Made of Art and Science

Thanksgiving eve my mom asked my brother and I to attend mass. Growing up I was raised catholic. Young, innocent, naive. I've come far from that innocent naive young boy. Today, I don't pray as often, I attend mass lesser. I blame it on science. 

It's interesting to think about my career as a designer vs my life as a faithful catholic . Good Industrial design to me is the ability to balance, it's orchestrating the right amounts of emotions (art) vs logic an reason (science.)

Today, I would go rounds with someone about art and design. I defend art & rely on practicality, reasoning and logic of science. I defend the emotions that drives me to create.  Making objects that push me, that push my feelings . I design to stimulate, to describe an emotion, play with the senses. For what? To bond and relate to others. There is nothing more compromising to the guards we put up than showing people our vulnerability, nothing more  relatable, or give a sense of camaraderie than the way design allows me to be. 

My life now is designing products that connect to the world, and to people. We are pareidolic, we see hints of people and faces in design. Cars look aggressive or gentle in their design styling. Anthropomorphic in ways. I build empathy into machines. But If emotions, people and art drive me. Then what is the value of science? Science is calculative, its logical to me. Today I wonder why I use art to feel and live. But, use science in the face of the catholic temple that brought me up. To challenge words like: spirit, holy and faith. Aren't these cut from the same emotional fabric as art to me? You have faith because you feel no? 

I'm writing this as a confession. That I don't go to mass, not because I don't believe in a god. But I've seen bad people, wear good people masks. I believe in all hierarchy. That one should have some sort of goodness gauge in life . All religion teaches good values. At its core, be good to people, treat others with respect, and dignity. 

Thanksgiving eve I lied. I lied to my mom. I said I went to mass.

Why? Science, pride, logic, reasoning.

My mom tells me a story. A man sees a girl crying on the side walk. He approaches her and asked why. She wants to buy her mom flowers for Mother's Day, and missing a few coins. He offers to help and drives her to her mother. They drive for awhile and end up at a cemetery. At this moment the man realizes. "Why do I send flowers to my mother when she's still alive." This girl can't even say hi to her own mother, if she wanted to. 

I'd go to mass again to hear these types of stories. To remind me of family and the important things in life. 

My group of friends are young and full of energy. Last year it took a death for many of us to realize how delicate life is. Losing a friend, brother, cousin, son at the peak of his career really upsets things. Have whatever faith you want, believe in any god you like. Just live good. Keep those that matter close, love often, and love hard. 

One Page At A Time

I'm ready to make a long term commitment. I recently bought this book by Adam J Kurtz. Essentially you fill a page a day for 365 days. Each page poses an: idea, drawing, quote, question ect. I'm going to fill out a page a day for the next 365 days and share it back through video in a year. I'm excited to see how my thoughts and perspective on life changes. 

I encourage you guys to do this as well. Buy it here.

Chica Locca

woke up super early this morning to join the dudes on the Chica Loca boat to check out Marieta Island. Unfortunately it was too windy near the island so I couldn't get dope shots there. The one time i tried the drone flew straight into me and cut me. Haha. Thats what I get for being stupid. When the wind calmed down though I got some really awesome shots. Here is a short edit. I'll do a longer edit when I'm back in Cali. 

 

Glance Magazine

A few months ago Glance magazine asked my brother and I to do an Alumni feature about post CCA, things we've learned and carried on with us, and the 411 on things we're doing now. I was told the magazine would hit shelves  November - December. I totally forgot until a buddy text me this image last night. WHOOOOO what a pleasant surprise. 

Red filter for the hero

I'm headed to Peurto Vallarta very soon. I'll be swimming in some clear blue water, so  I picked up the red filter to see how well these things work. The science behind the filter is, is that it compensates for the lack of red as you go deeper underwater. Red is the first color to be lost making the white balance in the camera go nuts. Having the filter should give you a more natural and more corrected look. I got this bad boy for pretty cheap off Amazon for 30 bucks. Link here. 

Be sure to check back in for photos and video updates.

Red October in November

This Thanks Giving comes with many blessings. I'm thankful to be alive, that my family and friends are all happy and well. That my brother and I started working together officially on paper. Shout outs to Playground, its been such a fun time and for allowing us to stay creative. 

Today I'm super thankful for my brother in law Terry Dang aka TDangerous. I dont care what anyone of you guys say, I'm still voting for Yeezy in 20/20. Anyways look what landed on my lap this lovely autumn day. Yup! red October in November isn't that late. Better late than never.  Happy Thanks Giving YALLLL.


  

Idiomspiration

When ask what to do with the Submarine's during World War I, Will Rogers said, “Boil the oceans. That’ll force all the subs to the surface.” When asked how Rogers said "I'm just an idea man."

Often our ideas are as grand as the ocean, it feels so big and infinite that its hard to capture. Rather than boiling the whole ocean, why try boiling small pots. 

