I went to a University that was a little heavy on design research (very academic and dry) and the fun of it has sort of been beaten out of me… until P-49.
Waffle research is the best. You get to learn, brainstorm, AND eat the results of your research! Check out Utah with his office-renowned waffling skills:
There is a Chinese saying: Eat everything with two legs except human, eat everything with four legs except tables. During my recent trip to China to help oversee the Cloak, I found that this saying was not far from the truth.
While I consider myself an adventurous eater (I’m a huge fan of the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods), I was shown up constantly by one stand-out diner. A few days into the trip, Ben managed his first Chinese sentence while we were driving between factories — “Yi Qi Chir Bah!” — and our driver, Mr. Liu, happily accepted the invitation.
When we got to the restaurant, we all ordered up. I put in an order for jellyfish salad (simultaneously the softest and hardest food on the planet) and Mr. Liu ordered something we couldn’t understand. Fifteen minutes later the food began arriving, one dish at a time, and the suspense built up as we waited for the mystery dish. Then it came out: a gigantic bowl of a yellow stew with a giant fish head bobbing in it.
It was an intimidating dish, but in the end I think everyone agreed it was quite delicious. Even despite the huge language barrier, Mr. Liu was able to share his favorite dish with us.
On my last night in China, after finishing dinner, I won a free turtle meal ticket when I paid for my (turtle-free) dinner. I happily gave the ticket to Mr. Liu, a quirky driver and bizarre food connoisseur from across the globe.
In my last post I highlighted a few awesome trade shows that can help motivate and inspire your design ideas. This past weekend, I hit up one of those shows: the BKLYN Design show.
Here are a few pics of my favorites from the show. (Check out that ant farm!)
This time of year, there are some big design shows, and to continue in my series on Design Inspiration, I thought I’d highlight some.
ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) – NYC, May 15-18
ICFF is the US’s biggest design show of the year. Each year furniture companies and design companies big and small pack into the Javitz Center here in NYC to display their latest and greatest. The best part about this is that it brings the entire design industry to one city for the week, so there are tons of spin off galleries and parties all around town where you can talk with different designers.
BKLYN Designs – Brooklyn, NY, May 7-9
BKLYN highlights the best of NYC’s most artistic borough. This show is much smaller than ICFF, and acts as a prelude to the bigger show for NYC. My favorite part about BKLYN is that most of the exhibitors are entrepreneurial designers who are very willing to talk with all show patrons about their work and their careers.
Salone del Mobile (aka Milan Design Week) – Milan, Italy… last week
Ok, so we all wish we could have spent the week in Milan, and I hope I can make it to this show someday. The Milan show fills the entire city with furniture and designs from all around the globe, and like ICFF it boasts spin off galleries and parties. If you missed out like I did, check out Core77′s coverage of the show here: http://www.core77.com/blog/milan10/default.asp.
Since the move form Avenue A, our new space has demanded an upgrade in our modeling capabilities. So with the Quick & Quirky about to get started, timing couldn’t have been better today for Ben, Designer Brian and I to head over to Home Depot to stock up the shop. Now in the the craziness of our 24 hour design-off, we’ll be able to create better sketch models of our designs before we bring them into the 3D CAD phase for engineering and final modeling. Check the pics below of some of our new stuff, including our beautiful new bandsaw!
What makes a great ID submission? It all starts with a great idea. Every week we get to choose one idea to turn into a product, but that doesn’t mean the ideation part stops there. The great thing about industrial design is spinning one idea into 20 offshoots. Sure some might be crazy, but the crazy ones lead to the ideas for great ones. I love submitting some crazier ideas (Ball O’ Tools anyone?) to see where they lead the conversations in the Project Comments.
The other part of a great ID submission is the visual. Of course the visual is not 100% necessary, but as the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. In the business of ID, that saying can’t be more true. And you don’t have to be a modern day Da Vinci to submit a drawing, just make sure you clearly communicate your idea. That really is the essence of a great ID submission: clearly communicating a great idea.
I’ve been working here at Quirky for a month, and they finally roped me into getting on the Quirky blog. The job has been exciting and extremely fast paced. When I tell friends that I actually enjoy having multiple projects constantly counting down to their deadlines, they think I’m nuts, but I guess that’s part of what makes me a true quirk.
As a designer, it’s extremely important to constantly stay inspired. Below are my top five websites for daily doses on inspiration. I’ll be honest, there are tons bookmarked in my Safari browser, but these are my five favorites that I must pass on to the Quirky community.
Not to be confused with notcot.com. Notcot.org posts tons of user submissions and finds from the “NotEmpire” everyday. They have the best balance of quantity and quality of posts for anything design-related. Best of all, anyone can submit a link for them to post.
This site mostly focuses on the world of international architecture. I find it extremely important to step outside of the world of product design to get inspiration. While they only post a few times a day, the quality of the content is great.
Hypebeast is great for finding the latest in streetwear/fashion. As a self-described former sneakerhead, it’s a must for keeping in touch with what’s hot.
Gizmodo publishes tons of stories everyday. They focus mostly on the tech world, and as a designer it’s important to know what new great technologies are out there. I also enjoy that they have a healthy amount of Star Wars jokes.
This blog is all about hustling. They interview entrepreneurs in the design world who tell their inspirational stories of making their dreams a reality. Every interview is a good read, and it’s also where I first found out about Quirky.