IDSA Western Conference Photo Set
Here's a link to all the photos I've uploaded from the Industrial Designers Society of America's western conference in Vancouver BC at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design....

Portfolio Skillz... Workshop
Jeff Smith of Reflexdesign borrowed a couple images from one of his employees for his presentation at the Portfolio Workshop. They should not be too complex. They should offer enough to wet the taste buds critical info. Text is...

Student Portfolio Skillz… Workshop
The portfolio workshop was awesome. Robert Fee of SCAD and Jeff Smith of Reflexdesign gave presentations on portfolio dos and don’ts. Afterwards the a panel consisting of (back row LtoR) Jeff Smith of Reflexdesign, Robert Fee of SCAD, Tim...

IDSA Western Conference Kick-Off Reception
Hey there. Well, we're back in business with internet and power so no more excuses, eh? Here's some of the first shots from tonight's welcome reception sponsored by Alias. This is the Alias illustration whiz I was telling you about...

Minutes Before the IDSA Western Confernce Kick-Off
Well, the wireless is sketchy, several hundred of us are sharing a couple power outlets, and we're an hour behind schedule already.... but I'm stoked to be here nonetheless. Tonight is the kick-off of the Industrial Designers Society of America's...

Beyond Education
Five start-up design firms out of Pratt Institute met in a panel discussion on taking the independent path to a design career. My pics of the event were weak so here are some pictures of their work (except Dan and...

The Sensorial Experience
The workshop on sensory experience in environment design turned into jovial mayhem as Tim Kelly of Blue Sky Exhibits demonstrated the power of sight, sound and touch to develop a mood and create emotions. The overall atmosphere of whimsy created...

Engaging Design Research
We've all had trouble validating our design directions. Plain and simple. Those folks in marketing are constantly throwing market research at us as a means to direct our design efforts. It's time to throw a little something back. By...

Swag, anyone?
The goody bag received by attendees: magazines, t-shirt, sustainable hardwood samples, Schick razor, nifty dog toy, notebook. I remember seeing the dog toy in a portfolio on coroflot (by Ryan Rutherford). Very squeaky. Plus there is a spiffy raffle....

Beyond Interface - or why you should never say "This is my vision"
Lauren Schwartz and Monica Granfield have both done an awful lot of interface design, for some companies you might have heard of. Mostly Microsoft. And they like designers...they really do. Enough so that they were willing to come and chat...

Portfolio Reviews - Part 2 (3?)
A couple of excited students, still amped from their portfolio reviews this morning. Stefani Baschetti is from Virginia Tech, and spent a good long while with exhibit designer Fred Blumlein of RAA: John Singleton is from Bermuda originally, currently in...

Design, Mars, Larry Bell, and the Plasma Ion Advanced Propulsion System.
Mama dropped you too many times as a baby, but you wanna show people your smarts... then when space travel comes up in a conversation, tell them that concepts for using a chemical system to go to Mars is...

MP3 - Scott Christensen
Scott is a professor at UW-Stout and the designer of the Toro Tissue Ring by Vessel. I caught up with him to talk about design education and our past mishaps with beer and portfolios. Eek. Click here to listen...

Duchamp would be proud.
I'm at a conference full of smart people presenting cool stuff, and what am I super impressed with? Urinals you can flush with your foot!...

There Is No Spoon, but there is John Caruso
"Did anyone smell their spoon? Did anyone put the spoon in their mouth? or draw the spoon?" After the participants were convniced that they had described the spoon as much as they could, John Caruso, professor at Notre Dame...

Made in China
Loosely interpreted quote from Bruce Nussbaum of Business Week: "Companies are not just manufacturing in China because of the cost savings. The Chinese governemnt has invested a lot of time, money and energy into building a very large infrastructure...

MP3 - Paul Hatch
In an effort to bring loyal Coreviewers to the action I'm posting mp3 interviews with people here at the Midwest Conference. First up: Paul Hatch. Currently the head of Teams Design in Chicago and the Midwest district, Paul is...

Moto-whoa
Jim Wicks of Motorola, on the design of the Pebl phone's expressive opening mechanism: Jim: As a designer it's really nice to have a user open a product and illicit an emotional response... it's kind of like opening your...

Naked Design?! Maybe after a few beers...
Paul Hatch, the infamous and outspoken director at TEAMS Design in Chicago, kicked off the first lecture here at the Midwest Conference with his lecture on naked design... since it's really hard to write and watch another lecture, I am...

YVR Arrival
Upon arriving in Vancouver (airport code YVR) and after passing through customs, I am greeted by totem poles and greenery just outside the airport....

mmm... Snack Box
Here's lunch. For a bargain $5, you get an assortment of yummy, premium United snacks....

Bruce Redux
Bruce Nussbaum, editor Business Week... got involved with ID because a little girl on a plane poured water on his face with an interesting bottle he had never seen before. He featured the bottle in Business Week and the...

Off to Canada
Hello. It is Stephanie and I will be covering the IDSA Western region conference for core over the next several days. While Kris can provide the inside scoop as a Vancouver resident, I will provide the commentary as an...

Built to Not Spill: The Success of Built NY
In only two years the designers at Built NY Inc. is already influencing the housewares accesories market into a positive direction. Co-founders, Aaron Lown and John Roscoe Swartz spoke about the "Mojo Majic", the success of their company and...

In the empirical spirit
The morning was devoted to student portfolio review, and since I am one of those students who managed to graduate without an internship and without showing anyone a portfolio, I took the plunge as well. In fact, today is my...

And they're off...
The morning crush, seen here at the bagel table, is made up of students preparing for portfolio review. We are crammed in to the 4th floor hall in Pratt Studios, but it does make for some high energy and...

Interweb in the country?
After 2 hours of trying to get the interweb working at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, I'm up and running... notes to follow soon!...

Some Student Portoflios Close-Up
Students are awesome! So much enthusiasm, so much passion! Here are a couple of close views of works by studnets from the hosting school. Summer Hill is a second year grad student at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Ross Bartels can...

Portfolio Review
The student portoflio kicked off this morning with about twenty-five professional designers interviewing, reviewing, and critiquing the work of student designers. Reed Kannas from University of Winsconsin Stout being interviewed. Paul Zavitkovski being interviewed by one of the Midwest...

Portfolio Reviews - Part 1
A good chunk of the first day is reserved for portfolio reviews. The setup, shown above, is pretty straightforward: students sign up on a Very Large Schedule Sheet, then direct themselves to the appropriate professor or industry professional, identified...

Follow the Orange People
This being an art school, they couldn't do something pedestrian like put up signs to tell you where to go. So Pratt installed a number of these orange jumpsuit-clad volunteers who answer questions and steer attendees around the extensive...