Hasta La Ideas

The Metro Dot is a bracelet type transportation card in Braille for the visually impaired. It relays information like your subway station and how many more stations to go before your stop arrives. The bracelet transmits vibrations to let the user know when to get off the train. The interface uses EAP (Electro Active Polymer) to make a 3 dimensional pattern with electronic signals. The electronic signals are sent to the surface raising the constant magnet to make a Braille pattern on the silicon rubber surface. Through this technical method, information such as the subway destination and how many stops are left can be alerted.

The designers explain, “The destination and train travel information are transmitted to the subway through the rail tracks, used as a conductor, sent from the TCC (Train Control Computer) in between stations. The Metro Dot is able to provide station location information by catching a series of electronic signals that are being sent to the subway’s receiver antenna.”

Metro Dot is a 2012 IDEA Award entry.

Designers: Hoyeoul Lee, Jinwoo Kim and Sangyong Choi

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(Braille Bracelet For Independent Train Travel was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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We’ve all been there. We make a resolution at the start of the year to change our behavior and current ways of doing things. Perhaps, we decide to exercise more, to stop smoking, or to become an unclutterer. And, we start seeing the results of our efforts, of our commitment to our new goals … then it happens. We backslide. We somehow fall off course, even though we may have earnestly given our new routine our best try.

Though you may feel disappointed and frustrated by this bump in the road, all is not lost. This is an opportunity in disguise, a chance to look back at what worked and what adjustments can be made. In other words, don’t give up. Instead, refine your plan so you have a greater chance of success when you begin again. Take some time to:

Investigate what happened

So, things didn’t work out. You could just accept that and wait for your disappointment to wear off. Or, you could try to figure out the reasons why things didn’t go as you intended.

When you look with an investigative eye, you focus on facts and less on how you (currently) feel. Ask yourself questions to drill down to the reasons that made it hard to stick to your new plan.

• Did you take on too much at once?
• Did you need more support?
• Was your new routine too complex?
• Were you feeling particularly stressed (or other emotion)?

By looking closely at the events that took place before the difficulties arose, you’ll have a better idea of the changes that you can make before trying again.

Consider that you may need more time

You might have heard that it typically takes at least 21 days for a new habit to stick. While there is some data that supports the theory that you can successfully make adjustments in about a month, the reality is that it takes most people 12 weeks or more. When you’ve been used to doing things a certain way for a while, changing that behavior probably will not happen quickly. Consider that you might need to give yourself more time to let your new routine become a natural part of your everyday life.

Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, in a recent interview with NPR, explained that “there’s a cue, or trigger, that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and let a behavior unfold.” This happens after you’ve become used to the new habit. While practice may not exactly make perfect, repetitive actions do increase your comfort level, so much so, that you won’t have to think about what you’re doing. The new behavior will become more instinctive, like brushing your teeth. With this in mind, give your attention to the new routine as often as is reasonable and for as long as you need to.

Redouble your efforts

Dust off your previous plans and analyze them and the process you used to integrate the new habit a bit more closely. To increase your chances of success this time around, here are a six points to think about:

1. Disadvantages of the “bad” habit. Looking at the negative effects of your current behavior will remind you of why you wanted to make a change.
2. Benefits of the new change. Thinking about the positive outcomes can be very motivating and will solidify why you made the decision to adjust your behavior.
3. Complexity of the change. Keep things simple and focus on just one aspect of your life that you’d like to improve. Making realistic goals will prevent you from taking on too much and getting overwhelmed.
4. Ups and downs of the process. Hiccups will happen. That’s unavoidable, particularly until your comfort level with the new habit increases. Expect that things may be a bit tricky, especially in the beginning, but don’t let this discourage you.
5. Strategies you’ll use. Continue using tactics that worked and remove the ones that didn’t. Instead of looking for significant change after 21 days, use that timeframe as a “pausing point” to assess where you are and check that you’re still on the right path.
6. Visualize what success looks like. How will you know when you’ve made it over the hump? What will that look and feel like? Write out or sketch your success picture. Post it somewhere visible to inspire and remind you of what you’re working toward.

As I mentioned before, there is no one way to make improvements that will work for every personality. You will find some things helpful and others not. You may discover that you need more or less structure. Maybe you need someone to motivate you to continue on. Perhaps being in a different environment would be helpful. Writing down your thoughts might have a positive effect. As you go through this process of change, be mindful of how you’re feeling and be aware of what seems to work best for you. Keep things simple and use setbacks as opportunities to refine your system so that you can find a routine that works for you.

