Monday, November 30, 2009
Getting Meta
"Wikipedia contains facts about facts. It's a collection of facts from other places.
Facebook doesn't have your friends. It has facts about your friends.
Google is at its best when it gives you links to links, not the information itself.
Over and over, the Internet is allowing new levels of abstraction. Information about information might be worth more than the information itself. Which posts should I read? Which elements of the project are at risk? Who is making the biggest difference to the organization?
Right now, there's way too much stuff and far too little information about that stuff. Sounds like an opportunity."
Does all of this constitute a dilution of information? Are we so used to second hand internet materials that raw, unadulterated data would blind our sensitive eyes? Seth brings up a good point... the information about the information is becoming more and more important. Where is this data coming from? Does this source know what their talking about? Do I trust these web surveys when data can be so easily, and anonymously, falsified?
via Seth Godin
Facebook doesn't have your friends. It has facts about your friends.
Google is at its best when it gives you links to links, not the information itself.
Over and over, the Internet is allowing new levels of abstraction. Information about information might be worth more than the information itself. Which posts should I read? Which elements of the project are at risk? Who is making the biggest difference to the organization?
Right now, there's way too much stuff and far too little information about that stuff. Sounds like an opportunity."
Does all of this constitute a dilution of information? Are we so used to second hand internet materials that raw, unadulterated data would blind our sensitive eyes? Seth brings up a good point... the information about the information is becoming more and more important. Where is this data coming from? Does this source know what their talking about? Do I trust these web surveys when data can be so easily, and anonymously, falsified?
via Seth Godin
Spider Silk
"For its weight, spider silk is stronger than steel, but--unlike steel--it can stretch up to 40% of its normal length"
In my mind, the most effective new technologies are those that mimic or actually include the processes and designs of the world's most prolific and creative designer: Mother Nature. The applications for something like synthetic spider silk are endless, including some probably horrendously overpriced tapestries...
via core77
In my mind, the most effective new technologies are those that mimic or actually include the processes and designs of the world's most prolific and creative designer: Mother Nature. The applications for something like synthetic spider silk are endless, including some probably horrendously overpriced tapestries...
via core77
Sunday, November 29, 2009
"How to lose an argument..."
Ooh, I like this. Especially the first rule. By making something into an argument when the other person has approached a situation as a discussion, you become the bull in the china shop. How does this apply to design? I'm not entirely sure, but I'm pretty sure it has everything to do with being a responsible human being and human beings have to work and there are some humans who's work is designing things. Got it? Or have I gone down the slippery slope of flawed logic?
1. Have an argument. Once you start an argument, not a discussion, you've already lost. Think about it: have you ever changed your mind because someone online started yelling at you? They might get you to shut up, but it's unlikely they've actually changed your opinion.
2. Forget the pitfalls of Godwin's law. Any time you mention Hitler or even Communist China or Bill O'Reilly, you've lost.
3. Use faulty analogies. If someone is trying to make a point about, say, health care, try to make an analogy to something conceptually unrelated, like the space shuttle program, and you've lost.
4. Question motives. The best way to get someone annoyed and then have them ignore you is to bypass any thoughtful discussion of facts and instead question what's in it for the person on the other end. Make assumptions about their motivations and lose their respect.
5. Act anonymously. What are the chances that heckled comments from the bleachers will have an impact?
6. Threaten to take action in another venue. Insist that this will come back to haunt the other person. Guarantee you will spread the word or stop purchasing.
7. Bring up the slippery slope. Actually, the slope isn't that slippery. People don't end up marrying dogs, becoming cannibals or harvesting organs because of changes in organization, technology or law.
8. Go to the edges. This is a variant of the slippery slope, in which you bring up extremes at either end of whatever spectrum is being discussed.
via Seth Godin
1. Have an argument. Once you start an argument, not a discussion, you've already lost. Think about it: have you ever changed your mind because someone online started yelling at you? They might get you to shut up, but it's unlikely they've actually changed your opinion.
2. Forget the pitfalls of Godwin's law. Any time you mention Hitler or even Communist China or Bill O'Reilly, you've lost.
3. Use faulty analogies. If someone is trying to make a point about, say, health care, try to make an analogy to something conceptually unrelated, like the space shuttle program, and you've lost.
4. Question motives. The best way to get someone annoyed and then have them ignore you is to bypass any thoughtful discussion of facts and instead question what's in it for the person on the other end. Make assumptions about their motivations and lose their respect.
5. Act anonymously. What are the chances that heckled comments from the bleachers will have an impact?
6. Threaten to take action in another venue. Insist that this will come back to haunt the other person. Guarantee you will spread the word or stop purchasing.
7. Bring up the slippery slope. Actually, the slope isn't that slippery. People don't end up marrying dogs, becoming cannibals or harvesting organs because of changes in organization, technology or law.
8. Go to the edges. This is a variant of the slippery slope, in which you bring up extremes at either end of whatever spectrum is being discussed.
via Seth Godin
"Eloquent Ode to the Simple"
Konstantin Grcic's new exhibit at the Serpentine Gallery in London poses this to the visitor: What impact do boring, everyday (even "ugly") objects have on your everyday life and does this impact give them artistic value? Does functionality and ubiquity give objects weight without which, they would be meaningless?
