Time Tested Designs

Here are some thoughts about one bad design and a few good ones. 

This is what happens when you don't understand users and subordinate function to form. The G4 Cube was a commercial failure even if MoMA likes it. It was a commercial failure for good reason – it didn't work well. The computer would overheat and the gestural controls didn’t work correctly. The high price diverted consumers’ money from other purchases.

Inefficient designs contain a lot of embodied energy and consume resources that could have been used elsewhere. Embodied energy is the energy (and pollution) associated with a product, including stuff you don’t think about such as mining, transportation, administration, disposal etc. Bad products that are expensive and soon discarded always have a high embodied energy.

Here is the how it was released (20 years ago this month!):

MACWORLD EXPO, NEW YORK—July 19, 2000—Apple® today introduced the Power Mac™ G4 Cube, an entirely new class of computer that delivers the performance of a Power Mac G4 in an eight inch cube suspended in a stunning crystal-clear enclosure.

“The G4 Cube is simply the coolest computer ever,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “An entirely new class of computer, it marries the Pentium-crushing performance of the Power Mac G4 with the miniaturization, silent operation and elegant desktop design of the iMac. It is an amazing engineering and design feat, and we’re thrilled to finally unveil it to our customers.”

Old designs that show how it’s done 

It is a shame to be negative all the time. Hopefully love and creation wins over hate and destruction. Therefore, to offset my negative statements about the time-failed Apple G4 Cube, I wanted to offer a few old designs that are the opposite. They work great and have held up over time. They are the Cavendish banana, the offset snow shovel, and the Citroen DS.

A banana is a design? Yes, welcome to the 2020s – designers design more than toasters. We don’t have to be stupid about things that don’t involve a pretty product wrap. We understand taste, tactile response, interactions, packaging and all the things that go into a good banana. Joseph Paxon understood these things too when he designed his banana, which also happened to be resistant to the mold that wiped out all the Big Mike (Gros Michel) bananas. It was a compromise – Paxon’s Cavendish banana didn’t travel as well as the Gros Michel because of its thinner skin and it tasted different. Paxon got it right though, the Cavendish has dominated the banana export market for over 60 years and lets me make smoothies every morning.

It seems presumptuous to assert the importance of industrial design in genetics, but design is design. If you get the right people and the right tools and you can do anything. 

The offset snow shovel is more expensive and harder to store than a standard snow shovel, but it works well. A simple design change that answered the question, what is the most ergonomic design for the user? Let’s do that, the designers thought. They ended up with this ugly, awkward shovel that some people hate and some people love, but it has lasted the test of time and it works well.

I loved the Citroen DS when I first saw it. It has an exquisite blend of aesthetics and function that shows how traditional industrial design can work. 

Beauty

The effect of beauty is easier to consider than its essence. We respond to beauty and we desire to protect it. As a Christian, I move the notion of beauty can be moved into the theological domain. Inner beauty are those things that look like Christ, external beauty are those things that look like the Garden of Eden.

In design, I prefer to think of allure rather than beauty. Moreover, art should be gently cleaved from design. Art should not be dragged down by the mechanistic concerns of design. Styling is not art, and it is not industrial design. Styling is a part of industrial design and an important historical foundation. Styling can probably be considered the foundation of design, but in the 21^st century design is much more than styling.

I hope a three-to-one good to bad design ratio is an uplifting view -- I don’t wish to be cranky and negative.

Coronavirus

I was close to failing Sophomore English. My high school had an accelerated English track that I was put on. All was well until sophomore year when my dismal memory capabilities shone brightly. My teacher required we memorize many pages of vocabulary words. A good exercise, but I just couldn’t seem to remember them. I did poorly on the test and withdrew from the accelerated track. I still have to replace words in my writing because I have no idea how to spell them. COVID-19 has been similarly humbling. I have no idea how to even start to create a vaccine or treatment plan.

Besides being humbled, which is a good thing, the English class experience made me realize that some people have strong abilities that I just don’t have -- like memory. One of my kids has a super memory. It’s great when she is with me. She remembers everything, including days and years of every event we have shared. She has none of my memory shedding DNA.

Vanity is another problem I have, which I wrote about last time. Online venues let you show your good side and bury your bad side. Like George Orwell confessed, all my writing (and video) are rooted in ego. Teaching also nurtures ego because you control the environment. You talk about things you know. Long ago Augustine recognized "pride lurks even in good work". (Yes, I'm reusing a quote from the last article because I liked it so much.)

