PoPoMoPo

Trying to get my wannabe art on. =)

Woodshop times

I was looking through the plethora of my external hard drive when I came across this project folder that I did with my buddy Moe at the woodshop. Good times gone by, Moe conceptualized a shelf and I had to build and make it come to life.



I don't know what to make of the big goggles over my glasses, but I do like the photo because it kinda captures the almost translike feel of getting into it. Lol, I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but it makes sense to me.



The pic above was the final outcome. It's a good looking shelf by a good designer and built by an even better builder. lolol. and some of my stuffs makes cameos too.



Moe was so particular about this "MO" detail and at first I really didn't want do it because I thought 'why should the hardest part to make of this shelf be non functional?' But it is his design and I was only the builder, and at the end of it all I think all the non functional detail makes the shelf. It is also assembled without the use of any fasteners.



ya that be Moe on the right, and Steve Backman in the green shirt, who taught me about 90 percent of what I know about wood and metal cutting. Deep respect about some of Steve's unorthodox but efficient techniques.

more pics of the shelf here. and Shaka always.

Postcard #3

Trying to go for fun and clever, I hope this doesn't come across as too crass
-Don't want to offend anyone. Either way, I like it. My Nike Dunks look nice.

The "loo" shelf

I finally saw Objectified last night. I think this might just be the single movie
to recommend when people ask me what industrial design is. I must say it is good, and it inspired me to do some designing today.

I looked through my "ideas" vault. I found this old orthographic drawing of a
toilet paper shelf from back in 2007. I think the idea has potential. But whoa!! what was I thinking with this design? It doesn't look all that pleasing.



I decided to redesign this object. Why hide the toilet paper anyway? it has a nice neutral color and a universal shape, why not showcase it? Using the same materials from the initial ortho drawing: wood and sheet metal, I came up with this shelf/installation, oo la la!



This is just a quick sketch render, but I think it looks sexy. I still want to show it in a situational scene, position it right above the loo (I am feeling British today). I also want to make the t-papers look more real and give it that soft, 2-ply texture to the eye. Anyway, here is another look.



I have illusions of grandeur for this. I already have a teaser layout in mind that will involve me in the loo...but not really.

Ideals, showmanship and crazy

It has been nearly a year since I felt the pressure cooker known as thesis,
aka Ecopala. Different facets of this project have been posted - they can be viewed here. I was recently chatting with my buddy Erik, from Mexico city.
We were talking about systems and ideals and materials, how design can
be dictated by these things. We are creative people, and he felt that not
many understand what he is aiming to accomplish with the business which
he intends to start. It was a good chat.

I thought of the ideal Hawaiian product cycle I proposed for my thesis. An attempt for a closed loop cycle which hopes to eliminate or lessen shipping
of Hawaii's waste to different compost sites around the world. Instead, finding
ways to turn waste materials into new products.



I received tremendous information from the City Recycling Coordinator of Honolulu. Her willingness to help really helped the outcome of my thesis. But evidently, when I emailed her my final project, her reply seemed to carry the tone of disappointment with how I seem to have been able to simplify Hawaii's waste stream problems with a couple of illustrations. She must have felt that I took a more businesslike, selling approach to a problem that is constant and very real to her.


Beach noodles and old surf boards

I am a dreamer. A designer. Selling my ideas is part of the showmanship.


Chimes and marker holder from military gun shell casings

So during the end of a substantial chat session with Erik, the word "dreamer" had been used countless times. He then said something which tickled my socks...he told me to re-read some of my chat logs and for every time I see
the word dreamer, change it to "crazy person."

Could I be?...ummphhh I think...therefore I am?.....CRAZY!! hahaha.

Wow I didn't realize that "crazy person" is 100% synonymous with "dreamer." Nevertheless, I'll continue to be a designer. The only way to be sane is to be
a dreamer. As long as I don't become a hazard to myself, I don't mind "crazy."


Rubber tires, beach mats, beach noodle and old boogie board

I quoted Bob Marley and said "don't give up the fight," to which Erik replied,
"I'd rather die than to give up the fight." Ha. gotta love being a "dreamer!!"

2.5 Months

That's the amount of time I have left before I relocate out of the windy chi.
I'm excited, anxious...and scared. I stress myself out at night overthinking
how I'm gonna approach my imminent move. All is well in the planning front.
I received my business cards from the mail today. Text is too small but oh
well. I also designed a few teaser post cards today...I need a couple more. Hopefully one of them is bound to impress a prospect employer. I just need
to figure to whom and which prospect employments to send them to.

I think this one reflects my personality well.



I'm not sure if this image is as good as I think it is. but I dig it.



There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be
you in time - it's easy.

- Lennon/McCartney

♪ ♫ I feel good (da na na ta na) ♫

...as sung by James Brown. good.

portfolio website finished, just waiting on the my domain name to kick in!

So the hibernation is over. and along the way I found some files to share.
So here's the CobraLive made-up video for a made-up app.



It's kinda annoying that for seven months, six people slaved to make a product and this is all that's left to show. Thanks to Greg for finishing the video after I gave him a crash-course in photoshop.

This is him during one of our interim presentations. Cool display, all it took
was some fishing line and a not so sturdy ladder.



Here was our research wall halfway through. All focus group info extracted
and tried to make sense of. ehh.



sixty dollars worth of post-its. ♪ ♫ (da na na ta na) ♪ ♫

Tunnel Vision

I've been non-stop thinking about and learning to make a website. I'm semi slowly progressing to say the least. It's absolutely ridiculous how much time
I waste contemplating about the layout and colors, I keep changing my mind. This is how it looks right now:



I think it's cool that I am forced to look back on past projects since I'm trying
to gather a pool of the ones I want to put on the website. Past ones like this block of wood cut into four pieces and rearranged inside out were fun to make



It's good to relive. Experimenting at the wood shop, trying to get a feel of the machines, like the crazy band saw which almost dismembered my right thumb!



