what a day >> designing for mobile communities

what a day, I really have to mention carol, first she left early this morning to drive to an interview, probably the most important in her working life to date. then she is back home after lunch when she received a call to say that she didn't get the job. next she called me very disappointed and I promised to get home as soon as I could which I did.
next early evening they were on the phone again offering her the job, quite rightly in my opinion she excepted, and got a good deal.
and there I was thinking the design/academic world was fickle.

I spent some valuable time on designs for 'the hub' today which is coming together a bit better than last week. I did take some pictures very quickly before I had to get home, but in my haste I had the camera set on macro which obviously meant that whilst the pictures are interesting they do not mean anything, I will try to get more pictures on tomorrow.

whilst looking at more stuff on the internet I again was drawn to cati's blog because I remembered a link to jeff axup who finished his thesis on 'methods of understanding and designing for mobile communities'. it sounds a bit heavy but I took it upon myself to read a large part of it. I am famous for not really liking reading a huge amount of text on screen. so as bad as it is if I have to consider an examination criteria for a new exam course I will be teaching I print it off to read it in a quiet corner somewhere at home, usually because the text has not been specifically designed for reading on screen so doesn't work.

however looking at jeff's thesis or the sections of it that I have considered and read, make it different and easier to see on screen.
the understanding of the first user seems to have been thought through in a way that suits me at least.

It would be silly of me to try and explain all that jeff axup has considered and written about but I will show a couple of screen shots and explain a little of way I think it works. obviously splitting the thesis up for download is nothing new, (the complete thesis can also be downloaded).
I like the way jeff has done this because for me anyway it makes the most important part the subject matter easier an clear to grasp.

I would be very interested to see what you think.

'the hub' >> a working title

I am rather absorbed in thought at the moment I have been doing a lot of thinking and looking over the last few days. sort of hinted at it in yesterdays blog, but I am try to plan a layout for an educational space that is very different from the usual. I have a whole lot of work to do as I want to be able to present some complex (interesting/exciting) plans for 'the hub'. this is a working title as I would like to treat it as a hub of fact finding, learning and communication.

the main aspect of the design is a central 'hub' of the work space is an interconnected bank of five stations/computers all equipped with, well I will explain that at a later date as I am not sure of the spec yet. all I have is a head full of ideas I can almost see it in there but I need to be able to explain it that needs some more work. all I have so far is the first scribble (left).

I have obviously looked at and visited a whole bunch of places, along with my experience of both working in design studios and in schools and colleges I hope to be able to draw the many different elements together to produce a 'zone' of enjoyment and learning that is a great place to be as well as a great place to learn.

I have added some of the research I have been doing to this blog. looking through other schools with amazing buildings but tending to conform to the use of the inside space as in the picture (left). as you can see the desks and chairs are formally positioned. , chumleigh community college, classroom of the future, chulmleigh, devon. devon property, county hall, exter, devon. riba awards 2005. I want to move away from the formality of rows of tables and chairs.


absolute designs a design company based in falmouth, cornwall, uk have produced some design solutions, showing an inspiring use of interior space. you can see a couple of projects they have worked on. pictures (left) of falmouth college of arts and cornwall centre for professional development (right). for a better view have a look at their website its quite an amalgam of design from interiors to branding, packaging, design for print and more.

I still have plenty of planning and more thinking to do yet but a sensible proposal will hopefully come, whether anything will actioned is another thing completely. as a designer/ideas person you kind of get used to that. whatever happens the creative side of problem solving is often enough to fuel me to move on to the next project.

a walk to the shop >> then I noticed the signs

it is funny that I genuinely have no idea what i am going to add to this blog for day to day.
today I was at home with my 8 year old son ben it was a lovely sunny day in cornwall. ben decided it would be nice to go out for a walk in the sun, good idea.
we walked along the road, very near where we live the road I drive out of every working day. strange that you notice different things when you walk, as soon as I saw the first sign a real cast metal sign (top left) that is probably older than me I thought of davidthedesigner he would have approved.
we went to the shop and bought some lunch and ice cream I even had a milk shake as it was buy 1 get 1 free (won't be doing that again) at least ben loved his strawberry milky thing.
we left the shop to be met by the second photo (top right). already i was thinking again of david and also ben of noisy decent graphics.
when we turned into the road we live in another sign greeted us (bottom left) I was amazed that I have driven, sometimes walked by these signs nearly every day and not really noticed them before (& I consider my self visually aware!). at least as I walked towards my home I was reassured that my chimney that I really like (bottom right) I know many in the area don't like delabole slate used in this way and regard it as is ugly, but ugly or not the craftsmen that made it as the craftsmen who made the first sign actually cared. the same can't be said of the other signs.

another week >> scandinavian design

I thought some scandinavian design was long overdue an airing on dgthekneelo for no other reason that I like a lot of it. 2Krogh as I am sure some of you will have heard of them. they produce some really good stuff, this is (left) their entry page logo I like it, (right) is the index page designed for the sculptor peter hesk moller's website.

it is a very neat clean/clear website. I find it relaxing to browse, as it uses a lot of flat colour making it nice for me to get away from the flowered themes that have been going through my head of late. can't seem to get flowers out of my head, even dream about them!

on the scandinavian theme I had to add this blog 0645am. I really do like the logo it not flowery but it is surfy, very simple and very swedish.
it is the blog of a swedish surfer! it use to run as a website but now runs as a full time blog.
I have linked through to it from my surf site surf98 for years, and have watched it evolve, perhaps it is the way forward, I am not sure. what to you think should we all use blogs instead of websites?

different >> but all linked

It has been a long funny kind of day, long in the sense that I have been awake for a long time, funny (I don't mean full of jokes) but I had to see a few people to discuss stuff as well as contact people who are making decisions that could effect my future.
oh yes and teach!

just a normal day you think for most of you I would expect. but I also spent some time talking to students and their parents who are currently making decisions that will at least make a difference to the next 2 years of their lives (probably more), if not the whole of their lives.

amongst all this I was sending and receiving emails and even twittering a little.
I received a very interested email, fully work related and I will hopefully attend some of the events that were documented in the email. it had a list of interesting links with it I thought of adding all the links but to put them all on one post would have been too much information would be too much so I have added just 4.

