RSS Feeds:We all know that team-work is hard, right? Well, Janet Rae-Dupree calls on some experts from the team-driven innovation biz to clarify difficulties:
It's why engineers design products ultimately useful only to other engineers. It's why managers have trouble convincing the rank and file to adopt new processes. And it's why the advertising world struggles to convey commercial messages to consumers.
and to offer some solutions:
"I would ask my very, very basic questions," [Cynthia Barton Rabe] said, noting that it frustrated some of the people who didn't know her. Once they got past that point, however, "it always turned out that we could come up with some terrific ideas," she said.
Read the full article here.
via jon schull
AVO:Market founder Brit Kleinman got in touch with us about her new project which encourages discovery, sharing, and learning with a dynamic collection of imagery of marketplaces around the globe. As a recent grad from RISD, current designer for Samsonite, and avid traveler, Kleinman concluded that "nothing could ever be 'designed' to have the same raw energy and soul as a market." AVO aims to capture that energy and expose the world's continuity through its areas of commerce, photographically captured by willing contributors...like you!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (1)
No iPhone here, people. We're all up on the practical nature of Consumerist's Top 10 Products of 2007 list. Topping the charts is vinegar with its multipurpose gusto, followed closely by baking soda, coffee, and tea. The internet barely made it at a teetering #9, bitch-slapped by olive oil, shoes, and the spork, and beating ladders by a hair.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Literally interpreted as a potted plant turned upside down, J.C. Karich's sculptural Plant table lamp camouflages power wires amongst its many branches.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)Everyone's favorite decades of the past-loving channel, VH1, has filled us in on what that Encyclopedia Britannica kid's up to these days. Well, no longer a computer-loathing kid, grown man Donovan Freberg is the webmaster (not of Wikipedia or any other online reference, sadly) of a pornography blog site.
via gizmodo
Your next job could be...
Located at : MKG Productions in New York, NY
With the title of : Event Production Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Ara Paterson's site-specific texture-scape from the "Art Positions" container at Art Basel is comprised of hand painted (gasp) laser-cut birch plywood pieces.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (1)
Ori Gersht's Time After Time series consists of photographs of bouquets frozen with liquid nitrogen captured at the moment of explosion. Extreme!
via coudal
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
frog employees aren't the only ones saving up their trash to raise awareness about consumption and the envrionment. Ari Derfel did it for an entire year.
The supposedly upcoming iPhone update being posted about on some blogs allegedly lets you move icons around, has a Google Maps self-locator, will let you add Safari bookmarks to your home screen, and has been confirmed as "real" by "experts."
Though not willing to stake Core77's rep on this, I can stake my own; I'm 95% sure said update and its attendant photos are fake. Some websites contain technical talk of why this update has to be real, and I can't address that stuff; but take a look at the pictures with me, from the perspective of an industrial designer and writer with a baseline familiarity with Apple design, and I think you'll agree.
1. The text in the "Edit Home Screen" pop-up is un-Apple-like and wordy. Also, when would this window pop up? Steve Jobs' whole product philosophy is to design things that don't require instructions. The notion that Apple, a company that specializes in minimalist copy, would make you read a pop-up this long every time you performed a fairly routine task seems like it came from someone who uses Windows.
2. Do enough product sketches and you know when the perspective's on and when it's off. Here, it's off and looks poorly Photoshopped. If the topmost screen line jives with the bottom line of the "Cancel" button, it creates an impossible vanishing point vis-a-vis the angle of the phone and the on-screen text. Also note that both words in "Home Screen" are capitalized; in the instructional copy in point 1, it was written "Home screens," with the second word lowercased. The photo's exposure also looks wonky to me, but I'm not a pro photographer (if you are, please pipe up).
3. The most damning piece of evidence is in this copy: "An icon will be added to your home screen so you can quickly access this web site." Boom, fake. "Website" should be one word, not two. Apple is pretty fastidious about their copy, and there's no way this would make it into a final product. Not to mention the icon at left, a sloppy grab of a portion of the website, that I can't see Apple deeming aesthetically acceptable.
Sure, it's possible that the gaffes in points 1 and 3 are just test copy inserted by an uneloquent Apple software engineer, and that the perspective in point 2 is correct and I've just got a bum pair of peepers. What do you think?
Addendum: Last night I was contacted by Andru Edwards, the owner of Gear Live, the guy who posted the original entry I'm questioning above, and the apparent owner of an iPhone with the 1.1.3 update...
(((Those gates were built in the era of the Emperor Augustus.)))
ARTIFICIAL.DUMMIES from todo.to.it on Vimeo.
via Bruce Sterling
Posted by: Mark Vanderbeeken | Comments (1)
If you're feelin' a little bit spoiled from how the holidays are falling on the calendar, and aren't really getting back to work until Wednesday, why not get ahead of the game and start putting together your entry for our Greener Gadget Design Competition? Here's the pitch:
The Greener Gadgets Conference will take place on February 1st, 2008 in New York City. As part of the event, Greener Gadgets has partnered with Core77 to seek out design innovations for greener electronics. This design competition will engage established design firms, emerging designers, and design students to come up with new and innovative solutions to address the issues of energy, carbon footprint, health and toxicity, new materials, product lifecycle, and social development. The top entries will be showcased live at the Greener Gadgets Conference for judging by a panel and the audience, and awards will be given out at the end of the night. Winners will also be showcased on GreenerGadgets.com, Core77.com, and Inhabitat.com.
Design Brief
For this competition we're inviting designers to explore the concept of "Greener Gadgets." Designs should seek to minimize the environmental impact of consumer electronic devices at any stage in the product lifecycle. Areas to consider include, but are not limited to, materials, labor, assembly, packaging, transportation, retailing, use and disposal.
Participants are encouraged to consider their designs as part of the entire product ecosystem, and should think as holistically as possible. Designers may choose to focus their entries on a particular area of human enterprise (learning, playing, communicating, etc.), or a particular context (work, home, school, etc.), a particular material, or a specific device. Entries may also seek to create new paradigms for products and services.
Ultimately, we are looking for "great gadgets" of the greener kind.
Prizes
Grand Prize: US$2,500
Two Runners Up: US$1,000 each
>>MORE INFO + REGISTRATION HERE<<
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Locally grown is great...but grown in your own backyard is even better and Food Map Design's Food Map Container facilitates just that.
The container is made from nontoxic High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), which contains post-industrial reused material. The frame is 40-100% recycled steel. The product is manufactured in Los Angeles County and is 100% recyclable. Home-grown foods reduce the need to buy heavily-traveled produce from Supermarkets.The container comes in two sizes: the larger raised container allows for gardening while standing; while the smaller one is great for kids and smaller scale settings. The container has rubber casters for mobility as weather and sunlight conditions change.
The Santa Monica, CA-based, young, and green-minded multidisciplinary design firm is making its debut with the Food Map Container but plans to expand their portfolio with products and projects that reconnect residential spaces with food cultivation.
Our design concept is to use new modern and green design principles to construct spaces, landscapes, and products that support locally and home grown foods. We believe that eating locally and home grown foods reestablishes the relationship between everyday life and a healthy and sustainable food source.Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Your next job could be...
Located at : Autodesk, Inc. in San Rafael, CA
With the title of : Senior Product Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
The first time we saw a chalk outline and its attendant crimson stain was outside an SRO on Lex and 24th, way back when. You don't want to live in an SRO (single-room-occupancy building) or the PJ's (housing projects), even if Le Corbusier thought they were a good idea.
But now architects are taking another...pass (we almost wrote "stab") at low-income housing, not just in Brad Pitt-sanctioned projects but all around the country, from Brooklyn to Wyoming. Why? "Issues of sustainability are more important in the affordable-housing field than in the luxury field," says one architect, while others realized they can use attractive architecture to battle community opposition to having low-income housing in their neighborhoods. The Journal's got a comprehensive explanation of the movement here, featuring a roundup of current developments going up in Chicago, LA, Seattle, New York, and other places.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
The new Normal Timepieces collection by Ross McBride proposes a fresh way to tell time for the analog-inclined. The clocks and watches recently debuted at 100% Tokyo.
via dezeen
When it comes to superiority complexes, Mac owners are kind of like New Yorkers: we have a hard time taking competing entities seriously, with an attitude of "I'm sure those places are fine for what you do, but we couldn't live anyplace else." For the design-appreciative, this trend is compounded--Apple has always appeared to hire actual and talented industrial designers, whereas most PCs appear to have been designed by engineers who maybe left their glasses at home that day.
Might that be changing? In his most recent column, techno-columnist and gadget kingmaker Walt Mossberg has crowned Dell's XPS One "the first Windows all-in-one desktop I've tested that I believe matches or exceeds the iMac in hardware design."
Something interesting is going on at Dell. The Texas personal-computer behemoth, long associated with boxy, boring machines, has started emphasizing industrial design.
If this trend keeps up, the only thing us Mac Yorkers will have to cling to is that Mossberg lives in DC. "DC! That's not a city!"
via mac observer
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (3)
Bigger isn't necessarily better when it comes to usability. Sometimes simpler is the right way to go, especially you're talkin' TV remotes for the elderly. Check out this Senior Remote Instructable if you still haven't decided on a belated gift for your most beloved nearly blind/technologically unsavvy senior citizen.
via boingboing
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
As the Jaguar XF launches, here's a pretty short but good interview with Jaguar's head designer speaking on British design. Ian Callum sounds off on how wealth is created for nations vs. individuals, British restraint in design, and why a sports car is "a projectile that you wrap around two people."
For those more curious about RCA grad, 11-year Ford vet and self-described "car nut" Callum, there's an older article about him here.
via driving canada and pistonheads
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
Jaga is a 45-year old factory of radiators in Eastern Belgium, which reinvented itself entirely and is now a seller of "warmth" rather than just a maker of radiators.
Under the visionary leadership of its eccentric director Jan Kriekels, an anthropologist by training, Jaga has embraced experience design, core values of arts, creativity and sustainability, and a radical choice for user-driven co-creation.
Posted by: Mark Vanderbeeken | Comments (2)
"You see, the longer the wheelbase, the more comfortable the ride. This thing soaks bumps up like nothing! Watch us take this bump up ahead...."
via luxury launches
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (2)
German architecture students in Stuttgart have come up with the NapShell, an egg-like bed featuring audio speakers and air conditioning, among other things. But wait a sec, haven't we seen this before?
We have! The NapShell combines three weird and frivolous beds from the recent past:
And last but not least, the Kuchofuku Air-Conditioned Bed!
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)
Thomas Edison got tired of sitting in the dark, so he invented a long-lasting lightbulb. Alexander Graham Bell got tired of writing letters, Karl Benz got sick of walking. In other words, once upon a time people would examine real problems they had in their lives and design products and services to solve those problems. Ah, the Golden Era.
In contrast, here's how to design a new product these days:
1. Write the names of 12 different technologies on 12 different Post-Its
2. Cover a dartboard with the Post-Its
3. Throw a couple darts at it
4. Combine the two target technologies into some cockamamie thingamajiggy
It's this kind of rich thinking that's brought us the USB coffee warmer, the remote-controlled LED candle and now, the Projection Telephone. The latter, being sold on IP Mart, projects Caller ID info on the ceiling when the phone rings, in case you're lying flat on the floor and are too lazy to look at the display. Plus, who still has a landline? Isn't this kind of like putting airbags in the Model T?
Edison, Bell, Benz, we miss you guys.
via 2 day blog
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (3)Your next job could be...
Located at : Product Insight Inc. in Acton, MA
With the title of : Sr. Industrial Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)Boards moderator Richard Kuchinsky got to chatting with a non-designer friend the other day about that age-old topic: "why you do what you do." It seems like everyone agrees that passion and a drive to design are what push them as opposed to large sacks of cash (scoff). Read all the replies and add your own reasons for ID-ing at the Why Do You Do What You Do? discussion board.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)As more and more companies plant "greenery" on their products, consumers are presented with a wave of seemingly responsible choices--but without reading the very fine print and doing a bit of research, how can one deduce who's telling little green lies? After observing a steady surge of eco claims, the Federal Trade Commission wanted to know and clarify exactly that.
TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, which advises companies on green product positioning, reviewed claims companies made about 1,018 widely sold goods. Using metrics from the FTC and the Environmental Protection Agency, TerraChoice concluded that all but one of the claims were false or could be misleading. "If truly green products have a hard time differentiating themselves from the fake ones, then this whole notion of a green market will fall apart," says Scot Case, vice-president at TerraChoice.
more at businessweek
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Though partially raised in Japan, Japanese-American Isamu Noguchi was born in Los Angeles, educated in New York City, and assisted sculptor Constantin Brancusi in Paris. During World War II Noguchi was investigated by the FBI for the crime of having Japanese blood, and after a fallacious deportation order was dispelled by the ACLU, Noguchi worked on projects for Herman Miller and sets for Martha Graham in the late '40s.
On a trip to Japan in the '50s, Noguchi met interior designer Isamu Kenmochi, who worked for Tokyo's Industrial Arts Research Institute. Together the two began collaborating on a range of furniture, creating some of the first true east/west design hybrids and launching the style known as "Japanese Modern."
In a country where most people sat on the floor, chairs were not exactly a must-have item, but Noguchi and Kenmochi gave the object their full attention. Kenmochi used some of the techniques from his iconic Round Rattan Chair (picture at left) to fashion the seat and back of the Bamboo Basket Chair (center), with Noguchi fashioning the legs and support from iron rods. Kenmochi later went on to design the currently-very-hard-to-find Kashiwado Chair (right), inspired by the spirit of a sumo wrestler.
All of these objects and more are currently on display in a show entitled "Design: Isamu Noguchi and Isamu Kenmochi" at the Noguchi Museum in Queens, New York. The show runs through May of '08.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)
The Greener Gadgets Conference will take place on February 1st, 2008 in New York City. As part of the event, Greener Gadgets has partnered with Core77 to seek out design innovations for greener electronics. This design competition will engage established design firms, emerging designers, and design students to come up with new and innovative solutions to address the issues of energy, carbon footprint, health and toxicity, new materials, product lifecycle, and social development. The top entries will be showcased live at the Greener Gadgets Conference for judging by a panel and the audience, and awards will be given out at the end of the night. Winners will also be showcased on GreenerGadgets.com, Core77.com, and Inhabitat.com.
Design Brief
For this competition we're inviting designers to explore the concept of "Greener Gadgets." Designs should seek to minimize the environmental impact of consumer electronic devices at any stage in the product lifecycle. Areas to consider include, but are not limited to, materials, labor, assembly, packaging, transportation, retailing, use and disposal.
Participants are encouraged to consider their designs as part of the entire product ecosystem, and should think as holistically as possible. Designers may choose to focus their entries on a particular area of human enterprise (learning, playing, communicating, etc.), or a particular context (work, home, school, etc.), a particular material, or a specific device. Entries may also seek to create new paradigms for products and services.
Ultimately, we are looking for "great gadgets" of the greener kind.
Prizes
Grand Prize: US$2,500
Two Runners Up: US$1,000 each
>>MORE INFO + REGISTRATION HERE<<
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
While the cars transformed in Pimp My Ride are all about form, it's nice to see some people still modifying their cars for function.
Here we have a classic Cold-War-era Zaporozhets, modified to make life in the rural Russian winter a little easier.
(Side note: the Zaporozhets, a Soviet car in production from 1958 in the Ukraine, was the VW Beetle of Russia and rather ahead of its time; different models had features designed for the disabled, such as all of the pedals being replaced with hand-only controls. These models were reportedly given to disabled war vets, for free, by the Soviet government.)
via english russia
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
From the Coroflot portfolio of : Jackie Bertelsen (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Featured project : Cubion office interior
Bonus points for the built-in mind-map wall!
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
What can you do with this simple sphere scene using your imagination and favorite 3D rendering program? CGSphere challenges you to make something extraordinary from a sphere, "one of the most basic and fundamental primitives in computer graphics."
via cpluv
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire, and if you ask us, the best door is one you never have to touch. Many stores in Japan share the latter opinion, with Star-Trek-like sensor-driven doors completely absent of human fingerprints, and even the taxis in Japan have doors that open and close automatically.
Now a non-Japanese company called Jatech claims they can install this rather amazing portal on your car, which is not only automatic, but seems to disappear altogether during entry and egress. Is it real? The video above and their website definitely raise some questions: the narration is in British English, yet the cars are left-hand drive. The company is also listed as an LLC, meaning it was created and registered in the 'States. With any luck the truth will soon come to light; in the meantime, enjoy a video of what is either brilliant engineering or clever CG.
via fahad
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (12)Your next job could be...
