Eg Hed Design

Memes

2011-05-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

When an obsession with memes and Ted Talks intersect, no one is safe. From Dan Denett's concept of the "human" ant that is inexplicably drawn into danger by the "virus" of ideals, to Susan Blackmore's telling story of a world of memes waiting to enter our brains, the meme has corrupted my extracurricular thoughts.

Since watching W.H. Whyte's Study of Small Urban Spaces, when I began studying design research, I've taken a behavioral and cognitive psychological approach to groups. Fact is, I've been known to find watching people more exciting than movies: the social mimicry of man is fascinating on all levels.

Who cannot find themselves enamored with Don Norman?

Recently, however, I've combined the idea of social group connections with the concept of a designer's role in communication.

Understanding how animals (like crows) can quickly interpret and adapt to patterns, and how such reasoning methods that we identify as intelligence might actually be easily broken down to simple (almost robotic) trial and error processes could help designers reinterpret web navigation, group-based systems and new products.

I feel, now, like a Buddah, displaced and yet a part of everything around me. "What is" is not good or bad, just the act of happening...

We, life organisms, love taking-in information- especially in visual form (from great minds like Hans Rosling and David McCandless)! What else can we say of the recent data viz. craze that has come as a direct result of society's desire to make sense of the ever-growing and easily accessible database made available to us through the web?!

What new discoveries about how we speak to each other can come about, when we break down human interaction to its most basic natural principles?

Perhaps, Ted will tell me. Perhaps, I will tell Ted.

Draw

2011-02-26T01:29:00.000-08:00

This is beautiful.

Aesthetics

2011-01-18T07:49:00.001-08:00

The ability to define true beauty has been at debate, surely, as long as humans have had the words to do so. From ancient Greece, to modern philosophy, Western society has always had an obsession with pinning down why one thing (be it visual or lyrical art) is more aesthetically pleasing than another.
The debate about whether one even has the ability to do so goes even deeper into the human psyche. Can beauty be defined? If so, are humans capable of defining it within the language we currently possess? The problem with such questions is that they are posed to corner a response into a “yes” or “no”- as if such words could really be complex enough to answer a question so large and vague.
Positively, if one merely observes what he or she can see in the world, we can define beauty. Each of us has, at one time or another, chosen the word to define an object or idea- whether it really meant inspiration, as in Plato’s Ion, or not, it happens, and thus, we can say it is so. The debate, then, is whether beauty can be defined universally.
Such a goal would imply that the universe abides by the same standards that we humans measure it out into. (As in, an inch exists outside of a human calling it so.) I do not think it does.
Let us first say that because the human mind works in comparisons- one thing is better than another- that beauty would not exist in a world without the “not beautiful” (the ugly). Next, let us acknowledge that this definition is entirely dependent on human perspective, which has not yet consumed all of the knowledge of the universe, and thus all of the knowledge of the “not beautiful” and/or beautiful is still in the process of being known by us humans. Finally, placing human existence in time, where we are capable of experiencing only a miniscule amount of the universe’s beauty or ugliness before the opportunity has passed us by for the next moment, puts us in no position to assert any definition of universal beauty- just as we would think it silly for a child to determine the planning of a city based on what he sees from his bedroom window in an evening!
The question left is now whether beauty exists.
As I have posed before, the question of beauty is one side of a comparison between what Hume would say is what the mind defines as pleasing or not (which is totally abstract, inconstant between individuals, and often changing within individual minds) and little more. [At least, under the circumstances that we humans were given to examine the term.]
I know, upon introspection, only this: I find things beautiful and I find things ugly. There are times when others agree with my opinions about these things and times when they don’t. My opinion about beauty changes over time, and there are times when I can’t even agree with myself about the aesthetics of a work of art, but what I can’t do is stop my mind from trying to sort these works into one or the other- beautiful or not. I am always searching, always sorting.

Designing Media

2010-12-10T17:40:00.000-08:00

ack!!!!! Horay!!!

On: Bjorn Again? Rethinking 70s Revivalism through the Reappropriation of 70s Clothing

2010-11-29T16:20:00.000-08:00

By Nicky Gregson, Kate Brooks and Louise Crewe

This article covers 2 different reasons that groups in England in the early 90's were adopting 70's clothing and how one side was for play while the other was a symbol, ad advertisement, of one's knowledge and respect for the design. I see in it the hunt of youth for knowledge, respect, and reputation. It was entertaining.

Same Ol' Same Ol'

2010-11-29T16:07:00.000-08:00

On Pruitt and Adlin's Personal Life Cycle (Tanner Thompson).

On second reading of this chapter, I couldn't let go of a phrase that I recently heard a design researcher say to me "Once you have a persona, you don't need a new one. People are people, and new technology isn't going to make them any different, it's only going to alter which object they use to carry out the same behavior. My boss can make me go out and check to see if there's anything new, but I'm going to see the same thing: wow, people use their phones instead of their alarm clocks, computers, and newspapers. New object, same action."