18"x 24" sheet metal bent and welded to form square modules. The lopsided front bothers me because I gave up when I almost spot welded my hand.

PS. Those of you who say you look through my blog every now then, check
out my friend's photo site. She's got cool pics. Happy bd kayvee!

Wild & Organic

The fabrication of language into form. I think it almost looks outer-spacey.



I like it. It's kinda sexy, I wouldn’t mind cooking with it.

The double ohs are kaput!

Milestones, mental growth, adieu double ohs! This is a list for posterity’s sake. By no means are the following the crème of the crop or the mold on the peanut butter. I just feel obligated to, cause ya know, I survived the owh ohs.

2000. To be carefree. To be ignorant. To be drawing with a #2 pencil instead
of listening to the preacher’s sermon. FUN. This looks almost antiquated.



2001. My sister has a weird tongue, or maybe I suck at drawing tongues.



2002. Foreshortening, expanding my vocabulary. I learned this in figure drawing (humming the Titanic song). I hate that freaking song!



2003. Twenty Uno. Las Vegas. Credit card debt, damn.



2004. Ahh, my two week lust affair with Yashica. I wish it was longer.



2005. Seriously, what was I smoking?!! Haha. I don’t remember much.



2006. Crash, it won best picture in 2005, and it is also the title of my 12-second flash video in 2006. A lesson in inbetweening.



2007. Hawaii meets Juju. Juju eats tarot pie at McDonalds and taste banana pancakes (we can puh-tend it all the time ♫) for the first time.



2008. Juju meets 3d modeling. Juju finds a new best friend, Vray.



2009. Fresh from the SD card. Juju gets a degree and pays off all his debts. Yess, the oh ohs have been great!



♫ I've got to admit it's getting better ♫ A little better all the time ♫



Shaka always. Much love, prosperity, and fun fun times.

Movers and Shakers

I just finished going through my whole body of work, was looking for anything holiday related to post, besides the photos posted a week ago. Much to my dismay, I found none. The closest I have are these salt and pepper shakers, because of the colors, I guess. And I have to thank my design partner for this project, Moe. He wet-sanded the prototype with them holiday colors.



The scene: Walmart paint isle.

Moe: Juju, I found the colors we are gonna use, look!
Juju: (gives weird face) Those look like xmas colors, I don't like it.
Moe: (gives annoyed face) Really? "x-mas!" you're weird. It's Chili's!
Juju: (gives just as annoyed of a face) I don't feel like saying the whole
        thing, got a problem with that? Chili's was only a hypothetical
        restaurant inspiration for our project!
Moe: (gives decisive face) Whatever, we are using these colors!
Juju: (gives defeated face) Fine, but I'm not painting our models, you are!



So that's how Moe and I decided on the Holiday colors. Good times.





Click here for more from this project. May the merry bells keep ringing!!

Art & Design

Inspiration can come from all things.

I am neither wearing glasses nor contacts right now, and I can't even make out small objects from across my room. Things are blurry between myself and everything else, just like the threshold between art and design. Then again, the blurriness might be because of the 75mg of Benadryl I downed 2 hrs ago in order to sleep. FAIL!


Outside the frames, Blurrr., 2007

Is there an absolute difference between art & design? I cannot think of any.

Donut shaped salt & pepper shakers, 2006

Nearly all which is said about art can also be said about design. Both need skills and talent, both can motivate and inspire, and both sends a bundle of messages, provoking all kinds of feelings. The closest I can come up with that may separate design from art is function. At least in industrial and product design, there is intent for usage, demanding direct quantifiable actions. But what to make of graphic design, where works have no direct correlation to function?


Confused Much?, 2004

On a different note, It is 4:30 A.M., and according to the insomnia forum I should define what is refraining me from sleep. To sleep is to free the mind, and to free the mind I have know. This is almost nearly impossible. *Sigh.

Toss, turn. I work in 2 hours and I lost count of sheep. I cannot differentiate between art and design. I can't sleep!

On-the-Go

It's the mobile workstation. Perfect for the on-the-go professionals. It comes
with its own pull-out desk. If you only find one open outlet at the airport, no worries, because the mobile workstation comes with extension outlets with
usb ports. It even uses kinetic energy to charge an emergency battery so you may never lose power on your electronic accesories while on the go.



Now that the infomercial is over, I really do think that there's potential in this project. With some topple proofing and a little styling to increase its awesome factor, I think it might just be a hit amongst electronic enthusiasts. With its perfect dimensions for TSA standards, who wouldn't wanna travel without it?

Sustainable Sandals

As part of my design thesis, Ecopala, the following are renders of footwear which re-uses materials that are derived from Hawaii's local waste stream.


Waikiki Loafers

Maui Kicks

Shaka Sandals

Waikiki Loafers II

Custom Chicago Shelves

The Chicago shaped custom shelving unit which I designed for the UIC Innovation Center is 95% done. Plenty of work has been produced since passing on my design files. Alex Jones and Andy Graham have both taken charge of the construction and finishing. Improvements have been made from the initial design as the construction dictated some changes, in many ways adding to the charm of it all. I think there's definitely an awesome factor to it, Not too shabby at all if you ask me!

Mini mock-up


View to the left


Detail


View to the right


Click here to see more pics, and here for my inspiration.