Sony Bloggie

This past weekend, I did a promotion job for Sony. They were featuring various new products such as DJ Hero 2, new Sony VAIOs, and their touch screen PCs. But the focused product was their new compact video recorder, the Bloggie Touch. 

With the product itself, you would think you could record and upload instantly. Well, that’s false advertisement. Let’s not steer away from the product though. The specs are amazing against its’ competitor, the Flip. The Bloggie runs on either a 4gb (179.99) or 8gb (199.99). You might think that’s expensive. But it has HD quality running on 1080. That tops the Flip already having 1070. It has 12.8 megapixels built in, more than my DSLR. It’s compact and lightweight. It’s very simple to use with its touch screen capabilities and easy one record button that can record and take stills at the same time.

The design of the Bloggie is sleek. However it does fall short for today’s society. It wasn’t designed to upload on the spot. You have to go to a computer and upload it yourself. There are no 3g capabilities on the camera for one to instantly blog about it. We live in a society where we need things fast and right now. We don’t want to wait. We like things speedy. The Bloggie was just designed to beat its competitor. It did not think about other products on the market. Despite the lesser quality, my Blackberry can do me justice. I can snap a photo and upload to Facebook, Tumblr, or my email. It’s instant. We are instant. I would still recommend this product for people to buy. We like modern things and advancement in technology, which the Bloggie is. The quality is amazing and I wouldn’t mind bringing it to a music show, graduation, or even on a nice gaze outside. But if you are ready to share to the world in one moment, this wouldn’t be it. 

Compare and Contrast

IPHONE VS BLACKBERRY.

What phone is better? What's is the right phone for you? This is everyone's question when they enter a phone store. Some like simple flip phones while others like the smartphone with different functions. Everyone has their preference.

The biggest feud in today's talk is IPHONE vs BLACKBERRY. What phone is better. Comparing the two, they have their pros and their cons.

The pros of an IPHONE:
1. it has 3G capability
2. it's touchscreen
3. there is facetime
4. there are many apps to download
5. it takes pictures/video

The cons of an IPHONE:
1. it's touchscreen
2. it's doesnt have a keyboard
3. everyone has it (you don't get service in some places)
4. its big
5. it's only for att


The pros of a BLACKBERRY
1. it has 3G capability
2. it has a keyboard
3. it has word/powerpoint/exeel programs
4. it easy for emails
5. the camera has flash/records/take pictures

The cons of a BLACKBERRY
1. you can't download a lot of apps
2. the trackball (if one) messes up
3. you cannot zoom into websites
4. can't open many windows
5. the screen is too small

Do you know what phone I own? If you chose Blackberry, you are correct! I own a Blackberry for various of reasons. Mainly because of all the cons an iPhone has. I buy things according to how I live. My Blackberry is my work phone. I do everything on it. It's efficient, it's sleek, and its workable. The keypad is amazing. I cannot live without a keypad. Yes, iPhone owners say you get used to it, but having a keyboard is more effective. You can type more words per second. I will challenge anyone. Also, an iPhone is too much like a handheld gaming system. I'm in college now, I would like something more professional, and that is a Blackberry. I won't say don't buy an iPhone, but choose a phone to your lifestyle. Don't buy it because everyone else does.

Design as Conversation

Design as Conversation. This can be verbal or non verbal. As long as there is intent for conversation making design as conversation. When there is talk, a universal understanding, or debate. Everyone wants to say something about it whether they like it or not.

An example that I feel is Design as a conversation is the film Inception. Inception was beautifully designed from the storyline, set design, to the idea of implanting a thought into someone else’s mind. But the most debatable part of the movie is the ending scene. Did the spin top (an emblem to differ reality or a dream) stop or not?

In my opinion in landed, meaning he came home to a reality. Others differ. The beauty of this scene fuels debate. Everyone wants to believe what he or she believes. The discussion repeats in cycles over and over again. People hear other’s reasoning, some accept it, some don’t. This is conversation that has been designed so well everyone is publicizing the movie and sparking buzz. Word of mouth is the best way of promoting such material. Designers are in heaven when their work gets known and is spreading like wildfire. Everyone likes to be talked about, whether it’s good or bad.

