samuel.bowles.es

Some people say I should make up my mind: am I a code monkey or a design junkie? Do I care more about how things look or how they’re built? But for me design runs deep and wide. I get just as excited to have finally groked the function of an object of a class as I do to see, hold or hear something that has been crafted with simplicity and beauty. Here are a few things that have inspired me recently.

Metaphys has designed a wall-garden that is simply breathtaking. As an urban dweller surrounded by far to much concrete I would so love to hang this on our wall. It feels like a sort of memorial to the view we’ll probably never have. The only downside is the price (especially after shipping to Spain) - these seem like such easy things to make. I just wish I could find a source for the “high-tech growing medium, made up tiny sponge balls impregnated with nutrients” that they use. They mention needing to refill the tray with seeds every 4-5 months so it seems I should be able to find them someplace (via swiss miss).

For Christmas this year my friend Jonah got me these wonderful gloves from my wish list. I spotted them in a store linked to by my friend Paul. They are very simple polyester-stretch gloves that come with a variety of patterns emblazoned on them in arclyic resin which functions as either a grip or just a fashion statement. What statement? I have no idea. “I like pretty swirly patterns?” The only bummer is I can really only wear them about two months out of the year here. I know, poor me.

Brooklyn 5 and 10, the store that sold the gloves mentioned above also carries this beautiful “game”. It’s more akin to a zen garden or a stress ball than a “game” but with a bit of a designer’s twist. Created by newartifacts, a group of designers from Uruguay, the site claims the cube can be configured in 68,719,476,736 combinations - you read that right: close to 69 billion. There is no one solution. Just fiddle and play until it makes you smile. Someday I’ll keep one of these on my desk to clear my mind between the other puzzles I face each day.

Dubai is fast rising on my list of places I would like to visit one day. Their architectural audacity and near-miraculous city planning is awe-inspiring. Take for example The 6th Crossing bridge which will reach 670 feet and span the Dubai Creek with 12 lanes of traffic plus a metro line down the center. It is truly an amazing work of engineering and beauty.

Unfortunately I struggle with just how to feel about this kind of opulence. While the beauty and ingenuity is inspiring I have a hard time forgetting what must be sacrificed to create things of this magnitude. Wikipedia touches on the human rights effects of Dubai’s rapid development but I’m sure the abuses must run much deeper. With all I have read and experienced of my adopted country’s history I know that development projects of this scale inevitably leave someone hungry and someone abused.

You can read more and see two more incredible renderings at Kitsune Noir.

Finally, Last.fm has been an incredible source of inspiration for me over the past few months. While I have been a member of Last.fm since 2003 it’s only been recently that a combination of critical mass and I would assume improved algorithms have turned it into a near perfect music recommendation system. With more of my friends using the system (especially those friends who’s taste in music I share) and more music available in the Last.fm catalog I am discovering new things almost too quickly. If there’s anyone left on the planet who thinks the slow painful death of the major labels is bad for music they need only tune in to this site.

One artist I’ve been turned on to recently by way of my friend Matt Ammerman (who has his own incredible band you should check out) is Phosphorescent. It’s rough and tumble music low on “production value” (whatever that means) and high on atmosphere. Swirling acoustics, layered vocals and strong melodies all produced by a one-man-band. I love the song Wolves (you can listen to it over here on Sterogum) a disturbing, rich song that I haven’t been able to get out my head for days.