Pellegrino Design

New Resume... thoughts?

2011-05-02T21:02:00.000-07:00

Des Comm

2009-12-16T12:05:00.001-08:00

How to Improve Des Comm

Well, first of all cut down on the blog assignments. We put those to the backburner and I'm not sure writing this much about design helped me immensely. Some good things came from it, so I'd say keep it but cut it down to maybe just one post a week? It just bogged us down really.

I like how this Des Comm differed from Tony's in that it was experimental and was not the same three or four projects recycled over and over. It also introduced new ways of thinking: Do a simple 3D model to get perspective right then sketch over it to make better sketches? PREPOSTEROUS! I also liked having to hang up work, it forced us to get better.

All in all, a successful Des Comm.

-Flex

My Work and My Goals

2009-12-16T11:48:00.000-08:00

Well this quarter still felt like a little bit of the same: rushing around to finish a project and not getting all the stuff into it I wanted. That's the first step in solving the problem. I need to be more decisive and confident when designing.

My work this quarter wasn't bad, but it could have been much better. I like half of my USB projects, the other half is phooey. My storyboard had potential, but fizzled hard. My Coke machine had a really nice render, but I needed more after-market Photoshop done to it. And my workstation had a really nice chair but the desk and stand left me (and the critiquers) wanting.

My goals for Spring are: Get started early, Get better at sketching (again) and Be Spectacular.

The first two are self-evident, the third is a motto used by my grade-school baseball coach. He always told us to never be afraid to do something great, that's how you win games (and look sweet.) I figure after 4 years it's about time I did something that blew minds.

-Flex

The Excitement of Beverage Design

2009-12-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

I like this final project. We get to do something that can be pure fun and not drenched in "research" and "human factors." Notice I use quotes because honestly all the stuff we did for Tony feels like complete bull-plop.

I had the hardest time coming up with something to design on. Of course Pat had a sweet idea right off the bat to curing hiccups that was original and funny and posed a decent design challenge. Damn him.

But making this personal mix machine I feel lets me show a little more personality than normal, and that's what I need to employ more in my designs.

-Flex

Instead of an interview....

2009-12-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

As opposed to me actually interviewing a designer, here's an interview with Jonathan Ive done by Nick Carson of TEN4 magazine.

Ive is notoriously British; meaning he's self-effacing, private, and likes to solve problems. The best quote from this conversational interview is "We try to solve very complicated problems without letting people know how complicated the problem was." That to me is what Industrial Design should be about. Not fancy renderings with farkles and really hot highlight lines but a problem solved beautifully.

-Flex

Yum Yum Beverage Design

2009-12-15T22:58:00.000-08:00

And Now Here's Something We Think You'll Really Like!

This Blog, hmm...

2009-12-15T22:41:00.000-08:00

Well, this is going to sound harsh, but....

I don't like blogs as communication tools for design.

Or at least not this one.

Let me explain: I'm old-fashioned. I don't subscribe to 12 different blogs about design because I really don't care to read that many or keep up with reading what "experts" say. I do like Core77; it posts news and reviews on products and it's easily accessible to the casual reader.

Our blogs are another story. We didn't read each other's blogs. I read a few people's entries at the beginning of the quarter but trailed off. Reading what classmates have to say about a designer with good visualization skills doesn't make my rendering go faster. Ya dig? If we had a design-related question, we talked about it since we saw each other 18 hours a day. I'm pretty sure outside of our class, no one knows about our blogs or what we say on design.

A blog has potential to be a great communicator for design. Specifically, an established body or person (Core77, if Karim Rashid had a blog) with a large following could really reach a lot of people with good info. Maybe even M. Roller with Kaleidoscope, but it comes down to what can I fit into my day that will help this project get done and get good? Our blogs just didn't fit.

-Flexo

Did I meet my goals? Maybe...

2009-12-15T22:32:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of this quarter, my goals were to improve my sketching, improve my visual communication skills and improve my portfolio. I believe I've done all these, but definitely not to the degree I wanted.