So I'm reading this Tanner Thompson persona, and I'm thinking about how it's slightly dated, and how I watched this PARC talk about how teenagers are using 2-4 internet/entertainment devices at the same time now days and how crazy that was and how web designs need to be integrated with the idea that no one will be entirely focused on your page, so non-irritating alarms are being added. And I'm wondering how -even though his goals would remain the same- if Tanner's persona would need an update for more than just to keep the interest of a designer. Hmp. Think. Think. Think. I get back to you.

On Fournier's Consumers and Thier Brands:

2010-11-29T15:49:00.000-08:00

Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research

I'm lucky that since this article came out (1998), many of the concepts Fourier discusses have been adopted into marketing and brand concept strategies (at least, where I am earning my degree). I found that this article also somehow re-enforced something Abby Margolis once taught me about objects and brands in relationships: people are not always looking for who they are, but sometimes, a balance of who they think they'd like to be in context... ie: sometimes, a teenage girl wants to feel just a little like a responsible woman (when she's washing her face?), which means that marketing a brand to someone doesn't always mean trying to pretend to be like your audience, but remembering to provide an authentic representation of the value delivered by a product: sometimes soap is better seen as responsible than fun.

The life stories provided by Fournier were hard for me to get through, and I worry about where any border between storytelling and data is supposed to exist... are the soft sciences about interpretation with a back-story of data? (I need to interview more design researchers about this.) When tabled-out, the relationships were delightful and so humanistic that I was forced to subject my neighbor to a long and drawn-out conversation about how his relationships with brands fit into this type of table. Super fun.

On: Products and Practices: Selected Concepts from Science and Technology Studies and from Social Theories of Consumption and Practice

2010-11-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

by Jack Ingram, Elizabeth Shove, and Matthew Watson

Of all the articles I've read about in creating personas, it was this one that really helped me hone-in on how I wanted to describe my use-cases for my study. The group's six themes (acquisition, scripting, appropriation, assembly, normalization, and practice) were much like something I think I read recently in Donald Norman's newest book about emotional design [cognitive psychology, yum.], but when I read how they applied basic social psychological concepts to the motives for a stage, I was more than on board.

I found myself taking notes about each of my personas- how did social comparison fit into "Lisa and Greg's" lifestyle, was "George" subject to the Diderot Effect? Were the three of them beginning to Specialize, and how/why had Self-Identity through new objects taken a back seat to a whole generation of people? Had "Anna and Susan" Scripted their objects into a role that was at risk of being in opposition to the sustainability movement? How could new designs alter their behavior without confusing, irritating, or alienating who they felt they themselves were while also assembling into the group of older more emotionally charged but perhaps less sustainable products?

Also, and I'm not sure exactly how this fits in at all, but after having read so much about Martha Stewart's Living, I am drawn back to the Donna Hay and Real Simple magazines that I loved before Stewart became part of my vocabulary. How do sections in their magazines that celebrate new uses play into the "themes" set out in this article? What happens when that which establishes a (if even somewhat fairy-tale-like) status quo embraces an old technology over a new one that may be advertised on the next page? Do the "30 things you can do with a paper clip" ever really get used, or are they simply party tricks for the imaginary house wife?

I am officially in love with this article, and only hope that I can one day implement these incredibly valid issues into my own work- whether academic or applied.

On: Material Attributes of Personal Living Spaces by Gosling, Craik, Martin, and Pryor

2010-11-29T14:45:00.000-08:00

After having read this work, I know 2 things.
Thing 1: However beautiful information can be, it needs to be visually stimulating to pull a reader through, lest he get exhausted by fig. 4... pages and pages of raw data are best left to the appendix. In other words, I need to know my data so well that I can visually communicate the story to my audience. Story. Hm.
Thing 2: The idea to have the interviewees rate and agree to being rated on their openness was brilliant. It's beautiful when data can tell you something we all already see in a new way: Andrea Gibson says "The key to falling in love is f***ing up the pattern."

I'd love to use this paper to study the results after my photo sort to see how Baby-boomers' objects imply their openness... I wonder if there's a link to sustainable practices and the variety of objects owned by a Boomer within his or her personal living space. Ideas. Ideas.

On Dianne Harris’ Clean, Bright, and EVERYONE White:

2010-11-17T15:39:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I can’t get around my critical eye. As a poet, I am so accustomed to creating stories through creative exploration of an individual, but when something becomes official- when it becomes a scientific statement… whether of a soft or hard science, I have trouble buying into the certainties with which some authors make assertions about a time or culture. Such is the case with Harris’ article about the 1950’s white post-war era aesthetic.
Harris writes with conviction and uses an incredible wealth of resources (namely architectural magazines) to describe how architects of the era created a “white” aesthetic, but, although I can see the correlation, I cannot see the causality that she does.
More than her point, I saw an echo of the 1950’s in today’s Green movement- how the Sustainable aesthetic has been adopted into a clean and modern one, how the two are married to a predominantly “white” perspective, and I wonder if that comes from the nostalgia wrapped in the 1950’s that the “modern” look brings with it. Her comment that “The houses and gardens are portrayed as clutter-free environments, when in actuality they were jammed full of new consumer goods,” threw me back to my interviews with current interior designers. How appropriate.
Finally, because I am currently studying the Boomer population in terms of the home and sustainability, I was fascinated to read about the homes that Boomers grew up in- ones that had a heavy emphasis on the privacy, the closed-off back yard, the pride in ownership, that Boomers have undoubtedly carried with them as they’ve aged. It makes sense to see a culture who wants to leave the apartments of a pre-war era, but could the Boomers’ disgust with apartments only come from a nostalgia? Hmph. Reasearch.

