only 48 hrs left of Wim

BTC Original Lights

BTC Original lights are made of glass dipped in ceramic. You get a wonderful glow through them.

All made in the UK.

Buy one here

volcanic polls

collaborate

Model 214

The Thonet Model 214 is quite simply the best example of modern design. 6 pieces fixed together with 10 screws; hard, durable, light and elegant. I can't think of any chair that has come close to it. A slight improvement on the orginal "Chair nr. 14" known as "Konsumstuhl Nr. 14" from 1859.

I can remember my Sister's restaurant back in the 70s (themed on a 1920s American bistro) was full of them with wonderful drilled holed seats which I have always preferred to the wicker ones.

Designed in 1859 by Michael Thonet.

this months books on my desk

2 great books from booth-clibborn editions, brooklyn and berliner style. banging techno cd to accompany the brooklyn one.

also on the table this month is alan fletcher
'the art of looking sideways' old one but a great book.

and last john maeda 'the laws of simplicity'.

im almost always hungry

I forgot about this book, Rick, thanks for reminding me about this. I'm almost always hungry about the research and design process within Cahan Associates in San Francisco.

cahan associates

programmers are the new designers

John Maeda once said at a lecture that programmers are the new creatives.
He was making the point that to create something in digital media you need to understand and or be able to use code to imagine it. http://plw.media.mit.edu/people/maeda/

I would also extend that thought and say that code enables the aesthetic of a new digital language we need to read information. One of my first tastes online of this new language was seeing thinkmap by plumb design in NY back in 1998. http://www.thinkmap.com/

Digg labs seem to be pushing this into functional news readers, by being able to distill vast amounts of news into a graphic form. This language is only possible by the code that enables the manipulation of content. It frees the design process to be something organic in its structure. The designer doesnt need to place image and type but mearly set up some parameters for the code to follow, or not if you like.

"In its analytic and methodic inventory design follows a range of metaphors
and paradigms: of creation, of construction, of information."

Jörg Petruschat
Informations takes command?

mm i love fast cars book

Rick where is it?

cyan