After we received the LEAP Motion Controller SDK some days ago, we enjoyed to investigate new interaction possibilities. Over the past weeks, we had the chance to develop different kind of applications for free fingertip interaction in mid air. To touch, to navigate and even form objects. Unsurprisingly we found speed, feedback and precision delivered by the leap absolutely convincing. We also developed a processing library which we used to create our application. It runs on processing 1.5 and 2.0 and is pretty easy to setup and handle. However as generative designers we are hoping to see more versatile types of data like depthmaps and pointclouds for abstraction in the future.

Download LeapMotionP5 Processing Library

The Bracket magazine featured onformative in the latest issue Vol.5: Hustle

The art of making things happen. That’s hustle.

Foreword by Clifton Burt: »It’s funny how many ways we can use the word hustle in conversation. Its origins as street slang have produced a nuanced word, facetted in meaning, and purposefully a bit vague. It can be used to mean »being energetic«, »coercion,« or »hard work.« It can describe the act of prostitution, drug dealing and even jazz. Linguists could have a field day with it.

There is one meaning, though, that transcends—and includes—all of the above. That meaning goes something like this: do whatever you’ve gotta do to make things happen. (…) Hustling requires that you use verbs, lots and lots of them. Not in your speech, but in your actions. You‹ll need to move, think, iterate, extend, make tough calls and you‹ll need to do all of this rather quickly. You‹ll need to bend things like deadlines and probably even rules. You’ve got to push limits, expectations, boundaries, concepts, and people. It’s a lot of work to be a hustler. …«
read more / order magazine

more images of the magazine

Our data visualization project »Skype Visualization« was part of »GeoCity Smart City-Information Design Exhibition«, at Beijing Design Week 2012 curated by CMoDA, the China Millennium Monument Museum of Digital Arts.

The exhibition augments and maps information design and application cases for smart cities initiatives around the world, and to use it as input for Smart Beijing case development.
The exhibition makes a new manifesto on Smart City development: It should be led by Big Design (Information Design) powered by Big Data (with social intelligence mined) which better serves Big City, leading to an ultimate lift in social well-being.


our featured project: Skype Visualization
More information about the exhibition

Bring Your Own Beamer (BYOB) is a a series of one-night events, so far held in over 50 cities across the world. featuring a selection of talented interactive artists, for one evening only, PLATOON KUNSTHALLE Berlin will be transformed into an interactive object. join us for a spectacle of moving images!The first BYOB event was first initiated and created by digital artist Rafaël Rozendaal in 2010 in Berlin.

We are happy to be part of the BYOB exhibition. Don’t miss it:

Friday 26th October 7:00 pm
PLATOON KUNSTHALLE Berlin

BYOB at PLATOON KUNSTHALLE Berlin is organised and curated by Aanisa R. Jama and includes artists like Eno Henze, Andreas Nicolas Fischer, Aristides Job Garcia and many more.

More information at www.kunsthalle.com or on Facebook

A few days ago we gave a talk at Campus Party, a 24-hours-a-day technology festival for thousands of hackers, developers, gamers and geeks. In our lecture »generative design« we explain how generative design methods can be used effectively and efficiently and how they can change the design process.

impressions of the talk on flickr

We will be speaking at Visualized Conference in New York this November. VISUALIZED is a conference that explores the evolution of communication at the intersection of big data, storytelling and design. The inspiring two-day event is a gathering with the brightest minds and social innovators from around the world who are changing how we understand and interact with data; and gain insight into designing data-driven narratives that connect with audiences and visualize the human experience. We are excited to be part of such a great conference with other inspiring speakers like Theo Watson, Founder of Design I/O and openFrameworks, Benjamin Wiederkehr from Interactive Things and Michal Migurski from Stamen just to mention some.

The event will take place November 8th/9th 2012 at the New York Times Center in Manhattan. So check out the list of speakers and grab your tickets at http://visualized.com.

»Generative Design« is finally available in English! Order your copy now!

Great news! Our book »Generative Gestaltung«, which was first released in German in 2009, is finally available in English! It is published by Princeton Architectural Press and you can order it for a special price on amazon.com.

The book Generative Design describes the creation of images by using code. An image is not created manually, but instead by translating a visual idea into a set of rules and then implementing it in a programming language. Such a program can not only create a single image but also design complete visual worlds when parameters are changed. The book wants to provide a solid foundation for the use of this process. The book section “Basic Principles” illustrates generative techniques in relation to four foundation areas of design: color, shape, typography, and image. The designer’s repertoire is further expanded in the section “Complex Methods” by combining a number of principles on the basis of six larger-scaled examples. In this section you will also find explanations of advanced techniques.

Check out www.generative-gestaltung.com for more information. You´ll find most of the code examples on openprocessing

code on openprocessing.org
www.generative-gestaltung.com
Buy it on amazon.com