On Elizabeth Shove’s Converging Conventions of Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience:

2010-11-17T15:38:00.000-08:00

Converging Conventions of Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience

I adore Shove’s take on the way that technology and our concepts of safety (comfort and cleanliness) continue to “ratchet” to more and more extreme concepts. I see it as a culture that has evolved, survived, because of our resourcefulness, and now that we have less to fear, we adopt new ones. It seems that the new technology doesn’t necessarily push people to higher standards, but enables them to collect, to hunt and gather, and then, once these things end-up in their homes, consumers have to rationalize their use and then new habits get passed on as the standard and the cycle continues.

Martha Martha Martha

2010-11-09T16:02:00.000-08:00

On Ted Gachot's Through the Cooking Class (from AIGA Journal of graphic design) and Micheal J. Golec's Martha Stewart Living and the marketing of Emersonian Perfectionism (from Home Cultures.

I have to say that I am forever in awe of anyone that can read a Martha Stewart Living magazine and see as much in them as these 2 men. While Gachot weaves the company into a sinister Godmother of life with every question answered, Golec takes the "Self-Reliance" route and both settle on the concept of perfection in some of the most witty journal writing I have had the pleasure to read. Everyone loves to poke fun at big business.

Gachet's point is that Living is more about the lore, the witchery delivered to the reader than the actual practical value, and, having also been reading Bruno Latour's We Have Never Been Modern, I found myself weaving the lore concept into Golec's insistence that the success of the magazine carries back to the US' Puritan roots.

"Of course!" I think. The Crucible! Golec goes on to give his reader a Cliff's note version of Emerson's Self Reliance before plowing through concepts of Martha's perfect modest extravagance (and I remember Puritan silver buckles), and finally landing on a point, a good point: "The visualization of perfectionism configures the private sphere while simultaneously evoking the public sphere.... Perfectionism as a principle of conduct is not so much embodied in a person as it is distributed through bodies, surfaces, lights, and gazes....."

In a visual culture perspective, I can totally see how these perfect objects take the reader outside of space and time, and deliver an indulgent simplicity, a fairytale, a form of entertainment wherein the reader may never actually bake the perfect truffle or collect those woo woo plates, but can and will live within the walls of a life that does- for a few pages, anyhow.

On the Unbearable Whiteness of Green

2010-11-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

I recently read an editorial about the "Unbearable Whiteness of Green".... how the green movement is plastered with only upperlcass white people. I was excited to find a valid point- I hadn't thought of such a thing (I'm a white 20-something design student in Portland; sometimes it takes me a minute to remember the rest of the world isn't as pastey, booky, or as Indie as we are.), but I totally agreed before reading the article- I couldn't remember any uber green articles that featured people that I couldn't directly identify with. So I start reading.... his main example: Vanity Fair.

The author writes "just flip through the pages of Vanity Fair's recent green issue (the one with Leo DiCaprio and that cute polar bear cub on the cover). ...Now, count the non-white Americans in the whole magazine. Okay. Now try to find the working-class environmentalists, the ones trying to protect their kids from pollution at the fence-line? Go ahead. Keep looking. See what I mean?"

I went through a few more Vanity Fair issues, after reading this part, and found that the magazine covers all its topics in the same way: predominantly white and wealthy. At this point, the author lost credibility in my eyes, and I had a hard time following his link to California's Prop 87. I couldn't stop thinking about his main point, so I did a little research of my own and found that Paul Mohai, associate professor at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment authored the first African-American centered study on Sustainability.

Apparently, in 2003, African Americans are more likely than white Americans to make sustainable lifestyle choices like buying pesticide-free foods , consuming less meat , and driving less. However, African Americans were less likely than whites to recycle. Also, African Americans were more concerned about their local environment (23% more!).

Had I read anything like this, which took me minutes to pull up, I'd be a happier, more convinced reader. What ever happened to establishing validity before jumping into an argument?

