ID [PNW]

Curvilinear Space Analysis by Johan Axelson I'm attempting to bring some traditional form studies from Rowena Reed Kostellow's Elements of Form into the design education at Western Washington.  These studies date back to the 1940's and the development of the original industrial design curriculum.  This is a space analysis that I did as a student of Lenny Bacich at Pratt Institute.  He was a student of Rowena's and tried to teach these very difficult form abstractions to me.  Only now that I'm teaching it do I realize what they mean and why they are so valuable.  Rectilinear Space by Larisa Schulze The forms here are done by my junior ID students.  They are not computer models, they are made with paper and wire. They have very strict rules regarding the elements used and where they can be placed.  But the intent is to expand the negative volume and create a beautiful and interesting space.  But the real goal to increase the visual and ...

Part 3 of 5: Office Atmosphere and Building Alliances with Clients ( click here for part 1 and part 2 ) Figure 1: Teague drafting room, New York City, circa 1938. photo by Stowe Myers. Office Atmosphere     How did Teague run his office?  What was it like to work at WDTA during its heyday?   In 16mm film shot by partner, Stowe Myers, the 1940’s staff of Teague is shown at work and at play in their New York office studio.  Drafting desks are arranged in two long rows, all facing the front of the room, where the most senior designer or architect would be working.  The film also shows office parties, which included drinks and group singing.  It also documents a casual office art exhibition, where staff could display their personal artistic works, painting, drawing, and watercolors.  Although everyone worked rigorously, he allowed occasions for staff to celebrate their hard work and talents with parties and other creative events. Stowe Mye...

The Successful Design Business Practices of Walter Dorwin Teague Part 2 of 5 Walter Dorwin Teague in his office-photo WDTA archives Gaining New Clients: Role Playing with Raymond Loewy and Walter D. Teague How did the early industrial designers sell themselves to new clients?  Raymond Loewy and Walter D. Teague answered this question during a conference in 1946 entitled “Industrial Design: A New Profession” held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.  They demonstrated this by having a mock discussion between designer and client, with Teague acting as the potential client. What is interesting about this discussion is that much of the conversation sounds the same as our discussions with clients today with some notable exceptions.  Here is an excerpt: Raymond Loewy:  …Mr. Teague, let us try to discuss it together.  Would you like to take the part of the client? Walter Dorwin Teague:  All right, fine. Well, Mr. Loewy, I know that you ...

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.

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, amon...

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   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, ...

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 th...

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...