Pinterest is a growing social sharing site for images and videos. It is very simple to set up. Create one or more Boards, add a "Pin It" link to your web browser, and you're ready to go.

Whenever you encounter an interesting image on a web page, Pin It, and a reference to that image with a thumbnail is added to your Board. You can have different board for different themes.

You can follow other users' Boards,  "reping", "like", and comment images. Facebook integration is also available. Popular themes include interior design, fashion, places, craft, and architecture.

My Pinterest board on desing is at http://pinterest.com/aarnih/design-i-like/

Reading the Steve Jobs book and Apple's philosophy on packaging brought this video from 2005 into my mind.

I've made several logo designs. One that is over 10 years old and still in use is the logo for Thinking Business, a management consultancy. I'm a partner at the company.

The logo is very simple. It consists of a stylized thought bubble and the company name.

In 2007 I entered a product design competition. The requirement was that the accessory had to be made from 1.5 to 2 mm steel plate. My idea -The 3-board- was a triangular thing that had many uses. I did not get a prize, but it was fun to participate.

(download)

Click here to download:

an-accessory-my-design-of-the-week-nEhqdByAAsAjItszmklk.zip (277 KB)

Copyright 2007 Aarni Heiskanen, all rights reserved.

Earlier this year we wanted to have a roll up as a background to our COOLacademy video broadcast. I made three versions. Two were typographical and one based on a photo. The photo version went into production. The final size was one meter by two meters.

(download)

Click here to download:

roll-ups-my-weekly-design-hifyjFjCiwtgDwsEymlt.zip (223 KB)

Customization is popular. People personalize t-shirts, mugs, beer mats, and so on. I customized a wristwatch at www.fewsome.com.

I chose the watch parts and colors and added my own dial image. The end result is an interesting combination of hard and soft elements.

Over the years I've created graphic design for publications, printed items, and web sites. I also have paintings, drawings, and pastel work.

I thought that I could share some of my work with short comments every week.

This is a design for a post card. It looks like flames, hence the title.

This week I visited the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, Germany. The museum houses actually four museums and one of them is The International Design Museum Munich. Many design icons were present.

A stereo set from the 1960s caught my eye. It had some of same simple elegance that Apple products are now known for. The designer was Dieter Rams who has made some really cool designs for Braun.

Rams has defined the following ten principles for "good design":

• Good design is innovative.
• Good design makes a product useful.
• Good design is aesthetic.
• Good design makes a product understandable.
• Good design is unobtrusive.
• Good design is honest.
• Good design is long-lasting.
• Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
• Good design is environmentally friendly.
• Good design is as little design as possible.

Not a bad list for any industrial designer or manufacturer!

Steve Jobs said it:

“Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.”

— Fortune, Nov. 9, 1998