Readymade News

An Illustrated Weekly World of Design, 07 July 2009

 

Often good design uses the bare minimum to achieve great solutions. Matthias Ries has developed the Bottleclip, a simple reworked bottle cap that attaches to a bicycle frame allowing most bottled drinks to be taken for that leisurely ride. We also like this design because it is a similar to one of our ideas, the Safer Paraffin Cap. Via designboom (and have a look at their amazing article on bamboo scaffolding).

More clever stuff, this time from Royal College of Art graduate Min-Kyu Choi, who has designed a folding version of the standard UK electrical plug. The solution seeks to address the problem of the large size of a standard UK plug, see how it works here. 'When people carry laptops with U.K plugs in a bag, it always causes problems such as tearing paper, scratching laptop surfaces and, sometimes, it breaks other stuff. The main problem is the UK standard 3-pin plug is not considered in the process of designing for mobility. Min-Kyu Choi has also designed a USB charger version and Multi Flat Plug, which allows three devices to share power from one plug that takes up more or less the same amount of space as a standard plug.' Dezeen.

Good interview at Product Design Hub with Mikael Lugnegård an industrial designer who prefers to be a called a concept artist. Here is some advice from Mikael; 'practice is without a doubt the key when it comes to this kind of craftsmanship. But I have found one other personal quality that is just as important. Passion!! You really need to love this stuff otherwise you won´t have the endurance to develop your skills, have the energy to experiment, spend long hours on intricate renderings etc etc. Passion is KEY. Sure practice is essential, but if you lack the "internal fire", the passion, your work will never be as charismatic as it really could be. It´s very easy to see if people love what they´re doing by just looking at their work. Just look at Slatan and Ronaldo, they love football and we love to watch them play. It´s the same thing with design. We love to watch passionate designers at work.' Read more on how to be the best designer in the world from Brian Ling writing for Yanko Design. 

Another interview worth reading, this time between Design Droplets' Raph Goldsworthy and Ralf Beuker discussing design and business, design management and strategic design. Ralf has some good slides from on flickr, the one above is Design Strategy, download the full size here.

We mentioned WikID last week, a wiki based site that documents design tools, methods and techniques, now the Design Council UK has launched Methodbank, an open source collection of design methods.

   

An Illustrated Weekly World of Design, 16 March 2009

 
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Another great product launch this week is the Phillips MASTER LED bulb, one of the best designs this year. Why? Because it is not a radically new form, it resembles a regular light bulb, making user adoption less difficult.
 

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Another new product launched this week is the new iPod shuffle, apart from the small size, the 'innovation' lies in the VoiceOver, a clever add on that tells the owner what song he/she is listening to. Is this a gimmick to sell more products, or will it be useful in the near future?

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"Ultimately my job as a designer is to look at the future", Objectified. What are the stories that product designers have to tell? Gary Hustwit's film Objectified explores the creative processes of some of the world’s most influential product designers, and looks at how the things they make impact our lives. The film was officially launched at SWSW at the weekend.

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And what better depiction of the future can we find in science fiction? An interesting article in the Guardian citing Julian Bleeker on how science fiction helps technology design, some of the examples mentioned include The Minority Report. But perhaps one of the best examples not mentioned is Bladerunner, inspiration for many designer since it was released in 1982. Essentially science fiction movies are in a sense prototypes. "science fiction objects are just like engineering or design prototypes – except, in many ways, they are even more effective", Bleeker.

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Hard to believe the internet is just 20 years old, it was in 1989 that Sir Tim Berners-Lee proposed a "vague, but exciting" concept". What's next; Sir Tim Berners-Lee said "new changes are going to rock the world even more", BBC. Watch more about the next web here.

   

No newsletter for next few weeks

Greetings,

While I've come to enjoy sending out this newsletter every week, I must announce that it will be on hiatus for the next three or so weeks - travel beckons me to the north of England and then London and I doubt I'll be able to keep up with the online news during this time.

Here's an interesting article on the development of a texting patois in India, Bruce Nussbaum's look at the design industry and its future.

Enjoy!

Niti

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design - March 11th, 2007

Innovation! Finally something that isn't just a shiny happy version of an existing product only smaller, lighter, thinner or with more GB Ram. This is a fire alarm for the hearing impaired that is designed to look like a wristwatch. Here is a lovely diagram that explains how it all works.

