RSS Feeds:
A quick piece at Metropolis on Rick Smith, virtual architect. Here's a taste:
What is the process behind making a Serra sculpture?
When I began working with Richard, he�d already developed a method of model making using what he called a wagon wheel--two wooden discs, with identical elliptical shapes. He�d nail a 2x4 between them and rotate them so they were a top and bottom plate of plywood. Then he�d roll a sheet of lead on the ground, and that would define the outline of the metal plate. After that he would wrap the plate around the wagon wheel and that became his model. I would take that model and digitize it, so that it was in the computer. The problem was the metal was warped and bent, and when you digitized it you weren�t getting a pure ellipse. Eventually I said, �Instead of sending these big lead plates�--he�d send them in crates--�just fax me your dimensions: height, radius, angle.�
Wired writer Clive Thompson becomes a product designer with the help of eMachineShop and documents his project in a short online article today. Most designers already know the drill, but read it for how an average person is caught up in the design process. We can all surely relate.
As I finish each concept, I click a button and up pops a lifelike 3-D view of my design. I spin it around to view it from all angles. Seeing a virtual version of each creation floating in space is very cool. I quickly discover that amateur engineering gives me the same rush as playing a round of Halo. I even lose track of time, obsessively tweaking and refining my guitars until I look up and realize it's way past midnight.Buy stock in things that keep people awake during their day job while you can. {Photo credit: Brian Berman for Wired.com} Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
Hundreds of free 3D walkthough architectural computer models are included at the Great Buildings Online web site. [boingboing] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
More fuel for the fire.
NYT article about China's ambitious would-be designers in the fashion business. Click here.
Posted by: Bruce M. Tharp
| Comments (0)
BusinessWeek describes a curious design research initiative. A UK home builder has a family living in a sensor-filled concept house, where the people are all RFID-tagged. They'll collect usage data for six months and then use the resulting who/where/when/how-long data to improve the home's design. Just like using weblogs to redesign a website - you know what people have been doing, but you have no idea why. Unless you ask. And the families in this project will be extensively interviewed by a "consumer researcher" so we figure they'll get that piece of the puzzle too.
Posted by: Steve Portigal
| Comments (0)
We've got BirdBGone spikes to keep the peeps away from gutters and roofs, Stakestoppers to keep the boarders off of guard rails and retaining walls, and now The Anti-Sit Archives documents many ways to keep our tushes from everyplace else. Signs of our (sub)urban times: brutal after-thought products intended to force a fix to an unintended or no-longer-desired usage for the original (often more elegant and integrated) design.
Posted by: Steve Portigal
| Comments (0)
While flickr might be suffering from a small yahoo backlash, who can deny the joy of product facespotting.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
The Wooster Collective launches STREETSY, a "daily street art" photography site. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
A little late picking this up: Experimenters burst water balloons in the low-gravity environment produced aboard a NASA Glenn DC-9 aircraft. Scroll down to the videos. [FutureFeeder] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
To a very great degree, whether or not we as a planet manage to win the Great Wager depends upon China. The combination of its size, course of economic growth, and existing reliance on pollution- (and carbon-) intensive industries and energy sources lead us to a world in which China's choices mean the difference between success and failure. We've maintained a focus on China's massively ambitious and deeply uncertain plans to turn itself into a green superpower for awhile now, and a review of where we stand is in order.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Basically this is a dream come true: Lego has come out with this software that lets you build whatever you want out of Legos. You then upload your design, give 'em some cash, and that same thing you made on the screen is delivered to your doorstep. I'll be quitting my job today because this is all I really wanted to do in the first place!
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
Posted by:
| Comments (0)
Moving Canvas is a collection of several proposals including 'Parasite', a homemade battery powered portable projection unit fixed to subways using suction cups. View movie.
Read more at : we-make-money-not-art
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
Click on projects->framecicles Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
From Engadget: Far be it from us to criticize Sony (or whomever actually produced this unit) for tearing a page out of the Eero Aarnio book of style in the case of this very simple W800 display unit / cradle. They could do far worse, as far as we�re concerned, than knocking off the Ball Chair�but we�ve been waiting for our Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair Treo cradle forever. Can someone please make that happen before we stoop to Ikea-replica lows?
