Pong

Pong was originally desinged in 1951 by Ralph Baer a young and conscientious engineer who worked for Loral a TV company. It was when his boss approached him with the task of 'creating the best tv in the world' did Ralph come about this idea of 'Pong'. Baer wanted to create something different, because designing a tvwas such an easy process to him. Instead he came up with the idea of playinga game on the tv, therefore the video game was born. Sam Lackoff, the chief engineer at the time refused the idea and saw it as pointless and costly. So in 1966 Ralph Baer came back to his original concept, and built the first video games prototypes which there are only a few around today. The first playable video game was a Chase Game: two squares chasing each other. The last prototype built in 1968 (also known as Brown Box) played Ball & Paddle games, Target Shooting games, and more. After several demonstrations to TV manufacturers, Magnavox signed an agreement in 1971 and the first video game system was released in May 1972: Odyssey. The history of PONG games and derivates just started, would spread all over the globe, and die in the early 1980s.
Pong will always be a game in which designers and historians alike can revert back to for inspiration. Just like noodlebox, it was a concept.. an experiment, which inevitably became the birth of video games as we know it.

Blindrom

BlindRom v0.9 is a mixed-mode CD featuring the acclaimed CD-Rom that was produced and created by Gerald Van Der Kaap in 1993. The CD also features five previously unreleased audio-tracks by Leo "Anemaet".
BlindRom v0.9 is the prototype of an interactive magazine. The interface which poses as a predictable button-strewn contents page is in fact an anti-menu giving you access to a "fusion of Art, Mayhem and Music". Without a tangable piece in my hands its hard to try comment on the design of it. I have searched high and low for information on the subject but got nothing. Alot of the results were either foreign or obsolete if you chose to filter the sites from the UK using Google.

BDD or 'Buro Destruct Designer'

BDD is a simple program for creating and contrasting colours to see which ones work. Essentially BDD works as a modern day screenprint process, its fast, its quick, and you manipulate shapes into it too. I came across BDD after a tutor recommended using it because of the lack of colour in some peoples work. It was the most satisfying and rewarding program i have come across in a long time, and so useful too! The interface is slightly confusing at the beginning, with some of the buttons abit hard to understand as to what their function really is, however with a little perseverance you soon discover how valuable it is. You can also create soon really quite nice and delicate designs with it too and overlap colours aswell. A brilliant way to fully interact the user which serves a real purpose to.

you can download it here at this address
http://www.burodestruct.net/bureaudestruct/bddesigner/index.html

Noodlebox or 'Mr Noodlebox'

Original concept by Daniel Brown, first devised in 1997. Noodlebox is essentially a "cock-up" in Browns own words. Its a colection of mess ups and errors neatly packaged in this 3D working model of a building. You have to navigate round each room by double clicking on it to open it up. Once inside the room you are presented by a grpahic, be it moving or static. These graphics serve no other purpose than to amuse or entertain, because Brown believed this wasnt a colection of experimental work, more an amusing toy! It definately is just that, each room almost leaves you in anticipation because there is no rhythm or pattern to the building, but random experiments of colour, shape and angle. The entire program was made using Flash, and has almost computer game influence in the design. I have wrote to daniel commenting on how interesting his work is so it wil be interesting to see if i get a response back. I think i took particular interest in this because its almost a similar approach to my work at the moment. I am trying to develop a city builder which acts both as a colour tester and as a sound creator.

click the link-
http://www.play-create.com/pieces/noodlebox/noodlebox.html

Oblique Strategies

This was one of the most fascinating pieces i have seen in a while and such a simple concept. 'Oblique Strategies' is a series of cards with dilemma solutions in a way, that lend a helping hand if your in trouble. Originally designed by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, the deck consists of so many cards, black on one side, clear with a ten point sans serif description on the other. Eno and Schmidt had a strange relationship with one another, they almost shred the same path of thinking and working, even when they were far apart they would still be acting in similar ways. The cards were initially made to provide clear paths of thinking, an almost back to basics of lateral thinking patterns. Eno and Schmidt saw that the pressure of working in the studio, or a beautifully rendered materpiece took they mind away from the actual thinking process that was involved to slove a problem. Essentially its almost a scape goat for the mind. In times of stress or worry, or particulary were you found no cure to the solution you were trying to do, Eno and schmidt devised solutions that are almost generalised but can be applied to anything. If anything they are a tip. It is still unclear though whether Eno and Schmidt designed these with a response in mind or whether they are an instruction. These seem like a great addition to anyone, i know id like to personally have one, its particulary the design that intrigues me the most, its the simple idea behind it. Apparently the concept for this came from Eno and Schmidt documenting their problems or queries, Eno saw to document his in a little diary. It was when Schmidt approached Eno he saw that Eno had done a more or less similar approach to his work. So this was their way of presenting their work graphically in a single deck, packaged around a tight black box.

Peter Saville (OMD)

I researched Peter Saville in great detail, primarily looking at his New Order CD designs, as much as i tried i couldnt find out anything substantial about the OMD's debut album which was colloboratively made with Ben Kelly. Most pages harp on about how amazing the sleeve was, and how it was equally as important as the music itself, but nothing concrete that provide backing to the design.

Ken Garland Toys

Couldnt really find much on this, from what i can gather though, Ken Garland design s toys (aswell as other things). His toys were designed in 1960's to 1970's, and were primarily wooden toys. However it is the connect game which i am particulary fond of. Co-designed with Robert Chapman the board game consists of small squares which house a basic line with a flat colour. I think the idea behind it is that you have to make a grid of lines that all connect with each other. By the looks of the photographed supplied too it can be played with more than one person working on it. It also seems to have endless possibilities to it, this is more or less like the 'design your own jigsaw' idea i was originally thinking of working on. I like the design of it, once assembled it has a close resemblemce to the London Underground map originally drawn by Harry Beck in 1931, which im pretty sure that is where Ken Garland got most of his inspiration from. Its a simple idea, but i feel there isnt really much longevity to it, i mean essentially, in order to keep a childs attention you keep them engaged all the time?

Flash Mobbing

This is an interesting concept, that basically is created from a group of people or possibly one person starts off a chain of events. Originally started on the internet, it is more like chinese whispers brought upto modern times. Essentially flash mobbing is where a group of people get together in a predetermined place, at an agreed time and either disperse very quickly, or perform a random operation. An example of this happened in the city centre of toronto where a large group of people assembled together to pillow fight each other!

Adobe Creative Meeting

Saw this interesting video a mate recommended me watching. It documents a presentation by Jeff Han a mathetical scientist that has reinvented the way we communicate with computers. Essentially Jeff has worked on one outcome on his concept, a computer without an interface. Jef also looked at the way we interact data and also how data can function more than just 'sitting in a file'.
The invention is a rectangular screen with what i can see as a faint grid, images are displayed beneath the screen, and working just like a touch screen, you can not only select the data but determine how it funcions.
One of the first demonstrations is the lava lamp. At first the lava lamp is static, then by applying pressure to the screen you can heat up the pad and breathe life to the lava. You can also determine how the lava moves.
Another demonstration was something more special. Jeff shows a screen with photographs scattered about, almost like an untidy photographers workspace. Then by using his fingers he can drag, overlap and resize the photographs using his fingers. Also by applying his little finger and index finger, he can zoom into the picture with ease and speed.
A fascinating invention that could revoutionalise the communication between man and machine, a highly efective piece which has so much scope.

click the link
http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=j_han&flashEnabled=1&