- Joined
- Aug 31, 2011
- Messages
- 3,083
"Project Runway" is a contest of designers who compete in making high-fashion garments. My wife got me started watching Project Runway a few months ago, and we have watched probably 6 seasons together, binge-watching sometimes.
I think it is improving my eye for good knife design, including my own patterns. It's a contest of esthetical sense, but also marketability of the garment and a certain minimum level of finish. Now when I Look at one-off and handmade knives, I ask myself Do the lines and proportions of this knife make sense? Does it have good proportions? Does the design please my eyes? The more I look at it, do I appreciate it more, or do I appreciate it less? Do the colors and textures all work together.
About 15 years ago, I started to think about design in relation to motorcycles. I learned that Italian manufacturers hire professional designers: they find a professional designer to lead a project for a specific model, and that one person has the final say. Of course he has to bend to the will of engineers sometimes, but the design will have a distinct look when it's done.
It is a world of difference now when I compare a Kawasaki (designed by committee) with an Augusta, Binelli, or Ducati. I think my eye for good design is improving. I am not saying I am an expert designer, but my ability to spot a knife I really like is growing, and it's not just from looking at thousands and thousands of knives.
I think it is improving my eye for good knife design, including my own patterns. It's a contest of esthetical sense, but also marketability of the garment and a certain minimum level of finish. Now when I Look at one-off and handmade knives, I ask myself Do the lines and proportions of this knife make sense? Does it have good proportions? Does the design please my eyes? The more I look at it, do I appreciate it more, or do I appreciate it less? Do the colors and textures all work together.
About 15 years ago, I started to think about design in relation to motorcycles. I learned that Italian manufacturers hire professional designers: they find a professional designer to lead a project for a specific model, and that one person has the final say. Of course he has to bend to the will of engineers sometimes, but the design will have a distinct look when it's done.
It is a world of difference now when I compare a Kawasaki (designed by committee) with an Augusta, Binelli, or Ducati. I think my eye for good design is improving. I am not saying I am an expert designer, but my ability to spot a knife I really like is growing, and it's not just from looking at thousands and thousands of knives.
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