MMO Design - Guild Wars

While many may not consider it an MMO it definitely has the design elements of one. Guild Wars is a game with 3 expansions covering the lands of Elona, Canthia, Tyria, and more. Each expansion was designed with a certain theme in mind and is reflected in how everything was made. In Canthia, the Asian theme is prevalent in the structures, the lore and myth, the people, and even the new classes. It's something that is obvious from the get-go, and really draws the player in. Guild Wars is unique in that aspect. Although the world isn't persistent the atmosphere and story create an engaging world. Story is something the developers pride themselves on and is a staple of the game. The world is set up to be instanced in each area outside of main towns so the developers get a chance to make very unique quests. Many quests contain a cut-scene or sometimes interesting dialogue or mission objectives. The main story is the real focus, though. They've designed it in a way that the game almost feels like a single player, but without the help of others players won't get far. Each primary mission contains cut-scenes complete with dialogue and some contain twists and turns in the story. They also provide a background for the characters you interact with or the world you're exploring. Most MMOs don't focus gameplay around story, but their design shows they truly believe it is one of the most important aspects of the overall game design.

They have also designed their game upon the reliance of the skill of the characters, and not by the items they wield. At the beginning of the game characters are the given the chance to make a pvp character, or regular character. The PvP character is given the chance to have weapons just as good as the "best" in the game, with the exception of how it looks. Unlike WoW and the rest, there is no real "epic" loot, but rather rarer items with the same stats and different looks. They further this promotion of skill by only allowing 8 skills to be used at a time, which must be chosen before leaving an outpost or town. Players must create an effective combination of skills, and understand how to use them, or they will have little success. Their design has made it so players that just hit all their skills at once and spam won't get anywhere, and players are actually rewarded for being smart rather than playing for a longer period than someone else. It's a nice break from the norm and gives players a reason to study the skills rather than grind to earn them.

They've also designed their billing strategy brilliantly by making it free. While that might not sound like a great idea it's the reason why they've sold so many copies and sponsors will back them up. They manage to have yearly, or even quarterly, contests between rival guilds for large amounts of money; with one grand prize coming to $100,000 for 8 players. Guilds are also a huge point in their overall design. They designed the game to have a very strong pvp aspect with guild vs. guild battles headlining. In order to make these guild battles be a contest of skill and not numbers, they limit it to 8 per team, with NPCs on each side. Guilds can own their own Guild Hall complete with merchants, storage, and even skill trainers. They designed what basically feels like a home away from home, and a place to strategize. In the latest expansion they've upped the ante on the emphasis of story and making the player feel important. They designed a place called the Hall of Monuments where players can show off all their major achievements. Not only that, they designed these achievements to be integrated into the next game, Guild Wars 2. Your legacy will be continued and the emphasis on story and character development is reinforced once again.

Their overall design focus on making the player feel important is unrivaled. Other MMOs make an attempt to do the same by giving them tons of things to do, and be able to fight these gigantic monsters; while Guild Wars keeps it quite simple. Put the player in an engaging story, reward them for truly strategizing and developing their skill and your game will not only sell millions, but win awards all over the place. This unique design has resulted in a successful series.

MMO Design - Pirates of the Burning Sea

Next up is another story that involves Sony Online Entertainment(SOE), but this time they're only publishing, not developing. Pirates of the Burning Sea is a game set in the Caribbean in 1720 centering around, you guessed it, pirates and ships. The MMO was developed Flying Lab Software(FLS) and was released in January 2008. At its core design, Pirates of the Burning Sea was meant to be a historically accurate, but fun, game in the Caribbean with a player-driven economy. Over the years its design has changed slightly, but overall sticks with what it promised. FLS came at this theme with a sturdy, but open, mindset. They wanted it to be historically accurate, there was no question about that and nothing was going to change it. There weren't going to be ghost ships or Jack Sparrows cruising around the Caribbean. The ships mimicked real life blue-prints and findings in scale and looks. All ports were based off of historical documents and designed to also look like the faction they belonged to. Speaking of factions, players could choose one of four. They could be Pirate, Spanish, French, or British, with the Dutch being a neutral non-playable nation. The design of each town and the people in it were based upon the nation, and they kept the most authentic feel they could. They kept this authenticity going on the seas as well. Ships travel faster along currents and careful attention must be paid to the wind in order to make the most of your time. Their authentic design hits a peak when it comes to the ship battles, their most toted feature. Ships control like they would in real life, and like real life the wind and positioning are the most important aspects of battle. Different strategies must be employed depending on the ship you're using and what you're fighting. It all feels very realistic; it feels how one would expect. This all sounds about right and how their design should be, but they change it up drastically in certain categories.

Very rarely does a developer truly listen to its user base. I can say that with confidence after witnessing many games destroy themselves because of the developers' arrogance or stubbornness. The devs at FLS frequently interacted and chatted with players on the forums, IRC rooms, and at conventions. That was just the tip of the iceberg, though. They designed POTBS to allow user-designed flags and ships. This was a huge catch for the game and really made the community come together. These designs were not taken without review, and developers, as well as players, would vote on whether or not to include them in the game. Many ships that were submitted to the review committee, ships completely modeled and rigged in 3D, were included in the game. At the game's launch almost half the ships that were attainable were created by players; with many people creating more than one. Flag designs were also included, and the only flags that weren't created by players were the nation flags, story flags, and a bunch of stock flags for those who didn't create one. Players could buy their flags in the game, or trade them, and sail with them on their ship. These developers not only designed a system for a high amount of customization, but one that literally allowed the players to help create the game. Developers also highly insisted on a completely player-driven economy. This meant players were responsible for making most ships, materials, and miscellaneous items. While there would still be unique items and recipes that would drop, players created and kept the economy flowing. Merchants offered basic supplies and ships, while players sold their items on the auction house. While this is a very unique design it requires a large user base as well as an active one. It's another example of their philosophy about listening and interacting with their players.