Located at : Positive Energy in Washington D.C.
With the title of : Lead Interaction Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)As the much buzzed about design publication Monocle wrapped up its first year, "Everyware" author Adam Greenfield felt ready to share his thoughts, now that he's got "a reasonable sense of what the magazine [is]." He points out his major peeves with the mag, clearly bulleted in a one-two punch yet non-ranting style, with a sprinkle of praise at the end (making the ratio of peeves to praise about 15 to 1). He delivers a foreshadowing booya by stating that contrary to its promise, Monocle never felt essential to him.
I'd argue that if I've come to feel as I do - as one of a mere 5,000 charter subscribers, and doubly as someone who must to a fairly close approximation reside center-mass of the Monocle audience in terms of taste, vocation, air miles, etc. - then something's wrong. In this, that piece in BusinessWeek strikes me as getting it just about right: the magazine "is either prescient, or steering sharply toward an audience that doesn't exist."
via unbeige
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)File this video under "We're truly living in the Age of Miracles!" Click to see the demo of a computerized sketch system developed by an MIT engineer. You can draw shapes that have virtual physical properties, assign gravity to the drawing, then hit the button and things start moving. Wish we had more information on this but accreditation is light.
via techeblog
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (3)
Design patents issued have been increasing steadily every year for the past thirty years. In 2007, Samsung Electronics received over 550 design patents - the most ever issued to a single company in one year. Sony holds the most design patents, and is followed closely by Nike. The following table shows the company awarded the most design patents each year:
Consumer electronics and Asian firms seem to dominate design patent applications, with Nike as the exception in the past two decades. Do these figures mean anything other than the fact that these companies like to patent their designs? Or does Samsung's sudden leap to the top over Sony's long held lead mean a shift of some sort with implications for the global design industry? What do you think?
Via Patently O, patent law blog
Your next job could be...
Located at : ASUSTek Brand Design Center in Taipei, Taiwan
With the title of : User Interface Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Artnet puts this year's DesignMiami show online. Browse by galleries - by designers in alphabetical order - or by an interactive map of the exhibition's floor plan. For three months only.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (3)
Our visionary design concept is a mobile phone and compatible sensing device that will help you stay connected to your friends and loved ones, as well as to your health and local environment. You can also share the environmental data your sensing device collects and view other users' shared data, thereby increasing your global environmental awareness.
The sensor unit will be worn on a wrist or neck strap made from solar cells that provide power to the sensors. NFC (near field communication) technology will relay information by touch from the sensors to the phone or to or to other devices that support NFC technology. Both the phone and the sensor unit will be as compact as possible to minimize material use, and those materials used in the design will be renewable and/or reclaimed. Technologies used inside the phone and sensor unit will also help save energy.
More about the recycled materials usage, sustainable design concepts and renewable energy sources for this concept.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
Just in time for the shoppy-days (a.k.a. Giftmas), Jonathan Dee's posted a looong piece (now that you've got the time off) at the NYT about the impact and loopholes of Corporate Social Responsibility in the toy industry. Yeah, yeah, not as fun as ripping open presents, we know. But it's a good excuse to grab some nog and avoid talking to Grammy about her new control top panyhose.
More on CSR here.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Hey all you slacker ID school-foolios: take note of 18 year-old high school seniors Danny (top sketch) and Robert (bottom sketch) who've taken the initiative to blog their entertainment design concepts and post the info on our discussion boards. And to all you hard-working star students and seasoned professionals: they'd love your comments and feedback so check them out--they're hands-down worth a visit. Danny and Robert are currently working on beefing up their portfolios to be admitted into the Entertainment Design program at Art Center. Good luck guys!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Your next job could be...
Located at : Sunrise Medical in Boulder, CO
With the title of : Senior Industrial Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
A 13 shot "Venti" soy hazelnut vanilla cinnamon white mocha with extra white mocha and caramel is the most expensive concoction money can buy at Starbucks, according to Billy Chasen. Undoubtedly sugary and chemical-laced, at a whopping $13.76 (or $12.70?), it qualifies as legitimate last-minute gift material for Starbucks junkies.
via design observer
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (4)
The lastest 1HDC had pages filled with some excellent eReader designs. We saw everything from paradigm-changing concepts to designs aimed at hiding the technology and preserving the look and feel of a common book as much as possible. The winner (and first to submit) is Kinl with the eScroll concept--an ultra-mobile device that challenges the obvious form factor.
Some notables: Special mention should go out to Yo! with his excellent bar-raising rendering of a leather bound i-something named nu*book. Callosum's exploration of eye tracking functionality could have had a clear shot at winning with a better rendering; (the bar was definitely raised for presentation quality this go around). KasinChan approached the problem from a student perspective--combining the best of low- and high-tech.
Check out these and other submissions right here.
And congrats, Kinl! Don't forget to get your knew NikeID shoes!
Posted by: core jr | Comments (5)
The Santa Cruz Design + Innovation Center is an initiative to
promote Santa Cruz as a globally-recognized design destination. Why Santa Cruz? Because we have a unique collective vision of design, inspired by the beauty of our beaches and mountains, inspired by our youthful iconoclastic culture, and inspired by our commitment to innovation and sustainability.
The Center (at present, a concept more than an environment) is holding a "launch event" at the new Plantronics Design Studio on January 18. RSVP info at the link.
The assignment was wide open: Design something based on the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle, and develop it into a prototype product. The results ranged from simple mechanical devices to complex electronic machines, but all served that central purpose in original ways.
Seven teams from MIT's Product Engineering Processes class came up with the following concepts:
1. A solar-powered bin that automatically sorts the recyclable bottles and cans dumped into it.
2. Insulation panels from discarded plastic bottles - includes income generation for the low income people for whom the solution is meant
3. Bicycle powered grinding machine for shea butter.
4. Coffee bean sorter for the developing world.
5. a shower system that automatically reduces the water flow while a person is lathering up. It does this by using photocells to detect when the person reaches for the soap, to address both water shortages and energy use.
6.A TV remote that is self powering and doesn't need batteries anymore
7. Reuse and recyling discarded oil filters.
Read full article and more details .
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)
Over at Coroflot's Creative Seeds blog, Nicolas Roope, founder and creative director of both Poke, a London based digital creative agency and Hulger, talks about what he looks for in a designer. Here's question #3:
3. What is your best interview "horror story"? This is technically not my story, but a colleague's at Poke. A friend at a rival agency was raving about a designer that they said, for purely financial reasons, they couldn't hire themselves, so passed them on to us for consideration. We eagerly approached them and organised an interview. He came in, opened his book and nearly burned our eyes out. It was horrific, and we had been royally duped. Of course you can't boot someone out of an interview on the grounds of offensive work, and certainly it wasn't his fault that he was there. So we sat it out, trying not to hurt his feelings. I'm tempted to expose the culprit, but he's now in a high position and don't think it would do his reputation much good...but YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!! (If you are the designer I'm very sorry he put you through it.)
Read the full article
More Creative Seeds
Never mind What would Jesus drive; What would Yoda do if he had an RP machine? The building above is our closest guess.
In actuality it's a design by French architecture firm R&Sie(n) for a Swiss ice museum (which sounds only a little less weird than a Yoda RP house). The intended manufacturing process is quite fascinating: head architect Francois Roche managed to locate a special 5-axis CNC machine that can work a 5-meter by 40-meter area, and the museum will be constructed on-site, slice by slice. The raw materials for the slices will all come from locally-harvested trees.
When asked by a construction worker named Luc where to acquire the wood, Roche reportedly waved his hand and said "Use the forest, Luc." (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
via treehugger
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)
NYC's Governors Island revitalization competition, also called Park at the Center of the World, has just named the winning proposal designed by the West 8, Rogers Marvel, Diller Scofidio & Renfro, Quennel Rothschild, and SMWM team. The revamping of over 90 acres of land includes plans for a promenade and park featuring playgrounds, sports fields, ecological environments, open park space, an amphitheater, and--get this--hills created from preexisting buildings on the island! Awesome! The proposal even includes plans to integrate free bicycle rentals for visitors to use while exploring the island. (Yesss!) The Great Promenade will make the waterfront a true destination, offering a new perspective and sprawling views of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Press Release (pdf)
thanks jonathan!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Well, "personal gifts" kinda sounds like "adult gifts" (although Agent Provocateur does make an appearance here), but these selections from our Ultimate Gift Guide are a little closer to home. So either buy them for yourself, or drop a strong hint to a loved one. And happy holidays!
Taste of Corky's Ribs & Pork
$69.99
We order from these guys every year, so we can promise that it's some of the best Q you'll ever have. Comes packed in dry ice (so you've got a few minute's thrill throwing that into a bucket of water), and if you say that" Elvis sent me " while you're ordering on the phone, they'll throw in a discount. Promise.
Thank you. I Love you.
$50 to start; more for more
Want some greetings with seasoning?Thank you I love you will turn your photos and movies into quirky, delightful, charming web movies to send to the ones you love. They also do cards. And games. And basically anything you need. Wanna see samples? Check out Jumping, Angela Eats, or the timely holiday greeting.
Flickr Pro
$24.95
This one's easy for those last-minute, no-time-to-shop or wrap situations. The photography enthusiast will appreciate this more and more, as the months (and photos) add up. And, dude. It's 25 bucks. Technically, you should be giving 3 of 'em!
Agent Provocateur Parfum
$65.00
If the lacy stuff is too expensive, you can still dazzle her with Agent Provocateur Perfume. (Or set the mood with the Strip scented candle for $40). Unbelievably nice scent either way.
Itsy-Bitsy Bracelet
$38.50
Packaged to look like it's floating, this block of magnets turns itself into a bracelet through some clever meandering. Check this out from the catalogue: "Each magnetic link has enough strength to actually move around on the other side of your hand while holding the end of the remainder of the bracelet beneath." Got no idea what that means, exactly, but it's got "bar trick" written all over it.
MATTERIAL Paper Goods
Various prices from $5 to $40 depending on what item
MATTERIAL's collection of eco-friendly paper goods are perfect for to-dos, to-doodles, and everything else worth jotting down. The beautifully designed pads and journals are made from recycled papers and are manufactured right in their Downtown, Denver studio. The perfect present for "designers and other thinking persons."
Gill Championsip Texting Gloves (Nee Sailing Gloves)
$27.90
Thumb and index finger holes so you can tap out messages while keeping hands warm! Hi-perfomance anti-slip material in the palm will keep you from dropping calls, literally!
Rite in the Rain all-weather field book
$16.00
The ubiquity of the Moleskine is starting to wear on those looking for some exclusivity. Well, now they can be unique and be outside! Consider the yellow rain-slicker style notebook for a bright change. (Add the all-weather Space Pen for 8 bucks on the same page.)
Find these and 70 other wonderful items in Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide 2007!
Posted by: core jr | Comments (2)
We're all for trying out new forms for old, staid products, but we're just not sure where this espresso maker is coming from. It seems designed purely to irritate Navy SEALs, who will invariably feel they must defuse the device before having a nice cup of joe.
As far as we can tell it's a one-off by Swiss artist/designer Carlo Borer, who has some rather amazing stainless steel sculptures available for viewing both here and here.
via boing boing
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)The techniques used in this video are not what BMW actually uses to make their cars, but if you've an industrial-manufacturing fetish, watching this will get those pleasure-center synapses firing. On the other hand if you're a UAW worker, it's bound to leave you fuming as the only human in this whole process is the driver.
Speaking of the driver, we love how he almost gets laser-sintered midway through, but miraculously ducks down to check out the glovebox at the right moment.
via techeblog
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)"Now we in the developed world want something that people in the developing world have. I like that idea!"
- Yves Behar on One Lap Top Per Child
Scribe Media caught up with Yves Behar for a quick interview about the OLPC last week at Design Miami. The designer himself runs through the meaning behind various design elements.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (2)Your next job could be...
Located at : PUMA North America, Inc. in Boston, MA
With the title of : Graphic Designer, Apparel
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
With strong expertise in water management, the Dutch may soon implement their know-how, not for export, but for their own benefit. A tulip-shaped island (much less intricate than a windmill or cannabis leaf as jokingly suggested by Bert Groothuizen of Dubai and some random blogger, respectively), about 50 kilometers (31 miles) long, is in the works to relieve overpopulation and maintain a barrier against rising sea levels.
The Dutch Parliament has asked a commission on coastal development to look into the idea of building islands in the North Sea that could be used for housing, farming or a nature reserve, while at the same time helping to protect the coast.
Hmm...we've certainly had our own battles with rising water levels in the US so what would be an appropriate silhouette for us? An SUV? Golden arches?
via coudal
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (4)
Gegenüberstellung der Erinnerung (Opposition of Memory)
by Nils Nova
Ink-jet print on blueback-paper pasted on the wall, painting on board
via cpluv
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Speaking of smoking, some restaurant owners in Germany have come up with a novel workaround to the smoking ban; patrons can stay inside and smoke outside through "Smoking Points" that resemble a cross between a porthole and a stockade. Added bonus: it makes the smoker look like, well, a complete ass! (For the sake of full disclosure, your correspondent is a guilt-ridden smoker.)
via reuben miller
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
We used to love particle board at design school. That and MDF; it was cheap, relatively sturdy, easy to cut, had no grain, and became the source material for everything from quick coffee tables to chair mockups to desktop additions. Of course, back then we also had a professor who smoked cigarettes in class.
Now we all know particle board will kill you; the VOC off-gases leaking out of the laminates can cause everything from cancer to liver damage. Yet manufacturers continue to use PB and MDF, just as that professor's still smoking.
UK-based Pli Design (whom we previously wrote about for making chairs out of recycled game consoles) is now making furniture that would have typically been made from MDF--coffee tables and cabinets--out of a bamboo veneer with a wheat straw-board core. Essentially the ingredients in their Grass line have come from grass rather than wood, and the table is made without VOCs and all that other central-nervous-system-disrupting stuff.
"...Everyone needs to step back and reinvent the idea of modern manufacture," says Pli Product Manager Alex Whitney. "The 'Grass' series and up coming 'Reee' chair range, made using 100% recycled plastic, show where we see the future of product design."
Here's to hoping others get on board, or rather, on grass.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)The website that sought to bring advance news of Apple products is no more. Yesterday Think Secret confirmed they will be shutting down after reaching a settlement with Apple, which sued the rumor site in January of '05.
While details of the settlement weren't made public, Think Secret reportedly did not have to reveal any of their sources--sure to be a sore spot for Apple and Steve Jobs, who pursue (and presumably terminate) employee leakers with vim and vigor. Looks like the iWitchhunt will remain unrealized.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
The Board of Trustees of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) announced on December 21, 2007 that John Maeda, Associate Director of Research at the MIT Media Lab, has accepted the offer to become the 16th president of RISD.
- Video announcement and press release
- Interview (Business Week)
We stopped by the ITP Winter Show at NYU earlier this week and checked out the latest student work experimenting with almost every aspect of digital technology.
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
Blue Iris, or Pantone 18-3943, has been named color of the year for 2008.
Pantone, Inc., the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, selected PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris, a beautifully balanced blue-purple, as the color of the year for 2008. Combining the stable and calming aspects of blue with the mystical and spiritual qualities of purple, Blue Iris satisfies the need for reassurance in a complex world, while adding a hint of mystery and excitement.
Really? Feel more secure and amused? Sign us up.
For more in-depth coverage on this announcement, check out what the NYT has to say.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (2)
Herman Miller is finalizing their acquisition of Brandrud, a company that designs furniture for healthcare environments. (Pictured above is Brandrud's Cente Patient Chair, which mechanically assists the patient in sitting or standing.) Brandrud did estimated sales of $20 million in 2007--peanuts compared to HM's $41 million net earnings in the last quarter alone--but their acquisition should help furniture giant HM expand into an entirely new category. The ink should be dry on the contracts by February 2008.
via us stock @ jrj
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
When a New York couple decided to renovate their Harlem row house, they had no idea the project would turn into a green design version of an Amish barn raising, with various elements of the green community pitching in.
Publicized by Dwell Magazine, the project gained attention from designers and companies eager for exposure; Kohler, NYLoft and Runtal donated dual-flush toilets, formaldehyde-free cabinets and radiant heating, respectively, and a group of Pratt Industrial Design students answered a Craig's List ad offering to design the couple's office.
