NON SQUARE PIGS

Since 2007 Erik Schmitt, Jan Sadri, Steffen Hand, David Hartmann and I are the NON SQUARE PIGS. We work for you in interaction design, film & video, animation, illustration, graphics and concept.

For our public appearance we developed a website, to put our projects in perspective and created a logo that comes with a broad variety - it is generative, moves, works as a stage, is always changing and puts itself in the center. Nevertheless you will always recognize it.

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Evolving Logo

Starting with the question how to combine design and science my diploma at the University of Arts Berlin experiments with computational process-related design using evolution.

Evolving Logo is based on Evolutionary Algorithms, that simulate biological evolution. A population of logos develops according to changes in it´s company.

I chose the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden as a starting point. Then I created a generative logo-prototype based on a Cellular Automaton.

The institute acts like the environment of the logo population. Essential parameters like the number of employees, the publications and the funding are connected to the density, the activity and the speed of the logos. A logo who´s attributes match the parameters from the institute the most is the fittest of the population and therefor the actual logo that is used in all media (Web, print, etc.).

The evolution is controlled by the change of the company. Simultaniously employees may vote for particular logos with a 1-click screensaver application and enhance the fitness of those logos. This participation leads to a higher degree of identification between the person and the coroprate design of the company.

The documentation of my research about new approaches in corporate design, Complex Systems, Evolutionary Algorithms and the basic idea of Evolving Logo is brought together in a downloadable book.

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Federal Parliament Elections 2006

Together with Thomas Nies from technikjournalist.net I created a flash module for the federal parliament elections in march 2006. It shows the election results of Rheinland-Pfalz, Sachsen-Anhalt und Baden-Würtemberg. Voices, seats, profit/loss and possible coalitions are presented.

The diagram was shown on the websites of Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung, Zeit, Kölner Stadtanzeigers, Rheinzeitung and Netzeitung .

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The I LOVE Button
A networked object

A batch is a medium. It is round, attached to clothes and accessories and communicates opinions, preferences or dislikes. The topics are various: Politics, advertisement, portraits of famous people or favourite animals, music, sports, nonsense, kitsch et cetera.
Famous examples are "Nuclear power? No thanks!", Che Guevara and the yellow smiley.

By carrying a batch the bearer supports its message and identifies himself with it. The individuals of a community often have a large quantity of overlaping interests and opinions. Usually these interests and opinions bring a group together in the first place.

With the I LOVE Button any group can carry their collective opinions in the world:
In the internet the members feed two weblogs with words of things they love or hate. Therefor they use the I LOVE and I HATE weblog which face each other.
I LOVE and I HATE batches are attached to peoples clothes. They are taged with the words "I love" or "I hate", possess an integrated display and are wirelessly connected to the internet. The contents of the weblogs are immediately transfered to the batches and presented on the display. This way collective opinions of the community are displayed on each members chest.

The bearers can identify themselves with their community and give it their voice.

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HEBI JUMPS - Der Birkenstockblues
Platform-Computergame

HEBI JUMPS is a computergame and gift for my father´s 60th birthday.

He himself is the hero and has to survive, collect items, defeat enemies, answer questions, teach head-stand and take fotos in 12 levels in order to fill a calendar.
He jumps and runs through the celtic landscapes of the Bretagne. Though cliffs, beaches, forests, old houses, meadows and fields.

The tile-based game was programmed in Flash. Thanks to Martin Schmitz, Hannes Ecker, Yannick Ecker and Christian Ecker for the good work. Likewise to Tonypa.

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www.verenajaekel.com

www.verenajaekel.com is the website from the fotographer Verena Jaekel from Berlin.
You can see two portrait series about social and political topics: Schwestern im Westen and _geduldet.

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Eurolab 2005 Scenario: HiTeMuCu

HiTeMuCu is a future scenario of Europe in 2020.

In the Eurolab 2005 students from Amsterdam, Berlin and Barcelona thought about the future to support the European Comission. The theoretical results are illustrated in concrete projects.
HiTeMuCu is a small program that shows the mixture and specialisation of identities. Telling five different biographies it leads into the year 2020.

