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MADE, in partnership with The Works festival and IDEA, produced this public rapid prototype-fest. 8 teams of designers were invited to design a piece of furniture in five hours. Materials were taken from recycled wood contruction waste and found architectural objects. The event was held in front of Edmonton's city hall. See it all here. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (1)
...designers are to a great degree familiar with the idea of solving problems based upon underlying values, such as economics, feasibility, sustainability, production conditions, user experience...and ethics.I guess the usual people who work on issues like this base their solutions on other criteria? Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
In heavy rotation on the web today, this is a nice flash interface to the thing, but there are two kinds of users, aren't there. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Edited from this story
With Taiwanese youngsters increasingly drawn to Western hamburgers and fries, government researchers are trying to lure them back with something more traditional - sort of: rainbow-colored rice.Yellow rice gets its hue from curcumin, an herb that's a spice in curries and is believed by some to be an antioxidant that may help prevent cancer. Green rice comes from the nutritious bitter gourd, often used in Asian soups and stir-fried dishes. Pink comes from tomato, and purple from a mixture of vegetables.
The colored rice will likely cost about twice as much as plain rice.
Besides the obligatory "wow aren't they weird in Asia" reaction (which is ridiculous, because didn't green ketchup start in the US, after all?), it seems like the story is equal parts science and technology, culture, marketing, fashion, and of course economics (2x for healthy rice? nice price!).
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)
Translations in Tupperware invites consumers and designers from around the world to create a piece of art or unique functional product using Tupperware products as the basis for their inspiration. Entrants will have the chance to win a trip for two to New York City, a $5,000 cash prize, and see their work included in a worldwide traveling exhibit, set to launch at the end of 2005.
Tupperware? No kidding... this corporation, a $1.2 billion multinational company, is one of the world’s leading direct sellers, supplying premium food storage, preparation and serving items to consumers in almost 100 countries through its Tupperware brand.
More info and registration at: translations in tupperware.com
Only a few days left to enjoy the wonderful Show 2005 at the RCA, London. I went on Monday and loved everything I saw, especially the Lapjuicer, by Theo Humphries and Phil Worthington. This naughty chair has been designed to be used by a lap-dancer in a club environment. The performer uses their body with the object, in order to extract fruit juices that can be drunk by one or more spectators.
See also Pixelsumo's reports on Matthew Fella's Connect... draw... remix, Phil Worthington's Shadow Monsters, Andy Huntington's Beatbox, etc.
Posted by: regine | Comments (0)
"With 20,000 logos now on the website, and with the ability to watch the switches and sways of creativity as it reveals itself through a real-time compendium of identities all over the world, we have learned that noting trends is not so much like reporting history as it is considering what might be next. Trends are not an accusation of some widespread lack of original thinking. Instead, they are a sign of design evolution in our ever-shrinking world." Link. [psfk] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Read the rest of the BBC article here.
The lap times appear on the goggle lens.
So dumb. This is the best. Here's what The Gutter has to say: "After fifty regional build-offs, a national champion is selected. We are pleased that half of this year's winners hail from New York; after suffering the failure of the West Side stadium, the implosion of the plans for Ground Zero, and, coming next week, the loss of the Olympics bid, this city needs a builderly shot in the arm. But we are not proud. Not proud at all." Homepage here; slideshow here. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Red LEDs underneath the stones project the time in this masterwork. Check the copy: TAG Heuer describes the Diamond Fiction as �an assertively feminine timepiece for women of uncommon poise and confidence, for whom glamour is a passion, luxury of the essence, and indulgence an absolute necessity.� Yowza. If Core77 and Timex asked what the future of time is, noone dared explore this level of absolute necessary indulgence. (Maybe we should've had Uma as one of our celebrity judges?) [engadget] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Lugnut on the boards posts, "Get your Tivo's ready!" From the site:
iDesign
"Great product design is embodied in the perfect marriage of form and function. iDesign puts the spotlight on cutting-edge products for an inside look at how and why they were developed. The designers of such modern-day classics as the VW Bug, iMac computer, Gillette Mach III razor and the Nike Air Max sneaker share their creative processes. Plus, get insightful commentary from experts in the field, as well as from real consumers who use the products. This innovative new series offers a new appreciation for the forward-thinking products that serve our practical needs while also stirring our passions."
7/02 at 11:30am, and 7/03 at 11:30am.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
The Self-Healing Polymer created at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign has these tiny metal catalysts and microcapsules of dicyclopentadiene embedded in the plastic. When the plastic is scratched or broken, the microcapsules burst open and the healing agent reacts with the metal catalyst to bond the broken pieces. After 24 hours of curing, the material is back up to 90 to 100% of its original properties. In the future it might be possible to have them in ceramics and glass!
Posted by: Ko | Comments (0)
The definite high light of the show for me was meeting Lorenzo Santillan and Christian Arcega, two of the four Mexican immigrant high school students who entered their submarine in a national competition... and went on to beat MIT. Their story is one of the best articles I have ever read.