Though this project reached its zenith last May, when 700 people toured the house in a Dwell-sponsored event, it seems to have kicked off a trend of the Green Show House, which you can read about here.
via ny times
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)
While Greg Hinzman might not be a fan of the OLPC, ZDNet's Robin Harris insists it's "the best designed notebook in the world." Click here to read Harris' in-depth take on the machine, including testimony from a father whose son actually has--and uses, more importantly--one of the devices.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)
Karl Ulrich will be the keynote speaker at Cyon Research Corporation's Congress on the Future of Engineering Software event, a cross-disciplinary think tank "that brings executives from design, engineering, architectural, development and technology companies together to examine the role engineering technology plays in business success."
Professor, author and entreprenuer Ulrich, whose passion is human-powered transportation, invented the Xootr (picture at right) with his brother Nathan, and the company they founded later released the Swift Folder (picture at left). No mere desk jockey, Ulrich also enters competitions himself, having come in first place in the 2006 Mt. Washington Hill Climb (in the Folder category).
COFES will be held on April 10-13th in Scottsdale, Arizona. You can read about it here, but unfortunately that doesn't mean you can go; it's invite only. We'll post coverage as it becomes available.
thanks John!
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)
With some insight from his forecasting crew, Bruce Nussbaum's made fourteen innovation predictions for 2008. We're gonna call some of them educated guesses rather than predictions; like Wi-Fi on planes, longevity as a means of (not "replacing" per se) sustainability, innovation as strategy, and an applications-rich leap in mobile communications. As for some other anticipations, like a Kindle comeback, we'll have to wait and see for ourselves. And if "people move to gated networks from Facebook and MySpace" should we still "watch the apps developed for Facebook on the iPhone?"
Anyhooz, '08 is just around the corner, so things'll pan out before our eyes in no time...and if any or all of the crystal-gazing comes true, at least we can say we'd heard that would happen.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
There aren't many days left to shop and if you've managed to buy everything except the wrapping paper (doh), no worries--Wrap Art's got your back. Given you've got enough patience, random stuff, and junk mail, you can learn "how to wrap presents creatively,using fragments of paper and miscellaneous items from around your house." If you've got multiple "your name here" credit card offers piled up to the side, then the "Extra Credit" Credit Wrap is just the thing for you.
via lifehacker
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)Your next job could be...
Located at : Sasaki Associates, Inc. in Watertown, MA
With the title of : Environmental Graphic Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
This functional pizza-puter DIYer can obviously scarf down a pizza, but evidently, he's also embraced the sustainable practice of repurposing.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (2)
You can scribble "Happy Holidays" until your pen runs out or you can save ink, paper, and time while appearing more creative by using Worktank's Holiday-O-Matic holiday greeting generator. We're pretty pumped about "May Your Turkey Carving Be Salmonella-Free and Filled With Good Cheer." No one wants to spend Festivus in the emergency room.
For every random and delightful greeting emailed out, Worktank donates $.50 to Rotary First Harvest, so get to "writing" those holiday emails ASAP!
thanks ben!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
A sad week for the design blog space. Joost van Brug's must-read design blog, reluct, has ceased publication, ending a wonderful 4-year run of super high-quality design news and insight. We will miss you Joost, and wish you good luck with Marc & Justus.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
The Swallow glass/vase is new from Brooklyn-based Cake. The vessel is a reinterpretation of a traditional mint julep cup, produced in black/white glazed stoneware. Although the dainty bas relief swallow gives the cup its name, the cup packs a full 15oz. of mint julep juice, or any other beverage of choice. Available for $15 at Velocity Art & Design - just in time for the holidays!
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (0)
Reverse Garbage is an Australian nonprofit that sells trash to people who will repurpose it in creative ways. And we're talking people who will transform castoffs into usable items; we've all seen messenger bags made out of diskettes and such on sites like Instructables, and Reverse Garbage is basically a clearinghouse for those types of innovators, with an added green bonus of using material that's already in the system.
Reverse Garbage now has a storefront, m.a.d. (make a difference), billed as "Australia's first permanent sustainable art and design centre."
"To make saleable products from reused items, people have to be very clever, because they need to be able to repeat or manufacture the item," [Mary-Jean Newton, m.a.d. co-founder and manager] says. "They need to rethink their material choices and tap into things like the industrial waste we get at Reverse Garbage so they can create a product design and continue to manufacture it sustainably."
For those not in Australia, click here to check out m.a.d.'s offerings online.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (2)
A group of ID students at Brigham Young University presented their final projects, three different classes of ultra mobile PC concepts, to two retired Dell managers and current Dell executives listening via conference call. One group focused on users in rugged environments, another targeted college students, and the third team created a version to be used mostly for entertainment. The concepts were presented in consideration for inclusion in a potential line of Dell UMPCs but it's not clear how serious the partnership is or whether any of the concepts will be developed. It would also be nice (ahem, if any BYU people are reading this) if the image links worked and provided more info about each concept.
thanks spencer!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (8)
Complaining about hideous holiday house trimmings has been hoisted up a few levels thanks to Tacky Christmas Yards, an entire site dedicated to calling out actual violations seen at carelessly decorated homes. Here we have a classic case of a Multiple Clauses Violation (and disturbingly decapitated Clauses at that):
There is one Santa Clause and only one. I repeat: you may not have more than ONE Santa in your yard at anytime. (The exception is this; if you have a Santa from another culture or a Santa of another ethnicity, THEN you may have another Santa among the deciduous forest that is your yard. This does not mean you may have an inflatable Santa AND a plastic, light-up Santa. Inflatable is not an ethnicity). The same rules apply for Mrs. Clause. Santa is not an adulterer. We must show Santa as an upstanding and moral citizen, despite the 3rd world wages he pays the elves.
Also note the Intermingling Violation of Jesus being born adjacent to the North Pole as well as Candy Land, which we all know are both located more than 2 feet away from Bethlehem.
via coudal
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)Swedish director Daniel Eskils and producer Johan Junker of Eskils Junker Film produce really catchy videos that push form, dimension, space, and perception to the limit--pure eye candy for design-y folks.
thanks tova!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
The good people at Continuum recently held a green event, appropriately called "Green", in their Boston studio where "more than 60 doers and thinkers in the realm of green design gathered to share their thoughts on the necessary convergence of design thinking and thinking green."
Green's speakers included Robin Chase of Zipcar and GoLoco, Jennifer van der Meer of o2nyc, Amy Smith of MIT, explorer Luis Gordon Pugh, David Berry of Flagship Ventures, Paul Murray of Herman Miller, and Heather Clark of Busycle. The site features videos of each presentation, so it's just like having been there, except you have the luxury of being in your underwear. Enjoy!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)Your next job could be...
Located at : Blackbaud, Inc. in Charleston, SC
With the title of : Interactive Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
In this age of 3D renderings and texture mapping, patent drawings are a salty old industrial designer's only chance to see actual line drawings anymore.
Here's two new ones spotted on textually from Sony Ericsson and Nokia. The first is for a "self-cleaning" phone--open and close the clamshell, and a little windshield wiper cleans your grossness off the screen. The second, apparently designed by Doug Henning, is for a phone with three panels that slide out independently, like cards being offered in a magic trick.
We'll close this entry with an inspirational quote from Messr. Henning himself, which we hope all designers will take to heart:
There's always room for beauty in the world of magic!
The newest issue of the David Report adds more fuel to the smokin' hot topic of sustainability by discussing the outcome of green event Designboost, which recently took place in Malmö, Sweden. The Sustainable Wheel (it's imaginary, not physical like in The Price is Right) is a concept that emerged from the multi-faceted event as a guide or tool of sorts for designers, companies and organizations to easily define what sustainable design means for them. The system is upheld by seven factors: environmental influence, innovation, emotional connection, aesthetics, quality, authenticity, and compatibility--and like any wheel, it's as strong as it's weakest spoke. The report also includes a brief interview with Jennifer Leonard, a designer researcher and writer at IDEO who presented at Designboost.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
First there was the Muslim car, then a decidedly Christian MP3 player, and now there's the Buddhist cell phone. What's the sound of one hand texting? And where is this trend going? Our predictions: Unitarian KVM switches, Santeria iPods, Mormon USB hubs with up to seven connections.
via cns news and just another mobile phone blog
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)It's gratifying to see a comprehensive new technology system that, for once, wasn't developed by the US military with martial applications. French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen's immersive VR center (video at bottom) is purely for designing cars, and the multidimensional system puts Ford's Powerwall (video at top) to shame.
Not that the Powerwall's a waste of time, but watch both videos and you'll see the difference. A quick summary: the Powerwall lets you render cars on a lifesize screen, while the Peugeot system puts the designer(s) inside an extremely immersive system that's probably making US Army officials jealous. You've got to see it to believe it, so click away.
Ford clip via youtube, Peugeot article via jalopnik
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (3)
This is a napkin sketch of Berlin's manhole cover by the German designer Marcus Botsch, one of the first sketches up in the DESIGN UNIKAT online gallery. Another gallery with glossy pictures? Not at all, this gallery is all about those dirty sketches, from plain paper to dirty beer coasters. In a time where designers are Gods, Germany's iF design (well known from the iF design awards) supports a smart move.
DESIGN UNIKAT is an online gallery for original design drawings, initiated by DESIGN UNIKAT in Hamburg. The online gallery makes it possible to view and access drafts -- one-of-a-kind specimens -- in industrial and product design. Fans and colleagues can purchase these drawings. New submissions are also welcome: design drawings from the field of industrial and product design of products that are already on the market and were captured on paper and signed by the designer in person.
Whether our design drafts will reach the status Andy Warhol's soup cans, time will tell... For now, the gallery offers a nice alternative to those smooth rendered 3D visuals out there and hopefully inspires more creatives to document their design process (!)
Posted by: Aart van Bezooyen | Comments (1)
That there is the world record progression for the men's 100 meter sprint, from 1912 to the present day, from Wikipedia. As you can see, humans got faster by nearly a full second over the course of the century. In almost any measurable athletic test, humans perform better now than we did a hundred years ago.
To what can we attribute this? Better diet? Smarter training? Better timepieces? And more importantly, where's the performance ceiling?
According to a French study in the Daily Telegraph, humans will hit their performance limits around 2060. "We are reaching the limit in terms of physiological capacities of the human race," says French researcher Jean-Francois Toussaint. After that it will be goodbye steroids, hell-o cybernetics! But with any luck The Bionic Woman, both the old and the new one, will be forgotten well before then.
via spluch
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (5)
It's true that we can't articulate quite why this bothers us, but something is decidedly off about this baby bath from the UK. The Dutch-designed Tummy Tub supposedly feels more womb-like to the baby--we'd love to see those focus group transcripts--but we can't help feel that Tupperware or Rubbermaid had some undue influence here, in the same way Hallmark invented Valentine's Day to move more product.
More importantly, we'd love to hear actual parents' perspectives on this one, so those with children, please sound off in the comments. Would you buy one of these?
via parent dish
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (38)
First the yurt made a comeback, now the tipi; apparently abodes invented by indigenous nomads and designed with circular footprints have a certain appeal to them. But LoveLifeGoods' super-luxe tipis, above, aren't for true nomads--if you buy one of these, the only place you'll be wandering to is the bank, to make sure you have $2,892 to spend.
via luxist
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
There's been a good amount of buzz around Joshua Glen and Carol Hayes' Taking Things Seriously--so much so that DO has been graciously posting excerpts for all to enjoy. The latest TTS offshoot is WNYC's Taking Things Seriously Flickr Pool where anyone is welcome to add a photo of an object that holds personal significance along with its story. Images uploaded before tomorrow at noon will be considered for discussion on airing on December 21st.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
If you haven't made your way over to GOOD Magazine's pop-up community center + store yet, tonight is your night. The theme of tonight's party is Design, featuring some cool presentations (including the gift guide!), and some hot networking. You need to RSVP, so don't delay! Here's the pitch:
Join GOOD December for an evening hosted by Scott Stowell, Design Director of GOOD / founder Open Studio. Presentations by: Andrew Sloat (short typographic films based on the US Constitution), Bobby Martin (Abyssinian Baptist Church of Harlem), The Holster (Type Talks), Amy Wang (Ametrica! Project), Mike Essl (highlights of the world's largest collection of Mr. T memorabilia), Allan Chochinov (Core77's Ultimate Design Gift Guide), and Jonathan Harris (www.thewhalehunt.com).
When: Tue 18 Dec 2007 at 07:00PM
Where: 201 Mulberry St (below Spring), NYC
RSVP: Here
The Social Design Site is celebrating the close of its first year online, with high hopes to not not make it better in the new year--after all, its motto is "We Cannot Not Change the World." The great thing about SDS is that it doesn't aim to pinpoint exactly what social design is, but rather foster a discourse on the subject. Creating awareness, highlighting exemplary projects, and making connections within the design community are all vital in maintaining the Social Design Site's objectives. After a busy first year, the site's accumulated an impressive pool of interesting projects and discussions that continues to grow. If you haven't gotten to it by now, definitely check it out.
We cannot not change the world. Isn't that odd?Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)We are used to believing the opposite, that we cannot change the world, being the humble individuals we are. However, we either reinforce or change the way things are around us with every little thing we do. We establish and change the social world we live in every day. We call that social design.
Your next job could be...
Located at : Caterpillar Inc. in Peoria, IL
With the title of : Industrial Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Nice! If you're still working on last minute DIY holiday cards, check out Departika's set of 25 holiday-themed Photoshop brushes. Pretty sweet if you want to save yourself the time and eye-squinting monotony of creating perfect vector holly-swag artwork from scratch.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (1)
By observing the position in which most bathers bathe--back against the end, knees bent--Lyndon Craig's Peak bath was designed to support the body's natural contour with a peak in the bath floor. The peak fills a substantial space below the knees which, in turn, reduces the volume of water drawn for each bath.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Naoto Fukasawa Monograph
$69.95
One of the most inspiring design books of the year. (Read our review here.)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex and Cowboy Bebop Combo
Total: $73.94
The best two anime series ever, both will convert non-fans of the genre. Fresh takes on the urban future, seemingly rendered by amazingly imaginative industrial designers, with engaging plots you can actually follow.
Okala Design Guide
$16
Everyone's going green. Give your design and eco-minded friends and loved ones the gift of guidance.
Good Magazine Subscription
$60.00
Good for you. (Or for someone you love.)
Great American Novel starter kit for aspiring writers:
Muji notebook + BIC Cristal Grip Ballpoint Stic Pen pack + Fifth of Hendricks Gin + One-way Greyhound ticket from New York to Fayetteville, North Carolina
Total: $76.78
Link New York City to Fayetteville, North Carolina With the characters you meet on Greyhound, inspiration shouldn't be a problem. Depending on your seatmates, you can either crack the Hendricks open when you hit the motel in Fayetteville...or while the bus is still idling at Port Authority.
79 Short Essays on Design, by Michael Bierut
$16.47
Sure, it would've been ideal, here, for this book to be titled 77 Short Essays..., but close enough. Need more convincing? Read our review.
Printable Pocket Guides
FREE!
Fish to Watch Out For... Pesticides in Produce... and from the RAND Corporation: How to Survive All Kinds of Scary Shit
Find these and 70 other wonderful items in Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide 2007!
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Fun times were had as always at NYU's 2007 Interactive Telecommunications Program Winter Show. The myriad projects ranged from heavily artistic and visually rich masterpieces to automated gizmotrons that use the latest tech tricks.
Clockwise from top right:
-Emotion by You Jeong Paik, Benjamin Chao, Younji Choi
-Robby the Racist Robot by David Overholt
-The 'Is Our Machines Learning?' Machines 2.0 by Christian Croft
-Cubit by Stefan Hechenberger and Addie Wagenknecht
Clockwise from top left:
-Electronic Copy by Andrew Doro and Rory Nugent
-Brick Screen by Rucyl Mills, Maria Mendez, Ana Gutierrez
-Lost and Found by Yasmin Alayat
-Lost in Rain by Lucia Jeesun Lee
-How You See It by Pravin Sathe
-Plink Jet by Lesley Flanigan and Andrew Doro
ITP 2007 gallery coming soon!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Sure, its not the snazziest looking mobile phone on the market but its unique. Its a mobile phone and a Point of Sale terminal that accepts credit and debit card payments - not for airtime minutes but regular payments to a merchant. Its been launched in Kenya and meant for 'on the go' merchants like taxi drivers, salesmen etc to accept credit card payments for their business. From the news article,
In its ability to transform and become anything - is there any stopping the mobile phone?
