 Am I a peacock, lizard, quetzal, lemur, or dragon?...
I was hanging out with my friend and her son recently. He discovered a fallen palm leaf on the ground and immediately took to it. He started dragging it around behind him pretending to be a wondrous creature. He was any or none of those animals all at once. It was a gentle reminder that our minds have a great capacity for imagination when we let it be. He chose to be a stegosaurus. What would you be?
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 Now showing at the MOMA in NYC is a group exhibition of prominent Japanese architects that have visionary ideas on constructing spaces. This was my favorite scale model concept out of the exhibition. Some were replicas and some were concepts. I believe this one has not seen the light of day yet, but oh how wondrous it would be if it did. Walking in circles could actually be pleasurable.
 I recently dropped by the Nintendo Store in New York City to pay homage to Mario and Link. I was treated to some paper and pen design methods on display that went into making the Mario games. The red annotations are the comments that Miyamoto provided the course designer's initial layout.
 On the way to Daikokuya, my favorite ramen place in the United States - sorry Ippudo, I ran across a father and daughter trying to solve this Rubik's Cube inspired art installation piece in Los Angeles' Japantown. You could spin it on its axis and rotate the top two layers as you see the father doing. The strange part was that it seemed like you could only solve one side at a time. When you would complete a side to create a complete face, all of the other sides look garbled. Maybe the artist was trying to make some kind of statement?
 This is what guarana looks like when it's growing from a bar code. I had never heard of this plant until this last weekend. M. Butterfly ordered a "Brazilian soda" out of curiousity. Not only was it tasty, but it had great product design! Turning a commercial function of the can into a novel and fun design made me smile and feel warm and fuzzy inside. Attention to small details like this stand out especially when you are not expecting them. This is what the main can looks like. Supposedly this is the rage down south, and I don't mean the Dirty South. It's highly caffeinated. So I was only able to have a little of it. Beware if you are sensitive to caffeine.  Going to the SFMOMA is always a fun and amazing experience for me. Being back in San Francisco for the holidays, I felt drawn to drop in even though I had not checked out what was exhibiting. I was most impressed by a work done by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer entitled Frequency and Volume.
It's an engaging installation that tunes into radio frequencies based off the length of your shadow. It's really hard to describe, and it something that is better experienced. Relating to a radio frequency through my shadow was an exercise in abstraction. Moreover the piece was constructed to challenge the rights of pirate radio during a tenuous time in Mexico. If you are in the Bay area, don't sleep and make your way out to check this out. Maybe Kinect developers can get some inspiration from this piece. Watching waves of ones and zeros
Crash against the surf of snowy fields The black ether holds no warmth I sit waiting your cold judgement Calculating and unforgiving I must submit Abortions are the cost of my folly Precision in your world order Guides me to the only hope I have To find the lusty dreams I seek  This is not a full length game. But how sweet would it be if it was?!? For a bite sized dosage of delicious art style and clever puzzles, check it out. Thanks Kynan for pointing this gem out.
http://www.fastgames.com/littlewheel.html Make it a night out in Japantown of San Francisco this coming March 9th.
Come out and engage in an evening of creative dialogue with myself and brethren game makers, Jenova Chen and Suyin Looui. We will be discussing our works and brainstorming with you - the audience - on game ideas at The Play Salon. Come ready to jam! The salon is part of this year's San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF). Follow the link below for more details. Come one come all! The Play Salon March 9, 2012 7:00 pm SuperFrog Gallery 1746 Post St (at Webster), San Francisco I recently made my way over to the SFMOMA with a fellow game designer friend to geek out over Dieter Rams' works. It was inspiring to see his designs that he produced anywhere from up to 50 years ago still stand the test of time. His style is one of less is more. Yet what little he did focus on was elegant but purposeful.
One of my favorite pieces that I saw was his loudspeaker design. Being a fan of music equipment and a recreational musician, I wished that I could afford to buy this wondrous speaker. There was a familiarity to the shape and lines of this speaker while I admired it. My friend chimed in as he noticed me gawking at it. He mentioned that Apple has referenced Rams' works as a source of inspiration to their own products. That's when he dropped the knowledge on me that the speaker looked like a current iMac. I nodded my head in agreement as Rams' influence over current industrial design sunk in even further. The exhibit is coming to a close on February 20th sadly. So if you haven't already, make your way over to view some of the cleanest and innovative industrial design. |
 AuthorMichael loves making games almost as much as he does playing them. He has worked on numerous hit titles and is currently traveling the world to help fight crime and champion clean design practices. 
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