August 17, 2008
Summer house idea
Me: We should have one of these as a summer guest cottage and moor it on a buoy off of our house. Our friends would love to stay in something like this. They'd have to take the rowboat to get to it.
Andy: We'd have to have a motor on it. Wait, this should be what our cabana should be like on the inside.
Then he Andy started drawing plans for a fancy new cabana.
We won't be doing either of these ideas any time soon, but it is fun to think about it.
There are more amazing photos here but the site appears to be in Swedish (my guess).
Posted by jana at 1:16 PM | Comments (0)
August 7, 2008
What would be "designer humor" if it wasn't our life
http://view.break.com/542649 - Watch more free videos
This little video went around the design alias at work yesterday and then Kyle emailed it to me too. Scary funny stuff.
Posted by jana at 5:33 PM | Comments (1)
July 8, 2008
What carpet tiles should I buy?
Which carpet tile should I select for my room?
1-5 are the flor samples I'm considering for my room. The other image is to show you what else is in the room. I'm thinking "urban beach."
Posted by jana at 9:48 AM | Comments (7)
March 27, 2008
Design as a business consultant
Snip from an interview regarding working with the Design Godfather, Paul Rand.
"...Paul told me, 'you tell me your problem, I give you a solution. And you pay me. If you want options you hire someone else.'"
His client? Steve Jobs of Next Computer.
[video clip via Swiss Miss]
Posted by jana at 9:01 AM | Comments (2)
January 21, 2008
What's going on here?
I'm happily back from the place that has to forecast the weather with two sets of temperature: the real temperature and the windchill temperature. I wish I never learned what windchill feels like. I love you, tropical Seattle!.
Anyway, I forayed into Chicago for a "design conference" but oddly enough I only met one other designer. The conference was put on by 3 designers: Jason Fried of 37 Signals, James Coudal of Coudal Partnerships, and Carlos Segura of T26. The audience seemed to consist of business-minded people. I have never before witnessed business people attending a design conference.
And on the flight home I was working on some mockups the person sitting next to me asked me what I do. When I told him my role as a designer he said, "Oh, so you are really a business consultant?" I told him that it is my role to know a company's business and then create an interface so the consumer can understand it. "So really I am the bridge between the business and the customer," I told him.
I am thinking perhaps the time has really come that businesses are realizing "Design Does Matter." Designers are the last stop between the customer and the business and it looks like people are finally starting to realize that. I'll try and write up my conference notes soon. Those of you looking for the inside scoop on Karsten and Britta can skip that post.
________________
Post Script: I was also one of the only women at this conference. Which reminds me, "Where are all the women?"
Posted by jana at 12:27 PM
October 5, 2007
For young artists: activate your artist skills
From friend Amy Tucker, founder of Xeko
Dear Xeko Agents and FOX (Friends of Xeko),
XEKO and National Geographic are searching for artistically-inclined and adventurous Xeko Agents!
Help us FLOOD National Geographic's offices with INCREDIBLE Xeko art!
Draw, paint, or sketch your favorite animal from Xeko Mission: Costa Rica and enter to win an eco-expedition to Costa Rica or other fabulous Xeko prizes.
Visit http://xeko.com/contest for an entry form, full contest rules, and to access the Xekopedia.
Pass this along to young artists and Xeko Agents between the ages of 6 - 14. Invite your schools, clubs, and friends ... The more the merrier!
Entry deadline is October 31, 2007.
Activate your artistic skills and get inspired by the wild and wonderful animals in Xeko Mission: Costa Rica!!!
Posted by jana at 11:16 AM
September 14, 2007
New book new background
I couldn't resist buying this book: Petite Pattern Book: Kids & Toys. One small problem: I can't read it because it is in Japanese. This is a small problem I'm willing to overlook because of all the fun graphics.
The laundry image is quite appropriate for today (see background of this blog). I'm on laundry load #6 and still not done. Karsten wet his bed last night and then moved to the couch and wet the couch. No more elaboration needed.
Time to remove the extra divs on my template too although that means investigating a new web dev tool on my Mac called Coda. Might be too nerdy for a Friday night.
Not too nerdy: drooling over more japanese pattern books.
Posted by jana at 9:59 PM | Comments (3)
November 5, 2005
Experimental restaurant
Martà Guixé and Mediamatic invite you to FOOD FACILITY, conTEMPORARY eatery for those dining in restaurant comfort with living room mentality. Based on digital search engines Food Facility is symptomatic of the change in analogue thinking and acting after the emergence of internet. Meet the FOOD HOST, the FOOD ADVISER, and the FOOD DJ and order your take away with a twist.
