Studioclues

Boogie Board is a small “LCD” drawing tablet for only $30. I put LCD in quotes as the site calls it LCD but it doesn’t really seem to be. First off, it is monochrome, so this isn’t going to replace your Cintiq. the tablet is pressure sensitive though and the video here is kinda impressive for $30. Rumor is that they will make a version thta you can save the images on. That would be a huge plus for us designers!.

So I see you have been enjoying the Olympics this month. There have been some memorable moments so far, even though we’re halfway through. But while you are watching the medal ceremonies take a close look at the medals around those athlete’s necks. Apparently the gold, silver,and bronze has been harvested from old computer motherboards.

Read more at Fast Company

I juts finished reading ” The designful company”. I gonna have to say A+. Well it is an A+ if you want a quick read that will get you energized about design and make you feel like running into work with fists pumping and motivated about work. Marty keeps this book to a short read, perhaps because it is something that you should probably go back and read every six months ? The whole premise of the book is that a company lead by design and designers is a more sustainably profitable company. I know that is what the title pretty much says, but it is very accurate.

Marty hits all points directly without any fluff. He pushes “design thinking” as the new Six Sigma and claims Powerpoint is an epidemic that crushes collaboration. Powerpoint presentation is an archaic of communicating.  It is a one way street with little way of conversation. Collaboration is key and no  one should should have an unequal voice. Design thinking as designers do is going to lead a designful company past it’s competitors. The company with the upside down pyramid structure is the model of the future. Digital communication allows us to now voice our opinion faster and more clearly than we can imagine.  Collaboration is overly simple now with tools such as  blogs and wikis. The people that communicate visually and think logically, now have an edge and their vision can be seen instantly. Their ideas can be harnessed electronically.

Marty claimes that Six Sigma has almost become a commodity and “design thinking” is the next philosophy that will push comanies ahead of its competitors. Any company with a couple of bucks can go to the far east and get decent quality product produced for a reasonable cost. The companies that invest the time and resource to better define and design their product offering will in the end win the customer’s hearts and long term loyalty.

I’m glad to be employed with such a comany that pushes design and values the design process. Our brand represents quality product and I we make a great effort through design and engineering to back that up. That is what a real brand does.

I recently had a discussion with a student about the proper way to submit a portfolio to an employer. Many students , I believe, are under the impression that a PDF is still the best way. I tend to disagreed for a few reasons.

It is currently 2010 and I rarely print anything anymore if don’t have to. Because it wastes paper and time. I don’t understand why people are sending me something in an email  that is designed to be printed. I am probably going to view it on screen and navigating a PDF is not nearly as easy as navigating a web page.  It also clogs my inbox if the PDF is longer than a few pages. I hate a clogged inbox, by the way. Just send me a lite link.

Another reason to send me a link is to show me you are somewhat technology savvy and like to keep work updated and fresh. If you spent hours and hours laying out a PDF in Illustrator and Indesign then you probably won’t be updating this all the time. A site or blog can be update by cell phone these days. I write blog posts with my Iphone sometimes.

When it comes to an in-person interview I tend to think the opposite. I would prefer to see something physical. I don’t know why, but looking at a projector is just not very personal. I would like to see a real portfolio in front of me if you came all the way out here to show your stuff. Oh, but then there is the Ipad? I kinda wonder how personal tablets will change my train of thought here? It may appear more personal to me now?I don’t know. I kinda think personality is what I’m judging at in person interview anyway. I have typically seen their work, so this is just a getting to know them session

I recently got snowed in this weekend and was doodling around. I somehow started sketching these cool little tea kettles. I am addicted to this Canson style of sketching. I find it is very fast to develop form and quite interesting to look at.

Some sketches from the last couple of days.  Drills, equipment, screwdrivers. Just doodling..

Data visualization can be an artform in itself. We tend to see bar and pie graphs done in Excel and wordart when we go to work and sit in stuffy meetings. But when designers bring it all together, beautiful things can come about. Web Designer Depot showcases 50 great examples of mind blowing data visualization.

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/06/50-great-examples-of-data-visualization/

Next week Photoshop turns 20 years old. Every designer who has ever called themselves a designer has used the old lasso tool along with other personal favorites. On Feb 10th let’s blow out some candles for the old workhorse. Web Designers Depot has a great write up of the history of Photoshop here. It’s a must read.

http://m.webdesignerdepot.com/2010/02/20-years-of-adobe-photoshop/

Some sketches I did in the last couple of days. Lighting objects and flashlights and maybe a robot?