Couldn't have said it better ourselves. [Link] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
End of the day reward: Via BoingBoing-via-RandomGoodStuff:
If you stare at the little black cross in the center of this ring of blinking purple dots, the dots will turn green and eventually disappear. But if you stare at the purple dots themselves, you'll see that they only blink off momentarily and are never green. Remarkable. Click here; watch cross for 10 seconds.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Built NY has launched a new line of baby products. Cute baby stuff based on their cute byobag line. Cute.
I'd also like to remind everyone that Built NY co-founder, John Roscoe Swartz, so far has the quote of the year: "What's more serious than Industrial Design?"
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
OK, I'll admit I've become obsessed with high end bikes. But the ones sold by A.N.T. are super nice. And their website has a great set of photos showing the bike building process. Nice.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
Nice site that samples used car ads from across the web to chart price vs. miles for a wide selection of automobiles. It is a little rough around the edges and doesn't fully exploit the dataset but it gives some interesting insight into the economics of recycled property. As demonstrated by the De-ville or Se-ville question illustrated above, "Used-ness" wears better on economy than it does luxury.
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)
As CNN reports, a Belgian artist in China is giving pigs tattoos of mermaids, roses, cherubs, and the Louis Vuitton logo.
The pigs get sedatives before they go under the needle and are carefully raised until their natural deaths. The artist has been inspired by China's rampant piracy of everything from DVDs to Paris's latest fashions (i.e., the LV logo).
Video cameras will allow collectors (who may purchase the post-mortem pigskin art) or anyone else to watch the tattooed pigs cavort and sleep live on the Internet, a program dubbed "Pig Brother".
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)Popular Science has a special series of articles under the heading "The Future of the Body". There's some interesting stuff and some kinda creepy stuff under different article headings. But what does this have to do with ID you ask? Well, even if some things are entirely subdermal and have little or no ID input during their development, there's no reason the things we wear won't interact with them and require our attention. And even things we don't wear could interface with implants, so understanding how it all works is worthwhile in that regard. Remember, Microsoft has already filed patents (ref: C|Net) for using the skin to act as a conductor for the transmission of data. Imagine shaking someone's hand for the first time, downloading his electronic businesscard via your skin, and having it display on your HUD contact lens. How do you edit the data? Press your thumb and middle finger? There's a whole lot of really simple things that someone needs to figure out. That alone is pretty intriguing.
If nothing else, just check out this list with it's expected timeframes for implementation. Wild.
Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
Wired's got a short piece on the Phitin titanium necklace phenomenon, with a doubting quote from Will Carroll: "The question is, 'How much do you want to pay for it?' A titanium necklace is probably just as good as a friendship bracelet that your daughter makes for you." Well, if I had a friendship bracelet that my daughter made for me, I'd be throwing pretty good. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Now, I've never been a big fan of blue foam, but you have to admit that this thing is sah-weet. Spotted on Engadget this morning, the ZipConnect Robotic Massage Chair Recliner with Built in Speakers is iPod ready with built-in cup holder and...(What? this isn't made out of blue foam? Um. Forget it.) Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Industrial Design mainstay, Lunar Design, just announced their new (sort-of) weekly podcast. Entitled "Lunar's Icon-o-Cast Podcast," they'll be talking about�you guessed it�design. You can listen via iTunes or any other podcast receiver, or be a luddite and just download the MP3's. Posted by: | Comments (0)
Here's the pitch:
If you have hacked, modified, or created something that helps current technology conserve energy, we want to know. Send a picture of your creation and a quick description of what it is to: contest [at] treehugger [dot] com. We will pick the best submissions and let the readers vote for the most deserving one. The winning submission will receive a new $230 Voltaic Systems backpack!!! You have until September 7th, 2005 to submit your entry.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
More and more traction on these. (More and more product as fashion.) Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Bryan Singer has been keeping a video blog of the progress of his latest movie, Superman Returns, over at bluetights.net. (Not only am I a design nerd, I'm also a movie nerd.)
One of the latest reports shows the work of his graphic design department fleshing out the details of Metropolis. Designing the look of an entire city has to be one of the secret desires of every designer and it is fun/envious to watch them at work.
