Thriving By Design

Chevy Volts on Fire - Or, Someone's Pants Are?

2012-02-07T00:20:00.001-05:00

I couldn't contain myself when I saw this. Very sad that hype-crazy media reported the "first" part of the story about Chevrolet Volts catching fires, and left out the critically important "second" part, essentially reporting half the news here.

Bob Lutz (yes THAT Bob Lutz of GM) knows a thing or two about Chevy Volt since he headed the project to begin with; Watch him set the record straight more succinctly than I've probably ever seen. Specifically, the onslaught of conservative media - i.e Fox, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and Dobbs - with severe disregard for any factual reporting, going bunkers enough to sweep the whole thing into "Obama's administration fault" pile. Making the case abundantly clear with, for starters, the fact that not ONE Volt "has ever caught fire in normal use or in accidents." More remarkable yet, is the fact that Bob Lutz is a conservative republican himself.

Not surprisingly, that really useful to general folk (and our precious economy) piece of information seemed to have quickly evaporated in favor of some bazaar accusations that are entertaining, yet incredibly misleading. Reason I'm so excited to see Bob Lutz rightfully defend the job GM has done with the Volt is that I was one of those instantly under impression that Volts were poorly engineered and not up to snuff after all the time and effort. Well, without further adieu, please enjoy the Forbes article for yourself:

"Chevy Volt And The Wrong-Headed Right"

The A21 Campaign against Human Trafficking

2012-01-23T23:59:00.001-05:00

In case you've somehow missed it, human trafficking - organized crime sex trafficking specifically - is so widespread and rampant around the world, noone can or should ignore it. Simply put, it generates over 27 billion - with a "B" - US dollars a year for the mafia bosses that run the operations, with 1.39 MILLION sex slaves, and majority of them ending up somewhere in Europe. Greece happens to be what's known as "the center of trafficking in Europe."

Its sad statistics indeed, with none of the world's governments doing anywhere near enough to combat this heinous modern disease that's plaguing our world.

One of the sharpest movies ever made about human trafficking is called Trade, back in 2007. The stories of women kidnapped in Mexico and trafficked into the US for sex trade are sobering to say the least.

A short while ago, my wife and I heard an amazing speaker at our church, representing the A21 Campaign organization that's on the forefront of fighting these atrocities headquartered in the middle of it all, in Greece. They also work in Ukraine, a major source of trafficked women, and other locations.

The scope of A21 Campaign work is to prevent trafficking, support and help the victims, prosecute traffickers, and work with law enforcement. One of the most effective efforts is their educational campaign in the media and schools; they also operate a Crisis Care Shelter where they connect the victims with police, offer access to medical care, legal services, life skills training, language training, recreation, and other opportunities to help them with stabilizing their lives.

Their transition program helps with accomodation, vocational and educational opportunities, employment, and gradual progression to independence.

Needless to say, the A21 Campaign is doing priceless work that is critically necessary. I urge everyone here to please go to their site and support them, as both my wife and I proudly do. Thank you.

Steelcase Amia has arrived!

2012-01-15T14:56:00.000-05:00

So - I did get my Amia last Friday (in my home office below), after a bit of a debacle with Steelcase - a replacement one this time. The fist one they shipped came broken and malfunctioned right out of their factory. Everything worked except the most basic control of all - the height adjustment. The gas lifter mechanism was shot, and lever had no engagement at all. After a few calls and emails to their customer service, they did take the old one away and replaced it with one that thankfully works like it should this time.

Disappointment with their quality problems did fade away as I got used to my new Amia - simply put, the more I use it, the more I love it, and appreciate the thought that went into both the seat and back support especially. Having adjusted the tilt resistance control to my liking, it feels like heaven, i.e. like every good ergonomic chair should.

That got me to think how sad it is that makers of this "class" of chairs do not make available to anyone in easily accessible "big box" office stores. Their price range makes good design and true comfort simply out of reach of general public. Yes there are plenty of marketing, supply, manufacturing volume and distribution reasons for this, but sadly its the textbook case of what Karim Rashid addresses when he talks about democratic design, i.e. great design available to the masses. Why should Steelcases' Amia and Leap, or Herman Miller's Embody and Aeron always be "high end" for mostly institutional buyers? Why should Office Depot or Staples sell a cheap piece of crap that makes you hurt and gets staticky just by rolling on a carpet for a while?

When it comes to products that would improve health and elevate everyone's seating experience to truly ergonomic and comfortable, I wish furniture makers would eliminate the cheap/entry level chair category entirely, and change their business model fundamentally to simply not offer anything less than a chair like Think or Amia at affordable range. I know this is idealistic and utopian, but I can still dream, can't I??

