Minimal house hold altar "OFDA-DEN"

Philippe Starck's interviews

His interviews are really interesting.
He really thinks about future.

http://www.zeit.de/2008/14/Designer-Starck-14
Die Zeit in German
http://handmadezwonull.blogspot.com/2008/03/die-zeit-interview-with-philippe-starck.html
translation into English

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2008/gb2008078_897279.htm
Business Week in English

I really agree with the following part:

Society is pursuing a strategy of dematerialization: it is more and more about intelligence and less about material.

Google Phone v iPhone

http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/139724/Google+mobile+is+coming+soon.html

It must be interesting, it sounds like the extended battle between the giants in the computer market.
What is interesting about Apple is that they has restored control of the computer market as an hardware company. On the other hand, Google is a cutting-edge software company, which exactly might not be even a software company, but a web-service company.

Which company wins the battle should change the situation of the industry.

iPhone in Japan

http://www.yourcommunicationnews.com/news_item.php?newsID=10803

According to the article, The sale of iPhone in Japan is not as good as Apple expected. Japan market should be a bit different from the rest of the world.

When a friend of mine came to London, he brought iPhone and it looked very useful. If you can find WiFi network you can connect it, and it has GPS function, but actually there are a lot of types of cell phones in Japan, and it is difficult to differentiate the product. On top of that, changing a telephone line company is a bit difficult and the services different from each other. For a long time, mobile hand set has been almost for free, because the line companies are stronger than mobile phone manufacturers.
iPhone is cool and useful, but it might not be enough to be successful in Japan, but iPod has been quite popular, so if they take a proper brand strategy it is going to possible for them to sell more.

T-shirt folding: appendix of STIR Lecture of Dick Powell

He introduced it as a example of smart ways.
It's very interesting and smart...

STIR Lcture: Dick Powell

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/businessschool/events_summary/event_13-8-2008-12-13-31

I attended a lecture of Dick Powell at Imperial College.
It was really interesting. Listening to interesting lectures are quite profitable because it motives you to make effort for achieving your goal.
He was smart, eloquent and funny.
He’s got a lot of experience about product design, so he knew well about the difference between general images of design work and what it actually is.
What is the most impressive for me is his comment, “innovation is not a big idea, but usually a series of small ideas”.
Actually there are a lot of factors in design process, so innovation might not happen suddenly but it’s sort of circulation of creative process.

He told about how to get a job for young people, and the point is to become very good at “one thing”.
It is a good suggestion, but what is it for me? What is my advantage and differential point?
I might need to find the answer if you want to survive in design industry…

Switzerland Report02: Used Design Shop

I saw a lot of used design shop in Switzerland.
It sells old modern furniture and so on.

It was one of them, which is named "BOGEN33" and located near the FREITAG shop in Zurich.

Some old stuff is really interesting, and gives us some new point of views for daily stuff.

Shin Azumi, Tomoko Azumi

They are flourished in London as industrial designers.
Their works are generally very simple and sometimes very cute.


Shin Azumi's website:
http://www.shinazumi.com/
Tomoko Azumi's website:
http://www.tnadesignstudio.co.uk/
about more:
http://www.designmuseum.org/design/shin-tomoko-azumi

Switzerland Report_01: FREITAG

I went to Switzerland, mainly Zurich in this weekend.
I would like to introduce what I was interested in there.

A friend of mine in London had a “FREITAG” bag, and the design and quality was very cool. I heard the shop was in Zurich, so I visited there with some friends of mine.

The building itself looked a bit special, which was constructed with stacked containers. It is a clever way to show the brand concept.

Freitag’s main products are bags made with used track tarps, used seat belts, and used inner tubes, and there are many variations, such as wallets, iBook covers and so on.

I think it is very clever as a business. The costs of material are presumably low, but the price of product itself is not low. This brand is very popular at least in Switzerland and I saw a lot of people having them in the cities. It is a good example of how good designs increase a value of things.



FREITAG:
http://www.freitag.ch/shop/FREITAG/page/frontpage/detail.jsf
FREITAG SHOP ZÜRICH
Geroldstrasse 17
CH-8005 Zürich
Switzerland

Japan buys ideas from London

In London now is the graduation season, so many friends of mine graduated from school recently. A friend of mine is looking for some internship in London and she told me when she had an interview.

She told me she heard from the interviewer that some company in Japan came to buy their ideas of design. When I heard it, I was really disappointed because I thought Japan should become a country to which foreign companies come to buy their idea. If Japan keeps buying ideas, the future of design industries in Japan will be really dark.

IDSA awards

The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) announced their awards' winners.
http://www.idsa.org/

Vitra's new website

http://www.vitra.com

I like the global map. It's really cool.

Crime and Design

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/5173/

Government attempts to ‘design out’ crime by sticking anti-theft,
noise-emitting devices around the country will make us feel less secure.

I can understand what it means, but if so, what can designers do for reducing crime?
It is clear that it is the most important that communities and people themselves should be more secure and ethical, but it has almost nothing to do with design. The author might be afraid of design becoming too ethics to be attractive. On that point, I agree with the author, but I also feel it is a little nonsense that designers, or people who have a job related with design, appeal the uselessness of design.

What do you know the most expensive house is?

So far, it is Residence Antilia, owned by Reliance head Mukesh Ambani in Munbai. It is expected to cost $2bn...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7379562.stm

I wish I could get one percent of the cost.
The design is also interesting.

Why are Model T black?

"Continued Notably, for many years the Model T was solely available with black paintwork due to the fact that the black paint dried faster than any other color"
http://www.9sky.ca/7503

It is very interesting, because nowadays color is just option and i thought it has nothing to do with the productivity.

Best Global Brands 2007

It's a ranking of best global brands.
When I saw it, I felt the center of the world is still the U.S.

http://www.interbrand.com/best_brands_2007.asp

Design London

Design London is a joint venture between RCA and Imperial College London.
London focuses on making synergy between business and design.

... how Britain uses design to build an innovation culture over the next 20 years will play a big role in determining its place in the global economic pecking order. Failure to turn creative ideas into market innovation will cost the country dear, as China's manufacturing might casts its shadow over the whole picture.

p.6, New Design, 2008, issue 58

Design London
http://www.designlondon.net/

Copyrights of Star Wars

I think it is very difficult for Ainsworth to win the lawsuit....

The result becomes clear next Tuesday.

from Guardian:
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2271561,00.html
Shepperton Design Studios:
http://www.sdsprops.com/