Link. (27mb Quicktime file)
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
This is awesome. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Marcel Wanders designed a line of home entertainment products for Holland Electro. Start with the microwave/TV screen hybrid, and move to the mp3 player, wireless speakers, transmitter, etc. All have reptilian texturing (if you like that kinda thing) and the site features the gear posed with various animals (a nice break from this). The products will debut at the IFA in Berlin.�[Thanks to Joy for the link.] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
A Whirlpool-Maytag alliance would command a 48% market share for major appliances, ahead of 26% and 20% for General Electric and Electrolux respectively, according to estimates compiled by Prudential Equity Group.1
I wonder what their brand strategy would be after becoming a global behemoth - when a home appliance manufacturer has close to 50% market share, do users really matter? Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)Fettig, the Whirlpool CEO, said the combination of Whirlpool and Maytag will create substantial benefits for consumers, trade customers and our shareholders.
"This transaction will enable us to achieve significant efficiencies and better asset utilization. It will also allow us to offer a wider range of products to a much broader consumer base," he said in a statement.2
Inspired by the pod casting trend and memories of sitting around campfires as a child, Ben Durrell of House Special created the Story Log, an iPod dock and speaker set crafted from a 2 foot section of log.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
Dubai is home to greatest company that world has ever seen: Nakheel. Nakheel develops man-made islands off the coast of Dubai and forms them into massive palm trees or in this case, the appropriately named "The World". For some reason, the only person I can envision living there is Sting.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
A good looking review of exotic fruit over at the blog of core's favorite radio station. On the subject of the Lychee and it's posse:
"The fruit tastes like varying degrees of sugary bliss, resembling the taste I believed I was going to be rewarded with when I chewed up and swallowed a wad of punch-flavored bubblicious as a kid. The rambutan receives the highest marks for looking like some sort of rockstar sea urchin."
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)In terms of product design, getting it right in Asia may actually be different from getting it right in the West. Titoma promotes what it calls Design for Asian Manufacture (DFAM), a concept it's actually trademarked that entails designing a product to take advantage of the unique cost benefits that droves of low-cost labor can afford a part.
In the West, as wages increased, and often to compete with Asia, designers sought methods to replace labor-intensive assembly features likes screws, using snap-fits instead. The snap-fits usually require a more complex, costly tool (undercuts, etc.), and they also necessitated a robust molding process due to tight tolerances. In DFAM, removal of flash or screwing or gluing together housings, for example, is back in the designer's arsenal, offering clients' designs the option of exploiting the labor advantage that beckoned many brand owners in the first place.
[Thanks to Heidi for sending this in.]
This one has people talking: macro-scale sheets and ribbons of multi-wall nanotubes. And created at an impressive rate of meters per minute no less. Compared to things I'd read about other processes, that's jaw-droppingly fast. When you read up on what kinds of things could potentially be made from this technology, you'll likely agree this is pretty amazing stuff. It's hard not to think we're on a materials and electronics shift of ... well ... paradigm proportions.
I've read a few news entries today, but the best one I've read so far is over on WorldChanging.com, so go read that entry here and perhaps keep an eye out for the MSM reports on teevee (they might actually report on this news within a day or two).
{Image source: Science Magazine - via WorldChanging.com}
Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
New Scientist reports about a thing called 'e-skin', a thin flexible plastic film with embedded electronic sensors. This e-skin can measure temperature and pressure changes. Covering robots with this film will give them a human-like sense of touch.
Impressed? At the University of Tokyo they are already thinking of a future e-skin which will also sense light, humidity, strain and ultrasonic sound. Very touching indeed!
Posted by: Aart van Bezooyen | Comments (0)
Jop Timmers at Pilots design in Amsterdam alerted us to the pirated version of thier website, attributed to phantom design firm SGiX in Chicago. Don't be fooled by cheap imitations! Only Pilots design is the real thing!
