Cooking for Geeks.

One of the joys of being an industrial design consultancy is sometimes you have no idea what you are going to be working on. Sometimes it's a straightforward project like the mechanical engineering of a headset, other times it's a blue sky project about something that might come out in 5 to 10 years. Other times it's a project in a closely related field that isn't strictly yours. This time it was graphic design. We all use the same basic programs, we just usually use them differently.

Jeff Potter (I've known him for 9 years) came up to me last year asking for help making some charts for a project he was working on. 60 charts and multiple variations later (and one whole year of Jeff's time at 70-80 hours a week) Jeff's book Cooking for Geeks was released by O'Reilly. It is currently holding at around #350 on Amazon's sales rank of all books sold and Jeff has been interviewed in print/web, audio, and video by everyone between the BBC World News to the Today show.

It was fun to help Jeff out on his project working on everything from charts and graphs to building a lego ice cream maker. I enjoyed being a guinea pig on the recipes as well.

Go check out his website for the book: http://www.cookingforgeeks.com

Here are some examples of the charts:

Maker Faire 5/23/10 Report

(Finally . . . DO/CO's Maker Faire 2010 update! )

My wife, some friends, and myself attended Maker Faire 2010 and had a really great time. We checked out a fun and literally electrifying musical Tesla coil performance by ArcAttack of Austin, TX.



I purchased a really cool belt and U-Lock holder from Fabric Horse that will allow me to carry my Kryptonite lock sans-backpack. Carrie, owner of Fabric Horse, was super-cool and showed-off all the wares that she brought out to Maker Faire all the way from my old stomping grounds of Philadelphia, PA.

Out in the open spaces of the San Mateo County Event Center, we found some completely sweet human-powered and alt-power vehicles created by Fun Bicycle Unicorn Club, a hot rod Little Flyer Wagon, and Giant Cardboard Robots. There was something to simultaneously stimulate everyone's imaginations and/or inner nerd. We'll definitely be back next year!

-Clint

And now for something completely different...

Hello there, it's Aaron from DO/CO,

I enjoy when something comes our way and throws our brains in a twist. A project that's fun, quick and a complete departure from the everyday. We recently were

contacted by a company called Nearlife. (For the Boston folks, they are the people behind the Virtual Fish Tank at the Museum of Science) Nearlife is in the process of taking their fish kung fu and turning it into a toy, game, internet experience and television show. They asked us if there was any way we could take their fish side views and develop CAD files and prototypes. We of course said YES! (I have a weakness for things that sound fun.) After some crazy CAD sessions, we got in contact with www.stereolithography.com and Nick helped us out with our 68 part prototype. (I know, thats a lot of parts, they were really small and annoying also.) We received parts about 3 days later on a Friday and after a frantic weekend filling, sanding, priming and painting, we dropped off parts to Nearlife on Monday for electronic build out. Nearlife is still developing the software side of this concept, when it's ready to go, we'll post more details.

Tulip Architect Lamp -- Prototype Accomplished!!

Hi, it's Clint from DO/CO,

Aaron and I have spent a significant amount of our time talking about our Tulip lamps since our last blog post. We found that we needed materials that were more significant than plastic. SO, we've moved from our original plan to use acrylic and polycarbonate to using a more robust combination of stainless steel for structure and frosted acrylic for our shade material. The look is a cross of Industrial Revolution, Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, & Art Nouveau. It's a bit Steampunk, but we're liking what the renderings and prototypes are looking like.

We also have come-up with the comprehensive list of lamps that will be in the Tulip line. We'll be having a launch party this Spring to celebrate the lamps manifested in 3D & ready for sale.

Together, we've talked about the basic aesthetics of the Tulip line, and our goals concerning these lamps for "makers" and "creative DIY types". However, Aaron himself has been spending most of his free waking moments actually doing instead of just talking. He is majorly streamlining & refining how DO/CO designs parts 'a la laser cutter' using flat stock to generate 3D form. He's found the intricasies of tolerancing parts and the limitations of the laser cutter. He's also sweated through ways to make unique and effective latching details that still keep our unique aesthetics intact. Finally, he's coordinated a great relationship with a local laser cutting shop near Boston that's very excited to cut our parts.

We're extremely pumped to see everything coming together. I (Clint) could not be more appreciative of Aaron right now. He's pushing our dream of selling products that we design into reality.

DO/CO's Tulip Architect Lamp prototype is pictured in this post. It's constructed from masonite and acrylic. Some details will be changing to improve structure and cord management, so keep a look-out. Wish us luck as we push forward into our first run of lamps in our final material -- STAINLESS STEEL!!

-Clint

Making Audio Assistive Technology Sexy . . .

Hearing loss seems to strike the men in my family for one reason or another. My Grandpa worked in a metal stamping plant in the 50's-70's. My Dad lost hearing in one of his ears after a really bad car accident. I like to soup-up MINIs and that usually ends-up making them quite a bit louder than factory specification.

Since about 5 years ago, I now wear earplugs A LOT--concerts, banging a hammer when building things, grinding metal, taking my car to have dyno testing done-- whatever it takes to preserve the hearing that I have left. (I'm sure that some has been lost to the impatience of youth and/or non-consideration of loudness). When I have a son or a daughter, this child will have a pair of earplugs tucked in their jacket so that I can start them early on hearing protection.

OK, the stage for my personal interest in audio assistive technology is now set. The image above shows a product from a company called Widex called the mind440. This device blew my mind this week, but not for its physical design (which I believe is much more good than bad BTW). Instead, they did a fairly sexy online campaign for the mind440 that you can check out here:

http://campaign.widex.com/flashcampaign/mind440/Site/uk/Platform.html?gclid=CPCWn8D_3ZsCFRlcagodnjQsAQ


So this site has some vignettes that are like a Chanel commercial at times. However, it mixes some enticing imagery with key pieces of consumer info that really hit the target areas of "Why do I need this?". The Flash animations, video, site styling, & layout give an aura of high-design to the mind440. It's a very de-stigmatizing approach to advertising this type of assistive technology. Widex chose to deal more with using their product as lifestyle maintenance rather than dwelling on hearing loss. Bravo to Widex!

-Clint

P.S. (I'm going to do a little research to see what ad agency/firm they used to pull this production together. I'll report back once I know more.)