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I have exhibited 3 of the 4 days during Sino CES exhibition event in QingDao. It was quite an interesting experience for our first time exhibition. Unfortunately, there were too few visitors at the event. I believe that the promotion of the event is pretty poor. We met some potential clients, some designers and students. So we learned how to present our company. We also walked around the main exhibition where you can check out the latest consumer electronics from ChangHong, Haier, Hisense and other Chinese companies. Not impressive at all.

However, QingDao city is a nice play to for a few days. The seafood and beer is great! Especially at the ‘Beer’ Street, where the atmosphere is outstanding. The beaches are ok, but not a must go. The people are quite friendly compared to those in Shanghai. The best thing is that the weather is very comfortable. Shanghai is currently very hot and humid.

Check out a photo coverage of the exhibtion here:

Asentio Design will exhibit at the Sino CES in QingDao during 10-13 July. You can find us (and me) at our booth in the big exhibition hall. Sorry that I am not able to tell our exact location. Hope to see you around though. Iwill post pictures of the exhibition after the event.

SINOCES demonstrates the globalization of China’s consumer electronics industry and provides a platform for CE professionals who want to conduct business within China and around the globe. SINOCES is the gateway to the Chinese consumer electronics market, offering opportunities for leading consumer electronics business from China and abroad to view and showcase the latest technologies and cutting-edge products. The show is also a forum for communication between Chinese companies and their international partners. The successful partnership between SINOCES and CES, the world’s largest tradeshow for consumer technology, has attracted great attention from the global CE industry, international press and foreign governments. SINOCES is the only consumer electronics show in China certified by the US Department of Commerce export trade promotion program.

You are welcome to visit our design studio during June 26 and 27. I will be in the office at the 27th. So come on that day to meet me.

100% Design Shanghai is a unique furniture and interiors international exhibition. It provides a total new, inspiring and interactive experience. The event will be held at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre from June 26 to 28. It is especially a great occasion for networking in Shanghai.

Asentio Design will also be part of the event and one of our manager, David Williams, will discuss about the challenges and benefits of working in the new Chinese economy. Please check the program for more info.

Have you ever used the nature as an inpiration for industrial design? Janine Benyus has something to say about ‘biomimetic design‘.

Benyus is the biologist-cum-evangelist who first defined its contours in her 1997 book, Biomimcry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. In it, she detailed how companies could study nonpolluting, energy-efficient manufacturing technologies that have evolved in the natural world over billions of years, delivering in the process a lesson on the importance of living in harmony with nature.

In the ensuing decade, with concerns of sustainability coming to the fore for companies and consumers alike, Benyus has proved well placed to continue preaching her philosophy. Named by Time magazine as an environmental hero of 2007, she’s now preparing to take the wraps off the sequel book, Nature’s 100 Best Technologies, and an accompanying Web project that could, if successful, radically increase the reach of her thinking and consolidate biomimetic design as a go-to corporate sustainable strategy.

Read more about Janine Benyus at Business Weekly

Will this ‘biomimetic design‘ movement be the next trend in design? Or is it just a tool for developing solutions? Well, Nature has always been a source of inspiration for design, right? How about Leonardo da Vinci’s creations? Many of them are nature inspired. Did you know that Velcro was inspired by seed pods from a cocklebur (a tall weedy plant)?
Or how about these?

Advances in manufacturing technology and the global reach of the Internet have leveled the playing field in the product marketplace. It wasn’t long ago that time-to-market was two years, then 18 months, and then 12 months. Now, a competitor can knock off your “innovation” in six months or less. Many businesses understand that being “new” or “different” is no longer a differentiator. Countless companies are elbowing their way to the top with designs that are also “feature-rich” or “patent pending.” Innovation in product design has lost its meaning and, therefore, its value.

There is still one frontier that remains wide open: experience innovation. This is the only type of business innovation that is not imitable, nor can it be commoditized, because it is born from the specific needs and desires of your customers and is a unique expression of your company’s DNA. Yet the design of an experience is often overlooked in the rush to market.

I believe that good design is designed with the complete user experience in mind. The appearance and function of a product should indeed meet the needs and behaviour of the user within a certain context. The interaction between a product and user is influenced by the context in which the interaction will take place.
Read the whole article about meaningful experience design here

I went on a business trip in the US, California, with two colleagues from 8 to 17 April. It was my first time in the US and the first thing that impressed me, when I arrived, was the high security procedure at the airport. The other things that impressed me were the delicious steaks, burgers, donuts, friendliness of waitresses, the space (you can’t live without a car here, but in Shanghai you can) and huge houses (I visited an enormous house where you can make use of an elevator!). Ok, actually just typical American things.

Anyways, next to our business trip schedule, we visited a couple of interesting places which are:

- Google; an amazing playful office, where we had free dinner (wow, they had Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, French, etc..); we walked around the office and were stopped by a security and we were asked: ‘Are you Googlers?’ …. I should have replied: ‘Nope, but we are just googling around here, is that OK?’
Did you know that the Googlers may take theirs pet to the office?

- Apple at Infinite Loop (funny address heh?); we met Steve there, working for 16 years and responsible for some applications in OS X… heheh..not Jobs ofcourse, just another Steve

- Hollywood! Walk of fame!

- The Stinking Roses; a stinking restaurant, because the massive use of garlic..hmmm..yammie

- Disney Concert Hall in LA

- Sony store where I saw the newest OLED TV,the thinnest screen in the world

- And more places like: Astro Studios, Stanford University and Santa Cruz Beach
Check all the trip photos here

Check out Edushi.com and view different Chinese cities in pixel art format. View Shanghai ! It is really fine detailed. Enjoy

I’ve been honestly amazed at most designers’ lack of knowledge about rapid manufacturing techniques; especially since the technology opens up so many possibilities for the future of the design profession. I read all this stuff about “Design Thinking” and how “business needs to listen to (industrial) designers”, yet I don’t see much reason for them to take the people in the profession seriously. Most designers, frankly, aren’t very well educated in the systems and methodologies favored by corporations. Many designers barely have an understanding of the basic science and engineering that makes many of their designs possible. Yet the indignation among the design community is palpable. And for me, at least, it can reach embarrassing levels. So much so I find myself distancing myself from it.

An interesting thread by csven with a lot of discussion about rapid manufacturing techniques, mass customization, and more! Read and join the discussion here

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