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.

Intuitive couture embroidery

by Matilde Angelucci

Desirée Hammen is a Dutch artist specializing in haute couture embroidery. In all her work she pursues the beauty of imperfection, creating unusual mash-ups for a truly surreal effect. As a fashion designer, Hammen combines traditional techniques with a DIY spirit to overcome any codified style, her handmade embroidered cardigans translating more as wearable art—totally unique art pieces that seem to transcend the “rules” of trends. According to Hammen, her clothing offers a way to express one’s identity and, she says, “is about a person as human being and his or her story—it’s about distinguishing yourself, showing your unique poetry.” In her mind, fashion should reflect a personal and unique vision of life, which can come from any aspect of one’s outlook. “The garments that I make have been described as punk, meaning that they emit a do-it-yourself mentality,” she says, suggesting the idea that the highest degree of originality doesn’t reside in the unconventional by itself, but instead in one’s creative autonomy. We talked to the designer to learn more about her look and the genesis behind the line.

Where do you find inspiration?

My inspiration comes from many sources. Where the inspiration comes from depends on the work. Living with an open mind makes it easy to find beauty and inspiration in different ways. Curiosity is something that can drive me to sew things, the curiosity of “how will this item or body of work look when I use this stitch over and over again?” Or, “how I can improve a stitch and make a new one out of it?” Curiosity and asking myself questions in a broad sense, or contrastingly, in a very focused way, develops my work.

You make clothes on request based on customer desires, how does the entire process work?

It’s based on a conversation between people. It is about making a connection for a certain period of time, in which I look for little things that interest me within one’s personality. When I work on the garment, I concentrate on the person I make it for so that the garment will be a piece that contains influences of the person. It’s a really nice way to work and it takes a lot of focus. The process is intuitive but grounded within reality. Of course, I discuss colors or materials and I make a small sample to show what ideas or direction I’m considering. Besides that, I keep in mind for what use the garment will be. The ultimate goal in this is to push the style a little bit in a daring way and give beauty to the person. My intuition leads me to ideas when I think about that person or something that they wish for.

How would you define the beauty of imperfection?

Imperfection is an interesting issue. It creates a tension in the work. And of course it is a very human thing. No one is perfect. It’s about the way I watch and how I can experience beauty in something imperfect. Imperfection for me is very inspiring because it triggers me everytime to develop my work into new directions. We should not abolish imperfection but embrace it as a unique aspect of each person and each body of work. This way, I create a new beauty which I find more interesting than the beauty of perfection. To put “imperfection” next to “perfection” is a new way of working that I explore since I specialize in haute couture embroidery.

Can you give an example of that?

When making my cardigans, I don’t work with a pattern but start to knit by hand on a intuitive level. This makes every piece unique. I have an idea in mind about the silhouette and the colors and I keep the body and the person in mind, and that guides me to a certain way of working. Parts of the garment are grown in an organic way, and so parts will have differences in lengths and outcome. For me, this makes the work interesting, giving myself freedom but keeping it all together at the end. How the different parts level together at the end for me is like reading a book with different personalities, structures and layers. Another example is when I make jewelry it often contains found objects from the streets. Those objects are lost, used and often crushed. They have already had a life and thus a certain history. To combine this with new objects and treasures gives them a certain “electricity” that I love and that makes my heart jump. A few years ago I began to take walks through my living environment. I took the same route and started to see more and more interesting details. I found great inspiration from homeless shelters, from which I make my own story of a world that stands on its own but is typically not seen as a positive part of society, or as a perfect part of life.

As an artist you achieve the same surreal effect transforming everyday reality in a new sensorial experience. Can we say that deconstruction is the aim of your work?

It might be, but I wouldn’t say that. If you think about deconstruction, it’s about breaking down existing structures. And when we look around and see our surroundings—or things we use like clothing—we have a certain way of judging them, whether it be positively or negatively. To see structures in a different perspective is certainly an aim of my work. Since the way we think about structures is universal, it’s nice to recognize that a different, alternative way of conceptualizing them also exists. But changing that thought pattern is both challenging and difficult, even for me.

