Yves' Blog - 2 Sugars in my Tea

Obolos Project - Interim Exhibition

2008-10-25T13:22:00.004+02:00

October 23rd and 24th, the Industrial Design Faculty at the Eindhoven University of Technology held their first Internal Exhibition for the entire faculty. More than a hundred projects were exhibited and visited by students and coaches. Next week all the projects will be assessed by the entire faculty and mapped to the different stages of growth and development.

Below are a few pictures and videos of my exhibition stand. I simultaneously presented my progress so far of Modules and my Project, and also offered an experience for the exhibition audience (being able to make possible choices for their eventual personal 'Obolos'-product) combined with a usertest.
The survey also slightly explained the foundations of my project. Even though the exhibition is now finished I would still value it very much if you could take part in this usertest:

please click here for the online usertest (in case the link fails try here or here).

PicLens Slide Show

2008-07-29T19:06:00.000+02:00

If you are a hard core Blogger - making the viewing (perceiving) experience easier for the audience/readers should be one of ur main objectives. I am currently trying to implement the PicLens application into the Singapore Blog - a blog documenting the experiences of my family and me (and others) during a long vacation in central Asia... check the coolness:
Floracks in Singapore: PicLens Slide Show

new start

2008-04-03T16:12:00.001+02:00

I am nearly finished with my degree, and this has been quite the dead blog since december 10th '07. Hence I am picking up the threads and starting up again. I am back in Eindhoven in the Netherlands, the European Design Capital. As design and philosophy are 2 interesting topics, these are exactly the things I will attempt to blog about. Enjoy.

-Yves

31.536 megaseconds

2007-12-10T10:36:00.000+01:00

With a mere 13 days ahead of me of potential blood, sweat and tears, I sit here alone celebrating what was meant to be a day of joy, warmth and most importantly, love: our first anniversary as a couple in love. Unfortunately however, my longing cannot be quenched just yet, and I'm hoping my efforts of making this day as bearable as possible for my beloved counterpart Ilse, will live up to the expectations I have so lovingly put my heart and soul into. As I am posting this text on the actual day, I have all reason not to tell you what the efforts were, but am anyhow sincerely crossing my fingers that they all arrive on time (and in the right order [and havent been eaten by the messenger... ;P ]). Good luck to me!

And now for a personal message to the one who has my heart...

Proficiat lief vriendinnetje van me! Ik mis je, en wou dat je bij me kon zijn!

Melbourne Bay Beach Ripples

2007-11-27T15:37:00.000+01:00

Housemates StreetLive

2007-11-16T15:36:00.000+01:00

After a nice dinner out with the housemates, David decides to risk his life and Ride as a passenger on the back of Nestor's Suzuki

Australian Postbox

2007-11-16T15:19:00.000+01:00

The Long Ride Home

2007-11-16T14:00:00.001+01:00

This is my way home... and you get to see David!

The Hill Where Princes Live

2007-11-16T13:46:00.000+01:00

This is where I live...

50 Glasshouse Road, Collingwood

2007-10-15T13:29:00.000+02:00

Finally a sunny day at work!

This is where I work. I don't think I can show the studio itself, as a lot of products and prototypes are still in progress. But this is the entry hall, and here you can see quite a few prototypes which are the pride of Charlwood Design over the years. Right now I'm working on a short-film of my every-day life here, which will hopefully be published soon!

Melbourne by Night

2007-10-08T14:00:00.000+02:00

After the sun says farewell to the skyline of Melbourne, the energy of the city remains in the Lights and vibrant Colours displayed amongst the buildings and squares. Above is a photograph taken from the bridge over the Yarra river, towards Federation (Fed) Square.

When leaving the city however, the colours dim, but the ligths stay to light my bike ride home.

Above, is a photograph of the front of my house... not particularly sparkling, but a nice home for now (The one with the red dot infront of it).

High-tech Driving

2007-10-05T15:04:00.001+02:00

Observing the life in Melbourne, it is one of the most futuristic places I’ve experienced. The government of postal area code 3000 seem to have automated all the vehicles on the roads and strategically made them all drive on the wrong side of the road so as to minimise the risk of possible crashes on the right side of the road. They have taken great precautions in making it seem as though everything is normal by placing a dummy steering-wheel on the other side of the car and programming the car to drive slightly over the road lines every once in a while. Even though this should make it possible for children to also sit in the passenger seat with a dummy wheel, a Melbournian under the age of 21 years is not allowed to be seen behind it. Everyone who has passed their “make-believe” driving instruction lesson, is certified to make the tourist industry believe that the driving situation in Melbourne is just as normal as anywhere else. However, there are those foreigners who insist on bringing their own car and thus need to identify themselves with a “Professional Driver” tag, signified with a capital white “P” on a red square. Australians, who really want to drive by themselves, however are identified by a “Low-Profile” tag, signified by a capital black “L” on a yellow square, and will always have a supervising “make-believe” driver in the passenger seat. The one faulty thing the government has not programmed in the system yet though, is bicycle and animal recognition, which can prove to be very risky for any Australian faulty helmet wearing, dangerous, low-seated, bent-legged cyclist.

Japanese Nutritional Concoction

2007-09-06T09:10:00.000+02:00

Japanese food is not unknown for the people of Melbourne. The photograph above is of a cheap meal you can order at a Japanese Takeaway called Don Don's (Swanston Street).

