working spaces

The Eames' work space really interested me. I loved all the colors and pictures. I love taking pictures of everything, and other pictures definitely inspire me, either to travel or cook or take more pictures. My work space is usually messy like the Eames' but not always as organized, but too clean distracts me. I also liked all the knick-knacks, some from around the world and some just personal favorites. I have bottles, shells, and glass birds on my personal shelf, and pictures on the wall, and they always inspire happy thoughts and thus, my creativity can flow. So as I looked for an inspiring work space, I looked for color, and individuality. I also hate sitting down for too long so I didn't want boring cubicles. Thus I found Pixar. The animation studio is based on creativity so work environment has to inspire to continue the creative process. Pixar is colorful, playful, and doesn't have boring cubicles. They have interesting cut outs with arches and some cubicles are really garden sheds that the animator has decorated to their liking.

James Dyson

Charles and Ray Eames’ were true design thinkers, who strived to create products with more efficiency and with new design and looks. As I began to think about a design thinker of my own, I tried looking at medical designers but none had done many designs. I was looking for someone like Ray and Charles, who kept working on new products and had widened their field of design. Thus I found James Dyson, a modern design thinker. Early on, Dyson had been an art student and attended Royal College of Art in England where he found a passion in architecture. But instead of designing houses, Dyson designed a high speed landing craft, and soon after the Ballbarow, a wheelbarrow with a plastic bin, robust feet and instead of a wheel, a big red ball that wouldn’t sink in the mud.
Then Dyson was on his own and soon created his product that he is most famous for, his cyclone vacuum. Becoming inspired from his frustrations of his conventional vacuum losing suction, and the huge cyclone machine he observed at the local sawmill, Dyson made 5,127 prototypes and created the DC01, the first vacuum that didn’t lose suction and used cyclone technology. Dyson faced challenges as UK and US markets wouldn’t sell his product, but he found success when it was launched in Japan and it became widely popular. Problems aroused when other vacuum manufacturers began copying his technology, but his patent helped settle the case in court.
Since then, Dyson has continued to improve his vacuum cleaners, his latest model incorporating a ball for easier maneuvering (and it is quite fun, I love vacuuming with it). His company in England employs more than 350 engineers and scientists that help him create and improve the designs. His designs have reached beyond vacuums now, with a high-speed hand dryer that scrapes the water off of your hands, to a bladeless fan that uses airplane technology. Dyson is also experimenting with textiles and has also created an optical illusion water fountain for an art exhibit call The Wrong Garden. He strives to create products that are more efficient and more convenient, and also encourages young designers and engineers by holding contests for creating or improving designs.

http://www.dyson.com/homepage.asp

powers of ten

In class on Tuesday (1/19/10) we viewed Eames' film Powers of 10 which explored the universe as we know it, from the tiny protons and neutrons to the vast emptiness of space. What I took from Eames' film was the more obvious "there are bigger things out there" but also how miraculous we as a species came to be. The universe is harsh and it just so happened that our little rocky planet was just close enough to our little sun to allow life to flourish. Nature was not in mankind's favor. We are built by microscopic atoms, and thus far, have managed to survive and thrive on Earth. Going along with that is the other message from the film, the bigger issues. Our species has been at war constantly, either with nature or each other. Our problems today, such as global climate change, energy shortages, recession, and war are really insignificant when one looks at the universe. We are insignificant to the universe; so small and vulnerable. I think Eames' was trying to point that out, that are problems are nothing compared to the rest of the universe. Yet I also think that in showing us our insignificance, Eames' hopes to show humanity that we are all together in the universe. Instead of fighting against, we should work with one another to better our small world.

On another topic, we were asked to ponder the definition of "design thinking." To me, design thinking is the process of thought that is used to fix or better or even figure out something. That something could be an actual design, such as for a new cell phone or a house, but also for everyday life, i.e. how to get to class on time or as we experienced on Tuesday, finding an empty classroom to hold class. I truly think we use "design thinking" everyday, and I guess some may even go as far as calling it "problem solving," but I like "design thinking" better.

As for my picture, I chose Leonardo Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man." I think Da Vinci was using "design thinking" when he sketched this, and it also shows the amazing design of our species.

http://hilarygardner.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/man-leonardo-da-vinci1.jpg