Identity crisis

I did it again. I googled myself and then yahooed myself. At least I own my name on the net. Sat wondering how big that deal has become. An unusual name guarantees self named user ID's .
I am lucky to have an unusual surname that way. Lucky because my parents weren't born in this generation and named me so simply because it rhymed with an elder cousin brother's nomenclature.
No one is born with a name.Tomorrows parents have so much more to think about. Here is my take on the ground rules (in no particular order)

1. The beginning letters should ensure school roll numbers fall safely in the middle.
2. Shouldn't be common as that would mean an email ID like "ravi1962007superstar" ( it exists!!)
3. Unique but not too much (preferably use a less common alphabet like Q in the beginning)
4. Shouldn't be weird ( hard for a name beginning with Q!!!)
5. Should be pronounceable in most accents ( heard a story of a girl named Kaamini being called "Kameeni" ('wicked woman' in Hindi) by her accentually challenged American boss)
   
6. Shouldn't be long (think of the endless forms that she will have to fill in her life time)
7. Shouldn't be short ( almost always will result in problem as in Point 2 above)
8. Should be something that, when shortened would result in something that sounds cool ( examples are too tragic to be mentioned)
   
9. Finally it should also mean something nice!!!

Here are a few nice links I found on myself though:

A French trend watching site thought that one of my ideas was...er...well it is in French and here it is
This site featured my website on their blog (one of their inaugural issues). This link is here

Factual fiction

Was remembering a story about how the landscape at Hampi ( see pic) was formed. The tourist guide actually told us three and gave equal importance to all of them

Story 1:

The place was Lord Hanuman's playground. He used to gather the huge rocks and pelt his chums with them. The mountains are the remnants of those that were unpelted.

Story 2:

When Lord Hanuman was flying over the region carrying the magical mountain from the Himalayas, some of those rocks tumbled down and formed what we see today.

Story 3:

The formations are most probably caused by earthquakes.

Take your pick :)

For me....it was a close call between 1 and 2 ( settled for 1 eventually). I know that the 3rd one is probably true but in a world where we can't accurately talk about either the past or the future.....I choose to believe something that gives me the thrills, something that is beyond the mundane....;)

D friends ;)

Went to the wedding of a really cute and really close(to me!!) couple. Interdisciplinary design education has its perks as in bringing a wide variety of incredible and open minded people together :)
Have learned a lot about life and a bit about design from them.
This is my tribute....

Mother Computer

A question has been bothering me since yesterday.
" Do I exist because of a computer?"

I am not questioning my biological upbringing,mind. The work I do, what would it be if the computer did not exist?An era where sheets and pencils and instruments have been replaced by this modular ( one for all) machine, I feel the question is a valid one.

Always thought of the computer as a tool and always tried to use it as one till suddenly realizing that it is predominantly the only tool I use. So much so that I cannot have any creative "output" without it. A computer has shaped my perception of a finished product!!! A sketch is always a rough till it is honed by the monotonous precision of a number crunching machine.

Wonder how the pyramids were built...oh forget that...wonder how the Howrah Bridge was built? What about a precision output that is computer free. Architecture taught me that....where did that go?

Of boots and bikes and cost of style

Bought a pair of Nike ACG boots yesterday . Good shoes, styled well,comfortable. Came in a recycled paper back and cardboard box.
Cost : Rs 3900/-

Bought a Hercules MTB 3 months earlier . Good bike, styled well, no gear, came with its own pump and bell and lots of metal mechanical parts. Don't know about recycling (pun unintended).
Cost : Rs 3500/-

Value for money? Will get back in six months with that.

Work code

In India, people are fascinated with degrees and qualifications. You cannot work if you are not qualified to do so. Qualification is not whether you can do the work, it is more about whether you have a government approved degree declaring the same!!

In the US, of what I have heard, all that matters is if you can do the work. As long as the establishment is satisfied with the quality you produce it doesn't give a damn about your degree. This works both ways though.

What is a degree? It is an assurance that the candidate has studied and passed the prescribed examination for some fixed subjects. It can never be a reliable indicator of how good that person is in that field.

Signing off to ponder.

T-design

Having opposed the concept of technology as a initiator of design for most part of my design life...this does seem a bit hard for me, but there are instances where this is true.

Good technology does help in initiating good design.

Here is the technology link:

Player one:
Young trainee...talks about a new technology (glass) that slows down light that passes through it
Player two:
Me.....thinks that there is potential...dunno where or how
Player three:
MBA geek ( this one is cool though)....says can be used for foiling assassination bids ( political leader behind the glass.....assassin unable to pin point location...you get the drift)

Brilliant!!

Saw a cool portfolio on the net today....trying to use Google's creepy crawlies to add importance to that by adding a link here as well:

Photo effect

Recently came across an interesting concept for advertising used by Wockhart Hospitals. It was for their new package offer for would-be mothers called 'Nest'. Simple photo of a mother and child and some text.

Reason I liked it? It looked believable. The mother and child looked real. Why they looked real? The photo used had the effect of having been taken with a mobile phone camera...slightly blurred, colors a bit off. In short it looked as if the dad himself had taken it after the birthing...

In a world of photo touched up unblemished women and their squeaky clean, plasticky kids.....the Nest ad made a bigger impact.

It created an illusion of truth that was easier to believe.

gibberish

At one side technology apparently makes life easy,on the other side it strives to increase our confusion. To put up my photo I have to first post it here in the messege and then trying some gizmatics to get it on my profile.

Why do I want to put the image up in the first place?? Intersesting question.

Thats me for the time being.

desimplify??!!

I think I owe an explaination. I am a designer. And as they come, I have this awful urge to tell a lot about me and myself to as many people as possible. What also adds to the interest is that I am a bit peeved about my immediate situation and I am going to pour my heart out on these pages.

Oh and by the way...desimplify stands for design simplification!!! Very innovative huh!!