PREV
I designed a minibook for the anniversary of the Tokyo Type Director’s Club that is running as an exhibition this month in Tokyo at a variety of venues including Tsutaya Roppongi, Ginza Graphic Gallery, and Aoyama Book Center. The contents are visible here.
event
Dec 13, '07
An old friend from Korea brought by this heavily reduce-ed size and too-too cute MP3 player where the “ears” are spherical knobs to adjust volume and song. Although simple, white, and small, this little fella makes up for its insignificance in size with a shot of emotion powered by the both loved and disdained, Monsieur Mickey.
The design of the device reminded me of my Mickey-themed egg timer (pictured in the background) that I picked up in Tokyo around fifteen years ago. Until today I had thought it was a Graves design, but Google can’t find it. If you know the design origin please let me know.
The hard disk in my four-year old computer recently failed so I purchased a replacement hard disk that was advertised as green. For years I had naively assumed that the hard disk in my computer wasn’t such a major power hog … but come to think of it when it spins hard during an airplane ride my batteries do get worn out quite quickly. The marketing campaign for the disk claims that the savings in energy gained are equivalent to “taking your car off the road for 14 days each year.” It’s hard to believe that a little hard disk has that much impact on the environment.
One service that I installed at my work place is GreenDisk. There is so much technowaste around us like unused CD-ROMs, cables, and etc. GreenDisk has a convenient cardboard packaging in the shape of a trash can that when filled, you just close up, tape, and ship the box directly back to them with shipping fees prepaid.
There’s an artist named Chris Jordan on the theme of trash and other questionable human practices using the once popular photomosaic techniques in the 90s. Jordan does a good job of contextualizing the trash and how it can communicate differently as a visual system of millions that appeals to many. The impact of the message of course being more significant than the actual work.
I guess the most green thing I could do today is simply turn off my computer. Hmmm. Okay. Will do.
products, key 3: power
(4) Nov 18, '07
I saw an eerily simple looking laserprinter in a recent issue of WIRED that I had to try out. As an objet d’art it works quite well in an office setting as the top surface is extremely clean and devoid of any product detailing aside from the blue leds that come on when operating. It reminded me of the early NeXT laserprinter with its blackness and clean lines. Perhaps the least elegant aspect of the multi-function printer is the setup process as the software installation processes that came with the device did not meet up to the same level of visual sophistication. That said, once the software was good to go, I felt it comforted to work with an object that was so incredibly reduce-ed to such minimal aesthetics. When (and if) it jams on me during a critical task in the future I’m sure I will feel different, so I shall cherish this moment of feeling that my desk environment has become simplified for at least today.
subscribe
