The interface is perfect; slap the top of the SPÖKA to turn it on or off. Brilliant for next to your bed when you want to set a mood or make the light easier on your eyes. Works well in the bath too, nice and relaxing!
Following some cocktails in Templelane bar in Dundee (Kathryn actually knows cocktails, I just tell them to surprise me or to pour as much bourbon as they're allowed in to my glass and make it taste good), we headed to the Union for a little chill-out, little knowing what was going on downstairs in Mono at Dundee Union.
The "Dundee Big-Band" were playing a live set, comprising of four half hour displays.
It was absolutely brilliant. I really felt like the band were getting right in to a musical genre that has felt long dead in today's society. I am no Jazz buff (I dabble, believe it or not), but they played a fair few pieces I was familiar with.
Brilliant. Even had time for a little dance in the back of the bar!
Last weekend, I took the initiative to go back to where I grew up in my hometown, Foxbar.
Before I moved away to where my parents currently reside at the age of ten, I lived in what I can only describe as every young kid's dream suburb. This was in the age before video games were all-consuming and controlling and personal computers were only used to run Encarta '96.
I got a fair few pictures when I was in Foxbar, but some of the best ones are on my girlfriend Kathryn's camera (for which we don't have a means of getting the pictures from as of yet!), so have a look and tell me you wouldn't love to have grown up here:
This was the first time I had visited in around eight-nine years. Nostalgia isn't even an adequate word.
PS. The server Blogger uses to upload images is a shambles.
Being a design student, knowledge of the market and current trends in consumer products is a factor in the development of your skills.
From first year, we are given the task of keeping a design journal to detail work by well-known companies such as Apple and Microsoft, branching out to clothing companies like Nike and Fenchurch, perhaps even detailing work by design giants such as Seymour Powell or Karim Rashid.
What I do not understand, however, is the fact that we are now in second year, yet are treated like total design novices. Yes, I know, we're only in second year in the little bubble that is University, but after 12 months (in my case 24), we really do start to pick things up and remember work other than that of Apple.
I am sick to my back teeth of hearing about Apple. Apple. Apple. iPod. iPhone. iLife. iWork.
I am a PC man, through and through, and while I do admire what Apple computers and products are capable of, come here design lecturers of the world, I will let you in on a little secret:
There are reputable companies other than Apple that we know of. There are products whos innovation have inspired generations that do not bear the half-chewed over-used Apple logo that we all know and love. Yes, we all get it, we can relate to Apple products because they are in the here and now and the vast majority of us carry with us our beloved little gizmo that holds a billion songs and videos and pictures, but surely, as designers, we should be trying to steer clear of the trend, even just a little tiny bit?
This video should be adequate enough to demonstrate the complete and utter snobbery of Apple.
A Product Designer by the name of Dave McCourt. Currently living/studying/thinking in Dundee, studying Product Design at Dundee University. Glasgow is my hometown and has taught me many things about not only design and thought processes of the general public, but also how industry and partnership works. I aim to better myself in all fields of design. Let me show you.
