Happiness Hat

The happiness hat, craeted by Lauren McCarthy, senses that you are not smiling, then it shoves a metal spike into your head until you do. This device will train you to smile more and improve social interacting. Frowning causes you pain from the device but smiling leaves you pain free!

A bend sensor attaches to the cheek and measures the size of the smile. A servo motor moves a metal spike into the head depending on the degree of smile. By repeated use of this happiness hat, you can train your brain to smile all the time.

A smile is a very powerful, yet simple action that can affect the way you feel and the way everyone around you feels. By just smiling and using the muscles to smile you can already feel happier. Just smiling to your self in the mirror and seeing that too will make you happier. Seeing someone else smiling will trigger neurons in your own brain and cause you to smile as well. smiles are contagious and like a chain reaction.

www.core77.com

Risky Business

After reading the blog about Apparent Risk and Actual Risk i think that we can all relate to the article. Apparent Risk and Actual Risk affect our every day decisions and lives. Apparent risk is when you are too afraid to do something new, avoiding new ventures and scared to try new things. Its about staying within your comfort zone and never leaving...this is bad because the only way we can grow as humans is to take a chance, believe in ourselves and take the risk. When things get interesting, thats when the risky business can step in.

By staying in your comfort zone this will cause a person to feel like they have missed out, irrelevant and even more insecure.

Reminds me of certain things that i do, always order the same meals at restaurants etc...

Anyone have an example of a time when they broke free from their comfort zone and did something new even though they were sscared or nervous? Or anyone want to share a time when they know they havent done something because of the fear of apparent risk..?

http://www.sethgodin.typepad.com/

Decision Making...

Many people including myself can be very indecisive. Sometimes it can take me a really long time to finally make a decision and in the end not be happy with the results. other times i make decisions not by weighing the pros and cons and analysing the situation but just going with your gut instincts.

In the blog 'Make a Decision' on Seth's Blog it talks about how to make a decision. it tells you dont think about the problem so much, try to jsut make a decision on it. The decision doesnt have to be perfect or a wise one...just make one.

No decision is a decision too, the decision not to decide. However this is usually the wrong decision.

If you are the go-to person, the one who can make decisions you will go farther.

Deciding is a rare and valuable skill...its tricky and can be stressful.


Reminds me of a book I read called Gut instincts. All about decision making and trusting your intuition. Follow your intuision...it is more trustworthy than writing down advantages and disadvantages, pros and cons.

http://www.sethgodin.typepad.com/

Memoirs of a Geisha Sayuri

Burning Cities

I found the images of these fire screens very interesting. Both screens show the cities London and Rome and represents the two cities infamous fires that swept through the cities. The screens are meant to commemorate respectively the fires that torched these cities however i still think that some people would find this distasteful and would find it offensive. The fire screens are made of laser-cut core-ten steel cut plate and each screen is produced in the present day skyline of the city. The fire behind the screen represents history.

http://www.core77.com/blog/default.asp?p=2

Coco Chanel middle of brochure

CLass Notes 10/20/09

-this character as inspiration for a portrait of yourself (as that character)

-scan book cover

-pick word

-15-30 images of yourself as the selected character

-digital camera set to highest quality file size

-natural light, plain a background as possible

Carla Gannis

Carla Gannis grew up in a small town in North Carolina and later went to college at University of North Carolina. Carla studied at college Painting and the Piano and graduated with a degree with both. After graduating, like many people, Gannis moved to New York City to try to find a job. Obviously with Gannis' degree it was hard to find a job, her first job was library databasing, just so she could make a little bit of money. Gannis quickly grew bored of working at the library and started some new jobs related more to New Media. Gannis never thought that she would be interested in New Media and Graphic Design however it was her father that was always interested in it, and pushed her to take it up. At the beginning of Gannis' career times were quite tough; she lived in a loft with ten other people and it was hard to make money.

Today Gannis is now an artist, designer and a professor at Pratt Institute of Design in NYC. There are a number of new media projects that she has worked over the years and currently working on which have been very successful. Some of her projects include: Sister Gemini, which she describes as her alter ego, Travelogue, I dream of Geenie and the Jezebel video game. All of her projects are very personal to her and relate back to her life growing up in the south. There are many cultural aspects and influences that are still in her mind today from her childhood. Gannis has worked extremely hard to get where she is today, coming from a small town in North Carolina, moving to NYC and making something of herself.

Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha

Author- Arthur Golden
Chiyo, Sayuri

Chiyo, the beautiful daughter of a very poor fishing family is taken from her home and sold as a slave in Kyoto. She is taken to a famous geisha house where she is given the new name of Sayuri. Sayuri, unwilling to come accustom to this new lifestyle has no choice but to change her image and create herself as a sophisticated geisha. Gion, the geisha district is where the book takes place and where the arts of a geisha are learned. The training and preparation that these young women have to go through is an intense and severe process. In Memoirs of a geisha you truly learn what it would be like in one of those girls’ positions. The competition between the girls is intense as they all long to be desired by the men and to please them. All of the young girl’s virginity is auctioned off to the highest bidder and throughout the process there is not one person you can trust. The girls are unhappy and feel as though they are trapped forever and destined to be unhappy. Sayuri, as a young girl met Chairman Ken Iwamua who kindly helped her one day on the streets, and since then he has been the love of her life. Eventually after many conflicts Sayuri finally confesses her true love for the Chairman after keeping it to herself for over fifteen years. Sayuri becomes the Chairman’s mistress and together they have a son. The story is told as a flashback of Sayuri’s life, looking back over her younger years as she tells the story as a seventy year old woman. Memoirs of a Geisha is the story of the fictional confessions of one of the most beautiful and famous of geishas.

Coco Chanel Brochure Front and Back cover

Class Notes 10/13/09

Question on Exam: What is the difference between Illustrator and Photoshop?

Illustrator is vector based, mathematical

Photoshop is a raster based program, grid orientation

Class Notes from Speaker on Internships

Internships - resumes, samples, questions

NFT - guidebook

Study website, learn names

nothingsomething.com - interior design restaurants

Linkedin.com

Wall Coverings Animal Print

Kelly Porter, designer of the new line of wall coverings below was inspired by patterns in nature life at the cellular level. Although the viewer gets the earthy, organic feel from just looking at the patterns, the work is really left open to be however the viewer interprets it. Because the patterns are abstract, they could be anything, animal print or skin, furr, microscopic cells or even clouds.

Personally when i first looked at it, i thought that the patterns represented a leopard skin pattern. However when i looked closer, the colors didnt really match up to represent that and the pattern came to resemble more of an abstract organic cell idea. Either way there is no doubt that this is some kind of organic, natural pattern shown in neutral, earthy colors.

http://www.interiordesign.net/newproducts/34097.html
http://www.porterteleo.com/#

Pratt Apartment Design

Students, Teachers and Alumni of Pratt Institute of Design all got together to work on the interior design of condominium building in Brooklyn. The Rogers Marvel Architects' Third and Bond condominiums are located in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood. It is a three bed-room apartment where all furniture, textiles, wall accessories and lighting were chosen and designed by the team. On of the team members being Eva Zeisel, a former legendary professor and a former student, industrial designer Harry Allen.

www.core77.com

Rideable suitcase

Rob Law, industrial designer came up with the idea for children and created for them their very own rideable suitcases.

This idea of a rideable suitcase seems like such a good idea to me. Although that Law explains in the video that he stuggled for inspiration and it took him a long time to develop the idea the rideable suitcase is the perfect way to keep kids entertained while travelling. Just like how grocery stores have specialized the shopping cart and built into it a car in which the child can sit it, the rideable suitcase allows the child to sit on their suitcase comfortably and keep up with their parents. The kids will never leave their suitcases unattended and every child wants one because they are so unique.

http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/rob_laws_decadelong_childrens_product_development_process_14859.asp

Hammer or Bottle Opener?

This image above when first looked at looks like a hammer as well as a bottle opener. there are many objects or products that are sold now that are designed to do more than one job. For example i have a fake key that goes on my key rings with my wallet and the rest of my key chains. It looks like a rean key yet it is a bottle opener. However on this hammer, this is not the case. although looks may be decieving the end of the hammer that looks like a bottle opener is actaully a smashing implement.

Cultural Wisdom=Sophistication

Cultural Wisdom is subconciously linked to sophistication in our minds. When we are very quick to write someone off, or we are unimpressed by their behaviour or we are finding that the person is just not understanding the norm, we write them off.

We are writing these people off due to their cultural widsom, and nothing to do with the actaul product they are offering. Sophistication is linked to Cultural Wisdom. We figure as humans that if a person is not understanding the norm, then there is no way they are going to understand or be helpful in the future.

Cultural Wisdom is difficult.


http://www.sethgodin.typepad.com/

Design Show BBC1

Two Four Broadcast, a british Production company is currently working on a new show that will be aired on BBC1. It is a design program that is asking its contestants to create their own designs or invetions taking their products to the next level. There will be a team of professionals, top in the industry, that will help the contestants create their products.

The Design Brief:
Have you slaved away over a product which you dream could be the next big thing? Maybe it's a new toy or game, a tasty twist on food or drink, a design sensation or something special for the home and garden? BBC1 would like to follow the people who think they have what it takes to make their dream come true. Are you up for a challenge? Can you impress top industry experts? If so this could be the opportunity of a life time. We would love to hear your story.




www.core77.com