Ok let me give you a bit of a visual here - you have a certain look planned for a night out, from how you are going to have your hair, down to what shoes you want to wear, and then you look out to see the rain.  There is no worse feeling knowing that if you wear your beautiful brand new shoes they will inevitably be ruined by the monsoon outside (or drizzle for that matter).

Swims are a company based in in Norway who have taken the basic principle of galoshes  and flipped it on its head to create a fashion statement, with its primary purpose left uncompromised.  

You can arrive in style with these fun additions to your shoes and either take them off or keep them on depending if they match your outfit of course.  Swims have a whole range of sizes and colours for men and women, taking into consideration the type of shoe.  Oh and if you are prone to falls, the rubber sole with a map of London, New York or Tokyo grips should keep you on your feet and looking fabulous.

http://www.swims.com/

So since I have started my internship at NCR, I have met a whole new group of people. Anybody who knows me knows I am the worst person at remembering information about people I am even worse at matching a name to a face.  Designer Hideaki Matsui has come up with a concept, taking the basic principle of a greeting handshake and has made it in to a quirky yet practical design.

The idea is that every person would have their personal details saved on their ring, so when a handshake is made, their information can be transferred and saved.  The easy method of transferring information is followed through in the interaction of going through their details. Using the ring as a scroll mechanism to look through the different details, the user can gain enough information about a contact they have made to then contact them again.

Their picture is also displayed, so if like me your memory isn't quite up to scratch, you are able to avoid the awkward moment of speaking to someone a week after you met them and still not know their name, which trust me is awkward...

http://www.hideakimatsui.com/

When I was on the bus into Dundee a couple of days ago the new 'Welcome to Dundee' caught my eye. It seems to be part of the plan to rebrand Dundee and its image to entice more people to the city to see what it has to offer.

As you see below the old sign was, terrible. The dated font and design of the logo would be enough for many to see then turn back at the next roundabout. Dare i say it it was tacky, and did not give the best first impression.

The new and improved logo however, sends out the right message.  Its simple font, splash of colour and the new tagline represent Dundee in a different light.  The actual sign as you arrive has a black background with white text, making it eye catching and more edgy.  With Dundee University putting itself on the map one of the best universities alongside Edinburgh and Glasgow, the message is clear that the old misconceptions of Dundee are changing.   

Welcome to the blog of random ideas, quirky designs and general design stuff. 

A bit about who I am and what I do

Hannah Jassim, a 4th year Product Design Student studying at Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee

Primarily I do the obvious designing products, but on occasion design a service for industry. Previous projects include designing for Microsoft, NCR and Fortnum & Mason, where a brief is set with a resolved prototype as the final outcome.