Design's Crystal Ball: A Look to 2015

Prepare your time machine–get it waxed and ready. It's time to visit the year 2015. Well, sort of.

If I understand correctly, the AIGA has provided exclusive content to TAXI Design network (I have posted on them several times in the past) in the form of a journey to define what the Designers of 2015 will look like, as well as the landscape of design a s a whole (see too this 2015 discussion on AIGA site). They collectively are inviting designers of today to discuss their own forecast on trends that will influence just 8 years from now. Man have things changed since 1999 – just 8 years ago. The idea is to get a handle on what 8 more years might look like in our biz. Kinda interesting.

To make things even more interesting, and in my opinion legit, they've established a roundtable of sorts which they are calling the Visionary Design Council. It's loaded with heavyweights. People like Brian Collins of Ogilvy & Mather; Marcia Lausen of Studio/lab and University of Illinois at Chicago; John Maeda of MIT Media Lab; Clement Mok, The Office of Clement Mok; Lisa Strausfeld, Pentagram; Hugh Dubberly, Dubberly Design Office; and many others.

This Visionary Council has done a significant part of the work and as a result, they have posted information from some of their reports.

I recommend this to everyone. As a young designer it will be good to hear the indicators as judged by this esteemed group of contemporaries. As a senior player, you can see how and if what you're doing today is on track, and/or so you can make judgments on course changes and the like. And if you're a freshman in high-school (if my math is right) you can get a leg up on your future design competition.

All in all another great resource from Bianca Zen and the Gang at TAXI Design Network (or TAXI as they are also called, but not to be confused with the advertising agency, Taxi canada or Taxi NYC).

( via a TAXI Design Network email )

Classic Asteroids on //BarryBlog//

( via Springwidgets )

Storytelling: The Anecdote

The anecdote, a sequence of actions, a story in its purest form, one thing following from another.

A great lesson from a great storyteller– Chicago Public Radio's Ira Glass, producer and host of This Amercian Life. I really loved this lesson on storytelling and learned from it. On a similar note, I had the chance to discuss design today with an eager and smart young designer-to-be and we discussed, in part, the role of design as an over arching concept. We discussed how motion, print and interactive all share one thing, and that's the power to communicate and pursuade. I should have added storytelling to the definition I shared with her, as Ira Glass sheds yet another perspective on how communication design crosses many disciplines.

Check out part two, three and four of storytelling. He talks more on pitfalls, voice and gives more great advice on being a creative and being effective. This is valuable stuff.

( via presentationzen )

Breaking News: Erik Tipton Crashed the Internet!

( via the Onion News Network )

Product Design Excellence: AstroStudios

California ID group AstroStudios does some excellent work. They design great looking products and exhibit stellar beyond-the-box thinking. I especially like their work on Herman Miller's INTERSECT Work Island– Astro's first HM project. Hat's off to AstroStudios.

( via IDMagazine Digital Edition )

Font Designer: Hannes von Döhren

Hannes von Döhren is a 27 year old German font designer. He contributes some expressive and impressive fonts via DaFont, as well as his own site, HVD FONTS. I really like his work. Many of his fonts are free for personal use as well as commercial applications. Well worth a look (and download).

Apple Evolution: 1976 - 2007

Evolution from Apple's first step to today. Check it out here.

( via boredomisyourfault )

Coworking. Community. Connections.

Thinking back on all the places you've worked and the relationships you had with people in those companies, chances are some of your closest friends are a by-product of those environments. Yet if you're a full time freelancer or solo act of any type, community can be a missing link. Enter Coworking—the connections without the company.

If the concept of Coworking seems intriguing and you'd like to learn more, start by Googling the word "Coworking"— as this is a rather hot topic, especially in the tech sector. There's also a website called The Coworking Community Blog if you want another jumping off point. Or check out this Philly spin off. Philly has started their own Wiki. You might try TheHatFactory— a coworking environment started by a bunch of people including Ryan Hodson from RYANISHUNGRY. Coworking is an intriguing concept. Is Coworking for you?

The No. 1 Song on Your Favorite day

What song was the top hit on your favorite day?

