Art Center At Night is offering a 7-week bicycle and bicycle accessory design class starting Thursday, March 8- April 19. The Art Center At Night courses are an excellent way to get a feel for how Art Center classes are structured and a way to meet the professors and network. The classes are also a great way for the design professional to sharpen and expand his or her skill set. Register here.
Capital is a wildly unique American brand that designs and develops wood framed sunglasses outfitted with Carl Zeiss lenses. In an era that makes it difficult to track exactly where a product is manufactured, Capital hand makes all of their sunglasses and sources all of their woods in the United States. My intrigue in the company led me to contact Capital to further discuss their process, insight, and inspiration.
In the words of Capital: "We are a small group of guys who started out making wood sunglasses in Montana. We've got a bigger shop now but every pair of glasses we make spends hours in someone's hands before it leaves our shop. It's a lot of work but it's really fulfilling and we are happy to be doing it every day."
?: Could you describe the genesis of Capital and the inspiration behind its creation?
Sunglasses have become an extremely mass produced item and it has become sort of okay for everyone to be wearing the same few styles. If you went to a house party and saw someone wearing the same size shirt you had on, you'd probably feel weird. But if you saw someone that was wearing the same glasses that you had on, you wouldn't think twice. It bums me out that it happens all the time. But what's the difference? Why should it be okay to wear the same glasses and not the same shirt?
It is our goal to bring something to the table that other companies don't offer - a pair of glasses that manages to stand out without being loud or sacrificing class.
?: What is the inspiration behind Capital's designs and choices of wood for materials?
Designs: Most of our designs are based on vintage frames. We like to take the best designs from the past generations and tweak some curves or make them a bit larger to bring them up to date.
Materials: Making wood sunglasses is fun because there is no textbook for it. If you walk into a wood shop asking how to make sunglasses out of wood, you'll get some weird looks (trust me, I've had my share). So you have to guess and check until you find a way. We set out with two goals:
1) Nothing exotic, endangered, or from a rain forest. We're the only wood sunglasses company right now that's doing this. It's easy for people to say their wood comes from a sustainable source (such as a tree farm in a far away land) but, because it's hard to tell what really goes on at these farms, we decided we didn't want to use anything that could have possibly been from a rainforest and sold through a so called "sustainable tree farm". It's a bummer that this sort of thing happens but when there's money to be made, there are plenty of people willing to label some wood something that it's not for the sake of a few dollars.
2) Wood Sunglasses should be as functional as acetate or metal frames. This one seemed like a no-brainer. We are constantly working to improve the functionality of our sunglasses without sacrificing style.
?: What were some of the challenges behind manufacturing a product in American and locally sourcing your materials?
The traditional route for this sort of thing is to call a factory in China and do your best to describe what you want through a serious communications barrier. Then you have to wait 3 weeks to get a prototype that probably won't be too close to the vision you had.
We don't have to deal with any of that. We have our own private shop so if we have an idea for a new frame or innovation, we can have a prototype in a day. We can tweak the smallest things about how our glasses look or function in such a small amount of time so manufacturing in the USA is actually proving to be a huge advantage for us.
?: What are your thoughts on the future of manufacturing and do you think domestic manufacturing and local sourcing will become more prevalent?
We think the future of manufacturing isn't in the huge factories of today. The internet has allowed people to find friends with similar tastes anywhere in the world. This is a really exciting idea! It allows small niches to grow and find supporters, no matter how far away the individuals may be. We are proud to be a part of this movement and hope that more and more small companies take advantage of their niche followers and grow with us.
?: What does the future hold for Capital?
Right now things are changing really fast. All I can say for the time being is that we will keep releasing stand out frames but we've got some surprises in the pipeline too!
Take a look at Capital's website to view their unmatched styes.
Rob Curedale; founder of the highly successful product design LinkedIn groups, design mixer coordinator, and previous Denzinger Design interviewee; is gearing up to teach a series of design driven continuing education workshops. The first in this suit of classes is titled Design Research Methods 1. The course will be hosted by Yeh Studios in Los Angeles.
Yeh Studios is a design, architecture, and interior design business that was behind the inception of Obey frontman Shepard Fairey's gallery and design space, Studio Number One, in Echo Park.