Vals

2010-10-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

Took the VALS test this week, and found out that I am an Achiever/Innovator. This amazing, because the VALS says that Achievers "live conventional lives, are politically conservative, and respect authority over the status quo. They value consensus, predictability, and stability over risk, intimacy, and self-discovery." As a ridiculously liberal spoken-word poet, design student, and Portlander, who has once traveled the United States on a whim, living out of her car, I disagree. Maybe, though, the fact that I'd buy Arm & Hammer over Dr. Bronner's magic bar, puts me in with the soccer moms.
From here, I had a hard time investigating something that made me want to yell "Fraud" at the computer screen- no matter how "successful, take-charge person with a high self-esteem" it tried to tell me I was. The whole thing seems to work backwards under the idea that buyers choose products based on who they want to be- instead of looking at what products they buy; this test claims to ask if one "likes to move around a lot" in 16 different ways and derive whether you'd buy the red or blue pair of underwear without acknowledging that we are all different actors in in different environments.
If an individual is the sum of his behavior and environment, then how can you determine who he'll be when shopping at a store through an online test in his home? Maybe test-taking Leah is much more conservative than I thought! Thanks VALS!

Home again

2010-10-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

After hours and hours of field research and interviews, I am, again, digging through pounds of psychological studies: this time, more about the objects and the home and less about Baby-boomers' INSANE impact on the state of everything as they age over the next 30 years.

On "The Semiotics of Home Decor" by Joan Kron (from Home-Psych: The Social Psychology of Home and Decoration):

Kron wrote "If an object reflects a person accurately, it's an index of status. But symbols of status are not always good indices [of such]." She goes on to talk about how anyone with a lump sum of money can buy an object that someone of a higher class might own, and that "clusters of symbols are better than isolated ones." I read this, and wondered when I last bought something to indicate who I already think I am instead of who I'd like to be, and came-up blank. To me, the two represent the same thing: a desire to be the same type of person said buyer associates with a user/owner of said object- why else would the active lifestyle sportswear industry be so huge (does everyone that buys a sub-arctic Northface sweater already think of themselves as Summit climbers?)? If it can be said that we adapt to life through imitation, and then internalize our actions and vocabulary just long enough to find a new situation to adapt to, then how are our possessions any more than a physical expression of our hopes? Status... status comes when we are given an object by someone above us, and so, to me, because America lacks the rules bestowed upon nobles of 15th century Germany, object ownership is no longer granted to us by the king: we are allowed to buy that watch or gorgeous couch in the same way we could wear a Prada scarf without repercussion- but have that scarf given to us personally by an esteemed someone, and it becomes a symbol of how the world should see us.
Simply put, I can't see how an object we choose reflects more than who we want to be (unless we are being cheeky and saying "I am a person that wants to be _____"). Only an object given to us reflects how those people "should" see us... because it acts as a physical reminder that someone thinks of us. Status is merely wrapped up in the giving and becomes proportionally apparent when given by someone we admire- be that for talent, genius, or political success.

Beyond that, I found the rest of the piece a fascinating flurry of instances when we, as owners, cherish the things we own, and could understand why someone would feel detached from an area that lacked familiar objects- things to remind him of how he fits into the world.

Best Gifs of all time

2010-03-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

Designs featured on "I am not an Artist" are more than entertaining, but witty and well thought out. Definitely a must see.

We Feel Fine

2010-02-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

I am in LOVE with Jonathan Harris' Universe, which displays modern "mythology" information through storytelling in a beautiful and compelling way. The site, which was created way back in 2007, may seem less "informationally" relevant than other modern sites (it has not been updated), but in terms of concept, the site remains an inspiration.
Harris, who created "We Feel Fine" (also mind-blowing) in 2006, recently came out with a book about it!! He has also released Sputnik Observatory, a sort of home video meets Ted talks (watch his ted talk here) sort of thing.

Both Cool Hunting and 99% have covered Jonathan Harris and his project "We Feel Fine," and I recently read a photo-article he created in Good Magazine about an Alaskan Whale Hunt.

CHIFOO

2010-02-05T13:35:00.000-08:00

Had an awesome time at CHIFOO, which is now being hosted at the Art Institute of Portland's open space. James changed her presentation topic last minute to cover- you guessed it- the ipad, and how it changes the game for ipod/ iphone apps. (think big, right?)
Fantastic!

March 3rd, Jessica Coffey, with Teneo Research speaks about Advanced Research techniques- I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Litl might get Big

2009-11-17T07:10:00.000-08:00

Remember the Imac? One of the most popular computer booms in history, and it never appealed to me- but this does.

The new Litl promises good design to users, where everything is automatic. It's a fun computer, "and while you sleep, it updates itself".... I'm not sure how it knows you sleep at 2pm, but way to go litl. It's flip screen does more than change the orientation of a screen view, but the entire way the computer takes in that information. For instance, weather.com turns from it's regular screen to a very very simple look and feel aesthetic (as seen above).
Other neat things (that make me nervous)? The way you find files is through a search box. period. This sounds fantastic for women, but my memory of mens' navigation studies doesn't usually include "and he goes straight to the search box" ... isn't that why those jokes about men asking for directions exist? I just have this idea of the ol'e hubby sitting at the thing for an hour (refusing to ask me how to find something)to look for a drop down menu that doesn't exist (much like my first experience with a Mac).
All in all, I think the litl is beautiful. I just hope users can keep up with it!

