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"Intel Inside" is out. "Leap Ahead" is in. All will be revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, as Intel changes it's logo for the first time in 37 years. "Warm and Fuzzy" says The Taipei Times, "Intel wants to remake itself as a consumer brand". They're announcing a new chip, named Core, that will allow super small consumer machines, with longer battery life. With a name like that, they can't lose. Will Apple use the Core? The punny possibilities are only to be imagined.
Via BBC
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (1)
The perfect antidote to the extreme sport/snowboard street style that dominates the slopes theseadays; Zweydinger's wooden skis! Via new favorite site Retro Thing.
Mitchell Joachim, a PhD candidate at MIT and principal of Archinode Studio, has an impressive collection of work on his site. Shown above is the (G)race H-Type concept car, part of a series of transportation concepts produced as part of the Frank Gehry/GM Concept Car project at MIT.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (1)
From the BBC, a great list of new knowledge gained in 2005. For example, one in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed (#11 on the list).
This is from awhile back, but check out this gallery if you missed it. [Thanks to John for the link.]
A fair question considering the PowerMac G5 like perforated brushed aluminium case and the iPod-style clickwheel at the top of the radio. Agree or not, take a look yourself at Bang&Olufsen presenting the new BeoSound 3 (with my poor Japanese I just clicked 'Beosound3' top-left).
Via dezain
Posted by: Aart van Bezooyen | Comments (7)This one from David Pogue who skips overall gnarylness to consider "small, sweet improvements in our electronic lives" such as a digital camera with automatic bracketing in self-timer mode, downloadable TV episodes, and front-side connectors for everything on TV sets. It's a bit of a relief to see a best list that deals with features and usability rather than form, finish, technolust, or cool.
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)Interim Thoughts is a reasonably active blog about the changing business culture in India, a hot topic in the design world! Recent postings focus on retail, Indian brands, and business publications.
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)I just came across Year-End Thoughts on Microsoft, Apple, Intel and Lenovo by Rob Enderle, TechNewsWorld and his insight and analysis of the these firms, their product designs and most interesting, the impact of business decisions on product innovation and design was just amazing. There's a whole section on Apple and a discussion the possible impact of using Intel. Go read the full article, but here are some highlights,
Design: Apple and Voodoo
Speaking of design, one of the things I'm hoping will come out of the Apple-Intel deal is a broad realization that incredible design is once again possible. Over the years the hardware OEMs have consistently used Intel and Microsoft as reasons they can't build really cool products. Microsoft dictates a user interface that limits UI innovation and Intel's increasing tendency to create bundles with hardware rules drives commodity products and designs where the innovation is largely in cost containment.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
From left: Tiffany lamp from milk bottles by Gad Charny; Inside-out radio by Assaf Warshavsky.; Garbage-can chair by Ami Drach and Dov Ganchrow; Balloon chair by Raviv Lifshitz
All these are among the works to be presented by 19 Israeli designers at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York. The curators of the exhibition, which opens on January 27 and runs through April 23, are Ezri Tarazi, the head of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design's department of industrial design, and Ellen Lupton, a curator of contemporary design at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York.
"The exhibition does not presume to present a conclusive picture of the world of Israeli design," explains Lupton in a call from New York. "We chose works with a philosophical direction that investigate how objects are created and how to make surprising uses of everyday materials."
Full article here.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (1)
"Many weird and wonderful new gadgets, gizmos and inventions were revealed in 2005. Autonomous cars, robotic assistants and nano-circuitry provided a bright view of the future, while cellphone viruses, virtual crime sprees and "non-lethal" crowd control weapons hinted at technological troubles ahead."
2005: The year in technology by New Scientist
Posted by: Aart van Bezooyen | Comments (0)"We will be working with designers to compete in international competitions. We will be focusing on exhibitions, publications and basically raising the level of achievement of our design community," said Dr Tan.
Singapore spent SGD $9.6 million in 2005 on local events and activities, numbering over a 100 and culminating in the DesignSingapore event in November. In 2006, the plans are to move from promoting design to developing the design community. The plans include creating an iconic product, much like the iPod, to place Singapore firmly in the global design map.
News item here.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
NEC Solutions Asia Pacific announced the official launch of the world's thinnest clamshell mobile phone with mega-pixel camera in Singapore. Effortlessly blending fashion with technology, the NEC N412i i-mode mobile phone is set to be a fashionable gadget in town.
Via HardwareZone
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (1)
It seems Dominos has gone into furniture design. According to their site:
The unique couch's myriad features reflect the desires of pizza-loving sports fanatics, nearly 500 of whom were surveyed about what they wanted in the supreme sports sofa.I guess the only thing they didn't ask was whether guys like their furniture ugly? Posted by: StuCon | Comments (1)
A nice example of case modding (shown above), done in a Japanese furniture style.
The Telegraph has a good interview with Jonathan Ive from last month.
