More Inhaler Designs
Since the initial post. We've been busy. Anh's been working on his own version. I've knocked out two. I'll share some renderings here. Check out the other designs here. The community has developed some really amazing results. They range from highly functional to insanely beautiful objects. This is the spirit of design is the combination of extreme artistry and geeky scientist.
WHAT IS DEMOCRATIC DESIGN ? LET IKEA TELL YOU
This was a live design conference held by IKEA just a day ago in Sweden. Give it a listen there are some gems. Plus if you're a van of Virgil Abloh (Off-White) you'll dig this.
Democratic design is coined by Frank Lloyd Wright, he thought it design should be available to everyone, not an elitist thing. Learn more about democratic design through IKEA. Really good listen.
#BREATHEBETTERWITHCS
It's been awhile since we've done a community design projects. One year now to be exact. Last one was the watchdogs, and it's turn out was dope. Karim Rashid himself loved it. See the project here if you missed it.
This time let's design inhalers. Here's some info on "Metered Dosed Inhalers" if you want to geek out, but don't be constrained by all that data. Go wide in your explorations, have fun and explore unique materials, crazy mechanisms and bizarre shapes. We want to keep this loose so design criteria's are simple. Use the CAD provided. Must have a counter, 200 count to be exact. Use what ever tool you want, just as long as the idea comes across. Have Fun.
Click here to download CAD
PS. Included are quick sketches that are inspired around the insecurities of using inhalers. Hiding the pMDI cartridge under a softer durometer material, this still allows for cartridge compression, and opens up some fun opportunities in design.
THE WAY TO DESIGN BY STEVE VASSALLO
If you're interested in design, entrepreneurship and process. Steve Vassallo's online book is just the thing for you. As an IDEO designer, Business man, and author, Steve gives incredible insights on entrepreneurship and design. Give it a read.
I really admire how thoroughly designed the site is.
NOD TO THE PAST, ADAPTING TO THE FUTURE
Photo Credits: Shinola
Over the weekend I finally got around to snapping photos of the home and office products I designed for Shinola. Shout outs to the team at Astro Studios and the work we've done together. These were among the last few products I lead and directed before joining Playground. I'll post those soon.
Shinola is one of those brands that has a very distinctive design language due to their history with watches. As a designers this is an advantage, the advantage is you've got some of your work cut out for you. Aesthetic mood boards, colors, materials and finishes can be drawn from their watches. But, now you're stuck applying just a skin job. You're not innovating, not creating something brand new, you're just applying an existing look onto their future products. It almost reminds me of those college assignments where you're tasked to choose a brand and study it, then apply it's aesthetics onto some consumer electronic, like a toaster. For a project like this, I think If you're mimicking every detail like you're plagiarizing is a mistake. One thing I learned from working with Shinola is how invaluable it is to be a versatile designer. Cheesy reference, but what an environment is to a chameleon, should be what every project is to the designer. You adapt but it's never the same environment twice. The design goal to embrace their rich history, but pivot just enough to retain characteristics of the brand and show them what the future may look like.
It was challenging for David and I to adapt our personal style to the outlets. Aesthetically I'm more of the hard-lines, machined surfaces, and future tech kinda guy. So naturally you can see how Shinola's soft, classic american heritage styling can be an a tough creative problem. It's the complete opposite of what I'm used to. Laser crisp edges now abandoned for round bubbly details. I think the design turned out quite successful. Staying true to my style I kept the edges and part breaks tights but introduced soft edges and a pillowed top as a hommiage to the past. Here are photos of the final products, you can pick them up at a Shinola store near you.
Shout outs to Shinola, Astro Studios and my great friends David Whetstone and Sean Missal for the creative support on this and many other programs.
FEATURED: ADAPT PODCAST EP8 "INFLUENCE THROUGH DESIGN"
If you haven't yet. Here's an interview we did with the dope people of Adapt. Check out the episode here or on their site.
GIF FOR HOBO
Something I made for a personal blog called HoBo : www.hobo.life
CREATING BY THE MINIMALISTS
Firstly we'd like to say. It's a blessing and a curse to drive trends and create things for a living. As creators It's our jobs to be conscious about the things we make. Especially in this day and age, where coffee machines come in hundreds of options, and each doing the same damn thing. Listened to The Minimalists episode "Creating." I especially love @ 16 min 20 sec. They compare the creative process to the tourettic person along the subway line. The person is yelling to themselves or at a wall. We've all seen this person. Yes, this person is creating a ton of content. Yes, this person is gaining a ton of attention, but is that content worthwhile? Is the content fruitful? Is he/she creating something meaningful, and for the better good of the world, or is he/she creating the same damn noise everyone else is? #foodforthought
YEEZY THREE-FIFTY V2
Of the release our favorite is the copper color-way. We still prefer the Adidas Yeezy V1 (turtle-dove) over the V2 design. What do you think?
FUCK YOU. YOUR HUSTLE, WORK ETHIC, DRIVE IS NOT PREDICATED ON YOUR ZIP CODE
WHAT I'VE LEARN FROM KANYE ON GOOD DESIGN
IT'S SUBJECTIVE.