Like I mentioned before, its rare to see a design like this actually happen despite how logical it is. Sure it isn't the most successful game and doesn't have any huge breakthroughs, except maybe the user content, but it sticks a direction/design and sticks to it; a design centered around the player for the player.

MMO Design - Star Wars Galaxies

Star Wars Galaxies(SWG) is an MMORPG that is located in the Star Wars universe. It was developed by Sony Online Entertainment(SOE) and released in June 2003. SWG promised players and fans alike a world true to the title. Without centering it around this design buyers had no reason to trust the developer except for their past credentials. Upon release SOE lived up to its word and had a successful release. The worlds reflected their descriptions in books and movies. The races spoke in their own languages, which you only understood if you either learned through skills or were the race yourself. The player could also run into characters from the Star Wars canon like Han Solo and Darth Vader. It looked like Star Wars, it sounded like it, and it felt like it. Their world and character design were flawless, which can be tough when expectations are so high. They also designed their profession system realistically. As one would assume, becoming a master Jedi or Bounty Hunter isn't easy. Players would progress through tiers in each basic profession until they reached this higher level. They would also determine this by the weapon they used in battle; gaining skill as they fought with it. What makes their design so unique and grand is the depth. There were literally over 50 professions one could become in SWG. Usually in MMOs players are limited to no more than 10, but their design allowed players to not only learn one of these professions, but 2 to 3 at a time. Their design also allowed the player to drop a profession to learn a new one whenever they wanted. They gave the player the freedom to become what they want, when they wanted. The Jedi also elicited a unique design to learn as well. A player would progress through a series of quests that would span at least 3 months; because of how they designed each major event to happen. While many people may call this broken; it stays true to their design philosophy. They didn't want a Jedi to be easy to get, so they designed it in a fair but difficult way to achieve. Yet again they stayed true to the canon by being realistic within their world. SWG also allowed a level of freedom and customization that most gamers weren't used to. Their design for action outside combat and quests consisted of being able to make a house, city, and even a base for your guild. They allowed the player to place their house, which had many sizes and layouts, almost anywhere on the map they wanted. Cities and bases could be upgraded and even rated by other guilds, another design element to promote community interaction. Inside these places players could create a world of their own, or just flat out store items; the choice was theirs. An example of another great design that allowed the player to really feel like they were in the Star Wars universe.

SOE wasn't perfect, though, and made what made be the biggest mistake in the MMO industry. In 2005 they decided to do a complete 180 on their game design, though not aesthetically. Their first mistake came with the release of the Combat Upgrade(CU) in April 2005. Instead of sticking with the design to keep a high level of depth and complexity of the game, they made it simpler. Combat was pushed down to the level of other MMOs and required much less micromanagement. As a result of this choice, cancellations temporarily rose. The next and worst example of a redesign, some would say in video game history, came with the New Game Enhancement(NGE) in November 2005. Not only was there a breakdown in the design department, HR got ripped to shreds as well. A couple of days before the NGE was released an expansion called "Trials of Obi-Wan" was released, opening up a brand new planet and added content all around. Players had 2 days to enjoy this before the game was completely changed, and with only 24 hours warning. The NGE saw the deep complexity of the profession system completely scrapped and the battle system turned into a button mashing fight. The number of professions dropped to 9 and the player only allowed another sub-profession within that one. A player could choose to be a jedi, bounty hunter, or officer from the beginning, though not masters. Gone were the meaningful Jedi quests and instead came the cookie-cutter story line everyone followed. As expected subscriptions eventually plummeted and SOE heard about it. There has never been such a drastic change in game design since, at least not that the public has seen. All around the board they had designed a great MMO with even greater potential in the future, but certain choices turned that around and sent it to the ground in a smoldering heap. This is the worst example of a redesign in the MMO industry, and hopefully everyone learned from a lesson.

CS4 Design - December 12, 2009

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not a big fan of the CS4 series from Adobe. The redesign of the interface doesn't bother me in the slightest; I can adapt and learn how to use it. I actually like the fact that they'll let you revert to the Classic setup along with other setups depending on what you plan to do. The only part that really irks me is how unstable each and every program is now. I don't use PS or Illustrator as much as I used to, but it seems to run so much slower and crash far more often on the weakest changes. There's been times where all I'll do is import something, of course forgetting to save beforehand, and it will flat out crash. Flash is especially touchy now. I can't count how many times it's crashed while simply testing a new piece of code, and it's not even one of those infinite loop crashes that I used to get(those were my own fault). I'll be hovering my mouse over the error report to see what it is and windows will start flickering all over the place. Even though you can customize it, dragging windows are far more touchy and seem to lock on to anything and everything. I spend more time trying to find where my actions panel went than actually coding. It's frustrating because I loved CS3, but I need to keep with the class and CS4 files differ from CS3 files. I've never understood why developers will do this. They add some features at the cost of more important things. It could just be every computer I run it on, or maybe I'm just really good at breaking it; who knows. At least it's taught me to save more often.

Piggy/Coin Banks! - December 12, 2009

Here's something people don't think about making a great design out of; piggy banks! Ever since I got my pirate head bank I've used it over all the others, even my bigger, lighter, older piggy bank. Sure I love pirates and that may be a reason, but that's just it. If you can design some type of coin bank that would hit the perfect tune for thousands of people out there you could make a nice chunk of money. There's light up and animated coin banks, and even ones as tall as a small child. There are even digital counting coin banks so you always know how much you have in there. Well, I suppose there are more than I previously thought, but there's gotta be something out there nobody has thought of yet. How about a coin bank that not only stores and counts how much money you have, but also separates them into different sections. When you're ready to roll them up you can even prompt it to do so! Throw in different sound tones for each coin dropped, and it can be used as a music toy! Eh, maybe a little much. What's already out on the market is impressive and it's just waiting for the next hit to come along. The piggy bank market...

