Bell by Industrial Facility

I really like this Bell alarm clock by Industrial Facility. I am a fan of what people call minimalist design, however it's not the styling but the thinking behind it that interest me. The way we can minimize unnecessary materials, components and styling that result in better communication and function. That to me is the right way to design something.


Still do not understand why is it call Bell? Take a look below and you will immediately understand. (click on image for larger view)

Now do you get it? Isn't it interesting? Other then taking on the profile of outline of a bell, it actually holds another sort of bell at it's back, the alarm bell. Even the choice of colour is aptly chosen (by the way this is fire bell red, the other 2 colours are bicycle bell chrome and door bell black). Immediately you know this alarm clock will be pretty loud. By choosing to expose the bell, we get better (louder) alarm, yet there is no need for an additional cover just to cover it up. All i can say is that it is really a nice and smart idea. Looking at the clock face, you can notice that the numbers aren't immediately noticeable. This obviously is intended so as to minimize distractions. As we do not usually need precise knowledge of time, doing so allows quick and easy time telling. Various thickness of the hands allows differentiation and also reflect on the "value" (thicker hand = bigger value) of the figure it is pointing to.


However it always is disappointing how these designs always end up way more expensive when it is supposed to use less. This clock is selling for around 50 euros.


Head on to Industrial Facility's site to find out more.

Read more...

"Barefoot" Running

I've hardly been blogging for a period of time, partly because of my reservist and partly because i decided to spend my free time running rather than gaining weight LOL. With the view that Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2009 is coming up, i decided to talk about running in this post.

Having seen the title to this post, you should have already guessed that i'll be talking about "barefoot" running. Basically the idea is that researchers have discovered that people in more developed country seem to suffer more from running related injuries as compared to citizens of less well off countries. There are in fact published researches that show runners wearing "better" pairs of running shoes to suffer more from injuries associated to running compared to runners who are wearing poorly cushioned and supported shoes.

Picture taken from http://www.barefootrunner.com/barefoot-101/

The image above explains the reason behind it pretty well. Our feet have evolved to the present form for a reason. By introducing cushioned shoes to our feet, we're changing the way we run. Without padded heels support from shoes, no one in the right frame of mind would have tried to run by landing on their heels (what everyone's doing now with shoes). This action will result in a very sore heel that will inevitably lead to the runner trying other method of landing their feet. They will finally settled down to landing on their forefoot, which is "designed" to flex and cushions such impact. This change in landing method will prevent the locking of your knees and back while you run, the impact thus doesn't get transferred to them. In fact we tend to land way heavier when we are wearing shoes as we can't feel the pain and the ground with the thick cushion in between. The pain from the heel in this case is a signal to tell you that you are running the wrong way!

Running shoes are also design to prevents your feet from working too much. In the long run, your feet start losing their ability to work to their best of ability without the shoes. With less than fully developed feet, we will start getting too dependent on shoes. We then get injured easily in the absence of them.

Thus recently, I've been running with Nike Cortez Flywire shoes below.

You can see the slits on the soles that allows it to flex. To be frank, i'm not even sure if they are designed to be ran in. The arch support is almost non-existence, but as I've always been a forefoot runner, I've not have much problem running in these (My friends have always commented that i look more like bouncing than running as a result of my running style). I've since progress from running in them from 5km to about 12km per run to date and so far everything pretty ok. The only problem is that it feels too flimsy to sprint while wearing them. Thus i will wear another pair of shoes if i know i'm gonna do circuit training.

From a design viewpoint, I've always struggle between creating a product that helps and improves people's life or should we design to really benefit users without making them suffer in the long run. As a result of technologies, we become over reliant on technologies such as handphone and personal computers. I'm sure most of us can remember that we used to be able to recall telephone numbers of all our friends by heart, now how many can still claim to do that? Thus i'm a strong believer of "too much help is no help" and hopefully there are many more designers out there who share my view on this. This case also shows that conventional wisdom may not be always correct, by understanding deeper issues and how things works, we tend to get really useful insights.

