design writer
Senior director at Maker Studios Inc; co-founder of design east of La Brea, an organization that produces design events in Los Angeles; former director of digital strategy for the LA office of Huge Inc., co-founder and former managing partner of Radar Research; former co-host of design east of La Brea, an organization that produces design events in Los Angeles
A Tour of the Internet of Things One of the buzz topics at this year's CES was the "Internet of Things." This was finally the year, said tech expects, that you can call the fridge from the car and have it tell the oven to turn on the pizza. How real is this, how much do we need it, and what happens to all that data? Doron Wesly and Marissa Gluck debate the issues.
Ringing in the Changes in Los Angeles This year on DnA you heard about new developments at the LA River, the opening of The Broad and the Petersen Automotive Museum... the launch of a new e-car company, and Santa Monica's new bike share program... changing attitudes to water capture. . .global money flowing into expensive, empty houses... and, possibly, the birth of a new Pershing Square. In this look-back at the changes in Los Angeles, we also hear about the good and the bad of continued growth; the significance of the demise of Kitson and the rise of private clubs; and, post-Paris, the "genius" of Governor Jerry Brown at communicating climate change.
A Global Art Museum Boom, and More Showy Building Skins The Broad has opened -- but the story doesn't stop there. It is just one of numerous new museums built worldwide in the last few years. What's fueling the art museum binge? DnA talks art, money and what drives the public to museums, with CSULB's Nizan Shaked and the LA Times' Carolina Miranda. The Broad has a much discussed skin that exemplifies "parametric" design. It was built by Matt Construction and they are busy on another LA building with an even showier skin, and it's causing a strong reaction: the Petersen Automotive Museum . With architect Elizabeth Diller, Curbed LA's Marissa Gluck and Carolina Miranda.
Women Are Missing from the Top of Tech Firms According to Clair Cain Miller of the New York Times , “Twitter’s financial filing for its Wall Street debut was chock-full of juicy tidbits.” One revelation: there is only one woman among Twitter’s top officials. Marissa Gluck directs digital strategy for the LA office of Huge Inc ., a technology consulting firm.
New Logos for Yahoo and KCRW KCRW has launched a new logo to replace one that is 15 years old. It comes as major changes are happening to the station so changing the logo was not simply an aesthetic makeover, but a chance for an in-depth look at what the station stands for. Jennifer Ferro, KCRW's General Manager, talks about the process of creating a mark that represents the station's culture. Yahoo has also gone through a logo change, and tech branding consultant Marissa Gluck finds the new design to be less "insouciant" than the last. She talks about trends in logo design right now and ponders whether KCRW's mark might be seen as "hipster."
Copycat Architecture in Contemporary China The term "contemporary Chinese architecture" conjures up imagery of hyper-modern steel-and-glass showpieces like the CCTV building designed by Rem Koolhaas or the Bird’s Nest constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. But, for patrons who can afford it, a very different kind of new architecture is currently being constructed in China—buildings that look like they were transplanted from a Parisian arrondissement or an Austrian village. Tech writer Bianca Bosker spends time in China researching the country's architectural nostalgia and has just published a book about her findings entitled Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China , which explores this concept of "duplitecture." The copying mania in China is not embraced by all architects there. Some, like last year’s Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu, are on a quest to create buildings that draw on Chinese traditions while being unabashedly modern. That’s according to Qingyun Ma, head of USC’s architecture school, who explains the dilemma the copycat architecture presents to the Chinese intelligentsia. A rendering for the Wangjing SOHO in Bejing designed by Zaha Hadid, which is currently being copied in Chongqing But it's not just traditional architecture that's being copied. In Chongqing, a knock-off of a Beijing building designed by Zaha Hadid is actually being built faster than the original. And, in one of the more famous examples of Chinese copying, Apple found that its stores and branding had been duplicated so convincingly in China that people working in the fake stores thought they were Apple employees. In a bid to try and thwart this kind of copying both at home and overseas, Apple has managed to trademark the design of its stores. The trademark includes "a clear glass storefront surrounded by a paneled facade" and, within the store, an "oblong table with stools... set below video screens flush mounted on the back wall." Marissa Gluck follows piracy issues as an advisor to new media and design companies and explains the difference between trademark and copyright protection. Top image: One of many White House-inspired buildings in China, photo by China Daily
Knockoff Artists: How Design Copycats Flaunt Design Copyright It's a design industry problem that was described by the New York Times as being “as irritating to furniture manufacturers as lice are to elementary school parents: a perennial problem and devilishly hard to eradicate.” The problem is knockoffs: copying a designer's product and often selling it for far less. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Restoration Hardware was offering a too-close-for-comfort take on Emeco’s Navy Chair , which they even had the audacity to name the Naval Chair. The chair was taken off the market, and Emeco filed a suit against the company. Can designers protect themselves from such flagrant fakery? Marissa Gluck, a Los Angeles-based consultant with Radar Research, explains the complexities of design copyright. Top image: Emeco's Navy Chair on the left, Restoration Hardware's Naval Chair on the right, via UnBeige
Apple Vs Samsung Patent Dispute Goes to Court In a San Jose federal court today, an attorney for Apple told jurors that internal documents show that Samsung made a specific decision to copy the iPhone because it could not compete on its own. It’s the start of a patent-infringement case that could take a month to try.
