DIY Summer Fashion Series: imagine/sketch/create (part two) – Studies for a blue jersey dress

Cymbria Fashion Sketches - Studies for a blue jersey dress to wear on a romantic dinner in Banff, Alberta

Like to take a peek at part one?

Making a statement on the golf course…

Design sketch for pink plaid, vintage style, golf pants

I’ve been looking for ways to improve my golf game that don’t involve setting up camp on David Leadbetter’s front lawn. These pants just might do the trick. They should have sufficient flair to take my shot making (or at least my mood in the face of a four putt) to the next level. You wouldn’t believe how much lower I shoot whenever (and my apologizes to Gloria Steinem) I add a skort to my swing routine. These pants could take me all the way to the LPGA!  

But then again, instead, what would happen if I spent all those hours it would take me to create the pattern, source the fabric, and sew everything together, at the driving range? Hmmm, tough choice (I know, Gloria, I know- sigh).

Current Blog Serial: Designing a Driving Range Club Carrier (Part Two)

Need to catch up on Part One?

Once you’ve defined your design problem, and listed the criteria for a successful solution, it’s on to the fun part. I like to do some initial brainstoming before following ‘official’ procedure by researching any currently available solutions. This fresh ideation is helpful because it allows the problem to be examined through its basic physical parameters without the interference of preconceptions. I believe this ‘blank canvas’ approach acts as a short-cut to new ideas and creates the best mental environment for originality and creativity. In this case, I wanted to get a feel for the weights and balance points of the ‘top weighted sticks’ in relation to my body before ever thinking of them as golf clubs.

How the 'top weighted sticks' behave when held at their balance point

Basic strap tied at balance (pivot) point to enable testing of various body orientations. Note: Hair elastic (at grips) prevents pivoting

Comfortable and stable with stap over one shoulder and shafts behind, but dangerous for urban settings. Therefore, does not meet criteria.

Equally comfortable and stable with shafts in front and club heads tucked behind arm (pulled forward for clarity in photo). Strap hooked into backpack to test ways to prevent any ’swinging’ while walking. Shafts in front create more manageable urban footprint. Note: Yes, that is tape holding my glasses together (don’t say it! don’t even think it!)

Stay tuned for part three for product research and to find out what happens when this designer gets a little too carried away with the project in Walmart!

Current Blog Serial: Designing a Driving Range Club Carrier (Part One)

"Hmmm, wish I could use the range on my walk to work..."

When faced with a problem, be it an inconvenience or a roadblock, we have two choices. We can either search available solutions and choose one to adopt, or we can move beyond the explored by designing a custom resolution in the form of a new system/device.

One of SavingCymbria’s main goals is to empower its readers by demystifying the design process. Let’s make creative problem solving accessible to everyone! Our economy has entered a state of flux, and it’s time to get creative about our futures. The days of going out to Walmart and buying cart-fulls of quick-fix gadgets are ending, and I couldn’t be happier! You are about to enter a whole new freedom – the freedom to design your own reality. Welcome home!

"If only there was an easy/safe way to carry my clubs along the bike-path and into downtown..."

The first step in any design process is to clearly define the problem:

• Lacking a convenient method for transporting 1-4 golf clubs (and minimal accessories) while walking long distances through both rural and urban environments.

Step two is to define the criteria of a successful solution:

• A lightweight, hands-free, golf club carrier, of primarily waterproof fabric construction, that would hold 1-4 golf clubs, one glove, three balls, and keys/wallet/tokens/tees. The clubs would be suspended in an orientation that would maximize comfort and spacial control (for navigating bike-path/sidewalk crowds). The device would have attractive technical styling, and would be novel enough to attract the curiosity of interested buyers.

Note: Squatting mid-round for some ideation sketching is the quickest way to dull your tees, not to mention freak out the rest of your foursome!

Stay tuned for Part Two to find out how my hair elastic gets involved…

Ergonomic Task Management (for all us laypeople)

In its simplest definition, ergonomics is the study of how best to tailor our work to our selves. Detailed anthropometric data on our physical capabilities (ie: height, reach, length of thumbs) has helped designers improve the comfort and efficiency of everything from our workstations to our can openers. Our office chairs are adjustable, our keyboards curved; the screens on our ATMs are all a certain height. But you don’t need a degree to make your workstation more ergonomic. Any job/task can be modified to be made more efficient. And it’s not all about the height of your chair either; try incorporating your own behavioural patterns into task management, along with any quantitative measurements. The only thing you need to know is…

You.

Let me demonstrate by applying my industrial design training to basic data entry…

In the above example, my boss asked me to modify (and/or re-enter) dozens of lines of data that had been adjusted since their initial entry. The data consisted of numbers (no discernable pattern), and the lines to be changed were located randomly throughout the document. Keeping everything 100% accurate (and in proper order) was paramount.

