Philips Flavors - My take on it

Nowadays, everybody, especially young adults love to customize, it's what's big right now. We want to express our own style, instead of following what the company tells you to be. We don't want to settle on a design designed for us. Alot of companies are catching up to this trend, but there were early ones too.

For example, if you go to Converse's website, you can customize your own shoe, you don't have to settle on the choices they give you. Although it wasn't 100% you personally because they give you preset fabrics to choose from where you can mix and match each side of your shoe and you can even put your name on it. It was a great idea, I even bought a pair that I customized and put my name on it.

Another one is when many teens started using their phones, and wanted to be rebellious, and wanted everything their way, from that cellphone cases came to the market. You can now change the case of your cellphone and express your style through the shell of your phone.

Then Tmobile came out with MyTouch 3G, and because I always am an early adapter, I got one.

Anyways, tmo's whole concept is that when you buy the phone, it becomes 100% you. It gets to know you using an app called Sherpa, it basically remembers what you searched and compares and collects things similar to what you searched,because it assumes that you like whatever you searched. You can change the theme of your phone and the home screen so you can easily access the apps or whatever that you need easily. You can even download apps that you like, so each phone is basically unique because it will have different functions and data stored in the phone's memory.

Another technology that we all love that I wanted to focus on is the Philips Flavors. Its an exclusive home entertainment system that can be customized to match your style and interior. Again, this really isn't totally 100% you, why?..Because you have to buy the frames that are already made for the consumer. How about we take it up a notch, how can it be totally 100% you? Here are my ideas:

1. Instead of having interchangeable frames, the entertainment system could have digital nanoscreens that make up the frame that emits different images that would make up one whole image. And where would that image come from you ask, well from your computer. Using bluetooth technology, one can actually upload an image or any pattern they would like to the system using a template that would be downloaded to the computer and be compatibe to adobe image editing tools where one can scale, mix and match, crop, however one's heart desires to manipulate the image. Another way of aqcuiring the image is where the system can match itself to the decor of the room, it would produce its own palette of colors or a theme, and it can change by itself, and if you don't like the design, you can easily talk to it and ask to change it.Now that's smart technology.

2. My second concept is inspired by tmo's MyTouch 3G. It will get to know you through your flavor of shows. It will analyze the shows that you watch and the next time you turn on the T.V., it will have a recommendation of what you would want to watch. Everyone's already doing this, for example, Apple itunes and Microsoft marketplace, they give you recommendations on what you might like.

3. Last but not least is a full body sensor. It senses when somebody is in the room and would analyze how you're feeling at that moment and your stress level. The system will automatically turn on a channel that you might desire, or won't turn on at all if it thinks that you're sleepy and would not want to watch at all.

So, overall, Philips Flavor trumps the competition with their concept of interchangeable frames instead of the regular black and silver boring chrome, but it isn't my Flavor yet.

Digital Candy

We think of technology as something we handle and not as food. I wonder if we really would want to chew an iphone, or a computer? I guess the main goal of the digital candy makers is that if there's a technology out there that you love so much, you don't have to look at it, you can also chew it.

This isn't really something new, an inspiration for the makers of these candies could be pastry chefs that make cakes out of whatever their clients want, houses, computers, dogs, iphones, purses, etc. These cakes really look like the real thing. If this could be taken to the next level, it could be something that we could actually use first then eat it.They also make great gifts for children and adults who just love what they love.

Interactive Art

Usually when we look at an art on a wall, its static or if its dynamic, it has its own default settings to create the illusion, the art, and the entertainment, or whatever its trying to achieve. This interactive art in particular has an image that one can be immersed in and become part of the art. One could also argue that video games are immersive art too. They are, but our actions doesn't happen instantly. Even though we're hitting buttons and swinging our rackets, our motion is being translated digitally so that the computer could understand it. You don't really see yourself in it. The player is represented by a character in a game, and that character is digitally made.
What I like about this interactive art is that you yourself is in the art. The camera looks at the shape of a person's body and puts your uniqueness inside the art, where you can manipulate the art. One example that I like the most was the Text Rain, where there is a preset video on a wall with texts and letters that act like rain. The rain actually responds to the movement and shape your body or a material. Plus this art makes you appreciate the simplicity of the data in order to achieve the interaction, compared to a game where you have to process a lot of information before you can make your move. Truly the saying "A Little goes a Long Way" inspired the designers of this project.

