Baka Kuma Winter Greetings

Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All, Including Bears.

12-sided vase.

The original concept was that, as DNA is made up of four variations of nucleotides (Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine), so too might it make for an interesting set of design variations, based on four different profiled edges, in order to create an illusion of randomness.

What's the point?  I'm exploring ideas for a 3D-printed ceramic vase, and variations of it.  Preferably minimalist.

Quote of the day, related to why I didn't go to design school.

I didn't go to design school, to become your drafter, your peon, your slave, your right hand.  I hope you understand when I turn down your offer to give me money to become your whore.  If you really want me to be your slave, I'll work for free, that way I can be passive-aggressive and just shut up and walk away when you piss me off.

My Amadeus - Joseph II moment.

In Amadeus, Emperor Joseph II praises Mozart, and then tells him that his opera has too many notes, to which, Mozart queries as to which notes he should remove.

I was told to move a counter so that it's 15 feet from the front, yesterday -- all of 17 inches.  It wasn't a discussion about the pros and cons of space management and organization in one part of the scheme, just that the counter had to move so that it was 15' from the entrance.

I know it's not a perfect match, but the feeling is just the same.

Oregon Duck Store - Bend, Oregon

"VIP" opening was on Saturday, June 30th.  Talk about an eventful day: a strong thundershower with a huge downpour and a crackle of thunder left the party - and much of Bend - without power.  Wondrously, the power finally came back on, and we got to see the space lit up, as well as the cash wrap table.

There was some value-engineering in this one, which was unfortunate. I'm still getting a lot of positive feedback on the Clackamas Town Center Duck Store, so we were hoping there wouldn't be any cuts in the budget.

We had some close calls with some bad decisions being made without us being in the loop - because we're in Portland and it's a 3 1/2 drive to visit. Having a local architect work on a project where they're not invested in the design, can be difficult. I've been on both ends of the deal, so I know what's going on in the minds of people from each side of the table.

Additionally, there were battles that had to be fought with subcontractors who either felt they could BS their way into shortcuts or were truly ignorant.

Some minor decisions still were made without us being in the loop -- I think we were deliberately left out of the last month of the project, as things were wrapped up in a whirlwind to get everything completed on time.  Still, most people won't notice the small details.

The whole picture nonetheless came together as imagined, within the many constraints, and people seem to like it a lot.  That's the gratification one always hopes to find at the end of the tunnel, right?

An entire building, modeled in four days.

As part of a construction firm's RFP presentation, I was asked if I could produce a series of images depicting the construction work and the stages of work.  Starting from CAD floor plans - that were sloppy with walls not lining up - it took me about four days to build all 7 floors + basement.  If the CAD plans were perfect, it would have taken me about two days at most.  If I had assumed that the CAD drawings were bad, I would have used AutoCAD to fix them before importing them into SketchUp, which made it monumentally more difficult to fix.

Banksy is mainstream?

You know you've been turned mainstream when 1saleaday is hosting a sale of various giclée prints, and your works are included.  Banksy, now available for just $19.99!

Laser-cut nori.

These look awesome.  I'm feeling hungry for some futomaki rolls right now...mmm.

Check out the whole story of how this came about, here.

Biz (ID) card unboxing photos!

Let me explain.  These are no ordinary cards; these are Moo.com's Luxe cards, and are presented differently...thus a desire to do an unboxing post.  They're quite luscious in thickness, the colors are spot on (pun intended).

I also got stickers and postcards made, and they too are gorgeous in presentation and finish -- postcards are glossy paper on the image side; stickers are glossy, thin vinyl.  The prints are solid, with the small details coming through.  Love it!

On to the Luxe cards unboxing.

01 Plain outside cardboard box.

02 Opened box reveals "Luxe" inner box.

03 Some tissue wrapping paper inside.

04 Ooh look, a cloth-wrapped box inside.

05 And it has a nice ribbon and a wax seal.

06 Top card has a Jerry Meguire quote -- part of the presentation.

07 Finally, my cards!

08 With fifty cards and ten different "backs".

09 Close-up view of a dark-green black PMS color.

10 Another close-up view of a different card.

Kureji Usagi Golfer.

I had another request: Kureji Usagi Golfer.  I thought maybe there was a romaji pronunciation for "golfer", but I guess there wasn't any.

Alternative cardboard light shades.

A couple of shades from this past week -- different ideas about geometry for snowflakes.  Quite certain I need to explore a few more ideas before moving forward. I like the varying ideas coming out, though.

Kureji Usagi Mochitsuki

I showed my friend the usagi pirate, and she requested I do the obvious: rabbit pounding mochi on the moon.  So I give you: Kureji Usagi Mochitsuki.

Kureji Usagi Pirate.

Shiver me timbers.  I've been fascinated by rabbits (usagi - Japanese) lately, especially crazy (kure-ji - Japanese romaji) ones.  Pirate rabbits...that's special.

Baseball Jersey $20.99

Light T-Shirt $18.99

Men's wallet - $34.99

Kawaii neh? (Cute, don't you think?)

Cardboard shades for lights.

Working on a cheaper product idea, using cardboard, instead of other materials...makes it more convenient than having to use separate suspension supports when using heavier materials, too.

Took about 2 hours while at Starbucks on Tuesday, to design and model it...Add another 2 hours to add the context then render it.

Based on double-depth cardboard panels (see Ponoko).  The edge of the cardboard is a texture grabbed from online, edited and then added to the edges of the 3D model in SketchUp.  I have this idea that the vertical panels are interchangeable with 3 variations (to start with), so that no two snowflakes are alike, if so desired.

One could do a whole ceiling of replaceable shades for a pop-up store for the holidays, if so desired.

Up close rendering.

"Snowflake v.03"