On August 8th 2011, Ray Anderson, ‘radical industrialist’ and chairman and founder of Interface Inc. passed away without the world noticing. Barely two months later, the death of Steve Jobs became an inescapable subject of discussion. Canonized by the mass media, Jobs is referenced as the doyen of visionary leadership and Apple products as the utmost examples of purity and perfection. In truth, Jobs’ legacy represents everything that’s wrong with design, manufacturing, and the global economy. Like the soap in Fight Club, our ignorance is being sold back to us; reconstituted hyperbole elaborately packaged under the auspices of good design. →

Cerulean is L.A. based recording artist Baths’ debut album, whose depth, ambience and smoothness seem to come from someone older than just 21. But Will Wiesenfeld has been at music since he was 4, began recording his own tracks at 13 , and has already put out 4 albums under the guise of [Post-Foetus]. As a part of the respectable label Anticon, Baths represents a new step ahead for Wiesenfeld. →

Design in the Blood
Design Opinion

This week I had the great fortune to attend the CUSP Conference in Chicago. Following in the footsteps of the TED Talks the conference was about “the design of everything”, which is obviously a broad subject. Though I had no idea what to expect I am still in awe of how unexpected it turned out to be. →

Design in the Blood
Design Opinion

I’ve had the great fortune to come in contact with truly inspiring people that have influenced me to do what I do. One such person is Ulfert Janssen, who I visited in Barcelona several years ago before I really knew where my career path would take me. As I look back, it was an undeniably catalyzing experience. This was owed in part to Barcelona’s vibrant surrounds but mostly to Ulfert’s lifestyle and diverse and holistic approach towards design. →

Design in the Blood
Design Opinion

I recently had the opportunity to curate a show back in my land of origin. Entitled Industrial Desire, it involved taking 9 highly-detailed scale concept car models from the permanent collection at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies to Artisan Galleries in Brisbane. The premise was simple; to put the models and the automobile itself within the context of art and craft, a place that it has become more and more distant from as time goes by. →

On December 19th 2009 I received a short e-mail from my brother who was on the ground at the Copenhagen Climate Conference. It was time stamped 2am and read: “Looks like no deal on COP15…at least not the one everyone was aiming for.” He was in Copenhagen filming a forthcoming documentary, already a year in the making. The project had taken him and the production crew from New York to the Congo and everywhere in between, following key players along the road leading to the largest ever conference of its kind. It was here the world would converge to agree that climate change is undeniable – but to disagree about essentially everything else.

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Design in the Blood
Design Opinion

Without a doubt things are changing. This may seem like a redundant statement since history and our own individual lives are shaped by change, but we are now at an undeniable crossroads. Politically, economically, environmentally, socially, and even spiritually there’s little now that is the way it used to be. This is an increasingly overwhelming feeling – a sense that things aren’t entirely right and an inability to know what to do about it.

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Design in the Blood
Design Opinion

On April 19th the geek-central tech-blog Gizmodo posted earth-shattering news regarding the next iPhone. Now nearing 10 million hits the post included video and photos of what is apparently the forthcoming 4G model of Apple’s wildly successful smartphone. Unfortunately for Apple however, this is several months before Steve Jobs’ planned smoke-and-mirrors unveiling that gets everyone so damned excited. In the design world  anytime Apple so much as sneezes it triggers speculation about what it could mean. In fact rumors about their next ‘it’ products abound no matter what, so an un-planned leak was like an early Christmas for many. Except me. →

Design in the Blood
Design Opinion

Even though the follow-up to 1982′s Tron won’t be released until December this year, I still couldn’t resist jumping the gun about how unbelievably amazing Tron Legacy looks to be. My excitement is certainly multi-fold because while it’s too early to write anything resembling a review of the movie, there are enough facts, rumors and most importantly, visuals, accelerating around our own Tron-like ether of information to give me something to go on. →

Design in the Blood
Design Opinion

Without a doubt, the 80′s are back in vogue. Fluorescent accents, hi-top sneakers, velcro… the whole nine yards. In truth it’s one of many short-lived fads that come and go on an ever increasingly speedy timeline, and there’s certainly no shortage of retailers and consumers who jump on the bandwagon with the arrival of the latest trends. I personally gravitate more towards the classic elements of style – a crisp fedora, a pair of chucks, a well-cut blazer, a pair of straight-leg raw denim jeans – though some of these things oft find their way into the hipster’s visual vocabulary there’s no faulting that which is timeless in its look, quality and attention to detail.

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