Does that mean you stay silent and live under a rock? Maybe. Sometimes it is good to be silent and listen to others, keeping your voice out of the cacophony of screaming words.

While COVID-19 is humbling, the coronavirus will affect the virtual communications environment in the same way that 9/11 impacted security. This pandemic is forcing late adopters to use technology in a way that makes our world safer and reduces the environmental impact of travel.

History will be repeated. We chatted about 9/11 until the financial markets crashed in 2007 – then we talked about lost savings. The same will probably happen with COVID-19. However, it does seem like it will leave lingering changes such as, virtual education, rapid diagnostic technology, and the establishment of medical borders.

However, time advances and even now I take both pride in my humility and speling.

“Pride lurks even in good work” Augustine

“Pride lurks even in good work”  Augustine

A perfect summer day with my kids. I took photos as we moved from hiking to exploring to playground playing. I took these photos and put them on Facebook.

Then I thought about what I had done.

Did I do these activities for joy, play, and love for my kids? Or were they done so I could photograph them and show off a falsely typical day in my life?

I couldn’t separate the two issues. I loved these activities, but by broadcasting them on Facebook, I killed their self-sufficiency, their wholesomeness and purity. They became an advertising banner for my life.

I made a decision.

I had gotten dragged into the ego satisfying, self-promotional lifestyle that has been around forever and then supercharged by social media. I decided I would no longer put up these photo montages and crawl under a rock. Sometimes I come out of the rock but not too often. I made this decision in 2007, one year after joining Facebook.

We also don’t own a TV or Netflix. Life under the rock seems highly productive and easier for my simple mental and emotional abilities to handle.

Ego can’t be contained. Augustine and Orwell openly shared this truth. When George Orwell shared his reasons for writing, he had them in this order:

1)    Sheer egoism. The desire to seem clever and to get talked about.

2)   Aesthetic enthusiasm.

3)   Historical impulse, desire for understanding.

4)   Political purpose. To push the world in certain directions.

Of course by writing this and putting it on the web, I forfeit a claim of humility and hiding under a rock. I’m still not sure how interconnected I want to be.

Lusting for Internet Access

I’m involved with the maritime industry and learned of a recent case of a ship grounding caused by something remarkable. The officer on watch steered the ship near the Swedish coast so the crew could get better phone signals. Yes, a ship gets grounded, leaks oil, and is completely scrapped because of a desire for better coverage.

The lust for internet access and a small antenna caused a ship to be destroyed. This is in 2019 and in Sweden. The lessons are obvious and it reminds me of the African fable about the mouse that took refuge in an elephant’s trunk causing the elephant to finally die of thirst and hunger.

The elephant had destroyed the mouse’s nest several times so the mouse studied the elephant and learned how dependent he was on his trunk. When the elephant fell asleep, the mouse crawled into the elephant’s trunk. The elephant could not dislodge the mouse from his trunk and the elephant finally succumbed to thirst and hunger.

To be fair, alcohol and inattentiveness contributed to the grounding…

The Nautical Institute noted this was “a perfect storm of how not to run a ship.”

This is a summary of the incident from the Nautical Institute, the official report is SHK RS2019:04e

Navigation close to the coast naturally demands the OOW's utmost attention. Fatigue, distractions and of course alcohol or drugs are all enemies to safe navigation, yet still we hear of ships, crews and the environment being put at risk because basic rules have been ignored.

Early one morning, the OOW of a car carrier altered course to port to follow the coast so crew could obtain a better phone signal. He failed to update the vessel's voyage plan and then returned to his administrative work, merely glancing at the ECDIS occasionally. The lookout was also busy with other tasks, the bridge navigation watch alarm system (BNWAS) had been turned off and the S-VDR was not working.

Eventually – and perhaps inevitably – the ship grounded, resulting in an oil spill. When refloated it proved to be so severely damaged that it was declared a total constructive loss and fit only for recycling.

Subsequent investigation showed that the OOW had drunk alcohol before taking over the watch and was intoxicated. Both he and the lookout were distracted by other tasks, and the switched-off BNWAS was unable to perform its 'safety net' function.

Leonardo vs Picasso

I like the works of Leonardo Da Vinci and Pablo Picasso. They both contributed extraordinarily to art and culture. They both knew they were very good. However, Leonardo only has a little over a dozen paintings in existence. Picasso produced 1,800 paintings, not to mention 12,000 drawings, and thousands of sculptures and ceramics. Yes, many of Leonardo’s works have disappeared, and he made many beautiful drawings, but still his volume of work pales before Picasso.