Being green is now officially big business, big news and a big trend. STOP. This week we decided to check the pulse of dear old Gaia to see what's up. Is the USA on the tipping point of going green or are they just confused with St Patrick's Day festivities? Will the EU make good on their Green Summit promises or will be just be like that last ten year plan? What ever will the Green politicians do? The urgency of the need to change mass production, lifestyles, consumption habits within this decade if not less, implies an emerging opportunity space for the design industry. However, what took 50 years of sustained investment in mass media and advertising to create - consumers - may not be so easily susceptible to change. The irony? Anything promoted as good for the environment is a luxury for your average newsletter editor, available at a premium. But for some, the choice is far dearer.

Will the moped be the next key generator of wealth in developing economies? Neelankantan's observations on life in Bangalore seem to imply that the moneymaking combination of having a phone in your pocket while sitting on your office isn't just for executives with big shiny SUVs.  As an honorary member of the Moped Army, I can confirm all of the above plus the TVS 50XL gives you 60km for the liter if not more and can easily carry three adults. Here's a snippet,

Even today, in Bangalore mopeds serve scrap sellers, buffalo owners (you gotta see the amount of grass that a moped can hold), vegetable sellers, milkmen and a host of other entrepreneurs. All over India (though mostly in South), mopeds are a common sight and they are the preferred vehicle for most small entrepreneurs until they graduate to a bike.[100 cc city motorcycles]

Around the world at the bottom of the pyramid [how soon before that term is made offensive?] mobiles are making their mark in improving health care facility operations and reach, particularly in the remotest of areas. Starchitects will converge on Cape Town to build 10 homes for shanty dwellers in an experimental project called 10x10. A pilot program which intends to use post offices in order to provide loans and microfinance to small self help groups is underway in South India - India Post has the longer more established presence where banks can barely afford to reach. In a parallel universe - the makeshift or jugaad - gets another look juxtaposed with thoughtless acts, even as the NYT exclaims over cheap sneakers that are -gasp - fast becoming a name brand product. The shoemakers say, quite rightly,

Todd argues that big-name brands build advertising costs into their prices, which are set as high as they think the market will bear, in contrast to the discount model of the lowest possible markup, paying off in sheer volume....

This is interesting in part because the prevailing wisdom among many marketers is that nobody wants things that are “available to all” anymore — that’s why pricey customized or limited-edition sneakers are popular. It’s also interesting because plenty of big-name discounters sell cheap sneakers and clothes, but few if any have enjoyed glowing, power-to-the-people media treatment. (Wal-Mart leaps to mind.)

Innovation and invention can happen anywhere there is a gaping void.  Ethiopian undergraduate students have developed a basic UI for the mobile phone in Amharic in order to better help their fellow citizens use available technology whose menu sets are in English. [via Textually] They are seeking funding and help to finish their project and spread the software. Here's the snippet:

“Our progress to go this far with limited resources as students made us view this project seriously and push on until we see our people use this product,” says Solomon. “Therefore, with an interested partner who is willing to invest on the realization of the need for Amharic mobile menu software and with consultation we have started with Nokia, we will soon be able to provide this product to the market.”

Readymade is proud to announce their nomination for the INDEX 2007 awards and would like to thank David Stairs for his help and support. The Safer Paraffin Distribution System uses a combination of recycled plastic bottles and a child proof pouring mechanism to reduce paraffin poisoning and shack fires. Also known as kerosene, it is a popular cooking and heating fuel in much of the developing world. Also in news this week, a backpack sized machine that pulls oxygen out of the air designed for those who have to carry their oxygen with them.

Allan Chochinov, Editor and partner, Core77 confesses he is afraid of the internet while speaking at the Schools of Thought conference on design education and its future. What childhood trauma caused this fear? The design process? No words can summarize this descriptive prose by Stephen Bayley writing about designer Luigi Colani as an exhibit of his work opens,   

'Germans are obedient,' he told me. 'They are all cubic. You can put them on a shelf. I am a ball.'
In Colani, like all creative geniuses, an engaging personality flirts with psychosis; he has an absolutely clear world-view and practises it with total consistency, as blind as a mouse to matters of relevance, taste, technological feasibility, financial, market or real world limitations.

