Online Color for the Colorblind

I am red/green colorblind, which means that I have a hard time distinguishing purple from blue and some greens from browns. When a color stands alone, I am likely to guess the color wrong; I think of this as a kind of color dyslexia. I'm always amazed by the reactions I get when I tell people this. If they don't assume that I can't see color at all, they usually start pointing at different things and asking what color they are.

I avoid color as a result.

However, I've found some great online resources for color exploration: Kuler, a site from Adobe that asks people to assemble color combinations and vote on the most popular.

And here is a Colorblind Webpage Filter, so you can see things as I do.

The National Design Museum

Joli and I recently visited the The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in NYC. The exhibition when we were there was called "Made to Scale: Staircase Masterpieces." From the website:

"The models, the majority of them from 19th-century France, represented exercises in technical virtuosity, demanding knowledge of cantilevering, balance, forms of rotation, styles of balusters and other architectural details. In their combination of design, structural, architectural and cabinetry skills, the staircase models and accompanying drawings demonstrate the relationship between formal training, modeling, technical mastery and flights of creative fancy.

But one of the best parts of the visit was the gift shop. I could easily spend a few paychecks in that tiny store.

Home Manufacturing

For ages, I've wanted to learn how to use CAD drawing software. In the past, when I've come up with a design idea, I've had to sketch it out with pencil and paper, the result of which is so poorly rendered that I'm tempted to scrap the entire project. I've used paperboard from shoe boxes to do 3D modeling. In the last few years, I've even used Paint. (Said one friend, "Yeah, Paint is great software... if you're a five-year-old.")

Well, now I use Google's free CAD software, Sketchup, which allowed me to make this 3D model of my living room (Sketchup installation required): Living Room.skp

I've also designed a metal bracket that functions as a picture frame (patent pending). In order to make a prototype, I'll be sending my design files to a company called Big Blue Saw. These "rapid prototyping" companies are popping up all over the place. But if you're going to be doing a lot of inventing, you could always buy yourself a 3D printer.