Hello December

Wow it's the beginning of December in Taiwan, it seems like time flys bye so fast out here! It's nearly been a whole year at AmTran. Not much has happened over last weekend as I have been desk bound in the office.

I was suppose to go mountain biking in the morning on Saturday and I was looking really forward to my lesson from the sensei, but i got an 8.00am phone call saying the ground was a tad wet so maybe next weekend!

It's starting to get a little colder now in Taipei. I have been debating with myself if it's best to buy a mini oven to heat my room or a fan heater both are the same price, but I can cook on one while staying warm, bring on those cheese sticks I say.

Simply Star Stuck

I was on my way down to Taichung today for the Love & Money 50 years of creative Briton. In a nut shell the British Arts Council get various UK creatives to give presentation about them or there company and to promote Britons creativity.

The talk I was going to had Dick Powell talking about Design and Innovation and various others UK creatives. I knew I had to go too see the Dick Powell speech, maybe I would get the chance to talk to him plus he is one of my favorite designers in fact I think if I could turn out to be like any type of designer it would be him. I really do believed in what he talks about and what his company Seymour Powell stands for.













Entrance to the TDC Taichung, and miniature windmills it is!













Taiwan's new design mark, The Gold Pin.

In order to make the talk I pulled a few night shifts to get my work done and by Wednesday evening things were looking good. Come Thursday morning I was off down to Taichung to represent the design arm of AmTran. When I arrived at the Taichung Design Centre I realised they had a large exhibition on which was a surprise and I didn't really have much time to go around it as it was about 12 when I arrived and the talks started at 1.20pm.














LED lights by Process Design far right.














Slightly more of a student approach in layout I felt.

Feeling peckish I went off to find a restaurant, as I was walking around I saw a slightly colonial looking coffee house so I though I would check it out. As I entered low and be hold, there is Dick Powell, Deyan Sudjic and a few others waiting to have lunch. I though I am on my own so I might as well ask if I can join them for lunch I mean this is one of the cool things about been a foreigner in Taiwan, because you all have one thing in common you're in Taiwan!


I got introduced to everyone and I have to say everybody was really friendly, considering the heavy weights in the design world sitting at the table. They asked me what I was doing out here etc and instead of talking too much about TV design I told them about this company called Inscentinel I use to work for who train honey bees to find explosives though smell so I manage to hold my conversation fairly well.

The creative talks were all interesting in there own way, I also got the chance to talk to Dick and I have to say I was a bit star struck and did not really know what to ask!














The something about the fast train.














On the move.

Action Packed

What a week I've had so far, work has been totally action packed, I had to work last Saturday and Sunday in the office over the Moon Festival. So it feels like it's a Friday today, but it's is Laurence last night out with me in Taipei before he heads back to the UK so it feel like a Friday anyway as were out on the razz tonight.

Tomorrow I am heading down to Taichung for the Love Money Design Talk, I am really looking forward to Dick Powell speach on Innovation in Design can't wait for that. Then over the Sunday I'm going paint balling in Nehiu which should be awesome fun.

Friday I was thinking of doing a bit of home decoration and repainting some walls white again as they have started to go faintly gray.

Sam Johnson in Taipei

It's nice when you get these little reminders from back home and this is one of them. When I was at university Sam some how managed to be one of my tutors for 4 years, 1 year at Oxford Brookes Foundation Course and then 3 years at Ravensbourne.





















The design below is by Sam for sale in Taiwan for just under 20 quid which is less than it was in the UK I think?

Return to England

I've booked my flights back to England today and I'll be leaving Taiwan and going back home for a two week trip which has been a much need one! I have not seen my family for ages now and I think it's been having an effect on me. Obviously the is the Skype video call when I can get it to work but it's been over a year since I've seen them in person and that's a very long time.

But it's been good to have a target to aim for over the last few weeks, especially at work where I think I have had one of the best weeks ever but I did some fantastic concepts.

Designer Flu

I have caught a cold, I think it's probably because I have been over worked recently and and missing home, which is not a great combination!

I decided to have a day off and get some much need sleep, interestingly on my way to the doctors this morning I noticed that the local builders were using the equivalent of an Ox Harness to take builders sand up the narrow stair ways which are very common in the old style Taiwan apartment like mine.

More efficient than a bucket and I suppose faster too.

Also my trip to the doctors was fantastically fast and efficient it cost 150 NT which is about 3 pounds to see the doctor this also included the medicine they give you as well.

Packaging Conspiracy

This packaging was explained to me, as one of the best food packaging ever design. The idea is that the seaweed is separated by a layer of plastic to protect it from getting damp by the rice, thus allowing you to mass produce rice snacks which are as fresh a possible when you by them.