I have gotten a little better at sketching. I'm getting a tiny bit quicker with pen and I'm getting a tiny bit more confident in my lines. But I'm nowhere near where I want to be, and that's on me.

I've improved a tiny bit at visually communicating. My final board for Tony was actually my best yet. However, it still didn't communicate all the things I wanted it to, and I found myself using a few too many hand gestures and verbal explanations again. One word: ARROWS! Highlighted call-outs would improve that too.

My portfolio is starting to come together, but it is still populated with Sophomore work and the biggest change I made was remodeling my Power Tool into something more palatable and squishing it in there. It doesn't blow me away, and that needs to happen.

How do I solve this game of improving-by-inches? Co-op. No movies or TV after work. It's sketching, modeling and revamping time, baby. Not being distracted with the fancies of campus life or nice weather should help.

-Flex

My Strengths

2009-12-15T22:23:00.000-08:00

What are my strengths? Well, 3D modeling, detailing, and practicality. Really broad, yes, but these are traits I feel stand out more in me than some other design students.

3D modeling is easy to summarize; I'm good at making 3D models and I can identify a problem with a given model fairly well.
Detailing refers to my attention to little details in designs. Things like how one little screw will have to go just there to work or what tolerance I need for this hinge to pivot like that. I can get too far in to points where details don't even matter, so I do have to watch that.
I belive that we design things to be used first, fawned over at later. If something I create looks good but doesn't work, then I not a designer I'm an artist. I always try to design for the real world; form following function.

I focus these strengths as organic attachments of each other. In English: my 3D modeling would not be as impressive without my attention to minute details like designing parts to have a .125 mm tolerance. Being able to use a practical design in real life defines what those minute details must be.

-Flex

Storyboard Work

2009-12-15T22:12:00.001-08:00

The problems of current ophthalmology workstations; an attempt to describe the troubles of both patient and practitioner.

-Flex

Innovation

2009-12-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

Innovation: IN-no-VAY-shun, (n): buzzword created by men in suits to make it look like they are inventing new and useful things. found to be false 97% of the time.

In all seriousness, "innovation" should only be applied to a new creation that solves problems and employs some new method of thinking or doing. For example, replacing a key ignition with a push button start: not really innovative. You got rid of the key, but you can still misplace your keyless entry fob so it does no outstanding good. The Nissan Cube being designed by a product designer with no "brand DNA" but rather a look at how the car can be formed to better serve the driver: I'd vote innovative. It's a new way of looking at a product that's been around for a century and is a staple in most people's lives.

-Flex

Second USB Bit

2009-12-15T21:48:00.000-08:00

The finished Sketch Render and Slightly Photoshopped Final Rendering.

-Flex

Jeff West- Storyboarder

2009-12-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

While looking for inspirational storyboards, I came across a pretty sweet (in my opinion) artist named Jeff West. The work I saw was for an upcoming TV movie called Vampire Bats.

What I like about his style is not only its full range of values but also the motion and emotion he portrays. Looking throughout his gallery of work, I can see his characters have a lot of movement in both their form and their expressions. His work ranges from personal concept work to commissioned illustrations and comic books.

Another thing I like about his work is that no two illustrations look the same across different "jobs," but they all have a slightly cartoonish flair that unifies them. Traits such as huge eyes, dramatic poses and expressions that are just a bit too big to be physically possible tie his pieces together.

-Flex

USB Work and Visualization Lessons

2009-12-15T20:58:00.000-08:00

The USB boards...

Three things I've learned about visualization:
1)Sketch till your hand falls off. This gets ALL your ideas out of your head and onto paper so everyone else can see how (un)creative you are.
2)Organize by idea. Meaning, using one page or set of pages to explore similar looks on one idea helps keep you focused and allows you to explore one ideation better.
3)Start off with no reservations. Let all your crazy ideas get out, and then trickle down into sanity, because you never know what off-the-wall concepts may just work out.

-Flex

Inspiring Designer

2009-12-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

Watching the interview with former BMW Design Director Chris Bangle in Objectified definitely clarified his way of designing cars. Highly controversial, heavily critiqued, and definitely successful, Bangle and his designs revolutionized BMW's brand.

