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Showing posts from 2011

Industrial Design in 1940: Walter Dorwin Teague's Design Firm Film

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I just finished editing this video showing the designers and architects of Walter Dorwin Teague's New York office in 1940.  Shot by C. Stowe Myers and provided by his son Charlie Myers. I think that it's interesting seeing the air brushed renderings, scale truck models, drafting tables, cigarettes, alcohol and wild parties.  Sorry about the video quality, it wasn't transferred well, I hope to get a better digitization of the film soon. If you'd like to follow the progress of the Walter Dorwin Teague documentary, check back at this blog or Like the  Facebook Page.

The Design and Construction of the Kodak Pavilion, 1939 New York World's Fair.

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These are recently discovered and digitized photographs of the design and construction of the Kodak Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. All photos by Stowe Myers, who played a key role in the design of this exhibition.  Provided by Charlie Myers. Airbrushed presentation renderings. Scale model of pavilion, done in 1938. Detail of scale model. Construction begins in Flushing Meadows, Queens, NYC. If you'd like to follow the progress of the Walter Dorwin Teague documentary, check back at this blog or Like the Facebook Page.

Teague Documentary Progress Update

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To continue my progress of the Teague documentary production process... Thursday, June 30th was a visit to the Brooklyn Museum , which has an impressive collection of Teague designed objects.  Then Friday I was shooting locations around the city, such the former office locations on Madison Ave, the Art Students League where he went to school, and his old home in Forest Hills .  I also photographed some key influential art deco architecture that was built in the 1930’s, including an incredible tour of Donald Deskey's Radio City Music Hall. The Art Students League 2011.  The same building the Teague attended 1902-1906. photo by J. Morris The former Teague family home in Forest Hills, New York. photo by J. Morris The Sparks - Sparton Table Radio- 1936 - designed by Teague. photographed in the Brooklyn Museum. Later this month I will be visiting architect and grandson, Harry Teague in Aspen, CO.  We will also visit Charlie Myers , son of Stowe Myers,

Pioneering Industrial Designer Stamps Dedication

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Stamp display at the Cooper Hewitt Today the US Postal Service dedicated the new collection of stamps honoring twelve of the great industrial designers of America.  There were many families of descendants of these designers present.  Ralph Caplan gave a short talk about the designers and their influence.  But, an unexpected surprise for me was meeting John Teague, Sally Zildjian Teague and their children!  There was even a young Walter Teague, who is Walter Dorwin Teague's great-grandson.  I've been in New York this week doing research and interviews on Teague for the documentary.  I've interviewed grandson, Walter Dorwin Teague III, a social worker in Maryland and learned some interesting stories about the family.  I spent some time at the MOMA library in Queens, and discovered the minutes to a conference entitled "Industrial Design: A New Profession" from 1946.  Present at that event were Teague, Raymond Loewy, and Laslo Moholy-Nagy, among many others.  I

Mt. Baker Plywood Furniture Design Competition winners

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Winner’s Announcement:  Furniture Design for the Community Western Washington University Industrial Design June 14th, 2011 Four judges have reviewed and selected their favorites among 24 designs.   In addition to our panel of judges, students voted on their peer’s designs to decide a “students choice” award.   The project was part of the sophomore course, Sophomore ID studio 2 (Etec 216), led by Associate Professor Jason Morris. The objective was to design and construct a unique furniture solution for another person or organization for their current needs.   The furniture will be then given to that person or organization as a gift. Mount Baker Products has generously donated all of the high quality FSC hardwood plywood for the project and has also donated $6000 for scholarships for the winners. Here are the winners:   Honorable Mention: Sean Braaten , Everett, WA. for "Gather" a transition play station for the release of pent-up anger,

Glue Gun design concepts by Western ID sophomores

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Here are some glue gun design concepts done by my students in the sophomore industrial design studio course at Western Washington.  They had just completed their introduction to the elements of form theory of Rowena Reed Kostellow.  The improvement of their designs is significant.  These are all physical models, not CAD. A glue gun inspired by crayons by Carson Massie by Kevin Courtney by Sean Braaten by Sean Missal by Van Vu

Tape Dispenser Designs - Western ID sophomore students

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by Jeffrey Grothe by Daniel Galan by Hunter Frerich These are designs done by my students as they attempt to redesign the tape dispenser.  Sophomore ID studio 2, 2011.

