In The Workplace

This was the highly anticipated week at the Canadian Samsung headquarters, where I was scheduled to work for one week. They packed a lot in and I was exhausted by the end of it, but definitely thankful I experienced life in many departments. You can get a better glimpse of the headquarters and what I did at Samsung in the upcoming video that will be posted here. As well, check out what I’ve done in previous weeks at House & Home in this video!

Here’s a brief summary in photos:

I was able to test products in the astonishing client showroom designed by Bruce Mau. It housed almost every Samsung product sold in Canada. There were sleek TVs, dishwashers, cooking ranges, video cameras, cellphones, fridges, and more!

I had the chance attend a lot of meetings. Creative briefings for ads, meetings for how to advertise in print publications, meetings for how to highlight products in flyers, and even a meeting to go over two awesome viral marketing campaigns to hit Toronto in autumn. I also had to do a big presentation of my own about an event I planned.

One of my big assignments of the week was planning a promotional party event for clients to get a sneak peak at Samsung’s upcoming induction cooking range. It’s so neat! It doesn’t have knobs and cooks using precise electromagnetic waves that transfer only to the cookware, meaning there’s no element that gets heated, just the pot or pan.

In this cubicle farm there was a lot going on. We worked on figuring out how to better position Samsung products in trade shows and to the target audience, making sure the notable designs and innovative technologies were highlighted.

In The Loft

Every week I’ve been shifting pieces around the space to see what may be more aesthetically pleasing as well as functional. I’m also preparing for the magazine photo shoot and website’s video shoot.

I pulled this sleek server out of a nook in the kitchen and it works perfectly to house the amplifier while my laptop is connected to play music.

Samsung so kindly lent me this projector and I’m working on connecting it to a digital frame to run the pictures from.

Here are two test projections, run from my computer, from when I was checking the positioning, angle, size and brightness. To achieve the rectangle-less projection like in the second projection below, use black as the image’s background.

In The City

Being so busy this week I hadn’t had much time to explore and shop downtown like in previous weeks. Upon my return to Scarborough for a day I ended up at Lowe’s. I missed the hardware store experience that cannot be found downtown. Here I found aisles of many different lighting solutions. I liked this one with the three legs:

During a lunch break while at Samsung in Mississauga, I ended up at HomeSense. I searched for items for the cubicle makeover that will be featured in the upcoming video about my experience at the headquarters. Check back to see if these will make it on my desk:

There was something appealing about this sculptural ram head. Perhaps it would help me focus if my mind drifted since it would sternly stare back at me all day.

These letters are pretty fun. I wouldn’t go spelling out any words since that’s overdone now, but I like the coloured-scrambled look.

In The Online World

After much time playing with technology this week and moving electronics around in my loft, I became interested in wires and electrical outlet solutions. Sometimes the smallest design changes make a big difference.

I’m a fan of this subtle desk detailing that helps keep wires organized. Because of its solid back, wires are hidden (and your legs won’t get tangled in them). It’s by Studio Manzano.

Here’s an interesting find by Nendo, a Japanese company. Although it doesn’t try to hide the outlet, it at least holds small things that need to be charged.

And just for fun there’s this conceptual piece. It’s a wireless surveillance camera clothes rack by the Nothing Design Group. This is a design that will make you act differently in your own space!

This was quite an eye-opening week that helped me understand how even the smallest functional and aesthetic innovations make for noticeable change, especially with technological design. I’ll be taking this knowledge back to House & Home and back to my loft. See how the loft comes together next week as we prepare it for the editorial photo shoot!

Photo Credits:
1. Console Zeta by Studio Manzano
2. Socket-Deer by Nendo
3. Big Brother Hanger by Nothing Design