"Not yet," said Tomi Paastila, a man who has designed mobile phones for a leading manufacturer during the most dynamic years in its history."This gadget has metamorphosed into almost anything we can want it to be. There truly is no stopping the mobile phone."
First, the mobile phone became your camera. Then, it was your music player and radio. It's currently considering posing a serious threat by becoming your television.
Now, it wants to pay your bills too.
It's a familiar story: pioneering artists and creatives move into an abandoned industrial area, infuse the place with creativity and the life that only the right-brained can bring, and within years you've got a revitalized, hip (and no longer affordable) SoHo, Berlin, Billyburg or DUMBO.
Several years ago, an unexpected snowstorm and a shutdown airport following a Michigan State lecture left us crashing with hippie activists in the depths of darkest Detroit. We were shocked to find a vibrant underground community ekeing it out in bombed-out industrial buildings and recognized it as the model described above, in a very nascent stage.
In the years since, Detroit's creative community has continued to grow, but still has room. There are 1,000-square-foot lofts going for US $550 a month. There are places like the Russell Industrial Center, a 2.2-million-square-foot, World-War-I-era bomber factory containing
...a diverse group [of tenants] with specialties like photography, music, painting, interior design, architecture, metal work, glassblowing, graphic design, cabinetry, clothes manufacturing, candle-making, posters and a company...that makes acrylic material that reconfigures shadows and light.
Nearby CCS is producing a steady crop of industrial designers, last month the Detroit Institute of the Arts reopened after a $158 million renovation, and last year the Detroit MoCA opened "in an abandoned car dealership [and] received praise from the New York Times for its 'guerrilla architecture that accepts decay as fact.'"
"When we talk to artists from out-of-town, we mostly talk about opportunities that don't exist elsewhere," [said Mitch Cope, artist and co-owner of Design 99]. "You can come to the city, take over land, do whatever you want."
Creatives looking for a fresh start, Detroit is the new Wild West. Read the article the above quotes are taken from here.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (4)
Dr. Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby are faculty members in the Design Interactions department at London's Royal College of Art and have gained somewhat of a cult following for their provocative and future-scenario-based design work. As authors of Hertzian Tales and Design Noir they are most responsible for popularizing the idea of Critical Design, where objects are used as tools for awareness and reflection upon issues largely surrounding the implications of existing and future technologies. Their work is in the permanent collections of the MOMA (NY) and the Victoria and Albert in London.
Bruce M. Tharp was able to catch up with them at the IDSA/ICSID conference in San Francisco where they presented a recent project that proposes robots with "fragile personalities." Listen as they discuss the ideas behind their work, their dream project, their feelings about "Critical Design" after more than a decade, the relationship between their professional practice and the work of their students at RCA, and more.
LISTEN NOW (30 min.) | iTunes | More Broadcasts
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)The Book of SPAM, a book all about SPAM (mystery meat, not junk email), is now being promoted by way of its "closest friend", toast. Yeah, we're aware that burnt toast graphics are sooo yesterday's breakfast, but a sprinkling of good stop-motion makes it kinda special.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Crafty designer and artist Keetra Dean Dixon is at it again (here's something from before), this time bursting with physical shards of joy.
via ffffound!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
The Home Project's MAX 5000W is an object that asks, "What is the value of energy?"
via notcot
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (1)
Ponoko was huge in pioneering public design and print communities, and now we've heard from Genometri about a new start-up portal that allows for consumer customization and manufacturing called JuJups. It has just launched in time for the 2007 holiday season, with customizable picture frames as its debut product. These might not be the most sophisticated frames out there, but it's "just the beginning of a long journey." The story here is about a starting place, what's to come, and what can be pulled from potential. The technology is provided by Genometri and printing by Z Corp in Boston. JuJups is named after a gummy holiday candy.
We believe that "everyone has an inherent desire - to design" Design is about self expression. It is about satisfying your desires. Once upon a time only a small portion of humanity could read or write. We would like to say that once upon a time "only a few people could design” but, JuJups changed that.Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)JuJups is powered by design technology that structures design in an intelligent way, just as much as CSS and Html structures text and graphic data in an intelligent way so that non-techies can create wonderful blog graphics and web pages that we enjoy today. JuJups will do the same to the world of products.
Your next job could be...
Located at : Jaxtr in Menlo Park, CA
With the title of : User Experience & Interaction Director
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Entertainment, food, and fashion celebrities have customized and crafted one-of-a-kind, signed lunchboxes for auction, with proceeds going to hunger relief organizations Food Bank For New York City and The Lunchbox Fund of South Africa. It's clear that some of these stars are great at what they do professionally and should be glad they made the right career choice in avoiding crafts, but hey, it's for a good cause right? Many Lunchbox Auction lunchboxes, like Natalie Portman's creations up there on the left, are straight-up decorated at will, while others, like Mark Ronson's munchie-blaster on the right, offer something really unique and out there.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)Nothing says "Merry Christmas" quite like a spinning LED wreath that spells out "Merry Christmas."
via lifehacker
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)In yesterday's New York Times Magazine, Rob Walker gets a few more words than usual to explore the world of Etsy.com. It's a sober, non-sentimental look at the crafty juggernaut, and if you've always wondered what's behind those fawn-printed iPhone cases and wire-wrapped rocks, start here.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
The conference Changing the Change is about the role and results of design research in the transition towards sustainability. It will be held in Torino, Italy, 10 to 12 July 2008, in the framework of Torino World Design Capital, 2008.
The conference, which is chaired by Ezio Manzini, "seeks to make a significant contribution to a necessary transformation that involves changing the direction of current changes toward a sustainable future", and "specifically intends to outline the state-of-the-art of design research in terms of visions, proposals and tools with which design can actively and positively take part in the wider social learning process that will have to take place."
'Every thing has a story. We help people to link to it,' says Finnish designer and system developer Ulla- Maaria Mutanen. Mutanen created Thinglink (blog) to be an open online database for anyone, from artists to designers, collectors and trendspotters, to add and publish portfolios with their favourite things.
For a presentation at the Dott Festival, Mutanen's Thinglink team explored how their basic concept could be combined with mobile phones so that you or I would be able to scan products and read their environmental credentials before purchase - more info on WorldChanging.
via Bruce Sterling
Posted by: Mark Vanderbeeken | Comments (1)
This overview of innovative alarm clocks is a celebration of creativity in interaction design. And sometimes also sadism.
There is the jigsaw puzzle clock that requires you to complete a small puzzle to shut it off, thus forcing your brain into motion; or the sfera hanging alarm clock, which climbs a little further up to the ceiling every time you snooze.
via the product usability weblog
Posted by: Mark Vanderbeeken | Comments (1)
"Design has always been about the user -- be it the consumer, the patient, the student, the reader, the media watcher. Today, understanding the wants and needs of the user is perhaps the most important driving force in business. The era when companies invented new things and threw them into the market at consumers is fast ending. This is especially true as individuals everywhere demand high global standards for their products. People are also demanding more control of their products and services. They want the ability to customize their cell phones and adjust their tractors."
This is an excerpt from Bruce Nussbaum's keynote speech at the Bangalore Design Summit, which he just published on his blog.
Posted by: Mark Vanderbeeken | Comments (0)
If you have 45 minutes of time and are fascinated by the economic changes that the web brings about, I suggest you to watch this video of Chris Anderson (of Wired magazine and "The Long Tail") giving a keynote speech at Nokia World about the "emerging world of free".
via Nova
Posted by: Mark Vanderbeeken | Comments (1)
Irene Pereyra & Tom Klinkowstein recently presented their "day in the life of a networked designer's smart things or a day in a designer's networked smart things, 2030" at the Pratt Institute. The project was made for the Singapore Design Festival and deals with an imagined designer's day, anno 2030. Irene & Tom created a diary like wall-sized map (pdf) taking the viewer on a day's journey through the life of a designer as if sitting on her shoulder and reading the world through her mind's eye. A smart-tech-infused future comes to life through the experience of the designer via a fascinating, diverse yet integrated storyline.
Posted by: Mark Vanderbeeken | Comments (1)
The AIGANY Cause/Effect conference is underway today, with the morning sessions off to a very strong start. Introductions by coordinators Emma Presler and Mike Essl were followed by a full-on historical tour of propaganda by Steve Heller. Arguing that the term was not always pejorative, Heller traced propaganda through magazines, posters, words, icons, photography, graffiti, ad hoc demonstration placards, and guerrilla re-purposing. Lots of the images will be found in his books and on his SVA podcasts, but this is a PowerPoint deck you'll definitely want to get ahold of.
Seymour Chwast then boarded the tour bus, showing the audience an assortment of his political posters and illustrations, beginning with the observation, "The 60's was a great time in addition to sex and drugs...people bought posters."
Mark Randall then took to the stage with an overview of core-fave Urban Forest Project, revealing that some of the posters had to be edited (Seymour Chwast's being one of them!), and showing delight that other cities across the US have picked up the initiative.
Alissa Walker is beside me live-blogging the event, so check out her posts at Unbeige.
simplehuman's calling all students (currently enrolled in a NASAD-accredited school) who have big ideas on how to simplify household chores. The goal is to design a new household product that improves any basic household task, and if you can swing it, a product that actually makes chores fun. Entries will be judged based on utility, efficiency, innovation, research, and aesthetics.
Maybe you would, if there was a way to make doing the dishes easier, faster, and maybe even fun. That's why we want you to help us develop new and innovative tools to simplify our daily household chores - anything from organizing clutter to doing the laundry. Whether it's a concept or something we can introduce in a future product line, share your ideas for making life at home more efficient by entering the simple solutions design competition.
Simple Solutions
Deadline : February 29, 2008
First Prize - $5,000 scholarship
Second Prize - $500 simplehuman gift certificate
Third Prize - $250 simplehuman gift certificate
Thank goodness for warning labels--if it wasn't for them, we'd all be eating Silica Gel packets like popcorn.
The Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch website has an amusing contest on the stupidest product warning labels. In litigation-happy America, companies often have to put ridiculously idiotic labels on seemingly everything as a lawsuit-dodging measure, resulting in such gems as:
- Do not put any person in this washing machine
- Do not iron while wearing shirt (on an iron-on decal)
- Safety goggles recommended (on a letter opener)
- Remove child before folding (on a baby stroller)
- Harmful if swallowed (on a fishhook, and ironically it's not written in a language fish can understand)
Some ideas of our own:
- Do not use to accidentally shoot family members you've mistaken for intruders (on a shotgun)
- Do not eat this if you're already feeling kind of full but find yourself craving the taste anyway (on a cheeseburger)
- Do not crash (on a car)
The winner of this year's contest was a tractor label beginning with the helpful "Avoid death." Click here to see what else our lawyers hath wrought.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)
Just in time for Halloween Boxing Day, GOOD's published a very specific, informative, and visually literal (nice boots) graphic to display Vampire Energy stats. If you've got each one of these devices plugged in year round, that's nearly $300 down the drain and 2,500 kilowatt hours in the grave. Vampire energy sucks a bloody estimated $3 billion per year from U.S. consumers' pockets.
The SF-chapter of the AIGA is holding a "sustainable design" conference with the killer name Compostmodern. Rather than ivory (emerald?) tower idealism, this one's focused on practicality:
Gaby Brink, AIGA SF environmental chair and conference producer, believes "most designers are willing to embrace sustainability in a meaningful fashion and are hungry for the information and resources that will allow them to make a difference in their day-to-day business lives. Compostmodern is based on the idea that most designers agree to sustainability in principle, and that getting a foothold — something you can actually use — is the real challenge."
The all-day event on January 19th will feature a dozen speakers from organizations like IDEO, greenbiz.com, the Sierra Club, and others. Click here for details.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)A group of 18 senior industrial design students at the University of The Arts have created, for their Design Theory class, short films that comment on design in some obvious or abstract way. From bathroom doodle evidence that boy and girl designers differ greatly in thinking (above) to frustrations of a prospective industrial designer within a disposable culture to how things do or don't change over time, the variation is broad--and like any ID class, there are clear winners here and some that you'll stop watching after a few seconds but we'll let you make those decisions for yourself.
All in all, very cool project. It's excellent to see video, a medium somewhat alienated from ID education, being pushed to yield some really thoughtful and captivating insights.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
[Ed note: You can now listen to a podcast of the event here.]
Before getting into the details of Designism 2.0, the second annual gathering of graphic designers committed to social activism, please permit me a brief digression. Apropos to the giving mood that comes with the winter holidays (along with the sort of self-promises to turn a new leaf that come with the New Year), I recently engaged in a short conversation with a high profile corporate attorney who bills in excess of $500 per hour. With a smile and a well-meaning heart, she explained to me that she was eagerly giving her time to a soup kitchen for the holiday season. I couldn't resist playing the Devil's Advocate and explaining how unbelievably wasteful such choices seemed to me. Any economist would likely tell her that her decision was counterproductive. If her time was truly worth $500/hour, wouldn't she be far better served donating her legal advice and acumen? Or wouldn't her time and money be equally well-spent working for one hour and then hiring someone else to contribute nearly a hundred hours of work at minimum wage instead?
Scrooge-esque curmudgeon that I am, I went a step further, explaining that I'd far rather have a grocery bagger (paper or plastic?) fully committed to his or her work doing a bang-up job of bagging my groceries than a lackluster employee who explained that he or she was sleepy from staying up all night serving food to the homeless. There can be little doubt that from a strictly rational standpoint the economy does a far better job of allocating resources and capacity than our heavy hearts...but will that sort of behavior let us sleep at night?
It is this sort of ethical quandary that Designism 2.0, held at the Art Directors Club gallery in NYC, was held to address. Bringing together design luminaries such as Milton Glaser with pundits like This is Spinal Tap's Tony Hendra, Designism provided an outlet for graphic designers in search of a cause to come together and fix (some of) the world's problems. Lofty goals indeed.
Designism began with the "SEE" panel, moderated by Alissa Walker, where young Turks Ji Lee and Andrew Sloat discussed projects they'd undertaken on their own accord in helping to shape consumer perception of our sociopolitical climate. Purely self-financed, Lee and Sloat, joined by Ellen Sitkin, explained how they had each successfully brought their design talents to bear in creating political discourse. (For those readers wondering what sort of financial commitment would be required, each of the speakers concurred that they had spent approximately $3,000 of their hard-earned money financing their endeavors. So according to the economic lens I brought to bear as the Devil's Advocate economist above, that meager figure could be taken as the cost of social activism.)
Jen Stark' paper kaleidescope sculptures have undoubtedly made the rounds, but we don't think they could ever get "old." (If you own one and ever get bored of it, feel free to make a donation to Core77. Cool thanks.) PingMag just posted an interview with the artist herself in which she describes her initial steps, inspirations, process, materials, and notes on specific pieces.
I began making paper sculptures when I went to study in France for a semester. Since I could only take two suitcases with me for five months, I decided to purchase art supplies when I got there. The Euro was high and everything was pretty expensive, so I decided to get the cheapest but coolest looking thing in the art store - a stack of construction paper! I started experimenting with what paper could turn into and it took off from there.Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Your next job could be...
Located at : Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Boulder, CO
With the title of : Web Developer/CSS Guru
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Nice! We're loving this Dieter Rams, Weniger, aber besser (Less, but better) poster on alphanumeric's Flickr, which is conveniently part of an excellent Dieter Rams Flickr pool.
via ffffound!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
We got super pumped about Joshua Glenn and Carol Hayes' Taking Things Seriously when it first came out but admit to not yet adding it to the shelf. Luckily for us, Design Observer plans to publish a series of excerpts from the book in which Glenn, Hayes, and other writers discuss the importance of objects in their lives. The first one was posted yesterday, featuring a personally significant, dried-up old artichoke.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
If it's true that you should choose the best tool for the job, then getting the best tool for the lucky ones on your gift list is the least you can do. We've got lots of great tools in our Ultimate Gift Guide, and all very affordable. Check out some of the highlights:
Forearm Forklift Lifting Straps, 2-Pack
$17.95
If the name"forearm forklift lifting straps" weren't enough to sell you, the utility really should. And with a weight capacity of 600 pounds per pair (tested at 2,720 pounds), we're not saying you could lift a baby grand with these things, but we're not saying you couldn't either.
Pocket screwdriver
$8.50
We've seen a few of these over the years, but this pocket screwdriver is particularly ingenious, with the edge of the washer graduating in thickness to accommodate any (common) slot. Pack o' 12 too!
