Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Month: January 2007

  • My 15 Seconds of Fame

    The night half of me was waiting for with sweet anticipation, and half dreading finally arrived – I had my first television interview in Chinese! It wasn’t quite the character assassination I was fearing, and apart from sounding a bit dim, it went ok – even the parts they spliced in where I clearly did not understand at all what was going on looked funny. So, rather a treat overall!

    We discussed my cell phone, and TaoZi also showed off her wedding ring that I designed last year (link here). Quite, quite surreal.


    Not quite Jamie Oliver

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • My First Cell Phone

    Today was quite simply one of the craziest days in Taiwan as a professional designer. Why? Because today I launched my first cell phone!

    The Taiwanese do things a little differently from back home, but it was still a shock to arrive to find a life size poster of me in the doorway holding the phone, Karim Rashid stylee looking philosphical and serious. It was more or less a total rollercoaster from there, as wave upon wave of surprises, delights, shocks and horrors greeted my eyes.

    The PR company had organised quite a bash, with magicians (the brand for my cell phone is Mashi Maro – the Korean anti-Hello Kitty, hence the rabbit/hat combo), dancing girls, celebrity models and dry ice (sadly no lasers – my time will come).

    The project has been pretty fascinating, negotiating between Korean clients, Taiwanese engineers and a Chinese factory … with one lone Brit fighting his corner. As ever, the schedules were exceptionally tight, but the learning experience has been immense.

    There should be a bunch more PR emerging in the next few days, that I will shamelessly post up here – I am enjoying my 15 seconds!


    This is the pos(t)er that greeted me when I first entered the conference room … the rest was a bit of a blur!


    I sit back and marvel at the PR genius


    I wonder what Steve would have done – I did manage to get in one ‘boom’ when I opened the phone, which I guess only I found amusing (Steve Jobs’ catch phrase)


    The press back meets brat pack (Demos my boss is just right of me)


    This is one of Taiwan’s most famous super models – I have to agree she looked pretty hot, and I think there was some attraction between us 😉


    Team MashiMaro M808 stands for the obligatory press shots

    Some links:
    GQ
    Engadget
    Phone Daily
    Sogi

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • We Come in Peace

    OK – one for Thomas in Berlin at Stylewalker, following up the last Grafitti Taipei post …

    Not sure about the quality, but for once there is certainly a political message and I am pleased to see an Asian theme. To fill everyone in, last year the Chinese government offered Taiwan their most precious of gifts – the gift of the great big cute Panda. Taiwan did not accept it, which is just as well really. Taipei Zoo is not a good place for… well… anything.

    BBC News


    WE COME IN PEACE


    Bunny wabbits

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Wikimapia

    Geoblogging really getting much easier … just stumbled across Wikimapia which is an amalgamation of Googlemaps and Wikipedia … exceptionally easy to add GIS information to your web page.


    I live here

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • New Year’s Resolution

    Usually when I return to Taiwan after a period away I take picture of the exactly the same things. This usually comprises the industrial-scale freeways, traffic and the professional quality lighting that Taipei occasionally seems to conjur up.


    The motorways never fail to impress me – more like transportation cathederals. Mark my words, if Taipei is ever hit by a meteor these will be the only things left standing.


    Tom – an old friend of Rich’s comes back to Taiwan and enjoys the widescreen view from Toby’s rooftop


    New Year’s Resolution, provided by Sony Bravia (I couldn’t resist this joke)

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Shiny New Profile!

    Worth the spit and polish, I hope you agree!

    I will be spending the next days and weeks adding tags to the best of my posts so the site should be much more pleasant to navigate. Sadly, it is not republishing completely intact, so you’ll probably find a few old ugly pages left in the mix. If you do – send me an e-mail or leave a comment on that page.

    Enjoy!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Back to London

    On my way back to London …


    Top deck


    Reflections of the underground

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Just a Walk in the Park

    Had a wee trip into town today to glance at the shops and spend some time with the girls. Grabbed some candid shots, as they simply wouldn’t stand still!


