Ged Carroll

Category: design | 設計 | 예술과 디자인 | デザイン

Design was something that was important to me from the start of this blog, over different incarnations of the blog, I featured interesting design related news. Design is defined as a plan or drawing produced to show the look and function or workings of a building, garment, interfaces or other object before it is made.

But none of the definition really talks about what design really is in the way that Dieter Rams principles of good design do. His principles are:

  1. It is innovative
  2. It makes a product useful
  3. It is aesthetic
  4. It makes a product understandable
  5. It is unobtrusive
  6. It is honest
  7. It is long-lasting
  8. It is thorough down to the last detail
  9. It is environmentally-friendly – it can and must maintain its contribution towards protecting and sustaining the environment.
  10. It is as little design as possible

Bitcoin isn’t long lasting as a network, which is why people found the need to fork the blockchain and build other cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin uses 91 terawatts of energy annually or about the entire energy consumption of Finland.

The Bitcoin network relies on thousands of miners running energy intensive machines 24/7 to verify and add transactions to the blockchain. This system is known as “proof-of-work.” Bitcoin’s energy usage depends on how many miners are operating on its network at any given time. – So Bitcoin is environmentally unfriendly by design.

On the other hand, Apple products, which are often claimed to be also influenced by Dieter Rams also fail his principles. They aren’t necessarily environmentally friendly as some like AirPods are impossible to repair or recycle.

  • 2017 internet trends + other things

    2017 internet trends report

    Mary Meeker’s 2017 internet trends report: All the slides, plus analysis | Recode – was the big thing to drop in my week.

    The key themes for me from the 2017 internet trends report were:

    • Continued slowing in internet growth showing that the previous years decline in growth wasn’t a one off. In the 2017 internet trends report we also saw a decline in smartphone growth as well
    • All of these trends don’t apply with India where the market is still growing for internet access and smartphone growth. In India the 2017 internet trends isn’t ‘2017’ but 2010
    • Lean forward media is beloved of internet entrepreneurs. Interactive gaming is becoming mainstream around the world, with 2.6 billion gamers in 2017 versus 100 million in 1995. Gaming revenue is estimated to be around $100 billion in 2016, and China is now the largest market for gaming.
    • In the US at least wearables are becoming mainstreamed. 25 percent of Americans owning one, up 12 percent from 2016. Back when I was in Hong Kong, Chinese manufacturers were cranking out low cost health monitors to monitor your exercise activity

    More related content here.

    The Reflex remixes

    The Reflex remixes Gil Scott Heron. Nicolas was one of the few remixers who can make a production that’s better than the original. 

    Ultraman theme tune

    Scatman Ultraman – Ultraman is a famous suited super hero. It is part of the Japanese TV and movie ‘special filming or tokusatsu genre. It is the grandfather of the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. One of Ultraman’s powers was the ability to grow really large, which spawned other giant hero or Kyodai Hero characters. 

    Surreal and manic

    Surreal and manic

     

    A post shared by DJ STYLEWARZ (@stylewarz) on

    Kouhei Nakama 

    Kouhei Nakama | Design & Motion – really nice 3D animations by Japanese artist / designer Kouhei Nakama

  • Shikishima train + more news

    Shikishima train

    Japan’s luxurious Shiki-shima sleeper train – in pictures | World news | The Guardian – Shikishima provides a distinctly Japanese take on the luxury of the Orient  Express. The Shikishima train experience is amazing in terms of both design and service. If I won the lottery it would You can find more about Japanese related topics here.

    Korea

    A viral video of a politician and his suitcase shows what’s wrong with male entitlement in Korea – Korean corporate culture is very conservative and hierarchical. Part of this comes from the Confucian underpinnings of Korean society. Part of it is down to have senior leaders having paid their dues and now feeling others need to give them the same respect. More on Korean related issues here.

    Fairlight CMI

    Bring Home a Classic Synth with the DIY Fairlight CMI – using the iPad emulation app. Its amazing to think how much computing power difference between a Fairlight and the iPad. The original Fairlight used a pen-screen interface. Its technology limitations gave it a distinctive sound. It is one of the things that gave Trevor Horne productions such a big sound. It is in stark contrast to current hyper-compressed productions.

    VPMZ MOLOT factory

    Fascinating video from a Russian gun manufacturing line shot at at the VPMZ MOLOT factory. The foundry looks more spectacular than someone going full belt with Adobe After-Effects. The design that goes into the products to enable mass production is fascinating

    Amazon

    Scott Galloway on Amazon. While Galloway does hold Amazon stock, he is not backward about criticising the company. His video on how Amazon is dismantling retail, could equally apply to logistics firms like Fedex and cloud services and web hosting (notably Google Cloud). Scott has written about Amazon in more depth alongside a critique of Google, Facebook and Apple in his book The Four. More Amazon related content here.

  • Paula’s Loewe collar + more

    Loewe x Paula’s

    Spanish luxury brand Loewe x Paula’s rolled out its collaboration with Ibiza boutique Paula’s. Paula’s reflects a move of Ibiza away from sweaty EDM fans to a more elite stylish visitor more used to Pykes and Hunters. In many respects Loewe x Paula’s is about taking Ibiza back the original Balearic vibes where it was populated by the international jet set, before football casuals and clubland discovered the white isle in the mid-1980s. More related content here.

    Generation Z

    Meet Generation Z in our latest film | JWT Intelligence – downloadable and handy for provoking thoughts on planning in terms of data point. I have broader issues with the concept of generations and find life stages generally much more valuable as a concept. Generations hide data which should have use asking broader questions. Their generalisations aren’t that helpful either.

