Personal Note : Dance...don't do it...

Watch MTV 90's: Just noticed, that my dance style still in Color Me Badd era!!!...

DESIGN : Plastic is Back? or too late?

Plastic. www.oehm.com

DESIGN : Future of Apple Design

Future of Apple Design : Apple has its "own" type letter (font) , clear white image, titanium-silverish color, curved edge design, so what ever they do, they win the idea as APPLE DESIGN. People get noticed. If you try to design anything using this "pallete" and put Apple logo, that's it, it's Apple design.

Now, what "design signature" you have?

Think about it

DESIGN : Piano Love

Now, If the 'standard' Boesendorfer fantastic, this one 'kills' me...design by F.A. Porche

Personal Note : Design Coloumn

I got an offer to write about design matter in the business world, especially in property business....preparing series of writing seems very interesting...that will be appear in property magazine...if everything goes smoothly. The challenge is how to get a fine tune of my writing to readers...I guess, I will be in somewhere 'easy-read' to 'near academical'....

DESIGN : Old design IS new design

I found this table in "house for sale". It's an old table, I guess from 60's-70's and it's looking great...

Personal Note : Work in progress...

Project Progress: My Kitchen, almost done....

Personal Note : Business is PERSONAL

Please take a look at Milton's note down there...
YOU CAN ONLY WORK FOR PEOPLE THAT YOU LIKE.
Affection, trust and sharing some common ground is the only way good work can be achieved

What I've learn this week is that business always personal; just heard a bad news on the project I've should involve to, while the project still runs suddenly I lost interest of what's going on (because several reason); then I received note from a friend of mine "told" me that in business bad things happened (most of the time - of course) and asked me to cool down because, It just business - don't take it personal. Period.

While I am fully understand the do's and dont's in the business world, there's one thing that always we tend to forget that business is actually very personal.

The motivation is personal, the vision is personal, the energy, the enthusiasm, the love, the hate, the rage, the pain is real. So yes, business is personal.

Do not involve in a business when your heart tell you to not to...
Affection, trust and sharing some common ground is the only way good work can be achieved...

.

DESIGN: open-design-general

open-design-general
Originally uploaded by designsense.

http://ronen-kadushin.com

MILTON GLASER 

DESIGN :Milton Glaser wisdom...

Note: taken from Milton Glaser

YOU CAN ONLY WORK FOR PEOPLE THAT YOU LIKE.
Affection, trust and sharing some common ground is the only way good work can be achieved.

IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE NEVER HAVE A JOB.
‘Never have a job, because if you have a job someday someone will take it away from you and then you will be unprepared for your old age

SOME PEOPLE ARE TOXIC AVOID THEM.
Perls proposed that in all relationships people could be either toxic or nourishing towards one another. You have spent some time with this person, at the end of that time you observe whether you are more energised or less energised. If you are more tired then you have been poisoned. If you have more energy you have been nourished.

PROFESSIONALISM IS NOT ENOUGH or THE GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF THE GREAT.
Professionalism means in most cases is limiting risks. What is desirable in our field (design - creative activity), is continuous transgression. Professionalism does not allow for that because transgression has to encompass the possibility of failure and if you are professional your instinct is not to fail, it is to repeat success. Professionalism as a lifetime aspiration is a limited goal.

LESS IS NOT NECESSARILY MORE
If you look at a Persian rug, you cannot say that less is more because you realise that every part of that rug, every change of colour, every shift in form is absolutely essential for its aesthetic success. You cannot prove to me that a solid blue rug is in any way superior.

An alternative to the proposition that I believe is more appropriate. ‘Just enough is more.’

STYLE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED.
Style change is usually linked to economic factors, as all of you know who have read Marx. Also fatigue occurs when people see too much of the same thing too often. So every ten years or so there is a stylistic shift and things are made to look different. Most good designers have developed a vocabulary, a form that is their own. It is one of the ways that they distinguish themselves from their peers, and establish their identity in the field. How you maintain your own belief system and preferences becomes a real balancing act.