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
Walk in and you'll find yourself in what seems like a sealed nautical chamber with white tiles, the soundtrack from the movie Piranhas playing over a surround-sound system, and an aquarium filled with the aforementioned fish gnawing at a classic ALIFE T-shirt. Pass the hallway and enter the sanctum of this beautifully designed, minimalist space with a huge mirror stretching the length of the store on one side and thick walnut-wood shelves on the other. A spin in the changing room—containing a 360-degree infinity mirror—is highly recommended.
Read full review at : refinery29
See photos at : beinghunted
Arnold sent in this link to this open access, multimedia resource for kinematics, history and theory. You can start at the homepage, or get to a sweet example right away. (Click on the movie tab.) Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Arnold sent in this link to this open access, multimedia resource for kinematics, history and theory. You can start at the homepage, or get to a sweet example right away. (Click on the movie tab.) Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
And today Wired has further evidence of our upside down world in their story that viruses of another kind might be beneficial. They report on efforts to use microscopic viruses (the real kind) to create custom nano-factories that manufacture materials for products. This sounds similar to reports about coaxing bacteria to munch through mounds of plastic waste and "produce" useable material as by-product. Cutting edge stuff. But there's probably some "Make" reader already configuring a device to convert his pooch's lawn dropping into gold. If only the ancient alchemists had known the input wasn't lead.
Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
One of the features up at BD4D right now is a Tcheupel Garanger's wonderful movie (enter, and click on "Making of / Screenshot) that'll make CAD or other desktop monkeys feel better about all the time they spend staring at a screen. I suppose you could do something vaguely similar with this, but there'd be no labor of love in it. (Makes one wonder exactly how many windows one opens and closes over the course of a day.) Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Design Council has published an update to their landmark UK Design Index report. This is good news for designers looking for solid support on the ROI of design, as it shows that the share prices of companies "which invest in design performed up to three times better than the FTSE 100 Index over nearly two years in the run-up to December 2004."
Posted by: Chris Gielow
| Comments (0)
Embrace is a project by Lisa Thomas and Jonathan Fitch, two students at Savannah College of Art and Design. Their entire process is documented and presented in their blog, showing concept development, ideation, form studies, and final models. Nicely done.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
F1 teams could save themselves some pocket-change by hiring a Gran Turismo whiz and mounting a playstation controller on the steering column but it wouldn't be nearly as pretty. For a breakdown of the wheel's functionality and a little history check these sites: in English, in English again, and in French.
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)
This item is making the rounds today:
What first meets the water when sucked up is a pre-filter of PE filter textile with a mesh opening of 100 micron, shortly followed by a second textile filter in polyester with a mesh opening of 15 micron. In this way all big articles are filtered out, even clusters of bacteria are removed. Then the water is led into a chamber of iodine impregnated beads, where bacteria, viruses and parasites are killed. The second chamber is a void space, where the iodine being washed off the beads can maintain their killing effect. The last chamber consists of granulated active carbon, which role is to take the main part of the bad smell of iodine, and to take the parasites that have not been taken by the pre-filter or killed by the iodine. The biggest parasites will be taken by the pre-filter, the weakest will be killed by the iodine, and the medium range parasites will be picked up by the active carbon. The main interest to everyone is the killing of bacteria, and here our laboratory reading tells us that we have a log. 7 to log 8 kill of most bacteria. This is better than tap water in many developed countries.[take|your|pick]
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Nice commentary on this at Engadget:
As if a rollover while driving wasn�t devastating enough�let alone the bird poop up top and random kung fu masters driving motorcycles over your car�now you�ve got to worry about keeping the solar panels on the roof of your car clean too? Still, we�ve to to take our hats off to Steve Lapp�s solar-modded Prius, which runs now 10% more efficiently than it did before on mere regenerative juice. [link to Lapp; lots more at treehugger]
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)The designboom mart will be made up of 30 stalls and the participating designers will have the opportunity to show and sell 1-3 different ‘design-originals’ (limited series and/or prototypes of their latest works), priced from a range of (japan yen) JPY 1,000 to JPY 15,000.