Western Washington ID Students Judged Best in Northwest

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Sarah Blott - IDSA Student Merit Award winner and Northwest Best in Show Sarah's chaise lounge design. Students from Western Washington University’s Industrial Design program were recently honored with the Industrial Designers Society of America Student Merit Awards in Seattle.  They presented their portfolios and were interviewed by a panel of professional designers in Seattle.  Award winners were announced at the Northwest Chapter of the IDSA at the University of Washington’s School of Art. The Northwest Chapter of the IDSA includes professional industrial designers and student designers from Western, the University of Washington and the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Western students and their awards include: Senior Student Merit Winner:  Sarah Blott, Seattle Senior Student Best in Show:  Sarah Blott, Seattle Junior Student Merit Winner:  Anna Perrella, Bellevue Junior Student Best in Show:  Ryan Hume, Bainbridge Island Blott will represent the WWU Industr

Social Impact IDSA conference - Some photos of San Jose...

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San Jose State's Campus The MLK Jr Library AKA San Jose Public Library Inside the library   San Jose State's Campus The Student Union building The Barrett Ballroom Inside the Student Union Join the dialogue in San Jose May 6 - 7 at the 2011 IDSA Western Conference: SOCIAL IMPACT!     Regular registration ends THIS FRIDAY April 22 at midnight EST.  Don't pay late fees! REGISTER TODAY .    

Road Invaders

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copyright 2011 Jason Morris This is how I imagine my commute every day. I have more bicycle graphic designs on Zazzle.

Leonard R. Bacich is honored with the Rowena Reed Kostellow Award

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Lenny was my former professor of three dimensional design at Pratt Institute.  He passed away last year, and has been recently recognized with the Rowena Reed Kostellow Award.  Now that I am teaching the elements of form to my students at Western, I think of Lenny often and can still hear his words echoing in my mind. "LOOK at it.  What do you see?" "Precarious balance is like Martha Graham, the dancer, think of a dancers' pose when creating your forms." He encouraged me to go into teaching and is part of the reason why I am a design professor. Wire/Curve study by Thomas Kloucek, Western Washington Here's more about Prof. Bacich from the RRK fund: "For almost a quarter of a century, Lenny Bacich epitomized the rigor and magic of great teaching. He said: "The WHAT and HOW issues of three-dimensional design are explainable and teachable. The WHY is the challenge of teaching the course." Lenny taught courses about abstraction an

Hoima Bicycle showing in Sidney, BC

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Hoima Bicycle will be showing soon: Star Cinema Sidney, BC, Canada June 1st and/or 2nd, 2011 (check their site for final schedule) It will be shown together with other bicycle movies such as Breaking Away, Chasing Legends, or Veer (To be determined). Admission will be a donation with proceeds to Bicycles For Humanity Thanks to John Robertson of Saanichton, BC for setting this up! Star Cinema, 9842 3rd Street. Sidney, BC. V8L 3A7. Office: 250-655-3384. Info Line: 250-655. Here's a trailer:

David Kaisel, Design Research for Global Health - To Present at the IDSA Social Impact Conference

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David Kaisel   has worked for 25 years integrating design, business strategy, user research and global health. Pursuing design as a tool to help people lead healthier lives, his design career progressed from office seating in Italy to client management in Silicon Valley to designing morgues, emergency housing and malaria treatment programs in Angola, Colombia and Brazil. Four years coordinating projects for Doctors Without Borders confirmed his interest in design for global health. Exploring how design impacts sustained adoption of health interventions, he advises clients such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and PATH on user research design and product innovation for household water treatment and community sanitation. As a research director at the Institute for the Future, he developed strategic forecasts of trends in the global health economy for Fortune 100 clients. His past work includes research on biomass stove test protocols and standards for the Shell Foundation, deve

