My objects & why I think they're good design

1. Backpack: 

4 (understandable) the design of this backpack pulls no punches. It's straightforward, basically 3 pockets and a laptop liner in the back. 10 (as little as possible) Other than the "Herschel" tag on the front of the pocket, this couldn't be designed more simply. There are, in total, 3 colors on the outside of the it. 7 (long lasting) it's kind of fashionable right now, but the simplicity of the design is classic and Jansport has been making this same style of bag for about 35 years. 

Why? This is going to come up in all of these, but it comes down to simplicity. It is clearly a backpack, looking almost like the archetype of the book bag, like what would be drawn in a cartoon. That clarity is interesting to me. 

2. Fuelband: 

1. (Innovative) This is one of the few products of its kind available. It's somewhere between a running watch and a regular watch. But it's also almost aggressively minimalist, as opposed to the outlandishness of most other watches (especially Running watches) 3. (Aesthetic) it looks really really good. 4. (Understandable) There is one button on the front face and the back face opens up into a usb plug. you can't really be confused by It. 10. (As Little as possible) see 4.

Why? Because it is innovative above everything. I've had this thing for over a year now, and I still have no idea how that display works. I've tried. It's sleek and sexy and futuristic without sacrificing accessibility and purpose. But futuristic in a way that isn't only relevant to the current day.  It's functional as an accessory for exercise but also aesthetically pleasing enough as a day-to-day accessory to just be worn as a watch. It's kind of perfect in that way.     

3. Rubik's Cube:

 7. (Long lasting) it's an 80's trope in and of itself, but since its inception this product has never really disappeared, and it's has always been fun and interesting 3. (Aesthetic) It's colorful but simple. 4. (Understandable) It's a puzzle, that's pretty basic.  8. (Thorough) There are no outliers on the cube. It's all regular. It keeps coming back to simplicity. 

Why? I've always been obsessed with nostalgia. The fact that this multi-colored cube alone can trigger memories and long disregarded feelings in someone is kind of amazing to me. Most of that comes from design. The colors of the toy draw you in. The fact that it's a puzzle escalates that. We understand that it is something to be solved. There is a natural human need to fix things. According to our reading, that is design ("For design is a process for making things right..."). The act of doing a Rubik's Cube is design. And that built in subtlety makes for good design. 

4. Comb: 

2. (Makes it useful) Combs are not super portable products. Sure, they aren't big, but they are stiff. I hate putting things in my back pockets, so the classic comb design makes personal storage difficult. This design, however, eludes that because it can fold into itself. 3. (Aesthetic) The entire product is only 2 colors; black and silver. It's ergonomic, just the right size, and in my personal opinion, really cool looking. 6. (Honest) Well, sort of. This is essentially a novelty product, made to resemble a switchblade but instead being a harmless comb. So the honesty part is a little vague. Stepping away from that, it's also just a more portable comb, honest, simple and clean. 7. (Long Lasting) In the way that the Rubik's Cube is the '80s, this is a very '50s product. In fact, when I bought it, the packaging was styled after those pulpy B-movies about dangerous juveniles. It's used in the movie Grease and by people with a fondness for '50s youth culture. All of that notwithstanding, the almost monochromatic color scheme fits into just about any era, and so does the product's primary function, to make the user look good/fresh. 

Why? It goes along with the Rubik's Cube and my love of nostalgia (for eras I did not experience), but also a much more practical function. I bought it years ago at what was basically a joke shop just because I thought it looked kind of fun and different. This past summer, I needed a comb. So I started rooting around my drawers and found this guy. It was perfect, it's so much more compact than any other comb and it doubles as an accessory. Plus, it adds a little bit of old school edge to my otherwise toothless and boring self.

5. Sunglasses

1. (Innovative) Before the Wayfarer, basically all glasses were framed with metal. This is still evident in other classic Ray-Ban products (Aviators, Clubmasters, etc.). The Wayfarer's weren't the first, but they were the most enduring of the new plastic glasses. 3. (Aesthetic) The contemporaries of the Wayfarer are a laundry list of then-novel, now-classic product design, like the Fender Stratocaster, the Thunderbird, and basically everything that falls under the Streamline Moderne umbrella. There is a reason why those designs have grown so huge in our culture, and it's because we just keep coming back to them partially because of nostalgia and partially because of just solid design. 5. (Unobtrusive) It's somewhere between geometric and organic, and in its first run, the Wayfarer was not sold in many colors. Those two factors are clean and smart and have always been applicable. 7. (Long-lasting) Eyewear is one of the least reliable parts of fashion. Cultural taste in glasses basically never stops moving, so the fact that the Wayfarer has been accepted in at least 3 different decades (Mid '50s-mid '60s, the '80s, and from 2007-present) is really saying something about its staying power of this design.

Why? In a selfish way, these are the only types of glasses I look good wearing. That's a design miracle.

Photos from Urban Outfitters (Backpack, link: http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=22634638#), Nike (Fuelband, link: http://images.nike.com/is/image/DotCom/THN_PS/Nike-FuelBand-WM0105_001_A.jpg?fmt=jpg&qty=85&wid=460&hei=460&bgc=F5F5F5), ThinkGeek (Rubik's Cube, link: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/69fe/), TrueSwords (Comb, link: http://www.trueswords.com/images/prod/c/TS-SWITCHCOMB_540.jpg), Ray-Ban (Glasses, link: http://media.ray-ban.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/840x490/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/R/B/RB2132-39.png) I own nothing.