Hunting for that Perfect Office Task Chair

2012-01-01T20:29:00.001-05:00

I've been putting up with a large choice of conventional/no-name chairs from big box office stores like Stapes and OfficeMax over the years. Last 2 we got in $80-150 range have been ok/satisfactory, but still "no cigar" when it comes to serious attention to all ergonomic detail. Given the ongoing back problems I've been dealing with, and spending plenty of time in front of my machine, I decided the time has come to invest into a serious office task chair. Any good spine doctor will tell you that sitting for any prolonged period of time is about the worst thing you can do for your low back, and health in general, so I got my desk raised at work, and been working standing as much as I can, which helps tremendously, as long as I pay attention to good posture. But standing all day is impossible, so I decided enough is enough, and went out to find the best possible chair I could afford.

Through places like Crate and Barrel, Room and Board, and Relax The Back, I've researched and tried out best task chairs I could find at retail. Here are specific chairs I tested, pictured below: Steelcase's Amia and Think, Herman Miller's Aeron, Mirra, and Embody, and Humanscale's Freedom, regular and headrest version.

These chairs' prices range is roughly $650-$1800. Considering cost, comfort, and design aesthetics, I decided to go with the Steelcase Amia, ordered in a beautiful platinum/orange color combination. What attracted me to it initially was its clean, minimal, and very functional design. It felt very good, and features multitude of adjustments, including adjustable seat depth, back tension control, adjustable arms, height, back lock, and LiveLumbar flexers in lumbar area that flex with the curve of your back and are also height-adjustable. Not a bad package for less than $700. I did like the Embody and Freedom very much, and if price was not a consideration, probably would've purchased the Embody. Its exo-skeletal design with human spine-inspired flexible supports is fascinating, and feels great indeed when I got into it. I like its taller back form and proportions also.

Humanscale Freedom was probably the most comfortable of them all, but also by far the priciest. Coming from the "less adjustment controls is better" school of thought, it uses a balance mechanism to control the recline force required per given weight; it reclines comfortably with great deal of support, along with the armrests, while promoting motion and blood flow. What I found a little strange is it did not have a simple back position lock, and thought that reclining force was too loose, and would've preferred the ability to control the reclining force myself, especially for its price range. But one chair I always had major affinity for is Think, given its minimal lines, angles, simplicity and color schemes. Surprisingly, with much less control it was a bit more expensive than Amia, but given overall aesthetics, I think it looks better than any other office chair I've seen, especially in group setting with many of them on the floor in variety of color and material combinations. If we get another chair for us, it will probably be a Think.

So, my Amia is coming soon this week, and I'll probably post further impressions of its performance after I use it for a while.

2011-12-26T13:53:00.003-05:00

Greenpeace has created a concise and clear presentation on why genetically engineered / modified foods are bad for the world. From a small number of corporate conglomerates that own, produce and distribute GE/GM products, Monsanto is by far the biggest and the worst. Reaching far into state and federal government dotted with former Monsanto executives that keep well-oiled corruption machine going, they deploy a well organized army of lobbyists to make sure the authorities keep any serious regulation back from Monsanto's business of increasing crop production while destroying near-by natural and organic crops, all in the name of profits and dividents for shareholders. That has dire consequences, which are consistently ignored by this corrupt industry. Take a look at this and judge for yourselves:

2011-11-30T23:36:00.001-05:00

An interesting new release from Dassault Systems - Catia V6 includes Natural Sketch, which streamlines rough sketching into quick 3D models to play with during the design ideation phase. Functionality appears similar to Alias Design, but I'd have to try it out to really be able to judge the differences:

BMW Connected Drive

2011-05-10T01:35:00.001-04:00

Talk about world's top design-driven company. BMW design team just outdid themselves - The Connected Drive concept:

9 Myths about Electric Vehicles:

2011-03-02T01:40:00.001-05:00

Sierra Club just posted a great article debunking common myths and fears about owning and driving an electric car. They are:

Myth 1: Switching to an electric vehicle will just mean that the same amount of pollution comes from the electricity generation rather than from the tailpipe — I'll just be switching from oil to coal.
Myth 2: Plug-in cars will lead to the production of more coal and nuclear plants.
Myth 3: Electric car batteries pose a recycling problem.
Myth 4: My electricity bill will go way up.
Myth 5: Electric vehicles will just fail again like they did before.
Myth 6: My battery will run out of juice.
Myth 7: Electric vehicles are much more expensive than traditional vehicles.
Myth 8: Electric vehicles are only available in California.
Myth 9: Charging an EV on solar power is a futuristic dream.

The picture above is of the new beautiful Tesla Model S coming out next year. What they're doing right, as opposed to most other manufacturers of electrics so far, is they design the electric to be as exciting OR MORE exciting than a great gas-powered car.