The In.Kitchen project from Whirlpool is an exploration of an all-in-one kitchen concept. The site, while confusing, includes a set of 'Visionary Dialogs' with Alberto Alessi, Ron Arad, and others.
MetaEfficient is a product review site featuring 'The Most Efficient Things In The World'. Includes a staggering list of categories.
Indians who immigrated to Silicon Valley to work in hi-tech are finding new demand, and a commensurate lifestyle, back home. New York Times reports on the reverse brain-drain.
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)The laundromat is more than a place to clean clothes, it's also community center. No, not another example of how products and services have odd meanings in that wacky third world, this story takes place just outside of Chicago.
It was a haven for Hispanic families who cannot afford cable to watch Spanish-language soap operas. It was a Saturday-afternoon carnival with magicians, jugglers, face painters, even a unicyclist. There was Santa Claus posing for pictures at Christmas, the Easter Bunny handing out chocolate in April, cartoon characters on Halloween and, in summer, a read-athon raffle with bicycles for prizes.....Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)
There will be diner-style booths by the vending machines - not just candy and chips but White Castle hamburgers and other microwaveable meals - and the play area, all under a circular dropped ceiling adorned with neon signs blaring "Welcome" in 20 languages. And it will still be open 24 hours, every day of the year.
Courtesy Gridskipper,
The Smithsonian American Art Museum has launched its own blog, Eye Level. Rather than blogging about the Smithsonian, however, it's more a of a general blog about art and museums all over. It's not quite as personal, but the posts so far are quite elaborate and in-depth, and they feature some really nice art scans (for a blog). Helps to have direct access to the source material.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)An interesting Christmas post from Industrial Market Trends that begins so,
Three staples of Christmas in America - the Christmas Card, Christmas Tree lighting and even Christmas Trees themselves - have their own histories of engineering, manufacturing and innovation.
Read the rest of this comprehensive overview of the design and development of these three items.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)IBM's new book, Irresistible! Markets, Models, and Meta-Value in Consumer Electronics. From IBM's website, where you can also download the first chapter [free reg.]
"Irresistible!" delivers more than 200 pages of strategic discussion and insight for professionals involved in the engineering, product development, marketing and management of consumer electronics, with a focus on current industry trends and areas of growth.
"The major trend in the consumer electronics industry in 2006 will not be a new device or service but the emergence of companies in search of Meta-Value," said Bailey. "Combining new technologies with accessories, services, and content to provide simple but complete solutions will transform the industry."
Smells like design thinking and innovation under a new name to me, to design a full service model around a new product a la the iPod and iTunes. Book Abstract after the gap.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
In keeping with the spirit of the season, I came across these Nativity scenes created by competing churches in Mangalore, South India. Many more here.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)According to a press release by the EC, the proposals would allow companies, with a single application, to obtain protection of a design not only throughout the EU with the "Community Design" system, but also in the countries which are members of the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs.
[...]
Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: "These proposals will allow EU firms to safeguard valuable design rights with less bureaucracy while at the same time encouraging them to trade with third countries in the knowledge that their design rights are protected. I hope that the Council will now adopt these proposals as soon as possible."
Full story here.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)PC World's list of the top 50 tech gadgets of the last half century was assembled after we polled our editors for nominations. We then rated the nominated gadgets for usefulness, design, degree of innovation, influence on subsequent gadgets, and the "cool factor." Here are the results. Read full article here.
# Sony Walkman TPS-L2 (1979)
# Apple iPod (2001)
# (Tie) ReplayTV RTV2001 and TiVo HDR110 (1999)
# PalmPilot 1000 (1996)
# Sony CDP-101 (1982)
# Motorola StarTAC (1996)
# Atari Video Computer System (1977)
# M-Systems DiskOnKey (2000)
# Regency TR-1 (1954)
# Sony PlayStation 2 (2000)
Seriously, can we just give them the key to the city already? Antenna design, not satisfied with designing New York City's subway cars, MetroCard vending machines, MTA help points, practically all of Bloomberg's electronics, Jet Blue's ticketing kiosks, concepts for taxis, and killer interactive installations through the city, have now designed these Newsrack/Planters that will be featured in the fashion district. The first one is located on 39th and Broadway.
When they're not busy redesigning NYC, they're doing beautiful concepts for Fujitsu like the "23/6". (Get it?) It has the footprint of a cd, and unfolds to reveal a fullsized keyboard and a 7" OLED screen. It's meant to be somewhat of a satellite to your base PC.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (2)
Forget getting Adidas to (re?)issue the Zissou - in '06 it's all about getting Nike to (pre?)issue the McFly BTTF II!