Studio Number One
Design research is an imperative aspect of the product development process that generally doesn't get the regard that it deserves. In order to make informed and deliberate decisions, designers need to take the time to focus on research throughout the process. As Rob states, it is important to inform colleagues and clients why a designer is pursuing a particular design direction within projects.
The workshop will cover several paramount design research topics and implementation techniques. It will take place on Saturday, June 11th between the hours of 1-5PM. The registration fee is $139 for professionals and $79 for full time students. Visit the website for more details and registration information.
Through local design events, I've had the chance to meet a few of the individuals in the current graduating class for the Industrial Design program at Cal State Long Beach. All of them are extremely friendly and excellent networkers. I had the opportunity to view their product design work when I was invited down to CSULB for the grad show.
Below are a few of the final presentation boards that I felt were strong. In these, I noticed innovative concepts with a nice balance of research, ideation sketching, digital rendering, and hand finished prototyping. Take a look.
Michael Ly's Camera Bag, Vinyl Figure Clock, & Table
Michael Ly's Table Model
Andrew Namminga's Vek Socks & Additional Projects
Josue Gonzalez's Nixon Watch
Douglas Johnson Folding Bicycle
Douglas Johnson's Folding Bicycle Wheel and Model
Douglas Johnson's Folding Mobile Device
Douglas Johnson's Custom Glasses
David Zermeno's City Bag with Turn Signals and Brake Light
David Zermeno Mini Projector & Mobile Device
Scott Truong's Post Apocalyptic Medicine Delivery Unit
Scott Truong's Post Apocalyptic Medicine Delivery Unit Model
In the spirit of working on the Upton Watch project this year, I've been enthralled by unique watch designs. I ran across this Kaleidoscope watch on Core77 by European design firm GRO.
GRO Design was founded in 1999 by three British designers that worked together at Philips Design and decided to establish their own firm in the Netherlands.
The Kaleidoscope watch plays off of the fact that consumers are surrounded by so many devices that tell time, that a wrist watch's main focal point doesn't have to be time keeping. The captivating display of this watch becomes the primary focus and the telling of time with the circle and ring being secondary. The designers of this concept watch are also interested to see if consumers can manifest their own method to tell time with the patterns created by the display.
Kaleidoscope Watch from GRO design on Vimeo.
Cyclehoop is a UK based design firm comprised of designers and architects that deal exclusively with indoor and outdoor bicycle parking, storage, and security.
They offer a wide range of innovative cycle parking solutions from bike shelters to integrated public bike pumps. Their most intriguing product, however, is their flagship 'Cyclehoop' that transforms existing sign posts and parking meters into bike racks. This retrofitting device streamlines the bike rack installation process and saves cities public money.
Looking at these bike racks reminds me of the City Racks design competition I entered a few years back for New York City. My competition entry can be viewed here.
Referenced from: Core77
I first learned about AN Design Lab by attending their inaugural open house and burger mixer. At the event, I met Andrew Namminga, the founder of the design firm, and became interested in his story. Before beginning a career in Industrial Design that lead to the launch of his own design firm, Andrew worked in machine shops and built custom motorcycles.
Several weeks after the mixer, I reconnected with Andrew and he invited me down to his firm in Costa Mesa, California to chat. I decided to take a slightly different approach to this interview and recorded video clips of Andrew's responses. Take a look.
How did you get into Industrial Design?
Andrew Namminga of AN Design Interview from Denzinger Design on Vimeo.
Can you expand on your experience with custom motorcycle building?
Andrew Namminga of AN Design Interview 2 from Denzinger Design on Vimeo.
How did you begin freelancing as an Industrial Designer?
Andrew Namminga of AN Design Interview 3 from Denzinger Design on Vimeo.
How did you transition from freelancing to opening your own design firm?
Andrew Namminga of AN Design Interview 4 from Denzinger Design on Vimeo.
What were some of the challenges of developing AN Design?
Andrew Namminga of AN Design Interview 5 from Denzinger Design on Vimeo.
Describe the focal point of the shop environment inside AN Design Lab.
Andrew Namminga of AN Design Interview 6 from Denzinger Design on Vimeo.
What does the future hold for AN Design?