Dawn Danby to Present at the IDSA Western District Conference

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Dawn Danby   wants the things designers make to benefit both people and the world.  Her goals goals are simply to develop environmentally sustainable systems and products that change the way individuals experience the things around them. Dawn is a cross-disciplinary designer, strategist, art director, project manager, producer and artist. She currently manages Autodesk's Sustainable Design Program, integrating sustainable thinking into the digital tools used by 9 million designers and engineers worldwide. Dawn has collaborated with international artist Noel Harding on Windsor, Ontario's Green Corridor initiative, designed a $3.5 million tree-covered, wind-powered pedestrian bridge on the US-Canada border and developed closed-loop manufacturing strategies for a leading outdoor footwear manufacturer. Dawn is a  co-author of  WorldChanging: A User's Guide to the 21st Century and has spoken at  TEDGlobal 2005:  Ideas big enough to change the world   (Oxford UK),ICFF (NYC), Sub

Mike and Maaike to speak at the IDSA Western District Conference

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We are excited to have Mike Simonian and Maaike Evers presenting at the IDSA Western District Conference, San Jose, CA.   And check out the latest Metropolis magazine (March 2011), it features Mike and Maaike as some of the great new design talent in America. " Mike & Maaike is a progressive industrial design studio led by Mike Simonian and Maaike Evers.   Formed as a design laboratory, the San Francisco studio works both independently and with clients to create new opportunities through products, technology, furniture, environments, packaging and transportation.   Maaike Evers is Dutch, Mike Simonian, Californian. These distinct backgrounds inform a diverse body of work marked by experimentation, substance and strong conceptual narratives.   Recent collaborations include: Google, Belkin, Steelcase, Xbox, Blankblank, Council, Coalesse, Incase,  Dupont, Fritz Hansen, Ironkey, and the City of San Francisco." - from their website. Mike and Maaike's atnmbl  "

Kevin Starr to present at the IDSA Western District Conference

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Kevin Starr is the managing director of the Mulago Foundation. He directs the  Foundation and the Rainer Arnhold Fellows Program. Kevin had a perfectly good career in medicine when he stumbled into philanthropy in 1994. His friend and mentor Rainer Arnhold died suddenly when they were working together in Bolivia, and the Arnhold family asked Starr to help carry on Rainer's work through the Mulago Foundation.  Kevin spent the next decade working with projects from Afghanistan to Zambia, trying to figure out what makes for real impact at big scale. At the request of the board, he established the Rainer Arnhold Fellows Program in 2003 to apply Mulago's principles and tools to help social entrepreneurs turn good ideas into lasting change at scale. Kevin went through medical school and residency at University California San Francisco and has lived in San Francisco ever since. He teaches and mentors fellows in other programs for social entrepreneurs and still practices medicine pa

Heather Fleming of Catapult Design and Ryan Duke of Project H to present at the IDSA Western Conference

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The IDSA Western District Conference has 2 new amazing additions to the line up: Ryan Duke of Project H and Heather Fleming of Catapult Design ! Ryan Duke leads the San Francisco team of Project H Design working on socially-oriented design initiatives providing creative capital to those with limited access. As a project leader, he has led hundreds of volunteers, organized in small groups based on skill and commitment, through numerous projects that work to create impact in local communities.  Launching the first city-based group, Ryan has helped Project H define processes and establish strategies for effective project implementation as Project H develops within the evolving world of social design. Heather Fleming, Founder | Chief Executive Officer, Catapult Design Heather is a designer, an engineer, and an entrepreneur motivated by social inequality. In 2005, she helped found and then led a volunteer group of engineers and designers focused on humanitarian design projects via En