Digital Book Revolution

2009-10-21T13:14:00.000-07:00

One Laptop Per Child has finally begun designing a digital book that I can understand. ...there's just something about the fold... about the rock of your eyes that move back and forth over the left and then the right page.... there's something about transitioning back and forth and holding a book in your hands that makes it worth while.... in a way that the I could never adapt to a kindle.
But now.
Now, that all may have changed.
I can only hope that other design firms will see this and run with it. The future is changing.... and we may one get to marry our comfort habits with the ease of technology.

Project H Design

2009-10-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

Just learned about Project H, a non-profit started by twenty-something Emily Pilloton. The organization collaborates with product designers to create humanitarian solutions.
Not just another "Design can change the world" group, this organization actually does stuff worldwide- from the developing world to rural North Carolina.

Check out Pilloton's new book just out:

Kitchen Within A Kitchen

2009-09-13T14:19:00.000-07:00

A small news show covered new kitchen trends in an interview with Ellen Cheever, a well-known kitchen designer, educator, and frequent contributor to industry publications like Kitchen and Bath Design News. Cheever states that people need their kitchen to be expandable and collapsible..."On the weeknights, they need to be able to navigate their kitchen quickly when they're just warming up a simple meal. But on the weekends, they need it to open up enough so they can prepare a fancy gourmet meal and entertain a large group of friends while they are cooking."
To answer these needs, designers are creating quick prep areas, read: small sink, cutting board, and microwave. Larger kitchens use a small butler's pantry the same purpose, with an added small refrigerator (I can see this turning into a fridge drawer, once all the seal kinks get fixed). Cheever goes on to talk about islands with sinks in them["The days when kitchens always had one sink right under the kitchen window appear to be over...."], and that the kitchen counter height is becoming more variable in kitchens: taller counters that act as a bar between rooms and lower counters for kneeding bread- this reminds me of IKEA's kid's table set-up for their kitchen...which I, of course, can't find....
I guess that prep-cook triangle is long gone, too!

Non-sterile Kitchen

2009-09-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

This picture was accompanied by a quote by Antonio Citterio on Dwell. The quote? “As the kitchen assumes its place as the most important part of the home, we are thankfully moving away from the idea of designing the kitchen as if it were a clinic or a sterile environment."

...Looks pretty sterile to me. After several interviews, I've found that another kitchen trend is a movement toward industrial equipment in the kitchen, and a desire for much much more than any one person or family needs. This picture says it all: does anyone need 6 ovens, really?

Pull Commerce

2009-09-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

...Found an excellent example of new kitchen trends pulling the market into its trend direction instead of design pushing the market.... La Rinascente's Design Kitchen has recently finished its redesign of its kitchenware's floor. Look familiar? All modern and white.... clean and shiny and not so new.

2009-08-21T10:14:00.001-07:00

Another note on trends...

Because we know that any kind of trends visible in modern products are only physical manifestations of the public's perception of the times, I wonder if our modern product aestetics can be translated into other things of the time... what other parts of kitchen life are DIY, open, simple, warm???

Online recipe sites could be DIY, but aren't so simple...
Cookbooks, though, have moved to graph-based layouts, where cooks can use a basic recipe and alter as necessary... fonts are crisp and simple- from the Pepsi logo to that package of Pumpkin seeds, to the canvas bag we brought it in on that has already begun to mock itself like a trendy t-shirt.

Pictures in the kitchen are simple photos with only one or two focal points- often in black and white....

But not just simple. We are searching for that character... that focus on the details. We want to look worldly yet dignified. Able to resist the craziness and secretly tuck it away... like Flemish nobility of the 1400's: First world citizens are both pious yet wealthy....

These things, I'm sure, cross many boundaries, and don't begin or end with anything in the kitchen... but the study of one thing allows us to see the needs of many. Just as one can follow science fiction films throughout history to find the fears of the society that creates them, my study of kitchen life has only led me to a hairline focus on humanity in August 2009.

Beyond Products

2009-08-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

I heard a woman say yesterday that people want to keep their stuff, really, they just don't want to see it... don't want to be reminded that they have so much of it... and that even though they want the latest gadgets with all of the bells and whistles, they eventually settle down into a similar routine that they had with the NEW product.. rarely changing.

This makes me think that any truly revolutionary simplification of kitchen life would involve a change in standard concepts of ownership and a renewed sense of community trust. Maybe we see indoor/outdoor community kitchens that house all those clunky appliances that people get "just in case" they get an urge to can fresh strawberries or hand make bread, but then each house has its own simple kitchen that only has what each household actually uses. Of course, new technology could supplement good old fashioned trust... electronic lending logs and key codes might hold all that stuff in place and make everyone accountable, but it gets very big brother then, and I'd like to think that people can follow through on these things on thier own.

I can't see it far off... now, with all the community gardens popping up in the city, and tool lending libraries that I've seen.

It seems like we just want a back-up. We want to be able to do something... we want our freedom- translated into kitchen life, it gets expensive and wasteful.