Read more...

Adidas Predator X Absolion 2

Adidas X Absolion Floor, originally uploaded by linyou.

Read more...

Adidas Predator X Absolion

Adidas X Absolion B/W, originally uploaded by linyou.

My new Adidas Predator X Absolion Boots. Yes they are not the top of the range Predator X as i've already stated that it's Absolion. I do not see the need to get the top end model. Anyway these boots fit really well, feel right the moment you wear them on. Adidas has made a few changes to this new design, and they are all welcome changes in my opinion.

One of the changes is that the "Predator area (P area)" have been reduced so that the toe end area is free from it. This brings your feet closer to the ball itself, allowing players to feel the ball better. Personally I have always believe that the P area should be at the area where the ball touches just before leaving the boots, that's when the spin gets transferred to the ball. The new position of the P area does just that, so i'm really happy with it. This version of Predator X is amazingly flexible and this allows the real use of your feet to either control the ball or change direction on the field.

I've play in a match so far using this pair of boots and i must say i'm really happy with them. The ball goes where ever i'm intending to send it, i've even tried blasting from 2/5 of the field away and the ball flies right into goal. Seriously so far i'm very impress by it. The best part of this shoe is that is just feels correct, the fit is perfect! It really just wrap around your feet. However i also feel my feet gets pretty tired after a while because of the flexible sole. This could be due to the fact that i'm trying out barefoot running during my weekdays run. But generally i'm happy to have a really flexible boots.

Read more...

JetLev

Wow this looks pretty fun. You can see that the water is sent to the pack by an accompanying device which probably house the battery and most of the components needed for this to function. This is a very good idea as it allows freedom of movement while freeing up unnecessary weight to be carried. You get an endless supply of water because of this and not need to worry about running out of water halfway in mid air. The pipe also can act as a safety feature to prevent rider from flying too high and ending up injuring themselves. Lastly if it really runs out of battery, you will at most be landing on water (as compared to a jet pack on land). Personally i think this is a really good product base on the context it's suppose to be used in.

My only concern is the amount of disturbance it will create to the eco system, but well one can always argue that a jet ski does as much damage as well.

Click to JetLev's Site

Read more...

EF-535SP-1AV

EF-535SP-1AV, originally uploaded by linyou.

A watch i got for myself. Casio is making some pretty nice watch that's pretty affordable. This is the choice of watch of Sebastian Vettel from RedBull's F1 team. The watch is designed with a hint of old school style in it but given more youth and energy with it's angular treatment of it's band and cross hatch of it's dial. In fact you can notice they did not have 3 full rings you normally see from Chronograph watches, the designers actually tried to introduce the semantics of a car speedometer in here. The carbon fiber (a material often found in F1 car) face completes the look.

Read more...

EFE-500D-1AV

EFE-500D-1AV, originally uploaded by linyou.

A watch that we bought for my friend's birthday. This watch comes with lotsa functions like international time, alarm, and Anti-Reflective Sapphire glass. This cost about 2 times the price of EF-535SP-1AV.

Read more...

Sky Armor

What caught my eyes is the unique way the propellers are placed and positioned. By aligning them at an angle, it allows the toy to change directions without the need to tilt like normal helicopters do. This could be a very good function for real life helicopters.

However before you get too excited and go design another concept helicopter, this is not a realistic way of doing things because it results in the blade ending lower than normal. As a result it

(1) needs bigger open area to land

(2) the propellors have to stop moving before anyone can get in and out of the helicopter.

I can think of a couple more points but just these 2 points are enough to make this a stupid idea for real life applications. Obviously we can solve the problem by simply placing it taller, this results in a helicopters becoming much taller itself, resulting in

(1) more materials needed

(2) more weight

(3) increase air resistance?

Actually i've thought of a better solution by making the motors tiltable, but it meant that it probably will be more of a hybrid of a plane and helicopter as it requires clearance between the 2 blades.

