What we've been up to...

Ok, so it has been a long time since we've been on the blog here. This is just because we have been very busy. Since our last update about our new studio, we have in fact moved again, and so, this is kind of another new studio post.

We have been busy developing our 3D printed product range which you can check out here

A lot of our time recently has also been taken up with our client work where we are working on a number of varied projects. Sadly we cannot reveal these yet, but keep an eye out.

We have also since launched a revamped site which features Curve Creative and Curve Photo and is simply called www.curve.ie

Photography and Design. Creative cousins.

At Curve Creative a lot of our passion for creativity was grounded on a love of photography. We wanted to nurture a creative studio where design and photography go hand in hand. As creative cousins, design and photography have so much in common and so many areas where crossover expertise is highly beneficial. Having a good knowledge of the rules of making a great photograph such as the rule of thirds, framing, lead in lines, etc. lend a lot to a designer when laying out a photo book or graphic design project. Even the ability for the designer to know a technically great photo and to know how to treat it properly when cropping so as to not damage the effect of the photo is a skill that is essential today where so much depends on decent images.

Vice versa, for a photographer to also be a designer brings with it great advantages. Not only can the photographer pre-visualise when shooting what is going to be required of a photo later at the design stage in terms of composition, leaving space around the edge of the subject, even leaving dead space for copy or shooting multiples of the same scene from different vantage points to give choice at the design stage but the photographer then also has the experience of the shoot and of being there at the time to know the photos that really matter when it comes to using them in the design.

As industrial designers we are also very aware of the relationship between products and photography. Obviously we want our products and designs to look as good as possible online and in print so for this we need great photos of them. Often it is very important to show a product in an environment or in use to communicate it's meaning or target market. This is where a strong photo can mean the difference between gaining interest or a product going unnoticed.

Industrial designers also benefit from a knowledge of photography when it comes to product or concept visualisation. Using 3D CAD models and rendering software designers can create photorealistic digital images of their designs. Through this the designer has access to a virtual photography studio where lighting can be controlled, environments can be selected and altered, and controls which simulate adjusting values on the virtual camera to capture the scene can be set. Essentially it is the same as using a camera, focal length can be set, aperture, exposure and position of camera can be adjusted to achieve a perfect exposure and composition. This is where a hands on knowledge of photography can help the designer to create great images on the computer.

Following our belief that a strong relationship between the arts can enhance and benefit each art individually we are introducing Curvephoto. www.curvephoto.com

This is now the photography department of Curve Creative. We have always taken our own photos in house for projects and we have also worked as professional photographers individually beforehand. Now we are bring this all together into Curvephoto to offer our professional photography service to you, along side our design services. We have developed our new site where you can look at examples from our portfolio of photographic areas that we like to cover.

We would love if you have a look and also think about how photography affects your field too. We believe great photography can have a benefit for most businesses not just creative ones.

www.curvephoto.com

Introducing the Headbuddy, a sports band for Apple headphones...

Apple's headphones are great. Stylish, iconic, there when you need them. But we like to run and our Apple headphones don't.So we went about creating a simple and affordable solution that meant we could use our existing Apple headphones in a more effective way while running.

The result was the Headbuddy. Just loop your apple headphones into the sports band and you're ready to go. The earbuds are held securely in such a way that retains the sound quality whilst providing a surprisingly comfortable fit, one that is arguably more comfortable than the traditional way of using earbud headphones.

Works great with the new Nano or shuffle. Just clip on and go.

The Headbuddy is made from super strong, flexible, polyamide plastic. It is 3D printed in this material and each one is printed specially when ordered. The channeled design allows the cable of the Apple headphones to wrap around the frame and the earpiece slots hold the ear buds tightly. The flexible design fits overs the ears and holds snug to your head feeding the remainder of the cable down your back or over your shoulder. 

The Headbuddy is specifically designed for iPod and iPhone headphones. Others might work, we haven't tried all of them yet!

You can buy the Headbuddy here on Shapeways

Nanolet Unboxing

Hey, we just got a box of new Nanolets today in all the pretty colours! Check out our unboxing video!

NANOLET - iPod Nano Bracelet

Introducing the Nanolet. A 3D printed iPod Nano Bracelet. Designed as an alternative to all the other watch straps available for the Nano, the Nanolet is a one part 3D printed product.

Get one for yourself here from shapeways

The Nanolet has been getting a lot of attention recently, you can check it out here

Scott Amron is a kick-ass designer

Scott Amron's is one of those designers that makes you want to slap yourself in the face. Some of his concepts are so plain obvious you really have to ask yourself why no one has ever thought about them before. I have stumbled over his ideas on various sites before but it wasn't until recently that I found out these never-been-done-before-ideas were coming from the same guy. 

His concepts range from coat hook light switches to carabiner keys. I urge you to have a snoop around his site and see what else you can find. Keep reading to see some of my favourites. 

IDI Best of Graduate Design 2011 / IDI Awards

There is still time to catch the IDI Best of Graduate Design Exhibition. It is open till November 5th in the NCAD Gallery. Make sure to check it out to see a selection of works from across all of the design colleges in Ireland with some of the exhibitors up for awards in this years IDI awards this Thursday in the Sugar Club.

You can check out the IDI Awards here

Lytro - The Impossible Camera

We are intrigued by the new Lytro Camera. Lytro suggests a radical change to the way we will take pictures from now on. No longer will we need to assure our pictures are in focus before we snap the shutter. Lytro allows you to adjust the focus afterwards. The idea of never having blurry photos again is tempting but at the same time will this take away an essential element from photography. Will this change the art in a way that it truly won't matter what you capture at the time, you can just fix it later? Despite the sleek design we are dubious about this new direction for digital photography. We love photography at Curve and although this is an incredible advancement in photography tech we don't really hope that it catches on too much. This kind of technology will probably be great in your mobile phone for snapping pictures of friends or on a night out when you don't want to spend time focusing and making sure the picture worked, but for pros we're not sure if this will be desirable in cameras. The idea of having a level of control that means you can refocus your shots afterwards does seem like it would be super useful, kind of like the level of control brought about by the introduction of shooting in RAW, however...

Steve Jobs

As a designer I can't remember when I didn't know who Steve Jobs was, for a lot of other people they may not of know who he was but they may well have been using products he was responsible for. After the last few weeks of media saturated with images and articles about Steve Jobs I think the world is much more aware of who he was and what he did. Anyone who uses an Apple product now will have heard the story of the genius behind it.

I have read a lot about Steve over the last couple of weeks. A lot about how he has changed the world, how he was a visionary, an Einstein of our time and other stories of how he was an incredibly hard person to work with. We've heard the good and bad sides to him but that doesn't change the fact that he has had a profound and lasting affect on life as we know it.

Your Desk

here's a really interesting piece about desks.... what do you think of your desk? as designers we love our desk(s) here. There is a lot of talk at the moment about desks, the notion of standing desks and the thought that people no longer need their own desk as everyone has a laptop and can move around to work. I think for some disciplines a desk is an essential space regardless of the increasing mobility of the world. As a designer a desk is really a creative hub. No matter what activity the desk is accommodating, whether computer work or sketching, the desk really is the centre of a workflow. What do you feel about your desk? Perhaps it is just a piece of furniture or maybe it is integral to how you work.

C.A.T - City Aquatic Transport

The C.A.T, City Aquatic Transportation concept by designer Cal Craven of Curve Creative was featured on Yanko Design and has since also been featured on various other blogs as you can see here. More can be read about the design by checking out the projects page on our own site Curve Creative