A sketch for one of my courses this semester ! A twist to the age old nursery rhyme 
Humpty Dumpty- Twist to the Tale!
5 Apr
We love and live to eat :D
3 DecGood times = Best friends and lots of food!
This is what 5 years at AUS pretty much comprised of!
Oh and not to forget we gorged on everything edible mostly for the following reasons :
1. extreme bouts of depression_(mostly revolving about failing studios and/or one of the crazy irrelevant electives that were taken in order to boost our grades but were proving to be otherwise)
2. sheer ecstasy for passing yet another studio_(called for nothing short of a massive feast)
3. crazy spasms of hunger during or after studios
4. celebrate a birthday (minus the celebration..it was mostly about feasting on the cake)
5. providing ourselves an excuse to get out of studio (critique done_automatically called for a lunch break)
6. Weekend_(more work = more depression = more food)
7. Just to fill the void !
Tags: Edible, Food Delights, Yummylicious
I heart Karim Rashid!
15 NovI am a complete self-confessed addict devotee of Karim Rashid! Yes there’s something totally magical about him, his dogma and his products! Somehow whatever he touches or rather does is mind-blowingly splendid.
I can never forgive myself for not seeing him in person when he was in Dubai in 2008! And that too for the most unintelligent cause ever_ a dumb senseless studio review which eventually ended up getting cancelled! My friend who had an even bigger crush (you know who you are) on him was daring enough to risk studio. I only wish I worshipped him as strongly at that point of time!
This prolific outspoken designer indisputably makes it to my list of the top 20 people I’d like to see or rather converse with before I die! His book_ Design Your Self: Rethinking the Way You Live, Love, Work, and Play is a keeper. I had this book fly all the way from Chicago at the earliest, simply because I had to possess it by all means immediately .Here, he tactfully discusses urban topics as diverse as wardrobes, office spaces, love life, diets, colors, simplicity, etc. and teaches us how to amplify our artistic as well as spiritual side.
I for one am totally hooked to him for life! Oh and he’s man enough to endorse Pink! (maybe to an extreme but so what?)
Take a look at this guy’s manifesto_so simple yet so complex
KARIMANIFESTO:
1. Don’t specialize
2. Keep your desk neat, clean, and empty. This means you are staying on top of everything.
3. Treat employees and clients the way you would like to be treated by them
4. Return every e-mail, phone call, and fax the same day it arrives regardless of where you are in the world
5. Before giving birth to anything physical, Ask yourself if you have created an original idea, an original concept, or if there is any real value in what you disseminate
6. Know everything about the history of your profession and then forget it all when you design something new
7. Never say ‘I could have done that’ because you didn’t’.
8. To be is to build (Heidegger)
9. Unveil an actuality – create a surprise, a phenomenological event
10. Good Karma
11. Observe everything, everyone, AND EVERY MOMENT
12. Work is fun, beautiful and rewarding
13. Don’t work with someone if you sense different views, because you believe there is potential because there probably isn’t
14. There is not potential in everything or every project
15. Don’t work on your weaknesses, work on your strengths
16. If you do not like your job, quit!
17. Laziness is the anti-Christ
18. If you are not talented, do something else
19. Reduce the carbs – take the fillers out of your life
20. Carry one credit card and no coins
21. Own 30 pairs of same color socks and 30 pairs of the same colored underwear so that socks always match, and do your laundry every month
22. For everything you buy, you must give away the same thing– so you always stay at equilibrium and never accumulate more than you need
23. Don’t consume or overeat because you are depressed
24. Consume experiences, not things
25. Do 6 things at once (multi-task), then you will never be bored
26. Don’t use words like taste, class, boredom, style, ugly, or mass
27. Pleasure is more psychological than physical
28. Minimalism is boring – sensual minimalism is friendly
29. More is more
30. Form follows subject / object follows subject
31. Don’t dream it, be it
32. Celebrate technology
33. Normal is not good
34. Never be satisfied with your work
35. Perseverance, consistency, and rigor form success
36. Being famous should not be a priority –work should be
37. Pay your dues – learn from others
38. There are 3 types of beings – those who create culture, those who buy culture, and those who don’t give a shit about culture. Move between the first two.
39. Work is life
40. Think extensively, not intensively
41. Think Relaxed, not rigid
42. Omni Vincent Amor, Omni Vincent Amok
43. Experience is the most important part of living, and the exchange of ideas, and human contact is all life really is. Space and objects can encourage increased experiences or distract from our experiences.
44. Be the change you want to see in the world (Gandhi)
45. Edit your life
46. Addition by subtraction
47. Think before you endorse
48. There is no more brand allegiance – brandump
49. The past is pointless
50. Here and now is all we got
(KarimManifesto_ http://www.seotaoist.com/_
http://www.seotaoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Karimanifesto-by-Rashid-Karim.pdf)
Tags: DesignLove, Karim Rashid, KarimManifesto
Conversation histrionics!
17 OctBe it formal introductions or just meeting someone casually, the usual small talk typically leads to being asked -what do I do?
My apparent answer: I’m an architect! The next instantaneous question – so what exactly do you do? – (This almost always immediately gets raised after the above question – I have no idea why?)
Me: umm…Didn’t I just say I’m an architect? :S
Till two years back as a fresh graduate, I’d love to rant about what I do, how I do it and how much fun it is (not really…architecture only simply sounds cool). Today, I just try hard to keep a straight face, not lose my cool and repeat determinedly: I am an Architect! (Ignore the blank dumb stares and make way to the exit pronto!)
So, simply had to share the classic excerpts from one such remarkable “inspiring” conversation I had, sometime back!
Alien: so what do you do?
Me: I’m an Architect.
Alien: so what exactly do you do?
Me: I work in the Architecture and Planning industry. (Trying to alter the sentence, hoping to make sense to this dimwit learned man)!
Alien: oh…Okay…so you draw on paper?
Me: Sometimes I draft manually. Usually I design physically, graphically and digitally.
Alien: So you can draw a house?
Me: You mean design?
Alien (nodding frantically): Yeah- same to same.
Me (bemused): Yes I do residential designs too.
Alien: Like with furniture and everything?
Me: That’s interior design!
Alien: No, I mean orient and draft the furniture- what looks best where, etc.
Me: Yes, that is an aspect of Interior design. And I occasionally do that too.
Alien: Really? You do this…but even I can do that…! So why did you waste 5 years studying this? What’s so tricky in aligning a sofa or a bed or coloring the walls? Anyone can do this…
Me (forcibly keeping my tongue in control and replying politely): There’s more to architecture than that. And FYI, I don’t paint walls. (Already bored and wanting to get rid of this annoying entity).
Alien: Grinning toothily
Me: Trying incredibly hard to smile (Could manage only a cross between a half-smile and a frown).
Bottom line: If you’re trying to fashion a tête-à-tête, do NOT crack jokes on my profession and especially the 5 long years !
Me cursing architecture is acceptable, but you don’t even attempt it!
Tags: Conversations, Numbskulls
Nazneen Saifuddin