Anyway this robot needed this because it is standing up and way harder to make it change direction by tilting.

Read more...

The Hangover

Watched this movie without any expectations, i didn't even know a single actor in this movie, but somehow looking at the poster of the movie, i kinda have a good feeling about it. This is sounding very weird because i have never ever decided to watch a movie just by looking at the posters.

Turn out it is a very good show! I totally enjoy watching it. Maybe it is because of the zero expectation, but i really like the way the story was being told. How it allows the viewers to experience the chaos the characters were in.

Seriously go catch it, it's worth your money! Probably knowing nothing about it will make it even more entertaining so i shall not talk about the story.

Read more...

Doride Lamp by Karim Rashid

When i first saw this lamp, i'm thinking this looks like some concept done by students. Sounds a lot like some ideas my classmates came up with. Then i realised it's by Karim Rashid! I never like his stuff, because they are always stylist to a point it's not functional anymore. In other words, i find them superficial ,shallow and most importantly, for the fact that he's a stylist, i find his design ugly.

However the thing is, i actually quite like this lamp. It's supposely inspired by a leaf blowing in the wind. Although a leaf has no relation to light (ok unless you want to give some crap reason of photosynthesis etc), the form actually communicate the idea of a articulated stem. Diffuser are added in the pattern of leaf veins to complete the look while also blocking glare. Finally, yes according to him, he came up with this idea while he's still studying. No wonder it's better than the rest of his design and that explains why it seems like a student's work.

Read more...

There are too many things I need to do

Thus i got myself a MUJI To Do List notebook! I really like how the cover tells you about what to expect inside and how because the graphic on the exterior is embossed, it is very subtle and can only be seen when light falls on it.

Read more...

Manchester United Jersey 09/10 (By Nike)

Pictures taken from Manchester United Official Site

Frankly speaking i'm very disappointed from what i've seen from the pictures so far. Most of the jersey of the other clubs (like arsenal's Nike away kit. England's Umbro tailored jersey looks especially sweet) i've seen so far are all pretty nice, but this so far doesn't excite me. Hopefully in real it will be much better.

I'm not sure why but i always prefer jersey with elastic band on sleeves. Somehow Manchester United's jersey always doesn't come with it, leaving the sleeves flare. Maybe it's a request by people of Manchester United that Nike excludes it. Nike also always use a different fabric for Man U's jersey, often using the "air vents" to form some pattern, and they do not always turn out in a nice way. One thing about this jersey that will surely irritate me is how small the crew neck is, but the long sleeve version's detailing at the neck line looks different and on the whole the the long sleeve version looks more retro and nicer than the short sleeve one.

Yes it looks like Mexico's jersey by Nike here.

Read more...

LX3 Leather Casing

lx3casing, originally uploaded by linyou.

Just got this casing from MS Colour. A bit expensive, but feels really solid and well made. Initially i thought it's just some flimsy leather casing, but between the layers of leather and soft fabric is some rigid material (probably cardboard) that allows it to hold shape and provides added protection by spreading impact. This casing definitely completes the vintage look of LX3! Like my Fossil vintage messenger bag, this case is made to look exactly like those from olden days. The worksmanship is top notch and to my surprise, they managed to produce pretty consistent looking case. One of the things i noted in my review of Fossil bag is that they did not use the same cut of leather in all their bags, thus resulting in the bags of same model looking pretty different from one another. After going through a couple of cases in the shop, i realised they all look pretty similar. But obviously this camera case needed smaller pieces of leather and thus easier to maintain consistency.

One of the reasons I got LX3 in place of G10 is the fact that it takes up less volume (not because thinner as the maximum width of the lens is actually slightly thicker i think), so it doesn't really make sense to me in getting a rectangular hard case which will make the whole camera super bulky.

Anyway this leather casing match my vintage leather messenger bag (background) perfectly. The problem? You may now have to find another case to protect this beautiful leather case.

Read more...

