MILO

Peter Molyneux with Lionhead Studios has created an artificially intelligent thing through project natal that actually communicates back at you. In the Demo of Milo, you can literally talk to and communicate with a little boy they have named Milo. Here you can hold conversations with, complete activities with, and have him see and hold things that you hold up to the camera. You can see your reflection in the water and even swish the water with her hand.You can view the video on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDvHlwNvXaM. This new form of interaction using the camera feature natal is quite advanced, a pretty revolutionary product to be seen soon. They are just testing it now with the x-box 360, but it looks really interesting and somewhat eerie.

Make-up Magic

Make-up artist design in a way we don't usually think of as design. Make-up gives movie stars their images and sci-fi its extraterrestrial beings. Without their make-up the beautiful stars that light up our screen look like average everyday people. A lot of the times they are almost not recognizable because we are use to seeing them in such glamorized photos.

Make-up can do much more then design a beautiful face that captures the eyes and hearts of millions across America. It can also make characters who they are in a movie. In the new batman movie the Joker's character was made by his make-up.

Make-up creates a persona in many cases for movies. Whether it makes them an insane psycho like the joker or the beautiful lovable creature we all see online it really does work like magic.

Pulse Smartpen by Livescribe

This amazing pen has various features that connect old fashion schoolwork with modern technology. The pen has capabilities beyond that of any other pen. The pen's abilities include taking notes that when plugged in to the computer the notes are already scanned up there. You can also record speeches and and audio notes that go with the written notes. When you push your pen to the notes you took while the audio was recorded you can play back what was recorded through the audio device. There is an infered camera that allows all of the transference of both audio and visual elements composed. There is a speaker that allows playback through the pen. There is a USB connector to connect the pen to the computer to either print the notes or just save them electronically. There is an audio jack that allows for listening through headphones so not to disturb a class with the playback feature. There is a microphone that allows clear audio to be recorded. It can even hold 1 GB worth of information inside the pen.

This smartpen is a revolutionary product that changes everything we knew about old school note taking. This gadget has so many useful features in one is simplifies our lives. We not longer have to type our notes, once the pen is connected it will do it on its own. It is hard to match written notes to audio recordings, but now they will be matched up together. Everything is made easier with this smartpen. The problem is found in paying the price. The pen and started kits start at around 150 dollars. Then there are the 20 dollar ink cartridge refills and 25 for the extra paper notes. However, if you have the bucks, it is truly an investment worth taking.

On University Blvd. at the University of Arizona picture tons of college kids moving into dorms and excited to be away from their parents. What better way to get excited and ready for college then decorating your dorm room? There parked is an Ikea ad in the form of a moving room. Inside you can see a bed, a desk, and other well coordinated decorations for your room. This would be very effective in first attracting an audience, and second convincing students to go to Ikea to get their furniture. Not many ads are seen in the form of a windowed vehicle carrying the product. This is different enough to spark attention and interesting enough to convince you this is what you need. The room shows all the decorations and coordination's and gives you an idea of what you need to make your room look exactly the same. The ad is in a small room much like dorms so it appeals to college students. The small room looks roomy in the ad despite the small space. It appeals to the students because it gives them the illusion that they can make more room within their college dorm.

Sid Dickens Tiles

I'm in the process of moving back to Tucson. I'm living with my Aunt now. She is a collector of Sid Dickens Tiles. She buys them all as soon as they come out. She has hundreds of these tiles around the house and she is building a new house with huge wall spaces so that she can mount all of his tiles in the same approximately. So I wanted to know what the big deal was with these tiles. This is what I found....

"Tender is the offering of innocence born.Giving freely; therein lies The rosebud bloom of youth."

"The stars and symbols hold a magic key; heavenly influences to chart our path."

"Birth is a divine gift. Eyes of wonder open wide celebrating the child and the child in ourselves. Innocence born and innocence regained."

"Winter is the season to dream the beginning. Like this great tree we are all rooted in one earth, ever changing, ever growing."

"Love, truth, friendship. Marked like an eternal blessing in the palm of your hand"

So each of these tiles comes with a little poem about the meaning of the tile. Each piece has a much deeper meaning then can be seen with the eye. It is a beautiful idea for which each tile is created like a pictograph to resemble. Each of the ideas represented hold more then an idea but rather a moral or quote to live by. I found that each of these tiles is only made in a certain quantity then sold. The artist will the retire that piece so there will be no more of it. This is a good plan, it is as if the artist can only give the pieces of himself to so many people, before he has to make other pieces of himself to give. These tiles are romantic and poetic and the meanings behind them truly shine through.

