Jack’s Whiteboard

musings of a visual thinker and unremitting creative

Virgin Galactic One Step Closer To First Commercial Space Flight

Virgingalactic

ARE YOU FOLLOWING Richard Branson’s relentless quest for orbital human spaceflights for the public? His company, Virgin Galactic, got one step closer on Sunday with the successful completion of the first piloted free flight of SpaceShipTwo (named the VSS Enterprise). The spaceship was released from its mothership at an altitude of 45,000 ft and glided to a picture-perfect landing at the company’s Mojave Spaceport.

Over 340 Virgin Galactic astronauts have already reserved their sub-orbital flights at a ticket price of $200,000 each. The first SUB-orbital flights will overlap the Earth’s atmosphere at 70,000 feet, with only a short period of weightlessness.

When the price comes down, are you game?

Function First in Barcode Iconography

Barcodes1

WHAT TURNS SOMETHING ORDINARY INTO SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY? The magic is found in things that are first functional, and secondarily clever or sexy. Take these barcodes, for example. Each is a work of art—yet, first and foremost, each is fully functional. That’s the twist that makes them both extraordinary and memorable.

My son and I were talking today about the appeal of Apple products. Their sleek appearance is pleasing, but secondary to their functionality and to what they enable me to do.

The challenge of innovative thinking is to make something as appealing as it is functional. And, vice versa.

What do you think?

See many more of these works of art on the Bar Code Revolution website.

Can “Design Thinking” Make Design Big Again?

Tim Brown calls for a shift away from artsy-fartsy, pompous design attitudes to collaborative, participatory "design thinking" that makes a difference.

Here is a quote I took from the video presentation:

“Somehow, design has gone from “systems thinkers” who were reinventing the world in the 19th century to a priesthood of folks in black turtlenecks and designer glasses preoccupied with creating nifty, fashionable, small objects. As industrial society matured, and as design became a profession, it focused on an ever-smaller canvas, until it came to stand for aesthetics, image, and fashion.”

Thankfully, some believe that this is changing.

I have been a first-hand witness for many years to the disservice rendered to graphic design students coming out of programs that simply don’t get it. Hopefully those who are teaching in these programs will wake up, take off the turtlenecks, and actually help their students prepare for real, meaningful and lasting career success in this new world.

What do you think?