Design Sojourn | Strategic Industrial Design Blog

Happy Birthday Lego!

Image From: Gizmodo. Click on the image for a larger version.

Being extra busy early this week, I totally missed taking a “moment” on January 28 to wish Lego a Happy 50th Birthday! Check out the very cool time-line above created by Gizmodo, and their collection of “Best Lego Sets in History“!

Being a child growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, my favourite sets would have to be the LEGO Star Wars collection, which I started collecting but gave up when I discovered the scope of product range and all the different boxes I had to buy! I also loved the Lego Technic range but could never afford buying any.

After all these years, I can still remember my favourite Lego creation moment. I must have been at least 4 or 5 years old. One afternoon, I decided I wanted a gun to play with. (Don’t ask me why!) Not having any in the house, I proceeded to make one out of Lego blocks. It was a pretty simple design in sort of a capital “F” shape. I was pretty proud of myself, and proceeded to run around the house “shooting” at things. However what really made me mad, was the handle kept breaking off. You know Lego joints. Still breaking off, even after I stomped it with a heavy object, I proceeded to glue the joints up. Needless to say, my mom was not pleased!

What about you? What’s your favourite Lego moment? I would love reading about it!

Anyways before you go, do check out some very interesting Lego trivia as compiled by the gadget wizards at Gizmodo:

• There are about 62 LEGO bricks for every one of the world’s 6 billion inhabitants.

• Children around the world spend 5 billion hours a year playing with LEGO bricks.

• More than 400 million people around the world have played with LEGO bricks.

• LEGO bricks are available in 53 different colors.

• 19 billion LEGO elements are produced every year.

• 2.16 million LEGO elements are molded every hour, or 36,000 per minute.

• More than 400 billion LEGO bricks have been produced since 1949.

• Two eight-stud LEGO bricks of the same color can be combined in 24 different ways.

• Three eight-stud bricks can be combined in 1,060 ways.

• There are more than 915 million combinations possible for six 2 x 4 LEGO bricks of the same color.

• 7 LEGO sets are sold by retailers every second around the world.

• The LEGO bricks sold in one year would circle the world 5 times.

• 40 billion LEGO bricks stacked on top of one another would connect the earth with the moon.

• LEGO bricks are so much more than just toys. They are used in classrooms from preschool to university level to teach everything from math, language skills and science to engineering and technology principles.

• The LEGO brick has inspired generations of innovators, like Jonathan Gay, inventor of Flash.

• World-renowned author Douglas Coupland believes the LEGO brick represents a “language in itself.”

• A January 2008 Google search produces 57.6 million references to LEGO bricks.

• There are 55,600 LEGO videos on YouTube.

• Google co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, used LEGO bricks to build the external low-cost and expandable casing for 10 4GB hard disks when they were busy developing the Google search engine (today, they have reportedly been used in Google’s college graduate recruiting exercises to test potential candidate’s creative horsepower).

An interesting discussion between KK, the designer of the Chronotebook, and Scott a designer cum patent agent, has highlighted a potentially huge problem with concept design awards such as Muji Awards 02 and Red-Dot Concept.

Should the awards jury conduct patent searches on the winning products? And if a winning product is found to infringe a patent what happens then? This problem can only multiply as, in the recent years, there have been a huge growth in numbers of such awards, so much so you could enter one almost every month! Fortunately as I know KK personally, I do not doubt his integrity or his design ability to independently come up with a similar concept.

Out of curiosity, I have posted the images of the award winning designs and the supposed patents they infringe. After the images, you can find a quote of Scott’s well articulated discription on what does or does not infringe a patent so that you have it all in one convenient place. Do take study the images and the links to the patent descriptions, as I am interested to know your opinions on this matter?

Muji Award 02 Gold Prize: Towel with Further Options
By: NIIMI [Takuya Niimi/Yuki Niimi] (Japan)

Patent 5004637: Sanitary tearing towel
By: Chuen-Rong Liao

Muji Award 02 Judges’ Prize: Chronotebook
By: Wong Kok Keong

Patent 6593942: Event programming guide
By: Dennis Bushmitch et al

First, let’s take a look at your daily planner. From a patent point of view, you may be able to capture some patent protection on some specific features, such as the daytime and nighttime indicators, but since the concept of using the graphic of a clock to graphically convey information about the analog clock is shown in the prior art (the ‘942 patent), you will have a heck of a time getting meaningful utility patent protection for this item.

