Michael DeForge's "Ant Comic"

Fascinating and enrapturing, Michael DeForge's "Ant Comic" series is a hell of a trip with rich, bizarre visuals and some heady sondering.

The story is loosely based on the typical life of an ant colony, with a healthy spattering of anthropomorphic mysticism & existentialism.

It's also a little NSFW, fair warning.

Check out the whole series on Michael DeForge's site!

Soft Robotics & Explosive Chambers

Harvard's silicone based "soft robotics" research has produced some fascinating results; here's a soft-body robot designed with elastic chambers containing a methane / oxygen mix which combusts provided an electric charge. The combustion within the body of the robot causes a violent but reasonably controlled spasm, launching the robot into the air. Sweet.

Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements

The most momentous and glorious discovery I have ever made on the internet.

Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements is an online compendium of technical diagrams (even animations!) for five hundred and seven mechanical movements used in simple machines.

Fascinating and hypnotizing, it's a testament to the quintessential human faculty for engineering.

One look is enough to make you want to drop everything and make like Michel Gondry. Anyone else ridiculously excited about Mood Indigo (L'écume des Jours) by the way?

Designing Bag Melba

One of my first accomplishments for 2013 was an unexpected one, creating my first leather bag from scratch, well almost from scratch.  My desire to do so came a few days before Christmas as I was walking though the airport with my worn-out canvas overnight bag, admiring everyone else (okay maybe not everyone) with they're cool carry-on bags of leather.  I've never invested in a nice overnight bag or duffle and I was sorely wishing I had.  At this point, I just told myself I had to go on a mission to find a good bag that could carry enough for a weekend and still look uber chic without breaking my piggy bank.  

The Composition of a Good Design

We live in a world where we are surrounded by design, from the toothbrush we use to brush our teeth to the style of font in which these words appear.  I was recently told about the documentary Helvetica and it got me to thinking about design and what makes it so effective that it can become nearly timeless.  One thing I found interesting in the independent documentary about typography and graphic design is how Massimo Vignelli compared the composition of typography to music, "it's the space in between the notes that makes the music" and the same rule applies for typography.  Design is a powerful element in our world, it can set the mood and the atmosphere, not only affecting us physically, but mentally as well.  I recommend watching Helvetica, especially if you are of the creative type, it's easily become a one of my favorites and is available on Netflix.  Another one of my favorite documentaries about design, also on Netflix, is Eames: The Architect & The Painter.

As a designer myself, I am constantly trying to figure out what makes a good design.   I think Dieter Rams, a well-known industrial designer, says it best in his ten principles for good design:

1. Good design is innovative
2. Good design makes a product useful
3. Good design is aesthetic
4. Good design makes a product understandable
5. Good design is unobtrusive
6. Good design is honest
7. Good design is long-lasting
8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail
9. Good design is environmentally-friendly
10. Good design is as little design as possible

Read more about Dieter Rams ten principles of design at Vitsoe.

It's interesting how lengthy and complex the process can be only to create something so simple in the end.  No matter how hard I try I can never get around the ten steps forward and nine steps back.  The only way I can ever decide if a design is good is if is functional, beautiful, and if I still like it ten years later.  Unfortunately, my answer takes some considerable time.
What do you think goes into creating a good design?

The Pokeymans Project: a Transmedia Experiment

Here's an excerpt from The Pokeymans Project, a prolific little tumblr where the author and illustrator, Noelle Stevenson, (whose webcomic NIMONA other tumblr are also awesome) takes a submitted description of a real, licensed Pokemon character and attempts to render the character with no other input.

Sundance Winner IRISH FOLK FURNITURE

Have you seen the Sundance winner IRISH FOLK FURNITURE? It's a wonderful little meditation on design and tradition. It delivers nostalgia, aesthetics, humor, and a documentarian style without pretension. Awesome!

Fashion inspiration with a Shiba Inu

Any guys out there who want some spot on and in trend fashion inspiration check this blog out. You don't have to be a guy to enjoy this...trust me!

Looking forward to all the looks to come @ Menswear Dog!
Happy middle of the week!

What is Phenomenology?

Today we're going to talk about a concept you might already be fairly familiar with, even if you haven't had time for much critical thought on the subject before now. Phenomenology literally "the study of that which is apparent", is the study of experience established by Edmond Husserl in the early 20th century. Phenomena (that which appears or is apparent) was defined by Immanuel Kant in his 1781 "Critique of Pure Reason" by its contrast with noumena, a "thing-in-itself".

Via r/Design: Simple, Easy Mockups

Ikea picture frame, printout of your template, dry (or even better, wet!) erase marker.

As efficient as it is to just sketch on your iPad or whatever I still feel there's still too much latency in the task: there's still a more direct mind-to-execution link drawing freehand, on paper or glass. The distribution convenience of the digital interface isn't a problem; it only takes a second to digitize the sketch with a camera phone.

The post is here. Cool.

Science Fiction Design and the Imminence of Space Blimps

Terrifying bat-winged firefighters from a 1910 French post card

The future is so notoriously difficult to foresee that looking back on what was predicted by generations past more often than not looks absurd than clairvoyant. Science fiction authors and designers know this, yet plunge nevertheless into imagining the aesthetics of our future, with varying degrees of predictive success. But as time goes on, history tends to demolish even the tamest predictions, and one small technological development can render an entire potential future impossible - just look at what the internet has done to the clunky future-worlds of Alien or The Terminator.

豊前の家 in Fukuoka - Suppose Design Office

SUPPOSE DESIGN OFFICE built my mind-stretch of the day: a home in Fukuoka, Japan, that implies a tiny village of separate purpose-made structures in place of a unified shelter with separated rooms.

Dwell on Design 2012

This year we made it to the last day of Dwell on Design and I couldn't be happier to have been able to make it. This year was my first time going, but I can tell you now that I'll be going every year. I felt like a kid in a candy store: pretty colors, odd angles, funky textures, and brilliant creatives everywhere. The most invigorating thing about going to events like these is when you leave utterly inspired and motivated to keep creating.

(from left to right // top to bottom)
1. that wooden one person seater is the most comfortable thing my bottom has ever sat on: it's made up of individually loose blocks of wood over cushioning. Think wood meets Tempurpedic.
2.  Vintage serving utensils with painting handles. Isn't this the best idea ever!? Martha Stewart has an amazing selection of craft paints at Michael's.
3. Mini model of 3D on 3D. Remember those childhood 3D books? Add that to some rad architecture and there you got it...the future
4. I love fun storage solutions.

Welcome to aestheticist!

aestheticist is the combined effort of young professionals collecting whatever stretches our minds and informs our work. It's anything that makes you stop and adjust your mental image of the world to make this new addition fit. The result is an ongoing study of context: how is aesthetic contemporarily defined and what communicates aesthetically to the contemporary world?

None of us at aestheticist feign to be journalists; the search for context is a professional obligation that allows each of us to be more effective at our jobs. Between the core contributors and guest contributors, the aestheticist group constitutes photographers, production designers, musicians, animators, and directors. There will always be something new to find at aestheticist!

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