Feb

Bike Designs Shine with Creative Imagination

by Janine Boylan on February 5, 2013

different bikes, illustrating bike designs with creative imagination

So many different styles of bikes!
© Thinkstock

A good bicycle is such a clever, simple vehicle.

I was appreciating the brilliance of bike designs as I was riding the other day. That is, until my chain popped off. And my back started hurting from bending over the handlebars awkwardly.

Oh, I see! Time to get a new bike!

So with this opportunity, I went online to investigate the possibilities. Obviously, a bike should be designed so it is comfortable and easy to use, but it should also reflect creative imagination.

Here are a few I’ve discovered.

A Creative and Flashy Design

Ben Wilson, a designer in the United Kingdom, playfully combined a push-pedal bike with a simple car-shaped neon outline to create this Articar.

Articar by Ben Wilson, showing bike designs with creative imagination

Ben Wilson’s Articar
© Ben Wilson

I like that you can recline instead of lean over the handlebars.

I also like its unique presence. I wonder—Is the light powered by pedaling?

Too bad this is a one-of-a-kind design.

A High Tech Design

This amazing urban concept bike was designed by Chris Boardman, MBE-R&D Director and company founder of Boardman Bikes.

Boardman's concept bike, showing bike designs with creative imagination

This spoke-less bike has a computer “brain,” which counts calories and plays music. It even uses fingerprint recognition to unlock it! The tires are airless so they will never deflate or pop. On top of all that, it has a solar-powered motor for when you’re too tired to pedal anymore.

Unfortunately, this one isn’t within my price range.

A Simple Design

And then there’s this one. It was the winner in a contest of bike designs from Google engineers, and it is what Google employees pedal around their large campus. This bike looks, well, ordinary (except for its distinct Google color combination).

Beautifully simple Google bike, an example of bike designs done by creative imagination

A brightly-painted but beautifully simple Google bike
© Janine Boylan

It has a basket, chain guard, and back fender to keep water from splattering the rider. And it has a bell—very important for navigating through crowded sidewalks of people.

David Fork, one of the designers of the bike explains, “Our design motto was ‘Build a user-friendly, safe and reliable, low-maintenance new GBike.'” He and his teammates worked on several different ideas with various types of brakes and gears. They even tried airless tires, like Boardman’s futuristic bike concept. But they found that the most comfortable ride was with this simple design.

Oh, I see (again). Sometimes creativity’s challenge is to achieve simplicity. As Steve Jobs said, “Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.”

Now, if I want to ride a simple bike like the GBike, all I have to do is use my creative imagination to get a job at Google.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Janine Boylan 6 Comments

The World's Art & Design

Jan

Life’s Challenges on a Football Field

by Meredith Mullins on January 31, 2013

CSD QB, meeting life's challenges and reaching goals on the high school football field

CSD Quarterback Carlos Lopez
© CSD

Reaching Goals Beyond the Goal Line

Football is in the air. The Super Bowl sportswriters are dissecting the matchups, the 49ers and Ravens are practicing their trash talk, and the multi-million dollar commercials are ready to debut.

But before getting lost in the hoopla, take time out for a story about the real value of football. Meet the CSD team, known for facing life’s challenges and reaching goals in an inspired and inspiring way.

Friday Night Lights

Richmond High School vs. CSD of Fremont, CA.

Oilers vs. Eagles.

Some folks are questioning the CSD first-year coach’s decision to play Richmond in this non-league game.

Richmond is ten times bigger in student body numbers and downright scary in player depth and bulk.
CSD has only 19 players on the roster; some team members play offense and defense.
The CSD team is also small in weight—nobody over 200 pounds—facing Richmond, where half the team weighs in over 200.

Add to that the fact that Sports Illustrated is covering the game—waiting for that David vs. Goliath moment.

The CSD players are excited, but nervous. Even though America loves an underdog, the odds are not in their favor.

The locker room is always quiet, but at this particular pre-game moment, it is unusually quiet. Coach Keller looks the boys directly in the eye and signs his message, with fast-flying hands.

He tells them they are ready. Now all they have to do is go out and play their best. There have been many great deaf teams in the past and some great California School for the Deaf football teams, but these teams were never noticed by the media. This is their opportunity to show everyone what they are made of.

CSD Quarterback during game play, meeting life's challenges with good game strategy and reaching goals

The no-huddle offense racks up the points
© CSD

Underdog of the Year

Four quarters later, CSD has logged a demolishing 47–0 victory.

“The boys were on fire,” Coach Keller said. “No one, not even me, expected that kind of game.”

Sports Illustrated got their story and awarded CSD one of the coveted “Underdog of the Year” spots. The media paid extensive tribute to the team—spotlighting a deaf team that had defied the odds. The players got well-deserved respect. And the fired-up CSD Eagles went on to win the league title.

CSD Team Photo, a team known for meeting life's challenges and reaching goals on the field and in life

The California School for the Deaf Varsity and JV Football Team
© CSD

There’s Usually More to Miracles than Meets the Eye

The season seemed miraculous; but, the team’s success is really about three simple strategies—philosophies that work on the football field and off.

1. Hard Work

The team follows Coach Keller’s “work hard” philosophy, for football and life. Reaching goals is not measured by wins and losses, says Keller. The primary objective is to be “undefeated in conditioning.”

2. Driving Passion

The team loves football. They play with huge heart and a drive to prove something—to themselves and to any opponent who thinks CSD might be an easy win because they can’t hear.

3. An Ingenious Game Plan

With a small, quick, and well-conditioned team, Coach Keller uses the no-huddle offense to great advantage. Communication is also a strength. The audibles are visual. The team uses American Sign Language. Other teams have to invent a language to signal plays, but CSD has a common language that is a part of their life.

The CSD players are also immune to trash talk. They can tune out the vocal distractions of the opponent and the crowd, which keeps them keenly focused.

CSD Coach Keller, helping players learn strategies for meeting life's challenges and reaching goals on the football field and in life

New Strategies from an “Oh, I See” Moment

The California School for the Deaf players don’t see themselves as being at a disadvantage. And so, they aren’t. Coach Keller and the team would rather not even draw attention to the detail that they are deaf.

The OIC Moment is not that a small team with a perceived disability can win a league title (although that’s a nice story).

The OIC Moment is: When tackling life’s challenges, you can level the playing field with three simple strategies: hard work, driving passion, and an ingenious game plan.

Strategies we can all use when facing life’s challenges and reaching for our goals.

See the Sports Illustrated Underdog Tribute

Visit the National Association for the Deaf, the USA Deaf Sports Federation, and The American Association of the Deaf-Blind.

VIA Mercury News

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here. 4397EU56U6HK

Meredith Mullins Comments

Secrets to Life

Jan

Bubble Wrap Has a Simple Life Lesson

by Janine Boylan on January 28, 2013

Bubble wrap, showing the life lesson that some things are just fun

It’s Fun to Burst My Bubble (Wrap)

Monday, January 28, is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day. Bubble wrap is a great packing material for keeping breakables whole, but, really, who can think about bubble wrap and not think about popping it?

So I started to wonder, why do people love to pop bubble wrap? I researched and found theories that bubble wrap’s allure comes from:

Janine Boylan 7 Comments

Clever Ideas/Life Lessons

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