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The Smart car is finally in the US! I’ve followed this little car since I first saw it eight years ago on the narrow streets of Rome. I learned from an the Italians that it was a collaborate project from Mercedes Benz and Swatch, the fabulous watchmaker known in the US for its vibrantly styled wristwatches in the mid 1980s.

I was seven years old when the Swatch watch craze shook up my hometown. In hindsight, my fascination with those brightly colored watches hinted to my future career in design. It sounds a little silly, but I had a “designer’s crush” on those watches. I was fascinated with every detail…I couldn’t get enough. I could stand and stare at those watches for hours. (I particularly loved the watches with the graffiti-influenced characters by second-wave pop artist Keith Haring, whose influence you can see in my work today.)

A few years ago I was listening to an NPR story celebrating BB King’s 80th birthday. There’s a point in the story where BB King describes the joy of putting on a set of new guitar strings:

“That’s the time when I am so motivated, when the strings sound fresh. The tone is–I don’t know the word–but it’s so pleasing to my ears.”

If you listen to the story, you can hear the passion in his voice as he closes the sentence. He’s a musician and I’m a designer, but we both know what it’s like to be hypnotized by what is inherently beautiful. And when I first spotted the Smart car parked on a cobblestone street in an ancient alley in Rome, I knew I was looking at something special.

So you can understand why I’m so excited that the Smart car is now in America. There’s a dealership not far from my house, so I’ve seen many of these cars zipping around streets and through the neighborhoods. It looks like everyone is having fun, but I had to do some research to see if the car has what it takes to compete with traditional cars…

The Bad

Writer Eric A. Taub offered convincing review of the Smart Fortwo Passion in The New York Times. You can read the full review on NYTimes.com, but here are my favorites parts:

Uncanny good looks:

“…its shape and colors draws admirers as if it were the latest gadget from Apple.”

Bad handling:

“Rounding curves on city streets, the body roll was pronounced, causing a friend to reflexively grab the dash. When accelerating, the dreadful 5-speed automated manual transmission shifts awkwardly and slowly. It may be enough to make you reach for the Dramamine: the engine temporarily slows as the car is about to upshift, jerking the driver forward and then back with each shift. Several times, my wife threatened to walk home.”

Underwhelming gas mileage:

“In the mileage department, the Smart also failed to live up to expectations. Even with its tiny engine, the two tankfuls of gas consumed while I had the car worked out to readings of only 30 and 34 miles a gallon. That was less than the 36 m.p.g. E.P.A. rating for combined city/highway driving, and certainly not “amazing” as Smart’s press materials proclaim.”

The Good

All that bad news is enough to discourage buyers. But I read some good news on Autoblog.com this morning:

IIHS President, Adrian Lund, made it clear that normally bigger and heavier vehicles are the safer choice, “but among the smallest cars, the engineers of the Smart did their homework and designed a high level of safety into a very small package.”

I found it amusing that the car even looks cute when it’s getting smashed up, almost like bad guy that you just killed on Super Mario Brothers. I almost expect the car to flicker a few times and then disappear…

Threadless just released the coolest T-shirt ever…an homage to Rob and Big…

Why do I like it? It’s funny, stylish, and the colors are sweet. (They perfectly match supafly.com)

After discovering Hummer was going to make an H3 Truck, I found that Hummer was hoping to move in on the Jeep Wrangler with a small convertible SUV. I can’t imagine a cooler way to get to the beach…

Tougher than nails. Notice that the door panels bevel out; most Hummer body panels are deliberately flat. I love the exposed hinges on the doors and bolt heads on the fenders.

With the roof panels removed, there’s enough room for a surf board. My guess is the slotted vent near the windshield base is an air intake for the engine. This allows the SUV to drive in deep water without the engine inhaling water.

Don’t miss the rugged details of the hood.

A loaded gun.

If I would’ve stuck with Industrial Design as a career, this is the type of drawing I would be doing for a living. I’m kinda jealous.

Halo? Anyone? I think Hummer knows who their demographic will be for the HX.

Tonight I joined Candyce for a lecture at ASU by Eames Demetrius, the grandson of legendary furniture designers Charles and Ray Eames. (For the record, Charles and Ray were married, Charles is the husband and Ray, the wife, is; a woman.) I wanted to attend the lecture because I’ve been a fan of Eames furniture ever since I discovered the hip mid-century designers while taking History of Industrial Design at Georgia Tech.

To any of my friends from the ID department back at Tech, the chance to meet the Eames grandson is like a music fan meeting John Lenin’s grandson. (I’m not a die-hard Beetles fan, so I don’t know whether or not; John Lenin actually has a grandson.) In every creative field, there are talented people that eventually become stars, and their children will in some way continue that legacy and celebrity.

The lecture hall was packed with students from different all majors within the design college. Scattered in the group were fashionable college town adults of varying ages. Candyce and I had to sit in the isle because all the seats were filled.
The presentation itself was cool because we got a more personal story of the designers. We watched one of their short films, which was pretty cool. I always admire a designer that can be good at more than one medium.

The lecture dragged on because of technical problems with the overhead projector and the laptop that was supposed to play the DVDs. By the end, the more restless students had cleared out, leaving half of the once-coveted seats empty. I was embarrassed for them but at the same time a little bit jealous. It was a long night and I was tired.

The reward for the evening was that they had a raffle for some Eames stuff at the end. The grand prize was an Eames rocking chair, which will cost you about $500. I; had entered my name in box as we walked in because I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give myself a chance–even it it was 1000 to 1.

Well the first name the drew was my own. I couldn’t believe it! Everyone’s heads jerked around the room to see if someone would raise their hand. As I walked forward, they looked at me with contempt and excitement. I hammed it up and pretended I had just won and Oscar for best supporting actor. I acted shocked yet flattered. I even stopped to shake hands with some of the losers. By the time I made it up to the front, my arms were spread wide to give the Director of the Design school a heartfelt hug. He wasn’t as excited as I was, but the students in the room thought it was funny.

I didn’t win the chair, but I did win a book written by Eames Demetrius who had just given the lecture. Afterwards I met him, and asked him to sign my book. I explained to him how I caught a vintage furniture collector trying to peddle bootleg versions of his grandparent’s furniture around town. He was really proud of me when I recounted how I reprimanded the dealer for deceiving people.

He explained in his lecture that his grandparents believed that their designs were not just chunks of furniture, but a dynamic example of how to be a good host. When you sat in one of; their chairs, you were their guest. And when people copied their furniture and made it from cheaper materials, it was essentially people thinking they were going over the Eames house as a guest, only to be turned away angry because of a fake. I thought he was going to give me a hug because he’d found someone who understood what his grandparents were trying to do.

In his message that he wrote in the book, he encouraged me to buy a lottery ticket because I seemed to be lucky. After Candyce and I had dinner at a swanky restaurant, I drove by a greasy gas station and bought a lotto ticket–my first ever. Maybe tomorrow I will be a millionaire.

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Wednesday night:

I just checked online and I didn’t win a lottery. I didn’t think I would, but I can see why people like to buy a ticket every so often. It gives you a rush because you get to play in your mind for the next day of how your life could change. But I feel lucky just to have me Eames Demetrius, and the lotto ticket will make a good bookmark.

Mac’s OS X is one of the most inviting desktops in the world. These translucent windows and morphing tool bar make for a sexy little experience. It’s difficult to focus on what I am typing because it is too much fun to look around the desktop. That’s all I have to say about that.