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I’m not an expert in design, nor do I enjoy being a critic - I tend to only review things I like! But here and there I see things that I feel miss the mark, so I will offer my two cents and offer insight as to how I would go about it, given the opportunity.

First up we have this rendering of a train station for the upcoming Evergreen Skytrain route that will be built in Port Moody and Coquitlam. It’s a very pretty station, much like the ones that have been built for the recently-opened Canada Line and the not-too-old Millennium Line.

What I take exception to is the absence of environmentally-friendly solutions that could help make this train self-sustaining. Where are the windmills? Where are all the solar panels? Instead a lot of greenery to give the impression this is an earth-friendly facility.

This is a design trait I’ve come to think of as a priority these past several years, ever since one single piece of architecture design really wowed me: a proposed Walmart for Vancouver. Yes it’s a bit disturbing for me to give accolades to Walmart, but when a big box retailer is taking the initiative municipal governments should be leading in, you have to give them props. Here is that Walmart (which was never built):

As you can see the additions of windmills and solar panels will not uglify the station(s) one bit.

But it’s not about aesthetics, it’s about common sense. If you’re running a mass-transit system that consumes a lot of power, wouldn’t it make sense to implement these power solutions?

Plus this train line is called the Evergreen line. It should aspire to live up to it’s name somewhat.

Next up are these hideous NHL beer taps I saw on Puck Daddy a few days ago. As a hockey fan who indulges in the odd team memorabilia, I suffer facepalm-itis whenever I visit the NHL store (or other online sports retailers), because the catalog is packed to the brim with ill-conceived products. It’s slightly maddening because all this junk gets the green-light, and I can’t even get one semi-decent idea made.

You can read the article at Puck Daddy to see what they thought this product reminded them of - I won’t mention it here! But to me it looks like crap.

Here is what I would have done if asked to design a beer tap featuring an NHL license: A Zamboni covered with team logos that featured a pop-up lid (like a BBQ) revealing the tap and place to sit your cup. Need it vertical in design? An empty team locker (with a few player items) complete with a bench to park the drink cup. How about a replica Stanley Cup to pour drinks from? Maybe a rack of hockey sticks sitting together? Argh.

Lastly we have this peek at the Blu-Ray release for Transformers Dark of the Moon, slated for this fall. It will have the DOTM film as a solo release in the standard amaray case, and the trilogy in a ‘Transforming’ case depicting the Autobot emblem. Sorry for the small image size, it is the best I can find.

I’m beginning to think I’m the only one who took something away from Tom Hanks’ boardroom critique of the transforming Chrysler building in the film Big. How is this fun? Where is the appeal? It’s an Autobot faction symbol with gullwing doors. What. The. Heck.

I don’t mean to pimp my design, but it had a lot of things going for it: A. Comes with a figure - a triple-changer no less B. The actual case transforms into Optimus Prime’s trailer, making it a useful addition to Prime. C. It looks good on the shelf, unlike this dejected-looking faction symbol drowning in a tar pit.

I’m not saying my design is perfect either, but it demonstrated some versatility and is a nice extension of the both the toy line and the films.

Also, after the mixed-reception of the Halo 3 Legendary edition and the ‘Neo Bust’ Matrix Collection, I would never design anything head or bust-like for a collector’s edition. You don’t need a media package staring blankly at you from the shelf.

Well that’s my $0.02 for now, I will write one of these posts when missed opportunities present themselves (as much as they try to hide).