Design firm Metaphase creates products that look good, work better--and sell more. CNN Money's headline for this article is a strong signal of the increasing acceptance of the value of good design as a mechanism for revenue generation. When trying to convince clients to invest in design services, a quick demonstration of the benefits of their investment, such as increased sales or penetrating new market segments, is probably the most effective means to persuasion. Kudos to Metaphase.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)The Economic Times summarizes a new book by Robert Sutton and Jeffrey Pfeffer due to be released in early 2006. Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management. What stands out is this articulation of design thinking,
"Design thinking is one of enlightened trial and error wherein one observes the world, identifies the patterns of behaviour, generates ideas, gets feedback, repeats the process, and keeps on refining."
The article goes on to talk about the importance of bringing attributes of design thinking to corporate strategy and approaching an organization like an unfinished prototype.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
At first I thought, Say goodbye to any craft, any learning, any pride, any "trouble figuring out those darn strings!"
China Bridge International has just released their 70 page report titled Gain Cultural Insights That Inform Your Design. It details a dozen or so case studies on how companies, both Asian and Western, produced successful product releases targeting the Chinese market. At $2000 it's not cheap, but if it helps guide development of a product line worth millions then it is money well spent.
Kris sends in this updated link of the New Asimo running at 6km/h, but is really jealous of how he keeps his knees bent. (Good form.) And the Running While Cornering video? Sick. See all the movies at the index page here.
Via The Ted Blog
The Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung refers to this as the "iPod of Toilets". Designed by British designer Ross Lovegrove. Go read the comments, far more interesting than the original blog entry including one by Bruno Giussani titled "The iPod of spin"
This is the provocative title of an upcoming conference in February 2006 in Doha, Qatar - it's in the Middle East. Seems to me, design as an engine of growth is quickly becoming globally important. Here's the newsreport - Bruce Mau and Stefan Sagmeister are listed as speakers.
...conveys a symbiosis between the designer and those he/she designs for and suggests that it is imperative to understand the roles of all the collaborators and participants in the design process.
"We have speakers coming from places as diverse as Cuba, Zimbabwe, Cairo, Oman, New York, and Paris," explained Reuer who pointed out that the premise of the conference is that fresh, original, appropriate design stems from a process that is based in investigative, analytical exchange and observation.
The importance of user observation and ethnographic research cannot be understated, it seems.
I'm wholly under whelmed by the entries to Microsoft's Start Something PC competition. Microsoft set a somewhat lofty and broad goal: "Rethink the Windows-based PC experience today and the role it plays in people's lives. Envision how form factor influences the digital lifestyle-from personal productivity at work or home, to entertainment, mobility and lifestyle. Think big, be bold, be inspired, but pay attention to sustainable technologies, and ecological and environmental innovation."
The majority of entries ignored this premise and explained in their concept statements that they added Bluetooth, or USB 3, or a "paradigm shifting" feature (most of which computers already do) to a mobile tablet of sorts. To be fair there are a couple interesting ideas or forms but for the most part they are either copies of Apple internal concepts from the 80s/90s or boring. Check back January 5th see what the jury, Bill Gates, and the public pull out of there as winners.
(And another thing!... if the Start Something competition website is any indication of the usabilty of their future operating system, Vista, Microsoft is screwed.)
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (9)The Finance Minister has also given the green light to extend the existing Design for Business initiative. The course, developed by the Design Council and first offered through local education authorities two years ago, teaches managers how to run innovation workshops and seminars at their companies. The 150 businesses that have taken part have seen a significant impact on their bottom line. Kitchen-furnishings maker Aga Rayburn was inspired to make a new line of utensils after taking the course, driving up sales in that product division by more than 200%, to $8.8 million.
This is but one paragraph of many articulating the UK's planned initiatives based on the recently published Review of Creativity in Business. This study, led by Sir George Cox, Chairman of the British Design Council is the latest in national design initiatives. A must read - John Thakara's insightful commentary on his blog, "Doors of Perception".
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)Wish there were some regional variants on Nokia phones (I am not aware if they are) and on some high end phones, please. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the English literate populace that aspires for a high end phone. So, as a designer, if you had to design a phone for illiterate people, how would you do it?
Neelakantan asks this valuable question in his recent post titled "Design challenges, phones and roads" after he shares his experience helping a cab driver figure out how to change the settings on his mobile phone. While this cab driver may not be illiterate in his native tongue, a Nokia's interface may only include English instructions. What happens when faced with India's 14 official languages, each with their own script? What about highway signage? Some things to think about when designing for a global marketplace.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
Check this out! An homage to plastic car kits, Jellio Design has produced these one-of-a-kind wall sculptures (with manufacturing by renowned Utleys). They're only making 10 of these, so you'd better step up.
Since last year proved a successful inaugural collaboration, Procter and Gamble and IDSA have teamed up again this year in their School Collaborative Program. This year's theme was "Aging Consumers: Men, Women, and Couples". The recently announced finalists include Virginia Tech, Arizona State University, University of Cincinnati, and Ohio State University. The selected teams will receive significant funding to pursue their projects, and the results will be presented in April 2006 in Cincinnati.
click here to read more from IDSA
Posted by: Stephanie Munson | Comments (1)
The University of Cincinnati is taking on Art Center and CCS in Detroit in the transportation design business. Here is some local coverage of the program. Though it just became an official major in 2004, as an optional studio in the ID program since the 90's it has already placed graduates at Honda, Mitsubishi, and Cadillac. Apparently they have some deal to get free Red Bull that works into their strategy.
