Creative Quotes

Here are some of my favorite quotes.  Be inspired.

Thomas Edison once said, “Hell, there are no rules here; we’re trying to accomplish something.”  He also said, “To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”  I don’t know which I like more, but those words contain a distinctive spirit of success.

Lace Lounge #3

I finished the ottoman last night. It looks pretty good and seems to function very nicely.  The problem with testing it is that it is 14" tall at the highest point which is designed to blend perfectly with the chair which is 14" at the height of the seat. Every other chair I have is 15" tall and flat like a dinner chair, whereas this lounge chair will be more like a small chez where you sit lower and put your feet up. Since I don't have another chair that sits low like this chair will it is difficult to accurately test the comfort.

Here are photos of the final test ottoman:

Lace Lounge #2

If you recall from Lace Lounge #1 a few days ago, I'm building a chair but testing the design on an ottoman first.  I am currently lacing soft nylon rope through holes in two parallel pieces of plywood, much like lacing up a shoe. The catch with this lace job is that it has to be very taut or I think it will get saggy and lose its bounce. On the other hand there should be some give to soften the touch.

To maintain tension I have purchased a couple vice grips. While the large VG is pulling the rope taut by leveraging the curved head, the small VG clamps the rope so it can't return through the hole. Then the large VG are taken to the next eye hole to lever the next section of rope taut. 

After blowing through 50' of rope, here is what it's starting to look like:

HAPPY 161 Antoni Gaudi!!

Ya gotta love the Google doodles.  We've all seen them (whether we realize it or not).  They are the different ways the word "Google" shows up on Google's main page at google.com.  Sometimes the word Google turns into a game that can help you kill time at work.  Some the doodle is an animation that moves when you click, and sometimes it turns into a musical instrument allowing you to compose your own symphony while you have you morning coffee and check out the latest headlines.

Today, June 25, 2013, Google is celebrating Antoni Gaudi's 161st birthday with a special architectural homage to a man who revolutionized design for generations to come.  On top of that, my favorite architect, Santiago Calatrava, has said that Gaudi is one of his biggest influences and inspirations (which makes sense because they're both from Spain).  Here's the doodle:

Instacrazy

Okay, so I'm obviously hitting this trend late, but I'm going to just get it all out there. Fun with Instagram:

Lace Lounge #1

I had an idea for a chair where it is a combination of sling and wood. If I cut 2 identical chair shapes out of plywood they could function as two vertical support planks for a seating apparatus. Here is the shape I started with:

Modular Live Wall Panels

Check these out!  

We paved over countless trees and vegetation with our cities.  Perhaps we should start building with materials that turn our lifeless concrete, steel, and wood structures into live entities.  Think of it as another way to plant more trees ... the only difference is that you can live and work in one of these trees.  Talk about going green!  

These panels can be placed in any configuration to create any surface pattern desired and they can support various different kinds of plants.  Each panel is 1 square meter.  What a beautiful solution to being green!  Life Wall is designed by architect Emilio Llobat Magla and developed by Ceracasa Azahar.  

Corpus Callosum

Has anybody every called you a "right brained person" or a "left brained thinker"?  We all know that we don't actually have two different brains, however you probably also know that the two different hemispheres of our brain function very differently. 

The corpus callosum is a flat bundle of millions of neural fibers that span between the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere of our brain.  It facilitates communication between the two halves and it is one of the most important elements of the human brain.  It essentially allows form and function to exist in our minds at the same time.  

Lets recap: Left brain controls rational thought, math, reading, strategy, linear analytic thought.  Right brain controls creativity, your "free spirit", passion, sensuality like taste, smell, touch, pleasure, and the urge to paint on an empty canvas.

Nearly all people have qualities of both, but many people find they lean more toward one of these two sides.  I'm a right brained person, whereas my wife is a left brained person ... it makes for interesting dynamic. ;-)

Here are a couple images to help you understand what the corpus callosum looks like:

Left Brain Right Brain

One of the most fundamental concepts about the human condition is difference between the "left brain" and the "right brain".  We all know that it is actually two different hemispheres of the same brain, but one without the other would cause for chaos in a person's mind.  Here is my favorite image of the difference between "left brain" thinkers and "right brain" thinkers:

In the next post I'll discuss how these hemispheres communicate with each other.

FIRST BLOG EVER ...

This is my first blog ever ... and I'm only about 10 years late.  

That being said, I figured I'd kick it off with an appropriate photo:

This blog is about design.  Architectural design, graphic design, and art in general.  Sometimes I plan on commenting on projects happening around the world that excite me.  Sometimes I plan on exploring design ideas for my own projects.  In either direction, I plan to use this blog as a journal of my design ideas, endeavors, and inspirations.

I encourage you to chime in with your own perspectives.  Does the post inspire you, enlighten you, infuriate you?  I'm spreading my dribble, feel free to spread yours!

Sincerely, your humble blogger, Ryan