Creating value out of thin air

Not that I have anything against washing my hands with normal soaps, but this foam stuff provided by Lindström makes me choose my coffee places according to it's availability!

The foam form also decreases it's consumption and impact to the nature.
Unfortunately the positive green effect is on later builds destroyed by removing the mechanical lever and making the container battery powered.

Trend of adding more and more electronics and batteries to simple gadgets is really unfortunate and saddening. The more sustainable way would be to make robust enough constructions and provide good aftersales support.

Perfect combination - Tsokka

Sometimes nature and technology create a perfection.
Tsokka, Pyhä.

I have to say that Tsokka is a refreshing exception on the Lappish service scene. (Not the typical ripping your money on your holiday) Really good food, great selection of drinks and dedicated staff.

Hating wet weather - no wonder!

Found one possible reason for me hating these current wet weathers.
My dear old boots seem to be in the end of their journey. These boots have walked on Copacabana, hiked on the Scotland highland, been carried on a tray by security woman in Tokyo airport and in almost every other place I've been in last 7 years -year around.
Since I'm from Laihia, I should understand that these are still in perfectly good shape othervice than the soles, and repair these or at least start using these only on dry weather. Or propose these to the Museum of stingyness in Laihia, where there's bunch of interesting items that has been used to the very end. But these are bit too normal for the museum, so I'll drop them to the bin with good consciousness. But for certain, my next boots will also be made by Jalas!

Todays work challenge

Adapting to high altitudes, before weekends downhill.

Ceramics

Since our design school was a bit stingy to arrange courses in ceramics, I've tried to fill the gap on my own time.
This piece is roller bearing inspirated bowl for Fazer's Green balls (my christmas time favorite).
It's all about learning the basics, but I just love the fact that my sketch book is filling with ideas far quicker than I'm able to try anything in real life :)

Directional indicators doing their job too well

Is there a standard which is defining that turn signal lights have to be so bright that they will blind you every time you wait at traffic lights?
It's like car industry version of tv add, which will blow your mind after tight concentration of a movie like "NOLLA SATA SATA, MITEN VOIN AUTTAA"!!! Luckily they tuned it down to the level of normal adds. And why is it necessary to have higher volume on adds than on actual tv content - really?

Legos - after long time

The christmas came early this year. I ended up to toy shelves and bought a box of technic Legos.

It seems that the prices have gone down, which is nice :) Competitive pricing is necessity for Lego, after they have lost the competitive edge what they used to have 15 years ago. Now after some years and seeing some rationalizing actions in companies it is interesting to see how profitability crisis in Lego has affected to the product itself.
-First disappointment was the package. No change of peeking in and looking all the interesting new parts. This one was glued closed. To open the box, I had to brake the front. Although this probably saves several cents, I personally would have considered different direction. One of the problems with legos is that you might want to keep them safe and possibly in boxes. In this respect the old boxes were more trustworthy.
Update 1) Actually markings on the package led me tear away the Hinge of the package. The tape which was closing the package on the front wa not marked clearly. And attached illustration about the rip seal was lightly dubious.
-Another eye catching thing was that instead of separating different sized part into pits on a box, the package included several plastic bags, including various parts, possibly coming from different plants or lines, but including parts not considered to belong with each other.
-But the best part is that there's a huge amount of new parts which I wanted to create already when I was ten (still dreaming to be a lego designer some day;)

This also creates a sociological test. -For kids, building legos is considered to be way more constructive than playing video games. When a grown man leaves battle on the tv-screen and starts to play with legos as recreation it will be interesting to see how people around value the change.
Update 2) Legos are not considered important for grown person, thus building those is considered as escapism in a relationhip ;)

Guitar Hero goes cycling

There are times that even a open minded guy like me feels himself like old fart. There is a possibility that you've felt it already when you saw somebody playing Guitar Hero.You know the game, where a player is trying to press right buttons in right order based on music. -Despite of the fact that it's super popular it somehow reminds me of of late Spede Pasanen.
After seeing this video we can share the feeling of being old farts. Oh my what new-school keeps bringing to us; Bike Hero!