To get a patent, the invention has to meet three basic criteria - novelty (is it new), utility (does it have a use) and nonobviousness. This last one catches many wannabee inventions. Your invention could be considered “new” in that no one has applied the above concept to paper-versions of daily planners and it does have utility, but in my opinion, much of what you show would be obvious in view of the ‘942 patent (which uses an analog clock graphic to convey information that relates to particular times about the clock). The fact that the ‘942 conveys this information electronically on a screen doesn’t matter since the concept is shown and also because paper media is strongly connected to electronic displays since the latter followed directly from the former as a means of replacing many of the things we used to do with the former.

Also, clocks are known to be made from chalkboard so that the user can write appointment information directly on the surface in the same way, using the clock graphic as a means of conveying the event about the clock (I’ll send you an example of this to your email).

With regards to the towel, I respect the “spirit” of the design, but the patent office looks at structure of an invention and what a patent specification teaches to one of ordinary skill in the art. In this case, the prior art teaches that a towel may be made with a tear-line so that a user can tear off a piece of towel. Even if the inventor states a different reasone why the user should tear it off (because one section has been used and should be thrown away), it doesn’t matter since both towels include guide lines or tear lines meant to remove one section of the towel from the larger towel. The structure is similar. The fact that the MUJI version offers only guidelines instead of pre-cut lines could be patentable since the strength of the towel is not compromised and also, the MUJI towel provides reinforcement along those guide lines so cuts won’t fray. My point here is that the concept of doing this is known, the finer details may be new.

Interesting food for thought on your next project eh? It is for me, as this has kept me awake to 2.51 am!

Check out this very clever Napkin PC designed by Avery Holleman that is perfect for collaborating designers. Using e-ink and RF technology it allows designers to draw in colour and skip the very tedious stage of transferring the sketch into a digital format.

Just perfect. Hang on I said that already! But it really is, just perfect for designers and how we need our computers to function during our idea creation process.

Avery has done a great job illustrating the design in a scenario based presentation, so much so that I’ll let the images do the talking. (Note to Design Students: this is how a good scenario story board should be done!)

If anyone has a link to Avery’s website or portfolio please let me know?
Edit: Check out Avery’s other portfolio work here and fixed his mis-spelled name. Thanks Mike and apologies to Avery for the typo.

Via: My friends from Yanko Design

What a nice way to end 2007 and roll into 2008 with a flying start!

My team and I have won a Good Design Award 2007 from the The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design for our Dragon Electrostatic Speaker Product Range. This product was also recently featured in Wired Magazine issue 15.03

This win was particularly sweet, as it was a product that we recommended, pushed, and developed as part of our ongoing research into trends, consumer markets and technology. This speaker is also a cumulative milestone example of our evolving design language strategy that I had mapped out for the brand and product category about 3 years ago.

For the 2007 edition of GOOD DESIGN, The Chicago Athenaeum received hundreds of applications from 6 continents contributing to the international importance of the historic GOOD DESIGN Awards. Over 400 products and graphic designs were selected by a distinguished jury of recognized architects, designers, and authorities in the design world for recent designs worthy of the Museum’s GOOD DESIGN Award, attesting to the design energy, vitality, and current innovation in global design today.

This year’s edition was the “Corporate Who’s Who” worldwide: 3M., adidas International, Apple Computer, Bang & Olufsen, Black and Decker, BMW AG., Boeing Corporation, Robert Bosch, British Airways, DaimlerChrysler, Eastman Kodak Company, Electrolux, Epson America, Festo AG., Ford Motor Company, Fujitsu Limited, General Motors Corporation, Harman Kardon, Herman Miller, Hewlett Packard, Intel Corp., Knoll, Inc., LG Electronics, Liz Claiborne, Inc., Logitech, Lutron, Melitta, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, Olympus, Owens Corning, Samsung, Siemens, Sun-Disk, T-Mobile, Tupperware, Unilever, Villeroy + Boch AG., and Whirlpool Corporation.