Not to be left behind, the Australians have their very own unusual designer to fawn over, Ken Cato,

Cato was instrumental in raising the profile of design in Australia, especially in the role it had to play helping bluechip businesses. And yet, here he is pronouncing the power of the corporate logo all but dead — for reasons that won't exactly thrill author Naomi Klein of No Logo fame.

These days, says Cato, logos alone are not enough. In the '80s, companies ran amok, stamping logos everywhere, proving they were big and strong and dominant.

"All the banks did that. And what did the consumer think? The consumer went, 'Well, who cares?' For me, 1989 was a watershed. At nearly 20 years of having my business, to decide that everything I'd done was essentially wrong."

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An Illustrated Weekly of World Design - March 4th, 2007

There's bling and then there is bling. More and more, new products introduced seem to be underscoring Dan Pink's Well curve of what's really happening in the market. There is no middle class, anymore, it seems. At least when it comes to purchasing patterns. Talking about patterns, what's up with Nokia and Motorola both sponsoring fashion design competitions in Ireland all of a sudden? Is this the start of a global rerun of Coke vs. Pepsi?

Trends spotted this week: Mobile phones used to buy burgers.  People are getting addicted to mobile devices. Ergo, burger sales increasing. Anyway, here are the 'official' 2007 design trends for packaging; new product innovation; design sojourn's opinion on Top 5 consumer trends;  interiors; fashion and accessories;  shower heads;  products; online and web 2.0  logos and the kitchen sink.

While others debate the masculinity of the idea, we applaud this solar panel purse that charges your cellphone while you shop. Sony launches this cute Walkman with video playback. Delft University releases this learning toy designed to help autistic children with their language skills. Vanderbeeken points us to Nokia Research that shows how mobiles can be used for car sharing in the future. And finally, how new inventions can totally crash and burn in the market as a cautionary tale from Pfizer.

This article accompanying the very obvious cartoon shown discusses the impending doom now about to descend on the UK design industry from India and China. Similar predictions in the US media have been frequent over the past three or four years - so the question remains - is the empire striking back or no?  More interesting is the Beeb's well written analysis of the global auto industry and its ups and downs in the past few years. Fitch enters India, wonders how they missed it. See above.

As expected, here is the long awaited design industry boom in China. INSEAD recently surveyed the CEO's of 66 Asian companies on their thoughts on innovation and design. InHabitat shares a step by step guide to greening graphic design. The International Herald Tribune has two read worthy articles - one that discusses the evolving logo as the new brand strategy as executed by Google; the other about the need for simpler and more intuitive interface design accompanied by a slideshow on the iPhone.

Communicating across cultures takes on a new twist with this interesting look at the Mac & PC story from around the world.  Henna inspired jewellery is being launched in Switzerland.  Sony India launches an innovative new design for laptops that double as state of the art home entertainment systems - seems they've given local customer needs some thought. One experienced designer's thoughts on the evolving role of design in new product development.  And finally "the world" is voting on the new 7 wonders of the world it seems.

Finally, some recommended reading this week - Paris runways show the influence of global shifts in design thinking and innovation, trending towards simplicity and minimalism.  Karen von Hann analyses the trends she sees in the Cooper Hewitt's latest exhibition, calling it "the perfect futurist marriage between the old and the new".  And lastly, one wonders, on reading this paean to Acumen Venture Fund's social upliftment work in India, when some funds and design skills will stay home to improve the quality of life in New Orleans or the inner cities.

Lack of money is no longer the major hindrance to solving many of the world's most vexing social problems. Philanthropists such as Gates, Warren Buffett, Richard Branson, and Joan Kroc now make gifts in the billions. Charitable giving in the U.S. has jumped 23% in the past four years.

Rather, there's a paucity of creative ideas. "It's all about innovation," says Brown. He explains that using the methodology of design can solve social, as well as business, problems. "We're pretty good at taking a bunch of disparate components and figuring out the solution," he says.