Layar - Real Time Browsing

Have you ever walked down a Historic Street, or a neighbohood that you want to move in? Have you ever wondered, hmm,what's that building's name? or how can I reach the realtor of that house? We want to access information right away, without going to the web wondering what we have to type in the search bar, or what we actually need to browse for? Nowadays, we always think of different ways to be immersed with the digital world. Today, its made possible by iphone's augmented reality app, and also a company known as Layar. The app. that I’m most familiar with is Layar, because I’ve actually messed with it. I’m not sure what Iphone uses.
I think Layar’s idea of a Reality Browser is pure genius. Back then,even though it could only be 2 or 3 years ago, we have to mysteriously think of what we need to put on the search bar, that would relate to something we saw in real life and we have to try and translate it for the computer bots using tags and keywords, hopefully wishing that it would find its web page, therefore getting information. That’s just too much work for the kind of people nowadays, especially for me. Layar scans your surrounding which shows what is around you by displaying real time digital information on top of reality through the camera of your phone. On top of the camera image (displaying reality) Layar adds content layers. Layers are similar to web pages in normal browsers. Just like there are thousands of websites there could be thousands of layers in the future. You can also switch between layers by selecting another using the menu button, pressing the logobar or by swiping your finger across the screen. Layar shows, Facebook users, Twitter users, Yellowpages, Flickr photos, hotels, Wikipedia, etc. Being able to finally combine reality (in real time) and the digital world together could really change the way we could access information. Each experience is unique to each user, each one has their own story that they experience instead of going online and going through the same pages over and over again.

Paranormal Activity

Believe it or not, I thought this was scarier than "The Unborn", or "A Haunting in Conneticut". Paranormal Activity was especially frightening, because it was so simple. The film was made for under $15,000. The film avoided the normal cliches of a normal Hollywood horror film, it did not rely on special effects or even make up to scare the audience, the sound is used so well that it alone was scary enough to make me hide my face and cover my ears. Every time it would go back to the night vision camera the audience would all exhale as if to say "Not again!" The very switch of camera effects made me feel a sense of fear. I read stories on the internet of people actually getting up and leaving the theater because they were so frightened. This movie psychologically scares you by leaving you hanging as to what the "demon" looks like. This film certainly can raise a question as to whether indie films are on the rise. The film was originally going to be remade by Paramount Pictures and Steven Spielberg even watched the DVD at his home before it was released to theaters.
Good thing Paramount Pictures backed off and didn't remake this at all becaue it wouldn't be as good as the original. Going back to the the frozen moments for a commercial that we saw in class, this movie had a very similar concept and was effective. The camera stills at night when they're asleep is the one that produces a lot of reaction, as I discussed above, this is when then tention starts to rise, even though the actors are still, but there's a feeling that's being protruded out of that scene, and every time it happens, all the viewers get frightened.
So, could the future of better films lack technology? The movie didn't have as much technology, but it had a really strong story, and that story made the movie successful. Capstone project anybody? I would definitely keep this as an inspiration for a future capstone, being an amateur really pays off, be passionate and opinionated about something.

WayBack Machine - Internet Archive

I think this website is great. It's an internet archive. As a web designer, I can see the transitions the web has been through for more than a decade.

The idea of looking back at the old websites and comparing them today gives us a whole new outlook to what they will look like in the future. Mr. Mannheimer is right, that not everything will look like the way they are right now in the future. Its true, thats why we don't have ugly fanny packs at Target, we have modern handbags, because bags are not meant to go around our waist, just like websites are not meant to have bright yellow fonts and black background with frames and an animated banner. The internet archive can prevent a designer from committing those mistakes by looking at different examples of old websites.

Cybertime

When we talked about the time of cyberspace in class, it got me to think deeper about the internet and its cybertime. If I was to describe cybertime, it would be - "a time continuum where all the space and time that have ever existed through earth's lifetime, even before the first thought of the internet ever entered J.C.R Licklider's mind is stored."

Why I say this?. One can easily search the "Creation of The Universe" and in this search we are then entangled in a knowledge that existed before Humankind ever walked Earth, therefore, we are immersed in time that we never knew. One can even go further in time to 2050, with our top scientist's prediction for our future, a future not too far away.

I can access any time period, any knowledge past, present or future. The power of the internet to store TIME, that anybody, anywhere and anytime can access is a sign that we are at the cusp of the future.

Rubiks in the Digital Age

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Kids of the 80's can now feel like they're kids again. The Rubik's cube, redesigned and revamped, for the old and the new. Old entertainment has been enhanced with today's technology to go head to head with nowadays tech toys.

I like how the makers of the RubiksTouch resurrected the old toy. It's like being able to play with a piece of history but with basics based on the 21st century to appeal to the young adults of this decade.

Future Cars

Futuristic Japanese Cars @ Yahoo! Video

Cars that we know today won't be the same in the future. I love future cars. Their design is so out of the box. Silicone cars, cars that park sideways(especially for people who doesn't like to parallel park, like me), rehtinking the usual soccer mom van, etc. Yes we need something that will transport us from point A to B but that something could be more than just a container that delivers.

