Rat poison and biomechanics

"One day, when Hugh Herr was a small boy in rural Pennsylvania, his father, John, showed Hugh and his two brothers a jar filled with rat poison. John then placed a drop of the poison onto his tongue. Maybe he meant to entertain, or educate. To this day, the boys still don't know. But they do remember staring, awestruck, as their father's mouth began to burn. . . ."






Check out:
http://www.tomorrowmuseum.com/2008/04/16/building-the-body-better-john-hockenberry-and-hugh-herr-at-the-mit-museum/

and

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/best_foot_forward_february/


Both great articles on biotechnology. Who doesn't want a third arm?

Another roundtable discussion can be found here:

http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/479/

Midweek Links. . . .

Adobe's "thinktank" publishes some great essays on technology and design. Check it out at: http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/thinktank/

Also, I love the Space Collective's motto, "The Future of Everything." A great website with lots of great projects: http://spacecollective.org/

The Girl Effect

This is one of my favorite semiotic pieces. It makes me what it means to be a girl in this world and how much I appreciate to be here now.

Her Morning Elegance :: Oren Lavie

Technology-Driven Design

Boat Bot

I came across a link last semester of someone hacking in to a wii to make a controller for a canoe motor. No- I have not misspoken, someone has in fact made a motor for their canoe and has hacked in to a wii to make its controller. When I come across a project like this I am reminded of why I went to design school. Though the project was no easy undertaking and I admire the creators just for their technical abilites I must ask why it was made. What about the experience of paddling a canoe needed to be changed? And why was a wii used to control it? Were these additions meant to make the experience less strenuous and more peaceful? I find myself asking these questions again and again because of the design foundation I gained at Parsons. I seek to create tools and objects that have significance even if it is only for a small group of individuals. Indeed design has the potential to help many people if it is used appropriately and effectively which is what I strive for in my educational work.

Then and Now: Ben Burtt with a lightsaber versus Wall-E

Weekend Links. . . .

From Y0UNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES, check out these web-movies:


(0UT 0F THE INTERNET AND) INT0 THE NIGHT


CUNNILINGUS IN N0RTH K0REA


Dakota

AND. . . .

7 Random Things About Graphic Design

1. The Michelin man has a name, Monsieur Bibendum. He’s also a century old.

Monsieur Bibendum

2. The Nike swoosh was designed by Carolyn Davidson in 1971, while she was a student at Portland State University. She was paid $35.

3. Woody Allen uses the same typeface in the titles and credits of nearly all of his movies. The typeface is Windsor.

4. According to Salary.com, the median salary for a graphic designer in the United States is $45,704.

5. The worlds first website(as we know them today) was launched in 1992. You can still visit the URL here.

6.Newly defunct The Designers Republic was hired to design the in-game artwork, packaging and manual for The Wipeout video game series as part of a carefully marketed ploy to position the game among the “fashionable, club-going, music-buying” audience the publisher was trying to attract. The results make Wipeout games some of the most visually stunning ever.

7. The Red Cross is known as The Red Crescent in Muslim countries. Its logo also changes from a cross to a crescent.

Poached from: http://tishon.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/25-random-things-about-graphic-design-and-stuff/

Burning Koolhaus

Some old school sound editing from 1961:



and some irony (a burning Koolhaus building in Beijing):

and some street art from Berlin:

Bladerunner was 26 years ago--are we slow?

Check out this story, about an MIT lab creating a "sixth sense" for humans. It seems inevitable to me that this would happen. http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/02/ted-digital-six.html. What are the design implications? How would it change the face of applications and the presentation of A/V material. . . ?

Timesculpture

If you haven't seen this already, you must check it out: essential!

Week One: Input/Output

Exhibit #1

Hillary and Yoav

Perspective // instructor's mind map of the class. . . .

New work with Yahui!