Wide View Mirrors

2011-01-03T23:50:00.000-05:00

I just got our second wide view mirror for the new car. Used the original Broadway mirror for years, and just can't live without it. So here's a fundamental question in a category of "is it me, or am I missing something here": Can anybody please tell me WHY no car manufacturer anywhere on earth supplies these kinds of mirrors on their cars? Why is this an accessory? Is it me, or does every standard mirror in every car or truck I've ever been in is a small piece of junk that's plain dysfunctional and dangerous? "You're supposed to turn your head" is a one of those old-time cop-outs that you hear when automakers just refuse to go one tiny step further and design something that actually matters, doesn't cost extra, prevents a ton of accidents and saves lives. No, they'd rather invest into gimmicky hi-tech blind-spot prevention systems, but completely overlook a virtually-no-cost low-tech solution like a wide mirror. I guess no point about being cynical; if we ever want to see this desperately missing change in future cars, we simply have to demand it. Common BMW, are you listening?

Cars and Coffee - Irvine CA

2010-11-08T23:22:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday I finally got a chance to hang out at Cars and Coffee, and extremely cool local car show held in Irvine every Sat. morning for a few years now. What's awesome is how easy-going and diverse the show is. Every car-crazy boy's dream come true - from Rat rods to top-class Ferraris. Check out my Flickr collection of shots here:

Temple Grandin

2010-09-25T17:40:00.002-04:00

This one was so important I had to blog about it immediately after watching. I do not normally do that about any subject. But once in MANY years and scores of wasted hollywood productions comes a movie that's so incredibly powerful, so epic, I'm at loss of words. It did make it to a report on World News Tonight the other day, which is how I learned about its multiple nominations and Temple herself, but it deserves many more major headlines accross all media.

Temple Grandin is a college professor, a scientist, a designer, an inventor, and - she's autistic. She didn't even speak till she was 4. And accomplished far more than so many "normal" people do in their lifespans. The actors do an absolutely incredible job at authentically portraying the characters, time period (1960s-80s), and director Mick Jackson addresses just about every major social issue in the most profound way, from autism to women's rights to humane treatment of animals, and surprisingly for me, design. I was so moved by Temple's intrinsic designer instincts, work, power of observation, and the way it was portrayed in the movie, I think this picture should be made mandatory material for every design school in the country. It will make you laugh and cry. I could go on, but as they say, a picture's worth a 1000 words - please do yourself a favor, and see "Temple Grandin".

Espn X Games the Movie

2010-09-20T23:12:00.000-04:00

Just watched the 2009 X Games movie, featuring action/extreme sports legends like Ricky Carmichael, Bob Burnquist, Danny Way, and Shaun White. Crazy fun other-worldly tricks were expected. What I did not expect as I watched it is dropping my jaw to the ground and getting inspired in a very profound way by what Danny Way did in the mega-ramp contest. I've never seen anything like that. He essentially came back "from the dead" after injuring himself in a spectacular way, and then finishing all he was planning on accomplishing that night. I think determination and tenaciousness was redefined by Danny that night. What does that have to do with design you ask? Pretty much everything - design is prevalent and pervasive in life in multitude of forms, can be complex, frustrating, not for the faint of heart or those who give up easily. So any inspiration such as demonstrated in the X Games movie goes a long way in helping not to give up when going gets tough. And in this amazing economy of ours it couldn't come soon enough.

Oakley - Our Life Video

2010-09-18T23:23:00.003-04:00

About 4 years ago Oakley got some of the world's best skateboarders, and set'em off to do their thing all around the world. Result - 45 minutes of pure exhilaration. Just got done watching - yeah I know, better late than never. Nuff said. Check out a clip of it with Dave Bachinsky:

Decorative Glass Design

2010-09-13T13:15:00.001-04:00

I decided to do this post out of my utter appreciation for beautifully crafted glassware pottery, vases, bowls, jars, etc. Below I'm posting shots of glassware so great I could not resist taking pictures of it right in stores and galleries. My wife and I love travel, and I can never get enough of the diversity and beauty of glass art around the world.

Here are some of these creations I run into during our trips. While in California back in 05, we visited Carmel-by-the-sea, an incredibly lovely town south of the Bay Area. The fairy tale-like decorations below kept me mesmerized:

In Monterey's aquarium, besides amazing ocean creatures, I could not get enough of these glass medusas and jelly fish:

In summer of 07 we toured the Northwest, one of my most favorite corners of our great country - Portland, Seattle, and all kinds of places in-between. Here's some pottery I saw at their saturday market downtown Portland:

And some dazzling color pallete in glassware I run into in one of the craft stores in Leavenworth, a Bavarian town surrounded by amazing Washington state mountains and forest:

Finally here are some of my favorite glass designs I saw in Victoria, BC - their downtown is probably one of the most fun, sight-seeing best-kept secrets we ever visited:

Trip to Oakley

2010-08-30T15:47:00.002-04:00

About week-and-a-half ago I was at Oakley's headquarters on a business trip, in Foothill Ranch, Orange County, southern CA. Last time my wife and I were in their neck of the woods was back in '05 on our vacation when we enjoyed a trip from San Francisco to San Diego, and all kinds of points in-between.

