Design

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 12 jun 2013

Countries have their own set of professional designations and credentials for interior designers. If someone is hiring an interior designer in US it is advisable to consider these designations - NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification); ASID (American Society of Interior Designers); Allied ASID membership; Qualifications from accredited institutions. Although educational qualifications and professional designations and memberships are advantageous for assessing interior designers but like any other creative field natural talent and demonstrated work and experiences are an essential element of guaging their skills and standards. Read on...

News-Press: Understanding professional designations of interior designers
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 10 jun 2013

Team of researchers at Philippines Textile Research Institute (PTRI) have utilized the natural phenomenon 'Lotus Effect', the ability to repel water by lotus leaves without wetting it, to develop water-proof textile material. This effect, visible on leaves, insects and birds, is a result of numerous tiny waxy spikes on their surface that causes extreme water shedding. Scientists used silver to provide the fabric with water repellant properties. Silver nano particles are utilized in garments, beddings, pillows etc due to their anti-microbial properties. Nanofinishing that provides nano-sized coating on the textile keeps the softness and breathability of the textile intact. The fabric with this water repellant and anti-bacterial property can find applications in outdoor garments and packaging. Read on...

Business Mirror: Mimicking nature's waterproof technology
Author: Joy Camille Baldo

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 10 jun 2013

With internet and mobile technologies becoming part of consumer's life, the role websites play in their exploring, visualizing and buying products and services has become indispensable. Consumer's first point of interaction is generally a company's website and it substantially influences their decision making process while building a business relationship. Therefore businesses and individuals providing products, services and information online should give importance to their website's usability and design to be able to have low bounce and exit rates and high conversion rates and avoid abandonement and low sales. Article suggests 13 ways to achieve a better web design - (1) High resolution logo design and link it to homepage (2) Use intuitive navigation (3) More clarity and less visual clutter (4) Give users only sufficient information and provide optimum space (5) Use colors strategically (6) Use professional photographs (7) Use easy to read fonts keeping in mind various devices and browsers (8) Every page should be designed as a landing page with relevant and easy navigation (9) Make the best use of the fold (10) Use responsive design and make site usable across devices and platforms (11) Minimize use flash (12) Design appealing buttons (13) Test the design and optimize different elements. Read on...

CIO: 13 Simple Tips for Improving Your Web Design
Author: Jennifer Lonoff Schiff

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 06 jun 2013

Architects are trying to find ways to design safest and most efficient emergency exits in office buildings, sports stadiums, railway stations and other enclosed public places. The difficulty that arises is related to ethics of involving human beings in faking an emergency to make them panic. Group of researchers led by Majid Sarvi of Monash University are using ants to observe the panicky behavior in emergency situations and their exit strategy. The various types of design layouts are then tested. It is observed that corner exits are more efficient and less chaotic. The test is then done with computer simulation of human behavior to assess the efficacy of the various designs. But experts also suggest caution while applying and correlating panicking ants behavior with humans. Read on...

NewScientist: Panicky ants help design safest exit strategy
Author: Paul Marks

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 05 jun 2013

The way schools are designed can play an important role in the learning experiences of the students and the architecture can be considered as a 'living textbook', says an architect. In one of the design for the school he kept the installed machinery exposed due to the learning it can initiate moreover a large space for collaborative learning is created. The open architecture enhances the shared learning aspect of the environment and students are made to spent less time in closed classrooms. Labs are also visible to anyone who is walking down the hallway giving students the opportunity to view other students while they experiment. This again increases inquisitiveness and curiosity among students that might help develop certain interests. An added advantage of this open architectural design is the security aspect where teachers can keep watch on the students and avoid any accidents from happening within the school premises. Read on...

Fast Company: Redesigning Schools For Learning, Discipline, And Safety
Author: Ben Schiller

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 03 jun 2013

Renowned designer, Yves Behar, has come up with a latest technology and design for the 'Smart Lock' that functions by interacting with the smartphone without the use of keys. The lock has additional functionality like giving user control over the entry of individuals and keeping track of entry and exit of people. According to the designer - simplicity, usability, personalization and easy integration with connected devices are the important aspects of the design. Read on...

pandodaily: Yves Behar on design and the Internet of Things
Author: Richard Nieva

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 30 may 2013

Use of medical devices at home is becoming more common. According to experts, their designs are also getting more focused on basic aspects like color and ease of use. Designers are trying to bring simple feel to these devices inspired by the gadgets like smartphones, tablets, ereaders etc. They want users to be comfortable with them without any specific medical training. Use of colors is an important part of design and healthcare industry has utilized it significantly particularly in hospitals. Medical device manufacturers are utilizing skills of expert designers to understand customer requirements and use them in the devices. The challenge that the industry faces is that of longer time to bring the devices to market due to regulatory requirements which is not the case with the other home use gadget manufacturers. Read on...

Plastics News: Designers put appeal into medical devices for home use
Author: Gayle Putrich

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 30 may 2013

'The Design Accelerator', a partnership between Caltech and Art Center College of Design, intends to develop and support design driven start-ups and entrepreneurial ventures. It seeks to create convergence of design and technology in entrepreneurship. It has already been established that design-driven corporations are better stock performers. Now this experiment would bring design into the core of entrepreneurship. An initiating point for high level user experience, the most important aspect of design, could be user interface design, industrial design or service design. It is well recognized that design contributes substantially to the success of businesses. Read on...

Huffington Post: Entrepreneurship Driven by Design
Author: Soren Petersen

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 29 may 2013

An architectural design firm in Germany has created a 'three dimensional architectural tile' that can be installed on buildings to reduce air pollution and enhance air quality around it. The tile also has aesthetic appeal and decorates the building due to its unique design. Moreover there are various factors related to the surroundings like solar level, wind speed and direction, that are considered for the architectural design of the tile. The company has recently installed the tiles on the outside of a hospital in Mexico City (one of the five most air polluted cities in the world). This is exptected to reduce NOx (nitrogen oxide) from around 86,000 cars driving by the building per day. Another project is on trial where the paint with depolluted coating is applied on the inside surface of a highway tunnel to reduce NOx levels. Also flat paints with depolluted coating can be applied to building surfaces for reduction of NOx from smog impacted urban areas. Read on...

Triple Pundit: New Architectural Design Battles Air Pollution in Mega-Cities
Author: Jan Lee

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 26 may 2013

According to Raymond Loewy, the first 'Industrial Designer' to be featured on the cover of Time magazine, the purpose of the design is to keep "the customer happy, his clients in the black and the designer busy." But over a period of time the concept has evolved and now includes more aspects to it like consideration for the environment, utilizing science and technology to people's advantage etc. The design can make people happy by - pleasing them, entertaining them, surprising them and astonishing them. The article provides design examples considering these mentioned 'happiness parameters' suggested by the author. Read on...

The New York Times: Pleasurable Design
Author: Alice Rawsthorn

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