It look like that we are part of a very nice cohort of designers and companies. Also we are 1 of the 6 Good Design Awards that was given out to designers and manufacturers from Singapore. Still along way to go compared to the United States’ 270 awards haul, but I think this is a great start for the Industrial Design Industry in Singapore.

Well our 5 minutes of fame is up, so back to work! Heh-heh.

(Do note: This speaker was recently renamed and repositioned as part of the Nakamichi’s iconic Dragon range.)

Image Source: Gizmodo

According to Gizmodo there is an uncanny resemblance between the great work of Dieter Rams to the work of Jonathan Ive head of Industrial Design at Apple.

When you look at the Braun products by Dieter Rams—many of them at New York’s MoMA—and compare them to Ive’s work at Apple, you can clearly see the similarities in their philosophies way beyond the sparse use of color, the selection of materials and how the products are shaped around the function with no artificial design, keeping the design “honest.”

Jonathan Ive’s dedication to “honesty” and “simplicity” in design pays great homages to Dieter Rams’ 10 Commandants in Design, and is something that Japanese design great, Naoto Fukasawa, indicated was his major design influence as well. Rams’ 10 Commandants was also recently printed in Wallpaper Magazine’s September 2007 issue, and was something that I wanted to write about but totally forgot! Here they are, in brief as extracted from Wallpaper Magazine:

Dieter Rams 10 Design Commandments
Good Design:
1. is innovative
2. makes a product useful
3. Is aesthetic
4. Helps a product be understood
5. Is unobtrusive
6. Is honest
7. Is durable
8. Is consistent to the last detail
9. Is concerned with environment
10. Is as little design as possible

Anyways check out the complete comparison at the Gizmodo site, some of which are so similar that saying it “was inspired by” is actually pushing it.

Braun T3 pocket radio and Apple iPod

Image Source: Gizmodo

What do you guys think?

Do you think Jonathan Ive is a design genius? Or was he suitably inspired? What about the similarities in design and detailing between Apple and Braun? Are Apple products a result of a close tribute to Dieter Ram’s design thinking? If so what about Naoto Fukasawa, who also follows closely to the teachings of Dieter Rams, but yet his work has a unique character of its own? Shall we discuss?

Disgustingly thin images from apple.com

I hate to say it, but I think its time for me to cross over. Not because of its disgustingly thin form factor, but the way it is optimized for wireless network and the increased usability in its touch pad that is very similar to the gesture features found on the iPhone. This gestural control is going to be a trend setter.

With its relationships with Intel and other vendors, they have essentially managed to push the envelope of engineering and manufacturability, and thus able to deliver this thing beauty to all of us. It is interesting to hear that “challenge” their vendors to push the limits, something very rare in these days of outsourcing. This, I believe, is a strategy that other product development companies and component vendors can learn from to make better products.

Finally I have always believed that is all you need on a note book, screen, HDD and a damn good wireless connection for all your online needs. (I’ll keep my ugly pc for my 3D stuff!) Apple has shown that they understand this, and delivered a product (with all software included, iLife etc.) that is easy for converts to move over.

But there are a few downsides though. Firstly don’t get conned on all that marketing hype about the battery life. Less components means less battery consumption. Not only that, most of their environmental friendly aspects (recycled body, clean PCB etc.) already come standard in many other electronic products. Furthermore a smaller product also means smaller packaging, DUH! The reality though is a environmentally friendly packaging comes in the brown box with no external printing. However all in all, it comes together in a pretty good Eco package and a decent effort in responds to getting slammed by the Green groups recently.

If you have not already, check out its greatness at the official Apple Macbook Air website. Time to get your MBA?

Edit 3: Fantastic Macbook Air Parody!

Edit 2: If you are like me, are interested in Steve Job’s Keynote at MacWorld, but don’t have the 90mins it runs for? Check out Mahalo Daily’s 60 second edit! Everything important is in there. Via: Techcrunch

Edit 1: Additional information added.

Image Source: Newsweek via engadget

The latest buzz on the Internet comes in the form of the Amazon Kindle e-book reader. I had first initially dismissed it as another e-book reader, but with time it has come to interestingly reminds me of the good old “Internet Appliance” product that was all the rage in the late 1990’s. Launched about 2 weeks ago, it was, according to Engadget, sold out in 5.5 hours! While there is no reports of how many Kindles were available, it does to me, sound of marketers creating artificial demand by keeping the number of units for sale low, ah lah Apple style. Oh well.