Steel Letter Stamps
$74.25
Though the box isn't something you'll hand down to your heirs, these stamps are great for metal, wood, paper, or just about anything. Go on, get crafty!
Heavy-Weight Tape Dispenser
$60
There's nothing worse than dragging your tape dispenser all over hell and back when you're trying to tear off just a little piece. Kiss that annoyance goodbye with the"Heavy-Weight".
GTD SupaPak
$65
There nothing like an economy pack of Post-It notes and David Allen's GTD classic, Getting Things Done, to get even the most slackerish of slackers started on maximizing productivity. The giant pencil, used for writing notes on the Post-Its, is too large to lose and a lifetime supply of cookies make for fantastic prizes at the end of each accomplished task (no cheating!).
Line Weight Kit
Total cost: $64.83
A good ID student can never have enough pens and markers with varied line weights. Get this kit together and make sure your favorite industrial designer-to-be is equipped and ready to draw! 12-packs of Pilot Razor Points ($15.99), PaperMate Flairs ($15.49), Sharpie Bold Points ($11.49), and Sharpie Fine Points ($13.29) won't leave 'em inkless and those classic Ticonderoga #2's ($11.99/72 pack) will make for perfect underlay sketches. Plus you've gotta keep them sharp with a handy sharpener ($3.29) and don't leave out the 4-pack of erasers ($3.29) because, well, everyone makes mistakes.
Find these and 69 other wonderful items in Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide 2007!
Ever broken up with someone by text message? Read an Evite but not responded? If a nearby friend is entering a PIN code, don't you politely avert your gaze?
In a fascinating article on techno-etiquette, The Economist relates a tale of a group of British politicians circa 1864 being disturbed by a knock on the door heralding a late-night telegram. Fearing news of war or worse, they read it and were enraged to discover it was an announcement of services by a local dentist.
This was, notes Matthew Sweet, a historian, the first example of what is known today as "spam". It shows that new communications technologies have been prompting questions about etiquette ever since the advent of the telegraph in the 19th century. The pattern is always the same: a new technology emerges on the scene, and nobody can be quite sure how it will be employed, or the appropriate etiquette for its use. So users have to make up the rules as they go along.
When we designers play our part in producing objects containing disruptive technologies, it's difficult to plan for the new social situations they may spawn--introducing new language, for instance. "Hello," for example, was not a widely-used word--until Edison had to think of what people should say when picking up the telephone. (Bell's rejected bid: "Ahoy, ahoy.") The Japanese phrase "moshi moshi" is not a meaningful phrase, but something you say on the phone to confirm the other party can hear you.
In South Korea (and lately in New York, we've noticed) people tend not to leave voicemails as much, but assume that since you can see your "missed calls" you will simply call them back. In Scandinavia it's reportedly common for people to text you seeking permission to call.
As this stuff fascinates us, and we have a global readership, please tell us in the comments: What forms of techno-etiquette exist in your area? We're sure it will make interesting reading for all.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (7)
Earlier today we posted about the imperfect solution for a "theft-proof" bicycle and asked if any of you had ideas. Turns out some of you did! (More importantly, with actual illustrations.) Check out via EC's clever solutions, one of which turns the seatpost (which often gets stolen) into the lock itself.
Thanks EC!
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (10)As widespread as Kindle-hating (here and here for starters) is at this point, it's ever so interesting to hear why it falls short from a seasoned designer like Philippe Starck, who we're much more keen on listening to after watching his delightful and quasi-enlightening TEDTalk.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (1)
When we say "toy train" you're probably thinking "miniature model train," but in Japan the phrase has been taken to an entirely new level. Something like a daycare center on rails, Japan's Eiji-Mitooka-designed Omoden train, above, runs on the Kishigawa line in Wakayama prefecture. The train contains hundreds of toys, cribs for infants, and at the last stop on the line (Kishi Station), the stationmaster is...a cat. Named Tama-san.
"Kippu, onegai shimasu...."
Click the link below for some amazing pictures.
via deputy dog
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
We just spent a couple minutes zoning out to Martine Camillieri's prolific collection of Camions-bidons (bottle trucks).
via pan-dan
Any damn fool can go out and buy a cool gift, but how many of us can make one? Well, lots of us, it turns out. And Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide can point you in the right direction, DIY-style. So fire up that soldering iron, check the bobbin on that sewing machine, and get makin'!
Paper snowflake instructions
Free!
We blogged this item last year, and have personally made several of them to never-ending oohs and aahs. Use silvery blue paper if you got it, but just about any stock will sparkle. Start with 8.5 x 11's, then work your way up!
Knit Night Cupcakes
free/diy/cost of supplies
The crafty and sweet-toothed ones on your list won't stop ooh-ing and ahh-ing for hours at your kick-ass DIY skills, that is, until they get kinda hungry. Chomp!
Ghetto Flash Drive
$4.95 + ???
How many 256mb CF cards do you have laying around? Put them to use as ad-hoc flash drives.
IE voodoo plushie doll
FREE!
Not hating here, just this seems like such a wonderful analog, mystical, way of addressing digital frustration. Plus the x-ed out eyes are hilarious.
Wine Rack
Free
Free, that is if you have a $10,000 laser cutter sitting around. or a strong arm and a key hole saw! Download the PDF, get some 3mm MDF, make it ASAP.
Gakken Cup Phonograph Kit in Edison-style
$65
Turn a plastic cup into a phonograph! Kit includes everything you need—motor, battery box, plastic cups, and a needle. We want this ourselves!
Pinstriping Starter Kit Package
$71.38
Squirrel Hair SWORD Striper; size 1 and size 0 + 1 Shot 5 COLOR STARTER KIT + Laying Down the Line; Pinstriping Masters Book
Ultra TV-B-Gone
Cost of materials
You could buy one of these, or just build it. And since turning off the TV in any decent restaurant would constitute a nice gift to all its patrons, maybe just you keep this item for yourself.
Find these and 69 other wonderful items in Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide 2007!
When Meg Ryan's Sally wails "I'm going to be forty!" in When Harry Met Sally, Billy Crystal rolls his eyes and says "...in eight years!"
Perhaps you'll react the same way when we tell you there's a new iPhone coming out...in the second half of 2008. Might as well be eight years, and there's no hard release date set; the rough estimate is provided by Goldman Sachs analysts with access to Apple's Asian suppliers. As for details?
...a second-generation iPhone [is] currently in the "final design phase," the analyst said. The handset is expected to "have a similar form factor as the current version although it could have a different look and will probably include 3G capability."Bailey estimates that the next-gen iPhone will launch sometime during the second half of the year, but also believes the company will tie (sic) over consumers with "a smaller upgrade with more flash memory earlier in the year."
Just wait for the onslaught of ridiculous speculative renderings, coming soon to ten blogs near you.
via apple insider
Your next job could be...
Located at : Kidrobot, Inc. in New York, NY
With the title of : Interactive Graphic Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
In its Year in Culture issue, NY Mag allots a healthy section for a look back at the best, worst, and most notable architectural happenings of 2007. A revamped Governor's Island, Gehry's frosty IAC building, those snazzy new MTA bus hang-out spots, and of course, the brand new/neue/nouveau New Museum made the list.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
NYC design agency Carbon Smolan has cleverly disguised their holiday e-card as an interactive shopping mini-site that plays delightfully tense jingles mixed with iconic sounds of dwindling cash flow (cha-ching!). To relieve everyone's holiday hang-ups they've put together a compact list of gift items that appropriately hang up. (warning : shameless plug) And of course, for 77 other awesome gift ideas, peruse our Ultimate Gift Guide for 2007.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Biomega is trying to solve the urban problem of stolen bicycles with their Boston model, which turns the entire frame of the bike into the lock; break the lock and the bike becomes unrideable. But while we applaud their efforts, we don't think they're addressing the entire problem: a quick walk around Manhattan will reveal any number of bicycle frames securely shackled to scaffolding--but missing their seats, handlebars, wheels, and/or pedals, meaning the thief got the pieces they needed and now the bike is unrideable to you.
The problem of protecting all the parts of an object that must be a) mass-manufactured, b) able to be disassembled, and c) light enough to carry is a tricky one for sure. So...any of you got ideas?
via red ferret
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (14)
Sometimes it's a struggle to figure out what renderings or product photos are representing because they're just badly done; other times it's a struggle because the product's form is so different from the status quo. We like the latter experience. Above is a shot of Lamborghini's 2008 Reventon, click here to see the rest. The raw number of angles and surfaces on this thing sounds like a design disaster on paper, but when you see the finished product, you can't help but respect the precise detailing of the Lamborghini Style Centre.
And yes, chances are these shots are the only time you'll ever see the car; they're only making 20.
via reluct
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)While most of us ID'ers would love to design products that are fun, sometimes when you're banging out industrial rack systems or point-of-purchase displays for dental floss that sense of joy can get lost. Which is why Toy Design is such a fascinating subset of ID; fun is part of the mandate.
An article from CNS looking at Toy Design reveals that while several US colleges offer toy design courses (MIT, Savannah College of A&D, Columbia College) there are only two (!) offering actual majors/degrees in Toy Design: LA's Otis College of A&D, and New York's Fashion Institute of Technology.
Would-be toy designers, take note: FIT boasts an astonishing 99% postgraduate job placement rate, and Otis says 100% of last year's crop got jobs in the industry. Which is good, because nothing is less fun than four years of school not followed by paychecks.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)
"I think people think of a product now as more than just a piece of technology in their hands, but a total package of technology and functions, look and feel - they see it as having a soul, if you like," Fahlgren says.
"When you design a product, you learn a lot about the complexity of the technology and what things you have to think about from a design point of view. But, I think, it is very much the artistic side that is important to give soul to the product.
"That is the role of design and it always will be. At the end of the day, what you bring to the table as an electronics designer is that artistic soul and creativity."
AustralianIT interviews Anton Fahlgren, one of Nokia's Sr Design Managers on designing a product that will be sold all over the world yet must feel like it belongs to everyone of it's owners.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (1)
The early-bird registration deadline for Interaction08 is coming up. In fact it is this Saturday, December 15th. This is first-ever conference organized by IxDA promises to be an exciting and enlightening two days in historic Savannah, GA in February '08. Team Core77 will be there with bells on, and you share a keen interest in information design and user experiences, you should come on down and join us.
Of course, it's always better to give than to receive, so if you're all about positive action this holiday season, you'll want to check out some of the items on this year's Ultimate Design Gift Guide. We've picked a bunch to start with, so get started!
ForestEthics Donation
$77
ForestEthics is the organization behind Victoria's Dirty Secret and countless other campaigns aimed at getting corporations--from Limited Brands to Staples and Office Depot--to change their paper-buying practices. So far, their work has stopped logging in over seven million acres of old growth forests (one million acres in Chile, and six million acres in British Columbia), so if you're into planting trees this year, how's about you consider saving a few while you're at it?
Manufactured Landscapes DVD
$19.99
Jennifer Baichwal travels with Edward Burtynsky as he photographs huge industrial incursions in China. A remarkable film, and a must-see for designers of all stripes. (Listen to the Core77 Broadcast with the two of them here)
Donation to Kiva.org
$77 (or less, or lots more!)
Even the smallest donation will help an aspiring entrepreneur in a developing country to realize a dream. Check out the cornucopia of success stories--they'll make you want to take part right away. (Also take a look at Kiva Chronicles at socialedge.org)
A Roll of Your Local Currency
7.7 hours
Why rely on international banking cartels and the Guv'mint for your duckets? Around the world towns and communities are developing their own local work-based monetary systems. Check out Ithaca, NY's Ithaca Hours. Read this fun comic for an intro! Check this list or this list to see if your town is down!
Carbon offset credits
$61 (offsets a round-trip flight from SFO to Hong Kong)
Extra eco-aware gift recipients will appreciate a load of guilt off their shoulders with a few of these credits.
H2-UH-OH* or Why You Should Buy Stainless Steel Water Bottles Today
$15-$20
Scientific studies have been piling up since '98 saying that bisphenol A (BPA) leaches out of polycarbonate water bottles--those popular Nalgene bottles--and that it can lead to "chromosomal aberrations", IN YOU, and, no, they're NOT the super spidey-strength kind. So the time is NOW to switch to a safer alternative... (these are all aluminum free too, if that matters) *We stole this title from these fine peeps More recent studies are cited here.
Sigg Oval Bottles 0.6L $19.99 Stainless Steel replica of 1941 Swiss Army Canteen--has FDA approved epoxy phenol resin coating to cut down on any possible mineral leaching
Guyot Shorty 24oz $14.95 uncoated stainless steel--wide mouthed so it will still fit your nalgene accessories--water filter, etc.
ZipCar Membership
+/- $75 for signup and membership $10/hr after
ZipCar Ocassional Driving Plan (One Year Membership) for citydwellerz. Your car-less friends will appreciate a few IKEA trips in a ZipCar as opposed to hauling two Troggmoggs and a Flarn all the way home on the bus.
iTouchless Forever Last Radio/Flashlight/Nightlight - Designer Series
$18.99
We haven't tried this thing, and the price seems a wee on the cheap side, but this is a stylin' winder-upper. Here's the pitch from Amazon: "This is the most beautiful designed dynamo battery-free AM/FM Radio, Flashlight, and table-top Nightlight. 1 minute of cranking will give you 20 minutes of radio listening or 40 minutes of flashlight and nightlight. Because of its creative design, you can display it on tables, shelves, or next to your bed's nightstands. Before you go to bed, crank it for music listing on your favorite radio stations. It will turn off automatically in 20 minutes while you are falling asleep. Let the flashlight show your way to bathroom at the middle of night. Includes a light cap for soft bright nightlight."
Find these and 69 other wonderful items in Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide 2007!
Art Lebedev's just whipped up a few new wares including this outdoor holiday ornament set, SHAR-404, to be used for "improvement of forest units in the face of the new approaching year." For those who prefer to stay indoors, they've got you covered with a seemingly simple yet actually tricky 260-piece Puzzlus puzzle.
Why oh why did we already do our holiday shopping early like responsible holiday shoppers should?!? These handy Christmas Cheat Sheets from Made In England by Gentlemen make it super easy to find the most thoughtful gifts for friends and loved ones.
Download separate sheets specifically designed for girls and boys.
via swissmiss
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Years ago we observed a colleague of ours (who now runs a successful streetwear company) going over some designs for graphic T-shirts. When we asked him why he kept repeatedly asking a co-worker about simple colors in the patterns, he revealed he was colorblind. Amazingly enough it hasn't hampered his design skills, as in the ten years since then he has turned his fledgling company into a $1-million-plus multinational.
Since then we've been fascinated by the thought that a designer working in graphics could be colorblind, and now Paul Martin has put up a blog entry to show his curious designer buddies how colorblind folks see things. Check it out here.
via dumptrumpet
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (4)Traveling and staying connected don't mix too well at 30,000 feet, but Jet Blue's looking to change all that starting with the BetaBlue Airbus A320, equipped to bring limited Wi-Fi connectivity to passengers with the right equipment/accounts. Check out Engadget's on-board review.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
A claim making the blog rounds suggests Dubai's ballyhooed underwater hotel, the Hydropolis, is opening this month. But take a closer look and you'll see it just isn't so. Number one: the Hydropolis was supposed to be finished in October of 2006, with a December 2006 opening, which we believe is getting optimistic people mixed up. Number two: if this thing is ready for business, why are the only images on the site a bunch of cheesy renderings from 2004? What, they don't have cameras in Dubai?
Looks like those of you willing to drop five large to sleep with the fishes, in a manner of speaking, will have to wait a while longer.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)Your next job could be...
Located at : Yahoo! in Sunnyvale, CA
With the title of : Interaction Designer III
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Yes, that's Chris Jordan's awesome (and gigantor in real life) digital artwork you see there in the background of Greener Gadgets' promo image, and appropriately so, since he's one of many cool speakers to present at the upcoming conference. Inhabitat and Marc Alt + Partners present this one day event as a reason to meet and focus on the greening of the consumer electronics industry. Presenters include Chris Jordan, Mary Lou Jepson (OLPC), Natalie Jeremijenko, Jeff Omelchuck (EPEAT), Markus Terho (Nokia), Renee St. Denis (HP), David Conrad (Nokia), Douglas Smith (Sony), Jennifer van der Meer (o2), Katie Fehrenbacher (earth2tech), Ryan Block (Engadget), and Valerie Casey (IDEO).