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An Illustrated Weekly of World Design

The Toyota Way to making friends and influencing people has been evident in the spread of media of late. Metacool brings it to our notice, with this snippet,

How does Toyota win?  By coming an evidence-based culture with an eye to the long view.  By investing in incremental innovations to build long-term brand equity, and investing the payback in revolutionary innovations like the Prius.  By paying attention to technical details and to the humans who design and build the cars and those who service and drive them.

BusinessWeek on the other hand says,

But there's another drama behind the carmaker's tire-squealing momentum. It's a story that might be called: How Toyota is winning the hearts and minds of America.

With a deft combination of marketing, public relations, and lobbying, Toyota has done a remarkable job over the past 20 years of selling itself as an American company. That drives the Big Three to distraction. Here's Chrysler communications chief Jason Vines: "The thing I resent is Toyota wrapping themselves in the American flag," he says. "We still employ more people and contribute more to the economy."

Soon, you will be able to carry your very own supply of inflammable biofuel on your head for all your mobile power needs, if not, you can also jog, run or dance the jitterbug to recharge your cellphone based on the principles of kinetic energy. Green power sources are entering the home, even as  Japanese hybrid microwaves claim to emit less CO2.

 

 

How would you rebrand Africa? While ministers meet to decide; Readymade's founder, Tasos Calantzis reports live from Design Indaba - what's proving to be the biggest collection of eminent designers in one location - Cameron Sinclair, Massimo Vignelli, Milton Glaser, Neville Brody and Tasos of course! Even as Mayor Bloomberg faces bouquets and brickbats for the NYC Condom Project, South Africa's design and innovation industry demonstrates what's truly important. This condom applicator has been voted "the most beautiful object in South Africa" by the judges. Meanwhile, Botswana has announced the opening of the Limkokwing University, here's an enlightening snippet,

The Limkokwing-Botswana collaboration serves to transform Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana, into an innovative education hub for Africa. The largest creative-driven university in Asia, and the only one of its kind offering a unique brand of innovative education,
[...]
Being industry-based, Limkokwing can easily focus on producing workers for the real world, a new generation of graduates who are equipped with greater professional experience and the ability to adapt quickly to the fast-evolving international business world.

Limkokwing's campus in Gaborone is set to address the needs of the progressive nation that has the potential to provide the leadership Africa needs to integrate with the rapidly advancing global economy. Botswana needs to tap the energy of its young to forge ahead and this is where Limkokwing should be able to play an effective role.

As we debate what to call this trend, South African entreprenuers are showing how they used lessons learnt under the challenging constraints of a developing nation in order to succeed in China's chaotic economy. China responds by assisting Nigeria launch its first telecommunications satellite into space, always a new frontier!

This week's video: The Importance of Design by students at the Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland.  The film features a group of students tackling a real-life design problem through project based learning, where they control the learning process from beginning to end. The point is made that creative minds are what Ireland will need to ensure its future prosperity. This short video on the green design happening in China is also worth a look.

Random design news this week includes Nintendo starting rumours about its concept designs for a hardware revision. Tributes are paid to the The "Amazing Dr. NakaMats" as well as the designer of The Chair, the late Hans Wegner. A highly descriptive article of how an interior design firm managed to successfully design the workspace for Electronic Arts. Newly released research shows that the non repeating mosaic designs in Isfahan, Iran, are based on mathematical techniques not discovered by the West for another 500 years. PSFK ponders whether British Design has gone cheesy, put off strongly by their recent visit to London. Yawn, Apple wins the DesignWeek 07 awards for one of its iPod variations, so what else is new? Vaseline's advertising agency sounds surprised to discover that different cultures have different feelings about the appropriate level of nudity on television.

Nokia seems to be moving up the "Well Curve" with a recent spate of press about haute couture phones such as the "Powder pink with Pearl necklace" shown above by Italian designer Gianbattista Valli. Figures released by this UK survey that tracks the reasons for choosing a particular handset design against age group show that for the youngest demographic of 18 to 24 year olds - also the ones with the most disposable income - is simply "style", "looks" or "cool design". One feels like saying quid pro quo somehow - could these high profit margin trends somehow subsidize full featured smartphones for the bottom of the pyramid?