Venetian Masquerade Masks

"Venetian Masquerade masks Barroque masquerade mask handmade in Venice, Italy, with crystal stones and pearls."

http://www.amasquerade.com/store_masks.asp

Costume designers are other important designers for all different venues. They work for parties but mostly for movie and television purpose. At "A Masquerade" the website there are masks from Venice, Italy. These masks have been a tradition for Venice's Carnevale or Carnival. This occurs from Ash Wednesday to Marti Gras. It use to be outlawed during the revolution in Italy to wear the masks, but eventually they were allowed to wear them some months. Today it is customarily used for their Marti Gras celebration and Masquerade Balls. The Masks, for the Venetian are a sign of upper class wealth, It is only the privileged that are able to attend the balls.

These Masquerade Balls were designed as a game for the upper class. The point was to come masked and dressed so unusually that you would be unidentifiable. It was humorous and pleasurable for the people in attendance.

Not matter what the occasion, these masks, can be seen a beautifuly designed costumes and art. In Venice they are handcrafted each different from the next. The truly original ones are often expensive collectables. Each different mask has a different theme. Some are jokers while others are kings and queens.

Target Kitchenwares

There are some uniquely designed kitchen wares that can be found at target. There is a parakeet garlic press, a shark pizza cutter, a toucan can opener, a mouse cheese grater, and a monkey potato peeler. These are just a few of the many animal kitchen wares you can find there. I would say that this design is intended for mothers who have small children. It probably entertains the children that their parents have such lively tools. However I would say the design targeting children is somewhat dangerous. You really don't want small children playing with these. A pizza cutter is hardly something you want you're four year old to play with. So although designers did intend to entertain people through marketing such animal like fun tools, they probably didn't rightfully consider the damage of if the animals appealed to much to children. If the children see their parents "playing with these" they themselves might want to. The colors and animals look just like their toys to it would be hard to warn against using them. Amusing however too dangerous when you have small children. This product looks as though it should be marketed to children however parents need to consider the vital consequences if they choose in investing in these kinds of tools.

Lush - Re-thing Bathtime

While in Lahina Town Maui I stumbled on an interesting shop called Lush. Upon research I found that it is a multi-national company that hand makes products such as Shower Jellies and Solid Shampoos that are organic and oftentimes Vegan. This new kind of soap "Shower Jellies" are made into a gelatin soap. I purchased one and found it quite amusing. The scent lasted a lot longer on my body then conventional soap. I was pleased with that product.

Another particularly interesting product is their solid shampoos. They say this is environmentally friendly in that 1 bar saves 3 150 mL shampoo bottles. They have bars made out of different oils, flowers, and nuts. They even have shampoo bars made with plants and fruits that can lighten your hair color.

Yet another uniquely designed product is their massage bars. These are oils kept as a solid until you want to use them. The heat of your hand melts the oil, however if not touching you at room temperature the bar remains solid. These two are made with all natural ingredients with seed and nuts oils that enrich the skin.

Although there are many other uniquely designed products the "bath bomb" will be the last one I talk about. These powdery solid balls come in all kinds of forms. There are ones that make bubble baths, there are moisture ones that leave your skin moisturized, and then there are the fizzy ones that color and strongly scent the entire bathroom. All of them scent your skin and the scent is long lasting.

This company has decided to keep their products organic and hand made to help the environment. Their products come wrapped in recyclable paper instead of plastic. This is just one of the various companies who are trying to help our environment rather then hurt it. It would be worth your time to give their innovative products a try!

Home Housewares show in Cartoons

http://www.core77.com/blog/events/home_housewares_show_2009in_cartoons_12975.asp

The designing blog site Core 77 did a cartoon series are the new household inventions that were in the Housewares show in 2009. The cartoon shows how in the attempt to improve household items, there have been a lot of just adding useless materials and starting over. This is a big part of design. Sometimes improvement involves starting over and other times you just add or remove some things. The cartoon blog was an attention grabbing and interesting way to exploit the truths about the various products that were in the show.

These cartoons are blog of Core 77 that are exposing the sometimes frivolous inventions that are tried out. It shows what might be interesting and succeed as a product and what might fail as an experiment. It shows the truth in that many already good products are changed just to find out that the simple may be better.