What do I know about ‘me’?
1)  I naturally write at a slight angle to the page.
2)  I automatically press the backspace key when I make a mistake.
3)  I have the number pad memorized (wondering how?)
4)  I get motion sick very, very easily

How did I use this self-knowledge?
1)  Because my body positions itself naturally (and therefore most comfortably) at an slight angle to any print work, I taped the paper at the same angle – although it’s a bit hard to tell from the photo.

2)  Taping a visual cue over the backspace key was the only way I found to stop my finger from unconsciously pressing the button.

3)  Since I have the pad memorized, I kept my eyes on the paper and both hands on the keyboard. One hand worked the tab key to skip data sets, while the other ‘owned’ the number pad.

4)  I tend to get nauseous when I’m overloaded with visual stimuli or when my eyes switch focus too frequently. Yah, I’m a real treat to ride the bus with. I always try to nab the front seat in cars, and the same principle works for data entry – keeping everything front and center. I slid the cardstock (and scotch tape) frame down the page to isolate each data line. Similarly, the screen was shrunk to limit the lines shown, and was moved to the bottom of the monitor to be as close to the paper as possible (to reduce eye movement).

Note: My coworker, when faced with the same task, memorized the numbers on the page so she could keep her eyes on the number pad while typing (unlike myself, she didn’t have it memorized). She reorganized the setup of the task to cater to her individual strengths. Kudos.

Let me tell you a secret…
You already know all about ergonomic task management; you apply its principles every day. The key is to practice it consciously. There is an incredible amount of flexibility in even the most structured environments. You may only have space and permission for micro-adjustments, but even those can have a phenomenal impact on your comfort and efficiency. So next time you’re washing the dishes, or writing up a memo, take a blank-canvas look at the task in relation to you and your environment, and make it your own!

A glimpse into the creative process…

The "Dirty Work"

How does an idea evolve? The example on the right shows scraps from the natural evolution of the “molecular diagram” card from my latest post: Looking for great birthday card ideas? The top left shows the original family tree sketch before it morphed into the rough molecular diagram below (bottom left). Brainstorming for general ideas, and specific nomenclature, takes up the rest of the page, and what about those strange random rectangles in the top corner?

Some deeply sourced philosophical breakthrough was trying to claw its way out of my subconscious and express itself on the page in a wild desperate push to communicate its glorious insight to a lost and lonely world… obviously. This unrealized idea, translucent in our world, was as yet too abstract to speak in all but the simplest forms of our visual language. Sigh, I wonder. Yes, I wonder what it means. Although, something tells me that “Stop doodling and get to work!“ would be a pretty good guess!

Who says Vogue isn’t relevant!

“They were charming eccentrics with marvelous imaginations, and there is so little room these days for wonderful people like that.” – William Norwich, April Vogue 2009

Norwich may have been writing about East Hampton’s two reclusive Edith Beales, circa 1976, but his comment on our culture is remarkably shrewd. When did we stop valuing creativity? Imagination? When it stopped making money, that’s when. So… why did we decide to stop buying?

Do you mean to imply I’m not in “Vogue”?

“Thompson is preparing an organic lunch of thinly sliced fillet of beef with salsa verde, shiitake mushrooms, caramelized onions, and crisped mashed potatoes at her renovated, environmentally friendly 1862 brownstone in Brooklyn Heights, decorated with Russian Empire furniture, contemporary Russian art, hundreds of books and prints, and children’s toys and playthings – nothing plastic, naturally.” – William Norwich in September 2008 Vogue Magazine

Just when you thought you had your life together, along comes a “Russian-born and Stanford University-educated” New York photographer’s wife to put us all to shame. Sigh. Gotta love Vogue. They’re always a little tongue-and-cheek about it though. I mean really, a paragraph like the one above couldn’t have been written in earnest. Or could it? Oh William, did you really mean to set the bar so high? Are we humble folk, whose potatoes are merely mashed without the crisping, doomed to wallow in our overly plasticised existences forever? Shiitake…is all I have to say about that.

How to make sure no one steals your office supplies

Post this delightful family portrait where your office keeps its supplies, and your coworkers will be far less likely to make off with the staplers. Plus, you’ll have a visual lineup to back you up when you catch them hording the tape dispensers.

“Google image” search (top left in blue on google main page) your supplies. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you can find near-exact representations. Copy/paste these into Word, or use this template of the sign above.

“Awww cute,” they’ll say, till the sign helps you nab your boss for kidnapping one of the twins *wink.

Introducing Lou Lou de Milo!

A mud spattered white pickup pulls up to the curb. The driver leans over and rolls open the passenger window. He calls out to me on the sidewalk. “Hey, I’ve got a dead body in the bed of my truck here. Want it?”

“Sure do!” I say, without a second’s hesitation.

