Future Housing

Thinking about how something will always be different and transient giving the feel of ever changing yet still being in the same place. Imagine living in one of the apartments and due to the external conditions, you may wake up one morning facing West another South. Each day a fresh day and new 'Dawn'.

Design Wales - Stefan Sagmeister talk - Wales Millennium Centre

Design Wales - Stefan Sagmeister talk - Wales Millennium Centre, originally uploaded by julian marshall sykes findings.

Just back from a talk by Stefan Sagmeister at the Wales Millennium Centre. I have seen a few talks by Stefan over the internet through sites like ted.com and of course the movie Helvetica, but I have never seen him in the flesh, so I have been looking forward to seeing for a very long time.

I always think these type of things are just as much about the anecdotes and stories as the actual talk itself. It was also really interesting to get an understanding of how his studio works. In particular for me was his decision to keep his studio small (generally only having himself, two designers and an intern at anyone time). It was particularly poignant for me as currently we are looking for our first employee, which would bring our company up to four. I have always been a real fan of the number as I once went to a talk which discussed the idea of the number 4 being the optimum number as it is the last time that 4 cells are in contact with each other, and so taking this further it is felt that four is the optimum amount of people that should be in groups together. It was interesting to hear how Stefan also seemed to feel the same in that he felt the size of the company allowed them to respond quicker and more effectively to clients needs. I suppose similar to the 'too many cooks' analogy.  

personalisation and the comfort

What does the ideal house for a single look like? The most interesting proposals will be presented at the Architectural Biennale in Venice, from September 14 to November 23 2008. source: http://www.droogdesign.nl/

I have been looking at these type of ideas for a long time now and am definitely starting to feel a move towards a comforting bespoke future. Numerous items in our lives are making it harder and harder to be able to find our soul mate (for want for a better word). For some career don't allow it, also people are less and less likely to actually meet, deeming a virtual meeting as sufficient. design of public spaces and office spaces seemingly produced to keep people apart rather than communicating with one another. All of these and many more are seeming to pull people apart and though the 'Friends' ideal, the 'billy no mates' seems to be just as strong.

Having recently been looking at a few articles from RKS brand new open source mobile phone which allows the user to customise the applications on the phone through to the the above idea form Droog Design. I wonder whether there will be more and more items that will have to bring a familiarity to peoples lives. Rather than the attitude of I want the latest and newist. These people could say I want to get this for my 'companion'. Some people can say this has and is already happening with items like the iPhone which people religiously look after in leather cases and habitually clean the screen with their thumb, bringing back similar feelings of polishing and waxing your favourite piece of furniture. The system in the RKS phone has also just recently opened up the development of applications for the iPhone to independents, which could further increase the possibility of an emotional attachment to your 'companion'.

Cardiff Design Festival 2008 update

It is still some months away but plans are already afoot for the 2008 Cardiff Design Festival. As previously discussed we (Hoffi) will once again be working with the festival on all of the marketing for the Festival, as well as this we are delighted to announce that we are going to be working with Sequence on the launch of a brand new website which should be launched in the early weeks of September. We are very pleased that we will be working with Sequence this year and we are sure that through this we will be able to further broaden the reach of the Festival. Through our own work with NakedWales (www.nakedwales.com) it has always been central to our companies ethos to try and bring collaborations into design within Cardiff and so it is a great opportunity to work alongside such a well respected company. We are looking into some exciting additions to the site which we all hope will allow a broad design voice to be heard.

The next step for the Festival will be submissions to the Festival showcase. The call should be in early July and then after the selection and judging process has taken place the new website should launch with the 2008 showcase. We will keep you up to date as soon as possible.