    Fred Wilson

    Venture capitalist Fred Wilson speaking at MIT Sloan School of Management. Fred Wilson used to run a technology VC operation with Andy Kessler. He then went on to found his own VC business – Union Square Ventures, based out of New York.

    Wilson talks about the VC role in terms of coaching entrepreneurs as much as investing them. In some respects this feels at odds with the usual VC approach of investing in the team. He talks about the demise of the investor letter, but also the importance of writing as ‘thinking out loud’.

    Product design by algorithm

    The Lowly Folding Chair, Reimagined With Algorithms | WIRED – classical material and computer aided design came up with something special. Its a fantastical piece of design. The question of intellectual property with regards the chair is a problem that can be solved another day

    UNISON

    UNISON campaigns to get voters on board with more of a focus on public services as the UK election got under way seems to have failed completely judging by the opinion polls. This disturbing video was made with Claire Sweeney – which breaks the uncomfortable ground between daytime TV programming and satire. At worst, this could be used as an excuse for the government to clamp down on the ‘interference’ of trade unions in parliamentary elections.

  • Jun Watanabe + more things

    Jun Watanabe and Nigo

    A Japanese TV vignette from 1997 featuring the dons of Japanese streetwear Jun Watanabe and Nigo.

    Jun Watanabe has worked since 1984 for Comme des Garçons. He puts out four collections a year and is famous for structured clothing using technical materials. He has done collaborations with Nike, The North Face, Reebok and Carhartt (Work In Progress).

    Ten principles of good design (not)

    A classic example of progress not being better. Tobias Van Schneider revisited Dieter Rams ten principles of good design and bastardise it with current digital design practices. It is soul destroying in nature.

    Fast love

    A half hour edit of George Michael’s Fast Love. It reminded me of the way DJs and producers used to make extended edits of disco records to keep the dance floors moving. That was the origin of the 12″ single and the art of beat mixing. Digital now allows these edits be done for a long, long time, rather than being restricted to the theoretical 20 minutes of a side on a 12″ single.

    This 30-minute version of Fast Love is truly epic check it out.

    Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons

    Louis Vuitton have been on fire recently. Their Master collaboration with Jeff Koons pokes fun at classic art. It riffs on some of Koons’ signature art pieces based around his balloon inspired metal sculpture.

    Really nice piece of augmented reality marketing with a virtual cosmetics app to sell make-up.

    And then there is the collab collection with Hiroshi Fujiwara’s Fragment Design. Fujiwara’s Fragment Design is more like a consulting designer than a traditional streetwear label. Previously Fujiwara was a musician and founded one of the early streetwear labels Goodenough. More related content here.

  • Studio 54 + other news

    Studio 54

    Nicky Siano on disco, drugs and DJing at Studio 54 | The Vinyl Factory – Studio 54 was an iconic club at the height of disco. While the Studio 54 was synonymous with disco, it  became known for being a celebrity mecca and a restrictive door policy. The celebrity attendance meant that there is a huge archive of society and press photography taken inside and outside the club, which cemented its fame further. 

    Business

    China wants to restrict WTO rules on dumping, unfair subsidies | SCMP – I am sure they do, as they are most often on the receiving end of penalties

    Three kingdoms, two empires: China’s internet giants go global | The Economist – with the exception of political censorship, the internet sector in China is lightly regulated. Facebook, Apple and Google, in contrast, face increasing scrutiny. Chinese internet firms can achieve market domination of a sort that would attract close attention in other markets

    Consumer behaviour

    Why has the ubiquity of tech turned us all into divas? | Canvas8 – impatience, desire of immediate gratification

    Luxury

    adidas and LPD Are Still Battling Over Failed Collaboration | The Fashion Law – this looks like an interesting collab gone bad. Adidas have some issues, they screwed over Shawn Stüssy and S-Double aborting a collaboration, so this isn’t completely surprising

    LVMH to Buy Christian Dior in $13 Billion Deal | BoF – raising the money through an expanded public offering….

    Barnzley Armitage and the Lost Art of Streetwear — the culture crush – great interview with the legendary stylist

    Barnzley Armitage and the bootleg Chanel tees – DisneyRollerGirl – snide t-shirts that accessorised the whole Buffalo feel of i-D magazine’s famous ‘Happy’ issue

    Media

    ESPN cuts familiar faces in major layoff – CNN – I wonder when this will trickle down to sports rights payments

    Government ‘blocked’ from accessing Twitter data to help spot terrorist plots | Telegraph – Twitter pushed back against the surveillance state

    Andy Lau teams up with Tencent and Fox for Chinese financial drama | Marketing Interactive – interesting evolution of the Hong Kong TV and film industry

    Now you can buy TV ads through Google’s DoubleClick | TechCrunch – this could sting agencies (cough cough WPP) who invested in an ad tech technology stack

    Security

    Nothing new in UK Govt cyber security survey – Enterprise Times – in a blow for the government only 4% referred to Government and public sector sources. This is disappointing given the effort the UK Government has spent promoting cyber security

    Pathway into Cyber Crime | UK National Crime Agency Intelligence Assessment – more about kudos and moral / political issues (secrecy etc etc). Interesting that its being pulled into Prevent programme

    Wireless

    Xiaomi phones won’t be heading towards the US anytime soon | Gizchina – not terribly surprising due to not having a patent fence to play rough with other vendors and the difficulties of adapting complex service offerings for US market from Chinese market

    Why is Foxconn Pushing Sharp back into the Smartphone Market so Aggressively? – Patently Apple – it would put a lot of pressure on Huawei