IKEA Cooks

A woman in my graphic design class is designing a cookbook for her capstone project, so another student found this cookbook that IKEA has produced, because they felt you needed something as cool to do in their kitchens as their kitchens are cool. So hats off to the simple minimalism of what I like to call the IKEA flat pak cookbook (See how they've deconstructed on the ingredients (just like those damn Besto bookcases come in a million pieces). I just hope you don't need a hammer and little wooden pegs to put these recipes together!

The Design Guru Observes

Lately I've been foraying into the world of technology, as many of you may already know, I (okay with the help of Momma TWIMO) purchased a brand spanking new Mac Book Pro. SWOON. I'm so in love with it, although I have been a little timid in jumping into the transition between the PC and Mac worlds. Fellow TWIMOer E, has convinced me to dive in and I'm taking her advice, so full steam ahead I'm becoming a Mac (I just need to add all 12 of the apple stickers that came with my computer to my car's bumper to make it official. Can we talk about genius viral marketing?)

Any hoo in the process of getting a new computer by the design geniuses at Apple and needing a new wireless router to go along with it, I have noticed the move in product, packaging, and instructional design to be shifting into a phase that calls for ease and simplicity. For instance, Apple is so convinced that their products are so user friendly that they do not require instruction booklets (disclaimer to Apple: I got an ipod touch which came with no instructions whatsoever and I did not know it had a power button until Miss Alison showed me. Apple, some of us just aren't as smart as you). Coming from the world of the PC this is a mind blowing concept. When I opened the sleek white apple box I was greeted simply by my computer. Beneath it was a tab that helped me remove the machine from the box and then I found beneath the computer two neatly packaged books, one labeled For Everything Mac and the other For Everything Else. How simple and direct could that be! Genius. Also, let's not forget the sleek, shiny, design. I've included pictures of my PC clunker (which is only 3 years old) and the new baby for comparison.

My Big Bertha Computer with the slim, sophisticated, just like Justin Long mac. (Ignore my messy desk. If you know me this should not be a suprise.)

Those famously simple instruction books. I'm treasuring these forever.

The packaging on my router was similarly simple. The router lay one top then a tab opened to a compartment beneath the router to reveal the power cord and LAN cable. There was a simple USB drive stuck in the lid that said insert in computer and begin. No manuals. No extra pieces of paper to keep and hoard. This new way of life could really help me streamline.

Nice, right?

I've come to the conclusion that this influx in simplicity is being brought on by the Millennial generation (I am a strong believer in the power of generations to create paradox shifts in a whole society's way of thinking, as my SCAD friends know.). As a generation we demand simplicity in our overly complicated lives. We want to be able to do things quickly and easily, yet we want our technology, objects, packaging to go above and beyond and provide us with lots of function. What an oxymoron create something simple that has many functions. I think it can be done as they companies are starting to prove. Now if they would just hire me to further their simplistic endeavors.

Oh and what cute laptop does not need a cute laptop bag? Check out the one I got in my absolute fav. color scheme! (Couldn't find a picture that blogger would let me post, sooo check it out via this link!) I got the one in the Baroque pattern. So happy!

Listography Sunday + a gift with purchase

Today's list is "List your favorite films." Now I enjoy a good film (or a not so good film, as my taste in film often leads me to the RomCom category or the ever popular chick flick) every once in a while, but unfortunately I am not one of those people that can remember seeing the film once a few months has past. In fact people who quote movies while we watch them really annoy me, not only because it's annoying, but because I'm jealous that I can't even remember the titles of films after seeing them. Needless to say this should be interesting.

1) Amelie: I own this film on both dvd and vhs. It's a wonderful imaginative world and who doesn't want to be like Audrey Tautou.

2) Dirty Dancing Havana Nights: This is a classic. Cuban dancing and a Patrick Swayze cameo. This is one of the only films I can watch over and over again. Just ask my college roommate Angie.

3) Little Women: One of my first favorite films. I was devastated when I lost my vhs copy.

