Oct 21, 2013 8 Questions With: Che-Wei Wang
I first met Che-Wei at a friends house, where I learned of his successful Kickstarter the Pen-Type A. Che-Wei is one half of the creative duo CW&T together with his now wife Taylor Levy they create some amazing and unique things. Their designs vary from industrial designed products to iPhone apps, never not conceptually genius. In their latest project Crowsflight an iOS app, you get a navigational app that lets you discover things on your own by wondering toward a specified direction or location in which the app tells you the distance and direction you should head toward. A truly simple idea and interesting tool to travel with, available now for free. Now take a moment and marinate over Che-Wei’s answers to our 8 questions and then check out their designs and shop at CW&T.
What are you currently working on?
I’m working on a small machine that makes giant drawings. The details are still being worked out, so I can’t really say what it’ll be, but figuring out all that stuff is the fun part.
Where do you find inspiration?
I’m always moved and inspired by great art. Once in a while I’ll see something great and it’ll just blow my mind. Then I run to studio as soon as I can to work. New technology can also be super inspiring. There’s often a new sensor, actuator, process or capability that I find out about and when I get a chance to tinker with it, new worlds of projects open up and reveal themselves.
CROWSFLIGHT A GPS Compass that simply points.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grow up?
When I was younger, I wanted to be an inventor or a fashion designer. Now, I want to be an artist when I grow up.
What are you reading at the moment?
I’m in the middle of The Information, by James Gleick, an amazing look at the history of what we call information. And I’m just starting Connectome by Sebastian Seung, who we’re currently collaborating with.
Left: TV BARROW Right: MEGA TOOT
How would you describe your job?
We moved to the Medialab at MIT this fall, so our studio (CW&T) is temporarily on hold. I’m officially a research assistant in the Playful Systems group. I wish I could describe my job, but It’s really hard to describe! I just wrote a bunch of stuff, but deleted it because it was super long, but still didn’t capture it. sorry!
What does your average work day look like?
Everyday is a bit different, and would be hard to find an average, so I’ll tell you about what I did today. We went to talk to Burton (super awesome guy at the Harvard GSD shop) to talk about pneumatics and jamming, then biked over to Medialab to work on some sketches for a simple stool design, modeled some stuff on the computer and 3D printed a few prototypes. After lunch we met with our collaborators from The Seung Lab (MIT) who are working on mapping connections between neurons.
BLOCKHEAD STEM IB The sturdiest bicycle stem with an integrated brake lever.
What’s your favorite post‐work destination?
We always bike straight home. Dinner, work and play are melded into one at home, so it feels just right.
If you could give some advice to your teenage self, what would it be?
Try everything and stop trying to fit in, weirdo.
PEN TYPE-A a Successful Kickstarter campaign, Available Now!
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