In 2010 we put out a call for entries seeking ID renderings of a cell phone airbag concept. Exactly zero of you responded (though six people left comments; most folks like to critique more than they like to do). In 2011 we discovered Apple had actually patented an airbag-like cell phone protection system. And this week, I became excited upon seeing links popping up to an airbag cell phone case supposedly developed by Honda.
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Posted by
core jr | 10 Dec 2013
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This is the latest installment of our Core77 Questionnaire. Previously, we talked to the Finnish designer Harri Koskinen.
Name: Bec Brittain
Occupation: Lighting designer
Location: Brooklyn
Current projects: Our latest project is the Twin Vise, which is a new iteration of a light that launched last spring. It's these two hand-blown glass globes that are held in place with a metal infrastructure. The "twin" bit is that, in turning it from one globe to two, it's actually sharing an infrastructure and it looks like a twinning crystal or a splitting cell. I'm very excited about it.
Mission: To make things that people would want to keep around for a while. I am very influenced in how I approach objects by my grandmother. She collected a lot of things, and it didn't quite matter whether they were contemporary or older; she just put them all together in her house and they looked amazing. I think about how happy I am now to have a few of her things, and I'm very aware of how old these objects are but in what good condition they're in. So I want to create things that are well made enough that they could be passed down to grandchildren, and that are timeless enough that a grandchild would even want them.
The Vise pendant (above) was released last spring. Brittain recently developed it into a new iteration called Twin Vise (below).
When did you decide that you wanted to be a designer? I came from a family of makers, and I always knew I was going to be some sort of maker. It went from maybe being a fashion designer to maybe being a product designer to architecture—there was a winding road. It was when I started working in metal for a hardware company that I realized that I really love metal, and that was a guiding force.
Also, working at Lindey Adelman's was really helpful, to see her business model and experience making things to order. Making small things and being able to concentrate on them—essentially, being able to do product design while side-stepping the mass-production element of it—that's what led me to doing this, to doing small production in metal and to dealing with light.
Education: I started out at Parsons, but I left there after a couple of years because it wasn't a good fit. Instead I got a philosophy degree at NYU, and then I got an architecture degree at the Architectural Association in London.
First design job: Well, I worked for an interior designer all through my undergrad years. But my first graduated, adult job was working for the architecture firm Work AC as a project designer. I was on a project for Anthropologie; they wanted a new, crazy concept and were trying to refresh the brand, so that was my project for a year.
Who is your design hero? I'm going to go with the Dutch artist Madelon Vriesendrop. She's just really great. She doesn't take it all too seriously, but she's a smart cookie.
Inside Brittain's Brooklyn studio
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This year's Autodesk University was the largest we'd attended, with around 10,000 bodies swarming through the enormous Exhibition Hall. But unlike in previous years, where we saw tons of neat physical gizmos—like Zebra Imaging's crazy holographic prints, the affordable but powerful ShopBot Desktop CNC mill or unusual interface devices like Leonar3Do's "Bird" 3D mouse—this year the bulk of the Hall was either things we'd previously covered, or software. Better content management software and rendering plug-ins do not a sexy blog post make, so we combed the floor seeking things that we could touch and feel.
Our criteria for finding physically-designed objects meant the pickings in the vast Hall were slim, but we did find the very unusual RollerMouse from Contour Design. Designed specifically for traders and CAD users with multiple-monitor set-ups, the RollerMouse is intended to increase efficiency and speed while reducing or preventing repetitive stress injuries. Have a look:
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Posted by
core jr | 10 Dec 2013
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Simon Enever is the head designer of New York based agency ECCO Design and the founder of byDEFAULT. Formerly a designer at fuseproject, Enever has focused on bringing iconic design to overlooked everyday products. byDEFAULT's first product, TOOTHBRUSH, is a truly customizable modular toothbrush that's as unique as the person who's using it. But the main focus of this daily essential was to choose simplicity over complicated features we may see with other toothbrushes. Enever takes some time to step us through the design process.
After taking my first trip to a dentist after moving to the U.S. from London, I was told that I was damaging my gums by brushing too hard. Among various other tips, I was recommended to try out a simple vibrating brush. On the way home, I popped into the pharmacy to pick up a brush—somewhat excited about this new, slightly "techy" sounding product I was about to pick up. I was presented with this familiar sight:
Sifting through shelf after shelf, it didn't matter if I was looking at manual, vibrating or full electric models, store brands or high-end brands; everything had that same gaudy look and cheap feel. Each brush was packed with gimmicky features and slogans in an attempt to lure me in. I gave up in the store and decided to look online. I had the exact same experience.
"Surely someone out there must have put some effort toward creating a well-designed, intelligent brush," I thought. Despite a few nice attempts in the eco-friendly manual brush market, I couldn't find a version that was reasonably priced (read: not $280 like some I came across) without the showy tendencies.
As a designer, these are the moments you wait for. I immediately got in touch with—what was to later become—the byDEFAULT team.
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Posted by
core jr | 10 Dec 2013
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Content sponsored by Adobe
At first glance, insectOrama might simply seem like a cute, quirky idea. And while it is true that the drawing templates are cute and somewhat quirky, insectOrama has also proven to be a way for people of all ages to let their imaginations run free. On his website, Belgian graphic designer Stefan de Pauw makes available sets of templates that he designed featuring parts of insects, people, and animals from land, air, and water. From Stefan's point of view, the templates are not "products" but are intended to be starting points—source material—for people to take their creativity in new directions.