Same 'ol Same 'ol

2009-08-19T14:41:00.001-07:00

Why buy a whole new kitchen, when you can over restore your current one to look older than it really is? Current kitchen trend number zillion? Back-dating your update.

Keeping up with the Jones' now means looking like you live next door to their grandparents.

Go figure.

The Great (Big) Outdoor(Kitchen)s

2009-08-19T14:26:00.001-07:00

For those who can afford it, the Arts and Crafts style of blending the indoor with the out, and using local materials is ever so chic.
The outdoor kitchen is coming home, and bringing all of the good stuff: no longer are those giant shiney grills the coveted product, but the outdoor kitchen.... with fridge, table, and sink included.
I even saw an outdoor flat screen TV at Smith and Hawkin last week.

Kitchen life isn't just about cooking or quick meals... it's about reconnecting with nature.... and electronics.

Reading the Future of Books

2009-08-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

Last week, I posted about Portigal Consulting's Reading Ahead Project, which is looking for current trends in reading.... so that they can plot out future trends.
My guess is that they could have side stepped all of that research and read this month's Fast Company. Apparently, Anthony Zuiker (created CSI) is manning a new cross-platform experiment in books, and I LOVE it. The experience begins with a hard copy book (published by Penguin's Dutton imprint).. in this case, an insanely violent murder mystery... and every 20 pages or so, there's a prompt to log on to Level 26 Web site with a code from the book, where you'll see a 2-3 minute movie by guess who. Readers can skip the movie without losing the storyline, and can also download an iPhone app that gives the user "a total sensory experience."
My only hope is that the book begins with one of these log-in codes, as one of the disappointments of watching the movie after reading the book is that not one of us shares the same pictures in our head... I think readers will connect with the characters and latch onto the whole project with a visual introduction from the start.... lets see if Zuiker thinks as much!

Here we go again....

2009-08-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

The 1950's are making a comeback! So, dust off your old Rummer house dreams, and get out some of that pastel blue. Here we go again. (Blue and white kitchen: $30 dollar makeover from Sunset).

Core77 covered kitchens of the past vs. kitchens of the future in a three video comparison.... it was hard to tell the difference!

The fifties style has been adopted by smaller sub-groups of the DIY movement (try getting through one page of Etsy without seeing one of those coupled cherry prints), and by empowered women's groups, like roller-derbyists (tight-laced lawyers by day and rolling hell on wheels by night).... both are groups that mingle with the indie rockers that are friends with the starving artists who used to go to college with a designer that's currently working for some giant corporation, who has this idea he hands to his boss- who likes it.... and happens to play roller derby.
maybe that's where all this is coming from.

Mis Matched Beauty

2009-08-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

Another new trend in kitchen life is embracing the mis-matched.

This trend makes absolute sense in the modern design climate. Not only has the recession eased the way to more sustainable concepts (that were once just the way people lived), but a mis-matched kitchen fits into the DIY trend that has crossed into every design category.

Apartment Therapy suggests you do something with your chairs (as above)... if you've got matching chairs, paint them different colors, and if you don't, well paint them all the same color. Easy as pie.

Other mixes? Old and Modern worlds, like industrial shelving and re-purposed antique furniture.

It's like we're in the Italian Renaissance again and people want to seem traveled and full of experience... we all want to have been an explorer, settling into home once more.

Onceability

2009-08-12T06:55:00.000-07:00

Jonas Soderstrom has coined a new word: Onceability! ... and I think it's fabulous.
His working definition focuses on how most new technology allows a user to successfully do something once (say, install a device), but then, it becomes impossible to restore after one little problem arises.
Ridiculous passwords and too many updates are doing more than frustrating the new adopter or the forgetful user, but EVERYONE. Thank you, Mr. Soderstrom, for putting the most current usability issue into words.
It seems that designers and engineers are all too have to create something to exist in its own world, but to invest in a design's future- well why? It will be old in a year! (This is how I think some people have and raise children and pets...)
I don't have the answer, but knowing the problem is half of it, right?!

Kitchen Counters: Getting Away From the Stone Age

2009-08-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

[This is a revised edition of a previous post about kitchen counter materials]

The first kitchen counters were made of the same stone that made up the hearth of nomadic fires. Hunters and gatherers cut and cooked foods within feet of each other: it is amazing how little we have changed.

Tens of thousands of years later, kitchen counters can now come in a variety of materials: Granite, engineered stone, solid surface, ceramic tile, laminates, wood (or butcher block), stainless steel, soapstone, marble, or concrete (KitchenCountertops.net, 2009), but the most popular choice is still some type of stone. Kitchen and Bath Design News wrote an article about the trend for the kitchen being a more versatile place, and when covering materials, they wrote simply that Quartz is the future: why are we still in the Stone Age?

NEED

After common aesthetic choices, most modern counter top materials are chosen for their ability to sustain a clean working environment in the kitchen. Innovation in a kitchen counter material would have to meet these needs, but could confront the lack of interaction between a user and the material once it has been laid down.

