Get comfortable…

Sleek Vinyl Chair

Tonight was relaxing. I just chilled out, got comfortable on the couch, and watched baseball. Sometimes, I need to remind myself to just do nothing. However, I couldn’t just sit there doing nothing, so I did some quick chair sketches. They’re kind of sleek, kind of organic, and kind of different. I like asymmetry in most things so the sketches are definitely that. I think they’re still balanced though. I also spent some time researching provisional patents and product licensing. I feel like I have so many ideas that would benefit different companies but I have always viewed the patent process as a major hurdle. After looking at it, I think I can still get my ideas out there and be protected. It’s still in the research phase but I’m trying to make good things happen. Can’t wait to see where it leads…

Art in America.

State of the Arts 2009

Hey everybody. What’s goin’ on? I hope you all had a great and safe holiday weekend. Today I was doing some paintings and got frustrated so I figured I may as well wrap the canvas’ in a garbage bag and frame them. Funny huh? I had some old canvas’ that were framed so I decided to paint the frames and wrap the paintings. I actually think they’re pretty nice.

I’m considering taking the blog in a new direction to make it more interesting for those of you who like to visit. I’m thinking of making it a more contemporary design blog featuring products and designs that are on the horizon. We’ll see what happens. Let me know what you think. Thank you for checking in.

DEZIGNERD

Backup…

Techno Aluminum Backpack

Tonight’s challenge could be interesting if they went into production. You could use upcycled aluminum to mold backpack bodies or frames. You could also build in all sorts of interesting features. The dies may be complicated but the end result would be something extraordinarily functional. A molded acrylic cover may reveal the items inside your pack but, that could be a good thing? It would also offer people the option of changing out colored panels or hardware that wears out. Could be nice….

Flip this…

Urban Walnut Kitchen Utensil

Tonight I borrowed from a toothbrush design I saw in the movie “Objectified” a few weeks ago. It had a wooden handle and a replacable brush. Tonight’s exercise seemed to work well with that concept. Being able to change the spatula when it wears out or with a different utensil altogether would be a pretty nice feature. It embraces the notion that everone has a favorite object that has worn just the way they like and only gets better over time. You know, your favorite pair of shoes, wallet, or coffee mug? Anyhow, I think it would work…I could get into all sorts of environmental, green, sustainable design BS right here but I hate those terms. If a product is designed well, there is no need to mention the positive or negative impact it will have because there will be none…Okay, I guess that would be a positive, but you know what I mean.

Watch this…

Mobile Wooden Clock

Tonight I didn’t have much time for the dezign challenge. I was cleaning, making stuff, and time got away from me. I like the outcome though. I’d wear them. After I rendered them I looked “googled” wooden watches and there were a couple but, not as many as I was expecting. I posted a cool one on the 2daysthing page. It’s kind of nice…

Buckled Up…

Hey guys. I hope you all had a great weekend. Tonight’s exercise went kind of tangent to the terms but hey, it’s all fun. I don’t know why it went in the direction of belt buckle flash drives but they could be kind of cool. I carry mine around on my keychain “like a Boss”. It gets kind of annoying….

My weekend was pretty nice. Yesterday I went to the Mayhem show with my friend Jared. They were all tailgating when I got there. Tent, grill, beer, and loud music-can’t beat that. There were a ton of people and the shows were good. My personal favorite was Cannibal Corpse. I was also hoping to hear something from the chair design contest I entered a while ago. I must not have made the cut. Oh well, I had fun and it was good to finally enter a design contest. I only wish they could tell me what they didn’t like so that I can improve. Anyhow, I also got my USB Nintendo controller yesterday. I completely dorked out and played old NES games all day. That’s it. Playing video games. What a life! Life’s good…

How I spent my Sunday

Breathe it in…

Branded Metal Sculpture

At one point in my life, I thought it would be funny to have Marlboro sponsor me in the Boston marathon. Now I’m thinking, maybe I’ll wait until I can actually walk the same distance. In a week. The McDonalds sculpture is kind of like the 6 or 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon. It’s more about drug money supporting terrorism than deep fried RPGs. Makes sense right? I was watching ESPN when I did the last one. A bit on the nose eh?

I don’t know if anyone noticed but, this week I added a “Today’s Thing” page to the blog. I’m going to use it to post things that I come across and would like to share with you. It’s just getting started but there should be quite a collection of interesting products, art, and random things after a while. Check it out…

Thanks for checking in. I’m going to be posting regularly from here on out every weeknight. Hope y’all have a great weekend…

-DEZIGNERD

Roll out…

Mobile Plastic Table

While the table itself isn’t exactly mobile (I guess you could roll it somewhere?), it could work with a variety of mobile products. It could be used by the automotive industry as a hidden retractable bedside table, an interior table, or built-in trunk table. You could use it for tailgating if it were integrated into a cooler or as an extension for card tables. Built into a hiking pack for day trips? It could be kind of nice…

The Facebook thing is interesting. I’ve had a few people that I don’t know ask to “friend” me and been contacted by a few people that I haven’t heard from for a while. I don’t know if I can keep up with it….We’ll see. Thanks for checking in.

Take a seat.