Praying for Paris

Of all the things that stressed me out Friday like: whether I'd make the train, if the weather was cold? should I bring a jacket? Will I make my work deadline? I come to realize. All in a few seconds a brother, a sister, daughter, fathers, and mothers lives are taken. I feel small, petty, my worries are minuscule. Life can change in a matter of seconds. It's saddening to imagine if this were, my brothers, my father, mother or sister I would be devastated. All this evil in the world make no sense. My heart is heavy for those that are affected. I pray for Paris. 

Eyes In The Sky

Here are some photos I took while Unboxing the Phantom 3. All you haters out there, I'm about to have a bird eye view of you. (joke) I'm sure you've seen plenty floating around the web, but these are specially taken by me for you. So enjoy them.

I posted a short video taken from the Phantom a few days ago. Its two post down check it out. I'm so stoked to own this drone, and can't wait to fly it more.  I'd have to boldly say though, but the 4k footage taken from the Phantom 3 Professional is superior over the Hero 4k. Yes, I own both. There is a crispy difference right off the card pre-editing. No, I haven't done any scientific testing yet, and this is purely a human eye test, but that's probably as scientific as most consumers would go. So step it up GoPro. If I'm wrong can someone prove me wrong?

Snakehips - All My Friends

In Drakes song "Show me a good time" he says:

"I live for the nights that I can’t remember
With the people that I won’t forget"

In this song Chance says: 

"The nights we won't remember
Are the nights we won't remember"

Both artist touch on strong points of friendships. There are those out there we will not forget, and totally okay with spending a night you we can't even remember. We've all had those night. Enjoy

Droning Around

So I learned to fly today.

What I mean, is I bought a DJI Phantom 3 Professional. Thought I'd get into drone filming, it'll definitely add dynamic shots to my videos. Not that I'm a professional or anything, but new angles to add to my boring ass GoPro shots, is a plus.  I'm still super nervous at flying this thing, and currently only comfortable with taking selfies, because it only requires me to go straight up,  then back down. I'm too much of a wimp to push it hard. Don't be fooled by the shitty sweeping shots in the edit above. I freaked out trying to pilot the phantom even to do that. Give me a few weeks though, I'm determined to master this thing. 

Enjoy the short edit for Instagram. 

Dell Book Pro

I'm making the transition back to frightening world of PC's. Sorry Apple, I'll miss iMessage and your beautiful interface. No, you haven't lost a fan boy, I've tried to make iOS and Bootcamp work for me, but I don't think it's going to happen. I use Rhino and it's PC plug-in's too often to not switch. I'm happy to report, in the place of the awesome Macbook Pro, I've gotten my hands on one of these Dell M3800. It looks just like a Macbook, I'll call it my Dellbook Pro. 

Mars Like

Last weekend Colin, Anna and I drove down South to see my buddy David. I needed to grab my groomsmen suit for his wedding, so I thought, why not squeeze in a short hike in the desert and ATV'ing at the dunes while we're down there. I haven't gotten around to editing photos at the dunes, but enjoy the ones taken in the desert. The moon came out to play.  

33.7884° N, 115.8982° W

Yeezy Taught Me

I've tried hard enough to get a hold of some Kanye's each time Nike or Adidas drops a pair. I want them so badly that I've considering buying from a reseller at a ridiculous price. I haven't done it yet, but I'll let you know when I do. For now I picked up some NIKEID Roshe's in the Yeezy dark color-way. Check them out, they're my poor man's yeezy no. 2, first ones are these Adidas.

Hunter S Thompson

I'm constantly reminded by the Will Smith interview with Charlie Rose. The one where he tells the story about building a wall for his father, brick by brick for a year and a half. When Will and his brother finishes, his father stand them back and says "Dont ya'll never tell me, that you can't do something." Then walks into the shop.  

I don't know about you but I rather lay a brick at a time, day by day, than procrastinate and build nothing at all. A little food for thought. 

Watch the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwxlYMmQu9Q

An Inquiry Into Values

So I have started reading Pirsig's book, Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. From what I understand, it's not about motorcycle maintenance. So if you are looking to fix your motor-bike, do not buy this book.  It's about the values and principles the protagonist brings up through his trips and maintenance. If you have read this book, let me know what your thoughts are. I'll share my thoughts when I'm finished.

I'm now 17 pages in and I'm having a random train of thought. Take it however you like, I wrote this note immediately after exiting Cal-Train. Here is the copy & paste from my notes:

"We think about the things we have in common w/others all the time. Whether friends or lovers, we bond because we can relate: "He loves art like me," or "She enjoys music just as much as I do." This is the substance that makes us friends, enemies & lovers. Thinking deeper. What we have in common can also be in conflict. You and I both love design, but we appreciate different design practices; we love music, but like different genres. To think about it in this way, there is much more depth to life. We rationalize for love, and when we don't love anymore, we rationalize to not love. It's all a state of mind."