4) Sound of Music: Who doesn't want 8 brothers and sisters? I certainly did. And I wanted them to sing and I wanted to wear curtains with Julie Andrews. This film led me to try out for the play in 3rd grade (which was a devastating realization that my stage career was going to end before it started), to see Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer in concert with the London Philharmonic (they sang Edelweiss!!), write a paper in college on my desire to be one of the VonTrapp children as a child, because of the sibling factor (never mind the whole Nazi, WWII thing), and lastly get really excited when I went to Saltzberg and saw many of the sites from the film.

Stairs where they sing Do-Re-Mi

5) I am Sam: First off, amazing sound track. Makes me cry every time, even when I had to watch it in class in college (embarrassing).

Okay well I'm sure there are more, but these are the first 5 that came to mind. I'd love to hear what some of yours are so that maybe I can see them and improve my film repertoire.

Gift with Purchase!

So I've been wanting to tell you all about a few recent events I've gone to and I'm going to forget about them if I don't do it now.

First was a WashU alumni event where a WashU alum and the vice president of HOK in Wash. D.C. gave a presentation on greening the workplace. She has written a book on the subject that is geared towards a non-design public. Now I think this is a great idea and I bought the book to see how she sells green to the non design world (I have yet to read it, but will let you know if there is anything interesting in it).

One thing really bugged me about her presentation and brought me back to the age old debate between the architect and interior designer conflict was the fact that one of her points was guess what, the occupants of the building matter! She made it seem like this was an Aha! moment for her and all I could think was really? Really? Who the heck are you designing buildings for if it isn't the occupant??? How do architects not think about the human factor or the people that these places are built for??? Isn't the whole point of architecture to provide shelter for PEOPLE? Why else do we need buildings? We don't is the answer. We could live in stick huts. Does the same thing as a "green" billion dollar office building (okay, okay, maybe not quite, but you get the point). So, this brought me to the realization that although I love the design process, I love researching the user more and now I'm looking into being a human factors researcher (because this actually exists! The only downside is that it doesn't exist in Atlanta. So we'll see who gets to me first, my dream job or a design job in the ATL. I'm going to take either).

The second event I went to this week was "The Late Work of Dali," the show that's at the High Museum right now. I went this week, because I didn't have anything going on and I didn't want to go on a weekend, because I hate people and crowds. In this regard I'm a genius. So, in the past I haven't really been a fan of Dali (I saw a show of his in college at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and have to say, just thought it was bizarre). This show gave me a whole new perspective on Dali and his process. Now I will say I'm still not a "fan" but I understand him a little better. First, the show has two dialogues happening. One is his relationship with photog Philippe Haussmann. Together they created a book called Dali's Moustache in which Haussmann asks Dali questions and basically his moustache responds in a series of portraits. I found these really quirky and amusing and bought the book before leaving the exhibit (the back of it says "This book is preposterous." Who doesn't love a book that warns the reader like that?)


The other dialogue was that of Dali's thought process later in life. First off he was a great proponent of Renaissance art and was an intimate follower of Vermeer. I found this interesting, because I'm reading a book on Vermeer right now called the Forger's Spell and I can see the similarities between the two artists' work. Dali if nothing else, technically was a fantastic painter. His subject matter later in life dealt less with dream imagery and the subconscious of his earlier work and more with ideas of religion, nuclear imagery (the atom bombs had recently been dropped on Japan), and pop culture. He also used his wife and love of his life as a model and inspiration in a lot of his work. There was a quote from Andy Warhol that said he wasn't sure what Dali would have been had it not been for his wife and having his watch melt. I thought this was hilarious. Anyway I really enjoyed the show and recommend checking out the High's website for more info.

That is all for now. So go a seize the week, because the world is your oyster, and as always live by Dali's words and be preposterous!

I'd Even Drink Tea if it Looked Like This

A year or so ago, my tech savvy friend, Loren, introduced to this website on packaging and graphic design and every so often I'll visit it to see what's happening in the world of branding. Well I checked it out today and this little package caught my eye.

Tea Hangers!

I think I'd even drink tea if this is what the experience was like.