Cleaning House

I am finally, after 5 years of hard-core work and abuse, cleaning my shop. This is a huge task seeing that it is full of the left-overs and cut-offs of literally thousands of projects and the crap those projects leave in their wake.

We're talking massive amounts of scrap steel, wood, plastic, electronic parts and pieces, hardware, paper, glass (both unbroken as well as shattered). Three weeks ago, I loaded an eight cu. yd. scrap bin full to the top with steel scrap. It weighed in at 13,400 lbs. With the price of steel scrap what is now is I raked in a whopping 400 bucks for all that. It only took me two solid days and a forklift running full time to load it. The upside: great body workout. I was super-pumped from lifting 13 Gs of steel in some form or another.

Next came the wood pile. That is located upstairs on the second floor of the shop. A whole wall devoted to wood of every shape, size, and brand. Now, I know there are wood-guys out there who would have shit sawdust to see what I threw out but I have to make room for my new swanky studio that is going up there. What else can I do?

In fact, I am asked many times over why I don't just make more stuff out of all that scrap I've accumulated.
Here is the stock answer: "By the time I design something around a specific piece of steel scrap or wood scrap and figure out all the parameters for fitting it into a specific design, I have wasted the exact amount of time I could have back by just designing what I actually want to fabricate and going out and getting the materials I need to do it. Besides, digging through a huge mountain of crap to find that one perfect piece of plate or unblemished piece of birch ply is ridiculous. It takes forever and is a pain; especially the steel because it is so f---ing sharp and heavy!

Then plastic. I use a lot of Plexiglas, polygal, lexan, lumasite, and fiberglass for various projects. I hate working with the stuff because if you have ever run lumacite through a table saw you know what I mean. What happens? The shit is like a bomb blasting shards of needle-sharp fragments at the speed of sound right in your face. In fact, if you are wearing a short-sleeved shirt forget about it. Ouch MF!

Anyways, this stuff had built up to infinite density and really, you save the stuff because it is expensive. You always believe you can use it somewhere but after keeping it around for all this time and not once using any of the cut-offs, I made the call to DUMP. See ya sharp and messy expensive plastic waste. Boo hoo. I think, I have decided to officially quit working with all that hydrocarbon-based polymers because of a couple things: toxic and environmentally stupid. It's crap. Oh, and did I mention cheezy looking?

I loved taking the big sheets of glass we had laying around and smashing them in the dumpster. I did this by laying them in there carefully so as not to cut my hand off by mistake. Once they were safely in, I took a 5 by 5 inch by 1/2 inch thick piece of stainless flat bar and threw it up in the air high above the dumpster so that it would fall directly on the center of the glass plate resulting in a most-gratifying sensation of smashing glass destruction. I always hated trying to be so careful around the scrap glass. Now, I don't have to worry about it anymore.

I have been lugging around dozens of electric motors for nearly 15 years with the intent of using them in some artistic manner. Motors are heavy little things and they all are different in some manner of either electrical hookups or mounting methods. Some turn clockwise, others counter-clockwise, some can go both ways depending on the polarity of your connections. Whatever. For the same reason I got rid of the scrap steel, I got rid of the motors: If I design somthing that uses an electrical motor, I'll just go get one. They are everywhere in the form of Obtainium (I'll explain "Obtainium" later...) and can be purchased or stolen from anywhere.

All this cleaning has resulted in the production of tons of dust. Sawdust, metal dust, plastic dust, dust dust, rust dust, it is airborne in the process of gutting the space. I am sure I have taken five years off my life from the particulate I am inhaling. I do wear a dust mask sometimes but not always.

One of the best parts of cleaning the space is the destruction and elimination of a lot of old files, plans, drawings, and vendor crap that has just been trashing up the place. It feels good to say to yourself, I am finished with this phase of my life. Get it the hell out! I chucked boxes of stupid files that my old business manager had painstakingly assembled. He kept every damn thing that was ever mailed, dropped off, or picked up from any lame sales rep that crossed our doorway whether we needed the product or not. Also, the guy was forever doing some corn-ball "analysis" of something be it our cell phone usage, how much paper we used, what DSL service was best, or god knows what else. He wanted to open a food market and spent untold hours analyzing every aspect of the food industry. Did anything ever happen? No. What a waste. However, he kept all that work in densely-packed folders that I happily threw in the dumpster, enjoying the self-gratifying satisfaction of trashing all his hard work...

Big Fat Liar

It's that time of the year again. Everyone is graduating and literally, scouring for a job. Any job.