To paraphrase his Objectified interview, Bangle broke down car design as "taking a hunk of metal, glass & plastic and shaping it into something beautiful." I like how he simplified it into what car manufacturing and design physically is- making a pretty shape out of materials.

He was known for his "flame-surfacing" technique, meaning he designed a car's surfaces to reflect light in a dancing flame pattern when in motion. This is the only instance where I've read someone designing car aesthetics with the vehicle's primary function-- driving-- in mind. When you think about it, all the really "cool" renderings of cars are of some uber-reflective thing one inch off the ground in a desert with a perfect blue sky reflecting a perfect image on its perfectly polished chrome wheels. How often do you see that?

I find Bangle inspiring because he is a highly successful, highly controversial designer who, after he broke down car design to the basics, then infused it with something more: an emotional experience. "A car is your avatar, you choose it (usually) because it tells the outside world something about you."

-Flex

Portfolio Post

2009-12-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, so uploading images isn't my forte just yet, but here are some teasers and the link to my portfolio...

Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!

And by Johnny, I mean a link to my portfolio as of October 2009.

Technologies I should have used....

2009-12-15T17:13:00.001-08:00

So I didn't exactly utilize a ton of intense technologies in my workstation, instead just assuming a touchscreen system would work for Tony. When the critiquers mentioned we should have pushed the envelope, I got to thinking of what tech I SHOULD have used....

1)Hydraulics- the exquisite art of pushing a liquid down (or up) to push something else down (or up). Looking back at some of the older Ophthalmology projects, most of them substituted one-touch hydraulic systems for the lead counterweights used to raise and lower the instrument delivery arms.

2) Pneumatics- Functionally the same as hydraulics, but using compressed air instead of liquids. Could have gotten tricky with all the precision movements required, but isn't that what design school is for? Pushing the envelope and making mistakes?

3) Touchscreen/wireless capability- I actually did use this in my project, but I didn't explain it well or really call out how the system worked together-- mostly because I wasn't entirely sure myself. The easy answer was everything was connected through Bluetooth and the touchscreen monitor did it all: lights, chair movement, delivery system. Thankfully, no one at the critique called me out on it; they would have gotten stutters and "mmfgjfu.... bluetooth... jfmmmm stuff"

--Alex

Wolfman: What's There Not To Get?

2009-11-04T06:50:00.000-08:00

I love werewolf movies. Period. I think it's something about the whole "I have an awful secret that no one can know about because my awful secret involves slicing and dicing the neighbors" theme that I find kinda funny, kinda scary.

To the point: I like the new Wolfman trailer for this post because I feel it gets the story across without revealing too much of the plot; providing quick, tantalizing shots of the characters who matter, saying lines that matter. An example, after establishing Guillermo Del Toro is the protagonist and Anthony Hopkins his father, there is a cut to Del Toro in ripped clothes covered in (someone else's) blood. Hopkins whispers "You've done terrible things, son. Terrrrible things," with an almost devilish grin.

Whoop. I just looked at the Wolfman trailer on Apple's Front Row, and it's just been changed. What was an enjoyable minute and a half is now 92 seconds of some generic heavy metal interspersed with incredibly short clips of the movie. It does however, communicate a whole other, darker idea. The feel of this trailer is that the Wolfman is controlled and Hopkins' character much more sinister than previously thought.

Regardless, I still want to see the movie, moreso because of the first trailer, though.

-Flex

Branding Clearly: Lamborghini

2009-11-03T20:49:00.000-08:00

Lamborghini has always been known for two things: beauty and speed. And exclusivity, I guess. Seriously, can anyone think of a slow Lamborghini? I'm biased, I've been a Lambo fan ever since I saw pictures of that "what the 80's think the year 2001 will look like" classic, the Countach.

One could argue that all Italian supercar manufacturers portray their brand so clearly, but Lamborghini is just different. It may be that since the inception of the Countach in 1974, they have rigidly stuck to a "wedge-shape" design not seen in other supercars. For me, that makes them all the better-looking next to the odd, bubbly Pagani Zonda or Ultima GTR; or even the (comparatively) generic Ferrarri lineup. Nothing else looks like a Lambo.