Posted by: Ko | Comments (0)
Some excellent NextFest coverage over at quentecafe.com. Check it out. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
They might not build entire cities around the regular Segway any time soon but if only they built a city based on the Segway Centaur it�d be a whole lot more fun.
AMV-211
I didn�t even know about the huge fan at the belly of the plane because I�ve only seen it from the front and side. The fan supplies the downward thrust needed for vertical take off and then the wings supply the lift needed to stay airborne. This would also be excellent in hovering over multiple zombies and decapitating them at once.
What festival about the future would be complete without the flying cars? The Moller Skycar lets you take off vertically and jet to work at 350 mph. (I need this.) Runs on alcohol and will be FAA ready in 2009.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
Body Media's Sensewear armband measures your internal information for medical and fitness. Unlike other heart rate monitors it only needs to be attached on your upper arm. The Sensewear also uses heatflux and galvanic skin response to measure how far you've travelled, exactly how many calories you're burning, and can even tell when you're sleeping!
Luminetx was also there showing their device to see your internal veins on the outside.
Power Assist Suit by Kanagawa Institute of Technology helps nurses lift patients into wheelchairs from beds. It adds a human touch rather than a sterile-automated machine. Application for this suit is limitless, from construction workers and longshoremen... ofcourse it could also be used to take over the world with super human strength!
Posted by: Ko | Comments (0)
Power-Aware Cord - A power strip that emits increasing levels of blue light depending on the amount of energy you have running through it. Anders Ernevi, from the Re:FORM studio of the Interactive Institute, explained to me that people's first reaction is to overload the strip to make it glow as bright as possible.
Tic-Tac-Textiles - The bottom of these Tea cups have an "O" or "X" molded into them. The heat of the tea radiates and changes the color of the table (kinda like those old Hypercolor shirts). Your opponent is actually sitting at another Tic-Tac table, watching your moves slowly materialize.
Interactive Pillows - Imagine: you and your significant other each have an interactive pillow. When you hug yours, theirs lights up to show you are thinking of them. Great for long distance relationships and raves.
This little guy DID move and it was damn impressive. He started sitting down, put his arm behind his back, pushed himself up, walked around a little bit, and then stood on one leg. I give us about 10 years until an army of these adorable little guys are rampaging down the streets, terrifying us with their cuteness and out of control dance moves.
Check out videos of Chroino at Kyoto University's Robo Garage.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
The Hubo can walk fluidly, and move each of his fingers, which is a first for robot kind. Unfortunately, it wasn't working on Thursday night because it's control system was caught up in customs at Anchorage.
"What? Are they afraid he is going to dance his way into our hearts?" -- comment of the night by Ko.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
Kick-Ass Kung Fu is like the old side-scrolling Mortal Kombat except that your movements are mapped into the game to fight Bruce Lee and George Bush. It took a moment to get the hang of this (which way am I punching?) but a lot of fun and immensely satisfying to uppercut the President.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
Brainball is an anti-intuitive game if I've ever seen one. To win, you must be more relaxed than your opponent.
The game consists of a table with a track down the middle that the mind-controlled ball rolls on. The two players wear a headband with sensors that detect how stressed out you are. The player that rolls the ball 2 out of 3 times into their opponent's goal wins.
It's actually pretty simple to win: Just cross your eyes and think of nothing. (Something I'm pretty good at.)
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
Sure there at the NASAs and GEs of the world at NextFest, but then there are also people like Jin-Yo Mok, who wake up one day and decide to build a digital music box.
The complexity of this is totally hidden by how simple it is to operate. (Kinda like a traditional music box.) Just click where you want your notes to appear on the music box software and then crank away. All it needs is a USB digital snow globe attachment and we're in business.
Try it yourself at Jin-Yo's playMusicbox.com
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
Mars Pathfinder robot. This thing is a LOT bigger than I expected. About five and a half foot tall.
Robonaut! This fella is intended for intense space stuff that humans can't handle. Why the crazy looking gold helmet? Because it's awesome.
New space suit being developed specifically for Mars. I dig the hard chest plate with NASA logo. The helmet will eventually be updated with an integrated display.
Closeup of new gloves for the Mars suit. Grippy.
Thursday night was the greatest night of my entire life. I rode a Segway, sat in a Smart car, beat the crap of George Bush, destroyed someone with my mind, talked to some dudes from NASA, and then did a little vacuuming.
Wired's NextFest is going on this weekend at Chicago's Navy Pier and we were able to get a sneak peek. Reports to come all day.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
I saw this in the June issue of Popular Science and it is my new favorite product. Why use a boring rectangular power strip when you can use the PowerSquid. And it works better too.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)The John Deere name will be featured on the entrance sign for the subdivision with homes ranging from roughly $375,000 to $500,000. The purchase price includes a choice of landscape designs prepared and installed by Deere. Thousands of dollars worth of riding lawnmowers, leaf-blowers and other equipment will fill one of the three garage bays.St. Lawrence Homes vice president Rick Ohmann says the John Deere link should amount to a stamp of approval for people who care about having a beautifully landscaped yard from the day they move in.