If design isn’t being talked about then why did one design in the first place? We can talk about anything and everything; and just about anything and everything was designed for a purpose in life. This blog is designed for you to think about it. It’s encrypted in your mind now. I’ve incepted it. Now it’s just your turn to believe it or not. Whether you do or don’t you’re still having a conversation about it.

To further this discussion, there are different explanations of the ending. I couldn't a clip of it, but there are reviews here. Hopefully this is not a spoiler alert.

Rollercoster!

HANDS UP!!

This past weekend I went on a retreat to Santa Cruz. We stopped by The Beach Boardwalk to enjoy the sights of the infamous Boardwalk. Walking down the boardwalk and seeing people waiting in line, it made me ponder, "who designed this amusement park?" It made me think, there had to be different design process, engineering process and safety process to make roller coasters for adrenaline junkies.

The design process must be vigorous. Kids waiting in line might not realize this. When they are in line, they are trusting the minds of the roller coaster engineers for the speed and adrenaline they are about to enjoy.  Designers must understand what the adrenaline junkie want. Is it speed, twists, loops, or drops? There are many variables to decide what a good roller coaster is. Also, what type of equipment they want, wood or metal? This adds to the feel when riding a roller coaster. Safety is also an issue, will seat belts be around the body or just the torso?

All these questions must be answered and well planned to assemble a fun and ridable roller coaster because if it isn't then death rates will go up. No one wants to fear death while riding a roller coaster. They want to know they are safe and are going to enjoy the ride for 45 seconds.

Creativity from Without!

Featured in the Billionaire Boys Blog Website, Julia Chiang fits the profile of a designer without. Julia utilizes of my favorite candy, ring pops. She takes the beauty of the shape, design, and color creating beautiful masterpieces. Julia uses her resources and designs from what are already available, what is given to her. She thinks outside of the box.

Who would have thought the little sticky candies with a hole for you finger could be used as wall art? No parents in their right mind would let their child stick a ring pop on the wall. But not Julia. She used what was around her and responded like a child in an adult manner.

Julia tastefully creates word exts on walls with sayings like "hugs + kisses", "sincerely yours", and "love always". She leaves the ring pops posted on the wall letting it melt, causing a drip effect on the wall. Julia exploits the beauty of colored ring pops allowing the colors and words to actually "pop" out of the wall.

 

As human specimens, we take advantage of ring pops. We only identify it as one thing, candy. We eat it. It's bad for our teeth and health. It's sticky and it leaves coloring in our mouth. We can design endless art with candy, we just need to get out of our comfort zone of ideas and play. We tend to think how society wants us to think. We should play with out food, only eat it. We shouldn't do what's out of the ordinary. But stirring away from the ordinary allows the creative juices to flow. As designers and people, we need to think like kids. Be a kid. Creativity starts young, we need to have the same mentality as we need 18 years ago.

Stone's Soup

On Tuesday, October 5, my Design 1 group went outside, gathered materials to create a "Stone Soup" project minus the soup. I believe this activity was and effort for each member to be creative in a collabortive effort. We all had to work together to create something, whether it be aesthetically pleasing or not. Everyone was able to voice their opinion in what they wanted and at the same time no one took complete power. We were very well manner and we tried to bounce off ideas from one another.

The hard part was the usage of material. We had poster paper, magazines, wires, water bottle cut outs, stuffing, paint, a dictionary, but we were stumped in what to make. The group wanted a cohesive idea and an idea that would make sense. Christine was wearing a shirt with an octopus on it. We were amazed by it and decided to make an octopus. After that spark, the ball kept rolling. Everyone jumped in and decided to work on tentacles, luckily we had eight members so everyone designed their own.

Everything started off great, until the shape of the octopus was not prominent. It started to look like a ball. Then we stopped and decided to work with what we had. We blew up some rubber gloves and made our very own baby octopus. Then we added a top hat to top it off. We also tore out pages from the dictionary with the words "create" and "design". This would be an interpretation of what audiences think create and design means.

Yes, maybe our stone soup might not have been very successful but with everyone's effort we all came together and were proud of what we made. Everyone's personality, mind, creativity, and efforts showed in this stone soup project. Maybe the purpose of this activity wasn't to make the best stone soup, it might have been more about how a team works together with one goal in mind. I think we succeeded. Next time, we should really make soup.

What time is it?

