High-end Design

I just discovered Design Your Self by Karim Rashid; it is really cool. The publisher's description is accurate: "Rashid's philosophies center on quality over quantity, space over clutter, clarity over complexity, and a marriage of form and function in every design. With each page in vibrant color and packed with his charming artwork and sketches..." Unfortunately, his suggestions tend to be as costly (in time or money) as his Lacoste designs. Often, however, it is worthwhile to spend the necessary time in improving one's life, despite the paradox between the time and effort required to earn money and simplicity. Dematerialism creates difficulty in the context of consumer design because designers still want you to purchase items (viewed by them as making life easier). To escape money and clutter is difficult and requires thoughtful choices in the midst of a busy life, so think and ponder. The marketplace, on the other hand, only encourages one to buy or hire (a designer to help out), but it fuels design at the same time, so some say "it can't be all that bad." The main strength of his book is encouraging others to think, albeit within the confines of his designed life, about one's life. Many tips exist out there to simplify life, but few resources encourage contemplation as he does. I intend to write more on philosophy later (I am reading First Things and The Reasons of Love). Overall, buying the book at a "discount" is best. His book would make a killer blog with each subject (roughly a page) forming a post, though given the world of design he would likely charge for access.

Speaking of money, I recently found out that Starbucks (along with an endless list of companies including Kraft, Toblerone, and Altoids) is owned by Philip Morris. This fact coupled with the ridiculous concept of charging for wi-fi has decreased the frequency of my visits there.

Unfortunately, the entire world of blogs, viral videos, etc.. can at times turn into one large high school with scandals rippling through it that make those affected want to hide for the rest of term.