It was that promise, not the John Deere name, that attracted Joseph Crayton to sign a contract this month to build a 3,100 square foot house. 'It wasn't my primary decision-driver, but it was great to have,' Crayton, 37, said of the Deere name associated with his new home. 'A lot of us are brand conscious.'
John Deere officials look for the strategy to help broaden their products' appeal among people who may associate the name strictly with tractors and lawnmowers.
'The ultimate message is to have homeowners consider John Deere as the place they can turn for all of the things they need to take care of their yard. Right now, we might only be considered as a place to buy equipment,' said Tosh Brinkerhoff with Deere & Co.'s consumer equipment division in nearby Cary. 'We feel like this community is a way that we can showcase our abilities.'
Read the full story
Not the first time, incidentally, that John Deere has sought an unusual co-brand. Videogames?
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)
A nice Flash site with some very sly products. Check out Ricardo Fonseca's P� de Feij�o, a sweet interpretation of Jack and the beanstalk, or, in this case, John.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov
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New chocolate Nike sneaker. Made in Switzerland.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (1)Introducing a miniscule voltage to an electrode below a lever causes it to bend forwards until it makes contact. Thanks to intermolecular forces on this scale, once flipped, a lever will also maintain its position, even when the voltage is switched off. The trick can be reversed by applying voltage to an electrode on the other side of the lever. And the state of each switch flips can be sensed easily by the electrodes themselves.Does anyone remember articles about how gecko's stick to all sorts of surfaces? Sounds like the same thing. I know there's a joke in there somewhere. It's just not coming to me. Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
I didn't care for this phone's design when it made the rounds last month but after finding a link at IDGrid to the sweetest flash presentation of all time I've changed my mind.
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)
The Roland Metaza printer with "Photo Impact Technology" prints halftone images on reflective surfaces in a way that you wouldn't expect. Rather than adding ink or coloring, the machine uses a diamond-tipped stylus to engrave dents of varying size into the surface of the print media. The size of the dent corresponds to the value of the pixel, which creates a composite image of thousands of dents. The printer can print on anodized aluminum, brass, steel, copper, acrylic, and a variety of other materials, and it can even handle surfaces which are less than perfectly smooth.
Posted by: Dominic Muren">Dominic Muren
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Check out the full coverage at IDSA's IDEA 2005 Gallery and BusinessWeek's Best Product Designs of 2005
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Sunlight Direct uses a four foot wide parabolic mirror to collect sunlight, filters out the heat-causing UV light, and then pipes the remaining natural light into interior spaces via fiber optic lines. Currently the light can only be sent about 30 feet or so due to loss of light as it travels through the lines. Referred to as Hybrid Solar Lighting (HSL) because it also incoporates flourescent tubes, one HSL unit delivers 50,000 lumens, or roughly the equivalent amount of light needed to illuminate 1000 square feet.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
Come + see the first annual Renegade Craft Fair Brooklyn in McCarren Park from 10:30 am - 5pm this weekend! It's free to attend and over 150 crafty superstars will be in attendance selling their wares.
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Lance Wyman's work for the Mexico 1968 olympics stands out in my mind as really awesome. He also has done tons of work for zoos, hotels, transportation, focusing on wayfinding systems and icons. Also, read Lance's article on wayfinding.
Posted by: | Comments (1)"Some good technologies don't even stand for something that people can agree on. RSS is a terrible name for a great technology; it can stand for either Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication, and neither really tells you that it means subscribing to a Web site so you don't have to check it for updates. The name DVD caught on just fine, but nobody ever agreed whether it stands for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc."
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
While we're on the subject of Swedish student work, the 2005 degree projects from the Umea Intstitute of Design classes are online. Shown above is the Philips Odyssey by Paul Young. Thanks to Eva Larsen-Andersson for the tip.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
FFWD is a nice design competition organized by Pantopicon, a futurist design firm based in Antwerp. The competition asks participants to envision and illustrate future scenarios organized around broad themes. Past themes have been transport, light, religion, energy and tourism, and the current theme is safety. But does the future always have to be grim?
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Beckmans Slututst�llning 2005 - Browse around: ID is green, graphics red, fashion blue. While there checkout the "Beckmans Stickvisning, 2005" link on the main page - a reeaal nice presentation of fashion work.
Above is:
Jarl Fernaeus's file cabinet
Annika Lindroos's Kettle and flame log
Johan Gabrielsson's pinball game
I knew this category was heating up back in November when I originally blogged on SuperMotard, but it is going to go nuclear when these new BMW helmets hit the street!
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)
Awesome summer accessory - I just wonder if you can flip the display for those long subway trips home.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)"Naming things � companies, products, brands � is a service that a lot of design firms, from Landor to Interbrand to Addison, are well compensated for providing. As such, it's also the only design-related activity that virtually every person on earth feels fully qualified to undertake on their own, for free."
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)Haier's global ambitions would be boosted by adding Maytag, which also makes Hoover vacuums and Amana and Jenn-Air appliances. Maytag has fallen on tough times amid rising raw material costs and competition from lower-cost makers.
Why build a brand when you can buy it? Read full article here. Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)Analysts said Haier would be quickly buying brand recognition. "Chinese companies don't have brand equity outside of China," said a Tokyo-based analyst who declined to be identified.