Improved Google Reader for mobiles

I'm actually not sure did Google update the whole mobile reader or is the browser on my Nokia 5800 able to use the site better than N95-8GB.
Anyway it looks like the whole format has been made for iPhone, since the layout and button graphics are identical.
Anyway, the best thing is that now mobile reader comes with full features, not only with long list of random feeds. =)

Minimalism in presentation

I have to admit that I love the minimalistic presentation of finnish people. The tendency is to keep it in mere minimum and the actual issue. When mediterrainean (or swedish) culture collides with ours, it's usually getting annoying to have conversations about the topic, just to spend some time around bending some facts.

Timer for engine heating

Time to plug your Toyota into winter-AC.
My first encounter with my current heating timer was filled with amaze. Is this the most perfect example of design and mechanics not working together or is this the example of what happens when R&D hasn't used any UX-input.

Is it really so that nobody figured that I most probably want to toggle the power for NEXT few hours, and not for the past.
Secondary scenario would be that I come from work at afternoon, and want to set the heating on for the next morning. This would mean that the mysterious opening should be a bit wider, to reach times at the range of 15 hours. Now the hours available for settingare between 18-24 hours.

Pohjanmaa - or how do you call it?

I was reading a Blue1 Dream magazine where there was the attached story about a costume from my neighbourhood, Pohjanmaa.
The problem is how to translate it to english.. Direct translation would be bottom-land. Many people call the area like in the article, as east botnia, or even use the swedish word österbotten (as it was any easier to get), both meaning "east bottom". This refers to the time when Finland was part Sweden, and Pohjanmaa was the old sea bottom on eastern side of the bay. This is a similar type of geocraphical relict as East Indian Islands in Caribian.
I often use the phrase west coast, which might be more easy to comprehend without the knowledge about the finnish history.

Facebook jamming emails with nonsense

I'm a regular user of Facebook and rather untrendly consider it as a good service. I have been complaining earlier about the security issues in article Contradictions and safety in Facebook. Fortunately they made some changes and provided more options as article Facebook makes improvements for privacy describes, but unfortunately there is too many options now. There is basicly three levels of friends in Facebook users, friends who you keep contact to also other vice, friends that you want to maintain but are not so close to you and then the ones that you wish to add, because you know them, but don't want to open your life to. -Why not make ready made options based on these three groups?

Another thing which is bugging me (and probably millions of others), is that I need to have a dedicated email account to direct the amazing amount of spam which coming from Facebook when my friend comments on my picture or changes his status.
-Why can't I turn of this function if I already visit the service twice a day and have the update RSS feed coming to my intranet page?!
-I would imagine that that kind of mass posting is already doing something for global use of data transfer statistics ;D

CORRECTION: There actually is an option to turn off the email notifications. Actually 2 pages of option where to choose the occasions you wish to be notified. (See PIC) -How PC can you go?

It's smelling like winter

Nice sun shiny autumn is turning into winter. First morning frost was visible this morning.

Portable navigation

I follow a blog called Strange maps after being somewhat map-addict. Today I found a article originally from Ananova; World's first sat nav - from 1920.

A great item! =) -I let the picture do the speaking.
The Plus Fours Routefinder is currently shown at British Library in London, along many other similar products, which just quite didn't rock the markets the way their inventors wanted..

Chocolate -out of the- box experience

High quality chocolates are often packed into a cardboard boxes. The orientation of the chocolate bar might be a relevant factor in paper packaging, but box offers a possibility to improve the user experience.
These boxes are often opened from the bottom. And after the opening, the bar lays on the premium looking folio -upside down.
Manufacturer could turn the bar around, thus facing up for customers delight and to show the high quality surface of the chocolade instead of the bottom..

A brief moment at the printer

Checking the paper on tray 2 can end up spending slightly longer time at the printer -waiting it to restart.

Then again, using the power switch occasionally seems to make these technology wonders work better..

