People In Passing » Design

Make

Brad — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 08:27:29 +0000

Anyone that’s been around me for any length of time in the past year or so has probably heard me rattle on about “Make“. Either the Blog, that I spend a great deal of time reading, the Magazine, the long anticipated Make:TV, or the Maker Faire that I had an incredible time at last year.

“Make” is an idea that’s been around forever but has found some new momentum. It used to be that skills were handed down from generation to generation, then learning was institutionalized in the guilds, schools and colleges, now it has been globalized with the Internet. Anything you want to know, or want to know how to do, is within your grasp. Even better, if something you dream of isn’t available to buy, the means of production are available to you so that you can create it yourself. Given that you have enough drive to see it through…

Make is creativity, resourcefulness and the desire to create. Make is DIY with a hacker ethos.

As I have become a part of all this I am inspired daily by how people are rethinking, reimagining, and redesigning the world around them. In an effort to further this idea a few friends and I have been working together to launch a local Chapter of the Make: groups that have been popping up around the country.

And with that effort I give you Make:PDX

Portland, Oregon is a magnet for creative people and has a social scene second to none. There is a group of people getting together somewhere for nearly every interest you might have. Make:PDX has the lofty goal of bringing together groups of focused interest to trade ideas. To act as a community builder, not to replace any of the individual passionate groups of people chasing ideas but hopefully bring more people into their ranks by raising awareness. This extends from rockets to robots, cooking to crochet, electronics, woodworking, writing, roasting coffee, brewing beer, etc…

If there is one thing I have learned in this life, it is that the more skills you have and the more you understand, the more beautiful and full of possibility the world around you is.

If you’re in Portland this weekend, we’ll be having our first get-together. If for no other reason than to watch me squirm as I attempt public speaking after a long hiatus it should be interesting. Oh, and also for the cupcakes and cookies Summer and I have been busily making.

Jay Leno will lead the 3D printer revolution

Brad — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:52:28 +0000

Via: MAKE: Blog: Jay Leno will lead the 3D printer revolution

Invention, Innovation, Portland.

FLOTspotting: Trick Tactics by Sherwood Forlee – Core77

Brad — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:54:22 +0000

Anti-Theft Lunch Bags

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Failure – The Secret To Success

Brad — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:19:43 +0000

I stumbled across this Honda Advertisement, which is actually much more than an advertisement.

Check out thier “Dream the Impossible” series here: http://dreams.honda.com

Run like…

Invention, Innovation, Portland.

Brad — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:26:04 +0000

I’d thought about starting something like this, but now that TechShop is making its Portland debut I will happily use their tools and facilities to learn more about the process of making things. I’m very excited about this development and will be one of the first to support an East Side Annex!

From Molly Purnell @ Core77:

On the bus I get to know Dave, a self-proclaimed inventor and maker who’s excited about TechShop’s CNC router. Dave builds Fretted Dulcimers which are apparently coming back into fashion in the Japanese hand-made instrument market, and he needs access to the shop in order to build prototypes.

Dave seems to be the typical clientelle of TechShop; a maker with big dreams, little space, and no equipment. TechShop’s goal is to remedy this situation for the 300 or so potential members that came to the opening event. TechShop plans to have milling machines, lathes, welders, a laser cutter, an electronics shop, blacksmithing tools, a finishing room, workstations, a 3D printer, and of course the coveted CNC router. Along with all of this equipment there will be a tool and materials shop, a small library and a communal kitchen.

The greatest benefit of Techshop will be the probable development of community. The owner of TechShop, Jim Newton and the Portland shop manager, Denney Cole, claim that the community is one of the greatest drawing powers for continued membership. Most builders know that another’s experience and knowledge is the best tool available.

In addition to the tools and community, TechShop will offer offices for rent so that businesses may be based out of the shop. This will include access to the machines and tools as well. The monthly cost for a membership is $125 while a yearly membership is $1000. There may be a special rate if you get in now, which I would recommend since there are only 500 available memberships. The anticipated opening date for TechShop Portland is December 15, 2008 and the hours will be 10am-9pm, 7 days a week. Eventually Denney would like to have the shop open 24 hrs a day. Jim and Denney hope to open an annex on the East Side as soon as possible, sparing us more long bus rides.

More about TechShop @ GeekDad, LA Times, Forbes

Thinking about Design Thinking

Brad — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:18:32 +0000

I never took any art classes and I don’t know how to draw, paint, sculpt, etc… but I have been spending a large amount of time over the past several months getting more and more into my obsession with design. Trying to take apart what I consider “good design” into the process components that might have been involved in bringing those wonderful ideas, or reimaginations, to reality.