Terminator Salvation Movie Review

There're a lot of bad reviews (basically from high expectations) around for this film, but i still decided to try my luck and have a look at it. I've said before that this is one of the must watch movie of the year and now i still think it's not that bad a movie. One thing i can't stand about (serious)movies are those with tons of loopholes in their story, this in my opinion is not one of those.

One main criticism of T4 is that the terminators looked so outdated and inferior compaired to those in T1 and T2. These critics obviously didn't spend too much time thinking. Those that traveled back are T-800 and T-1000, supposely the machines' best models. So how can they design/make models before them to be better? That is the director's restriction here. Knowing that viewers are such suckers for cool robots gadget etc, he worked around the restriction by introducing other kind of robots (such as motor terminator). 

In  "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", the lastest judgement date is on April 19 2011, about 2 years from now. That is why the resistance forces are still using weapons and tools familiar to us (like usb, sony viao etc). You simply can't expect things to become so advance when you are stripped of your labs and resources. Anyway if you are wondering why the base of the terminator is so human like, skynet was built by human and so is their base.

This is really an all action war film, with the usual questions on morality with infightings etc and quotes like "human beings like to believe what they want to believe", "when people are desperate, they believe anything you throw at them" (not word for word but along these line). Well this movie was filmed when Bush was still president of America, thus explaining their choice of quotes.

What i really like is how they understood that it's been a long time since T1 and T2 made their debut, we would have forgotten most of it. The movie helped refresh our memories by having John listening to tapes made by his mom, Sarah Conner, on what John must do (basically save his dad and send him back). Take note of what was said and you will not be lost.

Read more...

Yamaha Desktop Audio System TSX-130

I just saw this sweet looking audio system at the electronic store in Takashimaya. Didn't really get to test the sound but i think it looks really well designed and built. The generous radius and choice of colour gives it a very retro feel.The design looks really clean and buttons look well organise and unobtrusive. The top of the player is made of real wood and kept flat so user can use it as a plate for placing their keys, spectacles etc. The use of wood have always been associated with good speakers, this is because of their dampening or resonance qualities. I'm not sure if the wood does play a part in sound reproduction here as the design includes two bass reflex ports on the back that enhance bass sound dispersion, but it is a good touch as it adds class and perception of quality here. However i wonder will your keys etc on the wooden plate be affected by the vibration and starts creating buzzing sound when music are playing. That will really be a big turn off.

back view showing bass reflex ports

Anyway it's retailing for $599 and features includes iPod docking, USB port, FM radio, CD player and alarm clock.

Read more...

Eva Solo's Waste Bin

I've always wanted to design a rubbish bin because i do not really like the bins i've been seeing around me. In fact I've started listing down the brief and done some sketches about 2-3 years back. 

Current Designs

Most current bins focus so much on designing of the lid that they even go all out to include electronic switches etc. Adding more to a bin carrying waste. They forgot all about what happens to something that holds waste, it gets dirty! So my focus is to design a bin that's really easy to clean with minimum or no edges, hinge (hinge traps the most dirt and it's impossible to clean) and other nonsensical details. It's side profile will be like a cone shaped as it is the shape that's easiest to clean and at the same time easiest to manufacture. It'll be made of stainless steel for the fact it's easiest to care for. I'm still trying to solve the problem of designing a lid without the hinge when i saw this brilliant design.

images taken from eva solo

Access from all Directions
It is everything i could thought of and more! I did not even attempt to pursue the possibility of a "hinge" that can be operated from all directions. A round shape is basically non directional, thus we normally have to add features like graphics etc to give it a direction. So that user knows how to approach it. In this case, it's not needed as you can open it from every direction. It is logical as well as a bin should always be accessible, meaning it's best position will be somewhere which is near to everywhere (center of the room). When something is placed in the center of a room, you can expect user to operate it from all directions.