I am posting them out of context but I don't think that really matters have a look you might well find some interesting I did.

kurator
pirate university
signwave
andy pink

3 things from the kichen >>

I have been trying perhaps too hard to be inventive, informative and or complex in the last week or so in this blog.

but after a very interesting conversation this afternoon which ranged from barcelona to goudi, creativity to starbucks, ICT and the performing arts, I realised that sometimes you can try just too hard.

in the so called creative/design world things/images are so often not that good, it's more the explanation or intellectualisation of them that convinces you that it is good.

so I thought i would go it my kitchen a photograph 3 things that I liked for no other reason other than I liked them for some reason. Some cake, left over from carols birthday, a waitrose espresso tin (I just liked the red), and some chilli plants that we are growing as I like chilli's.
as I was thinking in 3's I have included in no particular order and for no particular reason 3 blogs that I looked at and enjoyed today that I wanted to pass on art design by, urban fonts and idealist, none of them new to you all I'm sure, but never the less still worth a look.

oh yes I ordered the (what if) 'sticky wisdom', book as well a good day all in all.

just having a look round >>

it is strange that it is so easy to become stuck in your own blog world and look at the really good blogs/websites that you usually look at. I had some time this afternoon an exam was going on in my teaching room so I had an hour of complete silence to browse around looking at as many different sites as I wanted.
I am normally either too tired or too busy to have this opportunity and the themes for each days blog just come to me while I am teaching or driving or talking.
I very rarely get time to just look. here are just a few blogs amongst many that I found interesting enough to want to share.

notes by cati vaucelle
yasmine abbas
the landscape blog
design observer
society of illustrators of los angeles



these are just five to have a look at whether they are to your taste or not I like them, I have also been looking at some french blogs. it seems that there is some great design and text driven stuff.

a bit strange >> design ?

it has been one of the days/weeks really the best way I can describe it is in the pictures I have posted today. this roundabout I love the colours and enjoy the use of colour even enjoy watching it wizz around. the trouble is that is like so much design, teaching and every day talk the ideas can be poor but people think by wrapping it up a bit you have a good product but you don't.

when style not design becomes the substance of a product it doesn't work so any amount of random colour (or non-colour) can sometimes create pleasing effects but rarely gets noticed in a positive light, strange that me a one time textile designer famous for getting a degree in colouring in would believe this! (though I have since added to my studies and become a teacher of ICT/enterprise and business studies). I have always had strong feeling for colour and perhaps more the correct use and interpretation of it. even to the extreme of thinking the apple design teams cool use of colour annoying with its smugness at times. however Jonathan Ive as an inspiration beyond compare.

I am in no way presenting a tin german-made children's toy (that has a warning on it not suitable for children to play with!) as a design classic rather that it shows that all the colour in the spectrum will not save this piece from being anything but 'nice'.

Oh dear that got a bit heavy perhaps I should write about surfing next time, or perhaps I should explore this a bit more?

hours in front of computer screens ends in pictures of fins

strange isn't it I have spent so many hours in front of different screens today. testing software, running and evaluating new applications. looking at endless websites, blogs and virtual spaces and in the end I have to find something real to touch and look at and hold it happens to be a surfboard I mentioned a few posts ago when I was talking about the twin fin, this is a quad fish and it's is mine I love the look of it and setting the fins in a formation such as this really does make the board very fast as there is no central drag. it was made in byron bay, australia by ex-world champion david parkes a master when it comes to making surfboards that work.
so rather than write about stuff I have spent the last 12 or so hours looking at I will list some of the good stuff I have seen today + open office 2.1 + russell davies + lindsay.at + chocolate and vodka + my flickr + ma.gnolia.com + firefox2.com + 1-2know +
I won't go in to the 'educational' stuff that I have been trawling through for work as I want to stay awake a little bit longer. don't worry I will save that for another day.

saturday >> shapes & colours

must have be to eden 25 times perhaps more each time I see new things I don't mean their events but shapes and colours that are always there. it was a cold day and not crowded it made interesting as I could see the buildings and the shapes of the structures rather than the people. I do like eden, it usually looks better in very bright light but today it was dull and things glowed rather than being bleached out by the sun. I love the colour of the tables and chairs in the right hand picture, it was starting to get dark when I took this one. I do realise that it carries is own message about sustainability, and eco-friendly living that is not lost on me, however colour, shape and form have an important place in living. get this for a change the coffee was very really nice today.

gilbert lee >> pure simple designs

I am going to have to stop looking as I am distracted by so much. I should be working on some important stuff for me tonight but I had to mention gilbert lee the designer behind PlainSimple, a company focused on providing simple and easy-to-use software for team collaboration. I am impressed by the simplicity of his journal/blog some really pure images and photographs.

beach bum introduces me to ed fladung

Life's A Beach...: Indoboard, Balance 360 and all that jazz

well for those who want to stay surf fit, I suppose it is a good thing an indo board I mean. I am happy to give advertising as it was through beach bum's blog I came across quality peoples.com a blog set up by Ed Fladung a graphic designer currently living just north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I have to say I love the art work, and his blog has some good stuff in its archive (especially in the architecture section). I will be sure to put up more of Ed stuff in weeks to come.