-12-02T17:31:00.000+08:00

Haha, how many of you have more than one blog? I actually have 3! One here, one at Xanga and one at 1up.com. Updating them is a nightmare. Just to much to write. I cant decide if i should just focus on one, or just update all at the same time as invariably they will all contain the same information. I wonder what i should do...

The interesting thing is the internet and technology in general allows the power to the people, the power to choose, and the power of information for everyone (the great equalizer) and for the power of expression. This is technology’s promise of democratizing society.

But with so many people online it has become so diverse, how do we know what is good and what is not? That’s where “Collective Intelligence” (Time, Nov 14, Pg 40) comes in. How do I know what is a good blog or what is not? Many sites like Google, Flickr, tomorrow.sg and del.icio.u s, sort out the noise and filter up to the surface the links more commonly viewed by people on the assumption that more commonly viewed = good.

But interestingly enough, as we become more globalize and diverse we can yet be more insular. Look at online dating (Time, Nov 14, Pg 41), and membership only discussion forums, we can now pick and choose who we want to talk to.

Such “homogeneous clustering” of interests groups that are popping all over the place, is a common thing in society. High class fashion shows vs. middle class soccer games ring a bell? But on the internet, if you have an interest in say “life-like human dolls”, you can find like minded individual and support groups so you will not feel out of place. The great thing as Malcolm Gladwell said:

“…there are many different clusters being created all at once, and the overall effect can be to increase diversity…but there are 10 me’s (clusters).” (Time, Nov 14, pg 41)

Every body’s multi-sided personality can now come out and be embraced one at a time…

Design Translator the Designer

Design Translator the Gamer

Design Translator the Painter

Design Translator the Novelist

Design Translator the Film critic…

So i guess my multiple personality is somewhat justified!

Pandora

2005-12-01T09:37:00.000+08:00

I was reciently directed to Pandora by the Music Genome Project. This fantastic next gen "internet" radio uses some amazing algorithms and analysis programs, so that by entering an artist or song name, the system will continue to play similar sounding songs.

Just like Skype, it just works. Try it!

More Emulation!

2005-11-25T11:47:00.001+08:00

Encounted this interesting website on some work done by cheeky people re-intepreting the graphically simple iPod ads. The interesting aspect is that they manage to reproduce just the essential silhouette of the image that you are able to a good idea of what that object/person is.

This is a really good object lesson on distilling an image down to the barest essentials in order to create an iconic design.

Emulate?

2005-11-25T09:21:00.000+08:00

Cant afford designer lamps like the Arco? Now is a chance to own one! Well not really. Check out:

www.emulationkit.com

These clever fellows, extract the iconic nature of classic designs and put a new twist to it. There is no shame to be a design follower. Just take a look at Lexus following Mercs in their first few designs. Great stuff Emulation.

Japanese Sex Dolls

2005-11-24T15:49:00.000+08:00

Yes ladies and gents the latest in rubber latex technology.

What is the world coming too? I supposed this is what product designers would define as the ultimate in product user experience and interface eh?

Looks pretty ergonomic too i must say.

Here is the link for all you dirty old men.

Originally found this at a Wired blog.

Designing this site: Its all about control!

2005-11-21T10:54:00.000+08:00

Arrgh! I am truly having a hard time trying to design this blog. After running a blog at xanga.com for a bit, I realize that at Blogspot I have to be a robot. I have to learn to read HTML code. But I not a robot, so I cant. What I don’t get is why can’t Blogspot create a site has a point and click system like Xanga? Then I realized, it’s about control and more specifically control of content.

At Xanga, its all point and click and html formatted, it’s pretty easy to beautify your blog and put up nice little pictures and stuff. You can also change colors of your title blocks and what naught. But what is the nett effect? You get a blog that has ad banners, and unwanted links all over the place. Of cause the premium (pay) section of xanga minuses all the nastiness, and you get extra space for pictures etc. But I like to compare apples to apples as blogspot is free.