Houses and apartments still selling well?

The message the real estate dealers want to give these days is that properties are still selling well. How ever this flyer is celebrating one sold property on the neighbourhood a bit too loudly not to be really desperate..

I have always considered that every organization should have a person totally without a responsibility of what so ever. -This person could spend ones time looking for details that are left uncared and make the corrections. Unfortunately I've come to the conclusion, that this kind of activity would be useless to the companies because they already know most of the problems. So finding the uncared details is not the problem, but having the resources or willingness to correct all the problems is.
Picture: bathroom detail from Hilton Metropolitan, London.

Unbelievable unboxing experience

Unboxing experience seems to be a mind blowing part of user experience to some. I know it is important, but this goes slightly beyond.. XD
This clip is that far from having phone content and that close of having good entertainment about some random commercial, that I will post this anyway.

Temporary traffic guidance

There's a little interest -if all- to arrange traffic guidance properly during road maintenance operations. Usually you end up slowing your speed down to 30 kmph for some kilometers to ensure safe working conditions to the workers who are at home spending their sunday although the signs have been left to bug the law obeying public. This is also creating the inflation for the traffic signs, which I have written also before.

These pictures however present the guidance for alternative routing for bicycles on a construction site in Oulu. The first picture shows the starting point guidance and the second shows the guidance back to the original route. The first sign creates an assumption that following signs will also be visible and trustworthy. In the next available situation this customer trust is trashed.
-Remember to take a map with you..

Stop water boarding

There is still no right for US government to keep prisoners in Quntanamo without prisoner of war status or without accusing them of civil crimes.
Still although US is acting agains all international agreements, they should at least retain from torture.
Waterboading is a official CIA technique. Read more from waterboarding.org, or see the video from Vanity fair.

Earlier post: Guantanamo and Low carbon economy

VR bicycle transport -getting even worse

I'm on holidays. One of the best ways to travel around is to use train and have a bike with you. The weakest point of this plan is public transport and VR. (Earlier post here)
At the moment I'm waiting for the train to leave from Turku to Helsinki. I placed my bike to the holder, which is clearly not designed for the comfort of the bike handles. And the situation is not going to get better when two other bikes are put by mine.
This time the situation differed in that sense that conductor was standing right next to me, also during the phase when I inserted my 50 cent to lock the bike, didn't succeed and didn't get my coin back. He just commented that bikes do not need to be locked because they need reservations..
This bike rack is an perfect example of design for public use, where too little time and consideration is used. By doing bad design into investment products like trains, the design stays there bugging users (public and staff) for tens of years! -The problem is partly related to sourcing of design and tight budget policies. There should be good understanding on both sides to create side budgets and schedules if certain problems require special attention.

I have been commenting about VR also earlier:
VR - green image of rail transportation vs. bikes
VR and how to wash your face vs. floor
VR ja uusi uljas juna-aika


This is an example how to fit my bike and the one of an crampy old drunken finnish outdoor-enthusiast and the one of german middle aged bike tourist.
-At some point I decided to leave two others and the commanding officer to do the dirty work and check the damages later..

Finnish summer (27.6.08)

User name for frequent flyer profile

Since 2000 I have been a member of both Star Alliance and One World frequent flyer programs. And every summer I face the same problem when I'm about to book a holiday flight. -There's no way i can remember my user name thus not being sure if i remember my password right. Airliners have a fairly strict rules about how user names or passwords should be structured. And calling for help is usually a long way.

The same year as this contradictive union with airliners started, I was highy amazed that there was a person in my company who refused to use Windows machines because of the unreasonable need to change password every 40 days. -Because everybody writes it down underneath the keyboard on a Post-It (although he encrypted it for three times before writing it down, it was too risky for him). Later he changed the company, but his strong opinion has been in my mind since.

I have written about this earlier too, but this time I wanted to point out also that services should also consider using reasonable security measures to enable people to use good passwords and systems attached. Next time I'll log myself into this page, I will probably use password like 'password'.