How can I apply this to my work? Easy. Make everything wedge-shaped and make it cost no less than $180,000.

But seriously folks, I guess it all begins with style. I'm not sure if I have a style to my products yet, but I know really I try to solve problems first and work style around it. Form always follows function, but I'm thinking I shouldn't treat form as just looks, as I've been doing. No one's going to buy a Nobel-prize winning product if it's butt-ugly. Well maybe no one.

Okay, it's nearly 1 a.m. and class is at 9. I needs me some beauty sleep.

Peace, love and fast cars,
-Flex

A Portfolio Can't Say "I'm great to work with!"

2009-09-30T21:13:00.000-07:00

I was popping around the interwebs looking for some portfolio articles going nuts trying find that cool, funny creative bit no one else would find. I eventually got fed up and returned to an oldie but always goody: Coroflot. I was scanning the site when I noticed a link I had never seen before: ADVICE. "Well heck," I thought, "this is low-hanging fruit." So I scrolled, clicked, scrolled some more and came across this nice guest post by Jim Best of Pensa Design.
A Portfolio Doesn't Speak for Itself

He lays out twelve "some-we've-heard-some-we-haven't" ground points of how to shape your portfolio and how to more importantly present yourself. Like I said we've heard some of this before like "Keep it simple" and "Use your portfolio to tell a story," but Best goes into some good detail and is quite frank about what criteria he uses to judge potential hires.

All in all, I found this helpful because 1) It's from a real professional who hires real designers; 2) It was straightforward and didn't B.S. you. I liked the "Keep it relevant" point- We don't design ponies and landscapes, so why are you showing me this? 3) It goes a bit beyond portfolio design and gives a few hints on what employers like to see in you as a person, too during an interview.

That's all for now, sleep tight and have a pleasant tomorrow.
-Flex

Eventually I'll Get the Hang of Blogging...

2009-09-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

So I'm Alex Pellegrino, a fourth-year Industrial Design student at the University of Cincinnati. I'm a local-bred dude born and raised on the West Side of Cincinnati (Delhi township). I first got interested in design back in the seventh grade, when I did a career project on graphic design. I was convinced all through my high school years that I was going to be a graphic designer. Once I got to UC, however I fortunately discovered two things: 1) Industrial Design and how much better I liked it than Graphic and 2) I was awful at Graphic Design, so switching was a win-win situation.

I haven't had the most "normal" co-op experience. My first summer co-op was as a last-second addition to the team at the National Park Service in Harpers Ferry, WV along with a Graphic Design student from UC. It's a Graphic co-op but they needed another person immediately so I got the call. My next job was with Legrand North America in West Hartford, CT. I was the first-ever UC intern they had, as their Industrial Design department was just beginning to develop. I worked there for two quarters, doing my best to teach my supervisor how to deal with interns in a productive manner along with designing light switches and other various wiring and powered devices.

I've recently discovered that my hobbies have become my work, and I have mixed feelings about that. I used to sketch and doodle as my pasttimes, and I now am required to do those for my job, which admittedly takes a little fun out of it. But still, I get money for doing what I love, so how can I complain? I also enjoy exercising, attempting to play movie theme music on keyboards/pianos, and 3d modeling.

I can't see my goals as being too different from anyone else's this quarter to an extent. First and foremost, I want to improve my hand and Photoshop sketching. From foundation year to now, I don't feel that I've improved as much as I could-- or should-- have. I understand that really the only way to do this is sketch like mad. Second, I want to be able to communicate better visually. Too many times I catch myself explaining in critiques or conversations "Well, it does this, and you move it around to do that..." using words and hand gestures to describe what a product is or does. I'd like to get better at creating a visual presentation that speaks for itself. Third, (because 2 goals would be a boring even number) I'd like to improve my portfolio to the point where I think it describes my skills accurately and attracts employers and awe-struck gawkers alike. I feel the projects in my portfolio and school have been lackluster and that's on my shoulders to fix.