Andrew Namminga of AN Design Interview 7 from Denzinger Design on Vimeo.
After the interview, Andrew gave me a tour of his shop. AN Design Lab has amble space for the design studio and machine shop hybrid. Andrew took me through the various regions of his space.
AN Design Shop Tour from Denzinger Design on Vimeo.
I recently had the opportunity to attend Georgia Tech’s IDSA Merit Award Finals, where four senior Industrial Design students presented their work in a competition to determine who will represent Georgia Tech at this year’s regional IDSA conference. A kind of showcase featuring Georgia Tech’s best talent (as chosen by ID faculty), the presentations provided a particularly intriguing insight into the program’s recent progress and direction. My reactions varied from impressed to indifferent.
Georgia Tech has built its reputation as a premier engineering university, and deservedly so. Such an emphasis on engineering and its associated deliberations has undoubtedly pervaded even the College of Industrial Design, where faculty harps on “process” and there has always been a ubiquitous concentration on designing specifically for manufacture using Tech’s decidedly vast technological resources. Such a focus was apparent in many of the projects, and it was refreshing to see these endeavors carried out beyond merely pretty renderings. Almost all of the presentations displayed designs that were carried out through prototype phase (TRUE prototyping mind you… not merely proof of concept mockups or scale study models). Thought and refinement was clearly evident among the work of these students.
A few designs exemplified such a bent, including Grayson Byrd’s “Connect the Blocks” design. Taken through a slew of iterations and prototyped for more feasible, mass manufacture, the “Blocks” are an interesting take on a classic kids’ toy. This particular version lights up when the blocks are aligned in correct order. That is, if the child makes a proper word with them, arranges them alphabetically, etc. Smart. And Cool.
Grayson Byrd's "Connect the Blocks"
Ariel Wu’s “Butter Extruder”, a fun (if not frivolous) solution that purportedly saves money and keeps one’s hands clean during the potentially clumsy and messy “buttering” process, was another design that exhibited a keen focus on truly working out the mechanicals, designing for manufacture, and again, taking the project beyond a shiny computer model or vellum rendering.
Ariel Wu's "Butter Extruder"
With that said, these projects also illustrate a marked flaw that seemed to manifest itself amongst all the work presented this past Friday. As designers, we are tasked with making an emotional connection, and part of that involves designing a form and highlighting details that speak to the particular user, that work in the context of the product’s environment, and develop a connection deeper than that of mere “object” or “tool”. The “Blocks” certainly look like kids’ blocks, but their form (and material) belies the fascinating technology within, does little to separate the product from its ordinary predecessor, and frankly, looks downright banal. Granted, you’re toeing a fine line between old and new with such an established, recognized product as kids’ blocks. Straying too far from the norm would indeed alienate the user. But I kept asking myself, “Where’s the fun!?”
The “Butter Extruder” also had me scratching my head and asking the same question. The concept is neat. It’s fun. It has, dare I say, an element of kitsch. And that’s totally fine. But it shouldn’t look like a glorified crayon on steroids. There was so much opportunity to play with a VAST number of design cues, from the domestic landscape to packaging conventions and formal incumbents that we all associate with food, and I don’t find any of that here. Barely a hint.
Now I’m not harping on these two projects, and certainly not these two talented students, as sole perpetrators. In fact, the reason I bring this up is because I see it as a trend at Georiga Tech. That end of the industrial design spectrum simply gets cast aside far too often. Great concept, functionally shrewd… formally uninspired. Of course, there were a few glimpses of smart, cleverly-addressed aesthetic details that I saw during the presentation.
Ieva Mikolaviciute’s “Tea Infuser” stood out as a particularly striking example. With a very organic form and sweeping profile, the design certainly speaks to “natural” cues in a beautifully sculptural manner. It at once draws on traditional cookware/kitchen aesthetics while tweaking them in an arousing, expressive way. Most striking about this design is the very unmistakable contrast between positive and negative forms. The bulbous, tulip-like infuser “head”, with its colander-esque perforations, beautifully segues into a flowing, distinctly planar handle studded with hemispherical dots that beg to be touched. The punched holes juxtaposed with the gently-raised dots is simple, subtle… and remarkably clever.