100-naista ja luova punaviini

Eräs parhaista blogeista jota olen aikoihin lukenut on 100-naista. Blogissa Teppo M. kertoo vedonlyöntinsä täyttämisestä -100 naista vuodessa- kirjoittaen samalla harvinaisen oivaltavia asioita ihmissuhteista ja elämästä. Yksi näistä oivalluksista liittyy myös muotoilijan/taiteilijan elämään:
"Luovan työn vauhdittamiseksi nautittu punaviini ei missään tapauksessa saa olla korkeintaan keskinkertaista. Liian harmoniset aistinautinnot pyöristävät ja pehmentävät ilmaisua liiaksi. On oltava kärki ja on oltava kontrasti."

-Jos et muuten, niin katso edes miten 'deadline' taipuu monikon genetiiviin..

Textile body on a car? BMW Gina

Check this interesting video about BMW concept car where qualities of textile has been used to create interesting features!

Google maps got even better

Google maps has long been my favorite maps application because the road map is just not enough in all situations.
Maps got just waaay better. It features pictures uploaded by users on different locations to Panoramio. It also features Wikipedia links on their right places.


Näytä suurempi kartta

Animation painted on walls by Blu

If this day would not have already been good, this would have saved it.
A great animation called MUTO, which story goes around a block, as it is completely painted on the walls (and bit on the pavement too;). The piece is done by Blu. And the website is also really much worth to see!


Via blog deco design

Proper error-message

Very often error notifications are useless and provide a little choices for the user. This notification from Google gives user some real choices while informing honestly that things can go wrong.
-Big thumbs up for Google!

Ajasto - adjusting to mobile era

Today me and my colleague had a talk about why the flags are still up. -Yesterday evening when the mothers-day flag was still up at 9 o'clock, I thought that maintenance has forgotten the flag. Now I know that they were only lazy (lazyness is at least second step to progress), because the flags are up everywhere -so there really is some special day.
Then I got one of my brighter moments, when I realized that surely Ajasto (which has held the monopoly for Finnish calendars for centuries) have the required information about today on their site! -I got disappointed. The ONLY information about today, was the names for today. -Yes. Not even the Date.. XD

Another interesting news was that Ajasto has decided to put of 99 persons to be able to adapt to the new challenges. -I can easily understand the dramatic change the branch is experiencing. But what I cannot understand is that why I still cannot buy a add-on package of holidays and additional information to my mobile calendar from Ajasto site?!

4,5 reasons Not to fly

Traveling without moving:
Somehow waiting for the taxi, waiting in the lounge, waiting in the line, waiting for the take off and again waiting for the taxi is quite nerve breaking method of moving.

Stress about connections:
In Helsinki, you have to be worried if your taxi is really coming, flying from rest of the Finland you only have to worry about if you are able to make to the connecting flight in time inspite the different delays the flight is experiencing.
BTW: If you are flying from Oulu to Manchester by Finnair, take extra handbaggage. Your luggage will never make it in time.

Security checks:
Uncomprehensive regulations about equipment which should be separated for the x-raying, the lack of person inspection. -They rather see you dropping your pants than check your belt. Further the lack of responsibility over customers belongings. I've even received my wallet from another passanger after he realized that it was not his. -And the fact that a single bottle of liquid should be packed into a plastic bag, "just because of the regulations".

Service culture:
A year ago I flew to Osaka. I expected a culture shock. -Instead having it in Japan I experienced it in Finland. In Osaka airport security and other personel were doing the work for the customer. In Finland the customer is an annoyance for the stuff. You can be sure in case you need help, you don't get any.

Focus on the detail

If iPhone hasn't shown us anything else, but the fact that paying attention to detail is all worth it. My colleague bought a new shiny heart rate monitor, in an instant we knew there's something wrong. -Why on earth Suunto didn't but some effort to make the display centralized?! -The size might be the answer from the engineers, but that's not enough for the customer.