Nowadays, people do not own watches. We rely so much on our cellular phones as a timepiece. When we don't have access to our phones, we tend to look around for a clock or ask others, what time is it? Watches are underrated among today's generation. But we need to realize, watches were designed for you to help tell time quick and easy with no hassle. It's either connected to your wrist, neck or placed in different parts of a common area. We don't need to dig in our pocket or purse to retrieve the phone to then look at the time.

Watches serves many purpose to modern society. There are watches with calculator on it to do math. Watches have diamonds on them to accessorize with. Watches light up to guide one's way in the dark. They are waterproof for divers or swimmers to check out the time under water. There are compasses in watches to navigate direction. There are watches to monitor one's heart.





Watches are designed to tell time, however that has changed in one aspect, Fashion. People will wear it as an accessory and just wear a watch on a wrist. Some people might not be able to tell the time, know how to use it, or know that the battery is broken. Some watches are designed to be wearable for different outfits throughout the year. But we need to understand why it was designed. It was designed to help assist us on the time of day in order to work and living structurally. Without watches, we might not be able to farm, or to work, catch a movie, or go to sleep. The purpose of a watch varies, just know it's important for society. Buy one if you don't already have one.

The functionality of a watch is endless, that is why people where watches. . No matter where you are, it's always a good thing to have a watch accessible. You will always need the time when you're running late for class, work, a meeting. Time is essence. We need watches to keep us in sync with reality. We live in a society of constraints, everything revolves around time. It's good to have a watch or something that tells time in order to function and be in a society, especially in the United States of America.

Playing Cards

After a long and stressful week, I played spoons. The purpose of the game is to get a four of a kind with playing cards. I won various of rounds and the last round I won with all four Kings.

I never noticed cards before, but after listening about what design is, I found the cards very fascinating. I'm having fun playing with these 2x4 plastic paper with jacks, queens, kings, shapes, and numbers on it. But what is the real significances of these designs? How did society give each symbol a standard to follow by. The Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces are styled very old fashion similar to European rule. The Jack looks sad. The Queens do not look like queens, they are not attractive. The Kings look as if they cannot fight on their own. While the Aces have a goddess who is showing a lot of skin.

I find the designs/patterns these cards have in their outfits interesting. They are detailed and the colors are prominent. The red sticks out the most but the hint of blue and yellow calms down the playing card as a whole. Let’s not forget about the shapes used, clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. All these shapes have to have a meaning behind it. It gives rank. And when playing cards, everyone wants to win. They won’t be able to win unless they obtain the highest card in number and in shape. This is similar to modern society. You need to have the best (in yourself or in a team) to move on and succeed. This everyday pastime will help one manipulate and analyze moves that are coming and move that have come.

There are different designs of playing cards to cater to different audiences. If we are gambling with cards, why not have better designed ones?I would love the cards would reinvent itself to the current generation giving it a new zing. There is probably a long history of how the card originated and how it has evolved and why stop now? We should evolve it even more and recreate the design.

First Experience With Design

It's hard to pinpoint a date and time about my first memory of a physical object and its design mechanisms. The design become unnoticed because it because ingrained as an everyday object. We just use it and we do not focus on the design behind it.

When you are young, you do not notice objects. You have a one track mind. When I was a kid, candy was my world. I ate a lot and very often. One object that stuck out to me was the candy, KitKat. Growing up, my parents let me get candy every time we went grocery shopping. With the variety of candy to choose from, I always choose KitKats. It wasn't the candy that enticed me, it was the color and typeface of the wrapping. It was bright red with huge fonts, that stuck out to me. Not to mention, the candy was detachable to one another. It felt great breaking off a piece of the KitKat bar. The size was different from all the regular candy bars, it was squared rather than elongated. However, that was a con in some ways. I could never stick it into my jean pocket. It was too squared compared to a Snicker bar where it easily slips in. But,  this was different and I like different. To me, it was like a win win situation, I got yummy candy and I got a pretty wrapper.

Now, candy wrappers make a difference in my choosing. I like the aesthetics of the candy. I tend to favor what the color offers and if I will enjoy it or not. KitKats are still the same in color and sizes. It is a universal know candy brand and with its simplistic design it has become distinct. It is easy to spot in the candy isle when you're in a rush at the grocery store.