ID [PNW]

I thought of a small way that I can use my design work to help the men in Uganda that I worked with on the Hoima Bicycle Project.   I’ve been creating some bicycle and skateboard graphics and selling the designs on things like shirts, mugs, stickers, hats, cards and buttons.   I earn a commission on each sale and will donate 50% of it directly to these hard working “boda-boda” and their families.   While it’s not much, consider that their average income is about $10 per week .  Check out the designs using the links below: Treadwater graphics Zazzle store (with all of the stuff) : http://www.zazzle.com/treadwater Treadwater graphics blog (with images of most of the designs) http://treadwatergraphics.blogspot.com/

Check out this presentation by Pranav Mistry on some digital interface concepts that could change our future relationship with computers, devices and the digital world.  If you take away the filleted boxes with screens and buttons, what does that mean for industrial designers?

OBJECTIFIED Showing at the Pickford Cinema , Bellingham , WA Sponsored by WWU Industrial Design Program and An Ideal Shop: Carefully Curated Goods Objectified , by Gary Hustwit ’s. Objectified is a feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the designers who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability." -Objectified website Preceding will be the theatrical premiere of Form Function , by Jason Morris and Western Industrial Design students. This purely visual short film shows an industrial design creative process that starts with abstract sculpture and ends with a functional object . Music by Moby. Friday, Oct 2 - Sunday , Oct 4 @ 2:00 PM We are ver...

It looks like Nissan will beat the major automakers to the market with an affordable fully electric car, the Leaf. You can read more technical specs at the Wired blog. Design Critique The challenge for designing a new car that has unique technology inside is whether to make it look different and unique or not. The GM Volt takes the approach to look like a modern muscle car with a large bonnet signifying a giant powerful motor within, even though it may not require such space. The Prius has a distinctive look that is now associated with being a "green" vehicle. Even the new Honda Insight looks like a Prius at a glance, although the original Insight was quite different and more aerodynamically efficient. The Nissan Leaf resembles other new 4 door hatchbacks like the Honda Fit or Yaris, but with a few slower reverse curves as surface creases. The front hood slopes down to the bumper almost tangentially to the windshield. The allows for great visibility, but also implies th...

This September is the IDSA International Conference: Project Infusion in South Beach Miami, FL. I will be presenting a paper on design education: Swapping Students: The Cross Disciplinary Education of Design and Engineering Students. Here's the summary: The problem: Engineering students have difficulty thinking creatively and don't value the contribution of industrial design. Conversely, industrial design students lack understanding of materials, processes, and the importance of engineering. Animosity, misunderstanding, poor communication and disrespect. Is this how the relationship between industrial designers and engineers is fated to be? A solution: As an attempt to remedy this, an industrial design professor and an engineering professor decided to switch students for one quarter each year, each teaching their contrasting discipline and perspective. The engineering students are exposed to creativity techniques, user empathy, and visual communication. Industrial design st...

"Six students from Western Washington University's Industrial Design program received recognition and $6,000 in scholarships for their children's furniture designs as a part of the annual Mount Baker Products Furniture Design Competition. Western students, children, parents and a panel of three community members selected the winning designs among 20 different student projects. First prize and a $2,000 scholarship was awarded to William Losleben of Sultan for "Pupil," a penguin-inspired children's easel and desk; second prize and a $1,500 scholarship was awarded to Thomas Kloucek of Portland, Ore., for "Rocking Ship," a sideways rocking rocket ship with educational graphics; third prize and a $1,000 scholarship was awarded to Nolan Leh of Bellingham for "Cove Desk," an elegant minimum waste children's study desk that can be flattened for shipping; and fourth prize and a $500 scholarship was aw...

Tristan Allen is working in Jinja, Uganda with the Bicycle Sponsorship Project Workshop (http://bspw.org) and has set up a small frame building shop to create a small production run of the Hoima Cargo Bicycle. Here are some pictures that he just sent. Read his blog for more details . And they could use some funding for this to work, so please consider contributing to the project.

Form Function is a video that exhibits a design process from abstract form sculpture to finished design. The students were to create abstract form sculptures without knowledge of their purpose. These were critiqued and revised further, focusing on the elements of form, proportions, contrast, gesture, and negative space. They were then given the form’s purpose, either to be an urban vehicle, furniture, space, or digital device. The forms were then revised to be functional and more appropriate for its purpose, without losing the dynamic essence of the original sculpture. All of the design work is by the junior industrial design class of Western Washington University from January to April 2009. Sarah Blott, Beth Blair, Jon Holmdahl, Anders Mavis, Evan McCormack, Tucker Spofford, Phelan Miller, Jon Mitchell, Ryan Mahan, Justin Lund, Erin Yoakum, Antonio Mendez, and Yuzu Nelson. Directed, edited, camera, and project design direction by Jason A. Morris. Music is Live Forever ...

   These toothbrush designs were done by sophomore industrial design students at Western Washington University. It was a 2 week project under Profs Arunas Oslapas and Jason Morris. Designs by Justin Riehl, Jacob Mrozek, Dieter Amick, and Tim Byrne. 2009.

Thirteen design perspectives on the ritual of tea. Senior Industrial Design Exhibition Western Washington University Thursday, June 4th, 2009 A show exhibiting 13 original tea sets. Please join us for an evening of tea, snacks and design. Hosted by Mithun Architects Pier 56 1201 Alaskan Way Seattle, WA

To follow up on my previous post.  Here's Sir Ken with more a more convincing arguement...

