design concussion

Ice Cube Celebrates the Eames

2012-01-23T20:40:00.003-07:00

So, I really, really enjoy mid-century design, so, when I saw this video about the rapper/actor Ice Cube talking about the Eames, I had to watch it. What impressed me the most is when Ice Cube talks about how, before he became a rapper, he studied architectural drafting. If you look at the 1:07 mark, you can see what I think is a hint of sadness at the thought of what could have been. I have to wonder what would have come of Ice Cube if he had become an architect. Trading N.W.A. for designing homes with HOA's? Maybe...

Missile Mouse

2011-01-03T23:37:00.004-07:00

My buddy, Jake Parker, author of the awesome Missile Mouse series of comics is having a small contest and giving away some sweet swag. Even if you don't want to enter the contest, give his work a look. I assure you that you will not be disappointed.See his blog here

Moleskine

2010-12-12T21:36:00.005-07:00

Yeah... so I haven't been updating my blog like I promised. I have been drawing in a moleskine notebook and decided to add some of the drawings from it. I even drew on the instruction page.

Still can't get this vehicle out of my head...

Robots.

Angry Dinosaur is angry.

Machined iPhone 4G Cases

2010-09-15T12:45:00.004-07:00

We just finished making some new iPhone cases for the 4G. I think they turned out really cool.

If you are interested in buying one, you can check them out here.

Machined Aluminum Speedsters

2010-08-11T12:20:00.004-07:00

There are now a few different options for the Speedsters that I designed. We are trying out different finishes and colors. Check em out.

Cool, huh?

Gotta have a red one.

Floating Droid

2010-07-20T00:11:00.003-07:00

I busted out my Wacom tablet and blew off the dust (literally) and doodled a bit. It felt good. I forgot how awesome Sketchbook Pro is. This guy was drawn in about 2 minutes. When I drew him, he looked about 3 inches high on my screen. I need to do this more often...

Slacker...

2010-04-26T20:44:00.003-07:00

I'm a slacker.

Here is something drawn at 1 o'clock in the morning when I couldn't sleep.

Weird Robot Ball, er, Thingy

2010-01-13T22:05:00.002-07:00

I just rebuilt my computer a while ago and reinstalled Sketchbook Pro and my old Graphire Wacom tablet. This is the first thing that came out. Not sure why.

Christmas Skull

2009-12-23T22:56:00.002-07:00

Here is a random doodle of a skull... just in time for Christmas!

Shoe, take two.

2009-10-18T16:04:00.002-07:00

Here is a more recent sketch of a shoe that I did using Sketchbook Pro. The program is fantastic. The shoe, however, not so much.

Transportation

2009-10-18T15:52:00.004-07:00

I pulled out an old sketchbook and started looking through it and found a number of really bad sketches (yikes!) and found this idea for a vehicle. It keeps popping up from time to time in my sketches, so one of these days maybe I will sit down and actually "design" it to get it out of my subconscious. Single passenger, hubless wheels, and torsion bar suspension, yeah, that's the stuff. You can definitely see the Volkswagen inspired trailing arm sketches in the upper right. I would love to build one of these guys and drive it everywhere.

Hot Rod

2009-10-18T15:48:00.003-07:00

Here is a little hod rod truck I drew while on vacation. I was able to sit by the window and enjoy a rainy day and do some sketches while listening to some good music. That's what I like to do on vacation, sit around and do nothing. Awesome.

RANT!

2009-09-30T22:14:00.003-07:00

Steampunk is dead.. or at the very least, should die.