Industrial Plastic Chair

Tonight’s combination could have gone any direction. I was feeling kind of mellow and I think the sketches demonstrate that. I don’t think the expansion blow molded chair would be very comfortable but it might work well as a jell-o mold. Maybe a mini fish-hatchery? Anyhow, there are a lot of really innovative polymers our there that can make even the most bland form interesting…Even the most uninspired ones.

Man, I didn’t realize how many people, nevermind…

What time is it?

Musical Ceramic Clock

Howdy y’all. I’m back….Tonight’s exercise could be cool. Everything’s better with Bluetooth right? Projected analog and digital interfaces could be nice as well. They could hang on a wall or work on any other flat surface. Gecko adhesive? Anyhow, it’s nice to have some time to get back into blog mode…

Over the past few weeks, since my last post, a lot has happened. Work has been crazy. I went to Indy and Boston to look at some really cool projects. I love travelling! Last weekend I did a show in Polish Hill. My friend Garick sold tons of work. I sold a few pieces. It really wasn’t the right venue for my stuff…Oh well. I also bought a few domain names for future projects. We’ll see what happens. I did a few more paintings that I’m going to put in my Etsy store later. I gave blood on Saturday and when they were putting the blood plasma back in me it infiltrated my arm! It was pretty swollen and I have a nice bruise. I guess that’s what I get for trying to do something nice. I was bored today so I decided to do the facebook thing. I’ve been avoiding it for a while. We’ll see how it goes. It might be nice to catch up with a few old friends.

Thanks for checking in. I’m going to be posting regularly again. It was nice to take some time off….

Go time…

Ceramic Spray Can

Howdy y’all! I hope you had a great holiday weekend. Mine was fun and productive. I did a couple of firings and I think they turned out pretty well. I’ve been busy trying to get things together for shows and marketing my work online. I’m going to start on Etsy.com. It’s a fairly inexpensive way to get work out there and get feedback. Tonight I posted my first pieces. Pretty exciting! I received a variety of pricing opinions for the cans so I decided to meet somewhere in the middle. We’ll see what happens? If you’d like to check them out you can go to dezignerd.etsy.com anytime. I’m going to try and post a few new items each week. I don’t know how people are going to receive my pieces but it will be a great learning experience and a fun way for me to keep motivated to create new work. I hope to get back into doing sketches for the “Dezign Challenge” in a few weeks as well. I’ll keep you posted. Thank you for checking in…

Vacation…

Hi everyone. It’s the Fourth of July weekend and I am going to use the time off to really focus on my artwork. I’ve been having a blast creating new pieces. Tonight I was able to set up my printer for ceramic decals. It takes a special type of ink to endure the firing process and not just burn away. I tried my first one tonight….

What a nerd!

Whatcha think? I think it’s hilarious! I’m the biggest dork on the planet!

Anyhow, that being said, I’m going to step away for a little bit and try to bring a fresh perspective to this blog when I return in a few weeks. Thank you for checking in. I sincerely appreciate all of your support and encouragement. I hope you all have a great (and safe) holiday weekend!

Canned…

Acrylic Cans

What’s goin’ on? Man, this week has been crazy! Fun and kind of sad. Tonight I was working on producing more ceramic cans when I turned on the news. Michael Jackson is dead? Even though he became a strange dude, it’s still kind of sad. Anytime I would DJ parties at school, I could bust out any song fom “Thriller” and rock the house! Okay, maybe not “The girl is mine” or “PYT”, but you know what I mean. So, I started watching the news coverage and did a few paintings in lieux of doing the dezign challenge. It was nice to paint again. I forgot how quickly acrylic paint sets up. You have to blend colors right away. At least with oil you can step away for a bit, come back later, and blend in spots that need it. Anyhow, here are the paintings I did tonight. I think they’re kind of krispy. Certainly nothing special but, hey, I haven’t painted in quite a while. I know I’m driving the spray can theme into the ground but, sometimes you need to purge an idea, exhaust it, and move on…

I hope y’all have a great weekend!

DEZIGNERD

Square Cans

Swap Meet Louis…

Branded Metal Hand Tool

Tonight’s challenge was kind of fun. I like the idea of branding products that possess a sense of irony. I haven’t listened to Sir Mix-a-lot recently so, why not a Louis Vuitton garden trowel? I’ve seen Louis Vuitton garbage bags! I could actually see Nike getting into the hand tool business. Why not? They could apply their brand to pretty much anything at this point. I’m surprised we haven’t seen more cross marketing on their part. Just kidding. If people are willing to pay for brand recognition, I think a person that pays 10’s of thousands for a watch would be willing to buy a gold plated hammer…

Boing?

Sleek Wooden Vehicle

Tonight I relaxed. I was so tired at work today it was embarrassing. I’ve been having a really difficult time sleeping for the past few weeks. I just can’t seem to shut off at the end of the day. Anyhow, I rested for a bit and managed to only mold 17 pieces, prep some more panels for a fresh batch of paintings, and do the dezign challenge. Pretty laid back? I’m really considering buying a printer that will allow me to make my own ceramic decals. That would be schweet!

A wooden pogo stick might be a bit on the heavy side. However, if you used a compressed gas cylinder for the spring, I think you’d make like Tigger pretty quick…I also doodled some more while I was waiting for my molds to set up. I’m sure it seems pointless (and it is) but, there’s something relaxing about just painting/drawing and not caring what the end result is…

Another Painting Doodle