We are so hungry after perusing the Design in the Wildentries from the EAT category! Incredible readers from around the world submitted beautifully designed everyday objects that help them prep, cook, eat and drink. Whether it was your kitchen's 1985 General Electric Stove or a seat at your favorite cafe, we were delighted to be a guest at your dining table in this round's EAT submissions. Today we're opening up submissions for our second theme, PLAY, and announcing the jury and popular pick theme winners—theme winners receive their choice of Braun products and are qualified to move forward into the final round of voting for the grand prize of a notebook computer and tablet!
We can turn nearly anything into a game, but design can significantly improve the experience. Is table tennis better inside on a wooden table, or outdoors on a concrete one? Which apps are you drawn to over and over, and what board games have passed the test of time? What are the brilliant tools you use to paint, to crochet, to solder, or to hack with?
Cutlery of the armed forces of Germany. The fork functions like a spring to fix everything in the carrying case which is also a can opener. I am not a fan of collecting military items, but the cutlery works really great. I always showing it to my students as example of great functional design.
POPULAR WINNER
Citrus Squeezer Taylor Welden, United States
We didn't have these when I grew up in the Northeast. When I moved to the South, Texas specifically, there is much more citrus (limes are 12/$1) and the need to extract the juice from citrus increases dramatically. Margaritas are an every day type of drink here, not something fancy for Saturdays. Lime and lemon juice are used in all types of cuisine, especially as an element Mexican dishes. That being said, when I moved here, I knew exactly what this item did the first time I saw it. I purchased mine for $3 or $4 almost 10 years ago, it still looks and performs as new. Heavy duty aluminum parts, nice colorful thick coating, no plastic parts anywhere, no branding anywhere. A simple tool, easily overlooked. It squeezes every last drop out of the citrus, quickly, easily, efficiently. No mess and no acid in the eyes either. Squeeze, juice pours out, open it up, the citrus half pops out to be easily discarded. Perfect. Genius.
We first picked up on graphic designer Malika Favre's remarkably expressive vector artwork last year and she's pleased to present her latest project, the cover illustration for the forthcoming Penguin Deluxe edition of the Kama Sutra.
Favre gladly shared some insight into the brief and process:
I was approached last summer by Paul Buckley at Penguin US about designing the cover of a new Deluxe edition of the Kama Sutra for Penguin.
This book is part of the Graphic Classics series: Basically every classic they re-edit is paired up with an artist that pretty much has free range to design the cover. The whole concept of this specific range is to make each classic a collectable item and to push the boundaries of book cover design.
The book itself is the original text written by Vatsyayana (no pictures inside the book) so the challenge was to make the cover sexy, modern and daring without being vulgar or over the top. I decided to create a very bold and playful alphabet that would run across both flaps and front and back cover spelling KAMA SUTRA.
Once folded, the words become hidden and the big letters themselves turn into acrobatic positions.
As with our previous post on Favre, it gets semi-NSFW after the jump... in extremely good taste, of course.
Applications are now open for the Summer Workshop of the new MFA Products of Design program. Held at the beautiful Domaine de Boisbuchet in Southwestern France, this year's workshop will run for 10 days, inviting participants to immerse themselves in the evolving field of product design.
The Products of Design Summer Program in France offers hands-on, collaborative experience and instruction in rapid sketching, materials investigation, prototyping, iteration, narrative creation and environmental stewardship. In addition to work completed during the days, participants will enjoy opportunities to sight see, socialize with designers from around the world, and attend lectures in the evenings.
The program invites applicants from various backgrounds: design professionals, students (in at least senior standing at an art & design college), or graduate students in any field. Faculty will be MFA Products of Design chair Allan Chochinov and faculty Emilie Baltz.
Products of Design Summer Program in France
June 17-27, 2012
Domaine de Boisbuchet, Southwestern France
Tuition: $2,500 (includes room & board)
Applications due: February 10, 2012
While the last entry saw me complaining about an example of shoddy Chinese manufacturing, now we'll look at an example of Chinese manufacturing might. In this six-minute video currently making the blog rounds, we see an astonishing feat of design, engineering and execution: The 30-story T30 Hotel constructed in Hunan Province, taking just 15 days to erect.
Ikea has just introduced two LED pendant lamps, both so new that at press time they were not yet posted to Ikea's website. We were excited to get an early look at their VASTER (first shot above), made from steel and acrylic, and their KLOR (second shot above), made from nickel-plated steel and polycarbonate, as well as hear the design stories behind them. (Note that both stories have apparently been translated from Swedish--or it's Ikea policy to drop the article and refer to objects as if they're people.)
VASTER, interestingly enough, started with a design failure:
At last year's Interior Design Show in Toronto, Ikea pulled the sheets off of their bold country kitchen look, an aesthetic departure from the blonde-wood kitchens with which their showrooms had become associated. The kitchen won the show's Gold Booth Award and our entry on it quickly caught Facebook fire.
At this year's IDS, the design pendulum has swung the other way: Ikea's display kitchen features a distinctly sleek and modern look, one reportedly inspired by "the classic fashion combination of a black dress and pearls." In sharp contrast to last year's kitchen, where pots, pans, and kitchen storage objects were all made visible, this year's kitchen design renders most objects invisible, tucking them away behind glossy surfaces. In a second nod to the fashion world the backsplash tiles are meant to evoke patent leather quilted handbags and the island has received special focus.