We have reservations for Saturday. Maybe we can order some Kraft Mac-n-Cheese for the kids. Our supply is running low.
Posted by jana at 1:44 PM | Comments (1)
October 31, 2005
Design jobs
I've had two people contact me about design jobs. One is a part-time or full-time web design job. If you're interested contact Brett Lytle. I've worked with Brett in the past and he is great to work with as a web dev for us designer types.
The other position is Director of Creative Services for Cingular Wireless. If interested contact my dear friend Jon Hartley.
Posted by jana at 6:35 AM
July 28, 2005
job opening at Kendall Ross
Trying to spread the word for old design buddies. If you are the account manager or project manager type and looking for a new opportunity contact Tim Ross or David Kendall. See www.KendallRoss.com for more details.
Posted by jana at 4:30 PM
June 21, 2005
Virtual Arrangements
One of John Maeda's MIT students came up with a diagram illustrating how furniture arrangements have changed with the birth of tv and even worse, the PC. I didn't think he had it quite right though so I made my own chart and added #4. See, computers aren't all bad. I am closer to many people through social networks.
Posted by jana at 10:09 PM | Comments (1)
A sign
Wow, Amazon really can predict my future purchases. My "New for You" email suggested I buy Mac OS X when I have a Windows machine. How did they know I've been thinking of buying a power book? Eerie.
Posted by jana at 9:46 PM
Luxurious Lecture Learning
For the last two Fridays I've been sitting in 8 hours of class at Bellevue Community College. I haven't taken a class in a really long time and it was so wonderful. Lately my learning has been figuring out the bare minimum I need to know either through a web tutorial, reading a tech blog or skimming a chapter at a time in a book.
School is the way to go if you have the time. I sat at a desk with a computer while someone told me all I need to know. I could even ask questions if I didn't understand something.
Now I'm dreaming of taking a javascript class and maybe even Flash. If only I had the time...
Posted by jana at 9:41 PM
May 20, 2005
Currents9: Influenced
Today I attended a design conference in Seattle. Andy attended one in Korea but that is a different post.
The biggest reason for me attending an experience design conference is to be around people who are passionate about what they do. One of the final panel questions was "who would retire tomorrow if they could and give it all up?" Not one person raised their hand. I love being around people who are excited about what they do. "Nothing great can be accomplished with enthusiasm" I think was one of the quotes.
Anyway, there were some interesting ideas that came out of the event. John Maeda from MIT Labs discussed Simplicity versus Complexity. Generally as designers we try to wrap simplicity around complex things but perhaps that is not the correct way to think of it. Perhaps simplicity and complexity are more scattered like particles of an atom.
More Sound Bites:
-Another interesting comment by John was rethinking the old design adage that the computer was nothing more than a pencil. The computer has become a material, and a very sad material at that.
-Someone voiced my thoughts exactly when they said it is time for web designers to give up pixel control. It feels good to finally hear it said. I think I'd given up control about 5 years ago but now I'm finally okay with it.
- Another reassuring comment to my ears: Tables are still okay (for tabular data) just not for layout
- A swiss designer suggested going into the super market and shopping as a neutral customer. What would we buy at the store if we hadn't had experience with a particular brand? Would you still buy Tide? I'm going to try it. Maybe I won't buy Colgate next time I need some toothpaste.
Posted by jana at 11:13 PM | Comments (1)
book nook news
Jesse's debuts MO modernobject in NYC this week. Who needs a chair?
Posted by jana at 6:30 PM
January 25, 2005
Design cynosure
Look! It is my year to be famous. This interview is at least a year old. I can't bring myself to read it yet.
Posted by jana at 10:22 AM | TrackBack
January 22, 2004
What me worry
Today was one of those days when I realized I ain't always so smart and I can't analyze data to save my life. Not sure how much I should talk about work on my blog but let's just say I met with some smarty pants mathematicians who had my brain hurting by the end of the meeting. Most conversations I have don't use the words like "null, mode, parameters, median, range, binning and average." Occasions like this make me wish I had paid more attention in 10th grade, but really up until today I've never had occasion to think about those words. I hope I can make their charts look pretty (and more functional would be ideal!). I did learn that data can be misinterpreted pretty easily and you need a doctorate to discern information.
On a more positive note, the whole encounter reminded me of my freelance days where I had to learn about so many different industries so I could best serve the company's graphic needs. While freelancing I had the opportunity to learn about gyroplanes (and their ability to use car fuel), business music, the bridal industry (anyone want to know "what is bone china?") and creating interfaces for operating systems. Fun stuff.