Banking is another businness where details matter. Without commenting more about Sampo-bank's major disaster with security problems in their net-banking, more- personal crisis can be arranged by for example Nordea bank in Rovaniemi. Details were taken care, when I sold my half of an apartment. The payment was not placed on to my account dispite personal attendance. The next day the situation was noticed and the correction was that the sum was directed to my account and the account was simultaneously configured to be visible to the buyer. -Truly unbelievable..

Can a minister have a sexual relationship?

A friend of mine wrote in Httpp//: all about what I wanted to say about Ilkka Kanerva's resignition. It would be time to understand that politicians are just people. They do send messages and meet their future girlfriends in the mall (Vanhanen).
This should be quite alright, as far as both parties agree. If Kanerva would have been harrassing Tukiainen, then I could understand that there was a reason for Katainen to ask Kanerva's resignition. But no, you can do your job -no matter how- poorly and still get away with that, but if you are a minister and want to have a sexual relationship, that's something what finnish people -or is it actually finnish media- cannot handle.

I have been preaching about 'third thruth'. In this case there is the thruth what Kanerva and Tukiainen know, secondly there is the truth of the public (that I don't care) and then there is the third truth, which is created by the media and the conversations. The third thruth claims that Kanerva has done something deeply wrong, and it starts to affect on our mind. -"Am I taking this too lightly, should I be more angry about what he did..?"
Next level is that media starts to burn us, non-believers on stake -just like the church did, based on the manipulation of the third truth.

Oulu suburbs in english

Local newspaper in Oulu has "translated" names for the Oulu city suburbs into english. Not much for a english speaker, but for a local these are great. Here's some samples, the actual listning can be found on Kaleva web site:
"Alppila = Alpineshire
Etu-Lyötty = Frontbeatup
Heikinharju = Heikki´s Ridge
Heinäpää = Jointhead/Hayhead
Hiironen = Mousie
Hintta = Pooh, Homa
Hönttämäki = Stupidhill
Höyhtyä = Oh-hoh United
Intiö = Armysh"
-Last one being my favorite becouse I served there for a year ;D

Reppo by Joonas Saaranen

I must join the choire of several blogs around the world and boost a bit more about Reppo.
Joonas Saaranen from University of Lapland has gained a massive attention (check Google) by his ghettoblaster backpack Reppo. -Great work mate! :)

Facebook makes improvements for privacy

I have been complaining (as far as FB itself) how difficult it is to add Facebook friends to 'show only my restricted account' -list.
Finally it is possible to just click the friends from the list instead of writing their names. For me it's convenient. It's just how you want to use your account. For me it's still bit under consideration wheather to make it more open or more closed circle..

Messenger Live has experinced this week a major setbacks on security point of view. There's at least one attacts going on. First being a page which promises to reveal who has blocked you on messenger. -just give your email and password.. ;D -Then it starts to send the web address to your friends. Other one possible connected to the first one is sending you a message from your friend, saying somethin like "Is this really photo of you?! :S -and a webaddress", which asks you to download a tiny program..

"so much to learn from getting under other peoples skin"

Lately I have been vigorously writing my masters thesis. Today I read two nice texts which I want to quote:

"On a gloomy day, when nothing seemed to be going right, I once said to wearily to a colleague that I didn't want to go on doing observations for the rest of my working life. Actually that is not true. There is so much to learn from getting under other people's skin, being in their environments, and so much that can be drawn from it to improve the products and services people (including us) have to deal with.
There is genuine satisfaction in moving from what people need to ensuring it is realized; in negotiating within project teams, using persuasion, charm and (occasionally) bloody mindedness, to get the best results for the end users. There is even greateer satisfaction in seeing ordinary members of the public using things - from post boxes to personal organizers - where you know you have introduced a user perspective there might otherwise never been.

(Black Alison, 2003. Why I Work in User Experience Consulting. In Emphatic Design, user experience in product design (Koskinen et.al.). IT Press.)”

””Compassion” may, at first blush, appear o be a strange concept to stumble across in a work devoted to the nuts-and-bolts practice of usability engineering. But to my mind this is the idea at the heart of the discipline: being able to imagine, and share the frustrations of, the human users of the artifacts we design, in the hope that these frustrations can be reduced or eliminated.

