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Welcome. You’ve reached the blog of Tau Siroko. By a freak hyperlink malfuction, or a desire to find out more about me, you have somehow ended up in here. So please, enjoy your stay.
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Design in the Post-Post-Modern Age
April 12th 2009
Outlined bellow are some thoughts on design, they are ideas and that is all.
Design in the twenty-first century, an era where we are past the modernist principles of structure, past the rebellion of fighting against these principles and now entirely free to do whatever we want, so long as someone is willing to fund it of course, puts the designer in an ever more confusing position. The designer is expected to be both a creative talent and a restrained character, free to create unimaginable and boundary pushing work, whilst being restrained by ideals of budget and function.
Some, many in fact, would argue that it’s impossible for a designer to fulfill their creative potential when placed in these metaphorical box. Perhaps they are right, but in all honesty, it depends on how you define creative potential. It is very creative to presume that jumping off a ladder with a tin of open paint may produce a mark so beautiful in it’s abstract nature that the entire commissioned project could be based around it, however this would never be considered as part of a designers billable hours, mainly because it’s daft, but also because it would quite probably lead to the injury of the designer in question. It is unprofitable and in my eyes, not creative potential, but simply irrational behaviour justifying itself as “creative”.
What then does a design for a product, a poster, a advertising campaign, truly need to do? In essence, shock and awe. Good design within todays expectations and market place needs two important factors to be truly successful. The first is “shock”, in other words the design has to attract instant attention, for whatever reason, by being particularly beautiful, or daring, or minimal. A wow factor is what is needed. The second and even more important necessity is “awe” either through use, or extended exposure to the design. An appreciation of how smooth and perfected the design is, how well balanced, functional and in most cases, enjoyable to use the creation is.
This of course, all sounds a bit absurd, long winded and impractical to use in day to day creation of work. So I will outline my case with the design hero of the hour, Apple. Apple’s products tick both of these boxes as well as any current consumer electronics product can. Shock, apple’s designs always attempt to surprise and amaze their consumers, wether it be by perfectly sleek lines, lack of buttons or overly engineered packaging. Awe, every product created by apple also has long staying power, impressing the user by the layout of buttons, the ease of use and solidity of the product. Follow these two principles and I’m sure they will bring you much success.
Posted in: Design Rants | Comment
The Collector
January 12th 2009
Part of being a designer it seems, is having a little bit of a kleptomania just dying to burst out. In some sort of an effort to contain and categorise my obsession with trawling ffffound.com and many other design sites I’ve started using iPhoto. By combining iPhoto with my mobile me account I can automatically upload and update my digital scrapbook to the web which I’m willing to share with you guys as there’s no point keeping it private. check it out at my digital Scrap Book, I’ll be updating fairly regularly as I find new stuff.
Posted in: Design Rants, Life the Universe and Everything | Comment
V-moda and the Replacement Headphones
December 6th 2008
Having complained previously about my broken V-moda’s earphones, one thing I can say about the company, is that their customer service is very good. They agreed (for a second time) to send me a new pair of headphones and were even happy to let me keep the old ones so that I won’t have to pay for the shipping fee’s to them. Within a day the replacement pair shipped and their currently on their way across the pond. I just hope that they last a little longer than the last few pairs.
I’d also like to let the spammers of my comments box know that there’s no way their junk will get through the filter without my knowledge, so stop it because it’s extremely irritating and waists my time.
Posted in: Design Rants, Life the Universe and Everything | Comment
Design Archives
December 3rd 2008
I’ve just been looking through my own personal design archives of the last few years of my work. I was hoping to find something, something I remember as being a fantastic piece that I had never got round to publishing. Whilst on the hunt I dug through many folders and their contents and the change and progression is quite staggering. If anything, it supports something I’ve been considering for quite a while, to be a good designer you must be able to identify what makes design good, bad or inappropriate and there’s no better place to start than your own work.
Posted in: Design Rants, Life the Universe and Everything | Comment
V-moda and the Failing Earphones
November 17th 2008
So this is my first design rant. Frankly I am amazed that it has taken me this long to get to one, I am a man with a very strong opinion and even stronger convictions to speak them.
I have just one, very important point to make and it is this. Design is nothing without proper execution! Design often gets blamed for the failings of a product, when often it is the products build quality that is the real fault of the item. This is most obvious in american cars, which feel, quite frankly, like tin boxes. And there is one Simple reason for this, everything is made by the cheapest bidder. If your parts are cheap, no matter how nice the over all aesthetic is, the design and product as a whole will fail and consumers will be wary of future products, no matter how beautiful you make them.
What, you may well ask, has this to do with V-moda and failing earphones? Sadly, that is the problem, it has everything to do with V-moda and the failing headphones. I love the design of my v-moda’s, they look sharp, they feel sturdy and the sound great. They also, however, break. And often. I sent back my earphones in August because they had completely failed and shortly there after, received a replacement pair, with an improved design that supposedly fixes the problem. Well it didn’t. A couple of months on and I’m having the beginnings of the exact same problem. I’m sure V-moda will replace my headphones again, but when shipping will cost me up to half of the price of the product again, things start to seem unreasonable.
The point of my rant is this: Design cannot save your product if you make it as cheaply as possible. Engineering and design must be wielded as one, to create a product that both appeals to the heart and the mind. One day companies will learn this and I know a great deal of product designers that will breath a deep sigh of relief.
Posted in: Design Rants, Life the Universe and Everything | Comment
Scott Pargett says:
December 9th 2008
I went through the exact same things. I’m on my second replacement pair. I’ve noticed alot of re-design on the models along the way.
Excellent customer service.