Greener Gadgets is a one day conference featuring key representatives from some of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world, innovators from academic thinktanks, members of startups focused on renewable energy, and some of the leading minds in the word of sustainable design and business. Topics to be addressed include: design for sustainability, product life cycle management, take-back and recycling programs, energy efficiency, greener materials, and green lifestyle and product marketing. An attached gallery space will feature a green prototype office display and technology exhibits from companies on the cutting edge of green tech.
Greener Gadgets
Friday, February 1st, 2008 from 10am - 6pm
McGraw-Hill Conference Center
1221 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY
$250 before January 15, 2008
$350 after January 15, 2008
$75 student price (limited)
People bathing together: we tend to associate that less with romance and more with penal colonies, but if you and your loved one insist on scrub-a-dub-dubbing together, the Love Story Corner Bath was designed for you. It's even heart-shaped, like the bridal-suite jacuzzis in those Mount Airy Lodge commercials from the '70s.
Planning on buying one? Make sure you and your spouse are in it for the long haul; should the two of you call it quits, you'll feel awfully silly sitting in this thing by yourself.
via lht
BK continues down the viral/reality road, this time threatening patrons with false claims of Whopper discontinuation. The reason? Apparently it's too popular, too big for the menu. Enjoy!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (1)With independent designers on the undeniable up-and-up, it's inevitable that correlative marketplaces would pop up soon enough. We've already announced the fabulous Supermarket model, which looks well on its way, and here we have a new effort, Urbanatics. The selection is a bit slim so far, but it's brand new and that's what the submissions section is for. (Dur.) One of their debut items is Claassen + Partner's Berlin Bulb which sits alongside other pioneer products by Johan Wijk, Colgate Searle, and Francois Chambard.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Gifts for jaded citydwellers: The "Urban Collectables" cars available on chinnychinchin are along the same lines as Peter Feigenbaum's urban train sets and should look familiar to anyone who's ever taken the Major Deegan Expressway through the Bronx. Fifty bucks will get you The Joyridden Hatchback or The Minivan Insurance Scam.
via who killed bambi
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)Some of us working at design firms or companies that have been around a a while might have this experience: Your boss sends you to the godforsaken flatfiles--a wasteland of rusting T-squares and chipped triangles, where there are actual pencil draftings on vellum--and has you convert a 2D drawing into 3D, turning .016" pencil lines into CAD strokes.
Soon industrial designers and corporations may be able to outsource tasks like this to Rwanda. The Kigali Institute of Science and Technology is collaborating with SolidWorks Corporation on the Gasabo 3D Design Project, which will develop custom software and train Rwandan students and workers to convert drawings from flat to fat; it would also make Rwanda the first African nation to make a push into the global ID market. And just as many developing nations made the push from no-phone to cell phone without ever touching a landline, so Rwandan designers will get to skip the T-square step altogether.
via biz community
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)Back in September we wrote that India needs about 1,500 industrial designers a year, but they're only producing 150. Now The Hindu claims the number of designers needed is "8,000 to 10,000 per annum" in both industrial and communication design, though they don't specify where the split lies.
[National Institute of Design Director Darlie O. Koshy] said talent crunch was one of the biggest challenges facing this industry, growing at a healthy 23-25 per cent annually...The major segments driving the industrial and communication design market were animation, automotives, new appliances, service designs and retailing.
For those of you living outside India and looking to go ex-pat, Bangalore's looking like Shanghai in 1995; here's your chance to get in early.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
Osocio is dedicated to social advertising and non-profit campaigns. It's the place where marketing and activism collide.
Unlike commercial advertising, which only attempts to influence purchase decisions, non-profit ads seeks to connect us with other human beings. Social advertising has an uncanny power to make us stop, think and then take action to help a person, or a group of people, who we don't even know, who might be from a foreign culture, living thousands of miles away.
Osocio is conceived as a complete resource for all things in the world of non-profit and social messaging. It is a platform for global and local social issues, both large and small. It's a community of social thinkers and marketing do-gooders and the central online hub for advertisers, ad agencies, grassroots, activists, social entrepreneurs, and good Samaritans from around the globe.
via Myriel Milicevic
Your next job could be...
Located at : Segway Inc. in Bedford, NH
With the title of : Senior Industrial Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
The New York Times Magazine has published its 7th annual Year in Ideas issue, full of "many curious, inspired, perplexing and sometimes outright illegal innovations of the past 12 months." We were thoroughly enlightened to learn about UPS' loop-de-loop routes, which are specially mapped out to avoid left-hand turns, resulting in a considerable decrease in emissions.
Last year, according to Heather Robinson, a U.P.S. spokeswoman, the software helped the company shave 28.5 million miles off its delivery routes, which has resulted in savings of roughly three million gallons of gas and has reduced CO2 emissions by 31,000 metric tons.
image: Tamara Shopsin @ NYT
thanks bryman!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (1)
Core77 contributor Mark vanderbeeken has put together a great section on the World Design Capital website, and C77 contributor Niti Bhan has a new quick 'n' dirty piece up. Here's a taste:
The technically proficient, the engineering experts, the world class designers are all who practice in conditions of abundance. They create with no shortage of materials, funds, resources, fuel or energy. If we need to design products and systems under maximum constraints using minimal resources, husbanding our natural resources and rationing our use, where better to begin seeking answers but amongst those who already live under these conditions?
and one more:
Mikal Hallstrup of Danish strategic design consultancy, Designit.dk says that today we are at the point where we need sustainable solutions, rather than a search for the 'next big thing'. He gives the example of Copenhagen's S Train: by adding a simple request at the end of their announcement at every station asking passengers to take their daily newspapers with them and put them in the recycling bins--also placed conveniently close by--they were able to decrease the wasted papers left on the train as well as increase recycling by 80%. A simple innocuous solution that makes a big impact. Can we find such touchpoints where small innovations or design changes can improve not only the end result but also add some value to the brand and its public image?
Read Niti's piece here.
Read Mark's goals for the site here.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Wind turbines often make international papers because of their novelty or greenworthiness, but they often make local papers because some community board is loudly protesting their installation. As good for the environment as they may be, most neighbors simply don't want them in their backyards, calling them eyesores and even complaining of "strobe-like shadows" from the rotating blades.
Canadian company Magenn Power may cause some to change their tune; the Magenn Air Rotor System is a helium-filled wind turbine that floats 1,000 feet above the ground, getting it up and out of the way. The device is essentially a blimp wrapped in a steamboat's sternwheel and sends power back to the ground via its tether. Another benefit of being 1,000 feet up is that they are exposed to wind more constant than the serendipitous breezes us groundlings have access to.
Magenn hopes their newly-patented design will be used to power villages in developing countries, with India and Pakistan reportedly interested. And some other airborne windpower designs, one that is scheduled to be installed and another, from 2005, that we've not seen hide nor hair of since then.
via ny times
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
Hommin, a.k.a. Konstfack grad Hung Ming Chen, has made use of ye olde laser cutter to fashion an aviary accent for otherwise bland bare bulbs. Chen's Bird Light attachment makes a haven of an interrogation room just like that.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
While we make a grand effort to chuck our soda cans and water bottles in the appropriate bins, those sneaky, evil, leftover hangers are often forgotten in the masses of trashes:
Plastic and wire hangers have become so commonplace in the retail environment that they have become virtually invisible. That is until it's time to dispose of them. Municipal recyclers won't and can't take them. Made of 7 different types of low-grade plastic (if marked at all), they are extremely difficult to identify and segregate on a rapidly moving recycling line. Made from multiple materials (plastic, wire, non-slip vinyl pads, etc.) the components are costly to separate. Most of all wire hooks are notorious for jamming the lofting cams in expense recycling machinery, bringing entire recycling lines to a grinding halt.
Ditto Hangers, produced by Greenheart Global, are designed to keep hangers out of landfills. The 100% recyclable paper and PET plastic hangers are targeted toward retail environments and non-toxic dry cleaners.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
We like to take pride in the off-the-beaten-track items from our gift lists, but this year's Ultimate Design Gift Guide has some crazier shit than normal. If you're shopping for something a little twisted, or better, shopping for someone a little twisted, you'll want to start here:
Momspit
$9 for 2oz, $18 for 7oz
For all those germy Mama's boys out there. You know who you are.
Wrenchware
$17.99
For the (mechanical) people you love who love to eat on the job, wrenchware is the way to go. 18/10 polished stainless steel, we're going to assume these are dishwasher-, and garage bay-safe.
Animal Scale
35 Euro
What animal do you weigh? Card copy idea: "I'm a swan. You're a cow. I still love you."
Candle Carver
$12.98
Turn any apple into a votive holder with this candle carver from Lillian Vernon. Brilliant.
Mirror angle scope
$50
Budding ethnographers will appreciate the ability to shoot sideways in the wild with this device, breaking the monotony of those mall intercepts to, well, photograph the other researchers, I guess. You get the idea though--probably you're not supposed to be doing what this device allows you to do.
Sportscope Cubicle Periscope
$49.99
I spy with my periscoped eye you playing Minesweeper you lazy bastard!
Fully Committed ID Tattoo
$77 (at least!)
Okay, we definitely think you should spend more than 77 bucks on a tattoo (depending on complexity, of course), but we like the spirit of the Craftsman Tool on the forearm. And if you're 100% fully-committed, then this 77 on the neck is a nice touch. (No Photoshop here, honest.)
Find these and 70 other wonderful items in Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide 2007!
NC State ID student Joe Harmon's graduation project was initially inspired by WWII era all-wood aircraft like the de Havilland Mosquito--raising the question, "Why not a wooden car?" He ended up with Splinter, a "mid-engined, monocoque design to be constructed almost entirely out of wood laminates with a target weight of 2500 lbs and a power goal of over 600 horsepower...whew...and he's got it all up on a damn-snappy site with "Splinter Vision" that allows you to poke around every nook and cranny of the design. Splinter Vision...yes it's as intense as it sounds. Despite the level of practicality, we've gotta commend Joe for being thorough, at the very least.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (4)
The entries are rolling in fast and furious now. The competition ends tomorrow, so don't be left behind with nothing to read! Make sure to throw your hat into the ring for Core77's 1 Hour Design Challenge to redesign the eBook. Details are below. Above: christian_vd's ClearBook, k_girisha's .note, and skinny's no-name
Doors Opened:
Tuesday, December 4th
10 AM PST (5 GMT)
Last Call:
Tuesday, December 11th
1 PM PST (8 GMT)
Theme:
The perfect eBook
Brief:
Love it or hate it, Amazon's Kindle Reader has people talking about digital reading devices. No matter what side of the fence you are on, here's your chance to show the world your vision of the perfect Digital eBook. We want you to take an hour out of your day and show us what you've got.
Prize:
$125 NikeID Gift Certificate (just in time for the Holidays)
Jury:
Winner will be selected by the Core77 Admin. Community discussion is encouraged to help ensure the best design wins.
>>> Click Here to Enter Your Submission <<<
If you're shopping for someone who's particularly house-proud, or for someone who would like to be, look no further than Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide. We've selected a ton of stuff for the home, so go ahead and start with these ten, then look around for some stocking stuffers!:
U-Bend Bookshelf
$77 Special!!
The good folks at UpToYouToronto have dropped the price of Max Lamb's ingenious shelf to $77 especially for this list, so go get it! (Click on"Home Accessories", then scroll down to"U Bend Shelf".)
Noa's Calendar
$35
Wordsmiths, Scrabble junkies, and English teachers will flip their dictionaries over this clever calendar.
Modern Classics Alphabet Poster
$35
The difference between design school students and other college students is that they'd much prefer a poster like this over the Heineken one that Steve stole from that dive bar down the street.
Modern Gingerbread House
$78 (extra $1)
Very nice to look at. Too modern to eat.
Hourglass
$50
We're not crazy about executive desk accessories, but this hoursglass is a looker. And black sand? Now THIS is a designer gift item!
Giant Wooden Compass
$79 (oops!)
Just a big-ass wooden compass on your wall. Two bucks over our limit of $77, but we figure you gets a lot for the money.
Cronotime Clock by Pio Manzú, 1966
$65.00
Alessi's brought back this 1966 classic easy-reader. And we love the "cronotime" monikername.
Astronaut Cutting Board
$38.00
Karen Olze and Gisa Wilkens' cutting boards feature a laser engraved illustration "that is hand positioned for each board, so the design actually interacts with the natural grain of the wood, creating a little scene."
Pentagram's 2008 Classic Typographic Calendar
$36.00
Kit Hinrichs has designed this year's calendar using twelve typefaces designed by typographer Matthew Carter. Purchase it here
Knot Your Average Door Stopper
$40
Also an unbeatable name, possible double duty in backyard games of Scottish Highland sport.
Find these and 67 other wonderful items in Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide 2007!
Stylist and artist Chrissie Macdonald works wonders with paper, and specifically in this case, catalogues.
via the serif
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
From the Coroflot portfolio of : Abhinav Dapke (Bahrain and India)
Featured Project : M++CARD
Not limited to what can legibly fit on a 2" x 3.5" piece of stock, the M++CARD expands information exchanges between people to include product data, portfolios, and extended personal information.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (3)For your upright viewing pleasure, Switzerland-based designer Enrique Pardo's crafted a clean and quick DIY iPhone/iPod Touch stand solution that only costs you what you want it to cost you. He demonstrates with a Benji but we're frugally giving it a go with used printer paper.
via swissmiss
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (1)Your next job could be...
Located at : F.E.T.I.S.H. in Zurich, Switzerland
With the title of : Snowboard Softgoods Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
If you always find yourself drooling over all designs Dutch then you might have to set your homepage to ilovedutchdesign.com, unless it's already Core77.com, which we'd advise you to keep.
The first thing we clicked on was this strangely intriguing graduation project from Eindhoven that explores the possibilities of interactive mobile seating:
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (2)
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
Posted by: Niti Bhan | Comments (0)There's an opportunity for a complete product development business based solely on productizing parody ideas (see also satirical prophecy). No need to brainstorm, simply watch old SNL commercials or read through Al Jaffe features in MAD, and the next billion-dollar idea will float to the surface. Witness the TwoDaLoo, a toilet-built-for-two that pays unacknowledged homage to it's duh-obvious inspiration, the Love Toilet (SNL).
In SNL's premeire 1975 episode, they featured an ad for Triple-Trac, a razor with three blades, soon an actual product. In 2000, they advertised the Platinum Mach 14 razor. MAD and the Onion have been developing parodic concepts for razors as well, and it seems that product development at Big Blade is working to reach those lofty goals.
If anyone wants to invest in developing a Taco Town franchise, please let us know.
Posted by: Steve Portigal | Comments (0)
Mark Coleran is a visual designer based in London who creates fictional interfaces.
He designs and builds mockups of interfaces that don't exist, mainly for the movies. Coleran's work asks the question "what do we imagine futuristic technology might actually look like?" and then tries to build something that follows the vision.
via The Guardian Technology blog
Posted by: Mark Vanderbeeken | Comments (2)
Go-to-girl and guest photo reporter Marina Williams took some excellent snapshots of favorites from the first day of Design Miami 2007. The fare was a flurry--variety being the name of the game. While its classics like the Lucky Cat machine and 85 Lamps lamp held their ground, Droog busted out a few brand new wares like a LEGO-ized Rietveld classic (Red Blue Lego Chair) and the Push and Store Cabinet. The entire event shares the same idea of mixing old (but good!) with new (also good), where one might take a moment to admire the timelessness of an Eames La Chaise and then turn the corner to find intricately detailed lighting designs from Glottman or funky Danish modern time pieces from Sputnik.
Check out the latest pix of all that is Design Miami goodness right up in here.
More soon!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
We received this thick and metallic Holiday Card (or so they say) from Northern Engraving (a firm whose services we will never ever need to make use of) earlier this week. Our inquiry (to design@norcorp.com) as to how we can recycle this Yuletide slab o' aluminum has so far gone unanswered.
Over at Coroflot's Creative Seeds Blog, Carl Alviani's got a thought-provoking piece on getting canned. Or rather, designers' resilience to getting canned. Here's how it starts:
All of Portland got laid off last week. That's how it seemed, anyway, last Wednesday evening, as a group of designers gathered around a pair of tables in a bar in the southeastern quarter of town. Once a month, for nearly a year now, a clutch of workers from across Portland's creative economy--15 to 30 of them--have been getting together after work to gripe about clients, enthuse about projects, drink IPA and and generally behave the way any other group of like-minded professionals might during happy hour. It's a remarkable group for its diversity within the field: there are interaction, product and graphic designers, students and educators, researchers, even the odd engineer or project manager, working in companies as big as Intel and Nike, and as small as a solo consultancy. On this particular evening, though, it felt more like a support group, with fully one-third of the regulars in attendance finding themselves out of work within the past few weeks. The culprit was a major technology corporation that had employed dozens of designers in the Portland area, and had recently cut creative staff as a cost-saving measure.Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
We were happy to be in attendance at last year's Designism event, that progressive, curse-filled evening examining the role of design in social change--hell, the role of social change in design, really. So we're totally psyched that they're bringing it back, with triple the duration, triple the speakers, and triple the booze. Okay, maybe doubles all around, but this is an absolutely not-to-miss miss event.
