Must try harder

... and so this is Christmas, and what, in the immortal words of J.W. Lennon, have we done? Another year's over and a new one is just about to be, uhm, begun. To be perfectly honest I don't think ‘we’ have done very much at all. Looking back on the year in politics, the arts, entertainment, technology and economics it all looks very very poor to me. So let's hope 2008 is a better year than 2007.

What the hell is the United Nations for? I thought it was bad when Kofi was the chief talker; now we've got Banky Moon or is that Ban Kimoon. War, civil war, famine, poor sanitation, lack of clean drinking water. Yes, global warming is a problem, but if I didn't know where I and my family were getting the next meal from, the size of the ice mountains in the north pole would be of little interest to me.

Is China's industrialization the biggest threat to the world? Well, since 20 percent of the world actually lives in China I wouldn't think so. Maybe they ought to look at countries' pollution in proportion to its head of population and then they wouldn't be too far off by heading south to Australia. Give China a break. They haven't been polluting for that long and they probably won't be polluting that much for very much longer either.

Hang on a second... isn't that why Iran wants to develop their nuclear technology? They realise, not unlike Blair and Brown, that nuclear technology is a much cleaner, more efficient way of generating power. And the oil won't last forever... High time the automobile industry started wheeling out those hydrogen powered cars.

House prices are coming down. Thank God. I'm already on the housing ladder so this, if you take note of what the media says, should bother me. But it doesn't. Not at all. I don't care if my house loses a hundred grand in value. I was happy with the price I paid for it originally and I still think it's (relatively) fair. As long as the whole market drops I should be able to sell, when I want to, and buy with little problem. House prices are over inflated and the true value is not what they are being traded for. Remember this little rule: something is worth only what you are willing to pay for it or be paid for it.

Which leads me to my next gripe. What's happened to the movies? Why is it all rubbish? Golden Compass? No idea where I was or what was going on. Hitman? Shit, man. Die Hard 4.0? Pointless. Bee Movie? I fell asleep, so it might have been good. This year, the movies that have impressed me? The Bourne Ultimatum, The Hoax (with Richard Gere), and... er... Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

When you go to the movies you enter with anticipation. You know you want to be entertained but you don't know how the movies going to pull it off. Thus when you're assalted with the likes of Pirate of the Caribbean 3, or Shrek 3, or 300, or Ghost Rider, or Transformers, then it's time to be talking about a refund policy. Satisfaction or your money back. Even, let the patron pay what he thinks the movie was worth. To be honest the studios should be paying me for the collective hours I've wasted.

Happy New Year.

Tearing the little hair I have out.

I'm stuck. Frustrated. Brain dead.

I've spent the whole weekend in front of this machine trying to get my ideas out of my sketchpad and note book into a somewhat designed if not working model and what do I get for my troubles? Just more woes. It's Alexanderplatz again, so no surprises there.

Here's the deal: a station ticket point where you can pay for not only your travel tickets but you can buy other tickets too! Football matches, exhibitions, Expos etc. You also don't want to be waiting for the woman in front to be fumbling for change, or trying to put the note up the right way. So, the way this thing works is you have only a few stops until you get to your request.

First, what is it you want: Travel, Leisure, or Network stuff (downloads, messages, top ups, etc). Second, what type do you want. If it's Travel is it Tram, train, ferry, bus, subway. If it's Leisure is it sports, concerts, museums etc. Third, is a sub-type of the second, and so on until you get to your choice.

Actually, now that I'm typing this it sounds a little long winded. Although the mock-up looks fairly simple. I've tried it out just pushing the buttons on my screen and if it works as quickly as it should you should get to where you want to get to in about 20 seconds.

What makes this even better is that you pay for this all by using your mobile phone. Once you've gotten what you want you touch your mobile phone to the screen and then confirm your transaction on your phone, not the screen.

But it still needs more thought. The project ends on Thursday. I'll be working past that date to see if I can get this to work. I wish I'd thought of this sooner instead of trying to figure out how to get the leaves moving on the tree structure.


On a plus note I did finish the design for my sister's birthday bash. Check it out on the left. Macromedia Freehand is still the best. I know they don't make it anymore but it still works for me!

Take a seat

The Alexanderplatz project is coming to an end. Thank God. Working in a multi-disciplinary is tough. Rejections I can take. It's actually good to know that perhaps an idea was not really thought right the way through with advice or suggestions on how it can be improved. Also, perhaps the idea was good but for the particular project it needs to be modified/adapted/re-thought for it to work in the particular context.

