AFOL: A Blocumentary (Video)

Looking through my usual trail of internet sites this morning I found this video. Called AFOL: A Blocumentary, it is about “Adult Fans of Lego” in the Pacific North West of America. It is a strange find I know but it shows that some objects or in this case a toy, is capable of being appealing to those of all ages and that some people never really let go of what interested them as a child. Whilst most people would think this to be an uninteresting subject and consider the people involved in the documentary to perhaps grow up, you can’t take away what essentially makes them happy.

Another thing to note about this half hour documentary is that it feels very similar to that in style of Objectified and Helvetica.

 

#196 Thoughtless Acts? A Review

Continuing on with my university dissertation book reading and basic reviewing to get the information embedded in my head has led me to this next book Thoughtless Acts? by Jane Fulton Suri & IDEO. It is a book that was brought to my attention early in the Product Design course, more specifically in first year whilst in design studies. It isn’t exactly a very wordy book with the majority of the text taking up only ten or so pages near the end of the book along with captions for the images, again found at the end of the book rather than with the images themselves.

The images in the book depict people basically inadvertently interacting or behaving with or around objects or in spaces in a way that was either designed in to them, or somehow have characteristics that make people use them in a specific, non formal way. Additionally, it looks at how people take existing objects and modify them to meet their needs, but it isn’t necessarily modify their appearance or overall function, but instead using them for something they were not really designed for. For example one of the photographs in the book depicts a woman using a pencil to hold her hair together in a bun. The pencil generally is not meant to be used for this purpose, it should be used for writing or drawing on a medium rather than being used as a device to hold hair together.

Another good example from the book is how if there is a line on the floor or on the ground, whether it be paint or how tiles or bricks are laid, instead of walking either side of it, some will walk along the line. It shows that people interact with the environment without even realising it. This example of the lines could be extrapolated out towards the wider world where drivers tend to stick to their side of the road thanks to the lines painted on it. They feel obliged to follow the lines or stay between them in the case of on the road, but they are being influenced nonetheless.

On the face of it, this book may seem like a glorified picture book, with about 90% of it taken up with pictures. I was hesitant to buy this book for use as research as I would be hard pushed to justify it to someone else how it may provide information to the future of interactions within automobiles. However, once the pictures are studied and some time has been spend letting the information sink in, analysing what was actually going on in each of the photographs, this book is probably more useful than I realised. I will definitely be able to link back to it in some form or another in my second draft.

There is a fair amount of thinking in this book that was featured in the DVD Objectified, in part this was because Jane Fulton Suri and various other people from IDEO were interviewed, but it shows that the way in which designers think, even across many different disciplines is unified and has been developed over many years. Hopefully this research that I have been carrying out will aid me in becoming a better designer, not just for my final year at university, but also once I have graduated and have entered the big wide world.

#195 Objectified: Yes, Third Review In a Row

As the title of this post suggests, this is yet another review, but instead of a book this time, it is of the DVD Objectified. My book readings are on hold at the current moment in time due to waiting for a couple more to be delivered, and one of the books I have yet to read but have on hand at the moment looks very unappealing.

Objectified has been part of my relatively small DVD collection for about two years now. I preordered it in 2009 as it seemed like a very good watch and it was related to my course at university, which if you don’t already know, is product design. It’s director, Gary Hustwit, had previously made the documentary-film about the font Helvetica entitled Helvetica. Objectified is considered the second film in the series with Helvetica being the first and the yet to be released Urbanised being the third, and as far as I am aware, the last.

The number of times I have watched this film has been quite high regardless of it being a documentary rather than a fictional thing, but I like it. It is also one of the reasons that I liked Love the Beast so much, a documentary-film storytelling the relationship Australian actor, Eric Bana, has with his beloved 1970′s Ford Falcon Coupé.

