Archive for July 2008

Focusing on Cruelty Fries

As the Minnesota State Fair inches closer, I remember walking through the grounds last year and seeing a booth in the distance over the throngs of people. “Cruelty Fries” is what I thought it said and was intrigued by the idea, believing that many of the foods at the state fair are indeed cruel tricks on unsuspecting fair goers. Read the rest of this entry »

Reuse It or Lose It

I just finished helping my friends Big Brian and Rosa do a little updating in his kitchen. New countertops, sink and range were the main additions, and all very nice improvements. The big opportunity, however, came from where things no longer were: the hole the built in range had vacated and the shelves whose doors had long since been removed as a nuisance. Read the rest of this entry »

Penguins and Geniuses

“Hundreds of baby geniuses washing up dead on Brazilian shores” is what I thought the headline read. An awfully shocking thought that was fortunately a misread on my part. I could unfortunately imaging the cult out there that might exist that was kidnapping the world’s smartest babies. Read the rest of this entry »

Crowbars and Taste

I was doing some demolition in a client’s kitchen the other day and picked up a crowbar. And as I picked up the crowbar I noticed the brand-name label on it and it gave me pause. I was certain it said “RougeNeck” and wondered if I had stolen some Metrosexual’s crowbar. Unfortunately, after a moment of clarity I realized it was “RoughNeck.” Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the Archetypes, Dummy

Or maybe when talking about personality and design it is begin, well, at the beginning, or start with human archetypes.  I recently received that comment back from an excellent theorist on design, Trevor van Gorp. He has a blog/website called affective design focused on emotions and design.   Read the rest of this entry »

Grendel and the Bridge

I visited the 35W Bridge project the other day and was able to see the main spans coming from each side of the river to within four feet of each other.  My first thought was: What if they don’t meet in the middle? It immediately brought to mind those feelings of panic after you have put a ton of work into something and right at the end it doesn’t seem right. Read the rest of this entry »

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