Terschelling, Netherlands-based Bart de Graaff has got good hands and an imagination to match, as evidenced by the copious renderings in his book. With expressive work spanning graphics, transportation, and conceptual design of the sort you'd find in a sci-fi movie, de Graaff could be mistaken for a grizzled vet of the design field. Which makes his personal statement all the more surprising:
I read an article about a summer camp where one of the activities was showing the kids a bunch of old pieces of technology, and having them play around with them. The astonished author reported that most of the kids could not figure out how to dial a number on a rotary phone; they'd place their finger in the hole for "0" and drag the dial to the number they wanted to "activate," then release the dial.
This video here is similarly funny: Writer and blogger John Scalzi shows his 13-year-old daughter a vinyl LP, something she has never seen (or apparently heard of) before:
The second UK Designers Accord Town Hall was held on January 19 at The Design Council offices in London. The event was organised and facilitated by Engage by Design, with sponsorship from The Design Council Challenges Team. People from different industries and ages came together to explore the theme of Social Innovation and what we can do to insure its success. Following an introduction from Zoe Olivia John of Engage by Design and Marianne Guldbrandsen, Head of Design Strategies for the Design Council Challenges Team, six speakers delivered fantastic and thought-provoking presentations:
1: Tools & Skills - The Kaleidoscope Project - Engage by Design
Engage by Design kicked off the presentations with the short film 'Tools & Skills' from 'The Kaleidoscope Project,' which focuses on using four key values (Balance, Culture, Meaning, and Innovation) to frame the question: "What tools and skills do we need to build a better future?" This was a fantastic way to stimulate the attendees and get the creative juices flowing. Watch all the videos in the series on the Engage by Design website.
2. Fiona Bennie - Forum for the Future "How can we enable people to share in a low carbon economy?"
"How can designers make sharing cars appealing?"
"How can low income families save energy?"
"How can looking into the future help designers?"
The prices of everything from food to cotton are rising. As humans and consumers, we need to truly evaluate how we will spend our money. Forum for the Future believes it is all about changing demographics—carbon reduction targets of 50% by 2025 will force people to realize there must be a big change in what we eat, how we travel, and many other things that can easily pass without thought.
Check out this great link from the presentation: Wikihouse bringing affordable housing to the masses in an accessible way.
3. Mike Smart - Challenges Team, The Design Council "It's all about being smart with what you can get your hands on, creating 'low-fi' solutions to social problems."
The Challenge Team's Mike Smart showed us how this is already being done in concrete and non-traditional ways:
Jamie Oliver is not only a celebrity chef, but also someone who picks issues and creates campaigns to make change in an accessible way. He makes things visual and tangible, importantly starting on a small scale.
Untergunther is another example - they are a group "with a mission", breaking into abandoned public monuments in order to restore them.
Check out how the Challenges Team is continuing this work with their current projects: The Amazings and Casserole.
Architect-turned-interaction-designer Nitipak "Dot" Samsen first caught our attention a couple years ago, when he'd just completed his MA in Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art. For the 2009 thesis show, he exhibited series of coin flippers, a diverting exercise in iteration and probability if nothing else.
For his latest project, he's shifted his attention from the element of chance to a sort of economic determinism, exploring the hypothetical evolution of currency in the near future.
The short film TRAIL$, produced as part of Samsen's award-winning project "The Money Trailer," is an all-too-timely tale of capitalism in the digital age:
The Future of Integrated Health Care
Google Maps: Designing the Modern Atlas
Design Miami 2011
Tokyo Design Week 2011
Born Digital: Exploring Digital Culture & Interactivity 
SHIFTBoston 2012 GLOW Competition 
Book Review: Where They Create, by Paul Barbera and Alexandra Onderwater
Book Review: Design by Nature, by Maggie Macnab
Teach Less, Integrate More 
Public Service Announcement 
Lego...for Girls?
Your First Car?
Core77 Design Awards 
SHIFTBoston 2012 Glow Competition 
Cutlery of the armed forces of Germany. The fork functions like a spring to fix everything in the carrying case which is also a can opener. I am not a fan of collecting military items, but the cutlery works really great. I always showing it to my students as example of great functional design.
We didn't have these when I grew up in the Northeast. When I moved to the South, Texas specifically, there is much more citrus (limes are 12/$1) and the need to extract the juice from citrus increases dramatically. Margaritas are an every day type of drink here, not something fancy for Saturdays. Lime and lemon juice are used in all types of cuisine, especially as an element Mexican dishes. That being said, when I moved here, I knew exactly what this item did the first time I saw it. I purchased mine for $3 or $4 almost 10 years ago, it still looks and performs as new. Heavy duty aluminum parts, nice colorful thick coating, no plastic parts anywhere, no branding anywhere. A simple tool, easily overlooked. It squeezes every last drop out of the citrus, quickly, easily, efficiently. No mess and no acid in the eyes either. Squeeze, juice pours out, open it up, the citrus half pops out to be easily discarded. Perfect. Genius.
Google Maps: Designing the Modern Atlas
The Messy Art of Saving the World
Big Idea, Little Printer
The Landscape of User Experience Design in Asia
DESIGN MIAMI 2011
TOKYO DESIGN WEEK 2011
DUTCH DESIGN WEEK 2011
VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2011
Where They Create, by Paul Barbera and Alexandra Onderwater
Design by Nature, by Maggie Macnab
The Portfolio Handbook, by the Class of 2012, Industrial Design, DAAP, University of Cincinnati
Learning Curves, by Klara Sjolen and Allan Macdonald
9
Making Promises at the End of Time
Space Migration and Designing Our Future Habitat
The Landscape of User Experience in Asia
The Path Less Followed (or, Why I Didn't Work at Circuit City)
Masters of the Cutaway
