I’ve finally found some time to have a proper read through Baudrillard’s System of objects to find it really is shaping my thinking around material culture and technology. Some quick thoughts based on quotes from the book: “No sooner does an object lose its concrete practical aspects than it is transferred to the realm of… Continue reading Thoughts on everyday and far-away technologies
Category: Education
Bacon sunglasses or how far should we future cast?
I went to see the impossibly crowded opening of the Work-in-progress show at the RCA yesterday and although I really should try to go back, the feeling I got coming out of it was one of being puzzled by what it all meant. Fact is, I’m not sure of RCA’s overall design rhetoric anymore. Durrel… Continue reading Bacon sunglasses or how far should we future cast?
Quote of the day
“The more I read interviews with these rock star designers, the more I realize how out of touch with real design problems these people are. Approaching design solely as style and brand simply perpetuates the notion of Design as transparent and shallow, and if these people continue to serve as the mouthpieces for our industry,… Continue reading Quote of the day
Trends in industrial design education – it's all about the textiles!
I went to the Work-in-progress show at Central St Martins tonight to see the MA in Industrial Design and Textile Futures course. I’d been invited last December to attend a crit of half of those student’s works and was curious to see what they’d achieved. One of the many reasons I enjoy keeping in touch… Continue reading Trends in industrial design education – it's all about the textiles!
Sustainability through education?
I like to think that design schools don’t just teach good creative thinking but also good habits that shape you as a professional later on and skills that can influence the profession in general. I’ve been co-teaching one day a week at the University for the Creative Arts and in a way it’s been quite… Continue reading Sustainability through education?
Dear Sir/Madam
I just received an email at my Topoware email address starting with “dear sir/madam” expecting it to be spam and horrified at discovering it was a recent graduate who was sending me his cv and portfolio. Horror! Shock! So I couldn’t let it be, I HAD to reply and I did, trying desperately not to… Continue reading Dear Sir/Madam
Politics and education in art and design
“We expect art to be shocking, extreme.” say Dunne and Raby. I think it might be the other way around sometimes though, art tries to be just art, and we somehow decide to take it personally. Maybe because it’s one of the last uncommercialisable and don’t-have-to-be-politically-friendly forms of expression. Maybe because you can’t call the… Continue reading Politics and education in art and design
A little something about Dutch
Although this might seem trivial, I find this really interesting. This video, promoting a dutch language school by “teaching” the audience swear words, actually doesn’t touch upon what’s so unique about them in the first place: references to diseases. Because of their long history of self-preservation and survival, the worst thing to say to someone… Continue reading A little something about Dutch
Sleep less indeed
Went to see Design products show from the RCA (headed by Ron Arad) and I have to say I think the general trend in product design master’s is to make designers become more and more conceptual to the point of hovering in a grey area between art and design. In any case, I wasn’t moved… Continue reading Sleep less indeed
About design schools and worldly expectations
I thought that this related beautifully to the opposite rants found recently online about what design schools are teaching nowadays (I’m mainly talking about Adaptive Path’s call for designers who can actually make things, and Peter Hall’s claim that there should be more holistic and systemic thinking in education). Via the always great Pintday.