Here is a word of advice for all you young architects and designers blanketing the city's firms with fluffed up resumes in hopes of having the opportunity to work at the lamest position in the company to "get your foot in the door":

As you present your brand new black shiny leather portfolio that you have invested all those labor hours into, be aware of the "over-sell" you are attempting. All your pretty CAD work and slick project philosophy is a facade and you know it. The biggest lie is when you present a project you "worked" on as your own even though it is painfully obvious to your potential employer that you did not.

Case in point: I recently looked at a portfolio from a new architectural graduate that showed remarkably advanced images. I wondered how much of this image was truly representational of the abilities of this person. In fact, seeing large-scale projects along side obvious homework assignments was somewhat of a joke. I asked the guy if he did in fact design this particular project. "No", the answer began", I was part of the design team that worked on it." Big deal. So you get within 100' of a project site by some strange coincidence all of the sudden you are the Designer?

Look, the images and work done by others is not your work. Don't misrepresent yourself this way. Besides, is insidiously unethical and downright illegal (yes, it is a violation of copyright law- look it up). Guess what? You ain't hired.

Many young designers feel that they have a right to include designs and images done by firms they have worked for as their own work without any credit to the source of the project or the truth surrounding the design. I have seen designers fill their websites with work that was done by other firms. They take credit for everything about the project with really no clarification of what, exactly, they were responsible for or what they actually did.

Bottom line newby: Your portfolio when you start your professional career or a new firm if you have left the employment of another is empty. You've got nothing. Time to start working. Fill your portfolio with your own work and quit thinking you can show other's work as your own.

If you truly did the design or finish on a project then get your previous employer's permission to show images of that particular project. And if you want to get hired, then give credit to the people or company that gave you the opportunity to say, "I designed that."

Project is Approved

When a project proposal is approved, a project team is selected.

This group is usually formed from the proposal team to reduce start-up time. The project team discusses architectural design issues and organizes a plan of action for the work. Detailed design plans for materials, labor costs, feasibility, and budget costs along with documentation are written. A schedule is drafted and discussed with the client.

Your company should hold weekly or bi-weekly core team meetings to discuss the status and open issues on a project. The client is encouraged to attend these meetings to deal with any issues that should be handled from their side.

The Contract Model Part 2

Certain projects represent more risk and time commitment than others.

In these types of projects, you should do a more intensive research
phase of work for the client. The client pays for the research phase and receives a detailed research report or design proposal upon completion.

This type of agreement allows both companies (you and the client) to
investigate the possibility of a project without committing a large amount of time or money.

I create contract agreements on a project by project basis. I have standard as well as fixed-bid or time-and-materials agreements. I always bid with a known markup on both time and materials and I don't change that markup number. Howerver, I try to be flexible to meet the client's needs and expectations.


Hey Guess What? The Project is Approved!

When a project proposal is approved, a project team is selected.
This group is usually formed from the proposal team to reduce start-up
time. The project team discusses architectural design issues and organizes a plan of action for the work. Detailed design plans for materials, labor costs, feasibility, and budget costs along with documentation are written. A schedule is drafted and discussed with the client.

next, What Not To Say During This Meeting...

An argument for the existence of Chemistry:

Not Chemistry the science, Chemistry the place.
The bar. The lab. The space.
Drink.Music.Talk.Learn.

Because of the process of cultural, economic and our overall evolution, this space, which is designed for physical necessities such as looking, observing, researching and studying, dancing, and having fun, will become a real meeting place where the individual fulfils the social requirements which characterize his species.

Why?

Because: The common meeting place is the nexus between the cozy private world of the home and the frequently exhausting and fear inducing public domain. On a daily basis we witness a disconcerting buildup of aggression and anger, spawned on by overt acts against each other be it crime, terrorism, or jealousy. Its social function is highly influenced by a self-worshipping narcissism in the age of competitiveness, appearances, and aggravation. Therefore, vision (to see and be seen, to contemplate and act) has become the most used of our senses. The concept of this night spot has undergone a singular transformation, changing from the quiet, everyday place of familiar reality into a cultural temple of urban activity.

Chemistry constructs another world whose location and relation to the past, present, and future are unknowable. A design directive that is as intelligent as it is beautiful – a true reflection of our hopes and dreams.

Suspended worlds. Endless cities. Indistinguishable from the simulatory abilities of technology, yet evolved enough to evoke communication.


c.2002 patryan:things.

Pain and Grow

This is the story of a design firm in a big city with big-money clients and big-time ego. The rise and fall of a company that could not keep up with its own internal combustion and overwrought expansion; the design firm as creative and financial time bomb. A warhead on a mission of self-destruction brought on by a freaked out president, a gay and rubbery vice president and a creative director overcome by gargantuan ego and the vision to control everything down to the way someone cleans the employee bathroom.

