Comedy

I've recently had a theory from watching You've Been Framed! that a lot of comedy comes from objects - either breaking or people using them the wrong way. I've thought about this and I'm wondering if a "breaking factor" should be included in the design of objects. Or even an ability to repair them very easily? Who knows... just a thought!

Anatomical Drawings of Japanese Movie Monsters

I love fictional anatomy! Click here for more.

100 Ideas

Last week, we were given a task of generating 100 ideas from the insights we took from our completed packs. The ideas can be as crazy as we like. So far I'm up to idea number 60 - not too bad considering some of my really dodgy ideas, such as one that involves killing cats!

I am really enjoying this part of the project as I get to empty my thoughts out onto paper and start being creative!

One of my inspirations for this has to be Wallace and Gromit! Genius!

I Love Glasstorm!

On Saturday I surprisingly received my first probe pack back! It was the one I sent to glass-blower Brodie Nairn at Glasstorm glass studio up in Tain (near Inverness), and it is pure gold! I am so grateful to him for completing it and am currently thinking about what to send him as a thank you.

Things are looking up! I also recommend looking at their project called "Lamppot" - my favourite piece of work from them.

You want flies with that?

A very nice exhibition by (graffiti) artist Banksy -
The Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill

Makes you think about the relationship between animals and the food they are ultimately made into for us. Lovely!

McRobot

I think it is very ironic how I am exploring the world of craft and uniqueness when I am currently employed by possibly the most anti-individual company on earth - McDonalds!

Although they are very good at being efficient (and sometimes energy saving), I don't think humans are meant to be efficient. How boring would life be if all you did was go from A to B without a bit of banter, a laugh, even sadness? We're not robots! It's made me even more determined not to make mass produced objects.


And following on from a comment, if a craft is doing something over and over again, then I must be a master craftsman at making Big Macs! I think there's more to being a craftsman than meets the eye.

Faith and Beliefs

Following on from my dissertation topic, some of the topics I will research will be:

White noise/E.V.P (Electronic Voice Phenomena)
Tarot Cards
Ouija

I will look into how people have changed their ways/channels of communication to spirits, God etc with the development of new technologies. Spooooooooky!

It's a sad day...

So far, after sending away seven probe packs to the participants, two have returned their packs uncompleted, one has said she will complete it on Saturday and I've had no word from the other four. Needless to say, my cultural probes have been a complete disaster... or has it?

Although I've had no real responses from the participants, I have noticed a common factor between them - it doesn't matter what discipline or country the craftsman is in, they all have no time! They are all too busy to do anything , but work. Could this be a driving factor for my project?

Say Whaaaat?

A nice project from the European Ceramic Workcentre -
"Ceramics and Sound"

Voodoo

Just coming out of a DHTP (Design History, Theory and Practice) lecture about choosing a dissertation topic, I think I have a few contenders:

The affect of popular culture on crafts
Mass manufacture v craft

But the topic that stood out to me was - The affect of design on spirituality and beliefs.

I've picked up a couple of books for researching this topic, but the most interesting one is
"Voodoo - Mounted by the Gods" by Alberto Venzag. I love it! It's scary yet intriguing.

Selfish Self Service

Yesterday, our class received our brief from global ATM (and other things) company NCR called "Selfish Self Service". This has to be the most open brief I have ever had - Design a self service for yourself! The best thing is since there are no restrictions, boundaries we can pretty much do whatever we like. For example, this is a picture for a sunglasses vending machine:


It's only been a day, but I was throwing some ideas around in the meeting yesterday and I think I will pursue a more intangible direction to this - such as well-being, spirituality, etc.

Although this is just a thought, I will have to carry out some research on myself regarding daily routines and such, and the insights I will get from my probe packs will also help - if I ever get them...

Design Studies

Not about digital craft, but a good general design blog from Jonathan Baldwin - a lecturer at the University of Dundee.

Roadkill!

The things you can do with craft!

All quiet...

So far no responses as of yet from the probes. Getting a bit worried!

Inspirational Image

For our project with NCR, we have to bring in either an image or an object "that is based on what inspires, motivates or influences you". I am stuck at what to do, but one of the main contenders for the picture is from my previous project with Microsoft. I think it sums up what I want to do.

I want what I make to bring out the personal side of the induvidual, to be an experience for the person. I want it to be less about the product and use it more as a vehicle for content, such as memories. The things I want to make are unique to the person, crafting it to their personalities making it an extension of themselves. None of this mass produced stuff!

The Cloud

I found this over the summer while listening to a Core77 podcast on a UK design company called Troika. One of their projects was a kinetic sculpture for the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport named "Cloud".

I think the way they have incorporated old school flip dot technology with modern electronics is amazing! The result is a number of fluid like patterns that ripple over the sculpture. I love it! The best thing is, you don't even notice that it's all being controlled by a computer - it feels so organic and natural, even alive.

This definately has to be one of my inspirations for doing what I do.

My cultural probes

The contents of one my cultural probes.

Just waiting to hear back from the first of my participants. Exciting stuff!

Knitting is not dead!

I feel bad for taking a picture of this because everyone on that bus probably thought I was a creep!

But I was amazed at this girl - in her early twenties on a bus at half seven on a Sunday morning... Knitting! I can hear the lawsuits already!

The Future of Craft

It's a bit late, but here is a link to the Past,Present & Future Craft Practice website. They had an exhibition of craft with Deviants in the Matthew Building.

The piece that stood out to me was a giant glove created by Freddie Robbins called: "Hand of Good, Hand of God". The quality of the machine knitting was incredible.

Komikkubukku

Here's some other drawings I did over the summer. Paddy and I found an amazing Japanese bookshop in Vancouver and bought some comic books. Although we couldn't read what the characters were saying, the pictures said more than enough. The strange thing we noticed in the bookshop was the layout - boys on the left, girls on the right.

Genius!

I found this the other day and I love it!
I personally recommend Worm Songs - it takes my breath away!

www.mmaattiillddaa.com

Cultural Probes

For our product design module at uni, we have to carry out research. But we have learned a new approach to gathering information from random people - cultural probes.
These probes allow you to ask more personal questions but not in an obtrusive way.

My probes are focused at local craftsmen, women and electronic engineers to see if there are any similarities/difference between them. The packs contain:

a disposable camera
a rule sheet
a recipe book
4 postcards

I am sending these probes away tomorrow, so hopefully by next week I will have some results!

Pink Anatomy

Here are some drawings I did over the summer when learning some anatomy. Hope you like them!

The origins of my interest

The subject of "Digital Craft" started last semester while participating in a competition set by Microsoft. I wont go into much detail about it as our team created a website for it -

www.storymakerstoryteller.com

This project helped me realises the route I wanted to take with my studies and hopefully my future career. Here's hoping!