So I forgot how incredibly sweet the place is since 5 years ago till I landed in John Wayne and drove out. This place is truly a paradise, there are no 2 ways about it. Their forecast is boring - it's sunny and 75 basically every day. Yes, with fires and earthquakes, I do not care - I waged enough war with Northeastern winters to call southern California a paradise, and wanting to move here as soon as we're able. Here are the shots of Oakley's headquarters and their lobby (photos from Oakley site):

I remember when they opened this building back in '97, I was looking at the shots on their website and seriously thinking this is fake. Nothing drove the point of how real it is home more than physically being there - They call it "the bunker" which is exactly what it looks and feels like, straight from a Hollywood set of Star Wars, Mad Max and Blade Runner. It's located on top of a hill in Foothill Ranch, surrounded by majestic mountains and southwestern desert landscape. On the road up the hill, the company "sign" greets you and lets you know you've arrived - except unlike a typical company logo sign by the entrace, they have an actual tank with Oakley logo that definitely lets you know you're "not in Kansas anymore." The excitement builds as you enter their lobby and notice a row of actual fighter-jet ejection seats. I'm not even going to start comparing it to other places I've worked at, it's in a category of its own.

This is Bruce Irons, one of the world's top surfers sponsored by Oakley, taking a joyride on their new toy (photo credit: Matt Murray/Oakley):

From their large product line of eyewear, watches, action/extreme sports apparel, luggage, and accessories, here are couple of my favorite designs - Gascan sunglasses, and Minute Machine watch:

I love their attention to detail, authentic use of materials, "nothing but the best" design/technology approach, and probably more than anything thoroughly authentic "born and bred in southern CA" style.

Rework

2010-06-22T21:02:00.000-04:00

Rework is the new book by Jason Fried and David Hansson of 37 Signals, a software developer company. They have succeeded in preciseley what Brunner highlighted in his "Do You Matter?" book - creating simple, intuitive, clear, and powerful products that customers love, without the hype. Their services can probably be summarized with my favorite "No IT guy required" note on their list of benefits. I'm not even done with the book yet (about 70% through), but it's so ridiculously great I cannot wait but to publish a review.
And the review is simple: wow. Again, using someone else's words would do it better justice - Seth Godin's in this case - "Ignore this book at your own peril." It's one of those works that opens your eyes wider the more you get into it, turns established dogmas upside down, and makes you go "how did I miss this, it just make so much sense." Rework has a refreshing, even liberating feel about, as in this is the way we all need to work in the 21st century - we've experimented with whole lot of business models, company structures, ways of doing business, and here's what we've learned. Skip the senseless waste of time, money, and resources, be honest, straightforward, strive to make people's lives easier and the commercial success will come. I could go on and on, but... I need to finish the book. This is one valuable read, so here I go...

G Magno Wooden Radios

2010-04-25T18:27:00.000-04:00

These wonderful wooden radios and products are the creation of Singgih Kartono, a talented award-winning designer from Indonesia. What makes them truly remarkable is the story of how Magno business came to be. Singgih comes from a village in central Javah, and when he saw economic situation there drastically deteriorating, he decided to utilize exotic local woods and skilled craftspeople to make these beautifully designed radios and office-related products. The New Craft method that Singgih's company Piranti Works employs is basically a combination of traditional craft making with efficient modern manufacturing and production elements. Moreover these products are produced in a truly green and environmentally sustainable way - Piranti replants every tree they use for production through their nursery, with a local high school participating in the effort. Everyone wins in this scenario - more local population gets employed, and more forest is being regenerated. Magno products are marketed here in the US through Areaware, an NYC-based design manufacturer, and have received Japan's coveted "Good Design" award.

Yves Behar's New Green Shoebox for Puma

2010-04-17T16:00:00.005-04:00

Here's an example of honest, truly sustainable design that's nothing short of inspiring. Yves Behar, founder of Fuseproject consultancy partnered with Puma to rethink their shoe packaging, and broadly include the entire product lifecycle into the process. Shoeboxes result in a ridiculous waste and even after they've been reused for storage of some sort are eventually disposed of. Fuseproject studied the current manufacturing and after thoroughly attacking the problem from every angle came up with what they called a "Clever Little Bag".