During my reading I came across some keywords that have opened my design education. Keywords are the keys to the kingdom when it comes to internet research. You find the right set and they will guide you to all the others. This time it was “Design Thinking”.

I came across the term when reading about Stanford’s d.School and how they were applying the Design Thinking process in a collaborative effort with their business school. One link led to another and I was hooked.

This is good stuff.

This is creative, analytical, visual problem solving.

From Wikipedia:

Design thinking is a process for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that looks for an improved future result.^[1] Unlike analytical thinking, design thinking is a creative process based around the “building up” of ideas. There are no judgments in design thinking. This eliminates the fear of failure and encourages maximum input and participation. Outside the box thinking is encouraged in this process since this can often lead to creative solutions.

Everywhere I’ve looked I have found applications for this type of problem solving. I like “what if” scenarios (to a point) and I like applying them in open problem solving arenas. I always try to see hurdles as opportunities. More often to run around than jump over.

I’d like to say I’ve been using this type of problem solving for a long time but there is a lot I can learn here. Maybe you can too, in your business, in your personal/social life, wherever.

Tim Brown of IDEO (one of the most successful design firms in the world) is largely credited with coining the term and is it’s lead evangelist. Check out his blog at http://designthinking.ideo.com for some thoughtful musings on the process. Also check out http://www.core77.com for some really hot designs.

ElliptiGO: Run Ride Glide

Brad — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:24:05 +0000

I saw this at MakerFaire last month and thought it was a fantastic idea. Just goes to show, if you want something and can’t find it, build it.

“The elliptiGO glide bike combines the best aspects of running and cycling to create a fun and effective means of exercising outdoors.”

Interview with the Maker:

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Infoporn

Brad — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:34:29 +0000

I like information and I’m a very visual person. One of my favorite sections of any Wired magazine is the couple pages dubbed “infoporn” which display some sort of statistical information in a creative and potentially impactful way.

Bar and Pie charts just don’t cut it anymore.

I recently stumbled across a site that will give me my pretty data fix whenever I need it. Enter infosthetics.com, a blog dedicated to data visualization and visual design, that scours the nets for interesting infographics.

See links to things represented like:

Gas price by county

An average american’s spending habits

Or videos visualizing Greenhouse Gas production

Or the romantic aspirations of thousands of online daters.

See things in different ways.

“Cool”

Maker Faire: Photos

Brad — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:42:16 +0000

I’m not sure when I’ll find the time to title, tag, and describe each of the photos from Maker Faire. I’ve got them up on my Flickr page now so those of you that don’t want to wait, or want to interpret for yourself what it is you’re looking at, please feel free to browse, comment, critique, etc… That way, when I do get around to describing them you’ll be able to see if you were right! (this is my way of encouraging you to look while rationalizing my laziness)

Anyway, in brief summary, Maker Faire was awesome and inspiring. There are so many people out there with excellent ideas that are doing something about them and with 65,000+ attendees, there are a lot of people interested in those ideas.

I love ideas, more on that later.

for now, the pictures.

“Cool”

Brad — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:25:06 +0000

Notice: The topics of my writings will start to focus less on travel and more on the passing fancy of my terribly-short-but-often-intense attention span. So if you’re here for the travel and not for the rest, I understand, no hard feelings.

Given that we are in an election year, there may be more than the average amount of political commentary as well. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing… I’m just sayin’.

With those stated disclaimers we can move on to some really cool stuff. I’m a design geek (as well as many another type of geek). I appreciate new and innovative ways of thinking about things, whether they be simple or terribly complex. Yesterday, over lunch, I was telling a friend how I really enjoyed that the man working at the Teriyaki shop down the street from our office had turned tying the handles of the to-go bag into a graceful art.

I really do love that. There are so many boring, mundane, repetitive things in our lives. Why not take the extra moments to think about how we could do those things better as well? It might even make them more interesting and fun. By the way, I’m totally as guilty as anyone else in this department.

Ok, back to the really cool stuff.

There are a couple sites I keep an eye on for fun design stuff and indy trends that have not filtered into the mainstream quite yet.

The first is “The Cool Hunter” – http://www.thecoolhunter.net

This site covers everything from cars, design, architecture, fashion, art, advertising, etc… The coverage is usually brief but informative and the photography is top notch. It’s enough to get you moving in a direction if you want to do further research or just to make you drool as you look at all the pretty…

The next is “WebUrbanist” – http://www.weburbanist.com

This seems to be more culture oriented than product design. I’ve just started reading this blog and so far everything has been very interesting. Articles on Shopdropping (or Droplifting if you prefer), the practice of people bringing things into a store without permission, much to the befuddlement of staff and security.

Or how about Subvertising, the editing/modification/co-opting of existing advertising channels? Be warned, they seem to like to number things over there.

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