The psychological effect that change can have on ones life comes down to how they react to it. At this time and at this moment, I am that individual. As mentioned in a previous blog post '2010 Resolution - 1024 x 768', Designtail will be getting a much needed face lift.
Now, Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will this architectural medium differ. With a little more attention on my behalf, I hope to have achieve more regular blog updates which will see 'TED Talk Tuesday' and 'Photo Friday' becoming featured posts each week. So with this in mind and many more 'projects' down the track, I am pleased to announce that in my new blog is up and running!
Since before time, lifeforms on Earth have through necessity evolved to survive and meet the harsh requirements set down by their current environment. It was not simply a battle of the fittest, strongest or even smartest, but one of metamorphosis and adaptation.
With the growing commercialisation of, and consumer's acceptance towards technology and sustainability, we are increasingly adapting and fusing environmentally sustainable principals and techniques into products and electronic gadgets that are now integrated within everyday households. More users are utilising online shopping, social networking sites, apps etc; our attitude towards the digital age gains speed each day. The implementation of such technology into our buildings generates user friendly, interactive experiences allowing us to navigate to, around and through them, leading to the absorption of information from the inhabitants themselves.
Artificially intelligent buildings will allow Earth to be a living industrialised Pandora-esque world where we plug ourselves into the built environment via USB ports. Questioning our position win this new augmented reality: Are the buildings part of our environment or are we part of theirs?
The New Year has begun and people's resolutions are off to yet another blistering start. With all the best intentions to get fit, save money or even pursue that promotion at work... Though these resolutions rely heavily on momentum. 'The Art of War' outlines the influence that momentum has on the outcome and success of activities.
"Getting people to fight by letting the force of momentum work is like rolling logs and rocks. Logs and rocks are still when in a secure place, but roll on an incline; they remain stationary if square, they roll if round. Therefore, when people are skillfully led into battle, the momentum is like that of round rocks rolling down a high mountain - this is force." - Sun Tzu
"Roll rocks down a ten-thousand-foot mountain, and they cannot be stopped - this is because of the mountain, not the rocks. Get people to fight with the courage to win every time, and the strong and the weak will unite - this is because of the momentum, not the individual." - Du Mu
For me, people are the stones within a stream. As the constant flow of water passes over the bedrock, it mirrors the passing of time. Those that are afraid to diversify and hold all their eggs in one basket become heavier and lodge themselves into the earth while the smaller rocks dislodge and over time their rigidity smooths out with every hurdle and experience it endures, enabling a more productive and streamlined journey ahead. These rock 'identities' travel as fast as the force allows them to and ultimately, WILL reach their desired destination in due course.
With this in mind, my New Year Resolution takes the form of a smaller set of achievable goals laying a pathway towards a successful future. This year will have many obstacles and surprises install for it. In a few weeks I will be starting my Master of Design (Digital Media) as outlined in 'The Itch that Needed to be Scratched' blog post back in September 2009. Further development of my ideas and musings will surface and be shared through an overhaul and restructuring of my Designtail blog. Designtail will become a fully functional and stand alone web page focusing on current and future professional needs while the integration of a sister site, 'Matt Cole Creations' will pick up where this current blog left off, plus a few extra surprises. But you will just have to wait and see!
I drift back into the subliminal ether, confused as to what awoke me in the middle of the night. Was it the cries of my stomach from the over indulging of Christmas cake or the crowing of the neighbour's dyslexic rooster... Suddenly, I am staring blankly at endless cartridges of organic fluid. I am confronted by choice, a choice that questions the conflict between my immoral and moral values. Do I choose battery eggs or free range???
User integration within society and their social interaction can be measured and compared to the mentality and structure of combining ingredients within a recipe. As your masterpiece grows, the introduction of each ingredient influences the properties and character of the existing components. Recipes, like laws, are to be followed to retain consistency between the various elements and is a precaution put in place to help prevent the opportunity for discrepancies to occur.
