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9070 Posts
Welcome everyone to this new project of my blog called "Top 11". This will be basically a list of... things that have a special meaning or a very important place in our world. I'm not going to put these in any order so unlike any typical Top 10 chart, mine will have 11 spots and every item or event will be listed as #11. Your comments and thoughts about this are most welcome! I will try to cover diverse areas of our world, so hopefully this feature will be enjoyable for you to read...
The theme of this first edition is called:
Top 11 best things designed,engineered and created by man!
The criteria for the items in this list will not be only the visual esthetiques, rather than the meaning and the usefulness of the thing, so I'm not going to just list some work of arts. I've decided not to include any pictures this time So lets begin!
11.The Katana Sword
The traditional Katana is piece of craftsman genius. I will call it the most beautiful weapon ever created by man, but what makes it even more incredible is its quality as a sword. The Katana is a rare combination of visual beauty and engineering perfection - its a symbol of simplicity and functionality. If you hold a real katana you have the feeling of having something special in your hands, it has an aura of respect around it self. Respect to its quality and the person holding it.
11. Nike Swoosh Logo
If you decide to make a new brand right now, you will need a logo, smth to symbolize your product and to sell it. You will ofc have to go to a professional designer and he will eventually make what you want for around 1000 or so dollars. I'm not kidding, designing a logo is a very difficult thing and if you want to have a good one you should be ready to pay a lot. The Nike Swoosh Symbol is arguably the most famous logo in the entire world today. Its so famous that Nike almost completely gave up their original design with the NIKE lettering and put only the swoosh on their products. Its amazing how a design, that was made only for a 35$ by a young design-student can be one of the greatest symbols of the 20th century and the street culture as we know it today. Once again simplicity prevails.
11. The Spitfire
This would be the air machine in my list. Because of its historical background and its use in the Second World War, the Spitfire is the symbol of the fighting aircraft today. I'm sure that every man or a boy had the model of the Spitfire as a toy in his childhood. Its that sort of thing you will want to fly around your room, holding it high in your hand while making silly noises. There is something childish in this thing and still smth very beautiful. I for one love the Spitfire and I really want to fly in it
11. Citroen DS
The Citroen DS or the Goddess like they call it, is almost mythological. This should be the car here. Maybe the Americans find out about it from this blog, but let me give you some info about this incredible machine. The Citroen DS is the biggest and most radical step ahead in the evolution of the car industry, both in terms of design and engineering. When this thing first came out of the factory in 1955 it was like absolutely nothing the world has ever seen, it was so far ahead of its time. Some of the concepts used in this car died with it, just to be reborn 30 years latter in the cars we see and drive today. The shape of the headlights is iconic, and its hard to think how a man could've come out with it so long ago, because its so trendy today. The Citroen DS was the first car to use turning headlights, it was the first to have a hydraulic suspension - technology that is used today in the big airplanes like Boeing 747. Like I said there are a lot of myths surrounding this car, for example that because of its suspension, the car saved general De Gaulle back in the day from a certain death (read the hole story somewhere if you dont know it), or that the Citroen can never roll over, again because of the suspension. I've driven this car, the ride is so smooth, its like nothing else, and in real life its much more beautiful than it looks on a picture. If your grand dad is into european cars and you ask him, which one is his favorite he will say "Citroen DS"
11. The Kheops Pyramid
I will start with the only bad thing about this structure. Its not as big as you think it is, because all the hype you expect it to be gigantic, but its a bit smaller. But after that you will remember when it was build and suddenly a question will appear in your head... "Why?". And after that "How?". The pyramid is a triumph. Dont listen to all the stories about how many slaves died and stuff, this cant be build by mindless morons, who think only of their food and not getting beat up to death. Even now, with all our modern technologies building this monument will not be an easy task. This pyramid is the first example that the man is capable of everything. The concept is strange and yet so beautiful, it really is hard to explain to yourself why the hell they've build it, but after all, it took us a couple millennia to build something higher, but have we build anything greater yet?
11. The Wristwatch
I'm not going to put myself in the embarrassing situation of trying to explain how great is the idea of designing a devise to measure time. The Wristwatch, just like the Katana Sword is a craftsmans masterpiece, it peaks the evolution of a devise so important to the humanity, the technology behind it is so fascinating, small, delicate, fragile, simple and yet very complicated, beautiful. We are time addicted and the wristwatch only makes our sickness more...practical. Its amazing how such a small thing can be put in such a mass production and yet, there are some examples of it, that cost half a million dollars, because of their qualities and engineering perfection. If I have like all the money in the world I will buy a Zenith watch
11. The Vitruvian Man
We all know the famous Da Vinci's drawing. Its easy to explain what it symbolize - the perfect proportion of the human body. But what is more important is that the Vitruvian Man blends the art and science into one. This is and should be the idea of the modern man, this is the approach we mush have about our existence, put on a simple paper with ink. This design is a lifetime goal - the perfect man in a perfect world.
