Repost World Design Blogs

 20 years ago I was in Cuba for a training period.

Yep, like that.

A few years later the website AdmirableDesign (created by Gérard CARON) started a blog platform to share about design all over the worl (made by Joris BEBIN).

I participated with my cuban experience, also with deutsch and finnish ones.

I loved this exchange platform but then it went without maintenance and died.

I wanted to have a trace from this. Actually the idea emerged when I started to teach in 2015!

Every year since I've been saying I wanted to repost all of this as a good resolution.

It's 20 years since I've been in Cuba so I decided it was time to find and restore these archives as to repost these.

Also to repost the articles I wrote for the main site AdmirableDesign and why not my famous A Blog of Comics about Design (it should be published on Insta too, that could be a pretty way to make it alive again).

It will take time (I didn't started yet to search for it) and it will be on my other blog (sorry, only in french): design-et-identite.blogspot.com
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2024 Dodge Challenger?

Last dance with the american brands of Stellantis Group but not least: here comes the Challenger muscle-car!

 

The next generation has been yet announced to be the first all-electric muscle-car and I don't feel it should be like an electric car fine and aerodynamic. No, I do think it should affirm its own muscle (even if it's an electrical muscle)!

 

Once more I've took pleasure (well this time it has been longer than usual so I let some details unfinished) around the new Batmobile to civilize it while keeping its bestial aspect.

The new "Dukes of Hazzard" car?

#dodge #challenger #musclecar #chrysler #stellantis #alfaromeo #giulia

If I Were A Designer: Water Ice-stick

Summer is back

We need some hack

To fight his heat back

Before our lives lack.

 

Yes it's refreshing to use butter

But I really think than drinking water

Is way ealthier and better

But it has to come to use whenever

 

So here is my dream

To eat an ice-cream

Gluten free as you mean

Nor vegan will scream.

 

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Out of confinment

Wooh I was punlishing several times a week and that's over a month I didn't published anything!
I had a few ideas but nothing really interesting, not concluding, I wasn't able to write correctly. I've been enjoying spending time not doing anything, lying on the bed to pretend I'm napping even if I wasn't tired, eventually my digestion could be a little heavy?

I spend this time by reading blog, more oftenly by watching videos and scrolling social networks looking at photos.

Therefor I have things to do. A lot.
A small season despress due to the context, I'm probably not the only one living this.

Today is the day we can go out for the first time more or less free. More less than more.
There will ceretainly be another quaranteen period in August when the factories are closed to make their summer maintenance works.
This is not the question.
I won't go out more than I've been these last 2 months, except maybe running longer and farer. And to go with my parents at my mom's house, we are together in here, we see noone in between, we are together in there, limited risks.

I'm still working at home and this confinement was the only one action done during this time to prevent mass deaths: no big masks stocks, no more medicine, no more money to fine a vaccine, no help to the care workers... They just locked us in, except if we had to go to work fo them. and now they ask us to go out... to go to work.

The world of tomorrow will wait.
And it terribly looks like the world from the day before yesterday.
May the Happy Days come back, they would need a lot of heads of the track.
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Design and Comics

In 2008 I was reading a lot of webcomics. There were a lot about plenty of subjects but I've found none about design so I made one.


I've done this during 5 years until the lack of success strikes my motivation. I though that could have been a place to speak about work stories, products and creators, and some tribute done my way:

Then I've seen a few others webcomics about design, that didn't last long neither, I wasn't alone in my failure!
And finally real comics about architects, first Le Corbusier obviously.

This book was launched in 2010. Couting the editing, the creation and all the preparation stuff I coul say that my own webcomic was in time, in the air, when I started it.
I've recently seen a new comic book about Charlotte Perriand and this is great.


Now with all the service design, design thinking and sketchbooking tendancies I think there is a place to make comics and design living together.
More important I'm pretty sure the ideas I had for my webcomic about design are still interesting. Not sure they could be bankable. I don't know if I'm good enough to make it.

As I do want to republish all my old blogs, including the webcomic, may I found a new motivation?

Less-on #teachers

Two weeks ago the French President said that all the school will close on Monday.
On Friday afternoon we were told that not exactly: the school will no more host students but teaching must go on. Our school minister told we were ready, may he was but teachers were not. That was yet a promising week-end to prepare the lessons for Monday morning.
On Monday night the President said that we were no more allowed to move out from our home. So no more work from the school.

That's the moment when you search on the Internet to find some ressources because you won't be able anymore to make the lessons as you wanted to (no direct explanation when a student can't figure by himslef an exercize for example) you have to invent new ways to teach.