To submit your work for consideration
Email: mail@designboom.com
Format: gif, .jpg, .doc, .pdf or .psd
Max Size: 1 MB
According to their website, Artefacture produces "...lifestyle accessories for fans of good design." If you appreciate good aesthetics, then wear it on the front of your shirt.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
Core fave Phil Frank has just launched a new site, at www.phil-frank.com. It's tough to beat a name like Phil Frank, but with the hyphen in the middle, it's even better. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Via Blaine Brownell's Transmaterial, the Circulation rug and wall surface employ an array of circular wool felt pellets set within a honeycomb structure. Everything can be commissioned to custom dimensions, presumably including holding rooms and conference rooms—take your pick. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Via Blaine Brownell's Transmaterial, the Circulation rug and wall surface employ an array of circular wool felt pellets set within a honeycomb structure. Everything can be commissioned to custom dimensions, presumably including holding rooms and conference rooms—take your pick. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Via Blaine Brownell's Transmaterial, the Circulation rug and wall surface employ an array of circular wool felt pellets set within a honeycomb structure. Everything can be commissioned to custom dimensions, presumably including holding rooms and conference rooms�take your pick. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
As it gets hotter n' hotter this looks better n' better... The Aqua Pub
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)
If you read my previous post, my interest in this one will come as no surprise. And rather than preach, I'll just let you read the article over on C|Net and look at the purty pikturs.
(Photo source: Stirling Energy Systems)
Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
The WashingSacks, designed by industrial design engineer graduate Maja Kecman, are nifty dissolving laundry bags impregnated with washing liquid. Once filled up with laundry the bags can be placed straight into the washing machine.
By simplifying the transfer of laundry from the basket to the machine, much of the labour of the washing chore can be removed. The laundry bags are water soluble and biodegradable.
Posted by: regine | Comments (0)Not too long ago this technology, connectivity and interaction was "all good". Sadly, we're being shown this isn't always the case. But have designers failed to see technology in these others ways? Are we too in love with technology? Just start a forum debate on which 3D software is best and watch the gloves come off. And take a look at this supposedly simple, user-friendly custom-designed hotel alarm clock. Is an MP3 plug-in a necessary feature when one over-riding function is helping people get up to catch their flight? I don't want to connect with an alarm, I just want it to wake me up. Perhaps it's time I bought a nice wind-up with glow-in-the-dark hands.
Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
"good kitty" (via pixelsurgeon)
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
This years Workshopped exhibition is definitely a highlight at the Sydney Design Festival (6-21 August) featuring 30 Australian up and coming furniture designers in the 19th century Strand Arcade. Thanks to Drew Lambert for sending the pictures, stay tuned for complete coverage in the Core Gallery.
Work Pictured Above in order:
'Bloom' by Jo Philippsohn
'Ply & Perspex Table' by Eric Siu
'Pendant Light' by David Knott
'Pet' seat by Thomas Caddaye
Workshopped 05
The Strand Arcade
Sydney, Australia
10 - 21 August 2005
For the Design Year 2005, the Danish Design Centre stages the big exhibition �DANISH � framing the future of design�, which offers a radical new view of Danish design. A new generation of Danish designers is emerging, with design that is characterised by powerful aesthetics, social awareness and new expressions - in product design and graphic design, modern communication design and solutions to complex challenges concerning environmental sustainability and other issues. Some of the designs are brand-new, created especially for DANISH, while others are already in production and have a strong position in the marketplace.
Rather than use an unknown profile to produce something that is not quite a knockoff, I'd rather see a stool made from the profile of Ray Eames. Produced by Paris-based Radi Designers. If that doesn't interest you, check out their DIY marshmallow bikini.
Thanks to Thibaut for the tip!
Invented in 2004 by Tom Beshara, Turn Your Head (what else could it have been called) will preserve you or your loved one in beautiful cherry, maple or walnut for years to come. Those with a typographic bent will prefer this, of course, and temporal/philosophical folks will prefer this (scroll down to the "6/26/2005 Long Tail 3D Mental Images", but if you're surfing for a souvenir of sorts, I suppose the wooden profiles are worth the price. [See the real ones here; thanks to jeannie for the link at ohgizmo.] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Talk about recursive: a drum machine made out drum machines? [hackaday] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
New website for their Fall collection. I'm not sure how the clientele will feel being pidgeon-holed so obviously, but the site is nice. Now get back in your box.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
Michael Tseng has just sent me a link to Mopah, a ten week project at SCAD.
