Category

The Softness of Things

04.20.10

Surfing the Subway New Yawk, The Softness of Things | (0)
Sometimes when I ride the subway, I stand in the middle of the aisle with my knees bent and ride the train as if it were a less predictable ski-slope. It's rather easy but it's exciting when you catch an empty express train. The express trains reach higher speeds, so the feeling is much closer to riding downhill. [flickr-gallery mode="tag" tags="mk1" tag_mode="all" sort="date-taken-asc"] [flickr-gallery mode="tag" tags="mk2" tag_mode="all" sort="date-taken-asc"] After a week or so of building and testing these boards indoors, Marko and I finally took 'em for a ride on the N train to Astoria at about 2 or 3 am. Here are ...
03.27.10

The Hoodrat Design, The Softness of Things, Wearables | (0)
[flickr size="medium" float="left"]http://www.flickr.com/photos/fauxtauxs/4466697058/[/flickr] I am obsessed with hoodies. I probably have 15 of em. I've entertained the thought of starting a blog dedicated to them. I also love music. Sometimes I don't want my commute to end until the album does the same. Half the time, I rock earbuds for their storing convenience. The other half I'm wearing a proper pair of headphones - a light-weight medium size, or when I'm listening to a mix or a favorite album, an over-sized pair of closed-ear cans. Hoodie + big headphones = compromise. If I'm wearing ...
03.23.10

Putrefashion Design Frontiers, Rapid Prototyping, The Softness of Things | (0)
[flickr size="medium" float="left"]http://www.flickr.com/photos/fauxtauxs/4439578120/[/flickr] Assignment: Create a material or design an object exploring materiality. After waiting for several weeks for my silver nitrate (to mirror glass), it was time to cut my losses and come up with a new solution to meet the criteria of this assignment. Jorge Just had also been looking for inspiration with little time before the deadline. We decided to work together to hasten the creative process. We ran the gamut of conductive materials: glue, paint, gack, cloth, paper, etc. Without a specific function in mind, they seem to fall under the recurring projects at ITP. Jorge was drawn to ...
03.05.10

Designing a Modular Lamp Design, The Softness of Things, Tinkering | (0)
The design constraint is to make something modular. The most rewarding feature of modular design is rearranging and experimenting with its form. We considered how this characteristic could suit the function of an object. My instinct was to create a piece of origami that had circuitry printed on it with conductive ink. As you folded it to different configurations, the piece of origami would also change function in addition to its form. As a novice folder, I felt that this might be too complicated of an approach for an initial design. Lara and I started experimenting with different ...
03.05.10

Design for Humanity :: (Selective) Hearing The Softness of Things | (0)
The goal for this week was to design for humanity. The original framework was along the lines of designing for a developing country or the disabled. There are whole classes devoted to designing for specific disability, as well as Solar Design and Design for Unicef. Due to the one week time constraint, I found it more appealing to find a demographic that is accessible to American culture. Martha Nussbaum's Sex & Social Justice establishes a framework for universal freedom. I do not care to summarize all of her key issues, but my inspiration stems from her inclusion of emotional freedom. Her ...
01.27.10

Designing a Simple Object Design, New Yawk, The Softness of Things | (0)
During our first class, we were asked to criticize ourselves in the realm of a designer. My answer was reduction. I have a tendency to complicate my design process by interjecting new ideas. Instead of working on perfecting the one feature, I move on to develop new features. My challenge was to design something simple. I designed a cup holder for the subway. Not as a permanent addition. As a small, carried item. I left them attached to poles for the duration of my commute to school. No one utilized one. It was 2 PM, so the number of ...