Carey Milicich's blog

Project Muse

I have found this a hard project to get my head around.

Originally I thought we were tackling a corkscrew. An item found in every waitpersons pouch, but alas no, it was to be a screwcap opener. Now, I'm not saying that the screwcap is the best solution to sealing wine, far from it. But at least you don't need to have multiple contraptions to open a bottle, just an able bodied person will do. Heck the person can even get away with having only one arm, but of course carrying plates to a table becomes twice the chore it used to be!

The most notable finding was by changing the twisting action from the predominant hand used to twist the bottle to the other hand, the whole action becomes very clumsy and awkward. Quite often resulting with the person twisting in the wrong direction too. God forbid that the process requires the waitstaff to put the bottle on the table to open it! Bad form and usually resulting in a talking to by management.

So, the best solution is to design a better enclosure. One that combines the breathability and ecological benefits of sustainable cork, the CO2 processing of Diamm and the flair of Zork(but not to wear on your wrist!). There you have the perfect product. Well nearly. The politics of IP and national pride present the next big hurdles.

Besides, the most romantic thing about having a bottle of wine opened at a restaurant is that your girl doesn't even notice the fumbling clown trying to open an antiquated relic of yestercentury, she is totally captivated by your wit and charm!

That, and shes toasted from the last bottle ;-)
Boom Boom.

Here's an interesting wine knife

14082009045

The waitress at the Matterhorn in Wellington loved it so much, she wouldn't use anything else.

Model making

Back for more?

Second to last one... ever?
Episode 5

Devil for Punishment?.....

.....sorry, I meant "Design for Life".

Here are links to further episodes of Phillipe Starck's awful BBC2 reality show.
They are large files and an hour long. I doubt it will ever get screened again, let alone in New Zealand.

Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4

Its still interesting to watch.

OK so what was happening on the other side of the 'Wall'

Foodstuffs

 

We've been looking at the happenings of design in the free world in class, so I thought I'd have a quick look at what happened on the other side of the 'Berlin Wall'. This was a time when design and manufacturing technology stood still, household items were simply labeled with no excess packaging and products were functional and very spartan. Plastics were thought of as 'western' and 'modern' by the Stalinists so therefore banned in the early years. Early on a chap called Mart Stam made his mark on DDR design and it stuck for a while. Mart Stam was a Dutch man who penned many chairs that looked like Marcel Breuers or vice versa!(Thats another story)

In the interests of the environment and sustainability, we may have to seriously look at this way of simple effective and minimal design for packaging. Not to mention that they were locally made too. Though I can't vouch for the quality of any of it. Tesco's, Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer use a similar style for their homebrand foodstuffs today.

Plastics

Here is something to ponder. The new Fresh n' Fruity packaging looks kinda cool and contemporary, but if you had 5 minutes to run into the supermarket to grab some milk, bread, eggs and strawberry yoghurt....... try and find it when the shelves are full of THAT packaging. Its too busy. Hurts my eyes.

Hedler, E. (2004). DDR Design: East German Design 1949-1989. Köln: Taschen

La Casa Prossima Futura

This was Philips Design showcase for 'the home of the near future'. It was 1999 and it  demonstrated where Philips was heading in the new millenium. On show were the ideas of the Philips Design team led by Stefano Marzano, managing director since 1991 to this day. The concept was to integrate new technology into the home that would enhance our lifestyles in a previously unknown, harmonious ecological and sustainable way. It revolved around the home network, bringing the homes inhabitants together with technology for warm fuzzies. So it featured induction tablecloths, emotion containers, interactive mirrors, intelligent aprons, two-way kitchen to dining table communicators and bio-responsive high-performance sportwear, to name a few.

Quite a bit of this technology has made it onto the market since 1999. There is Sony's Eyetoy, Amazon's Kindle, Glass kettles, Nike+ accessories, LG's internet appliances, Squeezebox etc. though none of it talks to one another in a harmonious manner.

I was living in an apartment that had a Philips kettle and toaster (custard cream puff yellow blobjects with rounded orange detail) that had similar design language to these products, they all have a distinct 'Alessi' feel to them.

I look forward to the day I can have a glass sided toaster that works perfectly and is safe too.




Marzano, S. (1999). La Casa Prossima Futura. Royal Philips Electronics