HOW YOU LIVE CHANGES YOUR BRAIN.
Thought changes our life and our behaviour. I also believe that drawing works in the same way. I am a great advocate of drawing, not in order to become an illustrator, but because I believe drawing changes the brain in the same way as the search to create the right note changes the brain of a violinist. Drawing also makes you attentive. It makes you pay attention to what you are looking at, which is not so easy.

DOUBT IS BETTER THAN CERTAINTY.
Everyone always talks about confidence and believing in what you do. It makes me nervous when someone believes too deeply or too much. I think that being sceptical and questioning all deeply held beliefs is essential. Of course we must know the difference between scepticism and cynicism because cynicism is as much a restriction of one’s openness to the world as passionate belief is. They are sort of twins.

SOLVING THE PROBLEM IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BEING RIGHT.
Schools encourage the idea of not compromising and defending your work at all costs. Well, in our work the issue is usually all about the nature of compromise. You just have to know when compromise is appropriate. Blind pursuit of your own ends which excludes the possibility that others may be right does not allow for the fact that in design we are always dealing with a triad – the client, the audience and you.

The first rule is the best. Rule number one is that ‘it doesn’t matter.’ ‘It doesn’t matter that what you think. Follow this rule and it will add decades to your life.

Personal Note: Help a newbie blogger out (kottke.org)

Help a newbie blogger out (kottke.org): "http://modblog.com"

I found this blog about someone needs fund raising for his daughter very inspiring - especially comments from other people that willing to help!

You're not alone...never....

DESIGN : brand power - LV!!

The Yahoo NEWS : Japanese woman tackles burglar to save designer wallet

"I was scared, but I was desperate because he was trying to steal my bag with my precious Louis Vuitton wallet inside,"

(this post stolen fom seth godin blog)

Business : Crichton lecture

About: Look, this Mr.Drake created a "formula" that can start a "new religion" - SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelegence; read: looking for alien.) That what we "know" just a guess science. But the idea inspires people who like to believe it, and that is a real matters, if we are hoping for something that we think it's "unreasonable"...we need to make it sounds "reasonable"...and that is mean, MAKE SOMETHING BELIEVABLE. and that's enough.

(note: the whole lecture is focusing in communal science vs. real science - if most of the scientists agree on something, it doesn't meaning it's right. I just note some of his "founding" in drake equation, giving me 'different' message)

A lecture by Michael Crichton Caltech Michelin Lecture January 17, 2003
(part of it...)
...In 1960, Drake organizes the first SETI conference, and came up with the now-famous Drake equation:

N=N*fp ne fl fi fc fL

Where N is the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy; fp is the fraction with planets; ne is the number of planets per star capable of supporting life; fl is the fraction of planets where life evolves; fi is the fraction where intelligent life evolves; and fc is the fraction that communicates; and fL is the fraction of the planet's life during which the communicating civilizations live.

This serious-looking equation gave SETI an serious footing as a legitimate intellectual inquiry. The problem, of course, is that none of the terms can be known, and most cannot even be estimated. The only way to work the equation is to fill in with guesses. And guesses-just so we're clear-are merely expressions of prejudice. Nor can there be "informed guesses." If you need to state how many planets with life choose to communicate, there is simply no way to make an informed guess. It's simply prejudice.

As a result, the Drake equation can have any value from "billions and billions" to zero. An expression that can mean anything means nothing. Speaking precisely, the Drake equation is literally meaningless...

(but, This serious-looking equation gave SETI an serious footing as a legitimate intellectual inquiry.)

Personal Notes : 3 Hotels with 3 Personality...

My current tasks is to generate "Business Idea" for 3 different project, all hotel, 3 different location , 3 different owner, all at the "same time". 1. A country music centered hotel, 2. An Eco-Luxury Hotel, 3. Cultural-hip hotel. There' s one thing in common, all of them is unique and dare to be different! Now, wait for more details.... ;-) this will be very, very interesting...

DESIGN : Wabi Sabi?