Album Cover Design - December 12, 2009

Lately album covers have started to lose their uniqueness and they don't really stand out from one another. Every once in a while you might find one that catches your attention, but nothing like they did with records. Above is the cover of The Beatles' album, "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band", one of their best albums. It has faces from famous people throughout time and all over the world. They are also represented in two different forms themselves symbolizing how different this album will be from their past albums. Like the music, their album cover was out there and in another world. It catches your attention and causes you to take more than a glance by at it. The use of vibrant color sets it off, and the cutout people provide a stark contrast to it. It's one of my favorite album covers.

Pop-Up Books - December 12, 2009

The book is named Voyage to the Heart of Matter: The Atlas Experiment at CERN and it is written by Anton Radevsky and Amy Sanders. It currently costs $33 and is available most places. This is a pop-up style book about the Large Hadron Collider(LHC) that gives a different look into how it works. Each page chronicles a different part of the process in either the development or the actual experiments ran by the LHC. It's nice to see something so intricate explained in something as simple as a pop-up book. We're treated to something that is visually stimulating while still providing an explanation about what's going on. This isn't something you would expect to see on the subject and will surely stand out from others of the same type. This design is brilliant because of those reasons.

The Rotating Outlet - December 12, 2009

Now this is a great idea for hotels and places that will see lots of international business. People would also love to see this in airports, obviously, and maybe even in amusement parks. This is the rotating outlet, just a picture and no other information, and it is meant to aid the people who can't plug their devices in because of their country's standards. Since countries won't be deciding to come up with a worldwide standard, god forbid we work together, this is a nice little workaround. While there are universal adapters and other tools to fix the problem this would be much more convenient. Another issue would be changing the voltage to match the plug. If that could be achieved then this thing could definitely take off. It'd be a great help to everyone.

Scottevest Pack Windbreaker - December 12, 2009

This is the Scottevest Pack Windbreaker and it was designed with the gizmo-geek in mind. There are 17, yes 17, pockets to hold your luggage. It was also designed for a light traveler; if you might be going on a day trip for example. The pictures show the slots holding things like a magazine, an ipod, cellphone, and even binoculars. The jacket also folds into its own back pocket and can serve as a pillow just in case you get caught on a long train ride. The TravelSmart System makes all your electronics pockets easily accessible; as well as the places for your wallet, glasses, etc. Outside it looks very simple and sleek. There is no bulging and the material is made breathable. If I were going to spend $75 on a windbreaker then I would highly consider buying this; IF I were to spend that much.

Shoe Designs - December 12, 2009

Shoes are designed by everyone everywhere. Basketball players come up with designs, soccer moms come up with ideas, industrial workers; everyone needs a pair of shoes or boots or whatever, and they each serve a purpose. They might be designed for functionality or they might be designed with aesthetics in mind. Many athletes have their shoes designed to help them gain an edge over opponents, but keep a good look in mind. The most notable athletes are basketball players and they tend to come up with some pretty neat designs. There are also some unique designs like the ones above. The first is a cd player shoe concept and it's definitely a unique design. The picture underneath shows some human feet shoes and is really cool. I can imagine the shock value you can get out of those, and it wouldn't be too bad sticking your toes into individual spots. Outlandish shoes like this really get you thinking about how far they can take shoes. Holographic shoes(that seems to be a recurring theme for me) coming up!

Smart Baby Case Concept - December 12, 2009

This is the Smart Baby Case design concept from Pouyan Mokhtarani at Yanko Design. It isn't meant to keep your baby in all the time or even grow the baby, but a place to keep him in places like the airport or mall. The case contains an air purification unit for those places that may have harmful air for the child and a safeguard to automatically shut the case if the air pressure gets low, and will provide the baby with fresh air. Inside there is a communication unit with an LED screen to so your baby can see and hear you. There is a logo on the inside to show you the quality of the air as well as an auto-rocking unit. The case also contains an auto-flushing unit for both types of waste that goes to the front. Overall it looks like a futuristic baby carrier with extra features. Some are a little bit extensive, but others serve a great purpose. Keeping your baby from harmful air is a plus, especially if traveling. It's a design with good intentions in mind; the world just probably isn't ready for it yet.

Lampshade Designs! - December 12, 2009

I must be getting desperate if I'm actually looking at lampshade design, but they can really be pretty awesome. Most people are probably used to the umbrella shaped lamp design with some nice colors and shapes on them or whatever, but there's a whole world of them out there. For example, the one on the top is a lily shaped lampshade that doesn't just shoot the light out of the top and bottom, but rather muffles it to drown it out. With different colored materials this can look really nice and can bring a room together. The way it's designed gives it depth so you can see each pedal. The second picture is the Materialise.MGX, and is a collapsible lampshade. It unfolds and is placed right over the top of the light, giving it almost the same feel as the lily. The neat part is the folding feature, making it much easier to move than those pain in the butt normal ones. It's little features like that that make a good design great.

Uno Bike - December 11, 2009

The bike you see above this is an example of a crazy concept made reality. This is the Uno Bike and it was created by Ben Gulak. His original concept was one that had the idea of a Segway in which you would lean forward to accelerate. He quickly learned that this was too scary once you got to a certain speed and had to revamp the design. What he decided to do was way cooler. He made it so that once the user hits 20mph one of the wheels will slide forward and in front of the other, turning it into a regular motorbike. This way it can handle the speeds that it's expected to go; up to 40mph. As cool as this is it feels like he could have done something better and more useful. He obviously has an extraordinary eye and brain for inventing and designing, but it's wasted here. Regular cyclists can go faster than this thing can and don't require fuel. It will be interesting to see where he goes next and will definitely be a name to remember.