Excellent attention to Details

The rubbish bag will be held by rubber coated ring that doesn't slide down the bin as the bin is cone shaped. My guess is that the lid actually rest on the rubber coated ring  rather then one the bin, this prevents the lid from making a loud bang when it's pushed to close. The ring and "hinge" are rubber coated to minimise sound created during contact between themselves and cone shaped body. The bonus of the "hinge" design is that it can be used to collect your rubbish if needed. See the video below for how this brilliant design really work. 

The bins come in 3 sizes (S,M,L). The problem? You gotta pay between USD 314-560 for one of them.

Read more...

The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

People who know me will know that I always believe in the power of subconscious mind. Since primary school, i have been playing this prank on my friends that plays on the influence your brain have on your body. Simply point your finger very very close to the face of your friends, but not to touch them actually. They will surely have a sensation of you actually touching them and thus feel very irritated and uncomfortable. Their brain is trick into believing you are touching them and thus provides a reaction. You cannot do it on yourself for the obvious reason that your brain cannot trick itself, very much like how you cannot tickle yourself. There have been reports of tests conducted where subjects are hypnotized into believing that they are scalded, and their skin ended up showing signs of actual scalding. Medically they refer to this phenomenon as placebo effect.

Thus i will like to recommend this book that i really enjoy reading. Blink - The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Personally i find it a very good read as it allows you to know more about yourself. How you do not need to be consciously aware of certain things for it to be registered in your mind. How simply reading a passage that suggest old age makes you move slower. How reading the word "yawn" makes you want to yawn. This from a designer's perspective is really priceless, because it means every detail matters, whether you think the users are consciously aware or not. Every feature, detail, colour will influence the behaviour of user and thus must be considered.

This sadly is not a point that everyone in the industry believe in.

Read more...

Sony Ericsson W902

Well so far the pictures I've posted in this blog was taken using my newly acquired mobile phone, so i think i should talk about it for today's post.

Music Phone with 5Megapixel camera

W902 is a music phone that is pretty focus on having a "good camera" as well. Marketeers define a good camera by looking at the megapixels. In this case W902 comes with a 5mp camera. However in my opinion they are still way lousier than my super outdated Olympus C-720, which is only a 3mp shooter. The photo above is taken using C-720,  photos in my flickr account are also taken  using that. Photos taken using W902 suffers from excessive sharpening and purple fringing, noise level is amazingly high if pictures taken indoor. Colour rendering can be much better (that's why 2 photos so far are in black and retro coloured). Images are probably usable if you keep them at around 4R size. But why have a 5mp rated camera that can only images usable at 4R size? They should really focus on producing very good 3mp camera for mobile devices. ...anyway who still prints photos nowadays? That is why i agree with apple's decision to put a decent 2mp camera on their iPhone. The camera doesn't come with a dust cover thus the lens gets dirty easily and requires constant cleaning. Luckily the lens can be easily access and clean after removal of battery cover (refer to picture below). The positioning of camera should be shifted to where the LED flash light. This is because we tend to place our index finger right at where they place the camera now, and as a result the lens gets dirty every time we answer a call. Again this is what apple did correctly for iPhone.

Build and Design

The build quality of W902 is really top grade. The actual phone looks exactly like how it does in their marketing posters. The phone measures 110.0 x 49.0 x 11.7 mm and weigh 99.8 gram. Not the lightest of phone but it feels very good and sturdy when held. The battery cover is very shaky and is the main disappointment in the build quality of the phone. The screen is protected by scratch proof mineral glass and images looks really sharp and sweet. However it is disappointing that Sony Ericsson decided to use a different material for the other parts of the glossy surface (refer to image below).

 

Looking at the reflections, only part 2 is made of mineral glass, probably due to costing issues. The screen sits approximately 0.5mm below the rest of the surface. The designers probably hope to further protect it from scratches. However, this together with the closely spaced buttons makes w902 a nightmare to clean. It will definitely be much better if the whole glossy surface is made out of one piece rather than 4.

