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CreativeMornings: Allan Chochinov

When I was a little kid, we had to walk through the snow for 20 miles to go to school. Barefoot. Today was no different, except I had some shoes. If I have to go all the way into Manhattan for some reason it better be good. With the snowy and windy weather making it almost impossible for me not to slip and fall over I made my way slowly and daintily up towards Chelsea. Not only was this a chance for me to see Allan Chochinov, editor-in-chief of Core77.com, Coroflot.com, and DesignDirectory.com, it was a chance for me to get into SVA, that very exclusive ID checking set of buildings on 21st Street. This CreativeMornings, held in the MFA in Interaction Design department, was hosted by Liz Danzico (Bobulate).

Luckily I arrived just in time, and came walking in to music.
Apparently, this talk was beginning with buckets.

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza,
There's a hole.

Then fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?

With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with a straw.

But the straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long.

Then cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it!

With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, with what?

With an ax, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With an ax, dear Henry, an ax.

But the ax is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The ax is too dull, dear Liza, too dull.

Then, sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then sharpen it dear Henry, dear Henry, sharpen it!

With what should I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I sharpen, dear Liza, with what?

With a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, a stone.

But the stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.

Then wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then wet it dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.

With what should I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I wet it, dear Liza, with what?

With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, with water.

But how shall I get it?, dear Liza, dear Liza,
But how shall I get it?, dear Liza, with what?

In the bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
In the bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, in the bucket!

But there's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.
There's a hole.

The bucket is failing! What to do? As Allan remarked, that's a co-dependent relationship if I've ever seen one. But, mental issues aside, the metaphor of the bucket ("there's a hole in my bucket!") is commonly used among designers when speaking about a client's problem. In his case, with product design, these are
some of the questions he asks:

1. Who is the user?
Who's using this vessel that's used to transport something?
It is a liquid containment and conveyance system.

2. What's really going on? What does the user actually need?
Ex: People don't need a drill. They need a hole.

3. What is the context?

Maybe it centers around ergonomics, the way the handle moves, making sure the bucket doesn't break.

He uses the example of Scott Henderson's Grip Rake to illustrate this.

Maybe it centers around ethnographics. Is the user a hacker? Crafter? DIY-er?

4. What solutions are available?

A. Design Buckets themselves

B. Systems for better use of the Bucket

C. Brands and Bucketing Services

D. Making what's inside the Bucket

E. Etc.

5. Do you address the issue of sustainability?

There's nothing wrong with an old bucket. We need to learn how to fix things, become self-sufficient, and be happy with what we already have.

If the solution is not quite right, we tend to add more "design" to cover and patch up the flaws. He calls this a "cascading sequence of contingencies and consequences." I like to think of it as a snowball effect. Fitting for the day, no? Instead of more design we should be using less. 

Most importantly, we should navigate the tension between opportunity, capability, and rationality. Or, as Allan more simply put it – what we might, can, and oughta do. 

Some good things to think about. Because of the more manageable group size, people were able to stay and mingle for awhile to talk and enjoy the breakfast, sponsored by MailChimp, especially Tina, who was able to take a virtual bite out of some danishes.

RRRELEASED | March 13th – April 9th, 2010 | @ the Surf Gallery

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RRRELEASED | March 13th – April 9th, 2010 | @ the Surf Gallery (http://www.thesurfgallery.com)
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A collaborative show between some of the artists from the RRR project, Surfrider Foundation & the Surf Gallery. We invite you to drop off your trash*, pitch in and enjoy the show. Meet the artists & friends from RRR.001. See some of the original artwork & pick up a signed copy of the first book for a discounted rate (comes with a one year membership to the Surfider Foundation). We’ll also have hand–pulled silk screen event posters for sale, and an opportunity for our guests to be apart of the next book, RRR.002.
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Featured ARRRTISTS & FRRRIENDS:

Alex Krastev, Alex Weinstein, Andrew Holder, Art Brewer, Brian Foster, Brookes Reeder, Charles Adler, Chris Partelow, Chris Pfeil, Corey Brindley, Greg Comollo, Greg Lamarche, John Esguerra, Jonathan Sandridge, Julie Goldstein, Justin Krietemeyer, Kassia Meador, Kelly Jones, Keith Scharwath, Lynn Milosz, Mark Tesi, Matt Lindauer, Matt Rubin, Matt Schwartz, Mike Afsa, Mike Perry, Michael Coleman, Paul D’Elia, Robin Cameron, Ryan Tatar, Scott Richards, Scott Massey, Steven Harrington, Stephanie Hosmer, Steph Walker, Urchin, Zach Gibson & You.
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*Not banana peels, old shoes or milk containers but scraps from your old art projects. Hand us your art in a manilla envelop with your contact info and we’ll do our best to fit them in RRR.002 (due to come out in June 2010). Thanks.

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With support from Rent Control, inc. (http://www.rentcontrolinc.com)

More info about the project at (http://www.rrrproject.com)
send questions to: contact@rrrproject.com

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