Here are the basics:
Designism 2.0.
Thursday, December 13th
4:45-9:30 pm
ADC Gallery
106 West 29 Street (at Sixth Ave)
New York City
To RSVP, go to: http://www.adcglobal.org/adc/events/calendar/
All details after the jump.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
The first page of submissions for the latest 1 Hour Design Challenge is a stunner, so get out those markers or 3D packages and get moviing. You've got 'til next Tuesday to enter, but why not take an hour out of your Friday afternoon and bang something out? (Unless you've got a great book you've been dying to read, natch.) Images above are the nu*book from Yo, the eScroll from kinl, and the no name from dmcm. Here's are the competition details:
Doors Opened:
Tuesday, December 4th
10 AM PST (5 GMT)
Last Call:
Tuesday, December 11th
1 PM PST (8 GMT)
Theme:
The perfect eBook
Brief:
Love it or hate it, Amazon's Kindle Reader has people talking about digital reading devices. No matter what side of the fence you are on, here's your chance to show the world your vision of the perfect Digital eBook. We want you to take an hour out of your day and show us what you've got.
Prize:
$125 NikeID Gift Certificate (just in time for the Holidays)
Jury:
Winner will be selected by the Core77 Admin. Community discussion is encouraged to help ensure the best design wins.
>>> Click Here to Enter Your Submission <<<
We had a very hard time deciding on the toy selections for this year's Ultimate Gift Guide, since there are so many great things out there to choose from. We wanted active stuff, educational stuff, outdoor stuff, and some silly stuff too. Below are our favorite toys--at every price point--for good girls and boys:
OGO sport
$29.99
A smart hybrid between Frisbee and paddleball, this addictive game will have you jumping around the yard 'til they call you for dinner. (For those of you who like it by the numbers, you can launch a ball with this thing 150 feet!) Truly suitable for all ages.
Dancing Robots
$4.95 for two of 'em!
Okay, two of them for $4.95? What are you waiting for?
Hand Boilers
$4.95
A classic from old novelty stores, hand boilers are the best! Hold the bottom snugly in your palm and watch the liquid boil up through the glasswork. Forever fascinating, and you can't beat the price.
Super slick yo-yo
$79 (oops)
Possibly more yo-yo than a lay-person needs, but that lead-sled hubcap look is too sweet to pass up. Made from Aircraft grade 6061-T6 aluminum alloy with ultra precision high speed chrome bearing!
Lucha Karate Toy, Peru
£5.00 @ Paul Smith $6.50 @ Tesoros Trading Co.
Unbelievable value in the Aesthetic and Pop-Tchotchke departments.
Flensted Mobile: Five Viking Ships
$49.99
All together now: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa-ah!" "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa-ah!" "We come from the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow" ... Awesome, totally mandatory to paint your wall blue, for full effect. Made of Teak wood
3D Drawing Pad or Doodle Kit
$7
A doodler who's doodled for an entire doodle-dang lifetime will surely feel refreshed when presented with an entirely new dimension in doodling.
Takao Yoshida: Hishou Airplane Kit
$29.99
"The Hishou, with its 2 reverse propellers, dates from 1911, when it crossed the Sumida River in a model plane contest." Zen, bro. Complete illustrated instructions and glue are included.
Find these and 69 other wonderful items in Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide 2007!
For shame. Despite its vow to push healthy options when targeting kids under 12, McDonald's has "awarded" the brainiest students of Seminole County, Florida free Happy Meals. In exchange for footing a $1,600 printing bill, Micky D's was allowed a prominent ad spot on 27,000 report cards. Only one parental complaint was filed and the school district has decided to continue running the promo.
thanks bryman!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (3)
We first fell in love with their figs, but also enjoy this jab in the ribs from Lie-Ins and Tigers.
via pan-dan
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)That's some "device" you've got there, Björk. Watching what Michel Gondry's dreamed up in this video feels almost like being hooked up to that megaphone/brain-sizzler/funky bassmogrifier.
via cpluv
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (1)
Mark Ovenden's Transit Maps of the World, published earlier this year, has current and historic maps of every mass-transit system on Earth. But best of all is the opening image, a fanciful piece of cartography connecting all of the world's mass-transit cities on one convenient map. We know you can't see the details in our little 468-pixel window, so click here to check out a larger version and dream. You can take the red line from New York City all the way to Tokyo (if only), and if you transfer at Mexico City and Lisbon you can make it to South America's Yamanote-like loop-line.
via a welsh view and strange maps
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)
Skilled illustrators may soon have the chance to be compensated by Wikipedia for creating artwork deemed essential for certain entries. Writers: don't get your hopes up--you're still free labor.
The plan was made possible by a $20,000 donation from Philip Greenspun, "who said he was moved to give the money because of his experience seeing technical books he had originally published online appear in print."
The woman running the project for Wikipedia, Brianna Laugher, says the plan is to create a list of articles that need illustrations and then solicit the work. The first list is expected to have 50 illustrations and be completed this month. Contributors will be able to sign up for an illustration and have two weeks to submit it; if it is accepted, the illustrator will be paid $40.Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)"The standard payment will be $40, and depending on how it is received it could change in the future," she wrote in an e-mail message. "I really don't know if we will be flooded by illustrators clamoring to join, or if the general response will be one of apathy."
Sure, South Beach has it's attractions, but there were other places to get the soles of your shoes sticky last night. (Ooo, yuck.) There were tons of design folks at GOOD Magazine's GOOD December Pop-up store opening on Mulberry, drinking up the vodka/cranberries and talking all things positive. There will be lots of activities in the space over the next couple weeks (please start posting them to the blog, GOODies!), but for last night, it was about getting out of the cold, seeing some good friends (sorry), and celebrating progressive action. (Don't forget about gettin' some for yourself: Find GOOD Magazine in our Ultimate Gift Guide.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)Your next job could be...
Located at : Ascentium in Austin, TX
With the title of : Art Director
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
In an era of unmanned aerial drones, now there's a helicopter-like alarm clock that flies away from you. That's right, you won't snooze in peace until you chase it around the room and pluck it from the air.
We now have alarm clocks you have to stand on, chase around the floor, chase up the wall, smell, and defuse. But while they all sound strange, we'd do well to remember there was once a time when we'd not only chase an alarm clock that attempted to fly away from us, we'd kill it and eat it.
via tokyo mango
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)Farhad Manjoo, staff writer at Salon.com, posts a Current TV response to Facebook's decision that allows their users to block Beacon, a sneaky advertising plan that Facebook users were none too pleased with.
Read Manjoo's written post here and don't miss the last line -- it includes a hotlink to your privacy settings and Beacon freedom.
Posted by: Xanthe Matychak | Comments (0)Upon first glance this may appear to be a stunt of technological Tetris mischief, but in all legality, the Mikontalo Lights project was created by the students of Tampere University of Technology in Finland to gain global visibility for the university and highlight its rich student culture.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)If you've ever been fascinated by the speed and agility those guys who sell pirate DVDs, bootlegs and fake designer handbags can move when the police are closing in, then you'll love this make-shift market built out over a train line in Bangkok.
Spotted at Design Observer
Posted by: squee.gee | Comments (0)
We've all got at least 77 chores to do around the house, but many of them can be dispatched with a teaspoon of sugar if you take advantage of the ideas in this year's 77 Gifts for under $77 gift guide. Here are some of our favorites at price points to satisfy every homemaker's budget:
S-XL Cake Pan
$49.00
"A little smaller...no, smaller...well, not that small!" Let people pick their perfect size slice (and height!) with Konstantin Slawinski's exquisitely inequitable cake pan.
Doll Duster
$22
A fitting start! Tom Butch's beyond-witty feather doll duster will add some serious glamour to your day-to-days. Handcrafted by Tom, you may even want to keep this inside your collectibles display case—but then what would you clean the glass with?!
Travel Thread Kit
$9.00
Beyond brilliant. Pack this thread kit, and when you need a repair, simply pull out the shade that matches what you require. There are 8 strands per color, 21 colors in total. No spools ever.
Bubble Scrubber
$5
Ideal for the neat freaks dearest to your heart, sure, but it's also a sneaky way to get your fun-loving/good-for-nothing roommate to do the damn dishes!
"House Cheese" sponge by Atypyk
$9.80
It's a sponge shaped like cheese—great for cheese and sponge lovers alike. Looks cool, probably tastes awful.
Plastic Bag Alternative
$8 for 1, $22 for 3, $38 for 6
Groceries taste just as good, if not more consciously delicious, when you've toted them home in plastic bag alternatives like Baggus.
Find these and 71 other wonderful items in Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide 2007!
Looks like globalization's not everywhere yet; 'Stateside we've not yet seen these ads, which are featured on the Russian site advertka.ru. The tagline for the first photo is "brawn for your brain," and the second photo cleverly transforms cans of tuna into the scales of that creature.
But here's one we can't figure out:
Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion car, from 1933, was designed to carry ten people on three wheels. Made of aluminum, it only weighed 1,000 pounds and was intended to get 30-50 miles per gallon.
Ben Discoe became obsessed with the Dymaxion, of which only three were ever built, and dedicated a section of his website towards documenting as much about the car as he could find. With the original patent drawings and several dozen photos of the car in various states of construction, it's a must-click for Fuller fans.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
Centered around the themes of Media, Environment, Design, Technology, Design, Mobility, Culture, Business, Money, and Health, GOOD Magazine and Openhouse have launched GOOD December, a pop-up community center and gallery store that just opened today. Visitors can look forward to making their own wrapping paper, exchanging books, donating clothing and cell phones, playing music and shuffleboard, and hanging out in the Wi-Fi cafe. Workshops, events, and sales will take place at the pop-up center for the next two weeks.
GOOD December Pop-Up Center
December 6 - 23, 2007
Open to the public daily from 11am - 6pm
201 Mulberry Street
New York, NY
via ffffound!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (2)You may recognize Glide Inc.'s super fun and modular TwistTogether Lamp from recent design shows or magazine features, but the big news here is their debut major retail release (with a nice explanatory video to match). On top of their nearly endless configuration possibilities, TwistTogethers are low-voltage, long-lasting, kid-safe, and consume less power than your average night light. They're now widely available and priced at around $100 per set (4 blocks), just in time for the shoppy-days.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)Your next job could be...
Located at : Xonovia Technologies in Irvine, CA
With the title of : Nicoderm CQ Nicotine Transdermal Packaging Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Check out the new interactive sight, sound and physical objects NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) students have whipped up this semester on December 16th and 17th at ITP.
Keep an eye out for Pravin Sathe's debut of How You See It, a video project that layers single stories as told by three different stations (CBS 2, NBC 4 and ABC 7 in New York City).
ITP Winter Show 2007
Sunday, December 16 2-6 PM
Monday, December 17 5-9 PM
ITP
721 Broadway, 4th Floor
New York, NY
This event is free and open to the public - no need to RSVP
Moody is a free color-based tagging tool for iTunes that allows you to organize all your tracks by mood. From sad to happy and calm to intense, you can efficiently tag your whole jam collection for mood-appropriate playlists. Whether it's working weekends or pay day, you can rest assured that the soundtrack to your life/mood swing is waiting.
via lifehacker
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
What is this?
a) what mechanics have nightmares about
b) a college prank perpetrated by extremely determined students at the local Polytech
c) a commercial for VW circa 1980-something
d) the only way to really find those sunglasses you lost
e) what engineers see in their heads every time we designers show them a simple concept sketch
Click here for the full, wallpaper-worthy photo.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (4)
It's a tad odd for an institution that curates art and design for the masses to ask those masses for help designing their own house, but that's just what the Tate Modern is doing. While the exterior of the Tate's new expansion has been hashed out, the interior has not, and The Great Tate Mod Blog is asking readers to help them assemble an "international design scrapbook:" send in a photo of your favorite space and help shape their vision of what the interior ought to look like. Herzog (of original Tate designers Herzog & de Meuron) has already thrown his two cents in, with photos of antique Roman caves. Feel you can do better? Pitch in!
via guardian blogs
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
Tancher Corporation, a design consultancy based in Moscow, has launched Hello Future a competition to design communication devices for the year 2014.
The word «Hello» was proposed by Thomas Edison in 1877 as a handshaking word to make sure that the connection between two parties is set right. Nowadays this word is universal and used by everyone, regardless nationality or location, who wants to show that he/she is open for communication.Entry deadline is Feb. 15, but registration closes Dec. 31. First prize is 1000 euros. Posted by: StuCon | Comments (1)
"In the two and one-half months from 15 May to 31 July 2007,we received 3,422 entries from 47 countries for the Muji Award 02. Thank you very much for the many entries. The works were on the theme "RE" from many perspectives and with novel approaches, as was the case last year.
After a rigorous examination, we now have the pleasure of announcing the winners. We urge you to read the judges' comments and evaluations as well.
No entries won the Silver Prize. For the Special Prize, three entries were selected by all the judges, not respectively by each judge, partly because the entries included the same products."
Kazuko Koike, Takashi Sugimoto, Kenya Hara, Naoto Fukasawa, and Jasper Morrison have made their decisions... see the results of the Muji Award 02 here -- and judge for yourself.
thanks bo!
Posted by: Aart van Bezooyen | Comments (0)
Our fantastic guest reporter Marina Williams points us to the best of Art Basel 2007, live, with camera in hand and a keen eye on the lookout.
Miami is currently a haven for creative minds to feast. Today was a stream of color, object, and historic yet modern melding. The walls of Miami's convention center were filled with works from Lee Bontecou using abstract materials to classic large scale screen prints of Andy Warhol's iconic works of pop. Swarms of artists, dealers, and the everyday appreciators celebrated a stunning collection of art in every medium, method and make. Like taking a vitamin for good health, Art Basel 2007 revitalizes the heart and artful eye.Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (1)
New Yorker Seinfeld used to joke that every time you paint your apartment, it gets a little bit smaller (New York apartments have a reputation for having being painted hundreds if not thousands of times, with fixtures and light switches often lost under latex and lead). Looks like it's somewhat true: while the paint chip above (photographed by Amy McKenzie) isn't from New York, it's got an estimated 150-200 layers of paint and is one centimeter thick, with her fingertip at bottom for scale. As we type this, our gaze is wandering over to our walls and wondering what's underneath there.
via reuben miller
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (2)
If you're unmarried, roommates handily replace spouses as someone you complain about to your friends at the bar. Wouldn't it be nice if your roomies were actually decent people you could build something with?
In 2000, Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan were roommates in San Francisco whose separate work experiences enabled a fortuitous synergy. Says Lowry, environmental scientist and chemical engineer:
...I was living in a bachelor pad in San Francisco with five friends from university, one of whom was Method's co-founder, Eric Ryan. Eric had a background in branding and marketing and he recognised that one of the sectors in greatest need for a complete branding overhaul was the cleaning products space. At the same time, I knew from my work that from an environmental perspective these were some of the most pernicious products available. We started the business from that flat in San Francisco in early 2000, originally going door-to-door to local retailers with the products.... We now have 100 staff and our annual turnover is $100m.
Method is one of the few home- and personal-care companies that keeps their eyes equally on four different sides of a product: price, quality, environmental impact and design (most of you will remember Karim Rashid's Method bottles). In his interview with Business Green, Lowry explains why "green firms cannot afford to neglect design and performance when developing new products."
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
From the Coroflot portfolio of: Russ Schwenkler (Arlington, TX)
Featured Project : 1969 Camaro
Russ Schwenkler runs his own 3D modeling and presentation art studio appropriately named "Dangeruss" where he creates badass imagery for print advertising, web marketing, logo design, editorial illustration packaging, product design and promotionals.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Check out Jen Renninger's Etsy Shop for these beautiful Modern Design Deck prints in limited supply.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
We had no idea 3M had a washable, nontoxic, removable, restickable Glue Stick. Soon anything paper or fabric-like in the office will be transformed into some bastardized version of a Post-It. Napkin sketch Post-It, used napkin from lunch Post-It, someone else's paycheck Post-It, etc.
via swissmiss
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (2)Your next job could be...