Another positive part of this phone is how well the buttons feel. The tactile feedback of the keys are very reassuring, the D pad is one of the best I'm tried so far. Being a music phone, W902 comes with dedicated music keys. The music keys are very sturdy so accidental pressing of the keys rarely happens. W902 comes with gyroscope built in, this allows users to control volume and tracks through motion. However you will need to press and hold the walkman key for shake control to work. This brings the question of why don't i simply press skip or volume up button. This usage method is a totally illogical and nonsensical.

One other area i really like is their treatment of textures here. The juxtapose of glossy surface with matte, soft touch buttons and the cross hatching texturing of it's body really appeal to me. This phone is probably designed with guys in mind.

Earphone

The in canal earphone that came with the phone is pretty decent if you are not an audiophile. While definitely not as good as my MDR-EX300SL it is small and really comfortable. The chrome plating of the ear bud could have been better though, it's irregular and makes them look really cheap.

Conclusion

I'm pretty happy with this phone so far, the main irritating point of this phone being Sony Ericsson's insistence on not providing 3.5mm socket for earphone. 

I really believe that once this phone gets dirty, i'll have a major problem trying to clean it up. 

It is really one of the best looking phone out there in the market and the build quality is really impressive. 

The interface is tried and tested other then the stupid Shake control they tried to implement here. 

Lastly, yes it comes with a 8gb memory stick!

Read more...

Retro Fossil Messenger Bag

I really like this photo of the bag, because it accentuate the "retroness" of this leather bag. Ha sorry for having my legs in the picture.

I got this bag from fossil shop about 2 and a half years ago, I really like the way it look because fossil is said to produce these bags exactly like those you find in olden days. This unlike my Casio watch is pretty pricey. I paid about $300 for this bag i think. However i bought it as i know it can last me through the years. The stitches are strong and leather feels sturdy. The buckle looks like it's made of tin, thus will not rust like some chrome plated ones. After almost 3 years, they are still in good condition. Fossil somehow did not use the same cut of leather for all of these bags, thus you probably have to take a look at a couple of the same model before deciding on which you like best. 

A friend who commented on this bag being too costly had since changed 3 bags because either the material are worn out or the buckle gave way. The cost of 3 bags together obviously cost more than this bag of mine. I believe this bag will last me a lot more longer so it is totally justifiable to pay more for quality product....well you first have to know are you paying for the brand, a fad or really the quality!

Some other leather bags that i really like are Hudson Leather Small bag, Ted Baker Renjo Leather Satchel and Belstaff Large Shoulder Bag.

Hmm ASOS should pay me for linking them up haha.

Read more...

CASIO Watch

I'll start this blog by posting on things i own that i really like. Well you can only really review on products that you've used right? Along the way i'll be posting on products/ gadgets etc that caught my attention as well.

FACE

I've own this Casio watch for about 1 year plus now and it's still looking pretty fine. No real scratches on the mineral (my guess) glass. I'm really a minimalist, vintage and sporty person all roll into one, thus you will find that things i own are normally incline towards those style. In this instance, i'll think this is pretty much a minimalist design. Very clean lines with minimal distractions. Ok the 3 date telling "chronograph" feature basically makes this watch a little more sophisticated while adding a bit of distraction, but i think they actually have one without the 3 circles. The hour markings and hour, minute hands are thicken so they become the most easily read lines on the watch. This allows quick and easy general time reading for the users. You have to make a little more effort to read the minutes markings if you are keen on telling the exact timing. 

BODY

The chain is made of chrome plated stainless steel if i'm not wrong, they are hollow pieces thus feels light and a little cheap when held. I paid about $30 for this so i shall not complain about that haha. However i have to say on the looks department, this watch looks way better that the price i paid for it. I've received many compliments from people around me on this watch, people including designers! For around $30, i have to say this is the nicest watch i've seen around. 

CONCLUSION

Stop buying those lousy pirated watches that cost around the same price but doesn't do its job well. This watch looks good and keeps time well, i haven't tune it since i've gotten it. However i've forgotten about the model number of this watch. Anyway just keep a look out for some Casio gems out there!

Read more...