11. Viadukt Millau
Actually the pyramid of Egypt may finally found its rival - the great Viadukt Millau Bridge in France. Unlike the other great bridges in the world like the Golden Gate, this one doesnt connect two pieces of land, divided by water. Knowing that, a question should be asked "Why they've made it so high and so big then?". Its simple - to show its possible. Yes, they could have made it smaller but with this, they challenged themselves to prove once again that man is capable of doing extraordinary constructions. The bridge is monumental and beautiful, it simply is a triumph of mankind.
11. Dolly The Sheep
The first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell, is for me the most radical step ahead in our way of thinking since we've got out of the caves. It generally shows mans greatest ambition, to tame and explore the world, to be designer and creator of life itself. One can argue that cloning is morally wrong, but it isn't. Its just another way to express man's greatest quality - the curiosity. The curiosity was the driving force behind most of the humankind's greatest creation, and we shouldnt put limits to it. Dolly is a remarkable scientific achievement and arguable the best example of man's will to create.
11. The Chess
I'm usually the scientific guy and I always try to find reasonable explanations about the world I'm in, and the other things that in it. But the chess as a concept is really...hard to explain. No,no I know its a simple game where you should beat your opponent, but whats actually behind it? Well, the chess as we know it was reached the final of its development somewhere around the 15th century. Originally the game comes from India and the first proves of its existence are from the 6th century. The game is very complicated and complex, I dont have to explain why. I'm asking myself if the guys who invented and design the concept in first place knew what they were creating. Is the evolution of the chess a fluke? Is it random, or the ppl creating it actually knew about its limitless potential. Whoever came out with this game, must be in my eyes the smartest guy ever to live. I want to shake his hand and bow to him. Or what if the game just... like existed and we invented nothing, what if someone else gave it to us...creepy
11. The Guitar:
Like almost all music instruments, the guitar evolved from something else, more simple, to become what it is now. The guitar is a product of many many years of refinement, but the result we have today is incredible. Apart from its importance and use in the music, the Guitar is a very good looking thing, in fact the acoustic guitar combines in itself just like the Katana, beauty and functionality. Its a shape you cannot confuse with anything else, maybe if you are very drunk you can confuse it with a woman, maybe that was the initial idea actually The concept of the guitar and its design is amazing for a simple reason - its a beautiful thing, made to create art. I cannot think of anything better in life
So this was it, the first Top 11 I hope you enjoyed reading it, there will be more in the future.
 
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11. Nike Swoosh Logo
If you decide to make a new brand right now, you will need a logo, smth to symbolize your product and to sell it. You will ofc have to go to a professional designer and he will eventually make what you want for around 1000 or so dollars. I'm not kidding, designing a logo is a very difficult thing and if you want to have a good one you should be ready to pay a lot. The Nike Swoosh Symbol is arguably the most famous logo in the entire world today. Its so famous that Nike almost completely gave up their original design with the NIKE lettering and put only the swoosh on their products. Its amazing how a design, that was made only for a 35$ by a young design-student can be one of the greatest symbols of the 20th century and the street culture as we know it today. Once again simplicity prevails.
It's a check mark... Maybe it's clever that it's something lots of people see everyday, especially students (people who care about having cool shoes), and it's got positive association... But I can't believe you jizzed your pants in amazement of it.
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Your list is very different from what my list would be like. I like how you've combined lots of different fields though and it was an interesting read. You have a nice banner too.
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On July 14 2009 07:33 Chef wrote:Show nested quote +
11. Nike Swoosh Logo
If you decide to make a new brand right now, you will need a logo, smth to symbolize your product and to sell it. You will ofc have to go to a professional designer and he will eventually make what you want for around 1000 or so dollars. I'm not kidding, designing a logo is a very difficult thing and if you want to have a good one you should be ready to pay a lot. The Nike Swoosh Symbol is arguably the most famous logo in the entire world today. Its so famous that Nike almost completely gave up their original design with the NIKE lettering and put only the swoosh on their products. Its amazing how a design, that was made only for a 35$ by a young design-student can be one of the greatest symbols of the 20th century and the street culture as we know it today. Once again simplicity prevails.
It's a check mark... Maybe it's clever that it's something lots of people see everyday, especially students (people who care about having cool shoes), and it's got positive association... But I can't believe you jizzed your pants in amazement of it.
Nike changed the way people think about brands and logos. The nike swoosh is literally the ultimate logo. So I definitely agree with the OP.