Check out my Xanga site for more information on what I mean: http://www.xanga.com/Acornanvil

I think this leads to a much bigger scenario on the web and with internet access. There is a lot of talk about the “post PC era”. A utopia where we can connect to the internet without the PC "middle man". So when designing such direct to internet products, the question is:

“How much control do you give a user so that he gets the best experience possible when using your product?”

Do I want a TV that can connect to the internet, but the thing I can do is surf and read selected content? So simple that I can navigate from my remote control but this means I can’t even email or choose the websites that I want?

Do I want an internet radio that has a preset list of internet stations when at the end of the day I can hunt for much more on the computer?

Do I want a Nintendo DS that can provide me a gaming experience so streamlined that the only thing I can do is play the game and get out? I cant even “chat” nor interact with other players in anyway? (More on my Nintendo DS online experience next.)

The more streamlined a product is, the less control you have and the more control the product's maker has on you.

On a smaller local level, at blogspot I have an awful experience setting up and designing my site when compared to xanga.

But I realize I am a control freak and I’m sure as there are others as well.

This leads me to think this is really about the end user. “Who” really is your target market? In today’s Design and Innovation credos about ignoring user focus groups to design the next innovative products or focusing on targets markets makes us optimizers not innovators, I am finding more and more situations where understanding the target market and user still holds true.

I believe it’s the idea that is innovative, an idea that does not come out of a focus group or a target market study. But how this idea transform to a usable tangible experience, that’s where understanding your target consumer and how he/she will use this product that will make this idea/concept a success.

Nice little rant, but my problem still stands with blogspot, well I guess at the end of the day I need to find my way around the google way.

Why I hate digital media? Part 1

2005-11-10T14:28:00.000+08:00

1) I hate digital media, cos I can’t touch it.
The RIAA's lawsuit on illegal p2p music sharing hit a poor old lady by the name of Patricia Santangelo. Naturally infuriated, she fights back, particularly because she has no idea what music sharing is or even an Mp3. She is not alone.
Check out: http://snafu.harvard.edu/wordpress/?p=20

What I found particular enlightening, is not the bully tactics, nor the mindless blanket lawsuits, but how she saw Mp3 or digital media for that matter. She summarized the biggest problem that I have been mulling in the last 2 years since digital made it big.

I quote:

"p2pnet: You’re reported to have said you’ve never used Kazaa and that, further, you didn’t even know what it was before the RIAA turned up on your door-step. It’s also been said the software belongs to a friend of your children’s and was installed without you, or anyone else in your family, knowing about it. Is that an accurate summary?

Santangelo: That’s correct. I had no idea what Kazaa was or what it was used for. I think of software as an actual disk that you hold in your hand so I’m not sure about that or how it was installed. The screen-name that was used for the Kazaa account did not belong to any of my children is what I said. I never said that one of my children did not know this person had a Kazaa account."

This is the crux of the problem of digital media. You can't touch it, thus you cannot feel its value. That’s why people have no respect for MP3 or DivX. Its has no value because it is intangible, you can’t touch it, eat it, smell it, sell it, or make you gain 2 kilos and most important of all you can easily loose it. (via a hard drive crash, accidental deletion). This is a good sign for me, as an Industrial Designer, this means humans will still need products in the future as they are the vessels of the intangible.

However we cannot ignore digital media, this is the way of the future. The focus now for any one of us to forge ahead we need to bridge this gap of making intangible digital media, tangible. This leads me to my next rant.

2) I hate digital media, cos I can’t manage it.

When you have something you can easily accumulate and hoard, it rapidity moves out of control. I think we can safely look at anyone's music, digital photos, and movies folder and you can see why. Almost every single product out there that has a relation to digital media, internet radio, pod casting has in some way a connection to a PC to manage this media. This cannot be. This means digital media systems will not stray far from the PC. Wireless helps but in the end, people still associate it as a extensions of a PC product. For consumer electronics manufacturers to implement digital media in our products we need to re-package how it is used and interacted with.

More later!

Hello!

2005-11-10T14:14:00.000+08:00

A big hello to friends from my Xanga blog!

Test

2005-11-09T13:16:00.000+08:00

Test test.