I am sick and tired of every single person who sees anything mechanical, or old (really, it's just old people), or old, mechanical and made from, *sigh*, brass and squeals, "Ooh, how Steampunk!" as they adjust their mental monocle and bowler cap while a shiver of self-satisfaction rises up their spine because they feel the glow of played-out trendiness shining upon their face. I'll admit it, I fell into the brass trap that is Steampunk when I first saw it. I saw the thoughtful reworking of new objects into technology that seemed to come from an alternative history where old meets new and grows old again, and I appreciated the thought and effort that went into making it look that way. Victorian computers, steam-powered vehicles, and old fashioned clothing became what it never could have, and that was awesome. But, my feelings of enjoyment didn't last long. Suddenly every luddite poseur starting slapping brass-ish anything on everything under the sun, attempting to capture that special Steampunk magic and keep it for their very own. At least a year after it first started as a great idea, executed very well by a small group of individuals, it started being picked up by mainstream media and we saw it all over the place. It was in movies, video games (Bioshock, but it was pretty, so I don't care), and it even creeped into hipster lifestyle a little in the form of mustache everything. If you don't believe that one, just search for "mustache" on the Etsy website and see how many "crafty" people are being innovative with the concept of the handlebar mustache.

So, now whenever I hear someone assign the label of Steampunk to anything, I feel the same way as when I hear a middle-aged man blurt out, "Fer Shizzle, my nizzle!"

Quick Starship

2009-09-28T13:57:00.002-07:00

I have really been slacking on my posts. Hopefully soon I can update more often.

Speedster

2009-07-14T13:52:00.004-07:00

So, I recently got the opportunity to design this sweet "toy" car and make it at work. I came up with the concept, 3D modeled the parts (in Solidworks), and my boss gave the okay for us to make it at work with the hope that we can sell a few of them. Either way, it is exiting to hold something in your hand that you brought from thought, to sketch, to computer, to reality. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I do.

This monster has a six-inch body and two-inch wheels and is solid aluminum.

Daily Drawing

2009-04-20T17:20:00.002-07:00

Okay, I'm a slacker.

Here is a robot to make up for lost time.

Daily Drawing

2009-03-24T21:54:00.002-07:00

Okay, so my daily sketches haven't been so, uh, daily.
Here is a quick automotive based page to hopefully get the ball rolling again.

Daily Drawing

2009-03-15T22:13:00.005-07:00

Cars n Bots

Yeah, I've been majorly slacking, but I promise to do better. If you have any suggestions for products that you would like to see, please drop a comment with your idea. Thanks.

Daily Drawing

2009-03-10T00:07:00.004-07:00

I have been slacking and haven't been posting daily as I should be. Here is a thumbnail page of an idea that I had for a ship with wings that would change position based on whether or not flight was taking place on a planet with atmosphere or in open space. I really like this idea, I hope I can do more with it.

Once again if you have any ideas that you would want to see me sketch, leave it in the comments. Thanks.

Daily Drawing

2009-03-05T23:23:00.003-07:00

This one was an exercise in form and layout. I just started sketching one form and adding other forms and details until I got something that looked like, well, something. I then added the side view, background and call-outs. I started to do a closeup view of the lens thingy on the front but didn't like the way it was looking so I abandoned it.

Oh, and I don't know what it's supposed to be, that's half the point. If you think of something, post it in the comments, I would love to see your ideas.

Daily Drawing

2009-03-04T02:18:00.001-07:00

Sam requested an office chair with wheels.
He did not, however, say those wheels couldn't have tread on them.
Hope you like it.

Daily Drawing

2009-03-02T18:38:00.003-07:00

So, I haven't been exactly keeping up with my sketches on a daily basis, but I will attempt to remedy that. This sketch is a based on a toy box that I designed in school and would be made of plywood instead of plastic. Enjoy!

Daily Drawing

2009-02-28T11:47:00.002-07:00

When I sit down to draw, I sometimes have no idea what I am going to draw. This sheet is a perfect example of this. I just started putting pen to paper and this is what came out. These types of pages aren't meant to be pretty or polished in anyway. This is how I get my brain going and when I get the best ideas. This one is a little more abstract than most and I hope it is leading me to a more creative place.

Daily Drawing

2009-02-28T11:45:00.003-07:00

I have been slacking on my posts so here is another robot quickie to make up for lost time.

Daily Drawing

2009-02-25T19:35:00.003-07:00

Today was a little nuts, so the sketch is quick and DIRTY!
I need to mow my lawn, so naturally I drew a sketch of a lawnmower instead. A lawnmower with hub-less wheels even! I really like the feel of the side view over the perspective view. I may just have to redraw this mower again later to reflect the more aggressive look that the side view has. We will see on that one...