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Logos existed before Nike  How did they change the way people think about brands? Have you forgotten centuries of alcohol brands? You want advertising fitness, that's where you look.
Brands are just corporations version of nationalism. Nothing innovative about that.
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antibiotics/toiletry systems/tv/computer all beat katana by far imo.
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9070 Posts
On July 14 2009 07:53 Chef wrote:Logos existed before Nike How did they change the way people think about brands? Have you forgotten centuries of alcohol brands? You want advertising fitness, that's where you look. Brands are just corporations version of nationalism. Nothing innovative about that.
The point is not if Logos existed before the swoosh or if Nike have the best looking logo in the world. It just sells, thats what a logo should do
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The Nike logo has come to represent child labour, human rights violations, and overpriced mediocre products.
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9070 Posts
On July 14 2009 07:56 stroggos wrote:
antibiotics/toiletry systems/tv/computer all beat katana by far imo.
I dont find anything visually beautiful in the toilets and the antibiotics. Functionally is not everything
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11. Mouse
11. Keyboard
11. Monitor
11. Internet
11. Starcraft
...
I like the broad range of your choices. And although I'm sure no two person could agree on the same set, everything you chose is definitely up there. Keep it up
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You had me sold at The Katana Sword 
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South Africa4316 Posts
On July 14 2009 07:50 Medzo wrote:Show nested quote +On July 14 2009 07:33 Chef wrote:
11. Nike Swoosh Logo
If you decide to make a new brand right now, you will need a logo, smth to symbolize your product and to sell it. You will ofc have to go to a professional designer and he will eventually make what you want for around 1000 or so dollars. I'm not kidding, designing a logo is a very difficult thing and if you want to have a good one you should be ready to pay a lot. The Nike Swoosh Symbol is arguably the most famous logo in the entire world today. Its so famous that Nike almost completely gave up their original design with the NIKE lettering and put only the swoosh on their products. Its amazing how a design, that was made only for a 35$ by a young design-student can be one of the greatest symbols of the 20th century and the street culture as we know it today. Once again simplicity prevails.
It's a check mark... Maybe it's clever that it's something lots of people see everyday, especially students (people who care about having cool shoes), and it's got positive association... But I can't believe you jizzed your pants in amazement of it. Nike changed the way people think about brands and logos. The nike swoosh is literally the ultimate logo. So I definitely agree with the OP.
Same. The Nike logo is undoubtably brilliant. I'd Just like to point out, however, that most professional logo designs cost way more than $1,000.
![[image loading]](http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/auckland_logo.gif)
This logo cost something like $25,000 to design (officially), with costs including research etc running up to $1m (or so it has been claimed).
The new pepsi logo cost pepsi $2m to make, while the full redesign of their brand will cost them around $1.2bn over 3 years.
Nice list though
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where the HELL is the internet, computers, condom, lightbulb, etc?!?
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P51 Mustang > Spitfire yo
Although the Spitfire is more famous, the Mustang was arguably the best prop-driven and overall most influential fighter of WW2. At least, once they figured out the US made engine it originally had was a pile of shit and they started putting Merlins in them.
Plus points for the Katana though. My favorite type of sword by far.
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9070 Posts
On July 14 2009 08:37 AcrossFiveJulys wrote:
where the HELL is the internet, computers, condom, lightbulb, etc?!?
do you really expected to read all the usual stuff? Like I said the point was to find things that combined both beauty and functionality. I dont think you can look at a PC box and say, "hmmm that is a one great looking thing". Or the internet... Btw I was going to write a text wall about the origins of all wireless and radio technologies and Nicola Tesla's unseen contribution to the topic. Many concepts used in the last few years were developed by Tesla almost 100 years ago, but because of politics and Thomas Edison we were slowed down almost by a century
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Any reason they're all #11?
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On July 14 2009 08:44 Macavenger wrote:
P51 Mustang > Spitfire yo
Although the Spitfire is more famous, the Mustang was arguably the best prop-driven and overall most influential fighter of WW2. At least, once they figured out the US made engine it originally had was a pile of shit and they started putting Merlins in them.
Plus points for the Katana though. My favorite type of sword by far.
Best performance-wise, maybe. Most influential? Probably not. By the time Mustangs entered the war, the Germany army was already fighting a losing battle. Both the Spitfire and the Mustang are glorified as iconic allied fighters but they didn't do AS much as their fame suggests. I would give the title of most influential to either the B-17 or bf-109.
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Random but interesting blog. Nice.
Could use some pictures of each thing though.
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9070 Posts
On July 14 2009 09:00 Hurricane wrote:
Any reason they're all #11?
