The Great Wall of Podcasting

So since our first project on podcasting, I decided to check of Bruce Nussbaum's articles on podcasting. One of the them is about how China doesn't have podcasting and then the ariticle immediately following is about how China does have podcasting???? So apparently the Chinese, regardless of how incredibly advanced they are in other fields of technology they still don't allow podcasting. Therefore when Nussbaum was visiting major sites in China that didn't offer podcasting, such as Sina.com, he assumed they all didn't. Then other bloggers brought it to his attention that smaller sites, such as podlook.com, do in fact offer podcating. It just goes to show that although you may think of podcasting as almost a simpler, more crass, form of technology, there are sites in China risking shut down to do it, and others who are just shying away from it because of those same consequences.

Target Pills

So I was sifting through the categories on Bruce Nussbaum's Business Week design blog, NussbaumOnDesign, trying to pick out a post, when one caught my eye. As a Target "Team Member" (a.k.a. employee) for 2 summers, I have always found the inner working of the the Target creative team intriguing; so I decided to investigate Nussbaum's category on target design. There was in fact only one post, titled Target is a great design innovator; in which Nussbaum discusses Target's ability to "really get design." He cites their commitment to reinventing and redesigning new products, specifically their improved medicine bottles. Although I have seen and handled their medicine bottles I never contemplated where they originated. Nussbaum informs his readers that the design came from a student at New York's School of Visual Arts, named Deborah Adler who was connected to Target through the AIGA. I have to agree with Nussbaum, who feels that Target's attention to students and new graphic designers is one thing that puts them ahead of the game. Corporation shouldn't discount students and young people just because of their lack of experience. Of course designers with age and experience are definitely valuable, but one might miss out on innovative ideas from new designers; after all, creativity isn't based on experience.

Presentations 10/28/08

Macro-micro = seeing different things close up and far back
irony = unexpected happening; opposites
coroflot.com

Speaker

Today we had Nusrat Durrani in class as a speaker, and I haev to say he's one of the more enjoyable speaker's we had. He was really relaxed and almost like, well shy?? No, not really shy, it was just that we were all sitting there amazed by his entire life journey to becoming what he is in mTV and he was acting like it was the most miniscule thing ever. I would like to say humble, but it goes even past that. Anywho, he was a really really great guy just to listen too. And here's the project he premiered for us, welcome to mTV Iggy....I def recommend a look:

Fix the Now

The core77 article I read today was talking about a new software that allows drivers to make their current driving more eco-efficient. At the Paris Auto Show the software, titled eco:Drive, was unveiled by car manufacturer Fiat. It is described as "an innovative, easy-to-use social software application that helps drivers improve how efficiently they drive." By analyzing consumers driving styles it helps them to reevaluate and change their driving to improve the CO2 emmissions (as well as to save money). Although the introduction of fuel efficient/eco-friendly/energy saving/etc. cars was great for continued progression, this is something that can be done today! We all know that not everyone can afford to just switch over to hybrid car or change to a vegetable oil engine, but this something everyone can do to make at least some difference. Its definitely a challenge to get people to change their lives in any situation, and going green is not always an easy change to make. With gradual steps and small changes that have big impact, like eco:Drive promotes, bettering the environment becomes more accessable, obtainable, and feasible to everyone.

Just Sketch

This week on core77, one of the most popular articles was We (heart) "I (heart) Sketch." This article is about a completely new way to, well, sketch. I (heart) Sketch is a new device from Seok-Hyung Bae that allow the user to draw right on the screen. It runs along the same lines as a tablet laptop, but one look at the video and you can already recognize some amazing difference. We've crossed the line from turning handwriting into text, and mouse-drawn lines into curves, and now we can do with any line we make. No longer is there sketching things out, scanning/transporting them in, I <3 sketch takes your sketched out lines and turns them into one beautiful curve right then and there. Thats not even the best of it, check out the video to see......