Daily Drawing

2009-02-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

Mothership take 1.

Daily Drawing

2009-02-21T05:52:00.003-07:00

This is starting to get fun.

Daily Drawing

2009-02-20T12:38:00.008-07:00

More flying machines...

Daily Drawing

2009-02-18T05:26:00.003-07:00

This post is a request from Spencer. He wanted to see a printer, so
this is what I came up with. I hope he likes it.

Daily Drawing

2009-02-17T07:23:00.002-07:00

This one is another request from Jake, well, sort of. He wanted a starship, but when I sat down, this is what ended up coming out. We'll see if this passes scrutiny.

Once again, if anyone has anything they want to see me sketch, leave me your idea in the comments and I will see what I come up with.

Daily Drawing

2009-02-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

This one's for Jake.

Daily Drawing

2009-02-13T23:40:00.004-07:00

While this isn't a sketch per se, it is part of my routine. You see, whenever I want to sit down and actually put pen to paper, I have to warm up first, so I lay down some common forms (cubes, ellipses, cylinders, etc.) to get my brain and muscles in sync. I have been interested in improving my ellipses so this page is a warm up for that part of my brain. I know it looks a little scatterbrained, but its just to get the juices flowing.

Daily Drawing

2009-02-13T20:05:00.004-07:00

Another robot for all to enjoy! This little guy is about 4 times smaller than he is here, so I scanned him at 300 dpi and made him bigger. Looks rather sloppy at this size though, oh well. Let that be a lesson to all, always draw big and shrink down later as it makes it look tighter. I just thought this was cool so I didn't care. Enjoy!

Adam Savage

2009-02-13T08:37:00.005-07:00

Adam Savage is most well-known as his role on the popular show Mythbusters, however, I recently discovered that he briefly taught classes to industrial design students on, I think, model making. To say Adam is obsessed with objects would be an understatement. In fact, he recently sculpted some replicas of some of these obessions.

This is a replica of a Dodo skeleton that he constructed using a large amount of photo reference he had collected over the years. Simply amazing.

To hear Adam explain his thought processes on object obsession and to be entertained for around fifteen minutes, watch this video.

Daily Drawing

2009-02-12T06:49:00.005-07:00

Here is a robot sketch to make up for the last sketch. Robots make everything better.

What to Draw?

2009-02-12T01:57:00.003-07:00

Sometimes I get kind of a stupefication of thought and can't figure out what to draw, so if you have an idea for something that you would like to see me draw, let me know in the comments on any post you feel like as I read every one.

Daily Drawing

2009-02-12T01:50:00.004-07:00

The good, the bad and the UGLY!

When I asked my wife what I should draw today, she replied simply "shoes." I can't really draw shoes. It is a specialty in the design world and there is a reason why I am not a shoe designer. I don't really know what kind of shoe this is, I just know I need to keep practicing. I will try and do more and if I am able to improve, I may actually post another shoe... or maybe not.

Robots!

2009-02-11T16:59:00.004-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with all things robot. If my house was full of nothing but robots and I slept in a giant robo-bed, I could die a happy man. But since that will never happen (sigh), I will have to settle for these awesome key toppers from Perpetual Kid. While they aren't for sale yet, you can bet that they will be gracing the keys that allow access to my robo-house as soon as they are.

Perpetual Kid [via Geeksugar]

Daily Drawing

2009-02-10T17:33:00.003-07:00

This sketch was a gray marker and pen quickie to explore and idea I had about using recycled/salvaged materials to make a chair. There would be plywood sides with the middle section made up from cardboard, cloth or foam. Bolts would hold it all together like a furniture ice cream sandwich.

Daily Drawing

2009-02-10T04:37:00.001-07:00

In an effort to strengthen my atrophying drawing skills, I am attempting to draw at least one sketch a day in order to improve. Sometimes these will be digital sketches or scribbles on a napkin. Hopefully you enjoy what you see, if not, feel free to laugh and point.

This is an idea I had for a shirt, a quick, digital sketch of a tricycle.