From Publishers Weekly
Simply put, wabi-sabi is the marriage of the Japanese wabi, meaning humble, and sabi, which connotes beauty in the natural progression of time. Together, the phrase invites us to set aside our pursuit of perfection and learn to appreciate the simple, unaffected beauty of things as they are. Wabi-sabi can be found in the deep cracks of a weathering pine table. It is flea markets, wildflowers, and cobblestones. Intimately tied to Zen Buddhism, wabi-sabi is an aesthetic that welcomes comfort and a subtle spiritual component into the home. It is not a decorating style, per se, but a mind-set. To create a true wabi-sabi environment, one must slowly strip away excess and learn to be satisfied living in the moment.

Business : Speak their language! Business and Sex

About: Using sexual term and jokes to explain business concept.

I was staying in my hideaway for a while with my team. The idea is to have a focused design development program. But as night comes by - boys will be boys - those sexual jokes and “experience” discussion appears ‘naturally’ from all of us (all male – coincidentally), and at the same time I often - along with the conversation – get one or two question about business and management; remember, we were there to work ;-)

Funny things happened.

There was a question from one of my team about business issues and I have difficulties to answer the question, I tried to explain it many times in many ways but didn’t give a right cut. My “audience” keep asking me to elaborate more about it; and I am running out of ammo, couldn't find any betterway to explain the answer. So I decided to let it go, keep it open at that time, and then we back to our “favorite” conversation about women and sex (of course!).

Suddenly, out of nowhere, from one of the silly joke about sex, strikes me an idea about a way to answer their previous question (about business). Then I use the sexual term and tell the joke about one particular sexual activity; surely all of them listened to my interesting story very clearly, and voila! I put the same analogy from that nasty sex story to answer that previous business question; the result is; now they’re understood! Duh!

So that experience gave me an Idea about creating a book or a session, using sexual term, story and jokes to explain and inform all the things about business world. By using “new language” that people interested and ‘care’ about (one of it of course, SEX), it is easier, effective, and most of the time, I believe it almost a perfect analogy to explain, even for the most confusing business world question!

Simplify it! Speak their "language!"

DESIGN : design as general language....symbolism

I made several meetings with people that eventually have the same problem - probably just like what happened to you; they have a very good product and service, and a good mission too. They surely have ambition and dedication to their works...but also, they do have the same problem...

...nobody "listen" to them....

not that people don't care with the issue, but probably, if we push people to 'sit down and shut up!' then people willing to hear what you've done, but you can't keep asking people to do it, and most of the case you also don't have the power to do it; so how to make them listen and care about it without keep 'asking' them to?

you have to speak their 'languange'....get them through what's important to them, coz you know, people have their own problem and other things to care about...then you should implement strategy so the people have a reason the hear more about you, by 'connecting' what's important to them, and to you....

(and) design is one of the tools that you can implement as 'connecting device'...

for example; Sony-Ericsson. Ericsson, by reputation has long experience creating very good product in telecommunication, they have technology that proven works - but at the same time they fail to 'sell it in the market' (thanks to Nokia) . For the buyers that care about telecommunication technology -ericsson has do more than enough, but how many of us really care about it ?(my wife, surely not) she doesn't care about those "additional" capabilities, for her, mobile phone is a, mobile phone, period. so why she has to upgrade the phone that she has to "better one"? - it still works right? she still could make a call....so while (long...long time ago) ericsson tries to introduce their new product, people didn't really care about it..or even willing to change their current phone at that time....so that's why Ericsson fail in the market.

Sony in the other hand, has a very, very clever way to have an emotional attachment with their users, imagine, how many walkman models last time their introduced? while ALL OF THEM has the same feature; a tape player....and Sony keep the numbers of walkman selling rising up....that's because Sony, could see through what's important in the people's mind...the reason to buy new walkman...not only as a tape player...but as a status symbol...it simply because you wear it in the public, then your friend could see you with this 'cool gadget' and they know that 'it's expensive' - so by wearing Sony product, you are the 'cool and expensive' person, or person who worship 'coolness and expensiveness' ....Sony acting as more than people who sells technology, they are the people that 'serve' your needs...being cool and hip through...their products...

So when Ericsson merge with Sony (a very clever strategy - look my writing about podbrick down there) they (ericsson) manage to create a "connection" between their expertise to what people need...and Sony excell this connection/emotional relation between product and user through....DESIGN.

Design; simply put, a bridge between what's important to you and what's important to other people....so they will listen to you...