Basically it's about half of the box, with a low production energy die-cut flat cardboard structure that's folded into shape without laminated printing, any tissue paper, lighter in weight than a conventional shoebox, and far more recyclable since no additional materials or parts need to be stripped out first. The bag that covers the box and protects the shoes is also recyclable, and made from recycled PET, with a non-woven method, which uses less material than woven variety, and stitched with heat. It eliminates the traditional bag you get in the store, saving more plastics yet.

So what kind of environmental benefits and saving exactly does all this design goodness result in? How about over 60% reduction in energy, water, and diesel required for manufacturing annually. Or more specifically, saving 20 million mega-joules of electricity, 264 gallons of water, 264,000 gallons of fuel, 8500 tons of paper, 275 tons of plastic, and 132,000 gallons of diesel since the reduction in shipping weight. That is what I mean by inspiring.

The new package will ship in 2011, and I sure hope that the rest of the shoe manufacturers take a good notice, since what Yves Behar and Puma came up with is no rocket science - just a serious, honest, deliberate focus on designing a product that not greenwash, but makes a significant difference in making our world cleaner and healthier, while making the packaging even more functional and pleasing to the eye than before. That's what good design is about.

New York International Auto Show

2010-04-11T22:22:00.000-04:00

My friend and I visited NYC auto show last week; while a sad departure from the lavish glorydays of the early and mid-nineties, back when economy was actually swell enough to allow for giant stacks of cars hanging on displays in all directions, it was a good show to attend nevertheless. Noticeable was the absence of numerous concept vehicles like in the past; the few that were on display did show off some inspiring design and technology. Granite from GM was a welcome departure from what we're used to seeing coming out of motor city in the recent past; solid sculpted surfaces, angles, proportions, and refreshing interior with harmonious combination of whites, browns, and grays. Audi E-tron was easily the hottest sports ev in the green pavilion, and Toyota's FT-CH plugin hybrid's design was a welcome sight, especially when you compare it to Prius. But of course, saving the best for last, BMW in my ultra-humble opinion ruled the show, or why don't I just say rules the entire automotive world with a reliably fun, confident, balanced, and o-so-meticulously designed vehicles. The new 3 series is breathtaking, Z4's interior - pure joy, and the latest 7 series was just stunning to behold, especially their ultra-long proportions and taillight treatment. I should mention too, Volvo, Saab, and Mercedes had plenty of great products on display, to be sure - check out my large collection of shots here.

Solar-Powered Plane Takes Off:

2010-04-07T22:24:00.005-04:00

In Payerne, Switzerland, the largest solar-powered airplane completed its maiden flight today. They are planning a 100% fuel-free/emission-free flight around the world. A truly major encouraging development in the sustainable design world. According to Bertrand Piccard who's the leader of SolarImpulse project, "The goal is to fly day and night with no fuel. The goal is to demonstrate the importance of renewable energies, to show that with renewable energies we can achieve impossible things..." While this is just the beginning, and the solar technology is nowhere near ready for commercial aviation, it the obvious first step that had to happen, and I'm celebrating that it did. This plane uses 12000 solar cells, 4 motors, and rechargeable lithium batteries. Can't wait to see the grand launch!

Better Place

2010-03-30T14:37:00.000-04:00

Better Place is an electric vehicle infrastructure company founded back in 2007 by Shai Agassi, a former head of Product and Technology group at SAP. I first heard about it last year through a presentation Shai gave at TED (annual technology / entertainment / design conference), laying out the boldest, most realistic, and most exciting vision for oil-free world I've ever seen. To say that his vision and expertise to make the world a cleaner and healthier place to live is inspirational is a major understatement. I quickly joined their community online, and a LinkedIn group here, which keeps me updated on their progress.

Better Place builds necessary infrastructure, i.e. a network of charging stations and battery swap stations, but with a truly brilliant well-worked out business model. Drivers will be able to subscribe to variety of mileage plans, similar to a cell-phone plan, where the ownership of an EV is for the first time separated from owning a battery. Consumers own electric cars, but subscribe to energy on a basis of miles driven. The thorough saturation of charge spots and battery swap stations insure that you will never run out of energy to drive your EV, thus totally overcoming the worst thing about 100% electric cars today - severely limited mileage range. The battery-swap stations are beautifully designed to quickly change your battery without a driver ever getting out of the car, in about the same time it takes to fill up with gasoline. On top of that they partnered with Renault-Nissan to create the first purely electric vehicles that will NOT cost more than the traditional gas cars, look and feel as good as or BETTER than traditional cars, and EXCEED the performance of the gas vehicles with far better instant torque and accelleration than inefficient gasoline engine - i.e. affordability being the critical key to global EV adaptation by the mass market.

Better Place has been working with many governments around the world, and are now deploying their business in Israel, Denmark, and Australia, with US, Canada, Japan, and many other countries following up as the equity funding continues to grow. This will no doubts be the most notable sustainable transportation success story very soon, and I'm more than convinced we're witnessing history in the making. I personally cannot wait till we here in the US have their green vehicle infrastructure in place so I could finally live my dream of driving without pollutting the air we breathe. Stay tuned for more exciting developments from Better Place I'll be posting here.