Ieva Mikolaviciute's "Tea Infuser"
And that’s what ID at Georgia Tech needs more of. Don’t stray from the process, continue to nurture the mechanically-astute inclinations of the students… but push them to package these wonderful ideas in more thoughtful, beautiful ways. Take them from “like” to “lust”. Highlight these great ideas. Foster a better understanding of how a great concept takes the “next step”. I’m still learning this myself, I don’t think anyone is ever finished learning. It all can’t be taught over the course of eight semesters, and these presentations indeed showed great promise. I just found myself walking away a bit frustrated with how much better these projects could be with the support of a more wholly focused faculty. ID at Georgia Tech has come a long way; it has a long way to go.
Grayson Byrd's "Casper Chair"
The product design powerhouse Core77 is hosting their first annual Design Awards. With this venture, Core77 has re-imagined the entire design competition process and judging platform.
The initial registration process is completely free and noncommittal. Core77 will even send you a limited-edition poster, while supplies last and designed by Studio Lin, for registering early.
The design competition is subdivided into several different categories and each category has a Jury Captain from 13 different cities in 8 countries. Each jury captain is an expert in their category and will assemble a team of four local jurists. This will ensure fair and non-bureaucratic judging.
Another way the Core77 Design Awards goes against the grain is the fact that each entrant is urged submit a video testimonial about the design. This spin on Andy Warhol's 15 Minutes of Fame is not required but strongly recommended.
The competition categories include:
Sign up for the Design Awards here. I've already registered Denzinger Design for the competition and can't wait to get started. Design on.
Upton Watches is in full swing, and we have progressed into the prototyping phase. We are currently working with Mark McJunkin in Atlanta, Georgia for this facet of the watch expedition. Mark McJunkin was an Industrial Design professor of mine at Georgia Tech, and he is the CEO of the design and manufacturing firm Product M.
Recently with Product M, Mark has focused more on domestic prototyping and manufacturing with his CNC mill. In addition to operating his firm, Mark continues to teach at Georgia Tech.
During this juncture in the project, we are evolving our design so it can be beautifully and efficiently manufacturable. Mark and I are collaborating on the design for manufacturing phase. We are refraining from displaying our finalized design until we have physical, operational watches. Below are a few sneak peaks of Mark's shop in Atlanta and his process of outputting watches.
Mark at the helm
The HAAS CNC mill
Cutting out a watch case
Metal carnage
Several years ago I noticed that my eyesight was not as sharp as it used to be. Many years of glaring at a computer screen may have contributed to this outcome. I had been putting off purchasing glasses due to the basic expense of a decent pair of designer frames.
A recent start up company called Warby Parker has curbed this issue by offering fashion forward prescription eyeglasses for $95. They offer free shipping and free returns. Borrowing from the benevolent business model of TOMS Shoes, Warby Parker will donate a pair of frames to someone in need every time glasses are purchased.
These are the Warby Parker frames that I purchased and currently wear. They are called the Colton and are the Sandalwood Matte color. They have a contemporary edge to a vintage style and are lightweight and comfortable. The Coltons are from Warby's inaugural collection.
Based on the great success of their initial collection, Warby Parker just released their sophomore collection with fourteen new styles. The designs are below:
Newest Warby Parker Collection
To allow consumers to try on various frames, Warby Parker will ship five pairs of glasses at a time for no charge. This is called the home try on kit. They also have explicit measurements of frames online and a virtual try on option. I currently have five styles on order and am excited to see how they look. These are the glasses from the current collection that I really like.
Winston in Old Fashioned Fade
Monroe in Revolver Black Matte
Both of these styles have a very Roaring Twenties aesthetic to them. One would wear these at the local speakeasy unsuspecting of stock market crashes and second world wars.
Warby Parker is a very innovative company that rethinks fashion, product design, marketing, and sales. It is the eyewear company for the internet generation. Best of all, Warby Parker also sells a Monocle.
I did an earlier post about the local Southern California artist and designer Greg Christian. He mentioned that he was working on an antler project. Greg recently finished up the project and emailed me pictures of the resulting antler bottle openers. He hand constructed molds and casted the pieces out of bronze. They are 9 3/4" x 3 1/2" x 1" and weigh in at 8 ounces. As a product designer, I think these antlers make a very nice and unique piece.
