Unlucky Designers! Rare coincidences are NOT so rare!

"I've seen this idea before!... this guy must've copied it from that one!"
How many times you've thought like this looking at an idea?

In the pre-internet era (read 'when we were smaller') the scenario was completely different. Although we heard stories about something being a copy of something else, it had never been an everyday incident.

Now that the internet is here, our exposure to the idea pool has drastically increased. A few minutes on Yanko, Core77, or FFFound brings you millions of interesting things to look at; ponder over! It seems every day or the other you stumble upon an idea that you had seen before.

And when you press that small 'LIKE' button down there, it's spread like wild-fire in your 'social circle'! Information spread has gone ultra-super-duper-fast now!

But wait…, tell me how many times you've thought:
"Oh no! I had this idea before!... should've published it earlier :(  " ?

Many a times eh!

So,
May be It's time to rethink!
May be those are NOT copied, or not even 'inspired'...
May be it's just a COINCIDENCE!

We never realized that coincidences are NOT so rare!
Until we got to see plenty of those on the internet!

We are all the same buddy... differing just by a fraction of wirings inside the DNA or whatever! We do think alike!

So the key lies in being the first!
But you know what, being first is NOT in your control!
It depends up on whether anyone else had thought about it before you.

So publish your ideas as soon as you get them.
And never ever Google your idea to see whether anyone else have thought of it before. Because, the chances are, there will be plenty!

But still, whenever I see something on the internet that I had thought about already, a fireball comes up in my stomach!
Let me be honest... that fireball hurts!

Giving you some examples of such fireballs...

1: The Recycled Visiting Card
When I started creating my own visiting cards out of recycled wedding cards and christmas cards by using a rubber stamp, I thought it was an awesome idea! Well, for that matter, even now I consider it as an awesome idea and I believe that I was so lucky to have that idea clicked in my mind.

But later, I realized... It's not just me who had thought of the same idea. People think alike!. And Andrea Romani, an environmental consultant had also come up with the same concept. (link here)




2: The Recycled CD-Drive Clock.

I first made this product by accident way back in 2007 (or 2006?) when I was fiddling around with that junk CD drive that I got from a junk collector’s truck in IIT. And from that day onwards these clocks had always been there with me on my desk, or on the wall.

And of course, later I realized that it's not just me... there are many... for example, Joe from GeekyGear had done the same idea! in fact, he's even selling it!

Yup, the truth is... that we're not alone!

I'll windup with the facebook status that I had updated a few days back:

"Many think alike n create designs. But sadly, the one who shared it first on the internet becomes the creator and everyone else a copy-cat!"

Be quick!.. post yours NOW!

An Original Onam.

This time, it was not just Onam, that was calling me back home. There was a new member in our family; ‘Shawn’- my brother’s kid. When job and geography keep us apart, times like these become the most precious moments of our lives.

Well, as you might already know, Onam is the most important festival of Kerala. It’s hard to believe, but we celebrate Onam, breaking boundaries of cast, religion or geography. It’s everyone’s festival. And it’s all about happiness.. with family, food, flowers and the age old rituals associated with this. I’m going to write about those great times I had with my family. But if you want to know more about Onam as a festival, check it out here.

PookkaLam -The floral Carpet (more info here)

May be this is the most famous part of Onam. Everyone knows about this ritual of arranging flowers in the front yard. Remembering our childhoods when we used to walk around the neighborhood searching for flowers with our baskets, me and my brother decided to re-live the old times. Collecting flowers and leaves just the way we used to do.

Sadya –The wholesome mallu food. (more info here)

Food, as rich as it could ever be, the mallu “Sadya” is one of the tastiest and the most filling food ever (you know it!) But what’s more delightful than this ‘food’ is the feeling that we get when we have it together with all the members of the family.

Family

Of course, dressed in typical mallu-uncle outfit, Shawn was the focus of this year’s Onam. Some more great time with our grandparents, Uncles and cousins.

PulikkaLi – The cultural tiger-dance of thrissur. (more info here)

It was the next day when the tigers came to our home. Apparently, it was fun to meet many of my childhood friends as the tigers, ‘chenda’ players, and the organizers of this cultural ritual.

The guy inside this tiger-suit is my childhood friend and neighbor –“Chudu”.

With a heart full of flowers, food, family and cultural-rituals… one more Onam.

I hope now you’ve got some idea why I’m so suffocated in Mumbai :)

Rupee Symbol Design

First of all, let me tell you that I'm so proud and happy to be a junior of Mr.Udayakumar, from IDC who's design has been shortlisted in the final five of the "Rupee Symbol Design" Contest. Ever since the names of the shortlisted candidates were out, I had been thinking about publishing my entry for the same.

Here's my humble expression of what I think about our nation. And let me tell you, this is honest... I do love this place for it's diversity.

http://www.bijuneyyan.com/rupee

Well, yes of course, it's open for discussion. I know that everyone has their own view points about anything. Please let it out. Let's all learn and grow together.

Thanks

Where there's a WILL, there's a way!

Does the absence of something can be considered as a definitive input?

What pushed me to write this post is nothing but the great information display boards in Mumbai train stations. Here's a sample:

In first look, what do we feel? That the train WILL stop at these stations or WILL NOT?

What if we just missed the first line? or what if we just didn't see the name of the station that we had been looking for?

I would like to ask that question again; "Does the absence of information can be considered as a definitive input?"

In simpler terms, if you DONT see one station name on the board, does that mean that the train WILL stop there?

Technically yes, but it's a WRONG* way of displaying information since you are forced to take decisions by the absence of information. In this case, if YOU dont see a station name, you are FORCED to make a conclusion that the train will stop at that station, despite the fact that may be you just missed the name which was already there.

Here's another example to make this clear. What does an "electric tester" do?
If we say that we can test whether "electricity is present or not"; we'll get terribly wrong. Because it can only inform us about the PRESENCE of electricity and NOT the absence.

Coming back to our Railway board; I believe it should be the other way round where they display the stations in which the train STOPS. And once you SEE the name, you're sure that it WILL stop there.

After all seeing is believing :)

*one friend of mine had a heated discussion with me arguing that the people who come to mumbai (not the ones who are already living here) are more worried about the stations at which it doesnt stop. And this is the best solution for Mumbai stations!

But let me tell you. Irrespective of the city, the question remains the same; "whether you should take decisions by the absence of information?"... Period.