Design Revolution Road Show

2010-03-28T17:16:00.000-04:00

The Design Revolution road show is a traveling exhibition and lectures given by Project H, an organization committed to improving peoples' lives on a global scale through power of design. That is exactly the goal of the exhibition, which is traveling around the country right now in their Airstream trailer. They're stopping in 35 schools and universities, featuring 40 humanitarian designs that solve problems for people in ingenious ways. A great example is the Roughrider wheelchair designed by Whirlwind Wheelchair International, a San-Francisco company; it features a rugged construction, anti-tip bar, and a long wheelbase optimized for conditions in the developing world. All these products are part of their book called "Design Revolution: 100 products that empower people." I have allways been their big fan, since not only does Project H design affordable solutions for the underpriveleged and overlooked, they spread the good message about the importance of good design, and how it changes the world for the better in every way.

Message on Soda Sugar Drinks - Design Makes a Difference:

2010-03-26T17:02:00.000-04:00

Thank you Jesus someone at Bloomberg's administration is clearly getting how focused well-designed ad campaign can seriously change behaviour for the better. I'm getting excited to the point of being giddy, since I learned through Fast Company that this ad against Coke / Pepsi's sad little sugar-obsessed world has appeared in New York City's subways and apparently made a real difference. At least in the amount of attention it quickly generated and focused on the issue - by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Message about sodas slowly killing you has been out there for decades, but never in this clear anti-smoking kind of manifestation. I have not had a soda drink for so many years I literally can't remember when was the last time.

And loving every minute of it - understanding the battle we all face with a host of deadly diseases it DID NOT take much convincing for me to drop the sugar drinks, and turn to the obviously healthy water and tea (green and jasmine variations in particular, yumm!!) years ago, along with chucking red meat and fast food crap, replacing it with anti-inflammatory Japanese and Mediterranean diets that are not just healthy, but the most delicious ever. My wife and I are serious connoisseurs of Japanese cuisine, "collecting" as many Japanese restaurants as we can all over the country.

So - my hat's off to Mayor Bloomberg's administration and their efforts to actually improve their city's health with well-designed ads that influence behavior on the emotional level, which is exactly what good design does, whether it's graphic, industrial, or architectural.

Cradle To Cradle

2010-03-26T15:38:00.000-04:00

Cradle to Cradle is a book by William Mcdonough and Michael Braungart that is, in my humble opinion, the most profoundly important book on the environment and its preservation ever written. Unlike scores of other environmental publications over the years, this one really is in a category of its own. First thing that separates it from the rest is its not alarmist in any way - the amount of common sense in every aspect of the writing is incredible. The authors are a famous architect and a chemist that demonstrate crystal clear ways sustainable design thinking can be applied to any industry and produce measurable, truly revolutionary results. Notable is their opposition to "eco-efficiency" which is basically even worse than our current unsustainable way of life, since it drains and obliterates resources just as much, but more slowly and deliberately. The argument if for what they call "ecologically intelligent design" which considers the entire product cycle from raw supplies to its disposal and fundamentally designing the process with recycling as clearly implemented and supported part of the product or service. Great examples of companies that already do business sustainably and reap great benefits are given, Ford Motor Company's original factory is notable. The book is eye-opening, inspiring, and an absolute must-read for ANY design professional or student, check it out.

Slava Saakyan Design

2010-03-23T22:22:00.001-04:00

This is a design consultancy I stumbled upon last night doing research - Slava Saakyan. To say I was impressed is a major understatement. His practice is out of Moscow, and design style is truly cutting edge, with Karim Rashid's "sensual minimalism" appearing abundantly, and serious "old school" deliberate attention to most minute detail is nothing short of inspiring. Most notable on their site are samples of beautiful train interiors, and wide range of industrial design. Slava teaches a number of courses, and if I had a chance to take them I absolutely would have. Too bad they're currently in European schools only.

LG EcoMobilization Program

2010-03-23T10:25:00.001-04:00

Looking at LG, I was very impressed by their EcoMibilization program which provides numerous ways to recycle phones, and most importantly makes it easy. Simple truth is most of us would recycle gladly if it was made easier. You can print out a form off this site, request a free pre-paid pack, and ship the old phone to them, or just drop it off at a number of the mobile recycling bins, including ones by Waste Management which they partner with. Additionally, LG came up with the Skycharger, a fully green freestanding phone charging station in a tent, which uses wind turbines and solar panels to create peak power or 1.8Kw, and can charge 104 phones per hour. More of those Skychargers are going to be setup around the country, according to their facebook page. My applause to all companies that make a visible effort to be ecologically responsible, encouraging recycling, power conservation, and renewable energy production.