Rise and Fall

The design business is full of stories of great projects, failures, mistakes, budget overruns, client tirades, over-sensitive creatives, and over-stressed principles. What makes this story any different from the thousands of firms who have been through it all? This story is about the people, and clients who worked so well together in screwing it all up. While most creative agencies who build great, successful firms ultimately end up a conglomeration of milk-toast washouts, becoming conservative, ass-kissers who dispense their creative ideas with the consistency of luke-warm cottage cheese, our story is quite different. This firm only became tepid during their final days. Once the inevitable crash loomed and creative spirit became nearly non-existent, the firm could no longer dream of being great. All they did was attempt to collect a few thousand dollars at a time by doing anything that came along.

The Beginning

excerpts from book

There was once a great idea. An idea to start a service company built on talents of a single creative vision.

Standard Terms and Conditions for fabrication/Client Relationship

Here is what I use at the end of estimates or contracts to basically let Clients know my terms of service so that if any situation arises that is covered by these simple conditions, there is no question. It is a good idea to include this paperwork into all your printed correspondence with clients. This covers you as well as the Client and the Client will feel like you have a better handle on the project if you present concise contractual language and simple Terms and Conditions clauses:

Standard Terms and Conditions for fabricator/Client Relationships

Services
The Fabricator (hereafter referred to as PAT) agrees to provide all the services outlined in the referenced proposal within the criteria specified. If, however, Client (hereafter referred to as Client) changes any of the criteria during the project requiring additional services, a revision fee or change order will be charged.

Additional services will include, but are not limited to, changes in the extent of work, changes in schedule, changes in the complexity of any elements of the project, and any changes made after Client’s approval has been given for a specific stage of the project according to the agreed-upon schedule, including concept, design, fabrication, or installation.

PAT will keep Client informed of additional services that are required and obtain Client’s approval for any services that cause the total fees to exceed those outlined in the proposal.

Schedules/Overtime/Rush Work
PAT reserves the right to adjust the schedule and or charge additionally in the event that Client fails to meet the agreed-upon deadlines for delivery of information, materials, approvals, payments, and for changes and additions to the services outlined in the proposal.

Client Responsibility
Client will approve and sign all final designs and construction drawings before they are released to the fabricators. Client will also approve and sign off on all finishes and color samples.

Electronic files
Electronic files produced by PAT and software documents related to Client’s project must not be copied, altered, or modified without the permission of PAT.

Reimbursable Expenses
Any budget figures or estimates for reimbursable expenses or implementation charges, such as out-of-pocket expenses, printouts or plots, samples, out-sourced fabrication, specialized tooling, or unique installations are for planning purposes only. PAT will use our best efforts to work within stated budgets but will not be liable if these expenses exceed budgets. When possible, no expenses in excess of the budget will be incurred without Client’s written or initialed approval in advance.

Client will reimburse PAT for all out-of-pocket expenses incurred by PAT on this project. These expenses will be billed at cost plus any surcharge indicated in the referenced proposal for account handling and supervision.

Samples
PAT will provide samples of finishes and materials as required by the contract for Client approval. Because finishes are subjective and natural imperfections in steel and wood grain are inherent in these materials, reasonable matching will be attempted but can not be guaranteed. Over time, unfinished steel or other metals can potentially change color and some can rust if not adequately protected or maintained.

Third-Party Contracts
PAT may contract with other individuals or companies acting on behalf of Client to provide additional services such as general contracting, installation, finishing, shipping, or fabrication. Client agrees to be bound by any terms and conditions, including required credits and usage rights, with respect to reproduction of design concepts that may be imposed upon PAT by these third parties.

Cancellation
In the event of cancellation of this assignment, a cancellation fee will be paid by Client and will include full payment for all work completed, expenses incurred, and hours expended. The cancellation fee will be based on the prices outlined in the proposal. Any initial payments that have been received will be credited against any amounts due. Deposits are non-refundable for custom work.

Warranty
PAT products are warranted against certain defects in materials and workmanship for one year form the date of delivery. During the warranty period, PAT will at its discretion, repair or replace defective components free of charge. Electrical products are warranted for 6 months from date of delivery.


this work copyright 2004 by patryan:things LLC but you may use this if you would like. Just put your name where mine is OK? Hey, I wouldn't be surprised if some dumb fabricator just cuts and pastes this right into his contract 10 minutes before a client meeting...seen it.

Back in Charge.

There we go.

Technical Instability

This is getting to me...

Check web site this afternoon and see all the formatting for this page totally f***'d up. Starting over...