Emerging markets sales numbers in 2006 imply greater volumes for growth - something Sony Ericsson, who showed 46% growth in numbers of handsets sold globally last year, seems to be focusing on India even as Lenovo plans a stealth campaign. The converged future may just well emerge from India, as Bollywood showed up at the 3GSM Congress to learn how best to leverage the small screen trend.

This newsletter was brought to you by Readymade and Niti Bhan. If you liked it and want to share it here's the URL to cut and paste: http://readymade.typepad.com/readymade_news/

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An Illustrated Weekly of World Design - February 18th, 2007

Kong Hee Fatt Choy as the Cantonese say, lets celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Fire Pig with a quick look at Chinese design this week. In typical Chinese fashion, after much gadget blog debate, Meizu has confessed to copying Apple's iPhone design but LG Prada seem to have formalized their accusation against Apple on copying their design. Meanwhile Vodafone, currently the worlds largest mobile service provider has signed up with handset ODM ZTE to produce special low cost phones for emerging markets - after last week's purchase of Hutchinson ESSAR in India, they seem to be planning ahead for their new market growth. Here's a range of lucky red MP3 players to browse if you're feeling prosperous or follow the green design boom as the Australians seem to be doing, by building a brand new eco friendly city from scratch,

"It's part of that moving towards a greater consciousness of cultural and environmental issues in designing cities." It'll also be a brand new city for inner Mongolians, designed by Australians. "It's a moment in history, really," Heenan says. "We happen to be in a time when there is a lot of good thinking about cities and it's able to happen. This is a very, very rare opportunity, but it's enormously daunting as well because we're coming up with the ideas but they are going to be living it, so it had better be good."

In more 'green' news this week - this 'Tron' looking three wheeled 100mpg concept is going to be built by Venture Vehicles and could be either a hybrid or pure plug in electric. More interesting is this survey that notes that the majority of fuel efficient, clean car models are unavailable in the US even as customers indicate they would prefer to purchase such vehicles. There is also an increasing preference for 'green' household products particularly cleaning products even as this US based Maid Brigade franchise goes 'green' by using only sustainable and eco friendly cleaning supplies. HP launches eco-friendly cartridge packaging continuing their commitment to DfE while managing to get more packs on the same shelf space with the redesign. Finally here's an informative interview of a designer who specializes in eco-friendly shoes and discusses what it means to design with these self imposed constraints,

Designing with an eco mentality means you have a real boundary. Doing a hemp sandal is one thing, but trying to make something really competitive and modern and interesting is actually quite hard with the eco mentality. Constraints are interesting, though; we aim for Terra not to look like an eco brand, but to look interesting and timeles. The eco ethos is built-in.

Richard Branson has just announced The Virgin Earth Challenge which will award US$25 million to the individual or group who are able to demonstrate a commercially viable design which will result in the net removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases each year for at least ten years without countervailing harmful effects. This removal must have long term effects and contribute materially to the stability of the Earth’s climate. Challenge is the right word, as Nepal uncovers a vital design challenge - how to manage human waste removal from the remote regions of the Himalayas, as further south Chennai based NEPC launches solar power equipment that can run a computer, lighting, fans - enough to support a small shop, house or even restaurant, they claim. Students at Duke University's biomedical program were challenged to design and build a contraption to capture rainwater for $20 or less, earlier classes have built medical equipment under similar constraints. Ton Zjilstra blogs in detail about the 2007 recipients of the Medinge Group's prestigious "Brands with a Conscience" which include IKEA, Freeplay and Virgin of course. Here's the description:

In 2004 the Medinge Group published for the first time a list of brands that the group thinks show that it is possible for brands to succeed as they contribute to the betterment of the society by sustainable, socially responsible and humanistic behavior. Judging nominees takes place on principles of humanity and ethics, rather than financial worth. The Brands with a Conscience list is evaluated on criteria including evidence of the human implications of the brand and considering the question of whether the brand takes risks in line with its beliefs. Evaluations are made based on reputation, self-representation, history, direct experience, contacts with individuals within the organizations, media and analysts and an assessment of the expressed values of sustainability.

