Dieter Rams

Friend and fellow designer Mike DiTullo sent me this link. It is an interview with Dieter. The best I have seen to date. The filming is a little staged but it is worth watching especially for comments on the work Ives has done at Apple and how he personally feels about the connection between his early braun work and the similar work of others done more recently. I have never met him but he seems like a class act and he is one of the few true creative geniuses in ID. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ncw3f4jgNP4

Wastepaper Basket

I believe that Jasper Morrison designed this for Magis (I could be wrong). This is exactly the kind of simple form that I was talking about earlier regarding how difficult it is to communicate the direction through sketching. Obviously color and texture become so much more important.

Dart

Check out this beauty.

Emerils NOLA

Luke, Tony and I just booked a trip to New Orleans for early January. This will be the first vacation that us three brothers have taken together and I am really looking forward to it. I hope that we are able to make it to at least three of Emeril's restaurants while we are there. I already have reservations for NOLA. I know that Luke will love it but I am not sure about how much Tony likes Emeril's food.

Osaka

In preparation for an upcoming trip to Osaka, so far I have learned that Osaka means "Large Hill", they have an "American Village" in the city, and according to Wikipedia it is the food capital of Japan. I thrilled to have been invited as a finalist to the conference and I hope that there is time to make it out into the countryside while we are there.

Ford GT40

As a kid this was my favorite slot car. I think that this is the greatest car a man can own. Sure there are some nice Mercedes and Porches but they all seem to lack the fun of the GT40. Of course I think it is save to state that there is no chance that I will ever have $100k+ to spend on a car, but if I did this would be the one. The proportions, details and stance are perfect. Even all of the color ways are excellent. The only bummer is that it is a Ford...which to me means that it is gaurenteed to fall apart in a couple years.

single cup coffee maker

It is too bad that the handle on this is so lame because the rest of it is pretty nicely done. I think that it would be neat if they made a single cup coffee maker that could just make me a refill every 45 minutes. Maybe you could set the intervals?

Buffalo Bills 5-1

Here I am with my nephews (Anthony and Andrew) and my brother Tony. I am looking forward to seeing the rebroadcast of the victory later this week.

another annoying design flaw

So, we saved up for front row seats this year. We were fortunate enough to be there to see the most impressive Bills win of the year but we also had to endure a heckling crowd that really wanted us to sit down. It never occurred to me that the rest of the crowd does not really want those in the front row to stand...which is the only way that you can see the game from those seats because the players are right there. Next year I think that I will save some money and buy 20th row. Even with the annoyances it was a great day to be in the stadium.

It makes me think that they really ought to have the second row seats be elevated a little higher...it is a design flaw.

Spork Design

I saw my freshman year room mate in Columbus this weekend. Drew is now the owner of Spork Design (and has been since around the time Evo started). Although Drew was only able to make it out for drinks it was great to see that he is as hilarious as ever and also to hear that his business is going strong. His website and client list are really impressive and after listening to him talk for a while I am starting to think that maybe the economy is headed back upward already.

volt

I have been getting into etrade a little bit. No big amounts but I figured that with the market going down it would be a good time to buy a couple of shares. I bought some Apple, Starwoods and Sealed Air stock. The set-up is pretty easy to use, although it is overly complicated the complications are easy to avoid if you do not want to take it to that level. I am looking into alternative energy companies now.

Zutto

Another example of the focus on simplicity. Interesting finishes too.

lunch thermos

According to Howard Stern two of his three his daughters favorite food is Sushi. I wonder why the Bento has not caught on as well here. From the Rizo website: The Mini Bento Stainless Lunch Jar features durable stainless steel construction and vacuum insulation with excellent heat retention to keep hot lunches hot and cold lunches cold. It contains a washable vacuum insulated main bowl, two side bowls, chopsticks, chopsticks holder, and easy-to-carry insulated bag. All bowls are microwaveable and the carrying bag reconfigures to half its size when the bowls are empty.

Rizo

At first it looks a little bit like a tame interpretation of an 80's Alessi product but I think it is working. According to the modern gourmet website RIZO is a blending of the word “rice” in Italian (riso) with Zojirushi’s ZO. It was designed by the internationally celebrated Toshiyuki Kita and engineered by Japan’s most respected name in kitchen electrics, Zojirushi. I can not wait to learn more about them more in preparation for my upcoming trip to Osaka.

Martha Stewart

She might be a felon but she can even make Halloween look good.

Marshal Troy

I have mentioned Marshal Tory photography before. He is the best. I mention him again because as I am putting together a presentation for our upcoming visit to CCAD it is so clear that good photography makes everything so much easier. If things continue to go well as the year ends I am going to try to commit to getting more of our worked photographed professionally. Not sure why it took me so long to realize this should be a priority.

Going to Buffalo

Every year my brother Tony and I make the drive up to Buffalo and see America's real team in at least one home game. This year with their record at 4-1 we are all thrilled to see how they do against the Chargers. Although after the Chargers beat the stuffing out of the Patriots last night I am also a little scared. Driving home after a loss is not so fun. Win or lose I can not wait for the crazy buffalo crowd and of course, the tailgating.

Coffee maker

This is one of those kinds of designs that I was describing the other day that simply would not look good in a sketch but works in 3D.

Jeremijenko

Natalie is never dull or predictable and almost always surprisingly creative. Although I am not sure that I would want to follow her exact path she is also incredibly inspiring. The half-life section of her Xdesign lab site is a great example. I think that our new sustainability project is going to produce impressive results.

http://www.environmentalhealthclinic.net/projects/half-life-ratio/

NYU

I was at Natalie Jeremijenko's class today talking with students and "No Impact Man" Colin Beaven about sustainability, bicycling in NYC and manufacturing products. As usual Natalie has surrounded herself by a swarm of intelligent students skilled at asking the right questions. Mohan and I were there to help assist the team in the development of a closed loop resource and production concept. I am excited about what the semester will bring.

felt rocks

These rocks are made of felt. It looks to me like they are hand rolled. The process is great for making colorful Christmas ornament with just wool, hot water, a little soap and a lot of time. These are available on Unicahome where, according to sean, "It's a big ball of felt that's shaped like a rock. You can ping them off your brother, ping them off your least favorite uncle's head and, when the latest reality show or "CSI" clone comes on, you can ping them off your TV screen. You might see them as toys, you might see them as a unique decoration, or you might see them as a strangely compelling semi-natural oddity. all of the above would be correct. in their raw form, a felt rock is technically a lump of felt formed when small bits of wool fluff gather while making polishing wheels for optical lenses, spun around in a drum with them. with steam and pressure, each stray piece of wool begins to entangle itself with others roughly creating a completely unique rock-like shape without the help of any bonding agents. each felt rock is then carefully selected by molo and then finished through their own process.

Each one is completely unique with a different shape and size, although most measure around 4 – 6 inches across.

Bibs

I think that these are made by Dwell Studio. I am not sure about the cleanability or functionality but the graphic patterns are well done and the color palette is intersting.