"To build that themselves, in the same way the Toyotas of the world do it, is pretty hard. It's the intangible assets they're buying.
A well-done site with some well-done work. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Visit the Spring Exhibition at this Swedish university's website and click through some brief but intriguing masters projects: Konstfack Spring Show Above are pieces by (from top) Robert Mood, Sanna Gabrielson, Bjo?rn O?gren and Hyun Jin Kwak.
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)
This kind of thing is definitely in the air right now, but here's a really nice one. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Yo's got a sweet product sketch-to-photoshop tutorial on the discussion boards. Check it out here. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Says Behrokh Khoshnevis, an engineering professor, as he watches the gray mixture squirt out in neat courses from what he calls a contour crafter, a machine about eight feet tall and six feet wide. If all goes as planned, Khoshnevis will use a larger, more advanced version of the device later this year to erect the first robotically constructed house in just one day.
(found at discover.com)
More animations and reading by Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis (developer of this contour crafting fabrication technology).
Posted by: Aart van Bezooyen | Comments (0)
Unlike other superheroes who possess super powers, Batman relies on superior gadgetry to overcome Gotham Cities criminal underground. As a kid, I spent ages making all sorts of ninja stars, utility belts and various attempts at the light saver. If only I had HowStuffWorks.com (and the internet of course). The Batsuit combines armor, communications and combat technologies into one state-of-the-art crime-fighting system.
The microphones in the ears are combined with special earpieces in the cowl that give Batman superior hearing in the field. The microphones can also be used to amplify Batman's voice and broadcast it through a discreet speaker in the suit. This is what gives Batman's voice that distinctive, disembodied and unearthly sound.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
The Boezels-project will be exhibited with three pieces in "Safe: Design Takes on Risk" at MoMA later this year. What the hell is a Boezel? According to the website, Boezels are a range of high-quality abstract animal friends, for inside your living room by Twan Verdonck from Neo Human Toys.
"Safe," organized by Paola Antonelli, Curator, Department of Architecture and Design at MoMA, features approximately 300 products and prototypes designed to protect the body and the mind from dangerous or stressful conditions, to respond to emergency situations, to ensure clarity and information, and to provide a sense of comfort and safety. Ranging from pacemakers to shelters for the homeless, baby strollers, and the display of nutritional information, "Safe" will explore the fine line that divides function from emotion, a line that is tread with skill and poetry by contemporary designers.
When: 16 Oct 2005 - 2 Jan 2006
Where: MOMA, New York City, USA
"Many a night after 10 or so pints of Stella, I've crawled to my room, found the PC still on and proceeded to eBay. Drunken things I have bought from eBay were:
-25 Blank DVDs for �25 even though I don't have a DVD Burner.
-A Mini Disc player for �45 despite already having the exact same model.
-A Key Generator for Windows 2000 (�2). I am on XP
-A Gmail account for �0.99- I have a Gmail account already with 50 unused invites
-Fifa 2004 (�16)...for the PS2....a games console that I don't own.
-Windows XP Professional (�14) that I already have.
-A pair of nice Diesel trainers for �11...size 7. I am size 11!
-A Morrisons carrier bag (�0.04...+�1 PP)
-An online girlfriend who was "willing to email me, saying anything I wanted, no holds barred". I got her to write me a 2000 word economics essay for me... Which got me a grade D!" (wonderbrawl, Thu 9 Jun 2005, 15:13 )
It's called the Direct Energy Conversion (DEC) Cell, a betavoltaics-based "nuclear" battery that can run for over a decade on the electrons generated by the natural decay of the radioactive isotope tritium.Finally a way to power my cyborg implants and give me the natural look of radioactive decay I associate with being a Borg drone (/jk). Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
"Because the medical devices around a patient are part of the general environment, these devices become part of the overall environmental influence. More specifically, a well-designed device might give a patient a better sense of being well cared for. Equipment that appears old or unsophisticated may cause patients to assume the clinicians are less capable. For example, a set of industrial gray devices stacked on an industrial gray cart is much less likely to give a patient the sense of being well cared for than an integrated system on a custom cart with sleek lines and modern (yet medically appropriate) colors. The presence of attractive equipment that looks capable may also allow attributes of sophistication to accrue to the healthcare providers who work in that environment." [Thanks to agphishy for the link.]
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Looking to accessorize your iPod Shuffle?
via: pixelsurgeon
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He *is* recycled afterall... the Squirrel Decanter via boing-boing
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Unfortunately the entry deadline has passed for the Stuck at Prom contest. But fear not, you now get to view the entries and help pick a winner. While not a requirement, the contest FAQ points out the obvious - "full duct tape attire was a plus" for previous winners.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
The world's first hybrid telephone, designed to switch seamlessly between mobile and landline networks, was unveiled yesterday. In the home, the BT Fusion handset is linked wirelessly to a base station and behaves like a conventional fixed line cordless phone. But outside, the phone automatically turns into a mobile phone, charging full mobile rates.
[...]