Future countertops could change color in places where they have been contaminated with harmful chemicals or bacteria; they could then have an option of being pushed down into a second sink (beside the permanent one) and then pulled/popped back up again for counter space with a simple unassuming drain (almost like the exact opposite of those half-sphere rubber suction cup toys from the 1990’s). These countertops could also contain internet enabled digital components that display visual information across the countertop (think huge Kindle) and allow someone to read an online recipe or the news while washing spaghetti. Back splashes could contain touch screen technology to operate the digital (and possibly physical) components of the countertop. Although, touch screen technology on the countertop itself would need to function through use of a stylus of some type, as a counter’s main function conflicts with a touch screen’s ability to determine the user’s needs (stuff is always going to be touching the screen).

Such a material would better suit contemporary uses of the kitchen as a meal preparation and social gathering place, and as a home office because it could change and adapt to a variety of uses: a reliably clean prep sink and/or counter space, tax-prep desk, recipe card, and source of entertainment.

MATERIAL PERCEPTION

Because this material would need to be flexible enough to “pop” into certain shapes, it would have a lower modulus than existing counter tops, but would need to continue to seem cool and smooth to maintain the ‘trust” that has been attributed to previous countertop materials. Perhaps, a smooth, thick, translucent, non-porous coating could distance the digital display from the surface, and lessen any anxiety about dropping something heavy on the counter and breaking the display material. Also because of trust issues, the material would need to be shiny (associated with non-porous objects) and food-safe (the more natural, the better).

To the touch, the material could be flat and smooth, or it could be molded into a permanently subtle texture pattern, like tiles, before installation. It would need to be stain and scratch resistant and easy to clean. In terms of sustainability, the material would need to be easily updated, recycled, or disassembled for re-use- this is a must to compete in today’s market. The digital material, when not activated, could come in a variety of colors or rich visual textures- one of which can be chosen by the consumer before installation.

Although the majority of current synthetic materials are priced at the bottom of the kitchen market, this material would be impossible to place at that level. In order to counteract consumer price shock, countertops made from this material would need to embody modern light-hearted and humorous visual characteristics over “techie” ones. They would need to immediately appeal to a consumer on a humanistic level, and would need to visually convey their versatility: they need to have rounded shapes and fantastic affordance. The material would enter the market in the highest product position through modern and humanistic design.

The increased versatility of the material would draw the market away from some high-end consumers that are currently seeking out copper, steel, and stone countertops. Early adopters, young professionals, and (hopefully) trendsetters, would also pick-up the product.

The kitchen counter is as old as civilization. Although its size, shape, and use have changed over the years, people continue to use stone: a cold and hard material. The opportunity for material improvement in kitchen countertops is wide-open, all we need is a material that can seem hard yet “pop-able,” can detect harmful chemicals and bacteria, and can display digital information (possibly to the touch). …Let me get right on that.

Design Research: Reading Ahead

2009-08-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

Portigal Consulting has been researching how we read and the materials we use to do so in their project Reading Ahead.

I was so excited to see that I could follow their process with them online, but was quickly sobered when I realized that their process was more about taking stock of the present than about dreaming up the future... asking questions like "which of the following do you do more than 3 times a week?" and not "Tell me about the last time you read something. (What was it? Where was it? When.... ) Chances are, it was not a book, and maybe wasn't even a computer, but something out in the world......
The program seems mostly focused on books and people who identify themselves as book readers.... I'm just not sure where these guys are taking this, but maybe I'll learn something on the way.
Keep up with them on their blog Reading Ahead.

Counter culture

2009-08-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

Kitchen counters can now come in a variety of materials: Granite, engineered stone, solid surface, ceramic tile, laminates, wood (or butcher block), stainless steel, soapstone, marble, or concrete.
Kitchen and Bath Design News wrote an article about the trend for the kitchen being a more versatile place, including ideas about the kitchen island also being a workspace (has that not always been what a kitchen table has functioned as?), and when covering materials, they say simply that Quartz is the future.
Maybe I'm just dreamy, but I think we can do better than Quartz as our future countertop material!
After common aesthetic choices, most modern counter top materials are chosen for their ability to sustain a clean working environment in the kitchen. Innovation in a kitchen counter material would have to meet these needs, but could confront the lack of interaction between a user and the material once it has been laid down.

Could future counter tops tell someone when its been contaminated with bacteria?
Could they have variable surface tension like water, and cave for objects placed on/in them while maintaining hard for things dropped or chopped there?
What if one of these counter tops could have an option of being pushed down into a second sink (beside the permanent one) and then pulled/popped back up again for counter space with a simple unassuming drain...?
Could counters click in and out of place, making for a weekend remodel instead of a season one? Could they have sections in them that could be flipped for variety or entertaining?
Could counters contain digital components that let you read the news while you're washing the spaghetti, and could draw out exactly what size the rolled out pie top should look like?

The kitchen counter is as old as civilization, but hasn't changed much.... I'd like to see where it could go.

