Service Envy

Got this little surprise in my eggs today- my girlfriend cringes but it reassures me, chickens have actually been somewhere near my eggs, I quite like the idea that they might put the feather in to convince the consumer that it was free range. Conversely Jo likes the folded corners on toilet paper- it reassures her that someone has been and cleaned, it creeps me out a little that someone might be watching me... Anyway both are nice examples of something which I believe is reffered to as 'service envy'- a phrase qoined by the people at live|work Eggy FeatherToilet Paper Fold

Augmented Reality

VR?AR?same difference Having just completed a placement at Kin Design and currently hanging about with the nice people at Moving Brands a few really interesting things have passed my way- here is an assortment of my favourite bits and pieces from the AR world.

This is Sticky Light, not sure if it is strictly Augmented Reality but it's super cool so fuck it.

This is an amazing ted talk which I can't quite believe I hadn't seen before- the set up means that data can be projected onto almost any flat surface (a wall, your hand) and interacted with using coloured fingertips and a camera- all for only $200.

Moving Brands

Moving Brands recently released their Moving Identity Paper. The front cover has their logo on it- a programme can recognise this and augment things on top- the real kicker though is that built into the programme is an interface- held straight on there are blog posts, rotate 90 degrees it's images, again and it's tweets, another 90 and it's videos. You can also scroll through previous and next content by moving the book left and right, if you tilt the book it scrolls down longer blogs- seriously incredible and a brilliant example of the principles which are in the book.MB Living Identity

You can use the book to interact with the application which is on their website over here. Or print the glyph off yourself or even, and I think this creates even more potential for this technology, you can draw it yourself. The image above shows the actual cover and my crude, blocky drawing that I used to interact with the programme.

Social Design

mobilebench I found this ace bench somewhere- it's this guy Rogier Martens what made it. I like how it's conceptually interesting and also has a practical application (check his website for pics of it being used in a sort of amateur football club context). It links nicely to this guy that I've been meaning to blog for a bit.

nutella

On the right is an empty Nutella pot which when depleted leaves a glass and a rubber lid thing: which in my quest to discover things that will fit tins as lids I have found works a treat on an old can. This is the fucking bomb, a product where everything gets either consumed or reused- not only that it turns another, otherwise waste, object into a functional useful container again. Forget your hemp weaved nappies or whatever the hell is considered 'eco' these days. I think this kind of design (accidental or not) is the way forward for sustainable consumption (even if those two words sit uncomfortably next to each other).

Google streetmaps

Found this really nice post about Google street maps and using it as a form of photographic art or something- check it out- very nice- heads up for the fat man with the tiny dog: I like how his face is blurred out but I've a feeling that his distinctive frame and pet may give him away). Seriously though- nice documenting and cool essay. Over here at Fag Art City boyz

(it's like they're acting out The Wire or something- and here's me thinking it was all made up- fuck.)

Collected: Project Description

Through collecting, the passionate pursuit of possession finds fulfillment and the everyday prose of objects is transformed into poetry, into a triumphant unconscious discourse. (Jean Baudrillard, The System of Objects, trans James Benedict (London: Verso, 1996) Part B: Ch. 2: A Marginal System: Collecting)

Collected is a research led project into the cultural phenomenon of collectors, collecting, and collections.

The transgressive act of collecting places the collector between the Curator and the Hoarder, between reason and passion, between scholarship and curiosity: where both roles play/struggle with the articulation of boundaries, the completion of series, and the validation of their efforts.

Through exploring and examining the different modes of the collecting process: acquisition, display, organising, and storage, I hope to better understand the motivations and habits of collectors and the effects of their passions.

Feedback welcomed!

Prototype Presentation

This shows my models and my project (on collections etc.) up till now, hopefully in the next 2 weeks it will leap foreard, just gotta find ome cardboard and enthusiasm, but it'll come.