Step 1 :)

When we were hiking in Yangmingshan and we stopped for a snack lunch, I just happened to open this up completely wrong and started munching away on the rice, thinking the seaweed was just decoration, to every one else amusement they couldn't understand how I had managed not to open it properly.

Step 2 :(

Will this is the result of the 6th one I have been unable to open normally... I even remove the Family Mart sticker on the back, but when ever I pull the two sides the sea weed does not seem to cover the rice and instead it just brakes in half.

Frustrated & Homesick

The mental effort which has been required for this week has really taken it out of me. I have found it very tough and very stressful. This evening I had to come back and have 2 beers just to level my nerves, and I never drink mid week unless it's socially.

Working in Asian management is really tough and not for the faint hearted, not that I know how Korean, Chinese or Japanese management is. But Taiwanese management is a mixture of culture, tradition and business which makes the working process tough!

I have also been tucking into comfort junk food and I have let my running slip this week partly because of the rain, but next week I want to make the effort to hit the track with my Asics as they still smell fresh.

I also think the fact that I have not been home now for 14 months is beginning to have it's effects on me. I need to get back for a two week break or at least one week to see my family, the only thing which cheered me up was the fact that Laurence said he might pop over in September which would be wonderful.

Rain For Computext

My second visit to Computext and I still have not grown up yet! The is something about showgirls which make those flashing back lite LED hard drive boxes not so bad to look at. I suppose the only difference this time is that I am visiting on behalf of AmTran.

The girls from Team Group inc. doing there stuff.

I don't think the show has the same impact as CES and it's definitely for the lower end of the market and the heavy hitters like Sony, Dell and HP etc don't have stands or at least I didn't see them there.

The has been so much rain for nearly the whole week!

I don't think I'll go next year, as I think it's not relevant and the is a lot of gear to see, one of the nice things is to catch up with my mates at the independent design studio in Taipei whose stand are partly funded by the Taipei Design Center, to promote design in Taiwan but I am not sure?

1 Year On Away From Home

Wow it's been 1 Year to the day since I was last in England, I was so close to making it the whole year in the Asian block but I fell short by just a few days.

Life: A lot has happen over the year, and a heck of a lot has happened in the past six months. But I have spent my time with amazing people who have taken me too visit fantastic places and have been truly wonderful and kind to me. Especially Rita who was just simply great and very supportive!

Work: I've been lucky enough to worked with some amazing design offices in Taipei from DEMinc 橙果設計, Process to AmTran 瑞軒科技, which is where I am working now.

It's been a real eye opener to how things are done out here and I had a steep learning curve which is still getting steeper!

Traveling: I've managed to visit Lanyu (Taiwan, but still an island in it's own right) Thailand (Bangkok), Macau and now America (California).

Rita also took me all over Taiwan, which gave me one of the best insights and cultural experience I think anybody could ever get and I was extremely privileged and honored to of had such a wonderful experience.

Languages: I wish I could speak more Chinese, but then I have not made enough effort to improve, I did find it tricky but I really want to improve now.

Music: I suppose my end of the year away from home song is going to be Steinski - Let's get it on

Onizou Taiwan

When I got back home from work, this evening Georg called to say he had some design friends who had come over from Shanghai and would I like to meet them up for a drink later in the evening. I am always fascinated to meet other Western creatives in Asia and I am always interested to know what there drive was to come here.

I met two very nice people called , Oni & Zou or Gerhard & Klara, I was very surprised to know that they have decided to take a year off from work and travel around the world organising creative evens and probably have lots of fun as they go.

Thee company they work for has an interesting and diverse client list and you can see some of there work here. Which I'll read up on more when I get back to office which will allow me to stop using screen not much bigger than an iPhone. This is the link to there website and I think Taiwan was the first stop over here on the World Tour!

Motor Bikes Taipei

For me this is real down town Taipei photo the back streets are more open and not to crowded. 

Also if your in need of buying modeling materials. This is the road to come to, it's very close to Taipei Main station about a 10 minuet walk heading away from the Shin Kong Life Tower. Once you arrive at the cross road just walk down here and you will find all sort of materials.

Photo below should in large! I am not sure if this is a SYM model, but Ash has a kind of the same style bike.

Fabric Market 織品市場

Rita took me and my new house mate Judy, to the fabric market as I was desperate to get some colour  dies to revamp the colour in my Bench trousers and I also really need some Hydrogen Peroxide to make my whites, white again!

Colours, I am simply love the red and blue striped Cotton.

