Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Tag: DEM

  • Travel

    Well, here I am in Hong Kong airport, on my way to Shanghai. I am coming over at the last minute to kick off one of my projects. In typical DEM style, schedules were changing by the minute right up until I left work yesterday, as we juggled schedules from people flying in from all over Asia. Quite a feat.

    And here I am, waiting for four hours in arrivals, waiting for the Visa to be processed. I can’t really go anywhere as they have my passport, and all the fun stuff is really in departures. One bright light is the fact that Cathay Pacific have (cynically) offered me free membership to their ‘Marco Polo’ business club, and with the Silver card have access to all the lounges and cool stuff I have for so long been denied access to. Finally! Of course, it coincides with my almost having enough air miles for a return trip to London, so it is a sweetener to make me stay loyal, obviously, before I splurge it all on going home. But, the quicker check-in, extra 10kg and sense of elitist satisfaction I have more than makes it worth it!

    Next stop Shanghai … there for two days on business, then a weekend of fun with Anke & Lars … and who knows, I might be in Korea and Beijing next weekend. It’s all to play for!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Love & Money

    Government support for exporting design in the UK is pretty strong, and the efforts landed in Taiwan last week, with the ‘Love & Money’ show rolling into town. Basically, a show case of the British creative industries, it showcased work from, among others, Zaha Hadid, Sam Hecht, Thomas Heatherwick and Jamie Hewlett. The work was supported by the de-facto embassy, British Council, British Trade & Industry and Design UK.

    The two week event culminated with a Pecha Kucha show and I was invited to speak alongside Sam Hecht of Industrial Facility and Benjamin Chia of Elemental Eight – previously Designafairs USA.

    The basic format is, 20 seconds for each slide, with a total of 20 slides, creating a total of 6 minutes 40 seconds – and you have no control over the slides. Believe me, a badly rehearsed presentation makes the 6 minutes feel like an eternity, while a good show flies by in a flash. The rock and roll of presentations!


    Pecha Kucha night Taipei


    Keeping the ladies awake – what are you looking at, David?


    It’s all just hot air, really


    I had some important points to make – and thanks to Abe for the great photos!

    I am trying out the Slideshare service, in order to publish the results. See what you think!

    http://s3.amazonaws.com/slideshare/ssplayer2.swf?doc=pecha-kucha-jonathan-biddle-1193068225935190-4

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Two Years in DEM

    Against all odds, I just passed my two year mark with DEM – the craziest darn hoot’n shoot’n design bureau in the East!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Factories

    I have visited dozens of factories in my time, but I never lose my enthusiasm for seeing new ones. We were visiting a client’s supplier to ascertain their capabilities, and I was just fascinated by the machinery. I never knew how fabric tubes were made before, but I do now – anything from about 10mm wide, up to over a metre wide … though I am not quite sure what for.


    Squared circle

    The machinery was a funny mix of new kit and apparently reconditioned Japanese aparatus. There were alarmingly few safety barriers or guards, and for a gangly Westerner this proved to be quite hazardous – especially when dealing with rows of spinning needles and winding fabric.


    In-house temple


    Ta Ting Tumbler


    I really liked their storage system, which reminded me a bit of some libraries that store books on mobile shelves. And their colour scheme was rad!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Get on the Bus


    Uh Oh, 100 buses in Taipei…

    Know that I got some very strange looks when I was taking these photos!


    Advertising in Banciao – BIG (see me below) – I had to talk my way into the top floor. The security guard said ‘no’ but then I showed him a poster of me behind him and he had to say yes! Authority?

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • 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…

  • Pencils for Gambling – Kokuyo

    Well, the results are out, and I won the ‘Special Prize’ in the annual Kokuyo Design Award!

    ‘Pencils for Gambling’ are a combination of dice and pencils.

    The inspiration came when looking at these two traditional, easily recognized objects, and realizing that they both had six sides. The resultant design simply places dots on the end of a pencil’s shaft. Subtle and fun, it allows the user to play games without anyone else knowing.

    When researching the project, the team also discovered that the first dice, used in ancient China, were formed from sticks of bamboo. Therefore, the shape also reflects Asian history, in a modern, yet affordable product.

    Check out the link – I am very excited!

    Kokuyo Design Award 2006

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Kokuyo

    I just won the ‘Special’ prize in the Kokuyo design award 2006!

    It’s a Japanese design prize … more details when I know them.

    Kokuyo 2006

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Stuck in the Office

    The hotel is strangely serene. Doors stay open, creating a strange mix of private and public space and a white noise of television, hair dryers and conversation – an experience not unlike student halls. Breakfast brought delightful flashbacks to my first days in Taipei and the feeling I was distinctly different from everyone else in the room.

    My first hours of the outside world have seen me sitting in the clients offices staring at screens of numbers or making broken conversation with the engineers – in fact I am here right now. They seem to have it worked out, but communicating my feelings of the design is proving rather difficult. My Chinese is still simply not good enough.

    Interestingly, the designer assigned to me is deathly cynical, especially about the state of design in China – something I was not at all expecting amidst all this bravado and optimism.

    The other people are nice, but the impression is different from Taiwan. There, the mere mention that you are English or a designer is enough to push them over the edge while they try to quash their excitement of being in the presence of a foreigner. Less cute. More cynical. Certainly less warm on first impression. But as a result somehow less alien than the ultra-friendly Taiwan.

    It’s been a rather unconventional introduction to the city, but I can always do the tourist thing some other day. I am hoping to escape my client captors tonight and meet a couple of friends for drinks, but time will tell how successful I am – the head of design here seems intent on showing me a ‘good time’. Words to be avoided in this city of cities of sin.


    The delightful work environment, and my team!


    The funny queuing system for lunch

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…