That's when you say thank you to the other teachers who uploaded their lessons on the net.
But sometimes you see bad things you can't use directly:

écriver when the good verb is écrire, rappel is a substantiv word but in this sentence it should have been the verb rappelle.
Because even the teachers can be out of the right. And I like the other teachers as much as I like my students (in case a student arrives in here so he/she can see that there is no wickdness when I publish these posts).

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CoVid-19

This is an epidemy and it's touching everything. Now schools are closed in France. Well, not closed, as we still have to work but without students in front of us, teaching via the Internet.
Teleworking, why not. e-Teaching, why not. Most of my students are not working when I am with them in the classroom for an evaluation (which will cost them a zero point if they do nothing) so let me laugh thinking they would do anything at home using a non-ergonomic app we have to interract.

We have to rethink totally our lessons as nothing can be done like we though we would do it.
I'm feeling alone, abandoned, no one aswering my questions.
I would like to have precise directions to follow on how to do the stuff not conceptual actions and distant administrative orders but I assume that everyone is running everywhere, except teachers like me, alone in front of my computer, without answer to my questions, even without technical tool to ask my questions.

The exams are announced cancelled by some medias, some others announced the cancellation until the next hollidays, the baccalaureat exams in classroom are postponed but my graduates have to create a project and a file they will present as this exam so what should I do with them? What they have done yet is still at school and I will not scan every document to sent them (how much of them would come back at school with?).

Now we hear about home confinment. But still while working?
More contradictory injonctions like yesterday "Vote!" and "Saty Home!" in the same time!
In the same time, part of our President mood...


What about training? Yet 2 of my preparation races have been cancelled, for a marathon which have very few chances to keep maintained...

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A New Blog?

A long time ago I had a blog, which was on a platform which closed. I didn't save anything as I was really disappointed. Now I think that has been an error, may the notes have been good.
Then I started this blog, personal, and another one to help my survey about public spaces design.

I haven't wrote anything on this second blog since 2013, but I never forgot it!
I didn't defined my redactional strategy yet but I wanted to relaunch it.
Firstly, as I wrote here, I want to republish my former blogs and when a rumour saying that Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles could make a new group together I did wanted to restart it.
I didn't had time for that so I said no to myself but tonight I was tired so I wrote a new note!

Here comes the new note, only in French, about Lancia, a car brand I do like a lot, but I'm not sure it really like itself...
Here it is.

Teacher, yes, but a good one?

Tomorrow starts the winter hollidays...
Some days you ask yourself a lot of questions , sometimes your students do, and sometimes you can't not agree with their criticisms against yourself, so you have the impression of not having completely succeeded in your mission, while still having the impression of having fullfilled it.

One example could be a work spanned on 4 lessons. If a student if absent on some of these lessons, how do I rate him? Does I take account on what he did? He was injured or absent so if I rate what he rendered I'm not rating what he could have done...

Recently some students were angry and the mood was not helping to make the group working (a group which is not really in love with working).

Besides that I sometimes use my time working to listen "great" teachers like...

I understand nothing, I love to see that this very smart person, masterizing his subject, famous as teacher, is not comfortable to start his lesson but hey, he doesn't care and just go straight in it.
You need to be inloved with the subject to stay in touch all along the lesson, I'm pretty envious to have this kind of passionate audience in my lessons!

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I don't like running...

... but I will run a marathon this year!

To rich that goal I made myself a training program including competitions to validate the evolution, to see of it is done, to understand the environment before the main event (the 26th of April in Nantes).

First competition is tomorrow in St Priest, a 10km run, so do not hesitate to come and support me!
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A New Year, New Projects

One of my new year resolution is about old things. First of all as it is not a new resolution, I've had this for a few years I think. Most of all because I'm about reusing posts from old (and some dead) blogs I wrote a few years ago.

There are 2 of these, well the second one is not just one but let's say it is.
The first one is my Comic drawned Blog about Design, in french that's the B.B.D.D.:

The second one is the Worldwide Design Blogs which is, as you can read its title, a few blogs about design all around the world. That was on the AdmirableDesign.com platform whe this was Gérard Caron and Joris Bébin working on it:

I won't say when I would do because I have to restore evry text, recap the pictures, or find them in my archives (archives, you know, that's so well stocked and classified and...), translate every text in english (everything was in french), and that's in more after making lessons, correct the works, prepare my exam, videomaking, running...
Here it is, written so that engages me more than if I keep it alone in my head!
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Less-on #5-6

A bonus to end the week with a firework.

In the top left corner you can see a good work: horizontal format, something for a great cover inspired by the subject.

Beside you can see another student work.
She wrote an extract from an article about a new collection by the creator for Alessi. The creator is Ora-ïto, but she never name him all-along the pages!

Below she wrote her identification datas (part of the demand for the cover page).
And that's all folk.