Is it better to produce a few outstanding works or copious art with outstanding pieces in the mix? Maybe it is silly to compare these two artists but they are on my mind. They both had admirable accomplishments yet followed different trajectories and vastly different bodies of work.

Leonardo showed great patience, from making his own paints to moving between cities (and countries!) to find funding. Picasso made quick sketches to pay for his lunch. Leonardo performed for his patrons, Picasso for himself and his consumers. Leonardo was subtle, Picasso was in your face.

Leonardo’s skill was like Albrecht Durer (look at the fur in “Lady with an Ermine”) and his compositions and painting techniques were innovative even as he worked under many constraints. Picasso was as free as the wind and he broke rules that got in his way.

So, who do I like better? Leonardo gets my vote. He was interdisciplinary and applied his intellect, talent, and curiosity in many areas. He was not enslaved to art. While he was pompous in his dress (unlike his young competitor Michelangelo), he was more of a working-class guy trying to elbow his way upward. That is a pursuit I can identify with. Plus, he was an inventor, which is something else I can identify with.

I would rather have a few works that are excellent and demonstrate curiosity and wonder rather than just raw creative fire. Actually, I want both, but there is little raw creative fire in a void, it is fueled by the invisible insights of others. These insights rise in a crescendo of events until all the collective actions of others erupt with a heroic work and a celebrated name. We love to attribute things to individuals; however, there are no solitary geniuses.

Appreciating Leonardo’s work involves working with harmonic armatures and dissecting allegories. Picasso requires lengthy contemplation and reconstruction. I would rather have a (good) Picasso over my couch, assuming it matches my couch, but I more greatly admire Leonardo.

Surprise in design

Design works outside science. Science is a useful tool, just like language is a useful tool. But science is based on assumptions of rationality and empirically driven truths that can be drawn from the apparent chaos in which we live. Design embraces chaos and extracts features from it that appeal to humans.

We can use qualitative methods, such as ethnography, and artistic insights to create product appeal to groups different than ourselves. Research requires an articulated framework describing an understanding of how the world works and how you can learn about how it works. It should (but rarely does outside of dissertations) require a positionality statement also because your position with respect to data influences acquisition methods and interpretation, among other things. 

As a Christian, I don’t follow “methodological naturalism” as a guide, I believe in God’s personal involvement. However methodological naturalism can’t handle the notion of irrationality. It has a faith component, namely that the human mind is rational and the world has "closed regularities", meaning that there are no exceptions to scientific laws.

The words art, design, and craft have specific meanings. Design can mean a purposeful development of a functional product. Industrial design also considers the artistic influences that create appeal beyond the functional. Industrial design embraces ethnographic methods that aid in designing things appropriate for people who are different than the designer.

Designing things in the tradition of industrial design, taps into both functional (mechanistic) and “non-functional” (non-mechanistic) elements. But the non-functional elements in particular, can be rooted in faith and worldview issues. The non-functional elements are where art flows into design, and this can involve surprise.

I love surprise in design, it has delightfully irrational elements that derive from outside of the weight of science. Pleasant surprise is a beautiful element in design.

Air Force One Livery Design

The history of the United States' “Air Force One” is interesting. It involved a famous industrial designer and very personal choices by the John and Jackie Kennedy. Raymond Loewy made two visits with John Kennedy and they worked out the ideas with "crayons and cutting up paper." Here is an account taken from the New England Historical Society:

Then Loewy visited the National Archives to examine historic documents. He was struck by the first printed copy of the Declaration of Independence, it had the new country's name set widely spaced in capital letters in a typeface known as Caslon.

Kennedy had already ordered the Air Force to remove the military lettering in favor of the simple United States of America.  And he told Loewy he liked blue.

Loewy chose two blues: slate and cyan. He left the underside of the fuselage silver and added the presidential seal near the nose, a large American flag to the tail, and the words "United States of America" in capital letters using the Caslon typeface.

The First Lady had a hand in designing the interior of the plane. She made sure the president had his own entrance, a customized bed, a stateroom, a conference room, glassware from Tiffany’s and a pale blue rug with an American eagle in the center of an oval with 13 stars.

Loewy's 1962 drawing
(Source: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/196025)

Text source: http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/jfk-helps-design-air-force-one/