how can a line be straight from one angle, and curvy from another?
I turn the watch over and look and turn again.
what is happening?
it is all angles and shapes.
it’s all curves and lines
its all male and female
unexpected angles, unusual proportions
I can keep discovering
a few discoveries
Object in General
Inside Object
Colours Object
Important Things About Object
Feels Like
The Conceptual Inspiration
The object is something you can put in your pocket –> Keys –> Keys have sharp edges –> The object has sharp edges inside the outside sleeve –> Why not make a form that you can put around the key to solve the problem of the sharp edges.
Transparent
Deformed letters and symbols when you look through the glass
Reflections
Another object that fascinates me is a lamp.
Today I came to realize that they actually are brother and sister.
Two elements: Shiny transparent fragile glass
Strong cap/top made out of other material, nontransparent
Symmetry
As less as possible. Form follows function. No extra’s.
The main ingredients
Some sketches
My black leather boots; have a kind of cool “Bob Dylan look”. - to me kind of ironic, cause I’m not cool at all… They look feminine and wrinkly, and feel hard and soft. Lines both straight and curvy. Everyday they elevate and fall following an ongoing rythm.
In one piece, its hideous.
I really dislike poodles.
So the fact that it is a poodle,
is not important to me at all.
But when I take it apart
I have thirteen nice looking pieces,
so actually i have thirteen objects.
As a whole, I like how the shape fits in my hands.
And i can feel the cuts.
It reminds me of a butchers cut.
Take the poodle apart,
and more interesting shapes will appear.
I like how one piece turns into thirteen pieces, and the other way around.
I like that it becomes more interesting when you take it apart.
Form-wise I like how the organic shapes meet straight cuts.
And that I can not recognize the poodle in it anymore.
It is beautiful how you have male- and female-forms.
And that you can mingle the pieces too make even more strange shapes.
If you have only one piece, the function dissapears.
And all you have is the form.
A little machine with rumbling boilers, brass fittings.
A clumsy black rubber knob and sharp metallic lines.
A repetition of lines that make a symmetry of circles, hexagons and octagons.
A simplistic and minimal ripped off design for the shape.
A mass-produced iconic object that created controversy amongst people.
A task to dissect the aesthetics of my object.
Typical late sixties, early seventies design, used for all kinds of objects.
The strange yellow surface of the briefcase, what probably pretends to be leather, has become dirty because of use. Coloured stencil ink has enriched its surface. 
The Diagonal Star puzzle is a three-dimensional geometrical assemble made by six symmetrical wooden pieces.
Whether the interest for this object is practical or artistically, the solution is originated in mathematics, and there is only one way to interlock it. Fixing the six modules in to a pair of two mirror-image halves.
An interesting point of the visual part of this object is that if one module is looked at from the flat side, it will seem squared. But when it is assembled, this point of the piece will disappear.
Further study of this object can be to change the design of the colors or pattern, to then create a new shape as an optical illusion.
When I saw the bracelet , I was instantly in love with it. It looked simple but at the same time when you looked closer and zoomed in you see so much detail in the bracelet.
The first thing that caught my eye was the material..
They used 2 materials;wood and synthetic thread, wood is a natural material and the thread is not a natural material, but together they form one object, because they are so well combined and melted together.
The shape of the flower on the bracelet is very curved. You see seven round circles layered on each other, you see a movement in it. What I really like is that you can see how the bracelet is made, you see how the circles are connected with each other using the thread..
Yes, these parfume makers sure know how to do it.
ORGANIC CUTS GOLD PINKISH HUE CRYSTAL PRINCESS LIGHT HEAVY BALANCED
What interests me is the part where the glass meets the lid. And the relationship between the glass, the black in the logo and the gold of the lid. It’s about absolute balance here and the elements chosen.
It’s also a big pleasure to hold it. The size matters a great deal.
I think I’m going to make a watch. A watch that you always want on your wrist, that’s a bit elegant but still earthly and organic.With a balance between the weight of the bracelet and the watch itself. With the balance between the gold and the glass or leather.