IGN Site Redesign - December 11, 2009

IGN

IGN recently did a complete redesign of their website in order to get rid of some of the clutter, add some new features, and overall just make it look better. At first glance it really does look better, though there's some adjustments to be made if you're used to the old website. The color scheme is pleasing to look at and isn't overpowering. Their most proud feature is the revamped navigation, and I have to say they did a damn fine job cleaning that up. It's much more streamlined and easier to find what you're looking for. Hovering over each tab will pop up a menu with areas for each system. It creates an amount of depth to the website that isn't visible until you try it. They also added a player on the front page that actually plays the videos now instead of linking you to another page. This is a really nice and helpful feature and thankfully it works perfectly, one of the best I've seen on a website. Underneath that are the top stories accompanied by the Daily Fix, their daily video update. This serves its purpose but your eyes can pass over it easy. After that it looks like they sort of threw the rest in. There is a bunch of junk that is really unnecessary for a front page, and clutters it up more than anything. They could stand to clean this up, or trash most of it, and it would pull the site together. This would also eliminate the overboard amount of scrolling it requires. I've always heard in design classes that your user shouldn't have to scroll down to find what they're looking for, which is possible on this website, unless you want the top stories. Overall it's a wonderful redesign and the fact that they didn't overdo the flash makes me happy. Awesome job!

Shadow of the Colossus Level/Enemy Design - December 11, 2009

I'm not going to blog so much about the game itself as I am about how the levels, and basically the game, is designed. For background, you, Wander, live in a kingdom that has been abandoned and your love lies unconscious on a stone. Your best friend and steed, Argo, must ride off to kill the titans and free her from this spell. Your journey between her and each titan consists of no fighting, only riding to the destination. There are 16 in enemies in the game, all Colossi. The are all larger than you, some as massive as buildings, and intimidating as hell. Each colossus looks like an animal, real or fake, except for a couple which resemble buildings more than anything. The amazing part about it is the fact that these bosses become levels in themselves, as they are always moving and you must climb onto them and navigate your way to their weak spot. It was an amazingly new concept, and the design of enemies meant the design of a level. Not only was it one of the most fun games I've played, but it was one of the most beautiful. You would figure that if a designer had to go through that much trouble to integrate the 2 then it might be hard to find time to make it look good as well, but oh my how they pulled it off. It started to push design from other developers to attain the same type of epic feel that this brought with it, but nothing has reached the level of this.

Surfing and Etc. - December 11, 2009

I've always been interested in surfing and watched a couple of documentary/movies in the past few years. One thing I've always wondered about was the designs ON the surfboard and what they mean. There's the obvious designs that are centered around the companies' name and logo, with some spiffy looking designs going up and down the sides. Those are cool and all but for the most part it doesn't really tell you anything about the surfer themselves. I know in many countries surfboards pertain to their ancestry and history of the area. The Hawaiians, for example, use many of the old petroglyphs and language on their boards. Many of them will be as beautiful as a mural, and communicate a deep respect for whatever is illustrated. Most surfers have a respect for the ocean past what most of us can even fathom and treat it as a god in itself. It's truly an amazing thing to listen to one of those people talk about surfing and the ocean; it's like their happiness runs deeper than anything we can imagine. I suppose I got a little off-topic there; it's just a feeling I hope to achieve someday. If I could tie this into design I would relate to the way we design our lives to be. If I design my life in a way so that everything I do will help someone then I'd say that's not a bad design, right?

Left 4 Dead 2 Special Infected - December 11, 2009

The special infected in Left 4 Dead are the zombies who managed to get superpowers and thus are the most dangerous. They look scary, sound scary, and their abilities are intimidating. They each serve their own purpose and when they work together they can destroy your team of 4 survivors in a matter of seconds. Valve took the special infected a step further with the release of Left 4 Dead 2. There were issues with people camping in corners during attacks from the horde, so they added an infected called the Spitter(above) which shoots an acidic green goo on the ground that harms any survivor standing on it. The model also matches the name the special infected. The jockey is a really short quick zombie that jumps on the backs of survivors and rides them around to separate them from the group. They not only designed the special infected with their purpose in mind, they actually matched their abilities and models to them. It makes sense, of course, but it's not always the easiest thing to do. Yet another example of Steam taking a concept and perfecting it.

Welcome Mats - December 11, 2009

Welcome mats are a greeting to let the visitor know that they are welcome in your house. It should make them feel like they are wanted and are a guest that will be served. Or not. The top welcome mat is from a website called curiosite, and looks to be more of a gag gift than anything. It's a welcome mat that weighs the person that steps on. Cruel; yes, but pretty clever. Probably won't make your visitor feel all that great before stepping in the house. Other mats try to insult your guests with words and not devices. Like many other welcome mats the second one was made for laughs and succeeds. They do both do their primary job, though, and that is to allow the visitor to have something to wipe their feet on. Much like the pavement blog I posted, I feel that floor mats have been taken to the next level. There are mats that light up and mats that play sound, especially during Halloween. It would be neat to see a programmable floor mat that initially started blank, but then you could put your own image and sounds in it. It sounds like more of a home project idea, but it could make a nice gift for the nerd in everyone.

Google Chrome Features Ad - December 11, 2009

I am in love with this ad. It's a new ad for Google Chrome representing its features in a series of short videos. In each section of the video it sort of gives you a background of how each one was made, and it's just really neat. The music and graphics give everything a childish feel, but one that makes you feel comfortable and can be taken seriously. Each section fully represents the word that its supposed to describe with my favorite being stability. It took me a few moments to get it but when I did it made me laugh. It showed 3 windows up with dominoes above each one, and the first one playing pong. The pong game has a layer of ice cover it, signifying it froze up, and the dominoes above it fall while the other two windows keep going like nothing happened. The ad is very reminiscent of Apple ads in the music and simplicity in them and are pleasing to both senses. The difference in its approach compared to other developers helps make it stand out and look unique. It also comes across as sincere and not arrogant in any way; like all they want is for us to benefit. I've gained respect for Google over the past year or so and what they're trying to do for not only the internet, but the industry as a whole and this video makes me like them even more.