The new phone marks an important technical step towards convergence - the point at which mobile and landline phones are completely interchangeable. To use BT Fusion, homes must sign up to BT Broadband. They will be given a free base station, called a hub, and a free handset. The hub uses Bluetooth wireless technology to connect to any handset within 25 yards. The box also works as a wireless (wi-fi) router, allowing the owner to connect several PCs and laptops around the home to the internet simultaneously.
Read full story here.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
In Conversation 7.1 we take a look at the state of design journalism. It is no secret that the traditional design press has, in the past, played a huge role in the design communities understanding of itself as well as the public perception of what design is. While a new generation of web publishing platforms have already rocked the traditional design press universe the power of the print press remains significant in many parts of our community. Embedded in that industry is the model of design journalism, what it currently is today, what it might be, should be, etc. Needless to say these are difficult subjects to unpack.A must read for anyone interested in the future directions of design, design journalism and the changing landscape of the global design industry. Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
Here's a short article on the History of Camoflauge posted at the Tate Etc. site. The first use was on ships in WWI, and it was called "dazzle painting" and designed not to hide the boat but to confuse German U-Boat gunners. The theory being that if you saw the car above on the street you wouldn't be able to tell if it was about to run you over or if it was leaving you in the dust. For further reading check out the Disruptive Pattern Material encyclopedia.
[via IF]
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
Straight out of Sweden, FORM US WITH LOVE releases a novel furniture range purchased flat by the consumer in the shape of a bag. The powder coated aluminum parts pop out and are bent by hand to make stools, shelving, tables and lamps.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
This photo sums up three trends throughout the show-- industrial felts, bent steel, and wood paneling. Your grandpa's den is hip again.
Wall mounted desk accessories still reign supreme. Really nice modular filing system mixing plastics and metals.
Smart solution to the ubiquitous 'theft' of office chairs between coworkers-- a business card slot in the back. Bill Lumbergh would be proud.
Knoll's showroom entrance featuring the new Chadwick Chair, from 1/2 the team that brought us the legendary dot-com era Aeron Chair. Check out the slick LED signage.
The Aeron's new cousin is much more aesthetically restrained than it's dot-com elder. It's also much more about the "soft" experience-- even the molded plastic parts use a soft durometer plastic.
Knoll's beautiful new Copeland Desk Light
Scope the joint detail. Hott.
Flat-pack bend-it-yourself modular shelves? Reminds me a bit of Blu Dot's 2D:3D magazine rack-- in a good way.
Tiles? P'shaw. That's done and over with so just move on already.
Chainmail is the answer my friend. This set up was done by Matt Morrow of Daisycake. Matt's title on his business card actually says "Chain Designer". Brilliant.
These chainlinks are anodized and then assembled by hand until you get what you see here. Pretty cool. Daisycake already has done stuff for the Oscars, TV premieres, the Moscow design show, and a bunch of other things.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
Remember how grass was used in EVERY design showroom/concept for the past couple years? Mark my words: tiles are about to replace it. Bisazza did these concept coverings for MINI and I got to see this one in person today at Neocon. A couple other showrooms used it to accent their work as well.
Tactile, colorful, customizable, historical yet digital. Tiles. Believe it.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
Steelcase stole the show in my mind with concepts that probably won't see the light of day but are pretty darn cool. The best is this "Digital Yurt" concept which is meant for a small group of people to brainstorm in. The center featured a circular pad of paper table which allowed everyone to doodle and write notes. When the page gets full, tear it away and there is a clean sheet under it. I've wanted something like this forever.
This concept is called "Dyadic Slice". Same idea as the "Yurt" but for two people.
"Echo Wall": felt, modular wall system
"Cell Cell": A felt cylinder that hangs from the ceiling so you can duck under and make private calls/make out. The last picture shows what it looks like from the inside, if you were wondering.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
You have to give it up for the contract furniture community. They put the imperative in "Green Imperative". I would say the vast majority of work I have seen today used recycled or renewable materials, was recyclable, could be easily disassembled, and still managed to look pretty good. On top of that there were numerous seminars devoted to the subject. Kudos all around.
These chairs are from Metro, a division of Steelcase. The plastic shells are constructed of recycled PET bottles giving it a firm structure and a soft, felt-like finish. Nice stuff.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)Like many of the best ideas, spray-on mud was dreamed up over a couple of drinks down at the local. "We were in the pub talking about how people drive these huge, pristine vehicles around cities and never have any intention of going near the countryside," said Colin Dowse, a business consultant in Shropshire who markets the product."With spray-on mud, they can make it look like they've been off-road instead of just driving to the shops and back."
According to Mr Dowse, sales of the product, which retails at �7.95 a bottle, are going well, particularly in America and in London. "If they want an authentic look, there's not a lot else they can do. There's not a lot of mud in Chelsea," he said.
According to the company's website, spray-on mud can help give your friends, family and neighbours the impression you've just come back from a day's shooting, fishing or visiting friends who live on a farm; anything but driving around in town all day or visiting an out-of-town retail park.
Conceived over a beer? Selling successfully in the UK and US? Oy! Here's mud in your eye!
