Tag Archives: soft

The term Blobjects was coined in the 1990’s to represent an emerging trend in product design. Blob-Objects were increasingly finding favor with designers who were empowered by the ability of new 3D CAD software to sculpt and deform organic shapes. This most likely emerged as a counter to the more...

We are surrounded by objects that are constantly fighting for our visual attention. From consumer electronics like TVs and smartphones, to consumer packaged goods like cereal, detergent, or soda, from fashion to furniture, the products we depend on in our lives are always shouting “Look at me! Pay attention to...

Some aesthetic themes arise purely as a counterpoint to an established visual mode. For decades, we’ve surrounded ourselves with increasingly polished, seamless, perfect objects; from smartphones to automobiles, the stylistic vector has been ever towards shiny, sleek, rational, and technological. Made by machines, with all hints of an artisanal human...

The use of Arcs and Ellipses to define physical shapes is a Declining Trend. For some perspective on this form/graphic design element’s origin: designers in the mid to late 1990s were extremely fond of putting arcs and ellipses on anything that wasn’t nailed down. The advent of 3D CAD modeling...

Vacuum forming has long been a favorite design medium: there is an element of mystery as the inner object pushes through a plane of material, resulting in an interplay between the underlying form and the overlying plane. Typically this production method has been reserved for large, simple plastic enclosures such...

There is always an effort to humanize our technology. Technology’s most raw forms typically start with harsh geometries and cold, precise materials as a result of the production process. Much of the function of the design industry as a whole is countering the harshness of tech: softening, inviting, comforting, empowering...