Electrolux Silent Vacuum - December 11, 2009

Here is a concept from a company called Electrolux for a silent vacuum. Not only is the vacuum silent, there is a spot to dock your ipod and have the vacuum play music through it. The vacuum is one of the older style types with the body connected to a hose and you sweep with the long handle-like thing. They currently have a regular silent cleaner as well as a robotic vacuum cleaner, both for sale. I particularly like the design of this one, though, mostly because of the center around the ipod. It looks very slick and those green LEDs give it a nice futuristic kick. I also like how everything is balanced and symmetrical. The design for the buttons and usage also look very simple. I'm thinking next up is a vacuum cleaner with a video screen on it or, better yet, one that projects an image in front of you to watch.

New Aol. Logo - December 11, 2009

Yes, I spelled the new acronym for AOL correctly in the title. Here is the latest design from the living dead known as American Online, and it looks like they're trying their best to get with the "hip" designs. They decided to switch to lower-case letters with a period on the end, for some idiotic reason, split it into fourths, and throw some completely unrelated images behind them. I understand this new hipster trend that's come around in the past couple years, we have Apple to thank for that, but this just blows me away. They've done such a dramatic turnaround to, not only their logo, but their companies' name that it wouldn't surprise me if older users thought they were two completely different companies. It's like they try to strike some sort of balance and create a good amount of contrast, but in reality those images behind it make it harder to read Aol. Granted, some of their designs don't look quite as bad, but why was this necessary. Maybe they just need to go under already, they're getting desperate.

Onkyo DX Laptop - December 11, 2009

And here comes the future, I guess. This is a brand new laptop from Onkyo(wait, what?) that features two 10.1 inch screens as its big selling point. Each screen runs at a resolution of 1366x768 with a 1.6GHz Athlon processor, 2GB of RAM, ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics, 320GB hard drive, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi n, and Windows 7. It currently costs $960 and must be imported. This laptop can have its obvious practical applications and uses but overall it just doesn't seem like it would be worth it. Not only is it fugly as can be, when folded up it looks like it's almost 6 inches thick so you can imagine how much it weighs. It's definitely a step in the right direction for the future of laptops, but I can't see many people rushing out to buy this one. The design has to start somewhere, though, and this will be a stepping stone towards something great.

The Ballerina Sweetspot - December 11, 2009

Here's a beauty called the Ballerina Sweetspot and it's a chair designed for sound lovers from Klutz Design. It features a thin headrest to accommodate headphones and prevent the reflection of sound, memory foam to cushion the body, hollow armrests to neatly hold controls and an aluminum frame that supposedly reduces sonic vibration. It is currently only available for purchase in Sweden for $8000, but I could definitely see this taking off. If this chair lives up to its hype, and actually enhances your listening like no other chair then I could see this thing sell like crazy. Like the Q-Speakers, it not only promises great sound, it just flat out looks gorgeous. The chair looks comfortable as can be, and that black really gives it a slick professional feel. The only downside I can see is the fact that there's no wheels or option to lean back. They left those out because it would take away from the point of the chair and basically make it just like any other chair. Looks nice and a wonderful purpose, great design.

Street Furniture Designs - December 11, 2009

Gallery

This is a recent design by French artist Alexandre Moronnoz called "Muscle". "Muscle" is the recipient of a L'Observeur du Design 2010 star award and its form suggests effort in the act of sitting or lying down. Something else to note about this piece is the fact that it's very environmentally friendly. It is made completely of steel and thus can be recycle indefinitely. Personally I don't see the point if it isn't more comfortable, it even suggests that it isn't, for the pure fact that a regular park bench could be made out of steel as well and be more comfortable. Sometimes it looks like they just make designs like these purely for shock value or to stand out, and don't really have anything useful to contribute other than a mind in another world. It's a waste of a valuable mind.

Q-Speakers - December 11, 2009

The Q-Speakers are a new speaker system to come out designed with the best sound quality in mind. They are hand-crafted in New Zealand wood and have a reflective audio system designed by The Red Hot Chili Peppers sound engineer Dave Levine. The speakers look great and are crafted from real wood only from sustainable forests and no veneers. They have limited editions on their page crafted from special woods for the low price of $1600, which is worth it if you really care that much I suppose. The speaker uses highly efficient Class D amplification to deliver 60W of sound and include hidden speakers that produce 360 degrees of beautiful music. This is something I really like seeing. Not only do they care about how it looks, they care about it's functionality and what really matters; the sound. Their sound is meant to be top notch, and for that price you wouldn't expect anything less. They've already almost sold out completely, they had 20 listed, and it looks like they don't plan on making more any time soon. Hopefully someone else in this business, besides Bose, sees this and takes this to heart. This is what it should be about.

Plaza del Torico LED Lamp Road - December 11, 2009

This is a picture of The Plaza del Torico in Tereul, Spain. It was recently renovated and 1230 color changing LED lamps were embedded in the pavement. The system can be programmed to change colors and patterns in sequence. While it may look like an eyesore to some, this is a big step in bringing a historical part of Europe into the Modern Age. This is one of the most important plazas in Spain, including a festival in the spring where they parade bulls through the street, with this plaza being the highlight. Now they have a chance to sync the lights up to the rhythm of the music they're playing and make it look more festive than ever. You can see the same thing in some amusement parks, light-up paths. There's also the roads that play music when you drive over them. How long will it be until we get a holographic projection to leap out of the pavement to scare you? Technology is advancing rapidly and becoming a staple in even the oldest locations. It's a good thing we have great designers to put these technologies to use.