Making the molds
Casting process
Finalized product
Opener detail
Unique texture
More information about the antler openers and purchasing details can be viewed here.
Rob Curedale is an extremely accomplished Industrial Designer. He is behind the highly successful LinkedIn design networks. With his groups, Rob has managed to bring together designers all over the world for several design mixers. I attended two mixers in the Los Angeles area, one at RKS in Thousand Oaks and one at Continuum in Venice Beach. The mixers were an amazing opportunity to meet local Product Designers and explore highly successful consulting firms. From the online front, Rob's LinkedIn groups encourage beneficial design related discussion and the opportunity to connect with Industrial Designers around the globe.
Rob is originally from Australia and has managed and directed design departments in several avenues of Product Design all over the world. He is the President of Curedale Inc. Rob has also taught design all over the world including at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and was the Chair of Product Design at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Additionally, Rob is a Jurist for the Spark International Design and Architecture Awards and has been featured in Innovation, Forbes, the ID Annual Review, and on the Discovery Channel.
Rob Curedale is a designer that I am extremely inspired by and I was very excited to have the opportunity to interview him:
?: What is your background in design?
Rob: I was born in Australia and worked as a designer, design director and design educator in London, Sydney, Vevey, Switzerland, Portugal, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, China and Detroit.
I have designed furniture, medical, technology, and consumer products in global markets including Europe, Australia, Asia and North America. Curedale (Rob's consulting firm) has designed hundreds of products as a consultant and an in-house design manager at corporate offices and consultancies. Clients include HP, Philips, GEC, Nokia, Sun, Apple, Canon, Motorola, Nissan, Audi VW, Disney, RTKL, Government of the United Arab Emirates, British and Australian military, Steelcase, Hon, Castelli, Hamilton Medical, Zyliss, Belkin, Gensler, Haworth, Honeywell, NEC, Hoover, Packard Bell, Dell, Black & Decker, Coleman and Harmon Kardon.
I have lectured and taught widely internationally, including at Yale, Pepperdine MBA Innovation Program, Loyola Business Management Program, Art Center Pasadena, Cranbrook, Pratt, Art Center Europe; a faculty member at SCA and UTS Sydney; as Chair of Product Design and Chair of Furniture Design at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit (then the largest product design school in North America), Art Institute California, Hollywood Campus, Cal State San Jose, Escola De Artes e Design in Oporto Portugal, Instituto De Artes Visuals, Design e Marketing, Lisbon, Southern Yangtze University, Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, and Nanjing Arts Institute in China.
For design and pleasure I have visited more than 1,000 cities in over 40 countries.
?: What challenges have you met in developing your own firm and what are the most rewarding parts of owning your own design business?
Rob: I managed a design business in Sydney called Axis for ten years. I have managed a business in Detroit and for the last five years in Los Angeles.
I try to design products that show critical thinking and empathy and are more than restyling commodities. A friend told me that his wife's nursing job was made easier when her hospital purchased some prenatal intensive care products that I had designed. Last week I was interviewed by Skype about a chair that I had helped design thirty years ago that a Berlin exhibit curator had discovered by accident and realized the historical significance of some technological innovations and then went to some trouble to track down those involved in the project. I was at an attorney's office last week and she asked me what type of things that I designed and I was able to point to some Dell speakers on her desk that I had designed. It is this type of personal encounter with products in use that I find rewarding.
?: You have been involved with many specialties of product design, what is your favorite area to develop products and solutions?
Rob: I like medical products because they can have an importance beyond appearances. I like products that participate in small experiences that can seem insignificant to others but be significant to a person. This type of experience can be associated with even a cheap simple product.
As Ettore Sottsass put it, the difference between a President's speech and love whispered in the dark. We are told that The President's speech is important but love whispered in the dark is a personal experience that may have more real personal meaning for us. The most challenging role for the designer is to have empathy for others to help create by design this type of meaningful experience rather than selfishly elevating personal self expression and ego. I think that Steve Jobs shows this type of empathy through Apple products that create a satisfying experience. Perhaps it is a Buddhist way of thinking about experience rather than just the object or possession of the object.
