evolution of mobile phones

cell phones.  

we all have them - my mom has one, so does my great uncle, my little cousin, and my 5 year old nephew. 

sometimes it is hard to imagine our world before cell phones, though i have quite the clear recollection of getting my first pager back in the day.

here is a video about the evolution of mobile phones

as designers, keeping up with the most recent developments in the field is paramount to our survival. at the same time, these throw backs to the history of design give us insight as what and how we want to develop our ideas.  in all actuality, though the technology has developed and we are capable of creating more technically advanced products, perhaps the core issues/problems we are trying to solve are the same.

also check out the evolution of gaming controllers

color : word association

cymbolism.com has an interesting project going on. Through the voting process of visitors to their site, they are documenting color associations that we may have with certain words.  It is an interesting concept, as the connection between language and visual language (i.e. shape color etc) is one that generations of visual artists and creators have been investigating. 

in their own words...

"

Color is the ultimate tool a designer has at his or her disposal to communicate feeling and mood.  Cymbolism is a new website that attempts to quantify the association between colors and words, making it simple for designers to choose the best colors for the desired emotional effect.

"

some connections are more self explanatory than others.  For instance, the word "devil" not surprisingly is predominantly associated with the color red. proving that the judeo-christian influence over millennia of fire and brimstone have done their magic.

Others, like the word, "contemporary" are a bit more spread out, and seem to lack any all-encompassing color associations.

As designers that are heavily directed by the purpose of design - the transference of information, these kind of efforts to codify and document colors with information is an interesting process.

pixelated walls - fine art on the throne.

christoph niemann, from nytimes.blog, has another good post up, this time on his recent decision to remodel his bathroom with his wife.
with their love for fine art, they decided to use famed fine art pieces for the decor of the tiling on the walls and floor.
the process in which they go through, from titian to rothko, is a journey through art history, but their particular perspective (whether or not these pieces will have power when pixelated through 4 x 4 inch tiles) puts and interesting twist on things.

it brought about some thoughts for me

- what era's art will be most appreciated in a post apocalyptic world in which we are dominated by computers, but reduced to a 16 bit world?


- what kind of art will i appreciate while shaving / showering / dropping kids of at the pool ?