Just plug in your ipod and off you go whisking away with your personal tunes. Not only does ipod supply the music, but it's also the key. Using the unique serial number on your player means that only your ipod will unlock mopah.
As a student I wanted to prove that blue-sky design is not just blue- sky. The prototype I fabricated runs on a 500 watt motor, and two 12 volt batteries. The speakers work in conjunction with the ipod so users can experience the joy of riding mopah with tunes. I tried my hardest to keep all of the interactions intact and as vivid as possible.
Anyone has a job for Michael?
Posted by: regine | Comments (0)
An excellent, provocative piece at frog Design Mind by Stuart Hogue. And you don't need to be a new parent to get it (not that you'd have time to even read this if you were).
The transformation of the mature stroller category into an explosive new market was no fluke. The Bugaboo became a transformative, self-expressive phenomenon because its design is wholly unexpected. The combination of Euro-styling and ruggedness were completely unanticipated product attributes in a category originally defined by basic utility. It used to be that a stroller only had to be lightweight and compact to be successful. By flipping the category�s expectations, Bugaboo created cognitive dissonance for the product�s observers between their expectations for the product category and their perception of the product�s actual form. Cognitive dissonance, in this sense, is the opposition between the product observer expectations for product categories or brands, reality of the product�s actual design, and then mentally rectifying the two countervailing forces.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
(photo: Organic Abstract - by Paul Jackson, USA)
Learn all about the history of origami, paper and folding techniques and their scientific relevance. Visit the exhibition at the home of the Flying Bulls!
Until September 30, 2005 in HANGAR 7 of the Salzburg Airport (Austria).
MASTERS OF ORIGAMI Posted by: Aart van Bezooyen | Comments (0)
What started out as a hobby for two brothers has become a full time business rebuilding '69 Dodge Chargers into the iconic "General Lee" from the 80's tv series, The Dukes of Hazard. The current hollywood schlockbuster has caused a spike in interest, as these brothers scour the country for authentic Charger models to convert.
"Aside from the orange paint ... and a few accouterments, the differences between a stock '69 Dodge Charger and a General Lee are few. A General can be converted back to a factory-correct Charger fairly easily."
DIY'ers might want to check out www.buildagenerallee.com to get started themselves.
via [NYT]
Functionalfate is a blog tied to a research project/museum exhibition about the ubiquitous white plastic chair. Discussion and other good links on MeFi; Seen in ThingsMagazine. Yet another example of "Yes, but is it art?"
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)
If you're going to use the flash, this is where. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
The page-turning interface is a bit played by now (you can just click the corner if your wrist gets tired), but you gotta love the book-spine progress bar. Go straight to the Posh Boxes, where you'll find some unfortunate copy on the inside flap, but some nice design further on. StudioSixFurniture.com Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Two films with some design relevance:
2046 is a fascinatingly visual film (nice collage of stills here.) with an unconventional narrative flow that is unique and yet almost soothingly familiar. Topic? Uhh, storytelling, memory, love, relationships.
Me You and Everyone We Know deals with (among many other things) the beauty (or the art) in the ordinary and the everday - finding what is beautiful and fascinating in what is ordinary, and taking simple steps to make the ordinary beautiful and fascinating.
Both are complex and rich films which I am not trying to review or summarize here. Merely recommend. Reviews of 2046 and Reviews of MYaEWK
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)
Everyone's all excited about this, but have we already forgotten about this? [boingboing] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
I Heart Design since 1999
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
Michael Surtees blogs I Love My Chair, a coffee table book-to-be with individually submitted images of people's chairs and stories of those chairs. It's a project by user research firm Sense Worldwide who like to create artifacts or events that reflect the culture they are detecting (see NoWax, their take on iPod-DJing).
Posted by: Steve Portigal
| Comments (0)
Step into a world of luxury with the Herbeau Creations Dagobert Throne Toilet. Take your bathroom back a few years with this pull chain antique style toilet that perfectly accents a clawfoot bathtub in your vintage bathroom. The toilet comes with an ashtray, candle holder, and hand painted toilet bowl and plaque. "Le Bon Roi Dagobert� plays when lid is raised � a song about a king who arrived at the minister�s council with his trousers on backwards
Base Price - $9,799.00
I think my fave is the ashtray. Just that extra touch of class.
