king talk

It‘s almost two days ago that we launched the decoded conference, an event which will interconnect people from the field of design and programming.

The decdoded conference is focusing at the development process of interesting projects within the limits of design and code/technology. The projects should be inspiration and build a base for further discussions. At this conference we will online show projects, that have been done or which have been prototyped already. Ideas and visions have to be brought into reality. The conference will foster the cultural interchange between the fields of design and tech. Topics and projects about generative design, gaming and human computer interaction will be presented by the speakers.

Our featured speakers are:
Mario Klingemann – Schönes aus Code
Moritz Stefaner – Ästhetik von Information
Benedikt Groß & Hartmut Bohnacker – Generative Gestaltung
Tilman Reiff & Volker Morawe – Games, Art & Testosterone
Massimo Banzi – Tinkering with Arduino

Like the decoded concept itself the the organisation team is a mixture of the fields of code and design. we as envis precisely, a design studio for interface and interaction design, are organizing and hosting this event together with our nerdy coding friends from reppa.net. We are looking forward to see you there…

You can find more information about the conference and ticketing at
www.decoded-conference.com

Today I found out about a new community which is a driven site for Artists, Designers, Makers, Builders, or anyone interested in the world between electronics and code. Its name is bildr, at this site they are rethinking the ways in which DIY sites have previously approached this world like instructables or make:projects and so on. Typically, the approach has been to showcase an individual’s project, while including instructions that would enable a user to create a duplicate. bildr’s method is quite different. Instead of focusing on individuals’ projects, bildr features community-written, collaborative articles that can be used as the foundation of an individual project. The articles come in two forms: Components and Modules.

On the one hand you have Components – (for e.g. an ADJD-S371 Color Sensor) show you how to connect and use an individual component. These pages also include code when needed. On the other hand you have Modules as mini-projects. These are all about how to make one thing. Like making an electro magnet, or sensing distance.bildr is about simplifying information to help you get your ideas made as quickly as possible. If you want to join bildr, just log on to bildr.org an register your seat at the public beta.

If you want you can try it with invite code: bildrInvite76f3

via make magazine

Two months ago I received a mail from André Menks a member of Multilogica Shop, a brazilian Arduino supplier. They had the idea of to producing an embroidered Arduino patch for handing it out to their customers. They were not sure, if they could have the right to use the logo for that. As the creator of the icon we had an agreement with David A. Mellis to publish it under Wikimedia Creative Commons. André told us about that they were planing, because this should be a »real« extension of our creation. We realley loved that idea and customized the logo a bit, so that the vector file was perfect for the stitchery. After that they only had to order the production at a specialized company and wait for the results. André and his guys from Multilogica Shop were satisfied.

Two days ago we received a package with three samples and we definitely like it. It‘s a good feeling to see something that was created for screen usage, getting to a real product, that can be touched. If you are in Brazil you have the choice to be one of the firsts to use the Arduino icon patch. It has approximately 6,5 cm and can be hot applied on T-shirts, caps backpacks or wherever you imagine. By this moment they recommend to take care in applying over synthetic fabrics. Soon they will publish a tutorial about application. If you want you can order it for 10 Reais (4,40 EUR) at their Shop.

We received a mail from a friend this morning, who told us that our Arduino Icon Redesign was brought to life. The Massimo Banzi´s students of CIID (Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design) baked a cake based on the icon for the Arduino IDE.

And Massimo Banzi seemed to be surprised, but happy. How long did he spent eating this Arduino Mega Cake…?

via Arduino Blog

Everyone who did a Arduino project knows the icon from the first Arduino version till now. Does it look like its IDE is based on Processing? Sure not.

The current Arduino version 0017 is featuring our new icon redesign (see release notes for 0017). From this point on Processing and Arduino will relax at your Dock like brother and sister.

I developed the new icon in accordance with David A. Mellis (co-founder of Arduino) in five steps. The first version was still using the old capital A which was not the best solution. We wanted to create a look which is similar to Processing, so we switched to the same style. P and A are really looking familiar, so it was not that problem. For the third version we get rid of the both green background colors and switched to a color which I picked out of a picture showing the Arduino Diecimila board making it 100% »authentic«. Within the process the icon changed proportions and the electronic circuit background pictured changed its composition in a way, which was not right anymore. So we switched the style to the lines and dots from the board for version number version.

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