Posted by: Niti Bhan
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Izzy has this funky chair called Capsico. It's probably one of the weirdest task chairs I have sat in. The seat is shaped sort of like a saddle and you feel like you are in a state of constant readyness. That's fine for someone with acute ADD like myself, but what does 10 year old, future design rockstar Nicole think?
"Ummm..... I like it!"
Me too.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
One of the advantages that exhibitors have at Neocon is that their showrooms have a year-round presence here at Merchandise Mart. That means you can spend the money to put in that neo-modernist moat that you have just been DYING for or demonstrate how you organize electricity better than your competitors. The above chair is Haworth's new Zody chair. It's ok.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
Cella by Jerome Caruso is a new task chair Herman Miller is pushing for the mid to low range market (which is somewhere just below their Mirra chairs). 99% recyclable, fits 5% female - 95% male, pliable polymer. Comfier than the Mirra in my opinion.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
Droog and company eat your heart out! This DIY "Conceptual-Designer" has put together a Milan worthy table with $5 and a trip to the dollar store. This is what America was built on!
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)
Orange Skin hosted this Neocon launch party for BMW Designworks' new chair for Emeco. The '1951' chair (pictured above), has an aluminum frame with a rugged looking plastic back and seat. Free Rolling Rocks, goodie bags (with a DVD from the new Stella series on Comedy Central!), and a bunch of design nerds. Chicago, Illinoize has no love for the coasts!
(More Neocon coverage to come all day today.)
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)"'If Hilary Cottam is a designer, then I am going to nominate a major publisher like Victoria Barnsley of HarperCollins for next year's Booker prize,' says one despairing trustee, Sebastian Conran."
The Observer - Design award row engulfs 'super school'
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)
The New York Times reports on a grassroots taxi redesign effort: A nonprofit group called the Design Trust for Public Space plans to 'define the ideal taxi and taxi system of the future.' At a workshop on May 24, designers, architects, city officials and representatives of taxi owners and drivers sketched out an array of ideas. Matthew W. Daus, the chairman of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, has given cautious support to the effort. "This is a good exercise to get the perspectives of consumers and passengers, and also of architects and designers who are not involved in the day-to-day business of cabs."
Yet the perspective of consumers and passengers is not included in the process! This seems like a fantastic opportunity to try to understand the needs of the users of the system from another point of view, rather than as users of the system who presumably arrive at these workshops already ready to solve the problems they've defined. Let's take a step back and try to understand what isn't working for someone else. Ethnographic study of the cab-riding experience, anyone?
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)
Top 100 things you should not say during your review. (An excerpt)
1. Dunno
3. I, kinda... sorta... wanted to...
10. I was going to make it better, but then I didn't.
11. I regret not going to (insert school name here).
16. I'm not really into type.
19. You're not the boss of me!
21. I call bullshit on that!
28. Chill out! Its only design.
(From Bruce Sterling's Wired blog, via boingboing)
(Completely unrelated side note: Blogger's spellcheck doesn't understand the word, "blog".)
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)The nearly 1 billion people online worldwide -- along with their shared knowledge, social contacts, online reputations, computing power, and more -- are rapidly becoming a collective force of unprecedented power. For the first time in human history, mass cooperation across time and space is suddenly economical. "There's a fundamental shift in power happening," says Pierre M. Omidyar, founder and chairman of the online marketplace eBay Inc.The author includes a fair number of example companies; from Skype to P&G, from LEGO to Second Life. Sounds like an intersection between the real and the virtual to me (and more potential opportunities for industrial designers). Highly recommended reading. Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
"In Rethinking traditional ideas of the house as a structure composed of walls ceiling and floor, Austrian Architecture firm AllesWirdGut, looked to the future. Well, the past really... Temporal Semantics aside, their inspiration for their project, TurnOn, came from Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. Specifically, the rotating zero gravity room. TurnOn is a unique curcluar living module designed to accommodate multiple functions associated with the house." - TurnOn @ Life Without Buildings
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kidrobot has hooked up with visionare magazine to offer a line of specialty fashion designer toys from gucci to jean paul gaultier.
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You gotta love this project. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Guest Design Observer Adrian Shaughnessy does the heavy lifting in his Decoding Coldplay�s X&Y. Spoiler ALERT!!:
"...Du Sautoy proceeds to decode the symbol. He identifies it as an example of a system devised in 1870 by Emile Baudot for telegraphists, where each letter of the alphabet is represented by a series of five 0s or 1s. The letter X, for example, is represented by 10111, and Y by 10101. Referring to the Coldplay graphic, he states: �The first column of colours on the cover shows a black and grey block representing a 1, followed by a gap representing a zero, then three more blocks of colour giving three 1s. The first letter in Coldplay�s title is the letter X. The last column gives us 10101 or the letter Y."
