Electronic Wasteland / Waste=Food

Electronic Wasteland:

It seems that people will always find a way to make an extra dime. It's sad that in the example of the CRT monitors that many well intending were trying to recycle, they had no idea that they were actually contributing to the electronic wasteland that exists over in China. Contributing to the health and environmental that exist due to the archaic dismantling of the high tech pieces of equipment.

Considering the effect that the initial design can have on these subsequent problems, it puts a lot of responsibility on me as a future designer, to think of the products life cycle and how it will end up after it's useful life is over.

Waste=Food:

A very intelligent and responsible set of ideas make up the majority of the content in Waste=Food. The relatively simple idea that when items are discarded they should be completely recyclable as part of the product or manufacturing world or that they become biodegradable food.

Accomplishing much of this through non-toxic and sustainable production methods. The term "eco-effectiveness" pertains to designing for eco-safety as well as const efficiency. Many large companies are adopting this way of thinking as they move towards a more responsible future of production and manufacturing.

It makes me want to take an even closer look at the materials that are used in the products I'll be designing in the future.

iPhone 3G Tear Down

Sketches of Frank Gehry

While watching the film, Sketches of Frank Gehry, I jotted down some thoughts that grabbed my attention. They follow in somewhat chronological order, following the flow of the film.

Don't be afraid to take a step back and think about the project. - Many times I think we get so buried in a project with deadlines and many other disturbances going on all around us that we just want to dive in and get it done. Frank said that sometimes he just needs to take a step back for a while, get away from it and come back to consider the project. I think that's an important thought to hold on to  going forward while designing and to remember during many instances in life.

Frank Gehry said he's always been interseted in art.

When he was starting out and getting his feet wet in the business world of architecture, he struggled to make ends meet a lot of the time. His friend noted that Frank was always going bankrupt.  - That's a good thing to remember as we're trying to make it in whatever field we choose. Most likely success will not occur overnight. We'll have to struggle for a while before we reap the rewards that we've been working for.

He changed his last name to Gehry, it used to be Goldberg.

While he's working on a building he is working on it at multiple scales at one time. It helps to see the project in a different way and helps him to not see the one model as the "project," and to view it simply as the model that it is.

He tells his clients what they need and why they need it. He has a very specific brand and people come to him to get a piece of that.  -In his circumstance he can afford to do it based on his reputation and past successes and experiences.

"Talent is liquified trouble."

Find a small space where you can make a difference. There is a tiny sliver in the world that each of us can make a difference. -Find that niche and exploit it. It's at the intersection of your interests and talents.

After he began to work so closely with a team he doesn't really want to work on his own anymore. The team is what makes everything work.

Finds the process exciting and not necessarily the final product.

"The best clients produce the best final product."

"Feels fragile how some people come upon the thing that defines their life."

"Sometimes you wonder what part of you an idea came from."

"If you're hoping for some capstone of success, it not there."

Zahner - Kansas City

Product(s) What do they make?

Mainly exteriors for buildings.

Market(s) for whom do they make it?

Everyone from a budding artist to the biggest corporation.

Materials.

Metal, Aluminum, Brass, Steel, Glass, Poly, Copper, Titanium.

Forming Technologies.
Slip roll, anvil, break, hammer.

Cutting Technologies.

Laser Cutter, CNC, Water Jet, industrial metal cutter

Joining Technologies.

Welding, rivets, bolts, glue.

Finishing Technologies.

Paint, chemical processes, lacquer, glass-blasting.

Overall Impressions/Epiphanies.

Amazing to see the scale of projects they take on and the little (in comparison) shop that they come out of. It does nothing but to show how well organized Zahner is and as much as they have made forming metal into an art, they have made the entire process from start to finish as streamlined and efficient as possible.

Hallmark Cards (Lawrence, KS)

Product(s) What do they make?

Greeting Cards and Ribbon.

Market(s) for whom do they make it?

Ultimately individual consumers, but they take orders from big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Target and so on.

Materials.

Paper, Plastic, Glitter, Poly, Glue, metallic film, brass, copper, aluminum, rayon fibers, blowing agent, color beads, vinyl, ink, 

Forming Technologies.

Laser Cutter, Embossing machines, pneumatic punches, dies, assembly line folding/stacking/packing

Cutting Technologies.

Laser Cutter, die cutters, hand cutting.

Joining Technologies.

Glue.

Finishing Technologies.

metallic film adhered with heat. Glitter applied to glue. Embossing.

Overall Impressions/Epiphanies.

I had been in Hallmark before. Mainly in the warehouse side when I would repair their forklifts. Just being in the warehouse was cool and impressive. I had caught a glimpse into the manufacturing area at one point but never got a tour.

Seeing the individual processes that go into each card, how it is cut, folded, embossed, glittered, fuzzied with the rayon fibers, and finally packed up was really cool. I would have really liked to see the ribbon forming process in action, perhaps another day.

Most of all I was impressed with the engineering of the production line and all that goes into the design of the process of how the card is assembled. I think that would be a fun task, to figure out how to automate an entire process. Not necessarily industrial design, more engineering, but still it would be interesting.