Stochasticity

2009-08-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

Radio Lab just came out with a fantastic episode on Stochasticity. They interview neuroscientist Paul Glimcher, Gregory Warner about the predictibility of everyday choices, and at the end, they go through the "sloppy" noise of how one's body accomplishes anything on the cellular level. [Be sure to listen to the response feed: Are we just Coins.]

I was impressed with idea that all of these minute random actions could merge to become a visible whole, and find a direct corelation between this example and trends in general... masses of people making thier own personal decisions, buying and making "individual expression" that, from a distance (often of time), becomes a movement.

The more I think about it, the more I feel that the traditional model of marketing and trend research is hooey. Duncan Watts's take on trends sounds much more appealling in this context; he says that influencials have no impact on trends.

Material Girl

2009-07-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

I had one of those, "Why didn't I think of that moments today:

Pros: Cocoon's Grid-it Organizer allows for versitility and customization between individuals; it provides order and utility where none often exists, and it allows this its beauty to shine through its choice of material.

Cons: It's a bit drab, doesn't look like it is bendable; I'm not sure if it's double sided, and finally/sadly, elastic grows old.... I wish that it came with a repair back-up or upgrade idea.... but that's why 2.0's exist, yeah?

Scientists in Illinois have stress (detecting polymers)

2009-07-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

The University of Illinois has developed a polymer that changes color under stress. Like any one of us, one polymer turns a shade of red when stretched too far, and another turns purple when squashed. Although talks of pull chords and bridge production have joined the conversations about this material, I'd like to see it put into our touchscreen computer; that way, when my husband stabs the screen with his finger, I am not the only think that winces!
Other possible uses for the everyday? Hand held physical therapy devices that help the patient see his improved squeezing capabilities over time... make pants out of them- then someone will have a scientifically proven indicator that the fabric is stretching too much, and one needs a bigger size!
Surely, they could find a way to apply this to the bottom of a piece of luggage, so that when it's more than 50lbs, it turns purple (long enough for the user give it a tip and check): friends and family need no longer to play the weigh and swap game at the check-in counter.

Frozen Smoke

2009-07-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

I came across a Times article from 2007 about aerogel, a material made of 99% gas that can insulate a person too much, absorb oil spills, and catch stardust (no, really). Goofy Nova-esque pictures show in-lab shots of scientists working in a dark room with what looks like a very transparent piece of cotton. Plus its recyclable, fire resistant and not affected by water (so no mold)..
The material is currently being placed along framing for houses, to keep them warm in the winter. No one has yet said if this material has been used to keep anything cool...
it seems to me that this product's light weight could make an excellent fit with newer ideas of replacing the refrigerator with cold drawers throughout one's kitchen. Such use may provide the refrigeration industry with a more eco-friendly alternative material.

Maturialism

2009-07-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

Trendspotting.com has coined the phrase "Maturialism," a word that points to modern consumers' move toward choosing the most professional or premium versions of a product over any other. It writes "The delights associated with MATURIALISM are enjoyed on a more intimate level: the pleasure of consuming (and sometimes subtly showing off) premium goods and services, with the 'professional-grade' or 'mature' label justifying the purchase of items that might otherwise have been considered 'flashy'."
The site lists products from Home Depot's Rigid line and Las Vegas, to North Face's professional camping gear and apparel and Viking Range's professional kitchen appliances ("the ultimate blend of professional performance and residential convenience").

Such a trend might also be linked with a move away from the disposable and toward products that consumers hope to own for a lifetime... the way mom and dad used to.

Best Tea Pot Ever

2009-07-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Vessel Ideation's aptly titled "One" won first place at this year's World Kitchen Tea off. It's design allowed users to heat and serve the beverage in the same container. The design uses new technology (thermochromic ink that becomes visible once the water inside has reached the boiling point) to create a blue motif much like the classic blue and white plates found in kitchens world-wide. The result: a simple, modern look that echoes the nostalgic simplicity of the past.

Small and Bright

2009-07-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

Small space living will surely become a norm of human life, as cities get bigger and the Erath remains the same size it's always been.
Olga Tcherednikova makes use of color to provide a small kitchen with a lot of personality. Beyond color, her kitchen design features built-in furniture, and shiny, sleek materials.

Another such example of small space efficiency is the Amana-Jot refrigerator from Whirlpool, which can be directly written on (like a giant white board) instead of holding paper (read: wasted paper) notes by magnet.

Breakable Dinner Plate

2009-07-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

Alexander Hume has designed a breakable Dinner plate-why?

Hume's plate breaks into 2 smaller plates if dropped- not merely for novelty, but because he acknowledged a design trend: design for the environment.
Simply put, Hume, is giving his materials second lives.
Genius!

Kitchen Trends 1

2009-07-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

This Old House Online has sorted the Top five kitchen trends of the year (based on last month's Kitchen and Bath Industry show) into earth-friendly, high-tech, colorful, designed for fresh/ healthy food preparation, and convenience-meets-functionality.