Handle Comparison
After Häfele, I walked over to Simon's on 3rd Ave. Simon's is a distributor for many companies like Håfele so I think I'll have more choices there to source hardware for my desk. Here, I found something that made me think about my thesis… A chrome handle, vs one wrapped in leather.
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It's really a shame that we can't feel materials through the internet yet. Of course chrome felt cold and leather felt warm. Chrome also gives the impression of being "new". The leather with darkened metal looks sophisticated… like something that would belong to an old-school athletic club.
Here's another set of handles.
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Sure the styles are different, but the perception of these two handles judging by their materials where our hands would touch is also different. Are we more likely to want to touch the one with the natural wood color? or painted plastic?
Showroom Visit: Häfele
Sometimes it's difficult to imagine all the possible features I could integrate into my table, especially with all the hardware I might need. Sure I could create it all from scratch in the metal shop but sometimes there just isn't enough time. The Haafele showroom definitely helped in realizing some of the possibilities. Will post later regarding some of the components I might use.
Samples from Milgo/Bafkin
Went to a fabricator to get an idea of what it's going to be like to have my desk fabricated. They were nice enough to provide me with some finish samples. I must admit, this is going to be more difficult to spec than I thought.
More on weaving three dimensional objects
Design*Sponge posted an article on Rope Projects yesterday, which got me thinking about weaving three dimensional objects before laminating them to add strength.
Funnily enough, that's pretty much exactly what the airplane industry is trying to do with high performance composites. Here is an patent application by Airbus as it pertains to weaving in such a way to strengthen corners. Here are some more via Google Patent search.
Reed - Boats, Rafts, Houses, etc.
According to Wikipedia, Reed boats and rafts are interesting to me because its construction adds up to something that not only floats but is capable of transporting people over long distances thousands of years ago.
Here is a photograph by Paul Kennedy, available from AllPosters, that shows these boats in action.
According to AtlantisBolivia.org, reed (totora) boats are made from two individual hulls or cylindrical cores which are bound together by attachment to a smaller central core using a single continuous rope in a spiral fashion thus forming a single united hull from the component reed cylinders.
The Totora Reed develops at a depth of between 2 to 5 meters and sticks 3 to 4 meters out of the water.
Printed Tires
While reading my daily news feed, this article came up: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/07/the-next-big-thing-bridgestone-prints-patterns-on-tires/
Aside from tacky designs that will most likely follow, I wonder what kind of impact this will create for people's perception of what tires do for us.
Couple this with airless tires from Bridgestone then we'll have the beginnings of what we consider wheels for our automobiles.
Wrecking Bunny
During an unrelated discussion on thesis class, a pink bunny wrecking ball advertising spot was brought up. I thought it was a pretty obvious demonstration of a material out of place. [vimeo http://vimeo.com/44834365]
The ad's intention was to provide a metaphor that demonstrates the use of the right tools. It's perfectly executed with aesthetics, perception and intention.