    ZOOM ZOOM


    Ele, wrapped up warm

    And a lovely day spent visiting Grandpa near Leicester. Oh it’s so good to see him, and he always manages to tickle me with his wit, emerging as if from nowhere. Sadly, I never remember any of his gags, but we spend most of our time rolling around laughing at and with eachother.

    We even had a development of our ‘French Kiss’, which somehow morphed into including a comment about Nanny’s tongue – don’t worry.. you needed to be there. A Biddle family classic moment.


    More wine for Grandpa!
    The Biddle Family

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Carsten Höller – Tate 2006

    I LOVE THE TATE MODERN.

    Every time I go it just manages to blow me away with its scale and scope, and yet with its openness and refreshing lack of hautiness so common in modern art galleries.

    I love seeing the tourists’ faces when they come upon the Turbine Hall. No doubt, they have been dragging their families from tour to museum to exhibition and you can imaging the kids whinging that they would really rather be having a Happy Meal thankyou very much. But that is all forgotten, and as the American art students studiously take notes, Grannies strain their necks and bepolonecked German art critics reflect, a dozen kids whizz around the exhibition imagining they are space fighters. This has happened three times in as many years (before with Anish Kapoor and Rachel Whitbread), and it is a credit to the curators that they can draw in such disperate groups.

    This time though. This time. Wow. Never have I been challenged with such a physical, kinetic assault that at the same time piqued my engineering, art and whizz bang kiddo sensibilities. Forget all that – I WANT TO GO AGAIN!

    For Carsten Höller, the experience of sliding is best summed up in a phrase by the French writer Roger Caillois as a ‘voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind’. The slides are impressive sculptures in their own right, and you don’t have to hurtle down them to appreciate this artwork. What interests Höller, however, is both the visual spectacle of watching people sliding and the ‘inner spectacle’ experienced by the sliders themselves, the state of simultaneous delight and anxiety that you enter as you descend.


    One thing I love – it’s free entry and the dryest route between the South Bank and the St. ‘Blade of Light’ Pauls Bridge … take 2 minutes or 2 days, as you please


    LEVEL 5


    It is quite popular – the image of kids egging their Mums on to the slide, and then the shrill scream of fear and joy as they hurtle down the tube was very amusing … almost as amusing was to sit near the bottom and watch people land, their faces lit up, before they allowed themselves to compose themselves once more as they walk away.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Hogmanay in Scotland

    New Year’s Eve 2006/07 became probably the most memorable, unusual and special one on record – against odds stacked against us by a well-timed Scottish typhoon.

    Princes Street was shut, and against a back-drop of cold, confused tourists, drunk revellers and whispered reports of people being hit by flying Portaloos our team gathered in the warmth of a very characterful Scottish bar. We were certainly ready to dig in for the night, but with a couple of hours to go my old flat-mate Jenny called us up and said they needed people for some bash the BBC was laying on, now the scenes of the street party had to be cancelled.

    News that there was going to be free alcohol meant the decision was already an easy one for us. However, this was not going to be your common or garden Hogmanay party, but the party at the very centre of Scotland’s celebrations at Edinburgh Castle.

    Our party had soldiers guarding the gates. Our party had swords and battle scenes painted on the walls. And our party combined free Champagne with national Television coverage. The magnificent seven were at the very beating heart of Scottish culture – in the front row of the crowd for the annual Hogmanay festivities. I doubt there is any point ever celebrating in Edinburgh ever again, because we have done it now. It cannot be improved or embelished in any way – next year should certainly be spent down some local pub instead.


    Princes Street revellers


    Umbrella graveyard


    Team Hogmanay Ho! (Check the BBC wrist band bling $$)


    How many megapixels has yours got?


    Could this be the midnight canon?!


    Jenny – the star of the night! – THANKS!


    Becca gets blurry in the bar after(math)


    Smooth criminal


    Whoaaaaaaa!

     

    Update:

    Craig’s family have seen us. His Gran punched record as soon as he saw his face. And his uncle saw us on TV while on a boat. In Sydney Harbour. In Australia.

    !!!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…