If you haven't noticed by now design is a subjective trade. Similar to our taste in music. You and I are unique because we're individually influenced, and we classify good design differently. So how can we identify if our design is good? Cause what's good to you, may not be as seductive to me. Kanye West said a line that resonates here. "For me, first of all, dopeness is what I like the most." Kanye's dopeness is loaded with personal introspection. Again, it's subjective. If I may dissect, he's tying all of his personal experiences, idea of taste, visual appeal and constructive criticism to articulate something intuitively dope to him. Keyword, himself. Simply saying dope may be misleading to the untrained eye. Because what's dope to him, may not be dope to you. If we formulate dopeness, it means 3 things: aesthetics, crafted intention, and unwavering confidence. Good design is the sum of all three.
Aesthetic
Own a look like Picasso owns Cubism and stick to it. Be consistent in applying the look. If you're working with a family of things, define a common style to tie them all together. It's best practice to choose a look that fits your project, and retain it all the way through. I'm not asking you to stick to one style for the rest of your career. Just stick to one style for the rest of your project. Visually it'll be perceived as aesthetic confidence. You'll thank me later. In the industry we call this Design Language. In the long term try other design languages. The best designers adapt different styles over time.
Crafted Intention
Good design is not just good looking objects. Having a beautiful object but a weak idea, is like building a skyline with shit foundation. It's a tall tale with a weak plot. Eventually it folds into itself. You'll be surprise how far a strong and deliberate idea goes. Seth Godin said it best "No one is asking you to be that person who invent something that never exist before." I believe the best designers identify a problem space, finds the solutions that already exist, and bring them together. For example camera phones. At some point in history it became cumbersome to lug around a film camera, and rolls, and rolls of film. At a one-point someone saw the opportunity to combine the camera with a memory card, and inspired a shift in camera technology. Cameras became smaller, thinner, and lighter. Small enough that at another point it became cumbersome to lug around a digital camera and a cell phone. Someone saw the opportunity to combine the digital camera and cellphone, and inspired a shift in smartphone technology. We're not asking you to design something that never exist before. Truthfully we are curators of the present, we identify the problems we live with today, we orchestrate and combine solutions that already exist, therefore we design for the future. This is how you build strong ideas. Qualify it with real world science, the more realistic the science the stronger the idea.
Unwavering Confidence
Lastly be your number one fan. Like Kanye, loves Kanye. Be proud of what you produce, and don't produce anything you're not proud of. Unfortunately there is lots of vanity in being a designer. Yes, be humble but also be bad-ass. You have a to command a level of respect for your designs. Companies hire you for your subjective opinions. Have confident in your work, because If you're unsure so will your cleint and audience.
good listening: i'm juiced by adam vida prod.by mr carmack
Marie Forleo X Seth Godin
If not now then when? In 5 to ten years. What will you regret?
" Bigger isn't the point. More isn't the point. Are there bad ideas out there? Yes, there are a tons of bad ideas. Not all ideas are equality good. Finding a thing that works is sufficient.? That's the challenge. Entrepreneurs for example. too many entrepreneurs think that there is a prize for originality. There is no prize for originality. At ALL. You should steal another persons idea. You should bring something that works in Detroit and bring it to Cleveland. Because you don't have to worry about apologizing... There are so many places that we need more of something...No one is asking you to be that person who invent something that never exist before... We are asking you to do, is choose to matter, and align with who you want to be. "
"CHOOSE YOUR CORNER, AND PICK AWAY AT IT CAREFULLY, INTENSELY AND TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY AND THAT WAY YOU MIGHT CHANGE THE WORLD."
--Ray Eames
CS x INKTOBER
What kind of things have you sketched this month?
October is a fun month for creatives like us. It's especially fun for those who love to put ink to paper. This month implores us to doodle. Besides the expected thumbnail, chicken scratch, interpretive sketch we scribble at work in-order to quickly communicate an idea. We rarely draw for fun anymore. Thus far we've skipped a few days. But, in general we think we're building a pretty good collection. Check it out.
For those of you that are not familiar with Inktober. Inktober is when creatives (you don't have to be talented) draw one thing each day of October using traditional ink tools. It could be many things if you'd like.
Good Listening : Chance the Rapper - Blessings
Our favorite dudes Chance and Anthony. Ty and DRAM is dope too! Give it a good listen.
Knowledge is a love affair of answers.Wisdom is a love affair of questions.
--Julio olalla
AXIS, Now in Portfolio
Many of you have asked us to load the AXIS online. Axis is a gaming controller we designed for the "CTRL+S" workshop. What started as a quick 2 hour CAD exercise. Mainly for talking points about our model making process. Turned into a fun little portfolio project. We're super stoked about this, because we've been MIA from blogging for awhile. Sorry.
We're going to refine the model making presentation used @ CCA Saturday, and will upload it here in the next day.
WE'LL BE AT " CTRL+S "
If you have no plans for Saturday September 24, 2016. Between 1-5 PM come join the conversation at CCA in Timken Hall. I will be talking industrial design with Jason Mayden, Ti Chang, and Matt Swinton. Following the panel discussion there will be 4, 20 minute design workshops. I hope you can make it.