Category Archives: Future Imperfect

Future Imperfect – a non-fiction column by transmedia transreality designer Sven Johnson.

An Exercise in Trend Recognition

For this edition of Future Imperfect, Sven Johnson has been grasping towards something which may or may not be there to grasp.

Future Imperfect - Sven Johnson

If you spend any amount of time straining through global news and pop culture, you’ll probably have had a similar sense of unseen patterns waiting to be discovered. But, Sven asks, what exactly occurs the moment before trend recognition? Continue reading An Exercise in Trend Recognition

Second Life, 3D dildos and the intellectual property mindset inversion

Sven Johnson reports on intellectual property wranglings in Second Life for the latest instalment of Future Imperfect.

Future Imperfect - Sven Johnson

Second Life’s unique content creation tools have been its strongest unique selling point, resulting in a vigorous virtual economy. But there, just as in real life, intellectual property rights are a thorny issue – and there are signs that the social media masses are starting to change their attitude to content theft.
Continue reading Second Life, 3D dildos and the intellectual property mindset inversion

Toys of the Trade

Sven Johnson returns to Futurismic for another instalment of Future Imperfect.

Future Imperfect - Sven Johnson

Cyberpunk literature mirrored its era by speaking of the the fetishism of hardware; Sven takes a look at the state of play today, where what were once tools are now toys, and where complex design modeling software is available at the click of a mouse to anyone who wants it … as part of a video game. Continue reading Toys of the Trade

Designing for the Apocalypse

OK ladies and gents, please give a warm welcome to our second new non-fiction columnist here at FuturismicSven Johnson.

Future Imperfect - Sven Johnson

Sven is what I might call a philosopher of design (although I image he’ll hate me having done so in public). In his inaugural column he gets all eschatological on our asses and asks whether, as a species, we collectively design our own doom. Continue reading Designing for the Apocalypse