The amount of information portrayed in little over an hour and a quarter is quite astonishing. This is enforced with interviewing many key product designers such as Dieter Rams of Braun, Jonathan Ive of Apple, Chris Bangle, Marc Newson, Tony Dunne and Fiona Raby. There is no one person narrating, instead, it is told by the designers. The story being told is that of the relationship that people have with products, and the people behind them. Wonderful cinematography accompanies the interviews, often giving glimpses into how products are made, whether it be an injection moulding process of a chair, establishing shots that reinforce what the designer is talking about at that one time or a product being used.

In terms of usefulness towards my dissertation, upon watching this again today, it wasn’t as helpful as I thought it was going to be. It did feature a fair few designers that were included in the Designing Interactions book such as Jane Fulton Suri along with the books author, Bill Moggridge, but very little of the information was new to me in terms of what I could use or I had heard it all before from the book. I haven’t delved into the DVD that was included in Designing Interactions yet as I know it is portions of the interviews carried out with designers that were put into the book.

Back to Objectified, one of the parts I knew could have been wholeheartedly useful was the part with the then head of design at BMW, Chris Bangle. Instead of him talking about what I thought it would have been better to talk about he rambled on about something different and evidently my opinion of him continues to decline. I admired the big risk at what he took at the helm of design at BMW. He produced some of the most controversial automotive designs to date shaking the whole automotive design world. But I can’t help but feel that there would have been another car designer that would have been a better choice to have interviewed. Just my opinion.

In conclusion, I still consider this film to be very good and a strong alternative to any other film if I am sitting down to watch one, but in terms of using it for a source of information or analysis for my dissertation it was quite disappointing. In all the other sources I have used, I have managed to take away a different perspective of my topic, giving me greater depth for which I can think or write about, but this in a way seemed to barely scratch the surface. It is as though it was made for people who know little about the subject. Maybe I am being a little too harsh there, but it doesn’t mean it is a bad film.

New Goods

Is it not just brilliant when you order something and when it comes, you get to unwrap it and it is like your birthday, but only this time you know what it is and it is also something you actually want. The only thing which has the ability to top that feeling is if you have bought more than one thing from different places and they all arrive at the same time. A wonderful feeling.

The past couple of weeks have been spent waiting for some things to arrive, and it was only today (or yesterday, depending on whether or not I post this on the Sunday or the Monday) that I had the opportunity to pick them up from home and then open them. It just so happens that they all relate to design in one form or another so I thought I would share what I got.

1. Bang & Olufsen A8 earphones – A few weeks ago when my old pair of earphones died, I thought I would treat myself with something that I have wanted for a very long time, and it just so happens to be my first foray into products from the Danish company. Already having used them extensively, I can say they are extremely comfortable to wear and have great sound, also they have exquisite detail. I may post something more in depth about the earphones and/or B&O at a later date.

2. Objectified – a DVD about the complex relationship people have with manufactured products. Having known about this film almost since its website appeared on the internet, I leapt at the chance to pre-order it. I have watched it already and it really does provide a unique insight into design and the designers working on products we use everyday, especially the interview or segment with Jonathan Ive from Apple.

3. T-shirts – Having taken part in a competition in the Final Gear forums to design a t-shirt (a competition they hold every 6 months or so), I was lucky enough to have 2 of my designs made in to t-shirts where only 150 or so people worldwide will wear them. A very limited run and I am glad to say that I am very pleased with both of my shirts which I did get for free. One design is based on outlines of different iconic cars, so the Ferrari F2007, Porsche 911 GT3, a Mini and a Ford GT40, the second shirt was a play on a fun feature of an early Top Gear episode where the differences between Oversteer and Understeer were being explained using toy cars.

4. Light Organ – I think I mentioned this in my last post, but this piece of equipment is to help with the radio project on my University course. The purpose of the light organ is to flicker the light or a set of lights to sound or music. This is the basis of my radio design, or it is now, and it should make a very effective looking radio. One thing which I personally am not looking forward to is having to solder all of the components onto the circuit board myself, so I’m glad I bought two, just in case.

Websites which relate to the content of my post:

Bang & Olufsen A8′s

Objectified

Light Organ