Pomegranate NS08

This video was created so professionally, that I almost believed it. At least until the coffee brewing part. The projector, and voice translator could be possible, but the shaver and coffe maker, really?....

Yo Gabba Gabba

This is a show from Nick Jr., my sister loves it. I don't know how she doesn't get tired of watching this show. She's 3 years old, and she knows all the names of the characters. Usually I watch this with her, like a good sister and I only know one of the characters =). Anyways, I wanted to discuss the difference between the characters they use nowadays, compared to what I remember when I was her age.

Back in the 90's, the characters used in Kids shows are familiar ones, not something that would crawl out of the dark closet. Clearly, the Brobee (green monster) looks like a Boogey monster, Muno (red monster) looks like a hotdog man with pimples and DJ Lance Rock (host with the orange hat) looks creepy when he smiles. I remember Arnold from "Hey Arnold" had a football head, but he was still a child, with 2 arms, 2 legs, and a human face.

Little kids nowadays who watch shows similar to Yo Gabba Gabba are being trained not to be afraid. It's like their minds are being familiarized with different creatures that could possibly exist, even though they don't. Also, as their imaginations grow, they become for creative, inspiring them to create something outside of the box in the future.

AntiSmoking Sticker

This Anti-Smoking sticker conveys a really strong message. How? Well the combination of the image and the use of something that's part of our surrounding creates a much greater disgust towards the practice. For example, the ashtray mouth is a representation of what people see when one smokes. It's true, because, when you stick a cigarette in your mouth, your treating it like an ashtray. The old "Joe Chemo" ad is nothing compared to the image shown by these stickers. Even though Joe Chemo rhymes which make it easy to remember, the ashtray/mouth or pipe/mouth image has a stickier message, because the designer used a real human image that we all know, and an ashtray. This is a really successfull ad.

Cool Business Cards - Part 2

Actual Size Creative Business Card
- Their business card has a cool spin to it, the pop up person . The bracket also points to the person standing on the left side of the card meaning the information on the other side of the bracket is theirs.

Promptt Business Card
- This doesn't look like a business card at all. I think the idea is more inviting, because it looks like a ticket. If one has a ticket, it means they are welcome to come to that event. Therefore, a customer is welcome to contact that person if they needed something.

Thielen Designs Business Card
-This card looks like a price a tag. It even has a sale sticker on it. Even though it looks like price tag, the necessary information are still there, and the designer did a great job on representing different parts of the price tag and replacing them with the contact information.

Digital Age:MiniWorld

As the Digital Age gets closer, everything becomes smaller, cars, phones, notebooks, etc.

TO

From the giant Hummer that couldn't fit in narrow streets to the tiny Nissan Land Glider clearly gives us a peek at what the future of cars will look like. Today's cars still guzzles gas, not just that, they're too big. What will happen if we run out of space? Build roads that run across the building's surface, sure, but that will cost a lot of money, permission will be needed from different companies, not just, we have so many buildings that need to be covered. Solution, cute mini electric cars.

The way they designed the Nissan Land Glider is very pleasing to the eyes, curved lines, the clean white color and a happy face in front compared to the dark straight edge angry bull looking Hummer.

TO

Do you remember when those bulky square cellphones came out? I'm glad to say I sure don't, I was probably too young to remember. I grew up with the nut looking phones like the Nokia 5110 , which are palm sized, and they had big heavy batteries and were ugly, but anyway lets fast forward to 2009. Steve Job's Apple IPhone, thin, light, shiny and touchscreen, no white plastic buttons on this one.

Today, we want sleek, curvaceous phones that connects us with everybody in touch of a screen (not button). We design to appeal everybody, young or old, rich or poor. The IPhone design appeals to everybody. The old cellphones appealed to old rich businessmen with briefcases who waved for taxis in, calling different secretaries one by one letting them know that they're running late.

TO

Size really does matter. Especially for computers, the smaller it is, the more convenience it offers. Nowadays, nobody has time to sit down in front of the big computer to check emails, send projects, finish up a pie chart, etc. We're "on-the-go" impatient people of the 21st century, everything is fast, portable, and pocket sized. Our culture shapes the technology designs that are being developed.

Obama Wins the Nobel Peace Prize - Deserving or Not?

I know this has nothing to do with this class, but since we were told to treat this as a journal and if we found something interesting, we should blog about it.

Here we go....

"President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism." A quote from Yahoo and MSN news, shocks readers across America. I find this interesting because the nomination deadline for the Peace Prize is eight months before the announcement and a deadline of February 1st. How long has he been in office, 12 days, rougly 2 weeks. How can he do things deserving of a Peace Prize if he has only been in office for 12 days when he was nominated? Popularity contest? Sure.