Select items are available for purchase through Hammen’s website.

In anticipation of the upcoming IDSA 2012 International Conference, Core77 had an opportunity to talk to speaker Stefan Andrén, who will share his experiences in his keynote “From Employee to Entrepreneur – A Designer’s Leap,” just one of many topics encompassed in this year’s conference theme, The Future Is…

The Future Is… about us. How we work, laugh, learn, cooperate, connect and stay healthy. Topic experts will address the dramatically changing playing field in business and technology in a format where attendees contribute to the understanding of the information.

We are in times of extreme economic stress and yet the rules of business and commerce keep changing at an almost impossible rate. How do the best stay ahead, and what is design’s role in addressing change?

Don’t forget to REGISTER TODAY for the conference; registration closes on Monday, August 6, at midnight EST.

IDSA International 2012 Conference
The Future Is…
The Westin Boston Waterfront
Boston, MA
August 15–18, 2012

Courtesy of Stefan Andrén

Core77: Your practice is very broad, from telecommunications to architectural hardware, not to mention your work for Nike. Do you find that these different disciplines are converging, or do you prefer working between them precisely because they are distinct?

Stefan Andrén: I find that it’s both. The variety keeps me on my toes, and in my opinion there is plenty of opportunity for cross-pollination between categories. A design solution to a product in one area applied to another can provide that creative break-though that you are looking for. I find this to often be true for material usage and manufacturing techniques.

Not only do you travel extensively, you’ve lived in various cities in Europe, Asia and America. Does the setting inform your approach to design, or is it more a matter of the task at hand?

I don’t feel it does. Perhaps because I spend time and get influenced from multiple places and cultures at any given point in time. I do believe that there can be a distinct advantage to experience multiple cultures; to see that there are widely different solutions to similar problems. I think it opens up your mind. To use a cliché, it can help you think outside of the box.

As a designer with intimate (if not altogether privileged) insight into the so-called “Quantified Self” movement, do you have any predictions for the future of fitness?

With advancements in everything from our understanding of the human body to our ability to track and record biometrics, I believe that the proliferation of companies offering products and services related to fitness will continue. I generally believe that knowledge is power, and I am convinced that this movement will continue to help educate and motivate us to become healthier… if we so choose to be.

The successful companies will be the ones that are capable to delivering meaningful information in a simple and intuitive way, and provide a connected community around the sharing of this information. For these very reasons I believe that companies like Nike will continue to be leaders in this space.

Seeing as you’ve worked for and with a variety of tech companies, how do you see design entrepreneurship in relation to tech entrepreneurship?

I am not sure that I see a clear distinction between the two….

Do you have any advice to would-be entrepreneurs (designers or otherwise) who are thinking about making the leap?

If you are going the self-funded route and want to play the odds, stay away from most of the consumer electronic product sector. The capital requirements and the time-crunch makes the stakes to play in this category very, very high. I founded Krown Lab very much because the of the timeless nature of the products, and the relative low initial capital investment needed. I began the collaborations with the start-up companies Atomic Floyd and Phosphor for similar reasons. While they can both be considered to be within the CE sector, the product categories both companies play within both have long product cycles which reduces the pressure of time to market.

Investors today are for good reasons very interested in software and services, and perhaps less than before in products. I don’t blame them. While competition often is razor sharp, speed to market and scalability is in most cases much faster compared to products.

Stefan Andrén is an accomplished designer with significant global experience. Over his 15-year career, the former product design director of Nike+ has worked with some of the largest companies and brands in the world, including Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Philips and Motorola. Andrén’s work has been featured in numerous publications including Business Week, ID Magazine, Wired, Dwell magazine, Interior Design and FORM and has been awarded multiple IDEA, ID Magazine and Red Dot design awards. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Andrén travels the world extensively and is based in Portland, OR.

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Junior Industrial Designer
Bose Corporation
Framingham, Massachusetts

Bose Corporation is seeking a Junior Industrial Designer for their design team. Under direct supervision, he or she will contribute as an entry-level professional to the successful completion of small industrial design assignments which are typically part of a larger project. The projects assigned are limited in scope, requiring knowledge of principles and techniques commonly used. Work under the direction of more senior-level industrial designers. The expectation is for an ID-1 to quickly gain the skills and exhibit the capability handle complete projects under the supervision of more senior designers.

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The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.

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