Brands without a conscience include Camel who have splashed out with "innovative" packaging to secure the female smoker with a new brand extension called Camel No. 9; one doubts it will smell remotely like Chanel. Heinz redesigned their bottle doing user observations in just 9 homes and still can't make up their minds if this is a good thing or not. Ping Mag takes a look at quirky snack packaging design in Japan [where else?] while Adidas teams up with Porsche Design to uber design a range of sportwear. Finally, in a mind boggling display of brand extension GE launches a range of digital cameras - wither wind turbines, generators, jet engines et al?

Alumni of the Imperial College London have designed this durable, inflatable concrete shelter for use in relief and aid work [and military of course] as design students prototype Bulgaria's first home grown car.  100% Design have rebranded their organization based on its structure, if the logos look familiar, say like x.mas, that's because the new branding is by Pentagram. Vanderbeeken points us to "10 Touchpoints" a national initiative to encourage Singaporeans to observe and recommend better design details in their daily lives, while Wired feels that this bone conducting headset from Japan is a good idea but could do with some "cool" design input - 100 examples of Japanese design are going on display in Toronto soon.. Finally, a look at strange laptops you'll never see at your local computermart.

India's design industry has been buzzing with the recent ratification of the National Design Policy by the Government of India followed by an MoU being signed between Pininfarina and the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad as an example of recent Indo-Italian cooperation, particularly in design. NID has also received Rupees 10 million from Autodesk to create a Chair, found an Innovation Center and fund research. Meanwhile, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, speaking in New Delhi this week, asked the IT industry what they could do for their country in a speech worth reading, even as the country basks in reflected pride of billion dollar global acquisitions by Indian giants like Tata and Marico. Intriguingly, Toyota the more or less largest automaker in the world, has begun focusing on an ultra low cost car  but can they reach Tata's price of approx $ 2500?  Here's a snippet,

The reason behind the new focus is to undercut Renault's low-cost car, the Logan, which that company is targeting for emerging markets in Asia and Eastern Europe. [...] The design will have to be radical to undercut Renault's Logan, which costs about $6,200. But the strategy makes perfect sense for one reason: the so-called fortune at the bottom of the pyramid -- the idea that a huge business opportunity exists in targeting products at the rapidly growing number of middle- and lower-class people around the world.

 

The 3GSM Conference last week in Barcelona has provided much fuel for avid mobile industry watchers everywhere - here's a summary. Moto talks about design and innovation and Bollywood stars, while Palm claims they'd never dream of using design [I think they mean styling, their description sounds like good user centered design to me] even as some claim RIM's lost their design touch with the newest Blackberry. Whatever, the key innovations are not taking place in handset design but in applications that made a difference - banking, microfinance, cash remittances and funds transfer via the cellphone - so much so that it was said in Barcelona that it could replace the wallet soon. GrameenPhone was presented with the GSM Association’s Global Mobile Award for “Best use of mobile for social and economic development” for its HealthLine telemedicine service - Nicholas Sullivan author of You Can Hear me Now, the story behind GrameenPhone writes on his blog. Then there are the British, who have just voted the mobile phone the second worst invention to plague them right after weapons of war. Go figure!

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An Illustrated Weekly of World Design - February 12th, 2007

Barefoot and illiterate, but also accomplished solar engineers, these women are graduates of Bunker Roy's Barefoot College in Tilonia, Rajasthan. Speaking at the DesignwithIndia conference last week, along with Dr. Vishakha Desai of the Asia Society and Bruce Nussbaum, Asst Mg Editor, BusinessWeek here are three different points of view on India's role in global design and innovation. Just in time, the Government of India has ratified the National Design Policy, even as ICOGRADA's Mumbai Design Week kicks off at the IDC at IIT, Powai. 

 

India's certainly taking the lead this week in the new 'green' revolution as the Beeb reports on this biofuel developed to power mobile phones in villages where there is no electricity supply.  Meanwhile,  our favourite researcher Jan Chipchase of Nokia  has just released some fascinating insights into literacy and mobile phone design, a subject close to your editor's heart. BusinessWeek adds that corporations need to be more responsible than just going green and how this helps their bottom line even as VC firms like Kleiner Perkin's Vinod Khosla break away to focus solely on this trend. What's the worst that can happen? Here's a possible answer.