?: Being that you are a design professor as well, how would you define 'design thinking' and how do you believe this method of problem solving will influence business practices in the future?
Rob: Design Thinking for me is an approach to designing that recognizes that creative and analytical thinking are necessary to develop a successful design. That these types of inputs need to come from a group of people working closely together. Individuals are usually better at one or the other type of thinking but not often at both. That design is an iterative process making ideas real and testing and refining them.
Design Thinking is a way of discussing design that communicates the value of a particular approach in creating and implementing new and better ideas rather than incrementally improving existing ideas. The design thinking approach is one way that Western organizations may remain competitive because it moves Western companies beyond just recreating and restyling existing products. This is a practice that cannot continue to allow Western organizations to be competitive. We must add more value through clever and courageous thinking to stay in business. It allows closer and more productive collaboration between technical thinkers like managers and engineers and creative thinkers like designers. These are different thinking styles.
Curedale Inc. website
?: Being that you have lived and worked in several parts of the world, how does (if it does) the language and process of design change throughout the world?
Rob: Differences are driven by regional cultures and economics. Compared to the US Designers in the UK and Australia think more analytically perhaps exercise the left side of their brain more than US designers. They are more concerned about the way things work as well as the appearance. They may be responsible for parts of the design process that would be usually undertaken by engineers in the US. This is partly driven by the scale and economics of US manufacturing and market.
I have seen research by TECAtech in 2008 that suggests that Chinese designers are focused more on value and functionality than Western Designers. Chinese designers find their inspiration more often in nature poetry and technology than Western Designers. Inclusive design is more important for Chinese Designers than Western Designers.
Drawing is an important tool for product designers but I think that sometimes the art created by a designer as part of the design process is elevated above the quality of the end design in the US. Drawing is of value if it helps create a better design. The quality of the design of the car on the showroom floor is more important than the quality of the rendering that helped create that design. The car may be driven by tens of thousands of people and uses non-renewable resources. The rendering may be framed and hang on one wall perhaps if it is good. We are designers not artists and we should be proud to be designers.
Anglo-Saxon designers- US, Germany, UK, Ausralia- tend to concentrate on the appearance of objects and the visual sense. Designers in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean sometimes consider relatively more the other senses including touch, smell and sound when designing products and experiences. The experience of an Italian car for example sometimes stimulates by design more of these other senses than a car designed in the UK or US. There is a legacy and sophistication in Italian furniture design that has developed over thousands of years of advanced practice and experience.
?: Your LinkedIn Industrial Design network recently reached 10,000 members, what has been your process in developing these highly successful hubs of networking?
Rob: I started those groups a few years ago when I saw that there were no design groups on LinkedIn. The groups have grown to around 70,000 members. I have tried with the groups to stimulate a higher, more interdisciplinary and and more global level of discussion than previously existed in the design professions. The groups have attracted the leaders of our profession internationally.
I wanted to incourage and try to initiate discussions that were being avoided by existing societies and industry groups such as the growing need for balancing environmental responsibility with business, technology, and people considerations in design. Yesterday, I was involved in a discussion that included the GM and Director of Design at NEC in Japan, a past VP of design from the French Auto company Renault, a leading Industrial Design Headhunter, the Director of Design at a major UK retail chain as well as leading design educators from Korea, and Cambridge University.
I regularly organize real world design networking mixers that are cross-disciplinary with engineers, architects, interior designers, product designers, graphic, retail, and exhibit designers attending. I think that this type of networking is richer and more likely to lead to useful exchanges of ideas than the traditional types of functions with only Industrial Designers. The events have had up to 400 people attending. My process to develop these groups has simply been to ask challenging questions that invite discussion.
Industrial Design LinkedIn group
?: What does the future hold for yourself and your LinkedIn networking groups?
Rob: I have created an organization called The Design Foundation. Design Foundation was established to promote cross-disciplinary international discussion and collaboration between diverse fields of design and architecture. We provide a forum for designers to exchange ideas and address important global issues through professional social networks while enjoying participation in real-world local mixer events in their regions.
The Design Foundation mission is to create, develop, coordinate and promote opportunities for the global professional design community to educate, communicate and network.
The Design Foundation website