N.O.C.

New website now live.

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 09:31:03 -0700

We’ve spent some time between work over the last few months putting together a new website for thenetworkof.

www.thenetworkof.com

We plan to install a section of self initiated art/design pieces on the site. If anyone would like to contribute and collaborate, drop us a line.

-Ben

Harvested for a visual feast.

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 09:17:20 -0700

Harvested for a visual feast.

In anticipation of Prometheus, let’s think about Blade...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:18:49 -0700

In anticipation of Prometheus, let’s think about Blade Runner.

Vacation missile silos

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:39:26 -0700

Vacation missile silos:

THE LAST STOP on our studio search,

Another twisted genre. What is this?

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:48:15 -0700

Another twisted genre. What is this?

Just rediscovered a few fun posters we made to mock the insanely...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:47:07 -0700

Just rediscovered a few fun posters we made to mock the insanely specific genres that are automatically generated by Netflix. We think they are hilarious.

TSUIN PIIKUSU / TWIN PEAKS

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:57:27 -0800

Laura Palmer = “roura paamaa”

via nickel cobalt

Sometimes all you need is a volume knob. -Ben

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:44:45 -0800

Sometimes all you need is a volume knob.

-Ben

Costumes done N.O.C. style.

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:08:48 -0800

Costumes done N.O.C. style.

Lara Lee - My Favourite Animal Some incredibly good work from a...

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:35:41 -0800

Lara Lee - My Favourite Animal

Some incredibly good work from a fellow Adobe Design Award Finalist.

“Different children are heard describing their favourite animal, and I then draw it according to what they say, so that the creature “grows itself” in a completely unexpected way. I have interviewed 6 children and finished four animations so far. Only 3 animations are in the video linked here, so as not to be longer than 5 minutes.”

-Jason

BYOB - Call for Art N.O.C. is excited to announce BYOB....

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:45:00 -0700

BYOB - Call for Art

N.O.C. is excited to announce BYOB. Currently we are looking for artists to contribute work to the event.

BYOB (Bring Your Own Beamer) is an exhibition hosting artists and their projectors. We are holding the event in conjunction with The Adventure School during Seattle’s First Thursday (12.01.2001) in Pioneer Square (610 2nd Avenue Seattle, WA, 98104).

We are looking for projected video, projections or any other projected visual art. If you or any of your friends are interested projecting some art please contact submit@thenetworkof.com. Check out http://seattlebyob.tumblr.com/ for more information and http://www.byobworldwide.com/ to see BYOB events and work worldwide.

-Jason

Concrete Table We built a table out of concrete and square...

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:39:00 -0700

Concrete Table

We built a table out of concrete and square acrylic tubing. It stands and displaces all other objects in the room.

-Jason

N.O.C. has a new home. N.O.C. recently has been fortunate to...

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:17:00 -0700

N.O.C. has a new home.

N.O.C. recently has been fortunate to move into a new studio in the International District. The building that we now call home is Noodleworks studio, a collection of artists + designers situated above a working Noodle factory. We are extremely fortunate and thankful for finding such a great place to work in.

We have outfitted our studio with desks that we have built, finger puppets made at The Adventure School, and whiteboard walls. Notably our fascination with whiteboards has made its way into our design for the desks. The surface of the desks is whiteboard and an osb frame.

We will have a studio opening soon. We will keep y’all posted.

-Jason

Dev Harlan

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:33:13 -0700

Dev Harlan

Visit with Iacoli & McAllister

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:39:32 -0700

Visit with Iacoli & McAllister:

Had a great meeting with Iacoli & McAllister’s Jamie today. It’s always great to meet with nice people who make things locally. Check out their site, there’s a lot of cool stuff on there.

Human error or poor design?

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:49:00 -0700

There are situations where design makes a difference (think of storage for small spaces or well thought-out transit maps). But there are design situations where design is a matter of life and death (think of airplane cockpits or nuclear reactors). In his application for tenure at the University of Washington’s Division of Design, Axel Roesler explained how he went from a small town in Germany to studying the impact of design in high-risk environments.

Studying industrial design in his native Germany was a rigorous process which included a lot of drawing and form studies. From this study, he developed his design skills. His desire to explore and get out to see the world landed him at The Ohio State University as a Fulbright Scholar. There, he continued studying industrial design and honing in on design technique. Finally, it was a doctorate program in Cognitive Systems Engineering that filled his understanding of design theory that has since shaped his current work.

According to Roesler, design has more of a role in “human error” than we currently give it blame. Many high-risk work spaces are a result of engineering rather than design and fail to take into consideration on people interact with their environment. Nuclear reactor operators, pilots and other technicians are expected to read numerous gauges and monitoring systems in order to synthesize and understand the current situation in their respective environments. Human factors consideration could help ease the pressure that is put on people in these situations. (more on this)

More recently, Boeing’s Flight Deck Concept Center has been working in collaboration with Roesler to visualize how future systems could help cut down systems management that may lead to “user error”. In this process, UW Design has offered courses that help students imagine how a cockpit of the future might operate if designed as a workplace instead as an engineering necessity.

He finished his lecture by showing pieces from N.O.C.’s Origin and attempted to provide a definition to answer what he means when he talks about Interaction Design.

“[It] is more about looking past the digital component and seeing how people behave and think. It’s about seeing humans.”

School’s back in session and for a lot of people, that...

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:25:00 -0700

School’s back in session and for a lot of people, that only means one thing - football season. I stopped in to the UW bookstore and saw the Shady Peeps POP on a table right next to the cashier. It really stood out in the sea of purple and gold. They seem to be functioning pretty well, too. The area was in good order and the sunglasses were hanging correctly from the jersey.

Our packaging redesign is turning out to be effective, as well. It’s clear which frame/lens color combination you’re getting when you reach for the boxes in the display and it’s visually mapped to the sunglasses hanging directly above.

This brings up one point we try to make, which is that we strive to make our work unified and consistent across applications. Had Shady Peeps gone to separate agencies for the display and the packaging, they might not have worked together as a system.

-vu

BYOB - Bring Your Own Beamer -Ben

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:48:19 -0700

BYOB - Bring Your Own Beamer

-Ben

We wrapped shooting for our second furniture video for Modus +...

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:12:00 -0700

We wrapped shooting for our second furniture video for Modus + Costco. Exciting stuff my friends!

Things done learned.

1 Wide Angle lenses makes Imri and I look like we are ATLiens.

2 Vu was a Ninja in another lifetime and continues to be one today. That is the ceiling my friends.

3 Hunger leads to extremely poor decision making.

-Jason

Received some outstanding news whilst surfing in Hawaii - Origin...

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:49:00 -0700

Received some outstanding news whilst surfing in Hawaii - Origin has been chosen as a Finalist for the International Adobe Design Achievement Awards. We felt very confident about the project while creating it, but we have to admit being a bit surprised by the reactions we’ve had since. Between being shown at the Microsoft Design Expo and now these Adobe Awards, we’re considering entering it into some more competitions.

There was one large hurdle, however. We had to get releases for all copyrighted material in our video - which included some music and a few seconds of Star Wars. Yikes. Well, in the end, we were able to get permission from both Shanachie entertainment for the music (who were very willing to oblige) and even Lucasfilm, who surprised us all. Thanks to both.

So next up is a trip to Taipei for the big event where they announce the champion and runner up in late October. It’s part of the larger IDA Congress (International Design Alliance) event.

As of yet, the details of our participation are still unknown, only that we will be flown there and accommodated. Not sure if there is a presentation or panel discussions or any other sort of plans for us, but it’s sure to be interesting.

-vu