SOPA: Silicon Valley and Hollywood on Capitol Hill PIPA, the Protect Intellectual Property Act , was passed unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee just last year. In the House, SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act , had been moving along. But Hollywood's effort to protect its products has run into another competing special interest group: Silicon Valley, which flexed its muscles yesterday when Wikipedia, Reddit and 10,000 other websites were blacked out. Washington got the message. Where did Hollywood go wrong? What can it do now to protect its products?
SOPA: Silicon Valley and Hollywood on Capitol Hill PIPA, the Protect IP Act , was passed unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee just last year. In the House, SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act , had been moving along. But Hollywood's effort to protect its products has run into another competing special interest group. Yesterday's blackout by Wikipedia and 10,000 other Internet websites demonstrated a new kind of political power that Washington can no longer ignore. While Hollywood claims Internet piracy will destroy the film industry, Silicon Valley says proposed laws are a threat to freedom online. Does changing technology require new ways of protecting intellectual property? Could Hollywood help itself by making better movies?
Shopping Locally for LA-Made Goods The design enthusiasts Marissa Gluck, Alissa Walker, Haily Zaki and Erin Cullerton together run de LaB , aka Design East of La Brea—a part-party, part-culture club that introduces Angelenos to LA contemporary design. Last week Frances caught up with them at their last event of 2011, a tour of LACMA's California Design: Living in a Modern Way 1930-1965 exhibition. Since their events have taken them all over the city for sneak peeks of products made by the region's designers, the four ladies each gave their picks for the best made-in-LA designs of the year. If you're still looking for presents this year, their selections would each make a perfect locally produced design-centric gift. The Dustbin by Brendan Ravenhill : This ingenious trash can not only keeps a dustpan and brush at-the-ready, all of its parts were manufactured in Los Angeles by companies ranging from a 60-year-old metal stamper to a brush maker who produces parts for the Mars Rovers. $220 at BrendanRavenhill.com California Design: Living in a Modern Way 1930-1965 designed by Michael Hodgson and Ph.D : The gorgeous catalogue for the definitive exhibition on California design includes hundreds of objects produced in the state during the midcentury modern movement. $60 at the LACMA Shop Rodarte by Laura and Kate Mulleavy, Catherine Opie and Alec Soth : This art-fashion photo book is a collaboration between the Mulleavy sisters, renowned Pasadena fashion designers, and photographers Opie and Soth. It features the Rodarte clothes against the California landscapes which inspired them. $80 at Hennessey + Ingalls toHOLD designed by Kara Bartelt : Part modern art, part terrarium, Bartelt's delicate pieces use succulents and airplants to create beautiful living sculptures that look right at home on a desk, a coffee table, even as a unique necklace. Starting at $8.50 at Etsy and other LA locations Design your own present at KnowHow Shop LA : Visit this Highland Park workshop with your own gift ideas and their skilled proprietors will help you navigate their fabrication wonderland filled with laser etchers and CNC milling machines to bring your creation to life. Contact for prices Geoff McFetridge's collection at Heath Ceramics : The Los Angeles designer and illustrator dabbles in clay for the first time with a limited-editon line of custom-painted dinnerware and accessories covered in McFetridge's signature doodles. Various prices at Heath Ceramics , 7525 Beverly Boulevard Top image: Kara Bartelt's toHOLD piece features an airplant inside a pink sea urchin
Redesigning the Los Angeles of 1947 L.A. Noire is a video game released today by the company that brought you Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. It was created for Rockstar by Team Bondi in Sydney and it is an homage to the Los Angeles depicted in noir films and hard-boiled pulp fiction. How did the game designers recreate the Los Angeles of 1947? Did they get it right? Frances talks to John Buntin, author of the book LA Noir : The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City, Team Bondi production designer Simon Wood, and technology and design expert Marissa Gluck. Stills from the game L.A. Noire
Why is Trump so behind on filling staff jobs, establishing concrete policies? Yesterday Donald Trump signed a “decision memo” to revamp the air traffic control system. But there was little legislative detail in the plan. There’s not much to other splashy announcements from the White House, including tax cuts and the arms deal with Saudi Arabia. And hundreds of positions are unfilled in federal agencies.
Farewell LA freeways, Peter Shire is back Angelenos don't want more freeways but we seem not to want mass transit either. Metro has killed the 710 freeway extension, and bus and train ridership is down across the region. What's the future of getting around in LA? And, Peter Shire is having a comeback. What attracts a new generation to his playful ceramics and furniture?
Accusations of lying fly between James Comey and White House During his testimony Thursday, former FBI Director James Comey accused President Trump and other White House officials of lying when they said the FBI was in disarray and its staff had lost confidence in him. President Trump’s lawyer said Comey was wrong -- that the president never asked for his loyalty, and never asked him to back off the investigation into former NSA director Michael Flynn.