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)The Taiwan-based BenQ Group, which also produces mobile phones in addition to other consumer electronic products like digital cameras, scanners and LCD screens, will acquire Siemens� entire mobile phone business with more than 6,000 employees worldwide. The business will be headquartered in Munich. The closing of the deal is expected in the fourth quarter of Siemens� fiscal year 2005.Full details available in a press release on the Siemens site. Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
But now the school is initiating major changes -- or at least, it is trying. Its president, Richard Koshalek, has pushed the influential institution to embrace a green-hued philosophy, rethinking its curriculum to reshape the future of transportation. The aim is to produce a new generation of graduates who will ensure that the fuel-cell future will bear little resemblance to the internal-combustion present. ... The new head of the center's auto design department, Stewart Reed, plans to take students early next fall not to a gleaming showroom or professional design studio but to a scrap yard to observe what he calls the dark underbelly of the auto industry. The goal of the exercise, he said, is to encourage a forward-looking approach to manufacturing, recycling and design -- to scrap, in effect, the past of the auto business." ... "They want us to think beyond the box here, and that's really good," Paz said. "But personally, I'm a little reluctant to get into that too much. I'm paying $12,000 a year, and it wasn't because of classes like that."Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)
GermanCarFans.com has a detailed design analysis of the new Mercedes-Benz Bionic Concept Vehicle. The design is based on an analysis of the tropical boxfish, and uses many elements of the fish's natural design to achieve some remarkable results.
Sent in by astute reader Jerry Elmore Via Jalopnik.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
The Das Keyboard is a dark grey keyboard with no markings on it. The copy on their site states "If you are an elite programmer who can write sophisticated code under tight deadlines, someone who makes impossible projects possible; or a Silver Web Surfer your colleagues turn to when they need IT advice: this keyboard is for you. Shouldn't your keyboard reflect your status as one of the elite?"
Found on the excellent Product Usability Website.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
Campbell's Seeds (in Japan) is produced by a third party, Tokyo-based World Flower Service. Inside is a choice of seeds to grow miniature tomatoes, miniature pumpkins or green peas. The idea of a more labor-intensive Campbell's came to mind from an interior design magazine that showed the can immortalized by Andy Warhol being used to grow herbs in the kitchen.
Posted by: Steve Portigal
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My latest grocery product review has been posted.
Posted by: Steve Portigal
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I was introduced to Stikfas a couple years back by my friend Tom, freaked out, and then mostly forgot about them until about a month ago when another friend, April (That�s two, count �em, two friends!) showed me this new spaceman Stikfa that she had seen at Rotofugi.
Stikfas, like model cars, come packaged still attached to their plastic supports. Just pop �em out, assemble, and then pose them however you wish (lewd or other). Needless to say, the spaceman (aka Gus) and his cowboy brother (Lorenzo) now reside on my desk at work.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)Based on 14,000 replies to a questionnaire sent out by British publication Which?, a designer might take away a few things from this finding: (cynically) it is form over function after all; (generously) early strong performance can carry a product-user relationship through the tough times, and/or (likely) strong brands tell us compelling stories that we favor over reality.
Bosch and Miele do well in the survey.
The Guardian story: Trendy appliances often least reliable - found at boing boing
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)Currently in the lead are Apple's iPod and Alex Moulton's record breaking Pylon bike.
Take the iconic design poll at www.newdesigners.com.
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I don't know how new this Roll Up Piano is, but it is the first time I've seen something like this. Supposedly it has 'wonderful tones.'
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)Healthy male. Non-smoker. Non-drinker. No family history of medical problems. Auctioning off claims of ownership to body parts in the event of unexpected death (e.g. car accident). Following parts up for auction:Actually, didn't someone already try selling his body or something on eBay? So that's not too new a concept. But being able to ID things and catalog stuff we've never even really considered tracking is new. So I'm sure there will be plenty of surprising ways this tech gets put to use. Posted by: csven | Comments (0)ID #CS-0123299-00130L Left hand including all five digits
ID #CS-0123299-00130R Right hand including all five digits
ID #CS-0123299-00048L Left eye
ID #CS-0123299-00048R Right eye*Note: willing to consider early transfer of Right eye in exchange for artificial eye with infra red capabilities
...
Designer Nick Comer-Calder in the United Kingdom is developing a truly unique and innovative guitar case. "The Calder Original" is formed out of "self-reinforcing polypropylene". Planned for production later this fall, you can follow his progress on his blog:
"Eventually we came across two very similar materials CURV and MFT both made of polypropylene (PP) (the course fabric they make mail sacks out of) - and its 100% recyclable. These super versions of PP are made by stetching PP fabric and them baking it - the result a material that is 50% lighter than ABS (the material most commonly used for moulded guitar cases) and 33% stronger."
His blog discusses each each detail of this product's development. Sample entry titles: "Creating the Calder Case - Ch 3 enter Superhappybunny" and "China vs USA - is price the most important thing?"
Discovered at Joss Spear.com.
Jefrey Lacson transforms Japanese robot toys, and mutates them into clean industrial-esque images.
In other news, the winner of the Android8 / Josh Spear Toy Design Contest has been unveiled. Available online soon.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
As USB accessories go, this is pretty sweet.[popgadget] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Perfect friday morning coffee break reading...
