Cool inventions

Again, just a small post with this 2005 cool inventions published by Time Magazine and coudal partners' extensive news on design.

ciao

Bauhaus rules

All designers should be fans of Bauhaus... not the german school, I'm talking about the gothic band. Next week we'll be going to a concert here in Guadalajara. There's a 3 level rule:

-The first time you hear Bauhaus you say "whatta...???"
-The second time: "Humm! Not baD!"
-By the third time, you just love them!

To get prepared for the concert, look at this cool animation: Tokyoplastic. Check out the operadude!

Enjoy

Puzzled

Finally, after a couple of weeks of delay... here are the puzzles. The task was to design a puzzle or object and build 5 models using different materials. It should possible be to exchange and combine some of the parts to compare the communication between all materials: aluminium vs. wood, plastic vs. foam, etc. Next friday is the final presentation and probably my last log from ITESM.

ciao

Priceless

Aluminum rod: $9.50
Nylamid: $6.90
Clamps: $5.02
Screws: $2.30

Building your own tubular bender: priceless!

After a week long search after someone to bend this square aluminum bar without any luck... Today I searched for a machine manufacturer. The only one was custom made, it takes one month to build and costs $1500US. In my despair, I got the materials, went to a lathe workshop... and 3 hours later: presto! We still have to fit it on a working table, and use a larger lever.

ciao

Frustrating!

I always think that there must be a bigger force in the universe to keep things going. Technitians are the proof that God exists. If everything depended only on the work of technitians, this worls would have collapsed many years ago. It's just frustrating that they do such sluppy work, but they are convinced that they are the only ones with techinical knowledge to solve everything! They try to make people think that it´s rocket science, when it´s just a couple of bores.

This couple of weeks have been stressful, with the production of the first series of standers. The guys of the laser cut put the plate on the wrong direction, they also left the protective sheet on the other side... causing that the bender guy also bended the plates to the other side. etc, etc...

Frustrating was that we compensated one of the plates using a first trial. We adjusted the drawing for the laser cut. I left the plates with the bender guy... and when I picked them up, he said that the plate was 1mm too long... so that he compensated that to the sides. There´s nothing worst than a stupid with initiative! I was furious... went to the car and brought the PTR where that piece should fit...

And it fitted perfectly! How strange!!! I looked closer... and the bending marks were at the right place... except for one. The one that the manager marked. Then I remembered that I was there with the worker when we did the trial and explained to him where and how to mark that plate. So probably he did it just as I told him and not as the supervisor "re-adjusted" the plate. How lucky for us!

Not so lucky was the fact, that they bended tha plates to the wrong direction... Lucky again, that the guy doing the legs took a long weekend (because of the Mexican Revolution) and he didn't do the legs yet. Tomorrow, I'll have to catch him before he bores the aluminium legs.

We're having good luck from things that go wrong. I insist that there mut be a bigger force in this universe to protect us against technitians!

ciao

This is Rugby?...Yeah, Right!

Yeah, right! They look just like Tana Umanga, Lomu, Ieremia and Rocococo after wishing upon a star to look like the swedish beach-volleyball team.

ciao

Oops, Ford did it again!

Two posts about bad design from Ford Motor Company in a row, that should be a record. Some days ago I went to have dinner at Vips (they make very good enchiladas suizas). At the payment booth I crashed into a 5 door Ford Focus, it was nothing serious, it was just a bumper touch... the car in front of me just paid and started to move (So did I) and then suddenly stopped. They didn't even get out of the car and left. Anyway, I looked at the car and realized that the tail lights are not at the normal place... they are higher at the window poles and there's nothing, not even a small reflector around the booth.

I don't know if there is a SAE standard about the correct position and height for signal and tail lights... but I remember that some of the firsts SUV's also had tail lights on the window poles... but they also had the normal ones. Even big trucks and buses have tail lights at an average height of normal cars, and the little ones at the top corners. So, I think there must be a "norm" for that range.

Strictly from an ergonomic point of view, stop and tail lights have two work scenarios: - By day, other drivers have good visibility of the whole car, so they only serve to signal a stop or a turn to others. -By night, they also serve another function... that of marking the size of the car, and give others a reference of where are the other cars. If the tail lights are above the normal height, they might give the impression that the car is further away, or that the street has a different level... or many other false interpretations about the size, position and whereabouts of that car, i.e. those tail lights are not serving the function they have by night. In conclusion: very bad idea! bad design! two thumbs down to ford (again)!

There's also a bright side about cars sometimes, like today. My business partner Raul, bought a mini cooper with a very classic combination: red with white top. We went to have dinner to celebrate, and I should tell you that it is in deed a very nice car and amazingly comfortable inside. It was worth the wait of almost a month to get it.

ciao

Anti-Pesto

Alexander von Vegesack will be key speaker on a series of conferences organized by Better by Design throughout New Zealand. If you are interested in eco-design... Designclub invites architects, illustrators, designers, etc to submit any kind of eco-design. Check out the invitation at dicojal.

ciao

Sex symbol

Actually, this is just a quicky... just to recommend the site symbols.com if you are interested in semiology (one of my favourite subjects). They have a web sercheable collection of articles and western signs and ideograms.

ciao