(Greenfield Adam, 2003. Foreword. In The Psychology of Usability (Sinkkonen et.al.). IT Press)”

Demonstration against internet sensorship

Yesterday 500 people was demonstrating at the parliament house against governments secret internet sensorship list for child pornography. People feel that it is not the solution to mask these pages from the users, but to act in a sense which would really try to prohibit the crimes and not just make a good conscience for ministry of communications, Suvi Linden.

The threath of restricting freedom of speech and information exhance is real and evolving. In september EU commissioner Franco Frattini wanted to have a law, which would disable internet searches for words "bomb", "kill" and "genocide (kansanmurha)"
(Tuomas Kangasniemi, Tekniikka ja Talous, 12.02.2008)

I'm quite surprised that finnish people dared to act on this manner in this contradictive issue. I have sensed a kind of over sensitivity in finnish culture. Any topic which might offend some group is just neglected, despite there would be a problem to solve.

Suvi Linden was already before a minister, but was forced to resign because goverment funding given to her golf-club. This new law can be seen as an effort to please at least some people on her new position. An address promoting Suvi Linden's re-resignition can be found here.

My personal poster favorites were:
Bush: "Terrorism" - Linden: "Child pornography"
Pääasia unohdettu (Main point forgotten)
(Photo: Viima)

Existentialism

People who tend to think about existential issues usually choose religion, filosophy or something similar. Design isn't actually that far from being a existential discipline.
When going deeper into the user experience, the psychological reasons why people buy products and services and further, the values by which we determine what we want to express to other, the nature of the thinking process starts to be kind of existential.
-If considering teology but not quite sure - try design ;)

Service design - phase two. Case Facebook

Earlier this week a radio-person on YleX was complaining about Facebook getting quiet. As she mentioned, the thrill of getting new friends diminishes after you got all your geek-friends invited.
-And like me, working and doing graduation thesis - the time window to create new contacts is quite small.

Then what? What's the catch and thrill at this point after the first service promise is experienced? -I hope there is, because not all have facebook as a shortcut on their mobile. And the users who see some trouble to see those notifications want the thrill, or turn into passive faces.

Noodle House & Bar1

Already two months ago I was glad that next to my local bar there's a Noodle House.
Despite it sounded tempting I haven't seen a single customer inside. -That usually says something. Still I engouraged myself and tried the place. The noodles were great! And actually 3 other customer seemed to be thinking like me because they popped in while I was waiting my portion.

My local bar, Bar1 does it differently. It's a new bar, but it seems that they make sure there's a regular growd sitting around to make it comfy. -Place worth to visit. Both on Kauppurienkatu in Oulu.

Time pauses

In othervice hectic office pace there's a place where time twists. It's IT helpdesk. There everybody stays calm, nobody panics. Even customers behave, surrounded by the aura of silence.
The thing is, when there's two of you restarting Windows, it's been turned into ritual rather than annoyance.
-Get back to your seat and the rage comes again..

Smell of plastic

Younger, I thought that plastics don't have smell. Nowadays after some plastic workshops and plastic manufacturer visits I do know that they smell.. -Melting and burning plastic is one of the most alerting smells nowadays. Especially alerting that is when you smell it at home and around your laptop.

This time it was even more annoying since it was the 3in1 usb(/AC/12v) charger from Hama, which started to melt. -Not only because it was my only usb charger for my phone, but the fact that I've been promoting this to So many friends.. -So please fellows, don't leave that unattended when you use it, ok?