My intention was not to put one over the other, I've just wanted to create a list of concepts that are vastly underestimated, but are very inspiring and radical with their design. Maybe if I wrote 500 words to explain the point of this list, the results would've been better accepted
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P-51s were the first fighters with the range (with external fuel drop tanks) to escort allied bombers on runs from Britain to German cities while having the performance to go toe to toe with the German interceptors. When the Mustangs started flying with the B-17s and -24s over Germany, the huge increase in bombing effectiveness and survival they caused undeniably shortened the war by a good margin. At the very least, the huge losses they caused among the Luftwaffe in early '44 permitted D-Day and the invasion of France to go a whole lot smoother.
What significant accomplishments are you thinking of for the BF-109? Obviously its notable for being the frontline fighter of the Luftwaffe for a huge portion of the war (far too much of the war for its own good, actually), but I don't see any way it changed the war any more than the Spitfire did. I'd call it just as much of a glorified icon as teh Spitfire, personally.
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9070 Posts
On July 14 2009 09:08 Straylight wrote:
Random but interesting blog. Nice.
Could use some pictures of each thing though.
btw, I've tried to put pictures,but there is no "preview" function while making a blog, so I was not sure if adding pictures will be a good idea or will create a total mess. However I wanted to wake up some interest in the readers to research by themselves some of the items listed here. Especially the bridge in France.
Because of this bridge I added the overused pyramid, to make a reference. I really cant understand ppl's surprise for not finding the internet and the computer, or anything to do with electricity. This is like saying that math is the greatest science - no, as great as it is, the math is a tool in hands of the Real Science. I see the computer as a tool as well - you can pay 5000$ and play games on it or create music, visual art etc. Internet is the modern tool of globalization, believe it or not in the years before the second world war economically the world was as globalized as it is today.
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On July 14 2009 09:49 disciple wrote:
This is like saying that math is the greatest science - no, as great as it is, the math is a tool in hands of the Real Science.
http://xkcd.com/435/
:D
+ Show Spoiler +And yeah, Purity =/= greatness; I don't entirely disagree with your point but it seemed like an appropriate opportunity to link XKCD.
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16993 Posts
I hate how you have guitar over other instruments.
:/
Mainly violin.
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United States824 Posts
Dude, the transistor, space shuttle, sliced bread. So many better things that could populate this list, and yeah the spitfire isn't even a contender.
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^^+ Show Spoiler +the arrow between the E and the x
but I think plastic is the most overlooked invention by mankind. we take it for granted but try for a second to imagine a world without plastic.
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Corn is also in a lot of the foods that we eat. Even the other vegetables at groceries at there because of corn, not to mention most everything in the aisles. Nice list, I'm looking forward to the next editions. Hopefully nothing too scholarly.
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9070 Posts
I was really considering the space shuttle, I mean I like it a lot, but... You see, I've followed my own weird logic while making this and on top of all criteria I've put the inspirational factor, what was the impact of this thing to the other inventions in this area. Yes, sometimes the peak of the evolution is the best, like the Katana, as a sword there is no better one. But I took the Spitfire cause its simple, cause it refers to the very basic desire of man to fly, and lets be honest, this is one great looking thing as well.
I do believe the space shuttles will get better with time, cause the progress in this area was always to fly higher and faster, ever since the first plane. But maybe I should have put it in...
As for the transistor, like I said I'm very sensible on the radio technologies topic - I'm almost sure we took the wrong way to progress in this area. It will take a huge text wall to elaborate what I mean by that, but there was a time in the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th when science was rapidly developing and man looked for the most practical and useful ways to apply it in everyday life. Regarding many technologies, we just took the wrong choices. There were alternatives that could have speeded up our progress by decades...but nevermind that, the topic is vast I would need time to explain, what I think should have been done otherwise. And in the end I still could be wrong
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Good read, however, I'd have to say that Go>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Chess by a long shot. The sheer simplicity and elegance of Go combined with the incredible strategic depth is much more beautiful and impressive than chess.
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Will you put out the 11 worst things man has created? I'd love to see how that list turns out - The Emo haircut might just deserve to be on there, or possibly ET The Video Game.
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9070 Posts
On July 16 2009 09:24 MutaDoom wrote:
Will you put out the 11 worst things man has created? I'd love to see how that list turns out - The Emo haircut might just deserve to be on there, or possibly ET The Video Game.
yeah, I can think of great contenders for such a list, but I already have some things prepared for the next list, hopefully it will be a lot better and still not standard
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nike also brainwashed a whole generation. just douche it.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt161/discwalls/11copy.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/pepsi_logo.gif){kind=logo}
![[image loading]](http://rsirving.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/fedex-logo.jpeg){kind=logo}
