User Generated Design

Check out this new design idea: Shower To-Go http://www.yankodesign.com/2013/04/19/shower-to-go/ Basically it's a hand held 'electric shower' and could do to washing what the electric razor does for shaving. The name electric shower is something I just came up with, but terror and feelings of panic aside, it captures the point. The inner product designer in me wants to love this rather sexy and sports image driven device, clearly aimed at a male buyer (do women have problems washing? Would they use that thing on their hair) but I feel it becomes more art than function. Why? Because it's one step too far for mankind. So let's assume it works great and I can look and smell great with this device, the action of rubbing a vibrating(?) stick over your body like a portable steam cleaner is so divorced from the action of bathing or showering that it's not going to be an activity that is obvious or natural to any person. The though of 'really?' and 'wh...

Remember when windows 8 came out? We were filled with videos, images and adverts focusing squarely on the Modern UI of windows 8. Well, now it turns out Microsoft has stopped focusing on Modern UI to sell is new Os, and started saying "hey, remember how much you love the desktop, we still have it!" In Depth: Microsoft: emphasis on Start Screen shackled Windows 8 http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/microsoft-we-shouldn-t-have-lost-touch-with-desktop-for-windows-8-1144623?attr=all&src=rss It's something I have been musing for some time. I installed Windows 8 the week or was released and so far haven't been able to quite get my head round it. Not that it's hard to use (although it does have some quirks) but just what is it? When I'm in desktop mode, it's the old windows experience more or less. Jumping into Modern UI, it's a whole new experience, which to be honest I really like. Internet Explorer 10 in this mode really is something special, wit...

Unisex Toilet Symbol? Sometimes information needs to be communicated at the most vital moments of high stress and need. Traditionally , this has focused on semi-important areas such as missile defence systems, pretty useful when North Korea starts threatening world stability . But there are other situations which may be more important, and one we all face every day without realising it; knowing which door to go through when we need the toilet! The picture on the left was taken at an art gallery I was visiting on Friday, which when I encountered threw me. Thoughts passed through my mind "is this right?" Looking at it I didn't quite know what to make of it, so started looking around, all the doors were like this. After a few seconds of desperation I thought I would chance it and went through, although all the time there was that worry in the back of my mind. Why was this? Looking at the symbol, it isn't hard to work out that it could be anything else but a unise...

Is it ethical for Google to promote the book that drove the Holocaust under their "read through books they banned"  promotion? https ://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=TXcwKYcMFyoC On the one hand, it is a very important book in world history, but while henry millers The Tropic of Capricorn is sexually explicit, or is after all entertainment after our basic needs. How would this go down in waterstones if the same selection of banned books were brought together? Does the online shop make us feel more at ease and less easily offended? So many questions, so little time to blog. Update coming soon.

Can Light - SARAH PEASE DESIGN : 'via Blog this' I really want to like these, I really do. There is a feeling of vintage style that screams to be embraced by fashion stores like Levi and AllSaints, but in my eye it fails. They are not modified enough to produce a cool different between the old functional item and the (desired) enchanting style. But the greatest failing here is that damn hook at the back. Maybe fitting a bracket to the back of the lamp would create more of an illusion, a floating object on the wall. Close, but no magic,.

'Disruptive' Ouya console launches http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21954641 Is this the future of gaming and entertainment? Unlikely. Why? As it stands it is too simplistic. But what is interesting is the idea of gaming being outside of an activity tethered to a single box in one room, and instead something accessible from a plethora of devices, one of which is the TV. So far, this is a pipe dream, but just think how exciting gaming could be when it starts fully taking advantage of this new ecosystem. What about a zombie survival game requiring your pc to search for secret medical files, your tablet to keep track of progress and make things happen, augmented reality glasses to show the hoards in the real world, tracking your running, evading, moving between bases to access geolocated information. The game is no longer in the console, but the console is allowing access to one part of the game you are living in real time and space.

A few thousand blog posts exist critiquing the MS Surface (and Windows 8) so this blog isn't an earth shattering event in the world, yet a few thoughts crept into my mind yesterday while hands on with a Surface yesterday which I really want to share. Mainly because I haven't come across these thoughts before while reading up Windows 8, so here it goes. Before we start, this is now a Windows 8 attack as such. Right now I am at my desk writing this on a Windows 8 PC, and even using IE 10! I am also listening to the 'new' Jimi Hendrix album, but those are both points for another day, but in short I quite like W8, even though my 24" monitor is not touch enabled, it is still an (almost) enjoyable experience. More another time. So onto Surface. As a piece of hardware, I love it. Sure, the flip keyboard could be better, mainly by making it 'snap' shut, and it could be lighter, but ignoring those it really is a thing of beauty. I am impressed by the speed of ...