Design critic Don Norman turns his incisive eye toward beauty, fun, pleasure and emotion, as he looks at design that makes people happy. He names the three emotional cues that a well-designed product must hit to succeed.

About Don Norman

Don Norman studies how real people interact with design, exploring the gulf between what a designer intends and what a regular person actually wants.

About TedTalk

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world’s most inspiring voices.

This demo — from Pattie Maes’ lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry — was the buzz of TED. It’s a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment. Imagine “Minority Report” and then some.

About Pattie Maes

At the MIT Media Lab’s new Fluid Interfaces Group, Pattie Maes researches the tools we use to work with information and connect with one another.

About Pranav Mistry

Pranav Mistry is the genius behind Sixth Sense, a wearable device that enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data.

About TedTalk

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world’s most inspiring voices.

Why are babies cute? Why is cake sweet? Philosopher Dan Dennett has answers you wouldn’t expect, as he shares evolution’s counterintuitive reasoning on cute, sweet and sexy things. For a topping, try his new theory on why jokes are funny.

About Dan Dennett

Philosopher and scientist Dan Dennett argues that human consciousness and free will are the result of physical processes and are not what we traditionally think they are.

About TedTalk

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world’s most inspiring voices.


New Office Workspace (NOW) from CommackHighSchool on Vimeo

A very impressive student design project–researched, designed and built by high school kids.

For more information, please visit http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/huntington/blog/2009/02/commack_students_win_prize_for_workspace_design.html

Platform21’s Repair Manifesto opposes throwaway culture and celebrates repair as the new recycling.

If you want to support the Platform21 people in making repairing cool again then send your projects to info[at]platform21.com and you might see your project featured at their website or upcoming exhibition.

Alan Yentob of BBC meets the industrial designer Marc Newson, whose latest project is a suborbital jet that just might be the future of long-distance travel.

The programme follows Newson to Bodylines, an extraordinary Aston Martin panel beating workshop outside Milton Keynes, where men who usually work on vintage cars create his limited-edition furniture pieces – and one craftsman gives him a piece of his mind about the flaws in his Black Hole table.

In the marble quarries of Carrara in Italy, we see the processes behind his exquisite sculptures. Newson’s designs push marble into contemporary shapes, with each piece carved from one individual block. The programme also takes in the launch of Newson’s Space Plane, which, he hopes, will one day do exactly what it says on the tin.

For more information about this programme, please visit BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/imagine/episode/marc_newson.shtml

Guardian published an interview about “‘Pink walls and chandeliers don’t feel right. We’ve had enough of frivolity’. How does design respond to a bleak economic landscape?”
Philippe Starck, Sir Terence Conran and Kirstie Allsopp debate the future of their industries in these lean times.

“Perhaps in 30 years it will be interesting to come back and speak about the beauty of a chair or a lamp, but today that seems a bit obscene.

“We must try to stop design for design’s sake. Design has always been political, and now more than ever we focus on new goals, which I call democratic ecology. Everyone talks about ecology, but we need to make it happen, not speak about it.”

For full article, please visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/10/allsop-starck-conran-design-interiors

We all want to make the world better — but how? Jamais Cascio looks at some specific tools and techniques that can make a difference. It’s a fascinating talk that might just inspire you to act.

About Jamais Cascio

Jamais Cascio follows the threads of civilization’s intended (and unintended) consequences into an unpredictable future, bringing back glimpses of a green world wired beyond our wildest dreams.

About TedTalk

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world’s most inspiring voices.

What is elderly’s eye about digital technology?

This is a small compilation works in contemporay design that challenges the use of metal. The collection is by no means exhuastive nor exclusive, it is a subjective sampling of designers that deal with metal as a material in a unexpected way. More often that not, the works are not merely about exploiting metal, but the surprising use of metal avails itself as a means to address issues larger than an initial plan to just solve a problem. The work is contributed by Hans Tan, our Part-time Tutor in Year 1 and 2.

For information about Hans Tan, please visit: http://www.hanstan.net/