Despite that, I am interested to see if this USD$399 product, heralds the start of the new generation of “Internet Appliances” that also includes the likes of the Chumby, Roku Internet radio, and the recent Bug Labs open source product. Why? Unlike the Sony’s e-book reader this connects to the internet.

It’s only 360 Degree Industrial Design!

The Amazon Kindle looks wafer thin and seems to me designed to be a carry and go device. I’m not sure who did the Industrial Design, but the overall form seems very retro computer-ish with its angular surfaces and beige color scheme. (Beige?) Accordingly to Jeff Bezos, the Kindle was inspired by the characteristics of what makes a book, a book. Check out the impressive 360 degrees strategic industrial design planning in his interview below:

As well placed as Amazon was to jump into this scrum and maybe move things forward, it was not something the company took lightly. After all, this is the book we’re talking about. “If you’re going to do something like this, you have to be as good as the book in a lot of respects,” says Bezos. “But we also have to look for things that ordinary books can’t do.” Bounding to a whiteboard in the conference room, he ticks off a number of attributes that a book-reading device—yet another computer-powered gadget in an ever more crowded backpack full of them—must have. First, it must project an aura of bookishness; it should be less of a whizzy gizmo than an austere vessel of culture. Therefore the Kindle (named to evoke the crackling ignition of knowledge) has the dimensions of a paperback, with a tapering of its width that emulates the bulge toward a book’s binding. It weighs but 10.3 ounces, and unlike a laptop computer it does not run hot or make intrusive beeps. A reading device must be sharp and durable, Bezos says, and with the use of E Ink, a breakthrough technology of several years ago that mimes the clarity of a printed book, the Kindle’s six-inch screen posts readable pages. The battery has to last for a while, he adds, since there’s nothing sadder than a book you can’t read because of electile dysfunction. (The Kindle gets as many as 30 hours of reading on a charge, and recharges in two hours.) And, to soothe the anxieties of print-culture stalwarts, in sleep mode the Kindle displays retro images of ancient texts, early printing presses and beloved authors like Emily Dickinson and Jane Austen.

But then comes the features that your mom’s copy of “Gone With the Wind” can’t match. E-book devices like the Kindle allow you to change the font size: aging baby boomers will appreciate that every book can instantly be a large-type edition. The handheld device can also hold several shelves’ worth of books: 200 of them onboard, hundreds more on a memory card and a limitless amount in virtual library stacks maintained by Amazon. Also, the Kindle allows you to search within the book for a phrase or name.

Some of those features have been available on previous e-book devices, notably the Sony Reader. The Kindle’s real breakthrough springs from a feature that its predecessors never offered: wireless connectivity, via a system called Whispernet. (It’s based on the EVDO broadband service offered by cell-phone carriers, allowing it to work anywhere, not just Wi-Fi hotspots.) As a result, says Bezos, “This isn’t a device, it’s a service.” ~Source: Newsweek

Perhaps the designers, wanted to break away from the “Apple” effect, and I don’t blame them, but I’m not sure if the result is right for today’s consumer market and that the bookish tactile or haptic aspects does not seem to be well applied. Perhaps it is too literal in form and the graphic comprising of alphabets on the back does not really help. It is difficult to see in the pictures, but I would have liked to seem some heavy texture similar to that of paper bound hard back books. Regardless the detailing and large usable buttons are superb, that to me is the most important, especially in mobile product.

The Kindle also sports the new e-ink, low power consumption high contrast display, that allows for a 30 hour battery life (recharge in 2hrs), and can be viewed under any light source. The amazing thing is that, in the US, Amazon has purchased free Wireless access all around the country via the Sprint mobile network. It’s not Wi-Fi but according to Amazon it is “wireless similar to that of advance mobile phone network” that allows for connection anytime, anywhere. Hmm… I wonder if it is 3G?

Anyways, while that is all great and dandy, the problem is that it is a pay per use model to access the information. In particular access to free information such as blogs (USD$0.99/month) or the latest News, you now have to pay to get it on the Kindle via a system many people liken to the iTunes. While it does it sound to me another way for the high traffic blogs to make affiliate money, the reality is why pay for something when you can get it for free? While I understand the Amazon shop selling novels through the Kindle, charging for News and Blogs to me seems like a contradiction as most people do fine on the computer.

