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April 22, 2012 9:35 PM Subscribe
This is fantastic. I've always wondered why patent art has such a consistent, stilted-looking, shitty style.
posted by zsazsa at 9:48 PM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by zsazsa at 9:48 PM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
[shoots schmod]
Sorry, it was you or serfdom.
posted by arcticseal at 9:52 PM on April 22, 2012 [6 favorites]
Sorry, it was you or serfdom.
posted by arcticseal at 9:52 PM on April 22, 2012 [6 favorites]
Modern life in a patent art nutshell.
posted by Salmonberry at 9:56 PM on April 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Salmonberry at 9:56 PM on April 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
Like 80% of these seem to be for video games of one type or another.
posted by JHarris at 10:04 PM on April 22, 2012
posted by JHarris at 10:04 PM on April 22, 2012
"Art from people who aren't artists, randomly culled from a wealth of video game-related patents."
posted by curse at 10:07 PM on April 22, 2012
posted by curse at 10:07 PM on April 22, 2012
Yeah, I missed that sidebar at first glance. sorry about that
posted by JHarris at 10:15 PM on April 22, 2012
posted by JHarris at 10:15 PM on April 22, 2012
I've spent many a happy hour doing Google patent searches, using only obscene keywords. For example, butt plug or fisting or, somewhat inexplicably, railroad-fuck.
I think it speaks to the limitless creative potential of human beings that these things are invented and recorded, and that perverts like me can enjoy them.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:38 PM on April 22, 2012 [3 favorites]
I think it speaks to the limitless creative potential of human beings that these things are invented and recorded, and that perverts like me can enjoy them.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:38 PM on April 22, 2012 [3 favorites]
Wait a second, some of these aren't video games!
posted by JHarris at 10:38 PM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 10:38 PM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
Wow, some of those are just brilliantly idiotic.
*Quotes Marx, world falls to serfdom*
posted by daniel_charms at 11:26 PM on April 22, 2012
*Quotes Marx, world falls to serfdom*
posted by daniel_charms at 11:26 PM on April 22, 2012
Does the world falling to serfdom lead to people being forced to work long hours in cat factories?
posted by tykky at 12:00 AM on April 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by tykky at 12:00 AM on April 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
I don't think that the drawings in this German patent (strictly speaking a utility model) need any context (or, indeed, comment) whatsoever.
I've always wondered why patent art has such a consistent, stilted-looking, shitty style.
It has extremely strict formal requirements (only line drawings, no greyscales, and heavens forbid, no colour). The rationale behind this is to ensure clear, easy reproduction of the drawings.
On the other hand, it is purely utilitarian art: its only purpose is to facilitate the understanding of the patent disclosure, and it must be made at the lowest possible cost, within tight headlines. Consequently, looking good is not a priority.
posted by Skeptic at 3:19 AM on April 23, 2012
I've always wondered why patent art has such a consistent, stilted-looking, shitty style.
It has extremely strict formal requirements (only line drawings, no greyscales, and heavens forbid, no colour). The rationale behind this is to ensure clear, easy reproduction of the drawings.
On the other hand, it is purely utilitarian art: its only purpose is to facilitate the understanding of the patent disclosure, and it must be made at the lowest possible cost, within tight headlines. Consequently, looking good is not a priority.
posted by Skeptic at 3:19 AM on April 23, 2012
BTW, in many cases it is possible to have a good guess at the country of the patentee by looking at the drawings. The Japanese in particular tend to put adorable manga-style characters in their patent drawings (and not just for videogames).
posted by Skeptic at 3:26 AM on April 23, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Skeptic at 3:26 AM on April 23, 2012 [2 favorites]
My favorite is this vomiting toy, not so much for its technical innovation, but more for the detailed explanation in the Status of Prior Art: This invention is concerned with a squeezable toy ball that qualifies as a gross toy that is to say a toy which is disgusting or in poor taste However the fact that a toy may be offensive to many adults does not detract from its appeal to children for children are drawn to such toys as they are to horror films repugnant to adults The psychological justification for gross toys is the same as that for classic fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood whose grandmother is devoured by a wolf and Hansel and Gretel in which the witch is burned alive Horror movies and fairy tales enable a child to vicariously experience the horrors of the real world and in doing so to become conditioned to cope with these horrors Thus while the organs of the human body such as the brain the pancreas and the intestines are somewhat gruesome and replicas of these organs may be disgusting they nevertheless hold a fascination for children
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:44 AM on April 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:44 AM on April 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
My favorite patent drawings, part of a very ill-conceived idea.....
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:18 AM on April 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:18 AM on April 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
> This is fantastic. I've always wondered why patent art has such a consistent, stilted-looking, shitty style.
There's decent money in patent illustration, but it's not the job of your art school dreams.
posted by ardgedee at 6:41 AM on April 23, 2012
There's decent money in patent illustration, but it's not the job of your art school dreams.
posted by ardgedee at 6:41 AM on April 23, 2012
This like the patent for 80’s-style LCD games, whose non-colliding static graphics I’ve always been completely fascinated by.
posted by migurski at 8:56 AM on April 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by migurski at 8:56 AM on April 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
zsazsa: "This is fantastic. I've always wondered why patent art has such a consistent, stilted-looking, shitty style"
I just showed this to the guy who draws the illustrations for the patents we work on here at the firm. He said, "We mostly do engineering work. I don't do people. If I need to draw a person I get a book and trace them."
posted by charred husk at 9:27 AM on April 23, 2012
I just showed this to the guy who draws the illustrations for the patents we work on here at the firm. He said, "We mostly do engineering work. I don't do people. If I need to draw a person I get a book and trace them."
posted by charred husk at 9:27 AM on April 23, 2012
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posted by anigbrowl at 9:47 PM on April 22, 2012