The Contract Model Part 1

Contract Design and Engineering Model

Contract Engineering Model

Our contract engineering model provides an interesting look into how
a designer should typically approach and execute a project. Your goal is to manage a design collaboration in which the risks and rewards are shared.

Initial Contact

There are many ways a potential clients can be introduced to your services.

Most of your new clients should have heard about you through word of mouth from
your past clients. If you are just starting out, then you have to create that buzz yourself. More on that later. Your potential new clients should receive an e-mailed newsletter and visit your web site.

About Design-oriented web sites:

Over-use of Flash is getting old. Your pretty animations will ultimately cloud your message. As a new client you need information and a sense of design direction without all the cheese thown over the top. Keep a design website full of interesting information and graphics that show the client what you really do.


A good way for a client to get a better idea of how you work is to visit your pad. You do have some kind of studio space where you work don't you? The visit usually involves a look around and an informal chat.
It is a good opportunity to talk on a personal level.

The meeting is a chance for each company (your company and the client's) to
explain how its business model works, describe what it is working on now, and describe what it plans for the near future. NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) are sometimes necessary to facilitate open discussion of current and future projects.

Proposal and Contract Work

If it appears that the client is interested in hiring you, then you should think about some research to figure out if the project is feasible and to get a better idea
of what work is involved. Only after that shoul you then present to the client a proposal that details the potential design considerations, features, deliverables,timeline, and any other pertinent project information.

Next: Doing the Deal

Part 2 coming...

MIG

Most Important Goals:
Design and finish house. Start NEW house project.
Product line of :things
Publish/Distribute intelligent media (resourceful, interactive CDs, web sites, wireless content, with insite and how-tos)
Reinvent

Great Marketing Spew

Constantly evolving, our place is always a work in progress.

At our shop, we specialize in mixed-method development. Mixed-Method is the action of fusing design and engineering resources with modern materials, tools, and people. We merge creative methods, technology, fabrication techniques, and talented people to produce products and environments.

As mass-produced products infiltrate our lives and attempt to control our very existence, we make a commitment to experimenting with the possibilities and constraints of design. We constantly examine and formulate new ideas about the role of structures and technologies that surround us.

Our work with materials is simple and straightforward. We are inspired by the basic elements of construction: wood, steel, stone, and fiber. Combining these with modern plastics and recycled products, we produce functional ideas and concepts that go beyond the expected.

Design Will Save The World

so long as no one is willing to stop design's march on our intellect
then design will probably continue to act like a big cushy, neon,self-cleaning,
self-replicating sponge: absorbing any and all genuine qualities that simple
life has to offer. continuing on its crash course to develop the perfect $4
barstool(IKEA) or the near-perfect $1300 barstool. which one works better for
getting drunk at the bar? well, in the words of Karim Rashid: "New experiences =more memories = longer life." Obviously, it's the $1300 barstool. That was not a trick question. Conversely, which chair works better with a group of 6 year olds? IKEA wins every time! design will save the world...

Email post

by adopting techniques used in industrial culture and maintaining a steadfast
focus on deliverable reality, I reject the notion of products that allow
the user to plug their mental states into network-driven, GPS-linked associatively
that tracks our buying habits, our travel schedules, our information preferences
and sexual histories. instead of attaching design methodology to passive user-response
emotion and feedback, designers should attempt to recontextualize the priorities of the
end user, thereby establishing a one-to-one relationship between client and problem
- allowing end user experience to dictate the design's use; not the other way
around.

The Good Life

will our blind acceptance of design as a
metaphor for the good life simply suffice to alleviate the pain in our everyday
world?
oh who cares?

so long as Design Within Reach and the rest of the corporate usurpers of design ideology keep pushing the same plasticized crap into the hands of every wanna be interior decorator on the planet, then there will never be a shortage of Noguchi tables, Philippe Starck plastic chairs, and over-spec'd Artichoke Lamps in every restaurant, hotel, and nightclub being built.

AutoRun

Create a plain ascii text file named autorun.inf. Place the file on the root
directory of the CD. The file should have the following lines replace
whatever.exe with your projector name)

[autorun]
open=whatever.exe

If you want the drive to display a custom icon for the CD, add another line to
the file like so:

[autorun]
open=whatever.exe
icon=whatever.ico

Read It Again Already.

Nadja is my favorite! I am reading it again...

I have always loved that book and have read it like, 10 times. Mad Love is another of Breton's books that I really enjoyed. I have met Nadja's in my life and have had relationships with them. To me, the idea of Nadja (which is the creation of someone within your mind who is actually non-existent) is really a love affair with your idea of what a relationship wants to be. It is a haunting dream where Nadja comes into your life and you are simply, for lack of a better phrase, along for the ride. That idea is nothing new. It is rather, the way Breton suggests in a surrealist manner, that your relationship with someone (who is as beautiful as Nadja) leads to disorientation or a sense of contradiction and randomness.