Click here for the article
While the boys at RepRap are busy fashioning gears, Sony obviously has bigger goals. Here we apparently have a fully-functioning, streamlined robot (son of Jet Jaguar?) assembling its eventual mate. Given the mismatch in styles, one can only imagine that either it's a serious case of opposites attract, or Sony's new robotic vision isn't quite up to snuff. Of course, Qrio may just be stylistically challenged.
Truth is, this thing is pretty cool. And it even talks to itself while working. Read more about the little bot-that-would over on C|Net (Link).
via C|Net.
{Image credit: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images}
Posted by: csven | Comments (1)Industrial Market Trends, a great blog by ThomasNet, has a succinct summary of trends in 2005 in the US manufacturing industry. Accompanied by a comprehensive list of resources and reference links, it's a must see for industrial design and product development professionals.
The IndustryWeek/Manufacturing Performance Institute Census of Manufacturers reported the following:
production output for three-quarters of respondent manufacturing plants increased over the past 12 months;
nearly 75 percent also increased sales per employee in the most recent fiscal year;
return on invested capital is up;
and more than 80 percent expect improved revenues in 2005 and 2006 over the previous years.
More on the "memory material" posted about last October, Veriflex is a family of shape memory polymer resin systems that currently functions on thermal activation customizable from -20 to 520 degrees F.
Shape memory polymers are polymers whose qualities have been altered to give them dynamic shape "memory" properties. Using heat, shape memory polymers can exhibit a radical change from a rigid polymer to a very elastic state, then back to a rigid state again. In its elastic state, it will recover its "memory" shape if left unrestrained. However, while pliable it can be stretched, folded or otherwise conformed to other shapes, tolerating up to 200% elongation.
The makers of Veriflex is investigating possible future systems which may respond to stimuli such as light, electric field, or magnetic field. Some possible applications include custom reusable mandrels, reusable molds, replica optics, and deployment mechanisms for outer space.
More info here.
Thanks to Transmaterial.
Posted by: | Comments (0)Six months ago, I wrote about India's draft design policy, posted on the web with requests for feedback - at that time, I noted that the United States is probably the only developed nation without a national design body or council.
Indian newsreports declare the launch of the National Design Policy in early 2006, accompanied by a logo for Brand India, for use by manufacturers of products approved as good design. In addition, in today's news, this article states,
...only those manufacturers who meet minimum design standards will qualify to use the logo.
[...]
The policy will ensure that there is budgetary support to create awareness about designs, setting up NID-type institutes, and creating a brand India logo with certain quality parameters.
[...]
The attempt would be to position `Designed in India' as a label that assures quality and utility. This could be in conjunction with other labels - `Made in India' and `Served from India'.
A NYT article about what we spend our money on for the Holidays and how it is not really that different than a generation ago:
The arrival of the personal computer in the 1980's constituted a bona fide revolution. Last year, Americans spent about $51 billion on computers, peripherals and software, an astonishing figure for an item on which they spent nothing in 1977. But to put it in perspective: $51 billion is only 1.5 percent of America's spending on goods. Last year Americans spent $54 billion on shoes.
Click here for the NYT article.
The Design Council's RED has launched a Future Currents project on domestic energy, with a great website and some super-intriguing concept design. Here's the pitch:
Homes produce a third of the UK's greenhouse gases. Can design curb our spiralling domestic energy use? The Design Council's RED team believes it can. It's come up with a raft of concepts and policy proposals for getting householders interested and engaged in the process of energy use and motivated to take control of it. Check out the ideas and vote for your favourites at www.futurecurrents.org.uk
Shown above is the Home Energy Trading Scheme (HETS), a device which would tranfer the energy you produce to the local school when you leave the house in the morning: "If you generate your own energy with wind or solar you could be selling your surplus at wholesale prices. Put a different value on homegrown energy by joining your local energy pool. Donate your surplus electricity to the pool when you’re out and draw from it when you’re at home to get the full value of what you and members of your pool are producing."
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
We seemed to have missed this in London. (Ironic, given its size.)
What does this mean though?: "Isle Lounge=Empty reality x (surroundings + compositism)"
[Link]
Toronto-based "design activist" Bruce Mau shared an hour and a half worth of thoughts last night with a nearly packed auditorium at Parsons The New School for Design. Parsons Dean Paul Goldberger provided discussion topics.
Although nominally a graphic designer whose hand has touched genre-shattering books, buildings and exhibitions, Bruce Mau is most notable for his optimism and ecuminism: he sees tremendous progress in the history of human endeavour, and has great faith in human ingenuity to continue this progress through the application of well-considered design to all aspects of life and environment.