Parrot AR Drone Augmented Reality

2010-03-22T15:11:00.001-04:00

This is getting seriously fun - control this helicopter toy with your Iphone as an RC controller. The "Drone" by Parrot, a French wireless company, generates its own Wi-Fi network, which enables the Iphone to control it. Someone was bound to do this, and they are the first. Seems obvious - use Iphone's own accellerometer to control the movements. And to spice things up even more, the chopper streams live video to your Iphone, hence the videogaming experience. They got the CES Innovations Award in the electronic gaming hardware category. The videos speak for themselves. No word on when it's coming out (apparently sometime 2010), or the cost, but very cool indeed.

The Designers Accord - Biomimicry Challenge:

2010-03-21T20:41:00.000-04:00

"Have a design challenge? Ask nature for the solution" - states the top entry on The Designers Accord's site. Very refreshing to see this great topic brought to attention of one of the most important design hubs out there. The Designers Accord, according to their own definition is "...a global coalition of designers, educators, and business leaders, working together to create positive environmental and social impact." They promote ecological awareness and serious sustainability through successful design case studies features on their site. Fast Company posted a great article on Biomimicry, definitely worth reading. I would also point out that when they say "...If we're trying to do it, chances are, nature already did it better", they are certainly missing the obvious, that God created nature and the world we live in with its amazing design all around us available for reference. Saying that "mother nature" has done this or developed that has the same logic as the big bang theory, which literally makes the case for the great complexity and order on the level of the DNA molecule resulting from a giant explosion billions of years ago. Unbelievably this theory is still taken seriously by world's scientists. To me the fact that we and the world around us has been designed by the Intelligent Designer is as clear as the fact that a computer we're all using has been intelligently designed, engineered, and manufactured, vs. came out of an explosion and then evolved over a long period of time. So, again, it is very refreshing to see Biomimicry highlighted on both sites.

ABC World News Tonight Profiles Mission to End Child Sex Trafficking in Cambodia

2010-03-21T20:09:00.000-04:00

Diane Sawyer has reported on ABC news tonight about Clay Butler, an American missionary who started a mission in the heart of Cambodia child sex slave trade, where kids are sold into prostitution by their own parents. Talk about insane, this is how sad and morally deprave that society is. Thank God for people like Clay who sacrifice so much to rescue those children. Dan Harris, an ABC investigative reporter did a great job showcasing what they do, and a truly life-changing results in his interviews.

I applaud ABC, and any network that makes a serious effort to bring these kinds of issues and people who devote their lives to the good of others, keep on!

ASUS Waveface

2010-03-19T23:38:00.001-04:00

Asus Waveface concept - a flexible screen hardware with intelligent beautifully-designed interface that represents location-based cloud computing to bring you relevant content and basically organize your life for you. Don't know the details, but it looks well thought-out and I'm looking forward to seeing this concept brought to life soon. Check out their concept video:

LG Design Competition

2010-03-16T13:29:00.000-04:00

I'm currently working on what's next in the mobile/smart phones for the LG "Design the Future" competition that just opened up. Exciting for sure, since there's so much yet possible with personal mobile communication, not the least of which is simplifying and making mobile communication more intuitive. That's been my focus for many years, and I'm looking forward to innovating in this segment.

Morgan's Wonderland

2010-03-09T20:03:00.008-05:00

As shown on ABC World News Tonight, a businessman father of a special child raised $30 million (investing a million of his own) to build a specialized theme park (Morgan's Wonderland) designed specifically for mentally challenged - I thought it was BY FAR the best most profound report i've seen in a long time. Not only did it demonstrate a great heart of a father who decided to do something about a real problem, it also shocased the true power of ethnographic research and what good design can accomplish.

BRP Design Worth a Good, Long Look

2010-03-09T10:20:00.001-05:00

Bombardier Recreational Products headquartered in Quebec, east of Montreal, make the most ridiculously fun toys humans can play with - imho, most unique, fun, and well-designed personal watercraft, roadster, and atv vehicles out there. Sea-Doo and CanAm Spyder are the two of their brands I appreciate most. Note BMW-like attention to detail, sweeping curves, angles, chamfers, color breaks, finishes, and lighting. Not to mention the unique 2 front-wheel base configuration. While they get pretty pricey, especially the Spyder RT, I think they pay it all off in the amount of fun they provide.

Do You Matter?

2010-03-07T16:23:00.000-05:00

"Do You Matter?"- it's been a few months since I've read this book by Robert Brunner, former head of Apple's design team and currently head of Ammunition design consultancy, and Stewart Emery, entrepreneur, creative director and consultant. From a good number of design books that I went through last year, this one, by far is the best, most clear, most common sense writing on the subject that truly demystifies industrial design to anyone that ever wondered about it, and makes it crystal clear to any company executives, large or small, that if they really care to succeed and matter in every sense of the word, they should learn the meaning of good design.