( via That'sRight )

A Child's Explanation of God

Everyone has atleast one if not a few people who you can count on to send you an email that atleast 450 other people have also received via a Forward. The subject matter of these types of emails general include a "cute" story, often accompanied by images of kittens, puppies and/or promises to increase your wealth, luck or general good looks if you forward it to 10 of your friends.

Having said that, there is a person who I worked with who I would NEVER have expected receiving such an email from. In fact, she was one of the most savvy people I have ever met. So one day I get an email message from her, looking surprisingly similar to a cute email. However after reading it it became apparent why she sent it. It is a letter claimed to be written by a rather self-confident 8-year-old boy named Danny Dutton from Chula Vista , CA. The claim is that he wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to "explain God."

I have since "Snoped" the article and it appears that although suspect, it is indeed difficult to determine who in fact was the original pen of this story. Snopes says it might be written by someone who meant to have been read as if "from the mouth of babes" solely for added poignancy, but in any case I still find it worth posting about. And that's why this is called BarryBlog. I decide. Again, the article's been around since 1993, but you might not have seen it — and as I've stated, is worth a post, so in my estimation worth a look.

EXPLANATION OF GOD:

"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.

"God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.

"God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.

"Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church. Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him. But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.

"His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.

"You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time." "You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God!

"Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway. "If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.

"But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases.

And...that's why I believe in God."

Apple's Highly Anticipated iRack

On the heels of the highly anticipated Apple iPhone launch, Apple does it once again...BarryBlog readers...I bring you the remarkable...iRack.



( via James H )

Prototyping The Carbohydrate Car

The Most-Praised Generation Goes to Work

From a rather telling article in the April 20th edition of the Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Zaslow makes tangible a reality that's now being felt in workplaces all over the country. He states that childhood in recent decades has been defined by parents who see their job as building self-esteem, by soccer coaches who give every player a trophy, and by schools that promote “student of the month” rather liberally. With a wife as a K12 teacher, I hear this over and over how student's are never wrong, and so the teacher must be at fault. In the workplace, a boss must be unreasonable to ask someone to show up to work on time, or to stay an occasional late night.

Zaslow states “Now, as this greatest generation grows up, the culture of praise is reaching deeply into the adult world. Bosses, professors and mates are feeling the need to lavish praise on young adults, particularly twenty-somethings, or else see them wither under an unfamiliar compliment deficit.”

This is an interesting article for those over twenty-somethings and twenty-somethings alike, as it just might provide perspective regarding differences colleagues have at times. Especially if the two parties really consider what not growing up as they did might really look like. Suffice it to say if I didn’t believe in myself growing up, nobody would. A bit of a twist on today.

Read the whole story here.

Helvetica: The Documentary

This evening I saw a screening of Helvetica, the documentary film by Gary Hustwit. Since everyone in the blogasphere has already weighed in on the subject from about every conceivable angle, I really don't have much to contribute to the discussion, other than to say I think it was a great movie. It will amuse and inform both designers and lay-people. I found the movie provided an excellent mix in terms of exposure to both the old guard graphic design set and current designers, though I would have personally enjoyed more exposure to the "next set." All in all Gary Hustwit did a superb job of crafting a great movie. It gives me the bug to make a movie myself.

There's a great interview of Hustwit by Core77, on the campus of USC here. And if you're interested in seeing the movie yourself, here are the screening dates. That's all I got. If you want to get more perspectives, google Helvetica the movie.

Magical Moments: Boxer Emmanuel Augustus

I realize this is a bit off topic for what BarryBlog typically contributes, but as some of you know one of my true passions is boxing. I'm an avid boxing fan, club fighter and one time fight co-promotor. Having said that, you might assume I've been to and watched quite a few boxing matches in my day. But Emmanuel Augustus was a fighter I came across on ESPN Friday Night Fights who was bobbing and weaving like I've never seen. His two handed punch made me laugh so loud it scared my cats. His description of what it feels like to win a fight is equally as refreshing (literally).

Gina+Matt: A Creative Match Made in Heaven

Gina+Matt are seriously talented illustrators who've shared a Philadelphia art studio for some 10+ years— and have since shared marriage vows. I've posted on Gina Triplett before, but now she shares the glory with Matt Curtius. You'll enjoy their fresh, colorful, dreamy work. I sure do.

