you are what you wear
In 2000, whilst working at Philips Design, I created a series of visuals and animations on large screens for a product launch in The Netherlands. ICD+ was a coloration between Levis and Philips to explore embedded technology in clothing. Jackets with an integrated mp3 player and phone, so you could listen to music or answer calls by talking straight into the collar. At the time, it wasn’t possible to create an interface on the fabric itself. Now, Google and Levis have developed this idea further by creating a conductive yarn that registers haptic feedback. Project Jacquard is more versatile than the original concept because it can be used by everyone, manufactured on an industrial scale and not just for clothing. Finally there's an alternative to sliding images under glass. I can see how this plays perfectly into the 'Internet of things'. Sensual and tactile fabrics alongside glass and metal objects as our new favourite interfaces. But more than that, maybe the things I touch will retain memory of all the interactions I have with them - the cushion will remember the moment when it was squeezed and the clothes I wear can tell you something about where I’ve been. Maybe they will be my legacy and people will no longer turn to an urn of ashes to imagine something personal, but will ask the chair I sat on everyday to remind them of the person I was at home and the things I said to myself, whilst typing furiously on my keyboard.
Theaster Gates
Corporate brainstorms are just bullshit and don't work… Ideas that have permanence and real value come from deep knowledge. Who is Theaster Gates?
Dave Gray
Places of work perceived as attractive prisons. Explore the brilliant list of contradictions and conflicts in The paradoxes of organization.
ask the children
The technology we have today is the result of the dreams and aspirations we had as children. We imagined flying machines and talking computers, we fantasized about a world of robots in books and films. Technology has become the greatest enabler of our time and the driving force behind our vision of modernity. With each new generation, we can see the ideas that will shape the future of the next.
OFFF 2015
I can't say this design festival would have been as special if it wasn't being held in the beautiful city of Barcelona. Watching reel after reel and listening to people talk at you all day can get really tiring, but walking out into blue sky and tapas on every street corner, its impossible not feel uplifted. So of course I booked an extra couple of days just to explore and refresh my batteries. There were a good mix of Artists, Designers and Directors and the ones that stick do more for their style of delivery than the work they presented. Jon Burgerman was funny and interesting. Pat Perry was heroic in his honesty. There were some awful ones too. We all start somewhere and sometimes we don't succeed was true for everyone and the overriding message seemed to be - pursue what you love, it can lead to paid work.