Modern Traditions

The "Stoop Bench" designed by Josh Owen is a portable stoop that encourages people to gather and socialize. An architectural staple for over a thousand years, Josh rethinks the function of the stoop to create almost a park bench thats more natural and "home-like." Josh plans to distribute them throughout the city of Philadelphia to create social "perches" for people to meet. I think this is one of the smartest yet simplest ideas to come through design in a long time.

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Swamp Thing's Dining Room Set

Designer Hongtao Zhou found this chair laying broken in a Wisconsin dumpster amongst printed holiday ads. After concluding that even chairs should get into the holiday spirit, he decided to fix the chair and dress it up for Halloween. Zhou used saw dust and small pieces of wood to give the chair its "Swamp Thing" like appearance, and plans on giving it a fresh look for the Christmas season. Although an outright ridiculous idea, the chair is very visually stimulating, and Zhou is successful in creating a spooky and curious mood around it. It also helps to show the design process at work, and how Zhou was able to connect two unrelated topics (chairs and holidays) to create an interesting design piece. Happy Halloween!

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Photoshop Notes / Project #2

-crop photos to 8 by 8 / 300dpi

-save as PSD file, chagne to EPS later on when ready to print

- image => adjust => color balance
red <-> cyan (turquoise)
green <-> magenta
blue <-> yellow

-adjust curve after unlocking image, allowing me to darken or lighten the image. Also allows me to darken or lighten just highlights or just shadows.

-dodge blocks light/ less exposure
-burn opens to more light/ more exposure (darker image)

-sponge tool changes amount of saturation or de- saturation

- highlights ->needs to have some detail (not whited out areas)
mid tones -> should have a good variety of tones/ shades
shadows -> no black out, must have some detail just like highlights

Barnes & Noble's Nook

Barnes & Noble's "Nook e-reader" is set to release in late November at the cost of $259. This device, designed to compete with amazon's "Kindle," this e-book reader shares many similar traits. Yet, the Nook has to great differences that will either contribute to its fall or success. The Nook contains a "LendMe" function where you can wirelessly lend one of your titles to a friend for up to 14 days. Also, Barnes & Noble Wifi allows you to read/browse any book while in a B&N store. Although thought to be counter intuitive for gaining profit, it is a great feature to help strain the necessity of a physical store, and helps create more want for the Nook over the Kindle. Wether these new features will allow B&N to rise above Amazon is still unknown, but it does offer great promise for gaining a hold in the e-reader market.

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Yossarian-Character Sketch

The protagonist of "Catch-22", John Yossarian, turns out to be far from a typical character within the novel. Although considered to be insane by the men in his squadron, Yossarian's goal to avoid and escape war, makes him the most rational of the bunch. Through faking illnesses to escape the possibility of flying missions and eventually "walking away" from the war, Yossarian is able to escape the catch-22 that he confronts throughout the novel. That is, that life is not worth living without the concern for the well-being of others (those you care for), but this concern for others endangers ones own well-being. He constantly struggles with trying to avoid dangers, and trying to help others, by confronting those dangers, causing him to even consider himself insane. This struggle in logic thinking causes the other men who are truly the insane ones because of their illogical acceptance of war, to consider Yossarian a crazed man, and mark him an outsider. Although Yossarian's distinct personality in the novel cause us to expect something exceptional out of him, he turns out to almost become an anti-hero. By avoiding dangerous missions, and finding any excuse to escape war, he shows his "human" qualities, and denounces the notion of a "brave soldier." This helps us to see the truth in war, and havoc it has on the human mind and spirit. Yossarian sees his fear as healthy, and in a world where life is so casually lost and riddled with catch-22's that prevent any escape back into the sensical world, it is possible to redefine the term "hero" as simply; self-preservation. Although quirky, loud, and contemplative, Yossarian is far from the maniac the author, Joseph Heller, masks him to be. Making the reader look through the facade and eventually question the warped sense pride and bravery seen in war and the soldiers who fight it.

Coil Lamp

This unique concept made into a reality, is a lamp made simply from a coiled extension cord. Using a plexi-form to help give it the lamp shape and a 100 foot extension cord, this "Coil Lamp" is a simple and fun DIY project. Just snap the cord into the grooved slots on the form until you create your one of a kind lighting piece. Definitely a great design by chicago based designer, Craighton Berman.

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Dyson

Dyson has at last released its, before now, secret technology that is intended to shock and amaze. the new technology is a fan that has no blades. Coming in 10" and 12" diameters the blade-less fan stars at a pricy $229. But how does it work? Air is drawn through the base of the machine and forced into the loop, the air hugs the circular ramp and is spun out into an air stream. While exiting the hollow loop the air stream pulls air from behind it, and from the sides. Amplifying it 15 times. This fan creates a constant flow of cool air, and can be easily adjusted by use of a dimmer switch. This blade-less fan is a great way to obtain constant cool air, that is safer and easier to clean.

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Rich Clayton - Graphic Design

Above are a few examples from Rich Claytons profile on www.Coroflot.com

The carefully placed shapes, and rich but simple use of color, really allow these images to grab your attention. Which is definitely a necessary aspect of graphic design.


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Leave It To the Dogs

LSD (Libor Sostak Design) revealed these unique speakers at the "Prague Design Days," at the Classic7 building in the Holesovice area. These speakers provide a unique way of listening to your music collection; as if a canine is barking your music at you. My only concern with these "mutant creature" like speakers, is their sound quality. Yet, with concerns to the aesthetic design alone, I think they create great visual appeal and hold the potential to be mans best friend.

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Breaking the Baroque

Designer Hopfgartner is to exhibit this updated version of the violin in the Tokyo Design Week later this month. This modern styled, and semi acoustic version of the violin abandons the baroque stlying of the classic violin, which has remained unchanged for over 500 years. Although an interesting idea, Hopfgartner fails to recognize that the overall shape and materials used in the construction of the acoustic violin, is exactly what gives it its recognizable and enchanting sound. I myself played the violin for over 6 years, and find it very hard to except that some believe they can change the shape of the violin without changing its sound. As well, many electric violins who do not require certain materials and shapes for their tones, come in a great variety of shapes and colors(pic#1, pic#2). Personally i see this design as a poorly researched and thought out design, which discredits the beauty and history of such a magnificent instrument.

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Brochure Back and Cover

Hangin' It Up

Alex Witco shows us that it doesn't take much to create a beautiful and practical piece of design. His "Hangeliers" are chandeliers made essentially out of trash. Using basically only either wooden and plastic hangers and zip ties, Alex creates these unique pieces. This article reminded me of another site where everything from c.d.'s to shopping carts are used to make unique furniture pieces (LINK).

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BumpTop's Interactive Interface

An amazing piece of software were a touchscreen allows you to do anything imaginable with your computer. This is not a conceptual idea, but actually downloadable for Windows based computers only. This technology, once thought to be the way of the future, is now a present reality and only the tip of the iceberg for interactive interfaces. Watch the video and be amazed by its countless features and abilities.

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Rock Hard

Just when you though marble was the standard "must have" countertop in todays kitchens, Costentino's "Prexury Collection" breaks the mold with their unique countertops, making them the stylish way of the future, as far as bathroom and kitchen decor. Made from rare minerals, semi-precious stones, and petrified woods, these counter tops are an extremely unique product that will surely surprise and awe any guests that enter your home. Due to the fact that small pieces are fused together to make a large slab through a quite extensive process, it is fair to assumer that they arent for those on a tight budget. yet, if your looking to splurge on a beautiful one of a kind counter top, be sure to consider Cosentino's new "Prexury Collection."

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