Core77

Matt Webb and his opening presentation at reboot 11. Scope - Design and contributing to culture; ourselves as individuals and the big picture; taking action.

Bruce Sterling's closing talk at reboot11 on Favela Chic, Gothic High Tech and where we are heading.

Product Design Hub's got an interview up with concept artist Mikael Lugnegard, who has washed his hands of our profession (see quote below) but still designs his Swedish butt off.

Mikael Lugnegard is a Swedish industrial designer [who] graduated from the Umea Institute of Design, and worked as a lead designer for Duke Dynamics (BMW styling), as a concept designer for von Braun Sports Cars and as a sketch teacher at a number of Swedish design schools. He has also produced his own educational material and is now spending all his time in educating students about different ways to visualize ideas, design and just being creative and having fun.

"I would definitely not label myself as an industrial designer, that title is way to narrow for me and my creativity. I think it's very important to remain open to new challenges and new ways to expand and express our creativity. Even though I was trained as an ID, I found that it did not let me express my creativity in a way that suited my creative process and my goals. I'm a very visual designer, and I don't really care for the ID process with interviews, research and so on. I'm not really that problem oriented in my design. Guess I'm more of an artist in the traditional sense."

Click here for the full interview.

The terrorists "hate our freedom." If that's true, they're probably going to hate our folding bikes.

Montague's bad-ass Paratrooper Tactical Folding Mountain Bike is jump-ready and can be dropped on a static line or attached to a paratrooper. Accessories seem to include a camo wrap for jump time and a handlebar attachment that stores an assault rifle in a "travel" position.

Some deets on the bike's purpose:

Air Drop Ground Mobility The Paratrooper Tactical Mountain Bike was designed as ground mobility for airborne units. It is a sturdy, durable full size Mountain Bike, designed to fold so the bike can be dropped on a static line. Once on the ground the bike is unfolded and serves as effective, efficient and stealthy ground transportation, allowing easy evacuation upon completion of a mission.

LAV / Reconnaissance Scout Using the Paratrooper Tactical Mountain Bike in conjunction with LAV's or APC's, allows the company increased mobility and security. The Paratrooper Reconnaissance model folds so you can attach it to the side of vehicle and serves as back- up transportation. The Paratrooper is a stealthy recon/scout vehicle able to travel with little to no thermal and acoustic signatures.

Alternative to Foot Soldier The Paratrooper Tactical Mountain Bike offers the most efficient form of human powered transportation available. Men on mountain bikes have off-body load bearing capabilities, can traverse any terrain, move at high speeds without breakdown, and can refuel themselves with local water and food. It is also a great moral builder - the guys really enjoy traveling around on a bike rather than on foot.

The only thing that bugs me is they say it allows "easy evacuation upon completion of a mission." I hope that doesn't mean the soldiers are meant to abandon the bikes--you gonna leave these sweet rides behind for the terrorists? If you do, they win!

A bite-sized list of what's happenin' now:

ag ip news
World Intellectual Property Organization examines areas of possible convergence in industrial design law and practice

gizmodo
Cheap, Thin Laptops Suffering From Cheapness, Thinness

fast company
"Starting a Design Studio In a Downturn" four-part article

forbes
Why Dell Can't Do Gadgets

autospies
Volkswagen receives the 2009 red dot Design Award

gizmodo
Steve Wozniak's Most Memorable Gadgets

Sydney-based Shane Crozier's been getting some blog love with his Cycle Wip, as seen above on designcrave.

Be sure to check out Crozier's sketching skills and a host of his other projects (like his Nissan Mori scooter, "Flux" e-desk and White Noise Lamp, below) on Coroflot.

Even using "rapid" prototyping, it took French jewelry house Boucheron's craftspeople 1,500 hours to produce Marc Newson's fiendishly complicated Julia necklace. The fractals-based diamond and sapphire piece will debut tonight in Paris, and unsurprisingly, it will likely be "one of the most expensive necklaces Boucheron's ever made."

Says Newson of his design inspiration, "Fractals are fascinating, complex and rich, and gemstones really lend themselves to exploiting their beauty."

For more on fractals, check out an earlier post of ours on the subject.

via the moment

"Thousands of fashion minded people at an airport and no one is flying off?" Exactly, after few years of Spanish sun, this year's BREAD & BUTTER trade show takes place from 1-3 July at the historical Tempelhof Airport in Berlin.

Last Tuesday, the Swedish rockers Mando Diao kicked off the event with some great songs. The rock concert is followed up by an even bigger trade show where hundreds of brands such as Adidas, Marc O’Polo, Dickies, Lee, Nike, G-Star, Wrangler, ... (see brand bible), are showcasing their latest collections for the upcoming year.

Have you ever seen a super size fashion show at an airport? More photos after the jump!

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University of the Arts ID student Can Onart's Felt Stool (above), produced with classmates Elissa Myres and Bethany Casperite, is eight layers of industrial felt over just two layers of veneer. Onart's Gehry-inspired Basket Bench (below) puts steel ribbons to innovative use, with three tiers of arches providing plenty of structure.

Check out a couple of Onart's other pieces on Coroflot.

NextLevel Galerie presents Materia, French designer's Nicolas Le Moigne's first solo show.

Materia gives Nicolas Le Moigne a golden opportunity to ennoble four raw materials. Wood, glass, clay and steel disguise themselves and become the centrepiece of an exhibition devoted to the duality between art and handcraft, between highly refined objects and the commonplace.

Matera by Nicolas Le Moigne
NextLevel Galerie, Paris
through July 25th

More pics after the jump.

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Valerie Casey reminded me to reread Paul Hawken's commencement address given at the University of Portland on May 3rd. It is impossible to pick the best sections here; the speech builds upon itself in the most beautiful way, and seems blasphemous to pick out any one or two paragraphs to paste right here.

Get inspired. Read the speech now.