However, we should not discount the fact that it can link to blogs. As described in the Newsweek article, the fact that it is always on, means it has the flexibility for books to be updated, revised or even serialized. I think the greatness of this device is that it will change the way books are written, and I would not surprise if newer versions of it become some kind of blogging platform that allows authors to write their work on and interact with their readers directly.

But what about the identity of this product? Will it be confused as a PC or a PDA? The product seems to be a device targeted as an extension of Amazon’s on-line shop, therefore other than limited access to the Internet, the Kindle can’t do much more. Strange though, as wanting this device to do more does go against what an Internet Appliance is supposed to be, and that is a focused and dedicated device for doing something off the Internet. Many people are already poo-pooing the device in favor for their multi-functional Windows PDA and iPhone.

So then the next question is, are we really ready for dedicated devices? Or do we still want convergent products like the Nokia N-series phones and PDAs? Perhaps people have progressed with technology and are now advanced enough to handle the complexity that comes with multi-function devices? I’ll have to think on this more.

What’s next?

Going forward and looking at the bigger picture, there seems to be an interesting trend of what I like to call the New Age Internet Appliances. These devices will be low cost, but will make money by providing curated Internet content, which is either free (paid for via advertisers) or will charge in either a subscription or pay per use model. Furthermore these Appliances, are also fairly focused as opposed to the general web surfing Audrey of times past. (So we did have a product that can do more? But it does not seem to work as well eh?) It seems these days, selling products only does not cut it. The Product 2.0 era looks like will start with people selling content before they even start selling their product.

Not only that, it is interesting to see that the successful Internet companies who made their money virtually (for example Amazon + Kindle, or Google and the fake Gphone, or Skype and the Skype mobile phone) are coming back and offering tangible solutions as a means for direct access to services. I wont be surprised if there is a Flickr Camera product in the works. It is ironic that Jeff Bezos (CEO Amazon) commented, especially since he founded a business that is an on-line empire:

Books are the last bastion of analog…~Source: Newsweek

Perhaps this is the inspiration for him to create the Kindle? What ever it is consumer electronics of the future will never be the same and it seems to me the business model will need to start on-line virtually before it comes back to the real.

It has been a good number of months since the I’ve last updated my readers on the status of this project. Firstly though I like to apologize to a few of this project’s supporters for this delay but I have not been idle and was working on it during my spare time. I really was waiting for this time to finally give you an update.

Most of you astute readers would have already noticed that The Un-p3 Project is currently being exhibited at the Dandelion Industrial Design Exhibition. Unfortunately due to the entry criteria, that exhibition is really only for “show”. Therefore I thought to continue and expand upon the “tell” part here at Design Sojourn. This will be a great opportunity for you to ask any additional questions or make comments of any kind. Also I get a chance to explain how I went from the Haptic concept, and came up with the Wave one.

The Un-p3 Haptic concept: For more information see links below

If you missed the original conceptual thinking of this project that I am self-developing in the role of a design producer do take a look at Part 1 and Part 2 first for some background information, especially on the above Haptic concept.

I have to admit that it has been difficult realizing this project and even at this stage we are not totally done. After speaking to more designers about the Haptic Concept, the deeper complexities of my objective of this product’s creation process became more evident. So I wondered, perhaps unsatisfied with the current use of wood, that perhaps I should open my thoughts to consider other forms of craft manufacturing type techniques? But there is this problem going the craft route.

You see the when we look at craft vs manufacturing scale below they are actually polar opposites of each other:

The Haptic concept tends to fall on the more craft end of things, and I would rate the Wave concept as in between the two.

Craft manufacturing tends to focus on one off products or small production runs often hand made, but as a result often suffers from tolerencing and perhaps reliability issues. Mass manufacturing strives on standardization and volume, thus the products will have good fit but you need to sell in the numbers. As the project’s experiment was about exploring the use of craft based manufacturing juxtaposed with an electronic product, we need both small volumes, attention to detail, but still have good part fit.

One day while speaking to some friends working on their design project, I had a “euraka” moment. Why not use a Rapid prototype machine? Not only does it allow me some freedom in design (well almost, the RP machine still has restrictions) but it also allows fairly good tolerancing and part fit that is perfect for building electronic products.

