Kitten lamps

Today is one of those rare occasions when I see something amazing and I feel a real urge to share it with the word (through a blog that no one reads according to this new stats section in blogger, ohh...)

Anyway these cute kitten lamps called MiCha are designed by Kuntzel & Deygas and are my recent find from the Mint Shop. They come in several very natural kitty poses like those below:

They look so playful and fun - a piece of everyday technology given character by a simple reference to a domestic animal. Obviously they do not look like they could be functional lamps considering a big nose and whiskers in the middle of the shade. However I think their main value and function is some sort of comforting quality. They are more like robot pets that engage with the "owner" (user) by starring at him (shedding light). The more I look at them they also seem really cheeky -  how they just shamelessly look at you, little torch heads or spy under your bed revealing all the dust. :)
Anyhow  I wouldn't mind having one of those in my room - I could always pull his tail out of the socket if I'm fed up of him starring :) And considering I am just decorating my new place and my birthday's coming... Oh hold on... they are only 1500 euro a piece... I better stick with my good old meowing, furry one.

my digital presence

Last Monday we were given a presentation on CV's, portfolios, job interviews and all that professional – ‘grow-ups’ things, that we will have to go through after we graduate. It was done by our Product Design lecturer Pete Thomas and his friend Matt Shannon practitioner from Imagination.

Although the presentation was very constructive and valuable, I had an impression, that after we graduate, it all becomes about how effective we sell ourselves. Nevertheless, it was good to find out about certain do's and dont's of presenting our work to the outside world. I found this session particularly useful, as my personal website is just starting to take shape. (I reveal a snapshot of it here)
The main conclusion concerning the digital portfolios was, that we shouldn't show too much. Just demonstrate some of the strongest parts of our university work and treat websites more as a catch enticing our potential employers to invite us for the interview.

Looking at my digital portfolio from this angle, it appears very amateur. But on the other hand this was my primary intention. I wanted it to be something personal – an evidence of my passion towards design and art; my own development and different experiences gathered during the years of studies. I was intending to reflect most of my skills, to demonstrate flexibility, multidisciplinarity and my general enthusiasm. I was assuming, that as a graduate, my main advantage is, that I still have a fresh mind and I can prove myself in different areas and aspects of design. In a way I don’t want to pretend that I am professional. It’s dishonest – I’m still happy to learn and shape myself as a designer. And in this respect my website demonstrates a charming clumsiness of young design student.

Dear Blog...

Today's morning mini-lecture Pete gave us, was about blogging. It reminded me of my poor, neglected blog, lost somewhere in the web... As Jon said, blogging is one of the forms of presence in the social networking community, so hip and desired in today's world. It made me feel guilty, that I didn't blog to much so far. As always - I was super-enthusiastic in the beginning, when I started and then I lost it.

When I come to think of it, well, blog doesn't really fit into my lifestyle and way of working and thinking. It's too structured and organised. It requires constant updating and the way the information is presented doesn't give much flexibility. It doesn't seem mine. I remember my past diaries, that I kept in junior-high age. They were so much more personal and creative. What made them special was all the junk I was pasting, scribbles, drawings, pages uneven from tears. This form allowed me to express my thoughts and emotions better.

I mean, I understand that this form needs to be a compromised for the sake of technology... Or does it? That's the problem that guys doing HP brief are trying to solve, isn't it?

Anyway, I was thinking maybe when I finally get my own website (I'm getting there, again I'm struggling with lack of enthusiasm...) I will try to develop some creative (unstructured) tool of expressing thoughts. One thing I know for sure - there won't be any dates, so that I'm not stressing out! I really liked the idea of hyperlinked design process maps as a way of communicating progress in a visual way. Maybe that could be a start...