Hey secondary education,   stop with the incessant testing!   How many of you successful designers were scored high on your SAT, ACT, or whatever standardized tests?  We have to stop this insane notion that repeatedly testing our middle school and high schoolers  is going to help them to be successful.  This emphasis on testing ties the hands of our secondary teachers. It causes art, and shop and craft classes to be cut. The only thing it teaches is short term memorization, linear thinking, test taking strategy, and that there is only one answer to a problem.  All of which is practically useless for design thinking and in real life. Stop trying to quantify, and concentrate on quality education.

May 29th: 2009 IDSA Northwest Junior Show   "This year's Junior Show (formerly known as the Junior Banquet) will be hosted by BUiLT Design in Everett, WA on Friday evening, May 29. We welcome all friends and family to come visit the student galleries and see the culmination of all their hard work. We also welcome Teague Design Manager, Scott MacInnes who will be sharing his experiences as an Industrial Designer. Selected students from the University of Washington , Western Washington University and Emily Carr University of Art + Design will present their work while light food and beverages will be served.    Special thanks to BUiLT Design for hosting the Northwest Junior Show and to all of the students who helped bring this all together. Please check www.idsanw.org for further details."  -IDSA Northwest *Also, see the new video "form/function" of Western Junior ID projects.  Showing the transformation from abstract sculpture into dynamic desi...

Industrial design has become wider and deeper in scope.  Strategy, environments, innovation, form, branding, emotional, design thinking, product, interaction, vehicle, soft goods, furniture, research, sustainable, it’s getting huge!   And I think that it’s time to evolve. We’re trying to cram so much into a 4 year degree, that it’s taking 5 years or more to do it.  If our students are spending 5 plus years in school anyway, then why not just make it an even six?  Is an engineer expected to study mechanical, aerospace, electrical, fluid dynamics, civil, architectural, industrial production and manufacturing?  No, the engineering community realized that these are all related but distinct focuses of engineering, so they created separate programs. Since we think that we’re so special and are worth a lot of money and we want more respect,  we should require professionals to have a masters degree. Raise the bar of entry.   The base ID education with core courses   in undergrad and ...

2 years ago I wrote about how industrial design will be affected by personal fabrication or desktop manufacturing.   The prediction was that due to the advancement of rapid prototyping technology that products will be manufactured in your own community  and perhaps in your own home with desktop manufacturing machines.   This is an exciting idea because it revolutionizes the traditional product development process,  which is full of waste, management overhead, shipping containers, distribution, and over production.   And it's beginning to happen today, although in a different format than expected.   Web-based companies such as Ponoko , Zazzle, CafePress , Blurb, Lulu are making this a reality.   You design something, upload it, and they display it, sell it, make it on demand, and ship it to the customer.  And you get paid for each sale.   The material limitations that we see now are really just temporary and it's only a matter of time before a company with a FDM machine and a ...

(Since some people asked for a copy, this is the speech that I gave at the IDSA Western District conference, Santa Monica, CA, April 25th, 2009.  This is the first point, the second and third will be on separate posts.) 2 questions were posed as a theme for this conference:  What must designers do to survive today?   And What can we do to thrive internationally? Here are 3 issues that I think are important right now: 1.  D esign for the BOP 2.  D esign for make-on-demand 3.  Encouraging graduate education for designers   1.      Learn how to design for people at the bottom of the pyramid A World of Unreliability One revelation to me in my brief time in Africa that really put my view of the world in a new perspective, was that nothing is reliable in an East Africans world.     Politicians are corrupt and expected to be.   Being bit by the wrong mosquito could means contracting malaria and dying a week later.   Drinking the wrong water could mean a life threatening di...

Somehow, my documentary, Hoima Bicycle,  won Best Documentary Short at the Northwest Projections Film Festival 2009.  It was up against three other very interesting and quite different docs.  Sonic Healing, Hope Art, and The Best Medicine. Thanks to: Thanks to Wilson Large and everyone who organized the festival and gave us an opportunity to show our work.  Thanks to Mark Hardin, who without his presence and camera work, the documentary wouldn't have been possible.  Thanks to my mom, Shirley Morris who planned, scheduled and prepared for the trip to Uganda.  Without her, the whole project wouldn't have been possible.  And thanks to my wife Karen, who was my assistant editor by watching earlier versions and suggesting changes.  She also tolerated me working through the summer, unpaid, editing the movie for hours and hours. Thanks to Western Washington for supporting the project with grants.  And thanks to the members of First Presbyterian church for supporting the project th...

You’re a invited to the a showing of  Hoima Bicycle  (along with other documentaries and local films) at the  Northwest Projections Film Festival . Dates: Friday, April 17 th  at 4:30pm and Saturday, April 18 th  at 4:30pm. Here’s a description of the Festival: NW Projections Film Festival 2009 NW Projections is back!   The  annual film festival  that proves local filmmakers have great stories and the chops to tell them. From the streets of Bellingham and  Seattle  to dirt roads in Africa, there are moments both real and relevant to whimsical and timeless. Come see how NW filmmakers have painted the world on our screen. Tickets:   Unless noted, all films are regular Pickford prices: Regular $8.25/Matinee $6.25/Member $5.25. Documentary  Shorts: 4.17 @ 4:30pm/4.18 @ 4:30pm @ The Pickford The Best Medicine (Lisa Spicer) Follows the work of the Slum  Doctor Program  in Rabour Village and Hama Bay, Kenya and the effects on children's lives left empty by the cruel hands of  AIDS . 16 mi...