So with that in mind, and really no justifiable reasons why the idea couldn't/wouldn't work, here's my seating idea. Drum roll please....

The seat rises from the ground. Operates by a simple keypad a few yards away. Emits a sound from the rising seat. Falls back into place a little while after the sitter has gotten up.

Oh well... back to the drawing board.

As far as the 'tree' structures that I've mentioned before in an earlier blog, I've been researching ways in which to use pulleys and cables, anything really to make it look less machine like.

Not sure if working this out should even be in my remit. Doesn't matter. You can never know too much. Anyhow, I like the idea of this thing looking natural, slim-line and just growing out of the ground instead of it being built and placed in the space.

But now, onto some more traditional interactive pieces.

Later...

All work and no play

I'm not as lazy as I think I am. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I'm a workaholic. Now although I find that hard to believe all I have to do is look at the evidence milud.

Yesterday morning I started on a Flash animation before being interrupted by my good friend and scriptwriting partner to, not only design him a logo but to build and upload a website. I'm gonna admit right here and now the website is a bit pokey — we just wanted toget something up — but the logo I like. I'm just hoping I haven't subconsciously ripped off anyone.




Today, I've been working like a dog. I've been sitting here since 11am, first trying to design a card for my sister's birthday party. Still haven't finished it yet because I had to get on with the Alexanderplatz project. Fifteen hours later here I am. I'm going to bed.

Back to the grindstone

My Alexanderplatz project team had a formative assessment yesterday. I think it went well. One of the things I've been insisting to the group to do is to think further. If there's anything I think I've brought to the project is to keep asking questions and to suggest possibilities. Unfortunately the team tend to look at it as too much debate or simple negativity. At one point someone suggested we put a suggestion to the vote. Huh? I don't see this a democracy. I just want some more thought put into ideas.

We had these metal and glass tree-like structures that fill part of the square like a forest. The large translucent 'leaves' move, reacting to atmospheric conditions, acting as a shield from the rain, a barrier from the wind, filtering sunlight while also reacting to people's incidental movement, 'swaying' as the public passed by . I liked the idea of it being reactive rather than interactive. Just because i'm an interactive designer doesn't mean I want to add a keypad to everything. My objection was I thought they were too low. I felt uncomfortable that it was only two foot above my head. The assessment panel felt uncomfortable at the size and bulk of it; like having a JCB standing over you and following you. Would anyone actually use it?

Anyway, after the assessment everyone now agrees that the ideas need more thought. I have realised that in order to get my ideas across I've got to build them. Doesn't look like anyone understands them without something in their hand or something physical in their field of vision. I've spoken to two people on the product design course (Kristian and Gilmore, funnily enough not on my team) who are more than willing to show me how to best realise my ideas.

I'm running late. As well as being a student I also freelance as a graphic designer. I've just sent a proof to the National Autistic Society of the first edition of their new look staff and volunteer newsletter, NAS Voice. I'm expecting it'll come back with a hundred amendments but that's how it works in a team: we work towards the same goals.

The Beginning

So here it is. The beginning of a new era, my first steps in the blogging universe. So tell me, how am I doing?

I'm working on a design project at the moment or to be more precise I'm supposed to be working on a design project. The project? Alexanderplatz, a public square in East Berlin is in dire need of a face-lift. Uninviting, unused, grey and drab it is used primarily as a walk through to public transport or as a no-choice option to get to the shopping centre. No one, at least no one I spoke to, likes it. So, simple task: redesign it.

Not so fast Poindexter.

I'm an interaction designer. Okay, okay! I'm a student interaction designer. A what? Exactly! And I'm working in a team of fellow students who are product designers and interior & architectural designers. Now I know what they do, but it's taken almost all my energy to explain to them what I do. And it's not, repeat, not websites. Yes I can design websites (there's one up for the project – check it out and join the forum: www.denkensieberlin.eu) but that's not all an interaction designer does.

Interaction design is about making things work better so users have to think less about actually using the artifact and getting down to the business of making that artifact do the useful it was designed to do. And if you understood that, go to the top of the class. if you didn't, hopefully as I gradually get the hang of this I'll be able to give a better explanation and perhaps show my progress.

As for the Alexanderplatz project, I'm really having trouble convincing the group how great my ideas are. Maybe I'll just post them up here. Stay tuned.