The Staufenberger Repository

Library Thing

Thanks to Rob at no, 2 self we've discovered Library Thing, yet another online, social wotsit. For books. To hang out and meet other books. Obviously.

Not sure if it's any good. Might be. Might not be. But like many of these things, the only way to find out is to dive in and try it. Suck it and see, as they say. So here goes.

Inspired by Rob's ArchiText group, we've started the somewhat less inventively titled planning group, here. 

Our library is far from comprehensive. I just threw in the few books that I could see fom my desk (and left out the ones that didn't quite say the right things about us, obviously). But we'll be adding more titles over the coming weeks.

So feel free to muck in and join the group. The more the merrier. Let's see if it works.

Designers Are Wankers

Actually some of Staufenberger's best friends are designers, including Lee McCormack (designer of The Oculas) who gave us a copy of his new book, Designers Are Wankers. Aside from having a cool title the book comes from a very different place than the usual coffee table design books that stuff the shelves of Magma. 

Lee studied product design but was amazed at how little was taught about the business of design.  His book is an attempt to bridge that gap.  Chapters include 'how to relate to the business mind', talking to venture capitalists  as well as the fundamentals of patents and non-disclosure agreements.  There are also some interviews with leading designers including typographer Neville Brody and fashion entrepreneur Paul Smith. 

The book got me thinking about the lack of knowledge the other way.  How many Goldman Sachs bankers or McKinsey consultants truly understand creativity.  If the future of business in western economies is going to be dominated by ideas maybe it's time someone wrote 'Business People Are Wankers'. 

Designing and coding

Prompted by his recent work for BMW, I've been following up on what happened to Joshua Davis (as opposed to Josh Davis) since the days when surfing praystation was one of the best skives to be found online.

It's easy to dismiss Davis, his personal projects and his work for Kioken as yesterday's news. Flash is out of fashion. And because of that it's easy to forget what a pioneer Davis was and is. He not only designs, he codes his ActionScript too. I suspect he doesn't see a distinction between the two, but I guess that's the point I fumbling towards making. He's the of Jack Bauer of interactive design.

And even back in the bubble days, he was sharing his knowledge in a generous, open source kind of way via his site and his many speaking engagements.

Oh yeah, he's starting a blog. It's still more like the promise of a blog, but it already includes some posts on past work. I especially like his explanation of L-systems. It's interesting that he feels slightly uncomfortable keeping a blog, explaining that he's not naturally a writer. But looking at the praystation archive from 2000, that's exactly what he was doing back then. Keeping a visual blog of his work-in-progress and sharing the code with anyone who was interested.
 

Resources for amateur architects

At the weekend, I was clearing out a pile stuff I'd been hoarding for years and came across this sheet of Letraset transfers for architects.

Can't remember why I bought them. Perhaps I was going to design a shopping centre.

But did real architects actually use these things? I bought them in 1999, I think. But they're clearly from a time before computers and CAD. It says it was copyrighted in 1982 on the top. But it seems like the characters have stepped out of the sixties. Or fifties, even. Look at the bowler-hatted dude: Can't stop, I'm brimming with post-war optimism. Just like Alec Guinness on the poster for The Man in the White Suit.

As a spotty kid who was vaguely interested in art and design, I used to get sheets of rub-on type to make birthday cards (yes, they looked horrible). And I remember thinking of these architecture bits of the Letraset range as the epitome of cool, urban, design sophistication (Yeah, all right, I know. But I did grow up in the sticks).

Perhaps it never was the design leader that I remember. Perhaps I was too young to appreciate good design. All I know is that today, the Letraset website makes the company look like, like...well, like Hobbycraft. Or was it always like that?
 

The Fixie Biz

No doubt prompted by coverage here at The Repository, none other than The Wall Street Journal recently ran its own story on the fixed-gear bike phenomenon.

In addition to the usual blather, it includes an interesting aside about the profit margins for fixies. Apparently, the fixed models that the major manufacturers are beginning to produce are roughly 5% more profitable than your regular road/mountain going bike. And the margins on these are already pretty healthy at around 25% to 30%.

Which just goes to show how important this new fashion dimension is to any market, bike or otherwise. The fashion dimension makes the market less price sensitive.

(Original WSJ article is behind its paywall, but can be found pastebombed on the Cycling Plus forum here.)

The Music Biz

A post last week, mentioned PPL in relation to the music business.  This reminded of a presentation I saw earlier this year at a BCMA event. 

The presentation was given by Alexander Ross at Wiggin, a law firm that specialises in media law.  He presented a chart that illustrated the flow of rights in the music business. If you've ever ventured into this world before you'll know what a minefield it is dealing with record labels, artists, publishers, managers and the bloke that happed to be making the tea the day the song was recorded. This diagram should help you get an idea of how they all piece together and impress colleagues with your music business know how. 

Of course if you do actually venture down this road with a client we'd recommend you speak to a friendly lawyer.