Picture #1: Property of Hama

Feeling Lappish

Services doesn't always have to appear perfect, as long as they deliver their offerings in honest manner.
Example of little things one starts to take for granted is Teboil in Peura. This morning on a way from Rovaniemi to Oulu I felt pride to be that much of a local to know the perfect place for a pancake and coffee :)

Posti / Itella being stingy with phone costs

I ordered a new TV from Verkkokauppa for two weeks ago. The reason for this was that they had stock. And I was silly to think that Posti (Itella) home delivery would be quick and painless.
First problems came up when an email from sales manager comes with a brief comment that they cannot process the order because my information on Population information system was not consistent with the information I had on Verkkokauppas service. (how could it be, I had just moved and changed it) Then after a brief exchance of mails, they decided to deliver it. -After few days I received a phone call from Posti. -The package was in Rovaniemi, which wasn't at all what was agreed with Verkkokauppa. Ok Posti shipped the package to Oulu.

Yesterday I waited for the delivery guy two hours and no telly, no phone call. I was sure that the delivery had been for a wrong door, because the building is quite tricky and contacted Posti to mention that they should call if they can't find my apartment and agreed on new delivery schedule.
Today I waited again the agreed time window and after that contacted Posti. The delivery had been right here behind my window, but the buzzer seems to be broken.. -Still there was no phone call to make delivery..

This isn't the first time I ended up having trouble with the Posti home deliveries. This time I new to ask their policy about phone calls. -The policy is, that every delivery includes only one phone call. The first and only phone call is when the delivery schedule is agreed with the customer.
-I really think that Posti should invest one more phone call if customer is not reached. I could start counting how much one phone call would have saved compared the cost of trying to make the same delivery tomorrow for a third time...

Cars with a water theme

My friend keeps telling me stories about their first car, which happens to be one with a water theme. When I spotted this, I was sure their theme couldn't top this version.
This is a YTV bus with a leakage in the window gasket, which causes the water to gather between the glasses. Every now and then you can see this happening, but this time I was able to make a video. Too bad that my tiny battery ran out of power before we arrived to the streets with a cobble paving - that was a blast to watch.. XD



At the time we were coming with a bus 24 from Meilahti art museum. There's an exhibition of HC Berg. Really worth visiting!

Design journalism

Last autumn I participated for a design seminar in Oulu. One of the speakers was design journalist Anna-Kaari Hakkarainen who talked about absence of real design journalism.
Design articles are still pretty much heroic stories about designers and not so much about design nor products. Though design has transformed to more close to earth topic, writing around hasn't.
Especially Hakkarainen was missing writing designers. After all, there's wast amount of ideas and thinking behind a single piece of design.
Her word's have been bugging me since. After all, I'm a designer, I think, I write, and still seldomly write anythink meaningfull about design. -Could general reasons for designers to stay quiet be such that it seems useless to write about things that already have been spoken. Maybe not for the public, but inside the profession. And the other reason might be the change of design to be more scientific. Research on the area is getting deeper and deeper, and to provide something interesting for peers, one should be in the frontline of change.
This brings up the guestion, do designers define themselfs through other designers or through the users and the customers?
One good try to analyze design is the blog of Ville Ylläsjärvi, http://villedesign.blogspot.com .

Sunrise at Helsinki city centre

Posted from a mobile, through Flickr.
-If using a reader, check links from the original post.

They probably put me into wrong floor, because the view was like this and all the other doors had Financial Times waiting to be read XD

4 hours later trying to rip my SAS mile card in two pieces

Luckily flying is still usually the faster mean of transport, but now 4 hours after leaving home I'm about to arrive to Helsinki. And I'm really considering to increase my train usage.

Although new work is a great thing it has some negative side effects on blogging. I'm sorry folks, I try to cure my habits ;)

Amazing picture collections from Crooked Brains

Today added one post from Crooked Brains to my Just read about-list.
Then I added second one.. ..and I knew I was in trouble. For so long I have fight against this urge!

-The problem is that the picture collections are absolutely Great and not only they fill my Reader, but a single post would fill entire page of my Just read about..
So please do check it. So far I haven't figured out any use for these, but surely they open eyes for all kind of abnormalities ;D Here's some sample pics.










Meat art collection: Simone Racheli


Star wars origami collection: Phillip West

Animal love collection: Animateca

And finally a pair of advertisement collections: