NEW DESIGN PODCAST

In a effort to unify our blog with our podcasts we have created a podcast all about design. So if you like superdesignmonster please give us a listen and download all our new shows here and at the IPA . Don't forget to check us out on iTunes too!

Design - Episode #1

New Podcast

check out 1 new podcast on IPA network

Sports Applied!

For all the sports nuts out there that know all the sports terminology we take that and apply it to everyday life

Sports Applied - Episode #1

Design for the ages

The time to design is now... Not later...

Think about it for a minute when was the last time you saw something that inspired you? When was the last time you saw something that was so well designed or executed that you were like holy crapola?

And you just thought to yourself of your answer but the real answer here is not likely any time in the near past...

The last time you saw something great was when you were a kid and you realized something for the first time. Like oh that's a screwdriver but electric and it works twice as fast and harder than this thing I am using. Like the time you first learned to velcro your shoes and you thought velcro was the greatest invention ever.

It's the first experience that a user has with a new product or idea that is the most critical. If you can get that person to feel like they are the first to discover your product and that it can spark some idea of their own. And it can then be carried into other generations of your product. A recent example of that would be the iPod. The first model was great but every model succeeding the first is pretty much the same thing with a new color.

And there is no time like the present we seem to be at a lul of great ideas right now or at least nothing that has impressed me, not even the iPod.

Design on!!!

New Podcast

We now have a new podcast to our library. Political Youth has served it's time in the trenches and we are moving on to bigger and better podcasts. We now present to you "Streakin!" Please download our first show below and we want to hear from you the listener send us your stories, vids and photos (try and be funny and tasteful). And we will read them or post them on the cast. Thanks for listening... indypodcaster@gmail.com

Streaking! Episode #1

New Style Blog / Podcast

We have a new blog/podcast site up.

Please visit it at http://indypodcasters.blogspot.com/

Our first podcast is a political style podcast but we will have a design style podcast soon also check us out on itunes.

Heckboy II

This weekend we watched the movie Hellboy II. I will say that it was fantastic. The story was a little drawn out at times but it is all made up for in action and visuals. And if you haven't seen the first movie you need to see that also. I could continue to tell you why to go and watch these movies but I don't need to they speak for themselves.

Go see this movie!!!

New DSi

Come on be for real Nintendo. This is you upgraded DS. How dissapointing!!!

With silly upgrades like a new camera and internet and downloads you might as well realease a new DS every year just like Apple does. We have waited forever for a new DS and this is what you give us... nothing. When the PSP and IPhone gets an upgrade at least the people that bought the previous versions can upgrade their software. Lets face it the dual screen and stylus were cool when it came out but can't we get a little more innovative now Wii expect more from you than this pathetic showing.
Let's face it we were all expecting something more like this!!!

Just one of the girls... ???

Are men really capable of designing quality products for women? The easy answer to that question is, NO. Men are not capable of designing products for women. No man no matter how feminine they think they are is able to design to women specifications, tastes, comfort and so on. Take the above picture a design by Jean Paul Gaultier. This article of clothing is not wearable to the everyday woman (not speaking from any kind of personal experience). But my wife enjoys watching the catwalks and time after time she says; “ that’s not wearable but it looks cool”. Women designers design much fancier items that are usually wearable.

If you look at product design and take the MotoRazr for example. Geoffrey Frost was the marketing man behind the Razr and it sparked a new wave of design in the mobile phone industry. It’s compact size, hard lines and metal casing are clearly the mark of a man. Now women loved the Razr also because it was a status symbol at first. But after Motorola realized that it was such a hit the only thing they did to the phone to make it more appealing to women was make it hot pink (and later gold). They could have totally retooled it made it look more feminine or anything but being a bunch of men they decided… “Oh lets change the color!”.

While most trends won’t change from being a male dominated perspective we should give it up for the women designers. They are much more adaptable clearly designing in a male world they hop between designing girly and manly all in the same day. I know I couldn’t design a purse without a place for a hammer or screwdriver.

surfin safari

Here is a sweet website for any designer that is looking toward the latest trend. Emil Kozak is a skateboarder and surfer that started designing his own products. A lot of the designs are sharp clean and colorful. Most of all his website is updated regularly with new products and new blog entries. Be sure to check it out.
http://emilkozak.com/

video games ART???

There have been many recent discussions of videogames if they are art or not. In plain terms they are "art" and the answer is yes. The problem is anything that is mass produced in this nature is considered not to be art by the "art world". But my argument is that if movies can be considered art then so can videogames. But if you think about it videogames are even more so art than movies. Because in art it takes someone to create something out of nothing be it on a canvas or some kind of media.
So if we look at creating and designing things we can look at character creation, costume design, weapon creation, city architecture and planning, landscaping, graphic design, industrial design, recreation of art in real life and many other things that "real world" artists would do in everyday life. Not to mention the really good people that design these games usually have classical art training even before they design and build their first game.Lets look at movies again actors and directors consider themselves artists. But Movies are not really considered art films unless they are done independently on some film students home movie camera. The same should ring true for games but it does not. You have the big blockbusters like Halo and Grand Theft Auto, there are also recurring stars like Sonic and Mario. And the smaller produced games like Okami, Psyconauts and Beyond Good and Evil are considered arty games, at least in the gaming world.So as a graduate from art school with a minor in art history I can surely say that videogames are in fact "art". Because lets face it once a urnal was hung in an art gallery and considered art pretty much anything goes after that point.