No matter how careful you nurture them into an environment, it still only takes one bad egg to undo all the hard work that laid the foundation for your creation. These experiences barely scratch the essence that shape our attitude towards the obstacles we face each day. Whether you relate the above methodology to a relationship, career or materials within the process of a design it is how you choose to deal with the situation at hand that decides the outcome.
So here is to 2010. A year of uncertain obstacles generating experience and promoting personal growth.
While joyful clouds played in the sky, projecting patterns on the mountains beneath them to display their creative selves, I visited the beautiful vineyards of Marlborough while traveling around New Zealand last month. Cellar door after cellar door a lot was left to be desired in a realm where atmospheric propositions are waged on the pureness sense being that of taste. I was taken away by the vineyard Seresin Estate. Their 'all natural' approach to wine making, hand picked and only harvesting the wine in sync with the transition of the moon. Unconventionally, as beautiful as the wines were, to my surprise the sensual experience of taste quickly became that of 'touch'. In my hands was not another overly mass produced wine tasting glass, but a carefully crafted vestibule that reinforced the true direction and being of the wine on offer. Or so i thought...
My exploration, experiencing where marketing meets design was briskly halted by the 'ill purposeful' deformities of the product. Where the methodology and character behind the design creation has been lost and became a cloned byproduct of today's mass production techniques.
Unfortunately, Movember is over for another year and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who have contributed either financially or have made sacrifices of the physical or even the 'romantic' kind for such a great cause. Raising $1080 in my first year as a Mo Bro, I have my work cut out for me to better that amount next year!!
Yes, it was damn itchy. Yes, it didn't match my eyebrows and yes my nick name for the month was "The Walrus" from my loving partner. But through all the negative experiences was a plethora of positives as a Mo Bro. The laughter, support and banter between mates, strangers and sponsors alike complemented this innovative and interactive fund-raising campaign. I have loved every bit of it. Bring on Movember 2010!
We have grown up in a culture where your lifestyle or career 'status' is driven by your academic studies. It is now generally accepted that those who excel at scholarly activities go and work in an office and those who don't usually pick up a trade. So where did we gain this misconception that applying a more hands-on and physically demanding career path is less socially accepted as an integral role in today's society? In short it began at the very place that benefits the most, the secondary education system. Like all powerhouse marketing campaigns, the education system is up there with the likes of Microsoft and Apple. While less subtle you quickly find yourself becoming another chess piece to replace others before you. Brainwashed during the years of adolescence, their ability to influence your decisions even after you have seen your contract through does not become apparent until it is too late.
In truth, the focus on the 'how' and not the 'why' that enables these 'lesser beings' to bridge that gap between the non-tangible and physical realm of design. Where tinkering laid the foundation for innovation. It is the collaboration of the tinkerers and academics that further evolves our future. Future Tense recently discussed the importance of how Australia has embraced tinkering and have become a country of tinkerers with Alex Pang - Futurist, Associate Fellow at Oxford University's Said Business School and Managing Editor at Encyclopedia Britannica.
Futurist Alex Pang believes the products, technology and designs of tomorrow are being discovered today by people who like 'tinkering'. Tinkering isn't just wasting time in the back shed, it's taking objects, or even ideas, and making them better. From open-sourced software to a hotted-up motor-mower, it's all tinkering according to Mr Pang.
So to conclude, I will take a leaf out of Bert Monroy's book and finish by telling you to sit there and play. Playing is the best way to learn. It shouldn’t be considered “work.” Work could never be that much fun.
I'm a 25 year old Newcastle (Australia) graduate that is currently living in Sydney with my lovely and supportive partner Lyndal.
As a child my interests in drawing and how things worked engrossed my studies at school. I have spent most of my life not knowing what I wanted to achieve and how society could benefit from my existence.
I am currently studying a Master of Design (Digital Media) at Raffles College of Design and Commerce and graduated B. Design (Architecture) at the University of Newcastle in 2007. I have been privileged to be working in an architecture office since, establishing a foundation for my design career ahead.
