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Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games Design

I'm a big fan of the Olympic games and am truly excited about some of the design that is surfacing as part of this international event.

There two events that surface more new design, architecture and concepts than anywhere else: the World's Expos / Fairs and the Olympics.

One example that really excited me was James Lee and Leo Obstbaum's designs for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Podiums and Ceremonies Tray. The podium design harkens a topographical map and the ceremonies tray is specially covered with a surface that prevents the Olympic Medal's from  slipping off.

For more on the design of the Olympic Medals, check out Kristi Cameron's article "An Olympic Feat" in January 2010's Metropolis magazine. Personally, I was a big fan of Omer Arbel's original locket concept for the medals, but the end result is still beautiful. 

Rauschenberg on everyday design...

"I feel really sorry for people who think things like soap dishes or mirrors or Coke bottles are ugly, because they're surrounded by things like that all day long, and it must make them miserable."

-Robert Rauschenberg 1925-2008

Interaction

• Interaction Design Association
• Movement, a presentation by Matt Webb
  This presentation puts forward 'movement' as a metaphor for the Web, introduces the motivations flowchart design process, and demonstrates Snap, a way of syndicating interactions from websites to the desktop.

Google Makes Charting Easy

Google recently released a chart generator called the Google Chart API.

It is easy to use through parameters within the URL and passes back a tidy PNG graphic of the chart. [via information aesthetics]