He jumps out and races round to the back of his truck. We’re doing this in public, at a downtown intersection. The handoff has got to be quick. I pass him a couple of folded bills. He lifts the torso, hidden under a dark green garbage bag, off the bed and places her gently in my arms.

“She’s lighter than I thought,” I say.

“Ya I know,” says the man. “My wife says she’s in good shape.”

I stand her up beside me, cloaked in her garbage bag, for the elevator ride back up to my office. The businessman beside me looks bemused.

“Any guesses?” I ask. Only her metal support pole and four legged base are clear of the bag.

“Hmmmm, a mannequin?”

“How did you know?” I ask.

He points at two small rises in the plastic. “I can see the breasts.”

Sigh. Men.

*************************************
I found Lou Lou on Kiijii. I’ve wanted a dress form for years, but it’s never been the right time, place, or price – until now. How did I name her? I couldn’t resist the “de Milo”, taken from the legendary Venus de Milo sculpture. The Lou Lou is in honour of Loulou de la Falaise, Yves Saint Laurent’s Parisian muse. She collaborated, inspired, and supported him in his atelier from 1972 though to his retirement in 2002.

Just days before the “dead body” incident, I stumbled upon the most amazing movie while channel surfing. It was a quiet, intimate documentary that took fashion lovers behind the scenes of YSL’s spring/summer 2001 collection. Loulou was always by Saint Laurent’s side, draping models with bolts of gorgeous soft silk florals, daring her mentor to stretch his creativity. I can only hope my Lou Lou will do the same for me.

DIY Summer Fashion Series: imagine/sketch/create (part one)

An idea takes form

out of a swirl of fabric

and a page of gemstones

Imagine a dress of

the lightest fabric

weighted by secret

flashes of bright stone

imagine/sketch/create

Click here for part 2!

Gladiator sandal trend could have shortened Iraq war

Ah yes, my ears are still ringing with the roar of the arena. Russell Crowe, circa 2000 AD, muscles bulging under sweat oiled brown skin, soaks the hot sand of the Colosseum with the blood of his enemies. Sure, we all wanted a piece of him (oops, I mean of the action), but was anyone really thinking “ooooo I’d love a pair of those sandals. What delightful footwear, so stylish and eminently practical.”? While it’s true that the gladiator sandal is the go-to shoe when it comes to protecting your shins from those pesky 5th Avenue gladius weilding dog walkers, Mondrian themed tan lines are not the best way to accessorise your vintage Yves Saint Laurent.

The gladiator sandal trend has followed the classic pattern. Just like when learning a brand new word, the trend always looks awkward and ungainly the first few times you see it in action. But then it slowly worms its way into your vocabulary, and before you know it, you start seeing sentences (and short black jersey dresses) that just wouldn’t look right with anything else. 

For those of us in the “know”, the gladiator has already begun to look (how do I put this?) “un peut passé”. It’s time to move on to other synonyms. It’s time to get in tight with its relatives. It’s time to stop messing around with these metaphors and get down to business.

So then what do we put on our feet? You can go with a more subtle version of the trend, or my favorite alternative: flat (or slight wedge) heel, and a non-superfluous system of dark leather straps featuring a bronze embellished T-strap and a single ankle strap (set low on the ankle to visually maximize leg length). I’d link to a pair, but I’m still hunting for them ; )  

The best part of the gladiator trend is its irony. Thousands of New York (and millions of american)fashionistas have wholeheartedly embraced a trend with decidedly middle eastern roots. The saying “to understand someone, walk a mile in their shoes” has never been more apropo. But it’s too late for the one pair of feet that really matter. If Hillary was still in the race, America might have a chance. Cultural understanding starts from the ground up (heehee possibly literally in this case). But something tells me Barack wouldn’t be too gung-ho about strapping his calves into these puppies. Someone should remind him, or Mccain (if that’s how it pans out), that the greatest warriors in history were, like, so, all over the gladiator trend in their day. The Coloseum’s arena was oval wasn’t it *wink*

(comic source: fashionista.com)

“Heather’s Hermes bag sits on a Consuelo Castiglioni rug…” – Harper’s Bazaar

The lives of the mega rich are so very different from our own. Privileged women like ”Heather”, who thoughtfully married two rich men (consecutively, though concurrently would have been far more efficient) don’t even have closets. All new clothing/accessories acquisitions go straight into: “Heather’s meticulously organized wardrobe area” – Harper’s Bazaar

Advice from a genius

My Father is a renaissance man. He’s a stunningly amazing artist/inventor/physicist. The painting above is an example of his work (note: my apologies for the black distraction). But besides giving us a new visual language, the theory of the universe, and a revolutionary downhill ski, he is also the source of the most brilliant piece of advice I have ever heard…

“Put on a fresh pair of socks halfway through the day.” -David Fels

That’s it. Do it every day, and your life will never be the same.

Coming soon

Coming soon…