    

Guess who is finally coming to dinner? The Smart ForTwo as it will be named for the US market, is rumoured to be launched finally by early 2008. One can hardly wait for a car just the right size. A "Cellular-Book Rollable Display Mobile Device" will be launched in Barcelona next week at the 3GSM Association Conference. From the sound of it this just may well be the precursor to the real $100 handheld that will bridge the digital divide. Eager not to be left behind by LG Prada and to leave Apple's iPhone behind, Samsung has just launched their version of a touchscreen phone. Incomprehensively, this late in the game, Kodak launches inkjet printers on a price leadership platform  while HP reiterates just why they're the leading brand in this segment  -  they design with the consumer in mind.

And in the "mobile phones you can't have" category we have a slide show of what's available in Japan as well as this patent filed for something that many are claiming is already in the market - an upside down mobile phone. BenQ Siemens has a product think tank envisioning future concepts and here's the droolworthy collection including the bracelet shown above. More concept design here. All links courtesy David Tait.

Around the design world - Carole Bilson, VP of Global design and usability at Pitney Bowes, has been selected to have her work showcased at Black Creativity 2007: Designs for Life, an exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago, which showcases 30 African-American industrial designers. The exhibit runs through Feb. 28. According to the museum's profile, Bilson is the "first black woman in the nation to hold an executive position to lead a design and usability department within a major corporation." Says Bilson,

"In Ghana I climbed mango trees, played soccer with boys on the street and I especially loved taking things apart and putting things back together," said Bilson, who is married to an attorney and is the mother of a 17-month-old daughter. "It was not unusual (in Ghana) for kids to make their own toys because you just couldn't run out and buy them. It was very typical to develop creativity and innovation at an early age."

Denmark is launching a new support and services network for user - driven innovation; a pilot project that is expected to start in May and last one year. IDEO's Iain Roberts speaks on good industrial design in Michigan even as Adrian Shaughnessy writes a searing essay on advertising and the commodification of creativity titled "I sold my soul and I love it" on Design Observer. Meanwhile Dean Takahashi writes a wonderful review of Steve Wozniak's autobiography which he assures us has the true story behind Apple's design genius. Meanwhile on a sober note Jack Yan points us to this documentary on Chinese sweatshop labour as does this Core77 article on one designer following the supply chain to the sweatshops of Manila to see who were the people who actually made his product designs. Eyeopening and thoughtprovoking.

The need for more rigor in design methodology and processes is made by Steve Portigal in this incisive look at bad survey design by students. He places the blame squarely on the professors who teach them. Whirlpool's design chief Chuck Jones talks to FastCompany about the biggest challenge facing the mature design industry - how to account for the return on your investment in design? Here's one look at calculating the ROI of design. Isabel Toledo's fashion design philosophy has been likened to the classical industrial design tradition of the Eames and Claire McCardell by the New York Times. And finally this "leaked memo" from Michael Dell to his employees on his plans to turn Dell around makes me want to post it just to be asked,

Product Group will shorten design cycles, increase speed and innovation/design that create real differentiated value for our customers. We will transition to a light touch ODM (original design manufacturer) model. [ed's note: what does this mean?]

We're going to introduce new brands and products with a focus on Consumer and Small Business. We will ensure quality, stability and predictability for our larger customers. We will complete our dual processor supplier strategy.

We'll restore loyalty and continue CE improvement focusing on the activities with the best ROI. We will bring excitement and pride back to our brand.

In emerging markets, we'll take new approaches and introduce new products. [ed's note: we can do this! call us now!]

 

This newsletter was brought to you by Readymade and Niti Bhan. If you liked it and want to share it here's the URL to cut and paste: http://readymade.typepad.com/readymade_news/

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An illustrated weekly of world design - February 5th, 2007

This is but one of the droolworthy ten finalists of Peugeot's Car of the Future competition 2007 while this article summarizes the green and hybrid aspects that seemed to be prevalent in this year's selection. Smart car, yet to enter the US market, has been facing roadbumps, while Korean Kia has just launched their first "designed and built and sold only in Europe" car. And to round off this week's auto collection is this indepth interview with J.Mays, the man credited with the Beetle's revival and current head of Ford Motor Company design. Here's a snippet,

Dike Blair: Was it a shock to you and the industry when you were offered the Ford job?

