Valerie

Valerie – Amy Winehouse

Be Naturally Inspired

In the book The Art of Creative Thinking, Rod Judkins talks about architects, Herzog, and De Meuron. The two architects were set to design a stadium that worked with weather and light. The Birds Nest Stadium was born. The two architects sought to construct a stadium that resembled our natural world. Birds nests happen to be well thought out and beneficial in keeping warm and protective.

Nature has the ability to help and inspire many solutions in any type of field. In high school, I had to take a Principals of Technology class. In this class, my teacher showed a documentary about robots that had functions that mimicked animal adaptations. Many industries have robotic arms to help with the process of packaging, moving, and assembling many products. There have been some issues in this tactic getting the robot arm to be much more flexible than what it was. Engineers studied elephants trunks and the ability for their flexible motion. After studying the trunks, engineers put together a more advanced version of the robotic arm. This time it had enough joints to mimic an elephant trunk.

Studying natural adaptations is huge. The earth is constantly continuing to evolve, solving its own problems. The best place for all of us to learn from is nature itself.

Pick Yourself Up

In the book The Art of Creative Thinking, Rod Judkins talks about James Dyson who is known for his design engineering in many Dyson products. Dyson started out struggling with developing a vacuum cleaner that had a powerful air filter and trying to find an alternative for the dust collecting bag. After 5,000 prototypes, Dyson was pleased with his work. Although his designs were rejected many times following his final prototype, he finally was able to come out with a Dual Cyclone model that was a big hit in Britain. His newest model became one of the top-selling vacuums.

Dysons products did not stop there. In 2016, Dyson came out with one of the top supersonic hairdryers. The $400 hairdryer became instantly popular. The sleek and modern design is not only visually pleasing, but it is very functional and healthy for your hair.

James Dyson is an inspiration. Having someone reject your ideas and designs can hurt some peoples self-esteem. Instead of him giving up, it inspired him to keep pushing for success. In life, everyone is going to deal with criticism but how you take it will determine your overall outcome.

If Dyson decided to give up after his 5,000th prototype he would have done all of that work for nothing. His determination and wit helped push him till his first successful product. Still, to this day, Dyson continues to advance his designs and make them more practical, functional, and simplistic.

 

Frozen

The recently added Disney movie Frozen played at the Rogers Center on December 8th, 2018. While attending the film, I felt nostalgia because I connected with my inner child again. The movie is about two opposite sisters, Anna, and Elsa who is responsible for two very opposite things, Elsa being the snow queen and Anna shedding warmth amongst having the power of fire on her side.

The Disney film has amazing graphics compared to the films when I was a kid. The illustrations are very crisp, clear, and has brilliant colors. The plot is well thought out and adds some humor for older audiences watching as well.

This singalong film has many popular songs that made an impression on many kids and even some adults. The popular song Let it Go, sung by Elsa (Idina Menzel), is about not caring about judgment from others, self-determination, independence, and learning to love yourself. The lyric choice and strong female leads are very appropriate specifically four young female audiences.

This film has inspired many young girls and boys to feel confident about their differences. Being a 21-year-old woman, I found this film entertaining to watch. It is comforting to know that positive messages are displayed in children’s movies and allow them to know that its okay to be different.

Disney movies have been around since the 30s and have continued to inspire children of all ages. Even though I am a fan of the older Disney movies like The Lion King, Snow White, and Alice in Wonderland I am happy to see that the newer movies have a stronger message to young audiences.