March 2009
16 posts
9 tags
New iTunes for New Parties
I’ve been playing around with the latest iTunes incarnation, which has a feature that allows people to add tracks to the playlist via their iPhone. It’s a great feature and saves people having to walk across the room at a party to interrupt the current song with their own choice. It allows you to line your song up to play next and can even be open to voting from other people in the...
Special K Momento
I was watching an advert for Special K cereal bars - The woman leaves herself a trail of notes that finally lead her to the Special K bars in the fridge. But has she completely forgotten writing the notes? Why doesn’t she go straight to the fridge? Its a bit like Momento, where he needs the trail of tattoos and polaroids to remind him of what he has already found out.
But even if this...
7 tags
Birdsong FM
I am currently singing the praises of Birdsong FM. An excellent source of ambient noise, which can be a lot more relaxing than sitting in silence.
It also follows that I am enjoying the sound of real birds a lot more, since I reduced the amount of time that I have my iPod on… which was virtually constant. I think that goes to show that we are all walking around in our own little bubble,...
7 tags
Hang up race
I need to be first to hang up a phone call on my mobile, otherwise pressing the end call button after the call has already been ended opens up various applications on my phone… which is annoying, but ultimately not that big a deal.
Just an observation of product interactions which could be solved relatively easily… but maybe it hints at a deeper need for developments in the way we...
4 tags
Accidental Anthropomorphism
This meter is a great example of accidental anthropomorphism; the ability of inanimate objects to look like faces.
I’m really not sure of the point of the eye features on this meter, but it makes for a fixated robot face. My favourite part of the face is the “made in england” mouth: a modern twist on the classic meter face!
Check out the faces in places group on flickr for...
1 tag
IDasia.org » Playground design →
Manzine: Sri Lankan rave posters, or what? →
5 tags
Soft - the affordance of protection
I bought a neoprene case for my laptop the other day. That soft, foamy material makes for good protection of the laptop when it is being carried around, but currently it is on my floor and is also really nice to step on. I now have a growing paranoia that I am going to want to step on it with my laptop tucked up inside. uh oh!
Maywa Denki →
5 tags
Nightmares of a not-too-distant future (part one)
I was watching a recent singles chart and procrastinating about the future of pop music, when I come upon a nightmarish vision of a formulaic music industry.
It is often commented on how formulaic modern pop music is - and it doesn’t seem to matter, with the increasing focus on the pop star: their appearance, style, social lives. In essence we are being sold a brand which is valued, by...
2 tags
6 tags
Lao Jianhua at the V&A
I went to visit the residency studios at London’s V&A museum on Saturday to talk to the museums current resident designer, Lao Jianhua.
Lao is 2 months into a 4 month placement at the museum and is using the facilities and collection to explore product design.
A lot of the projects he has done since being here explore the differences in uses of everyday objects in Chinese and English...
