pencils polymer & pixels

We are presently in a technological mind set of innovation and simplicity being the ultimate goal. Eva Zeisel has been designing for over 70 years and offers a long-range vision that both counters and supports the present design mantra. In her book, The Magical Language of Things and this appearance at TED, she makes a case for emotional design as a guiding principal. Her work is an inspiration, a life-long exploration of shape and form.

A Documentary by Gary Hustwit (Helvetica)
Coming Spring ‘09

Objectified is a feature-length independent documentary about industrial design. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the people who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability. It’s about our relationship to mass-produced objects and, by extension, the people who design them.

Through vérité footage and in-depth conversations, the film documents the creative processes of some of the world’s most influential designers, and looks at how the things they make impact our lives. What can we learn about who we are, and who we want to be, from the objects with which we surround ourselves?

Read director Gary Hustwit’s post about the film.

Robert Lang is an artist working with Origami in a new way. He has combined western mathematics and process to centuries old eastern art. Lang demonstrates in his TED talk, the ability to replicate nearly any form with Origami. His method has influenced design solutions that range from Stents, artery clearing tubes, to solar arrays for NASA.

Comic style sketch

Prototypes are used to tell stories. How you tell a story greatly defines what you tell. Matt Madden has an excellent book and site dedicated to this subject with 99 explorations of the same story through variations of stlye. The various forms inform us in different ways through style. One of my favorite examples shown on his site is the same story from the image above only in the form of a map.

For more about illustrating and writing in the comic style, see the work of Scott McCloud.

Map view

Alexander Calder, the American sculptor had an extraordinary way of storytelling with minimalist detail and inexpensive materials. The Movie Le Cirque was made in 1961 by Carlos Vilardebó, and is part of the permanent collection at the Whitney Museum.  Le Cirque is art, and the attributes fit nicely with the materials, methods and influence we strive for in early prototypes.  Le Cirque lets are minds play with the idea of the circus.

Adrian Bowyer at PopTech!