Flower Vases - December 11, 2009

Well I was going through Gizmodo when I saw this new skinny flower vase and thought it looked interesting. It's very simple in design, but the kicker is that no matter what it'll stand up; even when it should fall over. Oh, I forgot to mention you need to keep the magnetic base under it though, preferably under the tablecloth. I don't know if they thought ahead, but it probably wouldn't look all that impressive on a glass table with no cloth. The design is still pretty darn slick, but nothing to go crazy about. This made me want to look at some other designs for flower vases, and I came across the one on the left in a google image search. All it is is the outline of a vase, but it's the vase itself. It's not real or anything but it's still a really cool concept. Then of course there's still the good old vase with the wide round base with a rustic design around it, and it works just as great depending on it's surroundings. What would be crazy to see would be a hanging garden deal, but with a vase-like structure. The vases wouldn't have to consist of a long trellis to hold it up, but could be made simple for a normal household by just mounting it in or something. I don't know, I looked around and couldn't find anything so maybe it's not such a great idea after all.

Liquor Bottle Designs - December 11, 2009

Liquor comes in all shapes and sizes nowadays, and they're all relevant to what's inside. Usually liquor in one standard looking bottle with the wide base that skinnies out near the top. They always have a smaller end so you aren't pouring out a gigantic amount at a time. Most are made of glass but plastic is starting to make a big leap lately, especially in the cheaper to mid-range liquor like Early Times or Smirnoff. There are some crazy variations from the normal liquor bottle, though, like the one above. It's called Crystal Skull and it's Dan Akroyd's signature vodka. Yes, Dan Akroyd. Obviously it costs more because of the design and the fact that it's Akroyd's, but it's definitely worth the money. Not only does the bottle look good and impressive, it tastes good. That's usually what you get when you buy something that stands out or looks different from other liquors. Crown is another great example with it's signature purple bag that gives of a sense of royalty. The design causes it to sell like hotcakes, but the liquid also backs it up. That doesn't mean all great designs mean great tastes, but if they care that much about their design then you can be sure they care about what's inside it.

Keyboard Design - December 9, 2009

I figured I may as well include this along with mouse. Like the mice designs, the keyboard can range from standard black keyboard with white letters, or vice versa, to detachable keyboards with lights coming out of every key. Most keyboards are a straight design with the standard QWERTY key setup, with variations coming in the insert and side number area. The next most popular in the ergonomic keyboard which aims to relieve stress on the wrist and hand by setting up the keyboard in a sort of curve that is natural to your positioning. There are others who are taking that a step further like Nicholas Tavas who designed the crazy contraption up above. Like the mouldable mouse, he makes it so that the user can customize their setup to another level. The split down the middle allows for more or less curve depending on how you're used to typing. The split also causes much less bend in the elbows reaching a near perfect setup ergonomically. There are too many variations of the regular keyboard so I won't get too far into it, but this is just one example of someone taking a basic design and going to another level with it. It's things like this that cause the change the industry needs.

Computer Mouse Design - December 9, 2009

Computer mice also come in many shapes in forms now. They range from the regular 2 button scroll wheel mouse to the mouse that you can mold yourself(above). While the regular mice get the job done, they may not be the most comfortable thing in the world to use, and may not be as efficient as you would like. There are mice made specifically for ergonomics, as ugly as they might be, that people really love using. The mouse up above is a Mouldable Mouse from Lite-On Technology and is designed so that the user can design it in any way they want. They understand not everybody works the same way and they give you the option to mold the mouse to your liking and then attach the buttons and scroll wheel afterwards. Some mice also make photo editing easier with side buttons and a magnification button. There are mice that have extra buttons that you can customize yourself to do whatever you want, which can be used to make EVERYTHING you do more efficient. They've gotten to the point where there isn't too much more they can do with the mouse besides cosmetic upgrades or built-in hand cooler. There is also the possibility of adding gyroscopic motion in again, it has been done before, but it would require an amount of adapting and learning by the user. There are many possibilities, but there is always the chance that a new control scheme could come out of nowhere.

Computer Case Design - December 9, 2009

Computer case design can range from a very basic flat black color with a logo, to something as crazy as the one above. It's something not too many people pay attention or know is possible either. They assume that it's either going to stand up or lay sideways, and will ALWAYS be in the shape of a rectangle. Most people also don't see custom designs and artwork people put on their cases either, it's just not something that's toted very loudly. There may be reasons for the different designs past looking cool though. This computer case design is meant to open up the user to see how a computer looks without all the plastic covering it, and it offers an amazing cooling solution because of the fact that the heat doesn't get trapped. That's the beauty of making a custom case or designing the layout of it, you can come across new techniques of cooling or efficiency that isn't seen in the regular stock case. It may cost you a little bit more, but sometimes it's worth it.

Wheelie Bin Urinal - December 9, 2009

Wheelie Bin Urinal

Porter Potties can sometimes be a lifesaver, especially finding one where you probably shouldn't. This takes things to a whole new level. It's called the Wheelie Bin Urinal, and it's basically a portable public urinal. The design is simplistic enough. It's a regular looking wheeled trash can, except it has a whole for a man to urinate in if he feels the need to do so. This amazing invention came from England, and apparently it gets used quite a bit. In the video you can see plenty of people filling up their share of the bin, though many of them are most likely drunk. As disgusting as it sounds, this is a great idea for something like a college campus, or downtown in a city where it can be extremely difficult to find somewhere that will let you relieve yourself. Maybe they could even take it a step further and allow both genders to use it, but we'll probably not see that happen for a while if at all.