Case in point: In response to a quote by Segway designer Dean Kamen -- "The world may not have embraced secular democracy, but it has embraced traffic..." -- Mau pointed out that South Korea has seen an 80 fold increase in per capita GDP since the 1970's, but the automotive traffic that has accompanied this growth is among the worst in the world. Rather than portray it as a devil's bargain, he sees it as a qualified good coupled with a design challenge. "How do we reduce car traffic?" is part of it, but "How do we redesign the system of transporting people?" is the greater question. The Segway was brought out as one possible solution, and Mau showed his more pragmatic side when asked about its spectacular failure to deliver a transit revolution: "It just wasn't marketed very well."
In his signature all-encompassing style, Mau took the Segway as one small part of a solution, noting that modern cities and towns owe most of their structure to the existence of the automobile, and that different modes of transport necessitate different structures. This integrative attitude toward design recurred throughout the evening, showing up in discussions of contract writing ("Gehry's real genius is in writing contracts that allow ongoing collaboration between different groups"), air travel ("we know airplanes -- and the whole global air travel system -- work so well because we're so surprised when they don't"), and urban planning ("the planning separation of 'city' versus 'park' is tremendously damaging").
Posted by: Carl Alviani | Comments (0)
I recently found a Link to some screenshots for the upcoming Unreal Tournament 2007 videogame over on CGTalk (thread Link). What is there to say? Tell me Industrial Designers are not going to have a field day in the future.
{Image source: ToTheGame.com}
Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
Darlie O Koshy, executive director, NID and Aniruddha Lahiri, MD, ABP
Last week, the third BW-NID Design Excellence Awards were presented in a nationally televised ceremony in New Delhi, India. BusinessWorld has listed the past award winners, categories and the jury in detail here, but this year's winners list is only accessible by subscription. Still, a little "injun"uity and a digital camera can achieve wonders :) The guest of honor was the British High Commissioner to India, Sir Michael Arthur.
As the print issue didn't have a categorized list of winners, here are some names from the captions under the photographs of the event.
Vishwas Morghare, for a wheelchair transporter, Plexus
Anuj Prasad, for best home retailing packaging for Vicks
Shantanu Jha, for best home product design for a portable music assistant
Satish Gokhale (seen above) for Continuous Excellence in Design for the third consecutive year, as well as best medical equipment and best industrial equipment.
Neil Foley, for best accessory design
Mukul Kulkarni, for best office furniture design
NID student Ayush Rajvanshi received a 6 month internship at Star News
Vinay Rao, Vivek Naik, for best design of transportation accessory
My apologies if I've overlooked anyone.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
I am in love with this animated short by Louis Clichy. Very lovely stickfigure animation with much more passion than I can usually coax out of my own stickfigures. The screen cap above doesn't do the work justice. Watch it.
(Thanks Mal!)
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (1)
These two products from Logitech caught my eye. The first is a universal remote designed to match your Xbox 360. I'm not really up on the latest and greatest for remotes but the buttons look well mapped out, easy to read, and the aesthetic details are quite nice. The grey underbelly has a thin, rubberized finish. Mmmm, grippy.
The headphones immediately reminded me of those Nike Presto watches from a couple years ago. The wraparound band is translucent polycarbonate and the unusually shaped earphones look pretty comfortable. Word through the grapevine is that the headphones were designed by Ziba. Not sure about the remote. Nice work.
(ed. The remote was designed by Designpartners in Ireland. Lead was Mat Bates. -Thanks Andrew!)
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
We like the idea of posting your portfolio as a blog; we like the idea of posting your portfolio as a flickr set. Of course, we especially like the idea of posting your portfolio at our house. But we LOVE the idea of not posting your portfolio at all--just posting the promo video for it.
[Thanks to Linden for the awesome link.]
Growing in scale every year, Tokyo Design Week (Nov. 2-6, 2005) was comprised of the main show at Jingu Galen in central Tokyo, the 100% Design Show, DesignTide--a series of presentations in shops, galleries & cafes--and a student exhibition showcasing work from universities throughout Japan. Check it all out in our gallery.
On PopSci's Best of What's New 2005, check out Grancrete:
Grancrete descends from a product developed to encase radioactive waste. And since it takes hours instead of weeks to build a home, it’s poised to provide low-cost, high-quality shelter to the estimated one billion people who lack it. $20.50 to coat 15 square feet.
[Thanks to John for the link.]
Eric Tsai
Southern California
If there is one remarkable aspect to America's economic recovery of the past four years it is productivity; measured as output per person, it has soared. Economists attribute this to rapidly improving technologies but after reviewing the profile of Eric Tsai. I put forth that, in fact, he alone accounts for the U.S's increased output. Shocking? Yes, but go look for yourself and please note that Mr. Tsai graduated in June 2001 - the exact moment the economy turned around...!