Like many children, Stefan loved to draw. In fact, he can't remember a time when he wasn't drawing, and aspired to become a cartoonist in his youth. In high school, he further honed his interests and developed a passion for photography, eventually pursuing a degree in photography at the art school Hogeschool Sint-Lukas Brussel. But as he was completing his studies, his passion for drawing was reignited and he was again drawn to the expression and impact achievable through graphic design and illustration.
Artwork by Sam de Buysscher / Toy Factory
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It's the most marvelous time of the year—Core77 Design Awards! After three super successful years of receiving the best designs from professionals and students worldwide, we're opening registration for our fourth go-around on December 10th. As always, we're looking forward to seeing what fresh, new designs you have to share.
We know money is tight during the holidays, so we're offering a 20% discount on the entry fee if you submit your project before the Earlybird deadline. And if you enter before December 31, 2013, we'll also throw in one of our limited edition posters—designed by Manuel Miranda and screen-printed in Brooklyn—as a gift for being so fiscally responsible.
We also realize what a busy time it is right now so we'll be reminding you about these important calendar dates after things have settled down, but for the record, here they are:
Dates to remember:
- Submissions Open: December 10, 2013
- Earlybird Deadline: January 30, 2014
- Official Deadline: March 20, 2013
- Winner Announcements: June 2014
Claim your Earlybird discount AND limited edition screen-printed poster by entering here before midnight Dec 31st.
Posted by
core jr | 10 Dec 2013
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We were excited to offer an exclusive weekly look into Francis Bitonti's first New Skins Computational Design for Fashion Workshop last summer. The debut session, which took place from July 22nd – August 8th at Pratt's Digital Arts and Humanities Research Center in Brooklyn, New York, ended with a beautifully collaborated dress using design elements from all of the students' work. The successful design for the Verlan Dress lead to the creation of another workshop starting this winter. But you'd better hurry—the registration deadline is December 15th.
Last session's final design: the Verlan Dress
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Posted by
Coroflot | 10 Dec 2013
In Chinese, JIA means "positive" and "home" for the same sound. To the founders of JIA Studios, the name represents specialization in 3D rendering, architectural visualization product visualizations for use in posters, promotional literature, or for product concepts. To you, this job could be the opportunity that takes your 3D rendering career to the next level.
With at least 3 years experience in 3D Rendering, excellent design flair and a team player attitude, you're the perfect candidate for this job. If you are also a proactive, flexible, adaptable, and fast learner who will thrive in a fast-paced work environment, you should Apply Right Now to work in their Singapore office.
We've been fans of Sugru since before the stuff even launched and are not surprised to see it's been a smashing success. What we didn't foresee is that there's a way to make it even better: Magnets.
Last year, Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh, Sugru's inventor, accidentally broke the mount for her bike light. When product designers have accidents, fortunate discoveries are often made; so it was with Jane, who hacked the light back onto her bike with Sugru and magnets. Realizing that this was a far more convenient way to attach, remove and re-attach a bike light—as well as thousands of other things that need attaching—the Sugru team set about finding magnets with the perfect blend of size, strength and versatility, then spent a year testing them in the field.
Now the Sugru + Magnets Kit is ready to go, albeit in limited release; presumably they're being cautious and dipping their foot in the water. Click here if you want to get in on the first batch of just 1,000 kits.
In this series, Matthew Sullivan (AQQ Design) highlights some designers that you should know, but might not. Previously, he looked at the work of Jacques Adnet.
Martino Gamper: Born in Merano, Italy, 1971
So many design movements have come and gone in recent times, with each new one obfuscating or damning the previous, that we are often left to think that replacement (and probably a relativistic stasis) is all there is. It can seem like there is no genuine, conscientious dialogue; that the child is impervious to the parent. Whether this is an entrenched biological strategy of evolution or simply not seeing the forest for the trees is not for me to know, but . . . the feeling is certainly a drag.
Countering this tendency and this feeling is possible, but it would require a particular intelligence and temperament, a standalone perspective with buoyancy and perhaps joyousness. This person would need to have a conversational and extemporal technique for problem-solving, not inclined towards specious, ex nihilo design innovations.
Martino Gamper is such an empathic and curious personage, and is a fair and welcome exception for our times.
Above: Gamper's 2010 Vigna chair for Magis (left) and a chair from the exhibition Tu Casa, Mi Casa, now on view at the Modern Institute in Glasgow, Scotland.
Top image: three chairs from Gamper's 100 Chairs in 100 Days series
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BEIJING DESIGN WEEK 2013
VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2013
LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2013
OUTDOOR RETAILER 2013
California Dreamin': Jony Ive's Formative Post-Graduation Visit, from Leander Kahney's New Biography, Available Today
What Happens If You Let Two Designers Write Their Own History Books? Spoiler: A Much More Fun (And Beautiful) World History 
Tom & David Kelley of IDEO Talk 'Creative Confidence,' New Book Hits Shelves Today
Beijing Design Week 2013: Drawing Architecture Studio Presents 'A Little Bit of Beijing' (a la Chris Ware)
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Case Study: Designing Everything but the Food
WHY WE NEED A NEW HYPER-LOCAL MODEL FOR DESIGN ACTIVISM
IN THE HANDS OF GOD: INSIGHTS INTO DESIGN RESEARCH
WHAT THE FUTURE OF FISH CAN TEACH US ABOUT DESIGNING SYSTEMS
HarvardxDesign 2013: Event Recap