Julia Rothman: Book By Its Cover Blog

Book By Its Cover blog features the personal book collection of pattern designer and illustrator Julia Rothman. The site also has some great links, and Julia does a great job of linking to places and things she talks about in her posts. I think you'll like it, unless, say, you're an accountant or something. You may also enjoy looking at her super cool personal website and her company's site – Also-Online.

( via Josh at pedestrianmedia )

Richard Farson: Dynamics of Design

Amazing thinking about the Dynamics of Design, taken from context of a comprehensive commentary called Managament by Design by Richard Farson. I challenge you to read this whole excerpt if you're a designer, and especially if you're in design management, because this will hit the sweet spot and is important critical writing on the subject. If you find value here, read Farson's entire commentary here.

Some designs are endlessly effective. Meetings held at round tables, for example, will never lose their power to distribute participation more evenly. But other design interventions may depend for their power only upon the fact that they stand in sharp contrast to the conventional procedures.

We often forget that almost everything derives its power from its context. A teacher may seem excellent, because so many are mediocre. Honesty is so powerful because it exists against a backdrop of almost constant deception. Similarly, a design may work well only as long as it is different from the conventionality of what existed before. But if it becomes the standard way of functioning, it may lose its power. That is why most new management techniques, seemingly no matter what they are, as long as they are well-intended, work for awhile, and then don’t work. And why constant innovation is the continuing requirement of leadership.

Like leadership, design is dynamic, not static. One cannot design a situation and expect it to work indefinitely. Any design requires constant attention and revision, even a seemingly permanent design, such as a house. Seventy percent of new houses are remodeled within three years. Designs involving human relationships are even more in need of continuing modification and improvement. Organization theorist Charles Hampden-Turner reminds us of the relevance for management of the scene in Alice in Wonderland in which the frustrated characters try to play croquet using live flamingos as mallets, and hedgehogs as balls. The flamingos and hedgehogs keep moving. Such is the case with social design. The designs involve living beings, and they keep moving.

Better designers always involve the eventual participants in the design process. There are strong practical and ethical reasons for that. On the practical side, not only do these participants know much that would improve the design, but their involvement makes them more likely to help make the plan work. They become invested in its success.

The ethical reasons are subtler. For example, when managers know how some act or technique or design they are using is likely to affect an employee, but the employee doesn’t, the managers’ respect for those employees will predictably erode. Knowing that the people are being fooled, the manager is blinded to their genuinely intelligent behavior or creativity. Such deception, therefore, fails in two ways. It harms the deceived, but even more pernicious, it harms the deceiver, through the gradual erosion of respect for others, even for people in general.

One solid rule for managers, therefore, is to operate always so that one’s liking and respect for employees can grow.

That may be the best case for openness in management.

One further caveat. Designs can have unintended consequences, even when they work well. Consider the design decision to establish Casual Fridays at work, where dress codes were relaxed. Although the change was quickly embraced, the executives who made such changes were surprised to find that instead of gratitude from the employees, they were deluged with new complaints and demands. Why not casual every day? If we can make this change, why not some others long overdue? The change produced rising expectations, as almost every positive management action does. Managers, like athletes or soldiers, cannot relax after success, but must be always ready for a quick turn of events, for the unintended consequences and inevitable paradoxes of leadership.

If embracing a design mentality seems a tall order, a major departure from what managers are now doing, perhaps it helps to remember that, in any field, those who are still doing what they were trained to do are obsolete.

BDDW: heirloom quality solid wood furniture

BDDW—A small company in Williamsburg Brooklyn, creating highly crafted and timeless furniture designs, one at a time, each by hand. Constantly producing new and innovative work, Tyler Hays (painter and sculptor) and Joshua Vogel (architect and craftsman) are known for their heirloom quality solid wood furniture, traditionally joined, in select domestic hardwoods. Beautiful stuff at prices I'm sure to not be able to afford. Worth a look.

Readymech Flatpacks: Fast. Flat. Free.

Readymech— from the talented gang at FWIS (and famed COVERS blog) is a site full of ready-to-print flatpack toys. Why do they do it? How can it be free? Only they know for sure. But if you count yourself as one of the lucky few with brief windows of time to burn during the workday, give this site a spin. Just don't be jammin' any heavy card stock through the $60,000.00 laser printer, or you'll be the talk of the office. And boy DO they talk.