Secrets of a Whimsical Designer

Creatures that evolve

Tue, 12 May 2009 08:13:19 -0700

An athlete finds it necessary to work out frequently to keep in shape. It should be the same with an artist. Here, on my 71st birthday, I am keeping in shape by exercising the part of the mind that works primarily with shapes, images and color and not so much with content. If there is “content” in this exercise, it might be that I am thinking of sea creatures as I draw. It is possible that I am, though surely not in a disciplined way. It could be as easily thought that I have fetuses on the mind, for reasons I won’t bother to fathom! These creatures are just some odd fellows that I made up as birthday presents to myself! They make me happy!

Sometimes it’s useful to think of an object/product as alive and able to evolve along lines of its own desires

Sun, 3 May 2009 09:59:59 -0700

DISCUSSION:
It fascinates me how artists think. I am one of those folks whose so-called left brain and right brain skills are fairly evenly balanced. Over the years, I made a special effort to enhance the “artistic” side of my thinking. Of course I don’t apply these skills every moment of every day: Redesigning everything I am seeing in front of me would be disorienting, tiring and a sure path to madness!
When imagining a so-called inanimate object as being alive -- as some members of some “primitive” societies do -- one finds that it is possible to identify with it. One can try to picture that it “wants” to squeeze itself smaller, stand taller, lean over, crawl away, expand, show off, replicate parts of itself, or make self-deprecating jokes about its morphology. It can seem to be acting as if it were alive and spunky. Nature, a clunky term for what it is that seems to be “out there” that has its own plans and desires, appears to show great eagerness to thrive and survive. Sometimes it is possible to see Nature as having a sense of humor. When designing objects, one can take clues from Nature. See how within a few minutes of drawing, I allowed a chair to evolve a variety of new shapes.

My mother provided part of the power for her appliances

Sat, 2 May 2009 20:58:27 -0700

DISCUSSION:
Before there were fancy washer-dryers, before there were powered sewing machines that did everything, my mother provided the power for some of the functions of her appliances. She operated a foot-treadle that allowed her to carefully control the speed of her sewing machine. She hand-fed clothes through her washing machine wringer. She carried baskets of clothes outdoors and hung them out to dry in the sun. Today most (but not all) of the functions of appliances are performed without human help. Even with the fanciest washer-dryer machines, some use of human power is still required: Pouring detergents or bleach by hand, carrying a laundry basket to one’s bedroom, folding or hanging up clothes.
I have sometimes tried to imagine drawers, bins or slots in the wall of a futuristic home that offer access to a hidden conveyor system (okay, this is the kind of invention a 6-year old comes up with). One simply tosses dirty socks and underwear toward the bin or slot, and they are automatically conveyed to the washing machine and thence to the dryer, and returned to the bedroom folded. Maybe there are buttons on the wall: One button says Urgent and the other says Accumulate (i.e. let clothes pile up until the machine’s brain indicates it’s the right time for washing a load).
The opposite of this trend toward increased mechanization is the trend toward reduced power consumption and simple, “natural” living. So far, not too many folks are racing to adopt the simple lifestyle, one that requires chopping wood outdoors to stay warm at night. Most people have the habit now of exercising on special machines, and are happy to let their appliances do their drudgery for them. They don’t want to think of powering their own appliances!
But could we power such machines? The laws of physics are not in our favor. Moving a large batch of clothes round and round in a washing machine would require the strength of a powerful athlete, who would soon tire. But what if we could move clothes around very slowly? I have examined that possibility. What do you think? Is this just plain dumb?

COMMENTS:
Below, MARCO has indicated that pedal-powered washing machines already exist. His links show it to be true. I watched the video. I want one of these, made by MayPedal! Thanks! Steve

I admit it: I experience a thrill when I incorporate strange or meaningless objects into my designs

Sat, 2 May 2009 20:31:23 -0700

DISCUSSION: Most professional product designers, working in the real world, lack the luxury to produce blatantly crazy objects like these, unless they plan to sell them as art. Southern California artist-sculptor-ceramicist Peter Shire has made a living designing beautiful useless objects. He knows how to play with familiar shapes and functions, in ways that delight his clients as well as the art-gallery-viewing-public. It’s okay that Shire’s tea pots don’t work because they are, after all, art.
Even for those in the design professions who cannot expect to have their work shown in a gallery, there are benefits to be gained from learning how to arrange shapes, colors and objects that are intriguing, unexpected, evocative and even blatantly meaningless.