[1971] Vietnam vet John Draper (Cap'n Crunch) learns that a toy whistle given away inside Cap'n Crunch cereal generates a 2600-hertz signal, the same high-pitched tone that accesses AT&T's long-distance switching system. Draper builds a blue box that when used in conjunction with the whistle and sounded into a phone receiver allows phreakers (phone hackers) to make free calls.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)Peter Merholz gives us his thoughts on the conference here and here.
Victor Lombardi covers in detail Martin Fisher, the presentations, Kevin Fong of the Mayfield fund, and lastly, here are the photos to skim through of the presentations.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
click to enlarge
This seemed like a nifty innovation, small, yet simple. This UPS truck was parked in Manhattan, presumably the driver might be away from the truck for several minutes, meanwhile, it serves as a convenient drop-box for passerby. I mean, the truck is there, you might as well make use of it, right?
I don't know, perhaps others do, if they are leaving these trucks in fixed locations for predictable times, serving as reliable-if-temporary drop boxes?
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)
A friend recently sent me a link to the NYC 2012 Olympic City of Dreams, which reminds me of Ecotonoha's daily trees. I'm a bigger fan of the tree version. Nature some how always beats out the city when it comes to beauty.
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According to MSNBC's Tom Loftus, Sega's "aim towards reality or hyper-reality is putting pressure on the size of development teams. That bell curve where going from preproduction work to actual development leads to a bubbling up in cost and manpower. Now with the new consoles you're going to see that peak in the curve double in height."
If you believe that design talent is in short supply, then you might just see an opportunity here.
Posted by: Chris Gielow | Comments (0)
You have to love these bizarro-world OptiGrabs. But don't take our word for it. Check out this medium-helpful Amazon review:
7 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
hehe i like them....a little bit, May 25, 2005
Reviewer: A customer
As soon as I saw these, I made my mom buy them for me!! (and by "made" I mean scrubbed the toilets every night....and by scrubbed the toilets every night, I mean worked in a coal mine :D) Anyway...I thought these would be real great - cool kid glasses y'know? So I went to school with them on and got punched by everyone in sight - including my teachers!! But the good thing is that whenever that happened with my regular glasses, they broke. But with THESE it was like they were ALREADY broken! yesssssssssssss.
A must have if you're used to being bullied. >:)
Inspired by Speak Up's Saskatoon Signage Piece, we were reminded of this ever-entertaining link: the Church Sign Generator. Make one and email it to a friend! Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Via Laughing Squid: the PowerSquid!
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)
Unsaleable.com just went live with their fine selection of collectable analog cameras and polaroid film. This is my favorite, the Holga Polaroid Pro SE combining the classic medium format Holga camera with the convenience of the Polaroid Back.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
This would be good for putting your daughter's popsicle stick puppets on the fridge, but in the hands of an inventive designer, who knows? (At the very least, it could provide a new twist to those infamous IDEO ideation Post-It sessions). Get it here. [bookofjoe] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Keep your damn hands off my cherry garcia... Posted by: | Comments (0)
Mister Coolhunting Josh Rubin drops by the new Nike iD Design Lab with one of the toughest door policies in Manhattan. Visiting this shop is by appointment only (for now) with a limit of 3 customers at a time.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
Rowenta called on Jasper Morrison, now Krups is getting into the designstar action with Konstantin Grcic. Peep the sandwich maker (which I swear I saw at a Bed, Bath & Beyond the other day for $30 bucks) and a fancy looking espresso machine. Supposedly, these are the first in a series of designs he is doing for Krups, which in my opinion is a good thing.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)Not only have they shared the draft here but they are also seeking feedback. Here is an excerpt on the need for a national design policy,
Need for a Policy Statement: There has not been enough attention given to the design at the strategic level and for promoting Indian products, services and ideas on the global arena. A policy statement by the Government would provide long term guidance to coordination of efforts in a society to promote national awareness and consensus on the use of design as a Strategic tool for economic prosperity and to incorporate it firmly within national planning and priorities. The importance and significance of design has been missed out in the Science and technology and Education policies. . . . . .
We've had discussions in school about the US and it's lack of a national body for promoting and supporting design. Do you think we should have one?
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
Friday, June 3rd is the opening for The Design of Dissent, at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. The exhibit celebrates the launch of The Design of Dissent, by Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic, with a forward written by Tony Kushner. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Via Gizmodo comes word of this intriguing touchpad: JazzMutant's Lemur. The site describes this device as a "Multitouch Control Surface". Okay so far. But the really cool part (at least for interface designers) comes from reading more of the product distributor's website:
The Lemur's elegant simplicity is made possible by its sophisticated graphics processor and proprietary touchscreen interface that tracks multiple fingers simultaneously.Sweet. Not sure how much freedom there is in changing the graphic elements, but that day will come (how long can it possibly be before someone hacks this?). And it's XML too, which makes me wonder what kind of things people will marry this to. We might be hearing about this one again. Posted by: csven | Comments (0)Using an editor application running on your choice of Mac, Windows, or Linux, you drag and drop switches, faders, and other objects into an exact simulation of the Lemur's screen. Make any number of interfaces, store them in an XML-based project file, then upload them to the Lemur and it's ready to go.