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)
As always, we can count on sneakerfreaker for the lowdown behind the latest shoe releases, Nike China's inspiration for the XiaoLong Dunk is making me kinda hungry.
"Most of the shoe's color is inspired by the steamer of Xiao long. Stretch leather and wooden color, cause the steamer is made of bamboo. Due to the delicious oily juice in xiao long, it always and easily get dirty/oily. We use oily leather to present that effect. The logo on the tongue means the small dishes/bowl + chopsticks. People always eat xiao long together with vinegar, which always be put in the little dishes/bowls. And always, Chinese people use chopsticks. Stitches on the upper inspired by the stitches on the steamer."
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)But the truth is that if this thing catches even more momentum, it may finally force Industrial Design to change its name away from I.D. The magazine already did it (same abbreviation, differnt meaning), and many have long argued that that a new moniker may not be such a bad thing. Anyway, all this veers from the musings of Vanderbilt's piece: what happens when we look at design through the lens of intelligent design? It's a quick read and it infringes our iPod-news embargo, but it'll be the exception that proves the rule. (Hey, that smells like a future tenet of ID!)
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Nice discussion going down at engadget over the latest release from Sony Ericsson.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
A design student from the UK has won the Design Innovation in Plastics Award, sponsored by Bayer MaterialScience. Derek Muir, a design student from the University of Huddersfield, is the winner of this year’s ‘Design Innovation in Plastics’ competition.
His entry, the ‘Stingray’ toilet seat, won praise from the judges for its design, aesthetics and careful choice of material – in this case integral skin polyurethane foams from Baydur and Bayflex product lines from Bayer MaterialScience. The toilet seat reduces noise by 40 percent and is ideally suited for parents who may not flush toilets at night in case it might wake up young children. The design works through the underside of the seat forming a complete seal around the rim, plus constant contact between seat and lid, when the lid is lowered. The use of Bayflex for the seat makes it comfortable, chemically resistant and easy to clean.
Posted by: | Comments (0)
This is a nice piece to leave your workweek with; a nicer piece with which to begin your new one on Monday. Seth Godin: I changed my mind yesterday. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Now this is the kind of ethnographic study we can get behind. (Bonus nav text: "Beginpagina", "Mailformulier", "Web-log.nl portal", "Eigen weblog?" We don't need no stinkin' Babelfish!) Foto van je koelkast via b3ta. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
'Call Waiting' by Mark Jenkins � Wooster Collective
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
Wired has an entry today on SIGGRAPH's 4th Annual Cyber Fashion Show. It has a short but interesting write up, but also includes a fair number of images for your viewing pleasure. But this line from the article pretty much seems to get the real point across:
The event had one thing in common with typical haute couture shows -- most of the outlandish prototypes on the backs of underfed models here won't end up in your closet anytime soon.Sadly, with few exceptions, it appears the focus of the show wasn't on the products (the image above is one such exception - the Nyx Illuminated Clothing scrolling text jacket), and most of what is worn, as shown in the images, looks like so much recycled "Johnny Mnemonic" film design that it makes everything look rather badly dated imo. That's a real shame. So rather than focus on Wired's images from the show, take a look at the other link where the products haven't been obscured by all the outdated glitz. There are some interesting things going on... you just have to get past all the crazy hairdo's to find it.
{Photo credit: Jeff Koga, Copyright 2005 Lycos, Inc.}
Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
NTT DoCoMo and the mobile marketing company TechFarm have partnered with URAHARA.ORG to launch a system called "Town Pocket". 153 Harajuku shops will install a RFID reader device allowing customers using a phone or wallet to bookmark the store. Personally I'm sticking to collecting the old business card to avoid the onslaught of the inevitable sms spam that will surely follow.
via engadget : orginal source japan.cnet.com
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
This looks like a nice physical computing installation, creating a "touchable touchscreen" made out of an elastic-like fabric, so the screen warps like rubber, and can sense how hard your press it, where you press it, even have lots of people using it at once.