This table, one of many laid out in a grid at Changi Airport, caught my eye this morning, as I flew into Singapore from New Delhi. I haven't been able to find anything online about it, so if anyone can help me identify the designer, I'd appreciate an email.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
I challege you to find a better way to spend $700 this holiday season. Check out all the details on Dolce Gabbana's site, not that you should need any convincing. If gold isn't your thing, you can always go with magenta, black, or the original silver. I'm holding out for the argyle print...
"The GMC PAD features a diesel-electric hybrid system for propulsion while in DriveMode, and serves as a generator for the onboard power grid for LifeMode." What about a clothesline, busted picnic table and a Hibatchi for TrailerParkMode?
GMC PAD (w/concept boards!) via Gizmag
Posted by: shaggy | Comments (0)
Now this is just plain cool.
Johns Hopkins researchers have devised a self-assembling cube-shaped perforated container, no larger than a dust speck, that could serve as a delivery system for medications and cell therapy.It's like having the Borg inside us. Read the entire article: Link.
via Boing Boing
{Image source: EurekaAlert)
Posted by: csven | Comments (0)
The deadline is almost here, but if you're holiday shopping is done you've still got time to enter the Volvo Sportsdesign competition. 7 categories, including 'Concepts' (everyone's favorite). Five products will be nominated in each category to be shown in the exhibition and published in the yearbook. Out of these nominees, one product of each category will be chosen as winner and will receive the VOLVO SportsDesign AWARD Sculpture at the award ceremony on January 28, 2006.
There are a lot of nice things here. We like the Sky Hook, but the Do Nothin' Machine is always a crowd-pleaser. [Thanks to Melissa for the link]
This is the kind of thing that might make sense for lots of us. The others of us will definitely want to go for one of these, or--if you're getting married--just slap a bow on it (scroll down to "Making your gift") and get on with the honeymoon.
[engadget]
Received this morning, verbatim:
Translations in Tupperware Global Design Contest...Winner!
Hey there...I found out about this contest on Core77...and I won! There were 4 global winners, one each from Greece (Europe and the Middle East), Indonesia (Asia), Brazil (South America), and the US (North America...myself)...The trip and event was last week...now I can't wait to get my $1500 worth of Tupperware!
I'm a first-year ID student at The California College of the Arts (CCA) in SF...
Here's a link to my entry (posted on my website). There's a press release via PR Newswire on there too...Thanks!
http://tonymeredith.com/translationsintu.html
Tony Meredith
San Francisco
Congrats Tony from all of us at coreHQ.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (2)
Go here, then click on the category links at the top. Above: Racing Car and Multi-Story Car Park. (Thanks to Marc for the link.)
This Wednesday evening (December 14 at 7:00pm) is the opening party of an exhibition that reimagines the Universal Serial Bus (USB) as a connection between larger aspects of life. Staged by a group of designers who also happen to work at Siemens and that includes Roman Gebhard of designRaw, the show includes objects, installations and products that critique, surprise and enlighten. If you are in Munich. it runs from December 15 until January 15 at the "in der ersten reihe" ("in the first row") gallery at Klenzestrasse 64.
The New York Times offers some nice cultural insight on the phenomenon of decals in car rear windows as tributes to the departed. Decal Junky, cited in the piece, has five pages of memorial decals.
Looks like these are back-ordered, but seem like they'd be (forgive me) curiously strong. [BoingBoing]
If there is any doubt that some entities within China see the potential of design (namely Hong Kong's government), get a load of the prize money for the Hong Kong Young Design Talent Awards.
Two winners are awarded $64,000 for a one-year stint at an overseas design institution while three others get $32,000 for 6-month stints.
Remember the photos of Raymond Loewy and President Kennedy sitting on the floor of the oval office working on the (graphic) design of Air Force One?
How many US senators today do you think know what industrial design is?
Click here for more info on these and other winners.
My Breaking Heart for all those design school end-of-semester "what if we had a pillow that vibrated like a beating heart!" projects. Sorry. [Link via Engadget]
Watch the movie, while you read the text:
A Pixile is a projection applied onto spherical objects suspended in space. The projection consists of a realtime 3D rendered environment which mimics the physical shape and size of the objects it is projecting onto. The result is a holographic illusion. You can interact with the pixile with the use of a mouse, clicking and dragging objects as if they existed in real life.
This intriguingly colored building is across the street from my apartment in Singapore. Each architectural detail seems to have been picked out in a different color. Is it graphic design or architecture or just plain "let's make this block stand out", I can't figure it out, but it sure does catch the eye under the bright tropical sun. Halfway up the building the color combination and design changes.
"Created by a Mom; Inspired by her Baby."
Having seemingly spent the last four years rinsing bath toys, I can honestly say that Boon's catch-all looks promising. Clever scoop, mildew-busting drainage, cute-as-a-button form factor. Surf's up!