The fabric market itself was really interesting and it would defiantly be a textile designers wet dream. They had just about any type of fabric material you could think off and it wasn't to expensive too purchase what you wanted.

This was 1.5 meter of pure silk sheet for 600 NT that 12 pounds, amazing!

In the end I didn't buy any fabric, as I wasn't quite sure what I would use it for, but if my Mum ever comes to Taiwan I will take her here.

Not the fabric market! But very close and a great bit of rustic Formosa architecture which is sadly been lost, though new developments. But I guess that Taiwan always rolling with the new!

Designer Meet up Taipei 2009 at 勺勺客 陜西餐館

Wow this was so cool, I think it was the biggest designer meet up ever! Mind you I have only ever been too two. Even so it was really cool, everybody was practically there, and we pretty much occupied the whole of the lower restaurant.

We went to this restaurant called Shao Shao Ke Shaanxi Restaurant (勺勺客 陜西餐館) which was really had really good food and just next door to Taiwan Beer which is one of my favorite restaurants in Taipei. It was a fair price and we eat will and drunk a lot of Taiwan Beer.

Not actually taken by me, Taiwan Beer is the restaurant on the left with blue window frames!

Yummy Mountain With AmTran

My design director had decided to take the new design team for a BBQ at yummy mountain. I was slightly reluctant to go as it was the day after my birthday, but I'm pleased I made an effort as it was a very scenic drive up to Yummy Mountain and the BBQ turn out to be quite good fun even though I was slightly lost in translation.

Back drop to are BBQ.

AmTran / Vizio design team, from left to right, Steven, Mark, Avo, Albert, and me. The is one more member Joyce but she didn't turn up...

The BBQ in action the girl on the left is soon to be Marks wife, so I am sure the will hopefully be a wedding to go to buy then end of the year!

The creak outback.

Yes my boss did slip in.

Sunday Spiders (Last of the Summer Sun)

Georg had arranged for all the designers to go and have a BBQ up near Gugong, located here as Asus had two new designers who had recently just joined their ID team.

The two new guys, John from France and Ashley from New Zealand, they are both far right, Ash is the one with the curly mop! Rita helping out with the BBQ. Andreas is the tall blond from Switzerland, Veterans, Jeroen who is the Dutch man, and Peter in the lower right from England.

Norbit and Georg.

I really like this photo above because I think it shows why Germans are good at organising things! It was the efficiency of their BBQ, and having everything neatly packed. The rest of us Europeans just turned up with simple disposable BBQ's as you can just about see in the first photo.

Rita looking beautiful.

Which one should we throw?

This one!

This place was really beautiful and lovely definitely worth another visit as it was simply great to spend Sunday afternoon relaxing in the sun.

Good by Process

I am soon to be leaving Process at the end of this month I had a great time freelancing. But while I continue my search for a full time job it will be nice togo back too focusing on my Chinese study for the November month which I have let slip will i've been at Process, while I search for a full time job.

I also want to thank Jeroen Bijsmans who was really helpful and gave me some great advice.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Process Taipei studio below.

That’s my desk to the right with the laptop on it. The is not many design studios with the western interior style like this in Taipei

If you have an eagle eye you will notice I have had to Photoshop out a prototype which was laying on my desk.

International Universal Design Expo 2008 Taipei

Yester day George had organised for the western design gang to meet up and go and have coffee at hi place neat the 101 tower with the intension to go and visit the International Universal Design Expo 2008 in Taipei.

I would have loved to of writen a little peace about the exhibition but of course been Taipei when we arriveed it wasn't on, the exhibition had been canceled which was really annoying and a bit of a waist of out time.

As we had are thinking caps in design mode we decided to roam around 101 looking at the array of various C products on display and discussing where we would put our thoughts next! Then we headed to the PS Tapas bar where we spent most of the evening.

PS Tapas is located near Dunhua it's quite nice to meet for evening drinks but forget food, when you order and your food arrive you always feel like there has been a shortage of what they wanted to serve you in the first place.

From China With Love

Over the weekend I happened to spot some really nice old doors which had been decorated with metal embroidery for strength and protection.

The don’t make them like this anymore.

The owner told me that he had bought them from a village in the Northern part of China about 15 years ago and they were from the Ming Dynasty.

Steel embroidery.

I was also told that it’s now illegal to important these kind of artifacts from China. But I thought they were probably safer here than where they had previously come from.

The knocker and lock below.

All the images should in large, if your wanting to check out the detail.

Process Design

Well after lots of searching to find the right studio out here in Taipei to work at will I study. I've got a freelance contract for 2 months. 

I have just had my first day with the Process Design team and it went well, they all seem like a nice bunch. Process is a Swiss design firm and this is there website.