The file is filled with 3 pictures, printed on a merely whole page: 1 picture of the collection she wrote about, 1 from the same creator but I think that was for another editor, 1 of the Le Cab night-club (hoorah this do is an iconic project).
Just pictures, not even a single line of text neither a caption.

I gave them the criteria for the grades whith the demand, so they did knew what to do.

Less-on #5-5

We are going deeper.

You remember I ask my students a presentation about a creator or a group of creators or a style in applied arts.


The subject for this one was Memphis, a italian group of creators in the beginning of the 80's.



A student managed to make a work about Memphis Tennessee!
And he is in the last year!!

Of course, presenting an iconic product wasn't easy so here is a FedEx plane (as the firm is based in this town).

Less-on #5-4

Here a my demand once more: one iconic project in each area we have to work on, then a personal selection "like" or "dislike".

I'm pretty sure I've always said that this should be about a project from the creator / group / area.
Amazed to open the last page of one case...

"Here is my dislike.
My subject is about Johnny Hallyday [the "French Elvis"]. We all know is dead on Déc. 5th of 2017. So I don't understand why someone who prentends to have the same voice allows himself to record the songs of this celebrity. I'm not sure that was what Johnny wanted. He's dead, just let him where he is. Like Daniel Balavoine [another pop French singer form the 80's]."
[I've corrected some bad writings to translate this easily]
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Less-on #5-3

Here comes the first bad respect of the question.

I resume my demand: one iconic project in product design (object, décoration, furniture...), one iconic project in space design (architecture, planning, interior...) and one iconic visual project (ad, paint, wallpaper...).

This student didn't find any visual project by Karim RASHID so he found "Draws (blueprint) I have a chair designated and by Karim rashid" [yes I volountarily kept the faults as they are part of the charm].

What could I answer to that? Except that a fast view on the creator's website is enough to see a whole page presenting 59 graphic works?

Less-on #5-2

I begin with some nice ones!
About André Putman : "She had more than 17 awards." Maybe 18?

Less-on #5

When I was teaching design in 2 years degree I kept a few puns from my student's works, mostly nice ones (I mean the puns, you know, I never tasted my students, maybe I should have?).

I've recently started to teach applied arts in a public high school for profesional baccalaureats and specialized diplomas. I started by asking them an introduction to an applied arts creator (or a group of creators or a style) as they could see influences in the three areas they have to learn (object, space, visual).

This is always the same task asked: 5 pages (including the first one as a cover) introducing the person / group / style (dates, associated names, lineaments) then one iconic project for each area (I choose people who have been working at least once on each area, and every student has a different subject). And as I want them to really see the work from this person / group / style I finally ask them to introduce me a project (picture + text) they like or dislike (and we do they).

This week I've decided to publish a few new ones from this year surveys, because some of them are really worth it!
Or desperating as I could have evaluated at 0 / 20 a lot of these ones if a 2 year degree student would have done something like that. But here I gave a pointed zero when the job wasn't done, and there are a lot of zeros, so I must try to find a few points for the students who pretended to have done the work. A really few points. In my case I have a group where I had so much zeros and so bad grades that I established my new personal record for a group average grade: 1,71 / 20!

Here we go, like if I were on Twitter, because.

Destroyed Jobs: Electric meter setter

Hiring with elegance.
Here is an e-mail I've received from Your Advisor (well, this is not the name of someone I'm in touch with at the national employment agency):

I love their argument: You do know Linky, don't you? You do know this connected electric meter than no one wants at home because everyone is fearing the electronical waves causing deceases, because it costs money to install and may be expensive for every service, some people told that they would shoot if someone come at their home with this... So, let's come and be shot by an unknwon!
[...] with great autonomy in the management of your interventions is right, when nobody wants to see you coming you do need autonomy in your schedules, I would say you need to be MacGyver sometimes!
Thank you so much my dear employment agency to spend so much energy to promote jobs than no one wants. Therefore I can't follow the process of my candidacies when I answer via your website.
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Mike The Great

As a car guy since I was a child I had the collection of Michel Vaillant, comics about a race car champion.

The author's son is now in charge and he revisited all the aesthetic in what he titled New Season.
I never bought them because I started to read the first ones and I didn't liked the characters design (you hardly recognize them when you see them for the first time... and you hardly recognize them when you see them a few pages after). I didn't liked the stories, complicated but without flour.










Finally I have this new collection and there is a background story running all along for a book to another. And this point is stunning so I've been reading 3 of these books in a raw, as I was in a strong attempt to know the next step of this story.


So this is a good new serie, maybe not the best comics but a good way to renove the only race car champion comics in french.
We will have some comics fake events (this team is able to win their first race in a competition they are all new in) and some events with bad credibility.
Well, the fiction has not to be credible.
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