See it all here; buy it here.
This just in from Noelleon (with the warning that "this will keep you off anything productive for awhile"). Bookmark infosthetics.com as your Interweb Tufte Companion. (Above, Phylotaxis by Jonathan Harris.)
Forbes Magazine takes a crack at I.D. as part of its Tastemakers Serie, complete with a list of their ten of most influential industrial designers working today. (Note: The text "candy-colored iMacs" shows up in the story; the obligatory Karim reclination shows up in the slideshow.)
Design Within Reach is the place to be tonight (Wednesday) if you're in NYC, with a double bill of Ralph Caplan and Maira Kalman booksignings. Bring your By Design, or Cracking the Whip, or Elements of Sytle, and have your Sharpies ready. (RSVP to w14th-at-dwr.com, or just crash the thing.) After you get your own signed, you can pick up a pile for your friends and be totally done with your holiday shopping... tonight!
Aside from his phenomenal work on malaria and assorted other philanthropic initiatives, Bill Gate's Grand Challenges in Global Health has inspired some incredible design/invention/innovation. Yesterday, The New York Times broke down some of the winning projects. [Link]
The name works for us, and the work does too. Above are the Greenseat (2004), and conceptual binding for Bataleon Snowboards (2005). [Link]
Holiday Reading: December 2005
Not sure about the "For the cool people on your list" tagline, but this online shop's got all the classics, and soon-to-be classics, broken down into price ranges and categories.
We like Mathmos Design Studio's AirswitchTC ($89) in the lighting store, and cheong+nogtev's capt'n hook chalkboard ($45) in the gifty store.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Student work from the 'Production' course in CCA’s Wood/Furniture curriculum will be on display this Friday, from 5-7PM at Propeller in SF in a show called Space/Craft. All work will be for sale. Their web site shows a few sample pics of work from the department.
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
view movie (quicktime)
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
FONY
Seeking to market its handheld game device to hip city dwellers, Sony has hired graffiti artists in major urban areas to spray-paint buildings with simple, totemic images of kids playing with the gadget. But the guerrilla marketing gambit appears to be drawing scorn from some of the street-savvy hipsters it's striving to win over.
article : wired.com
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
The Beerbelly - warm beer for jerks.
[via MeFi]
Copy & pasted from the short text.
TileToy is a modular, electronic game prototype for tangible LED game tiles. TileToy brings the flexibility inherent in digital software to a physical tile that people can touch and interact with. By arranging the electronic tiles, players can engage themselves in various kinds of game play, ranging from fast-paced arcade style games to puzzle an learning games.
via coolhunting > transmaterial
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
From Frankie, a very beautiful standing lamp that walks along the floor, when provoked. Frank Neulichedl writes that "he will not fall down if you kick him--he will run away. Obviously just as long the fabric coated cable will let him." We're guessing it's more of a "shimmy," but will have to pony up the 490 Euros to find out for sure.
Forgive us; last one. This is everywhere (including SNL!), but thought all the CAD-pumpers should get the 'spect they deserve. [one of the links]
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
New sketching book out from Erik Olofsson, Klara Sjolen, and Umea's Institute of Design. Includes sections on basic theory, exploratory sketching, explanatory, and some tutorials.
click here for details about the book
With all the bad press Sony has been getting lately, there's something positive being reported over on DigitalWorld Tokyo: word of a new buckyball material which may help bring fuel cell technology to the masses. We'll see. But it's nice to know Sony is working on more than protecting their entertainment unit (although it is a "film"). Read the full article here: link.
{Image source: DigitalWorld Tokyo}
Posted by: csvenA competition of a different sort, from the Ecologist magazine.
[via BoingBoing]
Fortune's Innovation Forum 2005 just wrapped up in NYC and their blog has a round up of the live coverage from the event here. Go take a look at some really cool stuff.
Oh, in case you can't read the text in the picture above, here it is: "Sometimes, all you need to invent something, is a good imagination and a pile of junk - Thomas Edison." It's from a funky, artsy exhibit that Adobe created for the event: the Adobe Innovation Junxion.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
POLKA's dancing interactive LED-snowflakes for the city of Vienna respond with different blinking patterns to sms text messages sent by the public. A reply sms is sent wishing you a merry christmas and for every text sent to the number +43 664 2412005, the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, A1 and MCE will donate 1 Euro to the SOS Kinderdorf. POLKA won the 'light up' competition to create this years christmas decorations for Vienna realizing the entire project in 4 weeks.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
Architecture for Humanity is in the process of putting out a book called Design Like You Give A Damn. Awesome. The only problem is designers Pure+Applied have submitted four potential winners and AFH is having trouble picking the one they like best, so they are asking for help. Click on over to pick your favorite or if you don't like any of the choices, design your own.