Located at : Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Boulder, CO
With the title of : Interaction Designer
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
MONO, headed by former IDEO-er Daniel Kushner, has just introduced its new line of M80 hybrid instrument cases. Musicians can ensure the safety of their guitars, basses, and percussion equipment while retaining a slick look and saving a trip to the chiropractor. In addition to good design and lightweight and durable construction, MONO is focused on producing zero waste, avoiding PVC use, and supporting the local community.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
With a list of 77 Gifts for under $77 (from Core77), there's a lot to choose from here. But tech fans will find great gems in the bunch, spanning every price range. Here are some of our favorites:
Mix Tape USB
$16
Tired of spending time putting together the perfect mix, only to present it as a nasty CD-R with your bad Sharpie handwriting? Try this sizzle with your steak.
USBCELL AA Rechargable Battery
$14.75
You've seen these USB rechargables around by now, but we just love the flip-top lid. And what do you figure they're best at? Well, we got it from the Amazon comments: "They work great. Recharge time is a couple of hours and they work 1 - 2 weeks in my wireless mouse. Never have to worry about a battery for the mouse any more." Something fitting about them staying notebook-side!
Buffalo USB Silent Mouse
$49.99
Sick of your roommate clicking away at all hours? Or maybe your parents want you off the computer and "just going outside!" Either way, this stealth surfer will serve you well.
Ultra TV-B-Gone
Cost of materials
You could buy one of these, or just build it. And since turning off the TV in any decent restaurant would constitute a nice gift to all its patrons, maybe just you keep this item for yourself.
Tengu by Mr.Jones
$58
Plug this thing into your USB, turn on some tunes and watch the fun! Mouths the words to your music, or to your own voice when you talk to it.
Ringflash
$65
A little psychedelic is good. Too much is not so good. Way too much is ideal. Dial it up with this device and you really will be the life of the party. If your camera has a hot-shoe and you don't mind a little gerry-rigging you are good to go, otherwise pick up an approved Lomo to go with your new flash!
Find these and 71 other wonderful items in Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide 2007!
Those of you in and around San Francisco can take part in some eco-shopping, design schmoozing, and light boozing at the Green Gift Gathering taking place next Friday. Responsible for the holiday greenery are hosts Ecolect, Architecture for Humanity, Inhabitat, Urban re:vision, and Branch.
Green Gift Gathering
Friday, December 14th, 2007 from 6 - 9 PM
Architecture for Humanity headquarters
848 Folsom Street, 2nd floor
San Francisco, CA 94107
If you're the firm's resident SolidWorks guy, chances are you need a break from staring at that monitor; convince your boss to pony up to send you out to SolidWorks World 2008 International User Conference & Exposition, "The world's largest 3D CAD event," taking place on January 20-23rd in San Diego. There will be technical training sessions and at least one presentation on human-centered design, as well as the inevitable "networking opportunities"--a dangerous chance to meet more people who will pay you to do more SolidWorks. But hopefully you can skip out on a couple lectures and soak up some sun before that happens.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
We never thought we'd be writing about Brad Pitt in Core77, but the guy is now officially making design headlines. The actor's interest in architecture and love of New Orleans has led him to commission 13 firms to design 150 homes for areas devastated by Katrina, with restraints: 1,200-square-foot, flood-height-friendly homes for $150,000, and they have to be green, reducing upkeep costs by 75%.
"If you have this blank slate and this great technology out there, what better test than low-income housing?" Mr. Pitt said. "It's got to work at all levels to really be viable."
Pitt, who's pitching in $5 million of his own money alongside philanthropist Steven Bing, spread the designs out over 13 firms to get "a mixture of voices." He's also committed to letting the designers do what they do: "There is [no] reason to call on these great minds if you're just going to shackle them," he said. We bet more than one of you reading this wishes your boss was in love with Brad Pitt and would heed his advice.
via ny times
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (6)
In a rather bizarre design tie-in, BMW Designworks USA has designed a domestic-use Starbucks-branded espresso machine that goes on sale this holiday season. Apparently Starbucks realized some people were drinking coffee at home--that's no good for business--and tapped BMW-D to come up with a pro-looking machine that can be operated at home by amateurs, called the Sirena. The machine seems intended to appeal to design-savvy consumers; the propaganda video about the design of it (click "About Sirena" --> "The Making of Sirena" on the site), while somewhat operatic, is worth a gander.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
Material Vision is one of the few material shows which focuses exclusively on design and architecture. This biannual event is organized by the Messe Frankfurt and the German Design Council, creating an effective platform for the materials industry to connect with creative professionals--and vice versa.
With 30 Design Plus Award winners, quality exhibitors, and inspiring lectures, we consider this show a perfect appetizer for this year's galleries. Check out the photo galleries for our 70 favorite speakers, recognized winners, advanced products and fresh materials!
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
After an amazing debut last year--thanks for the support from the design community!--we've just just launched our 2007 Designer Gift Guide. It's filled with 77 totally awesome gift ideas, each for under $77. From "Feather Doll Dusters" to "Forearm Forklift Lifting Straps" (okay, now you're really going to have to take a peek!), it's truly got something for everyone.
Happy holidays from all of us at Core77.
(Oh: If you need another 77 ideas, check out last year's guide.)
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
He's been known as Kris Kringle, St. Nick, The Hardest Working Man in Snow Business. Billions of children worldwide know him as Santa Claus. But the harbinger of joy and the bringer of toys for so many has a dark side, in his complicit endorsement of fossil fuels. Join me, Core77 investigative reporter Rain Noe, as I corner the reclusive toy distributor for an exclusive interview on the subject at his Arctic tax-haven toy factory:
"Ho ho hole in the ozone," I say. "For years you've been loading the stockings of bad children with fossil fuels, specifically coal. Do you feel any guilt for your role in damaging the environment?"
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
Check out the Ransom Note Generator at Joshua Rey's website. We know it's great to fool around with glue and old newspapers but sometimes a quick type-and-print solution comes in handy...
via spiekermann
Posted by: Aart van Bezooyen | Comments (0)Cynicism and narcissism aside, Philippe Starck charms a TED audience with a captivating, heavily accented, and slideless answer to the question: "Why design?"
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (1)
Just in time for the holidays! Jessica Hagy's cleared up all the Santa salary confusion. A fraction of Santaness faked results in a fraction of paycheck lost.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
If you find yourself with a few open hours tonight you might want to stop by the Rockwell Group studio and join in a discussion titled 'Does Design Really Matter?' I would hope the panelists answer with a resounding YES, but you never do know.
Rockwell Group
4 Union Sq.
Dec. 4 -- 6:30PM
Posted by: StuCon | Comments (2)
Your next job could be...
Located at : Aeropostale, Inc. in New York, NY
With the title of : Art Director
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
European manufacturer Museeuw Bikes' MF bicycles are decidedly different: they're made of carbon fiber combined with flax. "Flax is a natural fiber, which is very robust, flexible and light," explains founder Johan Museeuw. "These properties make the fiber very popular in the automotive industry (including BMW, Audi, Daimler-Benz) and the aviation sector, and it provides excellent shock properties." Their carbon-flax MF was innovative enough to beat out 3,000 entries from 35 countries to take top prize for the IF Product Design Award 2008, in the Lifestyle/Leisure category, and will be on display at the winner's exhibition in Germany from March to August of 2008.
via road cycling uk
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
Leave it to infosthetics to dish out some of the best gifts for your most info-obsessed friends and loved ones. From that creepy/cute info-spouting Nabaztag bunny to T-Fal's Thermospot pan that visually indicates hotness to the classic visualization read by Benjamin Fry, your list for infophiles is now complete!
...and if you're interested in, ohhh, you know, something like 77 Design Gifts Under $77, we highly recommend our own gift guide, 77 Design Gifts Under $77.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
You may have seen a few of Martin Waugh's Liquid Sculptures here or there, but it's a real treat to see them all in one place--arrangeable by title or serendipity to boot. His "sculptures" are high-resolution photographs taken at high speeds that capture brilliant moments of liquids in motion.
above: "ElephantToes"
via coudal
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Can you design while people look over your shoulder?
It's not exactly a Core one-hour design competition, but shipbuilding exhibition Seatec's "Abitare la barca" comp in Italy is somewhat similar, with a little twist: following a briefing on February 7th, ID, Architecture and Naval Engineering students (chosen from various Italian design schools) will have roughly 24 hours to design a 50-foot boat, and the twist is they're doing it all on stage.
By noon on February 8th their designs will be judged, and by 2pm the winner will take the stage, though after spending 24 hours designing on it they'll probably prefer to deliver their acceptance speech from a comfy chair in the audience.
via e-composites
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
More and more cities are getting clogged with traffic. Reason enough for Gert-Jan van Breugel to propose a more sustainable alternative for a fast and flexible travel.
The City Swing is a hybrid motorbike cab with seats for three people. Driven by bio-fuel or electricity, and by making use of bus-only lanes, the motorbike cab is faster, more economical and less polluting than present-day cabs.
More pictures after the jump!
Posted by: Aart van Bezooyen | Comments (0)
Australian ID student Harsha Ravi's Globetrotter concept car, above, won him the Australian Young Designer of the Year. The supergreen microcar is intended to be painted with solar-energy-storing nanopaint and made of carbon-neutral bioplastic (88% corn-based plastic), which Ravi calculates will knock 30% off the energy required during manufacturing. Click here to see his well-rendered concept boards and read the details of his design.
We will hopefully be seeing more of Ravi's work; he will be making his way to GM North America's design studio next year for a three-month, $50,000 internship included with the prize package.
via inhabitat
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)Inspired by his grandfather's wooden marble maze, architectural designer Andrew Comfort came up with Q-BA-MAZE, a rapid-prototyped, interactive, modular toy that physically demonstrates cause and effect and spurs creative thinking in budding architects and designers.
thanks sara!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Get a big picture view of the state of design in india and learn about opportunities for partnerships between creative communities around the world and from India. That is the spirit of the upcoming Bangalore Design Summit, a joint initiative taken by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and National Institute of Design (NID), on 12 and 13 December.
The conference has an official website, but apparently the site maintained by Uday Dandavate (bio), who is a member of the core team organising the conference, is a bit more up to date.
Posted by: Mark Vanderbeeken | Comments (0)Your next job could be...
Located at : Vodafone GmbH in Düsseldorf, Germany
With the title of : User Experience Manager
The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Submissions will open tomorrow for the next Core77 One Hour Design Challenge! The prize this go 'round is a $125 NikeID gift certificate (just in time for the holidays). Do your deep knee bends and grease up the elbow its time to win yourself a new pair of kicks! Here's what you need to know:
Doors Open:
Tuesday, December 4th
10 AM PST (5 GMT)
Last Call:
Tuesday, December 11th
1 PM PST (8 GMT)
Theme:
The perfect eBook
Brief:
Love it or hate it, Amazon's Kindle Reader has people talking about digital reading devices. No matter what side of the fence you are on, here's your chance to show the world your vision of the perfect Digital eBook. We want you to take an hour out of your day and show us what you've got.
Prize:
$125 NikeID Gift Certificate (just in time for the Holidays)
Jury:
Winner will be selected by the Core77 Admin. Community discussion is encouraged to help ensure the best design wins.
>>> Click Here to Enter Your Submission <<<
A killer entry with tons of great resources, Things, Part I is a great reflection on the stuff culture we live in and (are compelled to) contribute to. Here's the ending (sorry):
In an age characterized by elevated environmental awareness--reducing our carbon footprint, enhancing our sustainable output--we remain nevertheless obsessed with our attachment to the material world. By all indications, our responses to things tell us who we are, what we value, why we do (or don't do) the things we do. Material culture is social culture, and social culture is intrinsically connected to making--and yes, to saving things. (The opposite may be equally revealing: in Part II, I'll take a look at how we respond to material loss.) You can choose to reject nostalgia, or to embrace market research, or even sell all your belongings on eBay and join a monastery, but at the end of the day, everyone has a story to tell. And a good many of those stories, it turns out, involve actual things.Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Q: How much trees does it take to make this poster?
A: Less than it takes to make a tree!
Okay, we know they should have said "how many trees" but it's the holidays. Forgive and forget. Get the House Christmas tree (poster) from Atypyk for €22.00 (that's $30.80).
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (2)
Graphic design studio MATTER has announced its own line of paper goods especially designed for creative sketching, drawing, note-taking, and a combination of all things thought, systems, and organization-driven. As if we're not already thrilled and fishing for our wallets, all MATTERIAL products are made of recycled paper, sold in re-purposed packaging, and are manufactured right in their own Downtown Denver studio space! We love the simplicity of DRAWRITE (above), a 12" x 9" landscape pad that provides ample drawing space and a designated happy place for notes.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)This somewhat new Guinness ad features your not-so-average domino tumble complete with flaming bales of hay and a cascading book-pint glass finish.
via design observer
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (2)
New York/Tel Aviv-based designer Sahar Batsry is sure to win over Chrismukkah participants 'round the globe with his holiday-melding Tree Menorah, or "treenorah" as we like to call it.
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)
Environmentalists would be thrilled to learn they have a new ally in America's largest consumer of energy, though they might be shocked at their ally's name: The U.S. Military.
On Dec. 17, the Air Force will dedicate the largest solar array in North America at Nevada's Nellis Air Force Base, on the same day that a C-17 transport plane makes the Air Force's first cross-country flight using a blend of synthetic fuel.Giant wind turbines rise from the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Army leaders are embracing hybrid vehicles, fuel cells and other emerging technologies....
It would be nice if the motivation was purely green, but as the Times' Mike Nizza puts it, "There's a war going on, and the rising price of oil is breaking the budget."
via mcclatchy and ny times blogs
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)
Design Miami will feature it's first ever pop-up tattoo parlor courtesy of organizers Tobias Wong, Joseé Lepage, and Aric Chen and tattoo designers Vito Acconci, Yves Behar, Tord Boontje & Andrew Allenson, 5.5 Designers, Hella Jongerius, KAWS, Juergen Mayer, and Lawrence Weiner. Only one design will be offered as a temporary tattoo, and aside from that, remember this stuff is permanent! The images above are a sampling of the eight commissioned designs to be inked, for reals, into the skin of real live design groupies by a licensed professional over a three day period. The resulting activity will answer the curators' one burning question: How far are art and design lovers willing to go?
As Long as it Lasts
December 7 - 9, 2007, 11am - 7pm
Design Miami
The Loft Building
3647 NE 1st Court
Miami, FL 33137
This video is essentially the bottom half of Homer's motorcycle stunt in The Simpsons movie, with a couple of Skodas thrown in. Sure looks dangerous, and we'd hate to see an ambulance trying to get down into this "Well of Death."
Then again, if this idea takes off, it could usher in a new era of space-saving highway construction.
via a welsh view
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (3)"What does a woman want?" one of the characters on Northern Exposure wondered aloud.
"Same thing as a man," replied Chris, "just in prettier colors."
That may have held true once, with hair-dryer manufacturers cranking out the same product in either gunmetal grey or flaming pink, but nowadays things are changing. Here to document and herald that shift is Popgadget.net, founded several years ago by Mia and Hoyun Kim as a product site for women.
So why are we bringing it up now? For the men out there who have no idea what the get the missus for Christmas. If the lingerie didn't work last year, it's probably not gonna do the trick this year.
The Popgadget mission statement:
Technology magazines ignore women and women's magazines ignore technology. Popgadget is a lifestyle magazine that embraces technology as a regular and essential part of women's lives. We cover topics traditionally seen in women's magazines, such as health and fitness, beauty and fashion, home, family, and entertainment, but with a unique focus on the products and people that bring exciting innovations to those aspects of our lives.Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (1)But if you're looking for a bikini-clad model straddling a Power Mac G5, you won't see it here.
Plum TV's Miami Beach channel has pretty much dumped all other news in favor of heavy and varied Art Basel coverage. For now they've posted some sneak peeks and back stories like what's up with those anti-anti-fairs and the brewing controversy surrounding local galleries and Basel guard. So if you're not in sunny Miami (and especially if you're in chilly location like we are--dangit), tune into Plum for all things Basel.
Plus: A nice breakdown of the upcoming Miami festivities at NYT and the "tribes" of Art Basel explained at New York Mag.
We'll have some of our own insider coverage of Art Basel / Design Miami this coming weekend so keep an eye out!
Posted by: Jeannie Choe | Comments (0)