My favorite quote from the end chapter is their conclusion that summarises why good, thorough, and well-thought out design matters: "People are seeking a great experience of being alive." Really, enough said. For more great insight, read for yourself.

Open Letter To The Aviation Industry:

2010-03-05T21:07:00.001-05:00

Dear aviation executives,
I just came back from a 2 day business trip. Had total of 4 flights through a connection in Philadelphia. And after having done that for the Nth time I just couldn't take it any more.

Ladies, Gentlemen - WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE STATE OF OUR AVIATION?? WHAT PART OF CONVENIENCE / CUSTOMER SERVICE DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND???

It's confusing. Last I checked it was year 2010. Back a few short decades ago when someone talked about 2010's they imagined hovercrafts and everyone in a silver suit of some sort. Well, I just flew on US Airways, a major international airline, with regional services to Erie PA and gazillion of other small towns accross the country, on a De Havilland Canada Dash 8, a very common regional plane. Though not the first time, I now felt like I was thrown back in a time machine to 1954, with engines roaring a deep shattering bass roar the entire time it took to get there.

Besides the plane being small to begin with, US Air, just like most airlines in the world, crams as many seats per plane as they can, despite the push for more legroom that started with AA I believe back about 20 years ago. Apart from the debilitating engine noise where I could barely hear any music through my sound-isolating headphones, and screwed up air conditioning that made the interior way too warm for comfort, by far the worst part of the experience was the seats. Not only are these seats criminally small, they appear to be purposefully designed to be the worst, most uncomfortable, and anti-ergonomic seats for any trip, let alone a long airplane one. (And I'm about 5' 7", slim/average buid, no worries about ever buying 2 tickets for being too large)

Forget the fact that I'm a professional designer - no, as a regular normal human being who thinks a plane ride should not be used an "enhanced interrogation technique", here's my few simple questions to US Airways and the rest of the airlines and aviation equipment companies:

- This being 2010, and with immence history and knowledge of human factors, anthropometrics, ergonomics, and what makes a proper supportive comfortable seating, what possible explanation or excuse do you have for manufacturing and using seats, from regional turbo-props to coach class in a B-767, that SIMPLY DO NOT support lumbar, push your neck forward, and cause pain to your paying customers?

- Again it being 2010, not 1920's, or 1960's, dear executives of world airlines, what possibly makes you think that it is perfectly ok to be offering war-time antiquated aviation technology to transport passengers today? Other than "well we have those planes and we've got to use them" or "grin and bear it"? Whatever happened to investment in innovation? Whatever happened to passenger comfort? Whatever happened to the idea that it might just be that most people prefer to spend long hours of travel in peace, quiet, and comfort, and not be subjected to non-stop head-pounding propeller engine noise?

- While most of the flight comfort improvement efforts seem to go into added entertainment options, and occasional increased legroom, have any of the aviation executives, engineers, or designers ever thought about fundamentally re-designing airplanes to be turbulence-resistant, or even turbulence-proof? As opposed to seatbelt warnings and apologies from the flight deck? How about intelligent systems that know exactly where, how far, and how strong the cross-winds are, modify planes' geometry, materials, or behavior to accomodate to the environment and make the flight truly smooth and safe?

Can all of you aviation industry executives just ask yourself - would you like to fly your own airline, in coach class, day after day, vs. your private corporate jets? With space-age technology available today, are you making one single effort to make air travel something people could actually look forward to, not a necessary evil? Both for the airline industry and the government, how is it the norm, and perfectly acceptable to not only put up with crazy tarmac delays and lost baggage, but to need chiropractic services after a flight in a coach class? I think you get the point, and I really hope you do - when you actually get the idea that air travel experience should be thoughtfully and carefully designed in every detail to make it actually enjoyable.

Project H

2010-02-28T16:35:00.000-05:00

I've came accross these people around last summer, instantly impressed and inspired by their amazing mission - Project H are a group of designers in variety of fields like industrial design, architecture, etc that brings the power of good design to the poorest, neediest and most overlooked. Emily Pilloton, an architect and an educator, founded this non-profit group back in winter of 2008, and has recently appeared on the Colbert Report showcasing Hippo Roller and other "disruptive innovation" products demonstrating the difference well-designed, functional, affordable and truly useful products can make in people's lives. I'm strongly hoping to end up near one of their branch locations soon, and join their truly worthy volunteer effor.

2010-02-28T15:38:00.000-05:00

Hello all. This is my inaugural entry for my new blog. Expect to see inspirational design in all forms, and more important issues brought to attention. Well, g'day!