Toast Printer! - December 9, 2009

This is a neat little design by Othmar Mühlebach of a printer for toast. He won second prize at the Berner Design Awards for this re-design, and it's understandable to see why. The printer is capable of taking more than one piece of bread in a stack and doesn't need to be reloaded until after a couple of pieces have been "printed". What could he have possibly lost to you ask? Whatever the hell this ugly green thing is. Maybe he should have added the option to toast a bagel and he would have won.

Paper Batteries - December 9, 2009

Paper Batteries

If you haven't seen or read about this yet then you need to do so now. This video comes from Stanford and shows what is basically called a paper battery. In the video the scientists take a regular piece of paper, and put ink made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires on it. The ink adheres to the paper and creates a lightweight flexible highly conductive storage device. While they only powered a small light, the possibilities are endless and could provide the breakthrough that we've been looking for in the energy crisis. This could mean lighter, more powerful, and even cheaper batteries than what we have now. They could be used to power everything from a cell phone to a car, given enough power. What's even more exciting is the fact that this technology is not far away, and could be commercialized sooner than we think.

Times Reader 2.0 - December 9, 2009

If this isn't a look into the future of the newspaper then I don't know what is. The New York Times is offering people a one year subscription to Times Reader 2.0 for $179.95. Mind you, this is for a digital copy of the newspaper and a $100 coupon off a Samsung Go Netbook. I've seen a slow transition to online magazines in the past couple years, but this is the first time I've seen a newspaper offer it; and with a subscription fee. I'm not sure how this can possibly differ from their regular website and the news they put on it other than the features that make it easier to use. It uses Adobe Air to allow the reader to set up the pages in an easy to navigate manner, and even do crossword puzzles. There are others out there, but this is very significant because of the popularity of the newspaper. This is a big company making a huge wave in a shrinking pool, they're joining everyone else in the modern times and it will show. Now we'll just have to sit back and wait for the Wall Street Journal to do the same and everyone will jump on board.

Lumino Project - December 9, 2009

Lumino Project

The Lumino Project is still very new and there isn't much known about it, but this tech demo that was just released has revealed some amazing concepts surrounding Microsoft Surface. There were two parts to this tech demo video. The first part was a lego building type of application in which the Surface actually recognized the object that was placed on it in the third dimension. It even recognized objects placed on top of that object based on certain design techniques for the blocks. It showed him creating a bridge between two, and then it showing up on the Surface screen. He also showed this same concept in a game of checkers, with the game prompting the user to king itself, and then recognizing it. The screen would even show the user hints once their hand was placed on the piece. The second section showed of the possibilities with photo manipulation. They had two pieces stacked on each other, with one changing the saturation, and the other changing the color. It's an amazing tech demo and just the beginning of what could be one of the most useful inventions to come out of Microsoft in a while.

Iron Samurai LED Watch - December 9, 2009

Another crazy watch design to add to the list, this one is just a straight up steel watch with red LEDs embedded in between the links. Sure it doesn't have any other features than lighting up and being able to change the time and date, but look at how cool that is! What's even better is the price compared to the rest on the market. Somehow this watch is only selling for $15, compared to a couple hundred dollar watches of the same type. That alone almost makes it worth getting. What I love the most is the simplicity of the design, and how awesome that red lighting up is. Maybe they could have improved upon it by changing the color of the steel to up the contrast between it and the lights, or having the option of different color LEDs. If they did that they couldn't add in this sweet description of it. Check it out, and try not to laugh too hard.

Introducing The Iron Samurai, a lava red Japanese inspired LED watch from an alternative future which gives its wearer cool omnipotence by rewriting the rules of how temporal data (time) should be displayed.

You mean this watch really tells the time? Yes. Even though The Iron Samurai embodies Tokugawan style and Shogunate design with its blood red numerals encased in stark samurai sword steel like the final battle between all the forces of good and evil in the multiverse, this Japanese LED watch does in fact tell the time and does so really efficiently too!

Tap the top button on the right side of the timepiece and watch the screen light up like surfacing lava. Tap the bottom button to make the numbers blink and hence adjust them. In Time mode, the top row represents hour information, while the bottom row represents minutes information. In date mode, top and bottom represent month and day.

In fact, when you start wearing this watch you may find yourself spending all your time challenging strangers to duels. You will probably live by the Bushido code of Rectitude, Courage, Benevolence, Respect, Honesty, Honour, and Loyalty. You'll start reading kanji and reciting Haiku by Basho such as "even a horse / arrests my eyes—on this / snowy morrow." Yes, The Iron Samurai has been known to increase its wearers' strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma by as much as 20 points each! Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal are said to be Iron Samurai owners, as is David Bowie and Brian Eno. In reality, this watch is perfect for Presidential dinner crashers, Facebook celebs with over 1000 fans, Youtube directors with over 2,000,000 views, anyone who can play the entirety of Neil Zaza's I'm Alright on electric guitar, iPhone 3Gs owners, or anybody who is a somebody.

Just google "Japanese LED Watch" to see how much these timepieces sell for online. Notice how they normally retail for close to 10x the price we're selling them for. Even if you don't intend on buying one for yourself, stock your online store with these headturning watches to lock in some amazing profits! Brought to you by the leader in direct from China wholesale electronics - Chinavasion.

Ridiculously awesome.