I have always been intrigued by the notion of "chance encounters" in my love affair with beauty, emotion and the complexities of uncertainness in personal relationships. That has always been something that I have deep down, tried to understand or seek out in any kind of relationship I have had. And I must admit, it was actually a driving factor in the way I would encounter anybody for a while there.

I used to wander through my life and basically trip over these incredible instances where I would see someone and immediately create a scenario in my mind based upon the visual cues and manners this person had. I would then figure out a way to meet them and literally begin a screenplay of my ideal relationship with them as the lead. And surprisingly, for awhile, I could actually live in this moment of "imagined reality" with them. And of course the surprises and strange idiosyncrasies that arose would add to the allure and confusion within this dream state. All the while complicating the whole thing would be sex, passion and the act of falling in love which all provided a wonderful, confused, and extremely exciting world for me.

The final line of the book is my favorite and I have quoted it over and over and applied it in many contexts to my personal experiences. To me it means simply, there is no beauty if there is no passion. And because beauty is so subjective and means so many different things, passion is complex and because so, highly powerful. I have gotten in very deep deep trouble because of it too.

My Nadja is still out there. Somewhere. Maybe cruising the back alleys on her scooter, wearing dark sunglasses, a white t shirt under a loose black sweater and celery-colored cropped pants with sandals. She carries a big, Chrome shoulder bag full of her things. Her hair is windblown and short. She pulls over at a random cafe. Sits at a small table, orders a regular coffee and lights a cigarette. Then, she reaches in her bag, pulls out a copy of Nadja with dog-eared pages marking her favorite passages and begins to read. She looks up and notices a boy sitting two tables away. He is looking at her and imagining what she is thinking.

He is haunted by Nadja.

The Amalgamation of Pop Iconography Part 1

This whole construction of this hybrid subculture is best understood as an amalgamation of pop iconography that has been manufactured to you, the client, and your exacting specifications.

“the whole notion is that clients or benefactors or strategists or whatever you want to call them, are drivers behind visual iconography and that functionality has now become the new utilitarian catch-phrase that is describing “unique”, says me.

The Death of Interior Decorators

Killing The Interior Decorator. A Radical New Approach to Customer Service.


Don't get all excited. It's not as if this area is off limits to anyone. It's just that you have wandered beyond the well-appointed showroom aesthetic of our typical "front-end." Which simply means, that this area is going to seem a little skewed or maybe even downright unprofessional in terms of using marketing jargon and pretty, architectonic symbolism to wrap our work in a nice, friendly package.


Because most design websites are approximately 80% crap due to the exagerated claims and phoney photoshop retouches, we here at patryan:things feel the burning need to express ourselves truthfully beyond what we project to the typical shopper or curious competitor. In fact, we are not selling anything on this site. It is a collection of our ideas, thoughts, blogs, and spew that we feel is appropriate to publish just because we can. We are not interested in what you think. *Tell Us What You Think! This site is about what we think. A big, fat opinionated diatribe of Very Important Concepts (VIC) for your perusal.


Pain and Grow. Changing and Forgetting.


This site is always changing. Nothing will be "consistent" here. We belive design, art, culture, politics, relationships, and consumer demand should always be evolving and interacting with the environments that surround them. We (I use the word "We" here to indicate the huge corporate body that encompasses patryan:things - from the disinterested and self-absorbed receptionist that partially greets you in the foyer of our sprawling research campus to the middle-management project directors who wallow in a morass of finger-pointing blame; to the clock-watching fabricators hell-bent on perfect time clock synchronicity all the way up to the disconnected directors and partners who live in a world of Creative Management Ideology that still is hoplesly clinging to the last vestiges of dot com superficiality and palm pilot perversity. That doesn't include me though...) know of website - maybe even yours - that were uploaded in 1994 and have never been changed since! Hell, I even worked for a company that did that.

Design Spaz

There are moments when it is necessary to have the courage to design one's own future, to depart from the reassuring norm recommended by proven practice. Design is one of these moments, when fantasy and courage are released to conjure up new, exciting horizons.

If You Think You Are, You Aren't.

Artists and Designers can change their own economic status by shifting gears and becoming part of the guerilla workforce of cultural infiltration/blue collar espionage and secret raids on society.

No one ever knows what an artist is, or who, but you can be certain those who claim they are usually aren't

The New Context

The new context?

An addressing of audience participation and the inviting of the transmission of and audience reaction to help in the design of the work.