Is Industrial Design Dying?

I read Jon Kolko's blog on his return from the IDSA National Conference in Miami last week and was amazed at his entry. His comment about how ID (industrial design) is dying is quite interesting.

He states that with the development of new materials, process, and manufacturing that we, designers are becoming more and more a secondary part of the development process.

"The complexity associated with new material introductions and advances has such deep tacit knowledge, and such strong connections to fundamental issues of chemistry, that it can't continue to be "owned" by designers - it needs to be managed and coordinated by scientists".

I haven't had to deal with this personally, but I agree. Since I have left school , there has been a tremendous advancement in materials . I remember when Cologate introduced their multi-component/ multi-colour toothbrushes back in '98. That was a huge step in in our field. We are now able to achieve multi-color designs in one injection. I can only imagine what s going to happen in the next 20 years.

Enjoy the article after the jump.

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Red Dust-Sydney

I came this blog entry on Core77 and thought I'd pass it on. Apparently there is a dust storm covering most of Sydney. Most of these pics are amazing. It almost looks like scenes form an upcoming movie. Enjoy!!

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Virtual Reality Sketching

When I saw this I was blown away. A program that allows you to draw in a 3D space.... i still can't get over this. I remember when I was at CCS and talking to my professors about technology like this but nothing existed at the time, but now that technology is a reality.

Check it out and believe for yourself. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
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"We like to see the smile and reassurance"

My girlfriend is a dental hygienist and visits inner city schools in Detroit to provide preventative dental services. They are required to wear masks, gloves, and eye protection to avoid contamination.

For many of the children it is thier first dental visit. Michelle has mentioned that a lot of the children are scared because they are not able to see the hygienists entire face . The masks cover up all of their facial expressions preventing the hygienists from using smiles to reassure that everything is going to be OK.

I came across this ARTICLE which brings back that human interaction.

A Moment of Silence

Our thoughts and prayers here at DesignWaffle go out to the ones who lost their lives during the attacks on Sept. 11th 2001.

"Panic Room" Credit Sequence

I've always been fascinated with this opening credit sequence and wanted to share it. "Panic Room" opens with a sumptuous credit sequence so captivating that you're drawn into the movie before a single word is spoken. Fincher, like Hitchcock and Polanski, understands implicitly the importance of every split second of film to register a particular condition in an audience's communal mind. Giant white marquee lettering suspends at odd angles over various live action Manhattan locations to the sound of a clock softly ticking. As the letters float in the air they are placed on planes that give you an room effect with out the literal use of walls. There's retro ambiance that drips with majestic Neo-Gothic portent and shrewdly references movies like "Rear Window" and "Wait Until Dark."

Designers Accord Town Hall-Chicago

A few weeks back I went Gravity Tank's Chicago Studio for a Designer Accord Town Hall. The Town Hall was based around the subject 'elephants in the room' The hope was to learn from each other about the challenges, hurdles and questions that come up when engaging in sustainable efforts, either for clients or internally at companies. There were about 70 designers, advertisers, marketers, and educators from the Chicago area attending with two designers from the D, myself and Ryan from Ford. I guess this was to be the first Midwest DA Town Hall.

Take a look at the link below to see more.
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"'Charlie Rose'" by Samuel Beckett"

This is great!!

Finally a Chinesse iPhone

Saw the original post on Core77, which promted me to check out the blog posted by Jan Chipchase . It's official the Chinese have produced a knock-off of the Apple iPhone. decribes "the fakes" being produced out of China as a cheaper version to appeal to the masses. The price tag of "the fakes" make them more tangible. For the knock-off consumer, it's all about the image and not the functionality or content.

I will admit that I am one of those people. I love watches but can't afford the steep prices an IWC, Bretling's, or a Bell & Ross. A few years ago I purchased a knock-off Bell and Ross from an Asia website. Looks great, worked great ,but was a little bit smaller than the original version.

I understand why people buy products for the name or image and not the quality. It's the whole" keeping up with the Joneses". You've got to one up your neighbor and friends to show them you've made it or have some taste. Now I've got taste but I just don't have the cash to fund that taste....

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Thank you

During your career you meet some extraordinary people. Ones that inspire you to be better at what you do and some that guide you as you mature within your field. Earl Lucas is that somebody for me. While I was at Ford Earl helped me become the designer that I am today and it's great to know that there are people still out there who are not just looking out for themselves but help and mature younger designers. Thanks Earl!

Earl is the Exterior Design Manager for the new Ford Taurus. Earl has been getting allot of press lately with the recent launch of the Taurus. Here are a few articles, one article from our Alma Mater CCS about Earl's success with the TAURUS and as designer.

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DETROIT NEWS
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