J. Mays: It was a very big surprise because I had left the automotive industry mainstream in 94. I'd made a very conscious decision after the launch of the Beetle product to really reevaluate how you design cars and examine consumers reactions to them. That decision led me to leave Audi and form a consultancy group with SHR in order to rethink the whole idea of how we go about designing a vehicle. And it really changed my entire thought process in terms of how I approach automotive design. It's no longer just about what J. likes. It's also about what the customer's needs are and giving them a visual receipt. It's about being more for the customer than just seeing and driving a product, it's about a total sensory experience.

Today's newsletter is a day early because Jugaad launches this week in New York. Readymade founder Tasos Calantzis will attend the Design With India strategy session along with Zago LLC principal, Manuel Toscano. John Trenouth of Spire Innovation, Vancouver joins us the next day.  To kickstart India's advent on the global  arena is the 2005 NID/Businessworld Lifetime Achievement Award winning Cornell architect Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons who has been making waves with his recent billion dollar purchase of Corus Steel, giving the Tata brand entry into the 100 most valuable global brands list in 2007. The Times of India even claims that the Tata Group is now larger than The Coca Cola Company!

Indian design education gets a boost as Autodesk partners with the National Institute of Design to establish the "Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Digital Innovation" and a Research Chair for "Design Education Innovation" at the institute. The media finally notices the emphasis being placed on design and innovation by India and China, even as the mobile handset makers are waking up to the potential volumes for affordable phones in mofussil India.

That's why global handset makers are shifting product-development efforts and marketing strategies to emerging markets. For instance, Motorola last November launched the Motofone in India after spending two years researching life in rural Indian villages to gain better insight on the phones it ought to design.
[...]
While the growth outlook is spectacular in India, it's a very tough market from which to extract profitable growth. Most of the truly robust growth is in rural India, home to 75% of the country's 1 billion-plus population. And handset manufacturers are faced with the tough task of delivering functional but low-priced handsets (in the under-$50 range) designed to meet the needs of low-income users.

Now that the Motofone's demonstrated the value in understanding the rural customer's needs and aspirations with respect to handset design, its time to focus on developing appropriate applications for this demographic. The rural Indian customer has particular needs, says Bangalore based strategy consultant Harish Bijoor, and has to be approached with empathy not just stripped down design at a cheaper price or the now ubiquitous sachet.

Desi designers in the news - Simrit Brar, ex NID now working with Smart Design in NYC is interviewed by DNA on her work designing Bollywood posters for hits such as Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai.  Bollywood also discovers the power of product merchandising - there goes the hindi picture experience! Vyas Giannetti Studio has designed the the just released  first ever BBC World India centric marketing campaign which apparently focuses on the Beeb's core identity while supporting it with local content. Mind you, they're still reporting their own stories in situ. Finally, Vizag's Steel Plant decides to boost its sagging sales by giving away free samples of redesigned bullock carts made from steel instead of the traditional wood and bamboo.

What is that? Its a student concept for a non invasive malaria tester designed on an African theme for a GE Innovation project at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena. This fascinating patent application is by Sony Ericsson for a mobile handset cradle which effectively turns the cellphone into a full blown home multimedia center. Long suffering Hoover finally gets some attention and mayhaps Dyson will finally see some competition? The Up series of documentaries by director Michael Apted have been called " ... BY FAR, the most important anthropological and sociological work in the history of mankind. Not Gibbons’ Decline And Fall, not Margaret Mead, not Kinsey, not even the work of Dian Fossey". The 2007 Design Business Association (DBA) Inclusive Design Challenge which is run in conjunction with the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the RCA has released summaries of their 5 nominated finalists - the challenge aims to advance ideas and best practice in socially inclusive design.

Worth a quick look is this take on the future of the smartphone, a wellwritten look at what the launch of the iPhones and the LG Pradas really mean. New Zealand evaluates stricter regulations on packaging design and sustainability while Hungary's Design Center will be housed in a renovated bus shelter.  End this week with a quick look at a wide and varied influence of design in haute couture dog's wear, uber sweet cakes, hair and accessorizing.

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Gabriel White has posted an article today about Readymade on the "Small Surfaces" website, describing our "An Illustrated Weekly of World Design" newsletter as a "little gem". Go and have a look.