Mr. Henk just loves his iPhone. Mr. Henk just loves books too, but soon there will be the iPad. The iPad may mark the end of the book as we know it. So all good things must go, and in a few years graphic design won’t be the same. Guttenberg’s Galaxy has stood out for centuries, with the printed book as the ultimate vessel for information, but through cyberspace we enter a different world.
It’s kind of sad, but inevitable, or is it? I picked up You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers from my McSweeney’s bookshelf as my favorite object. Even though the book in it’s printed form may no longer be necessary, you still got to have McSweeney’s books. They are true gifts, things to keep, little treasures.
YSKOV is made of pure, traditional materials, the cover is made of simple cardboard and the typeface is classical. But then the book starts on the cover with page one, which caused some fuzz when it first came out. The inside is on the outside, uncovered. YSKOV breaks with some other graphic and literary conventions along the way, while staying true to the book form.
A book is a book is a book. Period. It consists of a cover containing bound double-sided printed pages, easy to store, easy to look through. The book form just worked, so for a long time nobody changed the formula in general, unless the publisher was interested in fiction or graphic design.
By the way, McSweeney’s has an iPhone application, loving old media, but not falling behind. Actually, it started out a decade ago as a blog. You can find everything about McSweeney’s here.
Finally, you might also want to listen to this: The Ballad Of T. McSweeney
strange balance of a round thing, looks crooked, not everything is possible.
giving direction to a circle
The object in which I’ve stumble upon, has no more than refined curves. The sensuality in which it carries its shape generates pleasure to the eyes. It invites you to caress its smooth curves and smell every inch of its pronounced surface. Once you’ve done it you will not want to be without it.
I like boxes. Small boxes, big boxes, secret boxes. The fact that I can put something inside, hide it, and get it out again is magical to me.
This particular box is my favourite. It is a small tin one made in 1980 to keep your cigarettes from crushing.
I like the worn out look, faded gold paint and the scratches. The old and nostalgic look and feel of the little box. The very simple shape, a flat container part and a lid, all made out of one material. The only part that is not made out of tin is the pin that connects the lid to the box.
That connection part is simply some bent tin and that little metal pin. And it works really well, for 30 years already. I also really like the curled edges of the lid, that make it seem fragile, but actually make the box more practical.
The way the tin is bent to get the square shape reminds me of the way an envelope, or a sheet of paper is bent.
I think it’s nice that such a solid and sustainable, but decorative and unnecessary little object has such a humble and straightforward feel and look to it.
Form did not follow function.
This exercise device that is designed to keep your waist in fantastic condition is visually something that could almost be an illustration or of decorative means in its most minimal way.
Symbolizing absolutism, the circle plate, based upon Eucledean’s geometry, with its round corners on the edges and the repetitive voluminous round-shaped lines add a wavy aspect to the object, give it air and continuity.
The tailor L-square ruler initiated a harsh thinking process, cracking my brain for hours what I could do with it. This because that ruler is only a tool. Its design is completely determined by its use. No colors. No plastic. No juts. No fuss.
I even got the advice to choose another object and instead use the ruler to make the product.
I thought of making frames and bracelets, of cups and calendars, but none of them could exist in a 90° shape without being a concept or contain a story.
So, what object can contain the same language as my lovely ruler?
It appeared to be as simple.
A table. A beautiful table, out of one piece of metal, no fuss.
A round table with L-square legs.
A chair.
Made only as tools. The design is established by its use.
I owe a lot to Arnold Merckx.
This pipe is a monument.
The company designed the pipe to be feminine. An infinity triangle , with an elitistic and delicate exterior shape, but at the same time graphic and geometric. Frail but strong.
A woman.
The pipe contains more shapes in the shape. Pipoo 8 has three shapes. The lower dark trapezium made of briar, the transparent upper part made of acrylic and a black plastic cylinder.
We can admire her. How two different materials become unified shapes that contain inside the black cylinder, making a unity of one strict object. There is no possibility to change it, I must accept how it is.
About 15 cm long, it can become part of your body but you can also compare it to a Bic, looking like something alien.
It’s gorgeous.
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I chose my bike. My bike which colours I find hideous, leaving me no option but to rely on shape alone.