Arriving

2007-08-31T12:38:00.000+02:00

Before I continue with my “then this happened, then that happened”- style of writing, I will intermezzo with an explanation to how I met Merinda Stewart, the girl I will now be meeting at the airport. Merinda’s aunt Robyn was the Librarian and Social Studies teacher at the ISB (International School of Basel, for all of you who don’t know that). About 9 years ago, Merinda (also nicknamed Mindy) came to Basel to visit her aunt, and spent some of her time there with me and my classmates. Since then we decided to be penpals, sending the occasional Christmas or holiday card and letters. Anyhow, we were now finally going to meet again. Customs at any Australian Airport, being a foreign immigrant, is never pleasant with all the questions you need to answer, and all the security you need to go through. But once you’re through, you needn’t worry no more. Unless of course you watch too much TV and realize that they even have a TV-show based on this topic of Border-Security, which can result in attaining a bad conscience. Merinda and her father David, met me at the arrivals hall about half an hour later than my arrival. Her brother Tyler and mother Kim were already at the check-in for Tyler’s flight to Hong Kong for 2 years of Boarding School doing the International Baccalaureate. After handing out the chocolate gifts over a coffee and a Hungry Jack’s Whopper (aka Burger King), we all said farewell to newly met Tyler. Finally arriving at Merinda’s student house, I could unpack a couple of essentials, prepare a mattress in the living room, and force my eyes closed fighting nature’s jetlag forces.

Flying

2007-08-30T04:00:00.000+02:00

4 movies, 5 TV-shows, 6 Music Albums, 3 Computer-games, 20 drinks, 3 meals, 5 snacks, 4 toilet breaks, 1 phone-call, and 1 unopened Harry Potter book later, I arrive in Kuala Lumpur, or as the Australians abbreviate, “Kay El” (KL), to get off one plane and board the next. Or so I believed. With 1 hour of technical difficulties which were not only audible, but also visible on nearly all the inboard flight entertainment system monitors on the back of every passenger seat’s head-rest, KL-Airport, and the airline captain and staff decided to make a move-on. Lucky for me, or at least if I were a seriously practicing religious Christian, I was placed next to an Angel. Or should I just say Angel, for that was her name. Anyhow, I thus had (the) God(s) on my side, and needn’t need to worry about the airplane crashing anytime that I was on it. She was from Singapore, works at a trading company, studied international business in Brisbane to graduate 2 years ago, and was now reuniting with her college friends in Melbourne for a mere 4 days. Even though the company this flight round was more suitable for a long and intriguing conversation, I was overwhelmed by the fatigue which the previous flight had caused me, resulting in a mere 10 percent talk, and the rest sleep.

Departing

2007-08-30T03:40:00.000+02:00

Leaving two thirds of my initially packed luggage at my brother’s new home, between his mountain-, kite-surfing-, and snow-boards, it requires us, Ilse and me, to take a bus and a train to get to the airport.

An emotional good-bye, which I cannot even begin wording, led me through the passport control and just in time to board the flight. This is when I can successfully say that I too, just like in books and movies, have felt an oxymoron of emotions conquering my soul.

Packing

2007-08-29T03:33:00.000+02:00

My mind acts as its own food for thought… as I pack my bags, I simultaneously am excited / stressed feeling the dosed adrenaline flowing through my veins, and also relaxed as always letting the world come to me as I go. At an academic level, I know that this journey will offer me a full image of the world of design and how it is put to life in practice in one of the most active design capitals of the southern hemisphere, Melbourne-Australia. At a cultural level though, I am slightly crawling back into my comfortable shell of a home, knowing that I will be surrounded once again by an English speaking environment, and yet besides having visited the country and experienced the company of few Australians, I am also throwing myself in an unknown abyss of a situation, leaving my known home and continent… all alone. On an entirely personal level however, I am doing one of the most natural things many individuals only dream of, and that is giving myself a fresh start, clean slate, an illusion of starting a new life, except this time round I have the opportunity to detect the holes in the road I’m walking on.

As usual, I pack 3 times more than the average human being, and instead of reducing the amount and weight of it, I look for possibilities of transporting the luggage using a cheaper alternative method than having to pay 54 Euros per extra kilo on the Malaysia Airlines flight over Kuala Lumpur. After a bit of research and auto-contemplation, I come to the conclusion that I still have the opportunity to figure this out once I get to my brother’s place in Amsterdam.

Eventually, I leave the house about 6 hours later than I had wanted, 10 hours later than I had planned, resulting in a change of plans to meet and dine with my beloved counterpart Ilse and her sister Evelien in Amsterdam, as I had already delayed Evelien being back home on time. Encountered by a gift, a letter and a farewell halfway to Amsterdam, Ilse and I step onto the connecting train at Utrecht Centraal.

Arriving at Guy and his beloved counterpart Evelien’s apartment, I nearly faint from my session of malnutrition ever since the wonderful surprise farewell breakfast (at the Holiday Inn in Eindhoven) I had received from Ilse’s parents this morning (not to mention the Casio World-time watch and a letter in the form of a poem I had also received from my Ilse). And whilst I try to suppress my shaky hands and tendency to just fall of my chair during the amazingly tasty dinner prepared by my potential sister-in-law, Guy discusses the possibilities of luggage transport over an international call with my father whilst simultaneously browsing the net for answers. After approximately an hour of word-exchange, the only most simple, most convenient, concluding answer is to minimize my luggage to one third of the current weight. With the help of 2 experts in luggage minimization, Guy and Ilse, I even spare a mere 3 kilos from hitting the maximum allowed airline check-in amount, 20kg.

Exhausted and still mind-boggled, I dive into the Bordeaux-red Ikea futon-bed with my beautiful girlfriend.