Grcic asks this with shipping containers, car batteries and laptops. Grcic himself has brought these questions about functionality to his own design work, preferring to find inspiration in practical considerations.
i.e. Chair_One, which NYT describes as "unapologetically technocratic:"
Consider the objects in your daily life and what meaning they have because of the simple fact of their function.
via NYT
Grcic asks this with shipping containers, car batteries and laptops. Grcic himself has brought these questions about functionality to his own design work, preferring to find inspiration in practical considerations.
i.e. Chair_One, which NYT describes as "unapologetically technocratic:"
Consider the objects in your daily life and what meaning they have because of the simple fact of their function.
via NYT
Catnapping
Besides the adorableness of this product, it raises a design question that I never really pondered...
The way we sleep is pretty boring. 'Round about the time one hits puberty, fun and exciting beds become oh so tween passe. Our mattresses and frames all have approximately the same shape, same functionality and often, the same color palette.
Let's ponder for a minute the space saving options that we often encounter: the bed risers. The lofted beds. Not exactly the most creative ways to riff on a classic.
Granted, there are a whole host of practical issues related to why we all seem to sleep the same (design of the room itself, portability, the geometric issues related to multiples in said bed, etc.), but when has practicality ever really stood in the way of visionaries?
For now, let's just imagine some human-sized versions of the kitty shelves above and all give a collective "awww."
via core77
The way we sleep is pretty boring. 'Round about the time one hits puberty, fun and exciting beds become oh so tween passe. Our mattresses and frames all have approximately the same shape, same functionality and often, the same color palette.
Let's ponder for a minute the space saving options that we often encounter: the bed risers. The lofted beds. Not exactly the most creative ways to riff on a classic.
Granted, there are a whole host of practical issues related to why we all seem to sleep the same (design of the room itself, portability, the geometric issues related to multiples in said bed, etc.), but when has practicality ever really stood in the way of visionaries?
For now, let's just imagine some human-sized versions of the kitty shelves above and all give a collective "awww."
via core77
Thursday, November 19, 2009
FA 27: Project #3 "Aspirational Goals"
1. Be successful as a freelancer or own my own business
2. Finish the musical I've been working on
3. Have some of my music licensed for film/by another artist
4. Do something creative every day
5. Make my job something I love
2. Finish the musical I've been working on
3. Have some of my music licensed for film/by another artist
4. Do something creative every day
5. Make my job something I love
Spiral Jetty
I love BIG art. Scale of a piece can be a statement all in itself. Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty at Great Salt Lake in Utah is just such an piece. I love how he took something that was mostly a utilitarian object and turned it into a statement. The grand scale of it makes it all that more interesting (i.e. to truly see the whole thing, you have to be flying above the jetty). One of the other considerations of the piece is the corrosive nature of the lake. The basalt rocks are now white with salt crystals. Not only that, but the drought that brought the jetty back above the water line has allowed visitors the "opportunity" to leave their own mark on the piece (graffiti, carrying off actual pieces of rock). This raises a whole host of questions about preservation and curation that are addressed in this NYT article. One actually serious problem is that of silt buildup which, over time, might actually threaten to cover the piece entirely. Observers of art are, understandably, unused to the realities of art that changes.
Perhaps it's an entirely new way of thinking
via NYT
Perhaps it's an entirely new way of thinking
via NYT
Breakthroughs and drips
"Breakthroughs and drips
There are only two ways to win in the market.
You can create a breakthrough. A promotion so powerful that people can't help but engage. An innovation so remarkable, people can't help but talk about it. A pricing strategy or ad campaign that breaks the mold and is worthy of attention. This takes huge guts and substantial investment.
Or you can win with consistent benefits, delivered over time. You win by incrementally earning share, attention and trust. This might take years.
Almost all marketing attempts to do neither of these, and of course, fail. Painless and quick are rarely associated with 'successful.'"
This makes complete sense. It's a concept that eludes a lot of people. While the most surefire way to win consumers and grow your business is to have something phenomenally innovative and attractive, another good way to build your legacy is by doing something that might not be extraordinary, but is done well and delivered perfectly over a long period of time. What a concept! Give people a good product or deliver a good service and they will pay you for it!
Shock and awe.
via Seth Godin
There are only two ways to win in the market.
You can create a breakthrough. A promotion so powerful that people can't help but engage. An innovation so remarkable, people can't help but talk about it. A pricing strategy or ad campaign that breaks the mold and is worthy of attention. This takes huge guts and substantial investment.
Or you can win with consistent benefits, delivered over time. You win by incrementally earning share, attention and trust. This might take years.
Almost all marketing attempts to do neither of these, and of course, fail. Painless and quick are rarely associated with 'successful.'"
This makes complete sense. It's a concept that eludes a lot of people. While the most surefire way to win consumers and grow your business is to have something phenomenally innovative and attractive, another good way to build your legacy is by doing something that might not be extraordinary, but is done well and delivered perfectly over a long period of time. What a concept! Give people a good product or deliver a good service and they will pay you for it!
Shock and awe.
via Seth Godin
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