Guild Wars 2 Concept Art - December 9, 2009

This new art for an upcoming sequel to Guild Wars was released quite a while ago, but I completely forgot about it until I ran into it again today. The original game had beautiful works of concept art, as well as the final products, and many of the artists even won awards for their talent. The art director, Daniel Dociu, was named a Gold Award winner in the fourteenth annual Spectrum competition. That shows the immense amount of talent they have upfront, not to mention what they've had lurking behind the scenes for years. Kekai Kotaki has worked his way up from Texture Artist all the way to Lead Concepts Designer, and his work in that second picture shows why. It seems as though with many of their pieces they're going for an epic feel. Everything seems so grand in scope, and the enemies more threatening than they've ever been. Things also seem to be more dire than ever as well, with most of the pieces showing some sort of destruction or chaos taking place. Really they're just beautiful, all of them, I don't really know how to describe them because I've never really cared much for art but these literally made me go out and buy their concept art book just to read WHY they were made that way. It's the first time I've looked at a piece of art and thought more than "Oh, that's really cool looking", it made me want to learn more about it, which means quite a bit to me. Hopefully it all transitions into a 3d environment wonderfully!

Seven Trees Website - December 7, 2009

Website

This is a website for a clothing company in Vancouver. All the artwork is done by an artist named Dave Oram who strives on doing this out of pure passion. The clothes represent the culture in the city as well as their history. The wet-coast rains and city scenes are meant to express a real-life inspiration. The textures and his art on the page really make that idea of "wet" and "history" stand out. They all look really rugged and worn, and bring across a feeling of something very old but beautiful. I also like the stacking look the website has for all the components. It looks like you're sitting at his desk reading through and looking at his work. The text also matches the subtle "underground" tone he's trying to convey. There are some changes that could definitely be made to better the site, though. The news page should be revamped and have all the sections separated, it's too much of a pain to scroll through all that garbage when a link could easily represent it on the main news page. Other than that it's a great website. A good example of artwork making the website.

A Clockwork Orange - December 2, 2009

A Clockwork Orange is a movie made by Stanley Kubrick in 1971 and based on the book written in 1962 by Anthony Burgess. It is about a near future dystopian Britain in which law and order no longer exists and the government is on its heels. The main character is named Alex DeLarge and he is the leader of a gang. Dim is the dumb muscle, Georgie the mutineer, and Pete the quiet one are his little "droobies". They go around basically doing whatever they want which includes beating up people, robbing them, and even raping if they feel like it. Alex is excited by this "ultra-violence" and lives for it. Eventually he murders someone, is "reformed" by the government, and goes back to where he started without serving his full sentence with a great job and the government on his side. The way this world of anarchy and chaos is portrayed is perfect. There is nudity literally everywhere, in all forms of art, trash is strewn about, nothing looks fancy or even close, and group seems to trust another. Their clothes look like they're wearing whatever they can throw together, but still very colorful, it's hard to explain, but it does so perfectly. And then there's the subtle undertone of a very dark humor in the movie and couldn't have been presented better. It doesn't try to be epic or to blow the audience away, it is what it is and isn't afraid of it. It's something missing from most movies today, but so easy and simple a concept.

The Company of Myself - December 2, 2009

The Company of Myself

This is a game I discovered last night as I was working on my Flash game. It's a very simple puzzle, simple as in controls and idea, but at times has some pretty challenging areas. The game is very simplistic in design, but also beautiful. Great animations, great filters, effects, and perfect music that sets the mood. The story is about a man who is basically all alone and has been a hermit ever since he lost his loved one, Kathryn. There are 20 levels in the game and the idea is to use your past actions, by hitting spacebar, to interact with your present self to solve puzzles. It's reminiscent of Braid, but not as complex. The levels are designed along with the story and hard times in the story mean hard puzzles. While it only took me 20 minutes or so to finish it was absolutely THE most moving flash game I've ever played. You really feel for the character, and want to know what happens next. Then the ending wall of text comes up and the words hit you like a truck when the story is explained from someone else's point of view. It's games like this that epitomize how a story should be used in a game. It should be integrated into it, and not just told in between levels. I'll leave out the ending just in case anyone decides to try it, it's well worth it.

Fossil Palindrome Too - December 2, 2009

Well apparently this is a watch by Fossil and created by Starck. The design is very simplistic, to say the least, and tries to give a sleek look with its stainless steel casing and polyurethane strap. It costs $150 and comes with an 11 year warranty. Honestly I don't understand why these people like it so much, but then again I was never into the whole design over functionality idea. A watch is used to check time, that's it's primary purpose, and this watch doesn't make it easy. There may be other features added on to it, but when those features hinder its primary function then maybe it's time to go back and look at the design. If you want to make a fashion statement or represent yourself then you may as well just call it a bracelet.

Gyrofocus Fireplace - December 2, 2009

Isn't it beautiful? Well apparently there's plenty of designers out there who think it is. It's officially the world's most beautiful object according to the Pulchra design competition. With good reason too. The design is classy, simple, elegant, and any other adjective you want to throw on there, it's just that good. It's based off the 1968 design by Dominique Imbert, and stays true to the original. Not only does it look good, it's got one great feature that any fireplace enthusiast would want; it rotates 360 degrees! Now there's no reason why you can't move your couch to the other side of the room without losing the warmth of your hearth. There are arguments that can be made, though. The fact that it has to hang from the ceiling, probably in the middle of a room, can make it a pain to use the room for anything but the fireplace. That means you'll have a hard time getting more than a couple couches in the room comfortably, and probably no TV unless the fireplace is off to the side.

Zipper Lamps - December 2, 2009

Today I stumbled across yet another wacky design for a normal household item; the lamp. It is called "Cache-Cache" lamp which means "hidden" in French. It was designed by Victor Boeda of Paris, who apparently is a quite amazing designer. The light stays within a concealed flexible material which can be open or closed to create the amount of illumination the user desires. The system is very similar to that of a zipper. It's not only great as a desk lamp, but for decoration as well. The design is very minimalist and just seems very sleek and elegant. As for it's usefulness in an everyday household; it probably won't be a hit. This designer doesn't look like his products will come at a decent price. The idea may get across, though, to some of the bigger named manufacturers and produce a college student version.