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Interactive CD Rom

This project is a interactive CD-Rom for the Escuela Superior de Diseño.

It presents student works, information about the university and events. The interface consists of three "drawers" that open by clicking. My part was to design the project drawer. Searching an idea I felt little confued because of the new surrounding, the Spanish, the Catalan and all the stuff that makes an erasmus exchange so interesting and the only thing in my head was a big cloud. So I used it. The projects fly arround and it is possible to sort them by type. The system is based on a XML-Feed in three languages.

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MathEducates - A Mathematical Map

MathEducates.de is the school portal of the DFG Research Center - Mathematics For Key Technologies in Berlin.
Its build for a target group of pupils from 12 to 19 years who are interested in mathmatics, based on a content management system to easily update content an stay up to date. Using concepts of viedeogames the user explores the mathmatical world getting to know all things that interest him. His movements are being saved on a small map which gives an overview and a history at the same time.

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Object of Desire - Leonardo

Everybody knows the road artists who paint their chalk-pictures on the streets. Usually a hats serves as donation bowl.
Leonardo is a cylinder that paints a chalk-picture of the Mona Lisa on the floor - or at least tries. Ones a coin is put inside he begins to work. This is funny to see and astonishing, if you find out that he´s build with LEGO. In this case the object replaces the subject - the hat becomes the road artist. And you can sit beside and earn money.

Leonardo was and will be exibited:

Museum für Kommunikation Berlin, January 2005 Berlin, Germany
OpelVillen - Exibition "Roboter" 21.9. - 11.12.2005 Rüsselsheim, Germany

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Presentation for the HfbK Hamburg

At the end of the term the students of the Hochschule Für Bildende Künste Hamburg have to provide a presentation, which presents their projects.
In this case a line leads the spectator through the work of Martin Schmitz. He is studying product design in Hamburg.

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Presentation for Linie 6 and Connex Cargo Logistics

Connex Cargo Logistics assigned Linie 6 to develop a new communication concept. The results were presented in this presentation.
The concept abstracts rail traffic by leading the spectator from station to station like a train does it. Charts and pictures appear dynamicaly accompanied by sound.

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genoTyp - An Experiment About Genetic Typography

What is generativity?
Do letters live?
Which genes describe a type?
Can typography and genetics be connected?
Can types reproduce themselves?

genoTyp tries to find answers and regards typefaces under genetic aspects. Their characteristics are encoded in hereditary factors.
Different fonts can be mixed as desired and their genomes can be manipulated. New fonts are generated according to genetic rules.

genoTyp was exibited:

Typo-Berlin 2004, Germany
Viper Basel 2004, Switzerland
Generative Art Conference Milan, Italy
Transmediale 2005, Germany
Designmai Berlin 2007, Germany

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Mental Models - The attempt of a representation of the cognitive mapping process

Mental models - this theme I dedicated my pre-diploma at the UdK Berlin.
Mental Models (cognitive maps) are imagined representations of the surrounding environment of a human beeing. They are a product of investigation of the environment, collected experiences and innumerable linkages.

This experiment examines and visualizes the process that leads to a mental model.
A spatial environment is simulated by the computer. The user moves freely through this simulation in a subjective perspective. His movements, the time he stays at one place and the points of interrest are transferred simultaneously in a mental model. This happens in abstraction and with consideration of the characteristics of the cognitive mapping process - the interaction, the selection and the structuring.

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Basics of digital design

In the class of digital design with professor Joachim Sauter at first the students have to pass through a basic course with Ralph Ammer. In the first term we examine the medium computer in four short-term projects.

This time with the topics typography as organism, virtual space, process and interactive sound.

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Linemovie

"Create a 30 second movie about a line!" That was the assignment of a short-term project in the basic course of visual communications at the UdK Berlin.
A cursor dos have serious problems with a line.
To keep the animations authentic I used video material of real items.

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Record Player 3D-Model

A 3D-Model of a record player modeled and rendered in the computer.

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Contact

Contact me by email >> micha[at]non-square-pigs.com

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Vita

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References

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Links

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Imprint

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

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