http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/1-13-2005-64166.asp

This is one of the most interesting websites i have found in a long time.

It gives general meaning to all colour choices and usage - which most people know when it comes to using their common sense however what is more fascinating about it is it then goes into details about what different colours mean in different cultures.

For example where we see green as very positive and ecologically minded in China if a man wears a green hat it means his wife is cheating on him and so can be associated with many negative issues. Whereas red which we see as a negative colour associating it with danger they associate with luck and prosperity. In many ways these developing courties are almost opposites to western coutries.

More interestingly blue is considered a very positive colour and is widely known as the safest colour choice for many. In countries such as China blue is known as immortatlity and all things future forward. As a result of this that is why my focus for my final product is about blue and water.

Also the caption of green by stealth should almost be changed to blue by stealth !

what technology?

advancments in RDIF could be a consideration however it was really interesting to see this article. I wanted to develope something which could be done in the near future, and this certainly makes it seem like it could be possible.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7997961.stm

understand who you are selling to

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_47/b3960003.htm

This article shows quite how hard it can be to understand the young chinese market. Sony's approach seems logical and well thought through, maybe this is a better approach to take and build a consumer profile? It also emphasises thier want for product that are designed for them and thier needs over something which has been done in the west and sent over. It also becomes obviouse that their have a very high view of design and see this as a method of developing your competitivness as a company.

360 degrees

Having met up with geoff yesterday i fear i have taken the wrong track. Where as before i had taken the route of simplicity is best i had forgotten about the high technology drive in many of these developing countries and so simplicity could be seen as too simple. As a result im doing a 360 on the principle of my sketches and instead looking at highly techniqual but still with a plug in and go mentality. From this i have looked at what technology trends are most popular in these countries for example China and mobile phones maybe the concxept could be some form of visual phone application ?

energy challenge results so far

Feedback has been good so far. The oldest of the test groups has brought some interesting results with referance to inclusive design. For example the guide would need to be visable from above as one of the males who participated struggles to bend down to turn the plugs off. So the function of turning off the switch could maybe also do with revision - ergonomics and inclusive design. Another issue riased was the success of the chart acting as a reminder, so maybe something which sparks an emotion or memory to give the consumer some form of an emotional attatchment to the energy they use would be more beneficial.

Design is a social Language !

What else can i say about this title. In many ways i think it summarises everything i want this self directed project to be and how i want my sollution to work.

Vampire energy

I saw this picture in a national geographic which really sparked my inspiration. This picture represents the fact that even when appliances are turned off if they are not turned off at the wall they still pull off energy. This is known as vampire energy which can account to around 8 percent of a house's electrical bill !

so where do we loose the most energy?

According to national geographic and and the Energy Information Administration our houses is one of the biggest culprits. Many houses use primarily electricity in the house as our source of energy however we lost 89.3 million BTU (british thermal units) per house in 2006 this is partly because electricity is transpoted via transmission lines and so it is estimated that for every kilowatt hour used we loose 2.2 kilo watt hours as the energy is generated and transmitted.

As a result of this even the smallest changes we make in the house can make a large impact for example if you cut back your energy usage by 10 kilowatt hours a week you would save 32 kilowatt hours. This would add up to 1664 kilowatt hours a year !

In terms of CO2 emmissions if we all converted half of our lightbulbs to compact flourecents we would cut our lighting CO2 emmissions by 36% or 42.4 million tons a year !

a picture speaks a thousand words

With referance to many developing countries they are becomeing increasing technology advanced and are catching up with western society's however in terms of communication they are still decades behind. As a result of this i am keen to develope a product which aims to elimate the need for communication, something which can be understood without the need for language.

choose a side?

I have decided the particular focus of this project is going to look at energy usage. China is very good at recycling in terms of paper and plastic etc however it is the largest culpret in the world when it comes to CO2 emmission surpassing america last year by a reported 8%.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007/10/24/Cement_Clinker.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/on_the_hit_para.php&usg=__5mO3ZFaaeJ1cSSeNn9xyRyp94tE=&h=360&w=360&sz=44&hl=en&start=62&um=1&tbnid=cOa0XUr-0qVd4M:&tbnh=121&tbnw=121&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchinese%2Bco2%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN%26start%3D54%26um%3D1

I think you could also hit it from an interesting point of view in terms of not just preaching about saving the earth but also saving money.