So as I got started and studied the creation process via the Rapid Prototyping Machine, I decided very quickly that I had to designed this concept so that it would be difficult to be reproduced via mass-manufacturing. Undercuts, flat edges, thin walls, narrow gaps, living hinges and surface texture were tricks that came into play below.

The Un-p3 Project: Wave Concept

So there you go, the Wave concept. I have to say though it was a very interesting experience as after more than 10 years working on Industrial Design programs, certain manufacturing “givens” like part line placement or designing for draft have been ingrained in my creative creation process. In creating this Wave concept, it required me to spend a few days re-thinking and re-framing what I know about design for manufacturing before I could even set my mind free. I hope you enjoy reading about this project as much as I did creating it.

So if you had a choice on which direction would appeal to you, if I made a limited edition run of 20 pieces which would it be? Perhaps I may do a 10-10 split? Regardless please do have your say and I look forward to all your comments.

Ok the secret is finally out and one of the reasons why I have been “extra” busy during my down time!

After months of work sorting submissions, we have officially launched the Dandelion On-line Exhibition featuring work of designers from Asia and beyond.

It was really great experience, and interestingly enough it felt more like a bunch of friends getting together to show our Industrial Design work. So before I forget, I like to thank all the people who submitted their work to the Exhibition!

Also I like to personally thank py for all her hard work in helping me get the exhibition up and running. It was a great process getting to the end, and we hope you enjoy the Exhibition as much as we did setting it up. Please do let me know what you think?

Now on a high lets get back to regular programming at Design Sojourn!

I’m floored. This is not a trick, nor is it a story out of Star Trek, and best of all its not even a concept. Yesterday, November 01, 2007, Bug Labs launched for the first time to the public, pictures of what to me would be one of the biggest break through in platform product design I have seen to date. I have to say the potential of this product will be endless. Bug Labs, run by some very clever people, has an interesting vision where Peter Semmelhack the CEO explains:

Consumer electronics products come to market today in a way that has not changed in decades. Companies employ smart people who try to divine what the majority of their target customers will want to buy, fund massive market research programs, build expensive production lines, execute huge marketing campaigns and the majority of the time fail to achieve their objectives (see “Innovator’s Solution”, Christensen, “The Change Function”, Coburn).

On Monday, NY Times reporter G. Pascal Zachary wrote an article that succinctly points out where this trend originated - “There is an unbroken line between Henry Ford (with his Model T) and Steve Jobs. The new iPhone similarly reflects the elite, corporate innovator’s drive to find one size that fits many.” It’s an expensive, wasteful model for everyone involved - producers, suppliers, customers and last but not least, the environment.

BUGbase

This product, which I suppose follows along the same lines as the corporate vision, is just called BUG:

BUG is a collection of easy-to-use, open source hardware modules, each capable of producing one or more Web services. These modules snap together physically and the services connect together logically to enable users to easily build, program and share innovative devices and applications. With BUG, we don’t define the final products - you do.

Essentially you first start with a Lego type product (The BUGbase), where by you then mix and match different components (BUGmodules: LCD screen, GPS, Speaker, Teleporter etc.) to build a product that you want or need. This basically throws out of the window the whole marketing problem of consumers asking “Why do I need to pay X dollars more for a feature on a product I don’t need?”.

Wait! There’s more.

The system is smart enough that it would continue to work with each and every new module that comes out. This BUG’s ability to be upgradable and scalable, means complete customization and offers amazing product longevity. I guess I don’t need to highlight the importance of such a product’s (small) impact on the environment and its nod towards fostering sustainable behaviours? Not only that I can imagine the BUG will be a marketers dream as the practice of identifying a target market and/or predicting consumer behaviour will be less important in the equation as mass customization it truly around the corner. We have come very far from our first solution of mass customization, the dinky interchangeable mobile phone covers.

As with many designers, I have played with a modular concept like this for many years and thus this product is very close to my heart. What started as a Teen fashion PDA with interchangeable accessories, my Red-Dot winning Modular Series Home Entertainment Concept is essentially the same idea but centred around audiophile system separates instead. They have succeeded where we have failed. Well done, and by god how I would love to work for a company like this!

Via: The always Crunchy Tech Crunch