You can press, grab, twist, punch and play with the screen. It can even support your full bodyweight. The Hyperfabric screen is designed to generate interactive computer graphics in realtime. What this means is we can create beautiful, magical scenes. You can see sparks fly out of your fingertips. You can cast magic spells from your hands. You can press your face into the hyperfabric to release fairies, or stir up ghosts in the dead of night.
Me loves the sparks, magic spells, fairies and ghosts. (Social networking. Huh!)
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
KONONO N�1 was founded over 25 years ago by Mingiedi, a virtuoso of the likemb� (a traditional instrument sometimes called "sanza" or "thumb piano", consisting of metal rods attached to a resonator). The band's line-up includes three electric likemb�s (bass, medium and treble), equipped with hand-made microphones built from magnets salvaged from old car parts, and plugged into amplifiers. [Thanks to Michael Poindexter for the link] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
The complementary strengths of the two brands in different geographic locations and consumer segments will provide a significant opportunity for value growth. [...] With the purchase of Reebok, Adidas will close the distance with its arch-enemy and world leader Nike. According to expert estimates, Nike currently dominates around 30 percent of the world market. Adidas and Reebok put together will control around 20 percent.
This seemingly simple cabin is filled with items for 'deliberate living'. Each object, like the cabin itself, is designed and built to address personal needs, with an eye on historic design and observation. The cabin is the project of designer Mark Moskovitz, the recipient of a new award from DaimlerChrysler called the "Emerging Artist Award". The cabin is currently on view in the atrium of the DaimlerChrysler Financial Services headquarters in Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, through Aug. 5. If you can't get there, check out the documentation on his web site.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
Nando emailed us two nice color pickers: ColorMatch 5K, and ColorBlender. ColorMatch is lean (5.120 bytes), but ColorBlender will generate a Photoshop and Illustrator Tables, email recipe to a friend, or suggest a Pantone match. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Heat&Glo brings you the aqueon fireplace. "The Aqueon operates by using regular tap water...Using a 220 volt electrical service and a process called electrolysis, the Aqueon passes an electrical current through water to seperate the hydrogen and oxygen. Upon seperation, the Aqueon instantly ignites the hydrogen to create the flame..." [via www.thedamnblog.com] Posted by: | Comments (0)
PowerFilm's AA Foldable Solar Charger is a hit with the military, but we'd like to see a GelGem version for home use, and a dashboard StickyPad version. And what about those Voltaic backpacks? Where are you hackaday? [gizmag] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Toshiba Corp. has developed a display technology allowing 3D images to be viewed on a flatbed display. All the various conventional 3D displays developed thus far have been upright displays. By switching the way displays are placed, "We can offer a realistic touch of depth," said a company spokesperson. Link via gizmodo. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
link [via redferret] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Dylan Horvath just emailed in a link he stumbled upon while trying to find a manual to tell him how to replace his car stereo: kmr.com's manuals. Faves are assembly drawing of a turntable and old cassette player. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Not sure that UPS handtrucks aren't equal villains here, but you gotta give props to the crafty folks at Skatestoppers for creating a set of bolt-on impediments that aim to blend in to their surroundings. We like the maple leaf and the trolly, but the real answer, of course, is obvious: poop. (Real poop.) [via boingboing] Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
New CGI blog with software news and grooves out of India. (Love the Depth of Field Generator. Can I get that for my digital point-and-shoot?) Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
A little late on this, but we especially like the faux flora buswrap window films. Kinda like you're in an aquarium. (Thanks to Philippe Baril for the link.) Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
The puns are coming fast and furious now ("Finally, an iron that can carry its own weight!"; "Touch&Glide iron has legs / knows how to use 'em") but we actually think this invention will stand up to scrutiny (oops!)
Auto-Lift� System automatically lifts the iron away from the fabric when you release the Smart Touch handle. The Auto-Lift� spacers remain cool and won�t harm garments. [engadget]
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Core superfriend Kris Krug and Rhonda Fast have launched a new company and blog, www.staticphotography.com. (View his c77 work here.) Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
This is a nice, minimal solution to those serendipitous interactions that office space planners are always trying to get us to have. Another project from Hadassah College Jerusalem. More info from saridesign-at-gmail.com. Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
