IDFuel, the Industrial Design Weblog

New Directions, New Projects

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:06:07 +0000

http://www.humblefactory.com If you've been checking back in over, oh, I don't know, the last 5 years, you've noticed that IDFuel is on a bit of a break. And this hiatus is going to continue, not because IDFuel is finished, but because Dominic Muren, our editor, has focused his energy on some new projects. Dominic has always been interested in the idea of "sustainability" in design (5 years writing for Treehugger.com should attest to that), and trying to figure out exactly what that means: What do we want to sustain? Does design really want stasis or consistency? Can you really just replace wood with bamboo and call it sustainable? The reality is, sustainability is a bit of a red herring. Dominic's new projects are meant to identify what designers mean by sustainable, and help them to achieve it. In order to do that, four different projects are in the works: Humblefacture.com is a new blog dedicated to the theory behind these new developments in design. How can small-scale, local production be made competitive, and produce useful objects? What are the design considerations needed to make this a reality? What new technologies or techniques do designers need to integrate? Humblefacture is the place to find these answers, and join in the conversation. The Humblefactory is Dominic's new design laboratory in Seattle Washington, where he is living, and teaching Industrial Design at the University of Washington. Opening the source of design is a major part of Humblefacture, and The Humblefactory is the place where Dominic is developing new materials and processes for release into the world via sites like Thingiverse.com The Humblefactory YouTube Channel will collect video documentation of new materials and processes developed at the Humblefactory, as well as related videos which may be useful to designers trying to start their own local, small-scale production businesses. The Humblefactory Floor is a new blog on Forbes.com which will cover some real-world examples of designers using high-information technologies to make more competitive products in cities, with local labor, and local materials. Thanks for your support and attention over the years. We hope you will join us in this next phase of design exploration. Keep on burning.

Why Robots Shouldn't Take Over

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:13:13 +0000

Ask any fourth grader what the future will be like, and you can be reasonably assured of getting one of two answers. One, that there will be flying cars. And two, that robots will rule the world. Prediction two is rapidly being picked up by futurists and technologists alike as a likely candidate for reality, and some of the predictions that come along with it -- everything from robotic nursing homes to entirely soldier-free warfare -- would push the credulity barrier of the most seasoned sci-fi fan. But if robots are ever to play such a central role in our lives, we have to see a fundamental shift begin to happen in what it means to be robotic: It's not about being non-human, but being pro-human. [...] Read more!

What Zaha Knows That You Don't

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 21:17:27 +0000

Whether at school, or at work, designers are encouraged(and required) to exercise precision in their descriptive works: drawings, and computer or physical models. After all, how can a mold be cut, or NC router be controlled without a precise directive? In contrast with that stands the fact that the creative mind can benefit from loose, expressive, passionate imagery in a way that would never satisfy a machinist. On this point, we might all learn a little something from a certain world famous architect. [...] Read more!

42. ...But What's The Question?

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 09:02:04 +0000

Perhaps the most enduring joke (or truism) of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series was that the answer to life, the universe and everything was 42. Obviously, it's a pretty shoddy answer without the right question (the scheming mice of the book try to pawn off "how many roads must a man walk down"). The same problem confronts designers every day. We are taught that design is about finding answers to question and solutions to problems. Fine, but without the right question or problem, these answers become useless, or even damaging. [...] Read more!

From Pokia to Hulger

Tue, 11 Jul 2006 05:37:43 +0000

We first met Nicolas last year when he wowed the world with his custom-made line of Pokia retro-cell phone handsets. At the time, his production was extremely limited, and each handset was hand soldered (by him) and sold on EBay. Since then, Nicolas has moved into the big time, manufacturing his own line of handsets, marketed under the new name Hulger. We had the luck to test one of his first P-phones, and loved it. His latest offering (and our favorite), the Penelope handset has some of the kind of beautiful finish that's been missing from products since the 1950s. We caught up with him to see what his thoughts were on manufacturing, muscling with the big players, and what a new designer can expect in taking their designs all the way.

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IDEO Vacation pt. 2 : Top Bill-ing

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 13:50:00 +0000

If you thought the last part of the IDEO vacation was cool, wait until you hear what happened next. Previously, I wrote about my meeting with Daniel Kushner, a designer in IDEO's San Francisco Offices. He and I talked about the certain qualities that make IDEO work as well as it does. About focused knowledge in groups, but broad collaboration throughout the firm. About a development cycle that puts "phase 0", a method for outlining the user and problem space, front and center. About a defined method for problem solving that is both repeatable and adaptable. The more we talked, the more I came to understand that IDEO is less an office full of workers executing some higher-up's wishes, and more a group of designers able to tackle the toughest of problems because of their unique collective state of mind. The next day, I had the good fortune to have a lunch with Bill Moggridge who, along with David Kelley, founded this group and crafted this state of mind. What he told me made me stop asking questions like "What will designers do in the next century?". Instead, I wonder what designers and design thinking won't touch.

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IDEO Vacation pt. 1 : What makes IDEO so... IDEO?

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 11:54:52 +0000

Most people take vacations to the ski slopes, or tourist destinations. This winter, I decided that visiting IDEO would be more fun. So with a couple of taggalongs interested in getting some California sun, I headed off to sunny San Francisco, and its lofty neighbor Palo Alto. I wanted to see what makes a firm like IDEO -- which, let's face it, has an almost magical appeal when you're a design student -- what makes it so successful at continually turning out concepts that not only answer design questions, but answer them in ways that are often so far off the beaten path that they create entirely new product definitions.

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