One day in 2004 I sat in the auditorium of the Walter B. Ford building at Detroit’s College For Creative Studies watching a video on the electronic waste epidemic in China. Presented to students by the college’s Dean, Imre Molnar, the video showed the horrific results of our disposable culture; mounds of computers, cell phones and appliances of all kinds being dumped in villages and fields under the auspices of ‘recycling’. As the video ended, Imre proposed that the environmental and human costs of consumption and obsolescence were responsibilities of the industrial designer to mitigate. →

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. →

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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The Bloggomist: The Local Boy
Personal Musings

My window overlooks the east side of the city.  A layer of haze usually rests smugly atop the rooftops and just above that bright blue skies as far as the eye can see.  Sometimes I think smog and traffic are God’s way of leveling the playing field for other cities.  But today it’s clear in Los Angeles, the horizon washed clean by nearly a week of steady, much-needed rainfall.  Mornings like these are the most beautiful; they’re rare and special, here today gone tomorrow.  ”My friend texted me that Brittany Murphy is dead,” →

The Bloggomist: Design in the Blood
Design Opinion

Styles tend to not only separate people — because they have their own doctrines and then the doctrine became the gospel truth that you cannot change. But if you do not have a style, if you just say: Well, here I am as a human being, how can I express myself totally and completely? Now, that way you won’t create a style, because style is a crystallization. That way, it’s a process of continuing growth. →

The Venice Beinnale, currently taking place from June through November, has been one of the most significant cultural institutions for over 100 years. A convergence of contemporary art, architecture, film, music, dance and theater, it would be hard to imagine a more appropriate or breathtaking locale. Venice itself is surreal and unique…like no where else in the world I’ve been, and the addition of the Biennale which occurs once every two years made my visit just that much more amazing. →

CONSEQUENCES is a brand new group exhibition featuring five cutting-edge female artists and designers; Danielle Huthart (of WHITESPACE), Emily Eldridge, Kate Barnett, Sum-Sum Tse and Kim van Gennip. CONSEQUENCE  is an exhibition exploring the often random and distorted events of a raucous girls’ night out. →

Centrepoint Tower, Sydney

Don’t let the film of the same name fool you, Australia is alive and well into the 21st century. As a native still slowly discovering my own country I’m ever pleasantly surprised by it’s sophistication, expressiveness and individuality – all in spite of it’s isolation. So I feel lucky to have a few days to spend in Sydney, known more for touristy landmarks than what really makes it a great city. →

(New York, USA) – I take Hiroshi, my French bulldog, for an hour walk each day around the East Village, where I’ve lived now for five years. We start our daily trek from our home, which is right below Union Square, east of Broadway between Saint Marks and Thompkins Square Park. →