Trying to get something out of it I tried to draw the bike over and over again, varying sizes or distance between the individual elements that construct the whole. At one point I did a gestural drawing of the bike.
My eyes constructed the shape in front of me, following the bike around it’s wheel, to the seat, which pointed ahead at the handlebars, which led me, because of the slant of the bars, back to the wheel and the cycle (no pun intended) continues. They don’t flow into one another; they point and lead.
The design literally becomes “eyecatching” disallowing my escape from it; I have to regard and analyze the object. Even an attempt at escape is completely useless as I would only slip back into the shape because of the curves and leads.
An intriguing notion, an object that makes one look, if even for a second longer.
Shape as language- If shape has its own language then what does it communicate?
I never looked into the details of my Shu Uemura’s Eyelash Curler before. By zooming into its shape my eyes follow the flow of wire. 
Its thickness growing from small to big. Fluently going from one piece to another.
The angle in which the object is fixed is very specific. Concluding from the way this object effortlessly works my eyelashes it can be said that the shape of the angle follows its function.
Whereas the fixed angle is a practical decision, other details such as the continuity of wire and the way the different pieces are held together seem to be more than just practical. The flow of wire suggest that the least material was used making it a practical choice. However the screws which hold the two pieces together make this choice not merely practical because the screws have smooth curved heads instead of e.g. crossheads. This decision reinforces the flow of the object making it therefore also an aesthetical choice.
So this flow of wire shaping the eyelash curler adds up to an elegant design.
Sound.
Heads turn.
What arrives?
What passes by?
Research.
Male tango shoes.
Makes sense.
Quite feminine, though.
Androgynous.
Turkish shoemaker fixed them.
20 euro’s.
Cheap.
“Beautiful, around thirty years old.”
Leather, black, a hint of wood.
Ten little holes.
Thin black laces.
Simplicity.
The Casio F-91w is a watch that intrigued me in the first place because of his simple structure. It’s not heavy, easy to wear and no unnecessary elements. The watch explains itself. With this I mean that the shape shows the function, which is something many designers don’t do anymore these days. Other aspects that I like are the geometric shapes, colours and the simplicity of the sound and buttons.
The longer you look at the watch, the more you will find out the square with cut edges is repeated many times in different ways like the form stretches or the edges at the end of the watch. The designer didn’t only repeat this square, he also repeated other elements like lines and typography.
Since this watch turned out for me to be mainly about repeatence, I chose to use this in my next design.
I live in a place with a lot of stuff which are not mine. Some I find ugly, some I find nice, but there is one thing in this home which get a lot of my attention since I moved in. I have a lot of feelings for this thing. It’s a love- hate relationship. It’s with the Silicone Strainer.
It looks at me when I sit in the kitchen, it screams “USE ME” to me. But I do not use it… I do not want to put my food in it, something is holding me back all the time. When I touch it, it reminds me of human skin, but the crazy thing about it is that it also looks like a kids toy only there’s no game for it.
The strainer is so intriguing to me, I have been thinking about it a lot. Silicone has got some interesting qualities; it can stand heat, it feels nicer when it gets wet then when it’s dusty, it’s easy to clean and because it is so flexible it doesn’t take much space.
And then another very important thing is… the form! It’s so nice! And the metal grip fits so well with the silicone. So now I will use all these things I have been thinking about to make a new design.
The object I brought has a function of a noserinser. For most people it strikes as a sexual object due to it’s shapes. I think this is interesting.
It is egg shaped and there is a fallic shape growing out of it. It’s made out of ceramics and has a nice glaze. The colour is white with some small imperfections in the glazing. Even though it’s hollow it has a certain weight to it. It looks simple, but it has some interesting details such as the rounded endings and the transition from one shape to another. Another practical detail is the measuring line up to where you fill it with water. It is just a seam but it’s not carved in, it must have been made directly on the throwing table.
The object attracts to touch, and looks easy to grab. I also think it refers to some kind of artifact, it could maybe be a water can, wine carafe, tea pot or something completely else. I find it interesting in it’s simplicity.
