Paul Chang Design

Cookhouse Branding and Website

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Cookhouse was conceived to enhance personal and professional communities, to encourage a culture of preparing meals in the interest of health, and to encourage personal decisions supporting local sustainability.

Font Size Calculator - iPhone

Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Free at the iTunes Store

People choose font sizes every day, yet seldom have a good reason for their choices. The Font Size Calculator provides a simple yet powerful tool for making statistically-informed font-size decisions.

Compatible Devices
iPhone and iPod Touch

A Tool for Design

Enter viewing distance (in feet or meters) and the Font Size Calculator computes the minimum font size. Adjust this result based on lighting conditions and reliability.

A Tool for Analysis

Enter font size of an existing design (in points, inches or cm) and the Font Size Calculator computes the maximum viewing distance. Adjust lighting conditions and reliability to determine the effectiveness of the design at different viewing distances.

Credits

Development: Joe Maurer
Project Management: Jeff Cortez

MidState Precast Branding and Website

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

MidState Precast Branding and Website:

MidState Precast provides high value, low-cost structural and architectural precast/prestressed concrete components, preconstruction, design-build services and installation services to the construction industry.

Charles Pankow Foundation Branding

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:00:00 -0800

The Charles Pankow Foundation (CPF) was established in 2004 by Charles J. Pankow, founder of Pankow Builders and a pioneer in the construction industry. The foundation carries on his legacy to support and advance the professional ideals and beliefs championed by Mr. Pankow during his lifetime: to provide the public with improved quality, efficiency, and value of buildings by advancing innovation in design and construction.

The three buildings represent, from shortest to tallest, the research idea, CPF as facilitator and the ultimate goal: the realization of better buildings.

VW Holiday Card - Santa's iPhone

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

What would Santa’s iPhone look like on Christmas Eve? The answer may very well put Rudolph out of business…

The VW Electronics Research Lab asked us to create a fun and timely holiday card. As the basis for our design we asked, “What would Santa’s iPhone look like on Christmas Eve?” We came up with SantaNav 1.0 (sorry, only one was made so it’s not available at the App Store).

Artist Frank Bowling's Website

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Artist Frank Bowling's Website:

FRANK BOWLING, O.B.E., RA, the Guyana born British trained artist, was on May 26, 2005 elected a member of England’s Royal Academy of Art, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London. Mr. Bowling was among about a dozen artists proposed to fill one of two vacancies in the eighty-member academy, and is the first Black British artist elected a Royal Academician in the over two hundred year existence of that institution.

VW NavCompanion

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:00:00 -0700

VW NavCompanion:

VW recently launched Nav Companion, a web application that allows drivers to find destinations online and then transfer the information to their car.

PCD is involved with the development of the prototype version of Nav Companion. In addition to the features available in the production version, the prototype supports categorization of destinations and 1-click syncing with the data transfer device.

VW ERL Branding and Website

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

We launched the Volkswagen ERL’s branding and public website. Check it out here.

The Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory accelerates automotive innovation by harvesting Silicon Valley energy! They work to expand and extend Volkswagen Group’s technical intelligence and maintain the North American Market as the epicenter of electronics expertise.

Loomis Industries: The Facelift

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Loomis Industries designs precision wafer dicing machines for the high-technology semiconductor industry. For more than 25 years, Loomis Industries has provided state-of-the-art products, and timely and meaningful customer support.

In 2001, Loomis began to closely examine their corporate branding and online presence. PCD worked with them to address a company-wide redesign including:

Logo Design
Website Design
Industrial Design
User’s Manuals
Print Collateral
Advertising Campaigns

Challenges

The business value of design was not at the top of the Loomis priority list. Their machines were highly specialized and as a result, barriers to entry were significant. At the turn of the century, however, competition locally and in Asia along with the introduction of alternative technologies increased competition.Our first step was to adjust Loomis’ visual identity. Their previous logo implied a free-form sloppiness. Loomis’ business is the precise dicing of silicon wafers. The new design reflects this precision.

Industrial Design

Next, Loomis challenged PCD to revitalize its line of products with the introduction of their next generation scribe dicing machine. Previous designs were outdated stylistically and were not designed for assembly or maintenance.

With the introduction of a sleek black machine, PCD introduced an aesthetic radically different than typical clean room industrial machines. The distinctive Loomis-blue covers create easy access to all components, reducing repair and maintenance time. Operator ergonomics were considered throughout the design process from the pivoting monitor to keyboard and trackball arrangement (not shown).

PCD extended this design aesthetic to the Loomis Roller Breaker, again introducing ergonomic improvements such as easy access panels and meaty handles for transport.

Web Development and Advertising

We brought all elements together with a new web design that introduced the now familiar Loomis-blue plastic panels as a design element. Finally, the website design inspired a series of advertisements reinforcing Loomis’ commitment to precision scribe dicing.

Outcome

Loomis continues to be a leading producer of scribing equipment for silicon wafers.

VW's Stanley - champion robot car

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:00:00 -0700

The 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge was a winner-takes-all, 132-mile desert race for autonomous vehicles. Volkswagen’s Electronics Research Lab and Stanford University combined forces to build the most sophisticated robot car ever conceived, affectionately named Stanley, and took home the $2,000,000 grand prize.

Challenges

We researched Stanley’s story and presented it to a notoriously distracted audience already inundated with artifacts and information - museum patrons.

“You’ve got two minutes to tell me your story. I’ll be asking the questions. Impress me or I walk.” That’s a little bit what it’s like to be an interactive museum kiosk. Tough job, but someone’s got to design it.

Approach and Lessons Learned

We relied on animation, compelling graphics and a ‘video with voiceover’ storytelling approach to grab and hold viewer attention and hook them into spending some time with Stanley.
Our next decision was to not make them fight for it. We designed the interface with progressively rich layers of information. The top layers were the most general and fully self-presenting.

By designing both the behavior of the interface and how the information was organized, we were able to create an interactive kiosk that respected both the viewer’s curiosity and their time constraints.

The final results can be seen with Stanley himself as he tours museums throughout Asia and Europe.

VW's Gypsy - Showcar Passat

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Before the internet, computers were lonesome devices limited to local applications and information. Now, It’s hard to imagine computers without an internet connection.

Connectivity has opened unlimited potential for communication and data sharing. The future of mobility is sure to follow a similar path. The Showcar Passat was a window into this future.

Challenges

We worked with the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory in Palo Alto and their Design Center in Santa Monica to develop a central interface bringing together a variety of mobile devices. Our challenge as interface designers was to maintain driver safety without sacrificing functionality.

Approach and Lessons Learned

Unlike computers, cars are moving. Multitasking is not a great idea. Our goal was to limit the driver’s interaction with the console - one screen, one operation. By presenting each task as a sequence of screens, we were able to present large, easy to use controls. Similarly, our floating navigation, breadcrumb trail and application dock reduced the search effort.

Outcome

The Showcar Passat received a warm reception at the 12th Annual World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and favorable reviews from c|net.

The People's Magic Bus - Chameleon

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 19:25:00 -0700

When Volkswagen’s Electronic Research Lab decided to get groovy, they picked PCD to design the virtual interface for Chameleon, this radical 1964 Deluxe Microbus.

The circular digital instrument cluster mimics and updates the original analog speedometer, acting as a central information hub with a graphical user interface and speech recognition to control the bus’s various functions. It also serves as a display for the nav system, which links with Google Earth to provide 3-D maps.

The interface is controlled with an iPod-like touch pad embedded in the center of the steering wheel.