Yes, he's been traveling across the globe apologizing to every country America has tensions with to promote peace and ease those tensions. Why was Pres. Obama nominated for this prize in less than a year after he took office? A quote from Nobel Committee head Thorbjoern Jagland said: “It was because we would like to support what he is trying to achieve”., hmm, PEACE... let's see if his actions has changed anything.

1.From Buffalo News (09Oct2009)
"A recent firefight in Kamdesh left eight Americans, three Afghans and an estimated 100 insurgents dead, according to NATO. Insurgents fought their way into the base during the battle, a rare breach of security that underscored how thinly manned the post was. It was the largest loss of U.S. life in a single skirmish in more than a year.

The Kamdesh base was largely burned down during the violence. But U.S. Master Sgt. Thomas Clementson said the damage did not affect the timing of the withdrawal and the U.S. was "just days" away from pulling out when the attack happened."

--The idea of slowly pulling out troops in Afghanistan backfired. After going in there in efforts of trying to stabilize the nation will all be for nothing after all the troops are gone. Slowly but surely more and more insurgents will get a chance of causing another incident like this.

2. From Yahoo News (09Oct2009)
"ALMATY, Kazakhstan – The reclusive Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan has denied entry to dozens of Peace Corps volunteers, the organization's country director said Friday.

"We had the paperwork in place, and they were approved to come, but the day before they were due to leave the U.S., we received a diplomatic note from the embassy saying that they would be invited next year, but not for this year," Leal said by telephone from the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat.

The Peace Corps, whose operations in Turkmenistan are devoted to teaching English and health education, is often viewed with suspicion by governments in former Soviet states.
In 2002, Russia expelled the organization and accused some of its volunteers of spying."

3. From The Huffington Post (16Jul2009)
"Other than a few hiccups, Russia was on its best behavior throughout both the U.S.-Russia and following G8 Summits. If we squinted our eyes just enough, it was possible to believe that we were looking at a normal and responsible world superpower, not a country with a smaller population than Bangladesh and a smaller GDP than Brazil.

For all the talk of "reset button diplomacy," by the time Obama left the continent, Russia had rebooted to default, exhibiting some of the most regrettable conduct and tragic events it has become known for over the past decade

-Keeping missiles in Kaliningrad and "flying to the brand new country of South Ossetia, formerly of Georgia, to warn Tbilisi not to provoke another invasion.", and women being abducted and found dead in a ditch somewhere just goes to show that Russia ignored Obama's attempt to establish "PEACE".

The Nobel Peace Prize committee just awarded this to a man that has acted to promote what they were supporting but caused diddly-squat. I thought awards like this are given to someone who has actually CHANGED something big across the world. Lets double check with Alfred Nobel's will, "According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize should be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".

Point is PEACE HASN'T HAPPENED.

Cool Business Cards - Part 1

Here are some unique business card designs. They're not the typical business card that you see being handed out in a meeting.



1. Peanut Business Card
-Now this is thinking outside the "paper"
Though they aren't practical, because they're fragile, it's an idea.

Maybe if it was coated it some kind of preserving material that could prevent it from cracking easily, then it could be used. Till then...

2. Nils von Blanc Business Card

-This one is from a graphic design company from Denmark and its a car freshener. I don't know if it they added some scent, but that would be cool.

One could just hang this in their car and they'd never lose it. Because most business cards are just put away by people. From my personal experience, busy professional engineers will not have time to organize their cards. Many end up in the very abyss of their desks, in an unrecognizable cardboard box, etc. So, by giving the receiver a familiar object could spark a light bulb in their heads, and say, you know what i'm gonna hang this in my car, because thats what it looks like. That's why this design works.

3. Francesca Pasini Business Card

- This card didn't use the usual paper material, instead its made of fabric. Each card would be unique, because different fabrics could be used, each stitch is unique, the positioning of the information is unique to just one card, and also each one is handmade.

Frank Lloyd Wright - American Architect

His architectural design of buildings and houses are unlike any of the common houses that are lined up in the suburbs of America. It sticks out like sore thumb, but in a good way. His design mostly consists of straight clean lines, a very contemporary concept. For example, the Fallingwater estate in Pennsylvania, almost looks like it was built in the 21st century.

There’s a clear contrast between the clean lines and the leaves of the trees. Nature is much busier compared to the design of the house, but it works, it creates a calm and serene living space. I would definitely live in a house he designed.

He also designed the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo


In this building, Wright managed to take Japanese and American design to mix perfectly. The overhanging flat roof is his design, mixed with the traditional pointed tops. Also, the building is symmetrical. This is also similar to the Taj Mahal, how the building is reflected of the pool of water in front of it and the pathway on both sides.ng, Wright managed to take Japanese and American design to mix perfectly. The overhanging flat roof is his design, mixed with the traditional pointed tops. Also, the building is symmetrical. This is also similar to the Taj Mahal, how the building is reflected of the pool of water in front of it and the pathway on both sides.