Core's advice: Release all four. You'll have the AFH fanboys going bananas and camping out overnight just to be the first to own them all. You know your bookshelf looks way lame with ONLY one version. This is George Lucas money we're talking about here. Don't pass it up.
Posted by: Don Lehman | Comments (0)
For an interesting collapse of old media and new, check out the Electronic Swatchbook, an inspiring resource for designers of all generations.
Swatches or small samples of fabric have been collected and compiled in the form of swatchbooks for at least 300 years. The Powerhouse Museum has several volumes containing thousands of bright, unfaded samples of fashionable fabric designs, braids and laces ranging from the 1830s to the 1990s. This site contains samples from the 1890s through to the 1920s.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
A nice interview with OHIO Design's David Pierce by Inhabitat's Sarah Rich. Here's a tasty taste, (if paraphrased):
I just heard a thing on the radio today about a guy who’s an artist, and he was going into classrooms and saw these kindergarteners, and he says to them, “I feel really at home here with all this art on the walls. Who here is an artist?” And all the kids are raising their hands and wiggling their fingers; and it correlated as he went up through the grades that less and less students identified as being artists, or as being creative. You know, as you get older, you stop identifying with that.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Seiko will introduce a limited edition (500 units) of their SVRD001, the first watch that uses flexible e-paper for its display. You gotta love the press release:
The design of the watch is similar to a bracelet and the body is made of stainless steel and a black & white e-paper. The price of one of these 500 units is an extremely affordable 1900 EUR. It will weigh 134g and will be 37mm thick. It will be available worldwide in January 2006.
Extremely affordable 1900 EUR? I guess the future really "will be exactly like the past, only far more expensive."
[Thanks to John for the tip.]
Keeping with the current theme, we just received a call for participation for an upcoming conference, CHI 2006 Workshop: Sexual Interactions.
HCI is also a design-oriented discipline, and to this end it is worth understanding how an examination of sex can inform design. We believe that the rich patterns of human sexual behaviors provide opportunities both as inspiration and object for design. We welcome discussion of specific designs that consider sex as well as discussion of broad implications for HCI.Clear your calendars for then end of April, 2006. Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
Hmm. Something's definitely in the air. (Don't tell me we're going to see a lot of this in Milan!) Placentero | Copulator
I haven't seen a bed solution so cool since agent 86's apartment in get smart, The Happijac Vertical Bed Lift is designed specifically for use in RV's but as they point out over at apartment therapy, it would be a great space saver for that swank inner city loft space you can't afford.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (1)
The crew over at engadget got their hands on the Nokia N92 today.
There's no denying that this is one big handset (you've got to squeeze that digital TV tuner in there somewhere) and the keypad is not so hot, but they definitely delivered on the mobile TV experience.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
Gridskipper, member of the Gawker Media family is running "The Urbs: 2005 Best Urban blogs" contest and it seems that Core77 has been nominated for best urban arts blog. Voting begins on December 5th and I am urging you all to go vote for our favourite Core77.
Looking to accessorize your iPod (or any MP3 player) this christmas. There's thousands of one liner song titles just waiting to be used for this, actually they've already nailed it...
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
'Not all Swedish animals live in the forrest'. Apparently not. Nicely executed Blaire Witch meets SAAB microsite but I'm still not taking a test drive.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
The only US appearance of the Braun 50 years of Design exhibit opened last night at the Massachusetts College of Art. The exhibit is part of the Empowered Innovation conference being held at the school. At top, design icon Dieter Rams poses with some of his early work.
More photos on the next page...
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
A petrifying trend in using ancient wood/stone to decorate the homes of those willing to pay thousands of dollars for samples. Supply, demand, and social distinction strike again. Though scientists now claim that they can petrify wood in only days in the laboratory.
Click here for the NYT article
James Conley argues that trademarks, not patents, comprise the real competitive advantage of the Apple iPod. A snippet:
...But I suspect that something more clever is afoot; that Apple's design strategy is in line with something we call value transference--a dynamic strategy that can be quite successful in technology markets. And if my suspicion is correct, the technology at the heart of the iPod will have little to do with their long-term competitiveness in the consumer electronics realm. Further, if we look in the right places, we can learn precisely where Apple intends to move, leveraging the design of the iPod--but not the kind of design you think.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
First we were in love with James Clar's LED 3d Display Cube, but now Graham Plumb comes along with his Reactive Cube.
An embarrasment of riches. (Make sure you watch the QuickTimes.)
[Thanks to Karlene for the tip.]
Dirk Kneymeyer with PART 2 of his series on Design and Poker, entitled "POWER: Use It Or Lose It." Here's a taste:
At the poker table, it's their own money that will be lost; subjecting design to the vagaries of individual personalities and subjective interpretation can have an effect that dramatically impacts a product, or even an entire company. It is our responsibility as design professionals to insist on a design and evaluation process that enables people to share their ideas and opinions, while ultimately relying on our expertise to drive appropriate solutions.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
