Driving to work today, I noticed this billboard from FiatUSA:
FiatUSA's approach to selling these slick, little wonders is to focus on size as a positive attribute. Pretty ballsy in a land full of largess and excess.
The billboard reminded me of just how much I love small things. Perhaps it’s that I barely scratch the 5′ marker line on a height chart (I hit that when I was 16), but I am obsessed with small things. When choosing my last apartment, I purposely chose a 600 sq. ft. studio divided by one 3/4 wall.
My tiny bedroom; 250 sq. ft of my 600.
I drive a Honda Fit. I wear size 6 shoes. I love tiny cupcakes. I love tiny everything. So, I decided I’d pay homage to all things tiny with a review of tiny designs I love.
This tiny piece of deliciousness comes from a local bakery, The Blue Bird Bake Shop
Tiny Awesomeness #1: Stereographic Projections
Create your own tiny planet and practice your design know how by practicing photography and alignment.
I discovered tiny planets, or sterographic projections, while perusing through Flickr’s Creative Commons. Bob Kueppers creates these projections through the use of overlapping photos, a tripod, and a fisheye lens. Kueppers shares with us that we can actually create our own stereographic projections through the use of the Tiny Planets App, which works with the amazingness that is the Photosynth App for iPhone.
Tiny Awesomeness #2: Magnetic Thinking Putty
Who wants to buy me this for my desk?
Why putty you ask? How can putty be amazing? Well, this putty has millions of micron-sized magnets built into it. This coupled with the iron boron cube that comes with turns an ordinary 15 minutes of molding fun into a zillion hours of “snake charming” fun. You can even turn the putty into a magnet by “charging it.”
Tiny Awesomeness #3: Gary Chang’s 300 sq. ft. 24 Room Apartment
Gary Chang, a Hong Kong native, is used to living in tight quarters. He lived in a 3-room apartment with his family AND a tenant for most of his life. Now, he’s transformed that 300 sq. ft. space into a 24-room home complete with screening room, double bed, soaking tub, guest bed, fully equipped kitchen, and floor to ceiling windows that provide beautiful ambient light. This is Graham Hill’s dream of living small and simple come to life.
What draws you to a particular design? Size? Color? Shape?
