Quick update to my earlier post (reLink). In part 2 of Vinyl Pulse’s documentation covering the creation of Itokin Park’s “Robo” custom toy, some readers (including moi) asked some questions. Well, some of those have been answered and it appears more answers and images are forthcoming.

The image above is one of nine process images showing quite a bit of his general part-fabrication process. For those of you interested in this sort of custom/niche product development, head over to the Vinyl Pulse site (Link) and follow along.

{Image source: Oalaworld}

There’s a short article on BusinessWeek, “On-The-Job Gaming” (Link), that’s mildly interesting. From the piece:

“Video games teach resource management, collaboration, critical thinking, and tolerance for failure,” says Ben Sawyer, who runs Digitalmill Inc., a game consultancy in Portland, Me..

The market for corporate training games is small but it’s growing fast. Sawyer estimates that such games make up 15% of the “serious,” or nonentertainment market, which also includes educational and medical training products. Over the next five years, Sawyer sees the serious-games market more than doubling, to $100 million, with trainers accounting for nearly a third of that.

With all the talk about avian flu and people hunkering down for weeks isolated from the world, I’ve been wondering how these kinds of games and tele-education are progressing. This doesn’t really answer that, but it does reinforce the thought.

If only every blog entry made me think, “Damn, look at that.” The above image is just one of several behind-the-scenes peeks at the effort that go into a custom-made toy. In a post over on Vinyl Pulse (Link), you get additional insight into the work of Japanese toy artist, Kazuhiko Ito (aka Itokin Park). From their entry:

For all of his works, from his earlier Rabbit Pilot to his most recent creation, Itokin Park meticulously hand designs, hand crafts, hand paints and hand assembles them all. His effort does not stop at just the toy. He also self-designs the box and the background that compliments his cuddly creatures.

This is the first in a series. Check out Vinyl Pulse to catch all the entries; part 2 is already up (Link).

{Image source: Vinyl Pulse}

I just read Scott Donaton’s piece over on Ad Age called “Missed Opportunities At Ad Hall Of Fame Luncheon” (Link). It reminded me of my one and only trip to an IDSA national convention. More recently, it reminds me of this brown sugar piece over on Nussbaum’s … whatever (half the time I’m not sure if that’s a blog or a fan site) … “Apple’s Jonathon Ive Speaks Out Publicly” (Link). Funny how people have forgotten Ive’s predecessor, Robert Brunner. And I don’t need to voice my doubts about Kotchka’s “innovations” since I’ve stated those here already (reLink); wish I knew what ex-P&G wonder woman Cathy Rings and Rubbermaid intellectual (and also, former P&G employee) Brian Barton have to say about all this (PDF Link to their work – again, note the date: 1998). Right now the timelines I’ve seen don’t align.

Where on earth are the critical voices within the Industrial Design community? Where are the real leaders and what do they have to say about the state of affairs: job security, offshoring, the future of the occupation, etc? They must be out there. Right? Design Observer is nice, but it doesn’t really focus on the ID community.

The IDSA website has improved, but it’s still kinda slow (the “Buzz” section is decent, but unless you’re a member of the good ol’ boys club, don’t go looking for a discussion). Maybe IDSA is just too closely tied to Jurassic corporate park. No one wants to rustle any feathers; not when the client is paying for the new ride sitting in the firm’s parking lot.

Core77 is collecting cobwebs and the forum – now, too late, a registered-only site – is a sad excuse imo for an online discussion site; professional or otherwise. And the handful of forums that have sprung up are really mostly “how-to” sites. There’s not much critical discussion, imo.

It seems to me the ad industry isn’t the only one with issues.

There’s a Will Wright guest editorial over on Wired (Link) that’s worth a read. I’m not in the right frame of mind to properly digest and comment on it, but I don’t doubt my spores … I mean, synapses … will start firing after I’ve managed to eliminate a personal thorn from my side. I’ve earlier stated my belief that the percentage of creatives will rise dramatically. That expectation is tied in to some of the other things I discuss on this blog – from trademarks and branding to DRM to rapid manufacturing and personal fabrication.

The whole market is shifting. I guess that’s what happens when uneven ground starts to level.