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French designer Karl (whose last name is, alas, unknown; his CV is garbled and unreadable by our PDF reader) has some beautiful flatware designs simply called Tales. We especially like the dedicated utensil grooves.
You can check out the rest of Karl's portfolio, which is quite deep, here.
A bite-sized list of what's happenin' now:
positive space blog
24 Creatives Share Their Best Career Advice
new york times
The death knell for Wi-Max: Nokia pulls plug on product after only 9 months
the economist
Rolls-Royce: "The most powerful symbol of British manufacturing"
c scout japan
Trend: Conceptual Design for Mobile Phone Manners
businessweek
Design case study: Samsung Rethinks the Printer Business
open pr
Discarded PET Bottles are Reborn as SABIC Innovative Plastics Resin
businesswire
solidThinking, Inc.: How Industrial Designers Can 'Do it with a Mac'
They almost look like Japanese family crests, but in fact these are different types of screw heads. You've probably seen some of these holding bathroom stalls together, as the unusually-shaped slots prevent those wily pranksters from Lambda House from dismantling the loo with a regular Philips-head.
This entire list was painstakingly compiled by Instructables user arcticpenguin, and is available at the link above as a 29-page PDF document.
From skate decks to musical instruments, NYC-based, Art-Center-educated Loren Kulesus has got a way with forms. Check out his work here.
One of the neater items on display at CES--and one of the items bound to excite product designers--is Samsung's foldable display. It's still in the prototype stages and yes, you can see the crease, but I'd be willing to put up with a line if it meant I could carry a 17" laptop in a 9.5" form factor!
via oh gizmo
Puur Design Studio's Magic chair is an interesting update on the idea of stackable furniture; the four-chairs-in-one design has more in common with Russian nesting dolls than your average cafeteria stacking seats.
With no visible handholds, we're not sure how easy the chairs would be to remove from one another, but darn if the whole thing doesn't look neat. It would be even cooler if they were all carved from the same piece of wood, though that's probably not practical from a manufacturing point of view.
Puur Design Studio was formed just last year in Eindhoven by three industrial designers: Dripta Roy (designer of the Magic), Frank van de Ven and Max Schulkens. We look forward to seeing more from this team in future.
via 3 rings
In the last couple of days' CES coverage we've seen a couple dozen things that look sorta like an iPhone (in multiple sizes), a couple dozen more that look sorta like a MacBook, and this, the iRobot Looj, which cleans your gutters remotely.
For $129, if you've got a lot of gutters and like to keep them clean, it might be a good investment, but we've got to wonder -- how does it turn corners?
via Gizmodo
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Though we use them all the time, most plugs are not really well-designed in terms of ergonomics.
The plastic housing of this standard three-prong plug is supposed to be chunky enough that we can just grab it with our fingers.
Plugs like these have ridges and textures that are apparently supposed to sync up with the grooves in our fingerprints, providing traction.
The standard American appliance plug has an additional lip we can grab for purchase.
Designer Kim Seung Woo's clever Universal Plug has a nice, obvious grab area. The idea won a Red Dot Design Concept Award 2008.
Art Lebedev Studio's Vilcus dactyloadapter "was developed specially for people who enjoy closing electrical circuits with their own fingers."
Many people get a kick out of direct contact with AC power supply. To that end, people normally use U-shaped fragments of bare wire, paper clips or even usual metal forks. All these gimmicks are unreliable, short-lived and, most importantly, tend to cause short-circuit failure or even inflammation.
But with the Vilcus, "Copper plates located in the sockets ensure proper contact."
It even comes with adapters for traveling to foreign countries.
Lastly, this is one of the more disturbing Halloween costumes we've seen, if only because it alludes to at least one deviant sex act.
Also, isn't this costume incomplete, shouldn't there be a third person somewhere playing the part of the appliance? Or is he just plugging in for the sake of plugging in?
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Grebin's "living sculptures" put the traditional views about comfort and taste into question:
"I wanted to dissolve the otherwise clear symmetry of furniture and its visually coded function. I found out that terms like taste or comfort are a matter of learning, which are changing at any time and can easily be adapted. Therefore, in an experiment I tried to dissect the familiar image of cosiness. Despite their fractal and asymmetric geometry the furniture perfectly meets the demands of ergonomics."
Grebin also mentions that he doesn't want to "make" furniture. (No need to send these into production.) It is much more important for his sculptures to be objects of discussion. His professor considered his designs a "disciplined joke." But Gerbin thinks in order to lead the theoretical design discourse, new approaches have to be made. What do you think?
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Between the ticket prices, loud-talkers and smell of low-grade cheeseburgers, going to the cinema sucks. I'd much rather watch movies at home.
In the name of low effort and big profits, film studios often make direct-to-DVD movies knowing we'll watch stuff at home we'd never pay to see in a cinema; now how long will it be before they start making direct-to-airplane flicks? Taking one of those flying tin cans--and waiting around for them--is the only opportunity many of us have to catch up on movies.
Enter Toronto-based Fadow technology group, which commissioned Bresslergroup to design Moviecle, an airport kiosk that lets travelers download movies they can watch on their laptops. Flicks come in at speeds that Bittorrenters can only dream of: two minutes for a full-length feature. Best of all, it's legal.
Moviecle kiosks also provide other forms of content: GPS software, maps, travel guides, TV-shows, music and games. The first Moviecles have been installed in Boston's Logan Airport, with a larger US rollout planned for this year. More information on Moviecles here.
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A bite-sized list of what's happenin' now:
curbly
Inflatable art show at Brooklyn's 3rd Ward
welt online news ticker
New Dell Laptops "Underscore Design and Technology Leadership"
creativity online
Gary Hustwit on Objectified
dexigner
Singapore to Host the 26th Icsid World Design Congress in 2009
the baltimore sun
Sailing museum needs an innovative design
canadian architect
Toronto: Design Exchange's Manufacturing & Design Forum 2: "Designing Profitable Manufacturing - Product Design & Development at Work"
I miss the days when you could tell what an object did by looking at it. These two things are both made of grey plastic, are roughly the same size and both have 120-degree rotational symmetry, but their functions are quite different.
The StealthSwitch (left) is designed to let you quietly resist your boss. Plug it into your computer, hide it under your desk, step on it when you hear his footsteps approaching, and it quickly hides your World of Warcraft or whatever ungodly thing the company's not paying you to be doing.
The 360 Car Snow Scraper (right) is for fighting the elements. Unlike a conventional snow scraper, this one works in any direction, like an orbital sander, so it theoretically takes less hand swipes to get ice off the windshield. So you can be on time for work. And play World of Warcraft.
via think geek and toolmonger
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As far as we can tell, Matus Prochaczka's bad-ass snowmobile, designed for Dominic Schindler Creations, is just a concept; but a document on the Schindler site has a list price for the vehicle of 31.999,00 DSC. We thought DSC stood for Danish Kroners, but in fact that's DKK. Anyone have any idea of what kinda cheddar they're talking about, or does DSC just stand for Dominic Schindler Creations?
In any case, the vehicle's beautiful. Prochaczka's portfolio is here.
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The Concealed Bed Company out of London offers this motorized update on the Murphy Bed. Rather than folding up into the wall, the Concealed Bed compresses and rounds a 90-degree corner before scrunching up inside the back of a cabinet and crawling up it like a caterpillar.
I'm not sure if the constant scrunching of the foam mattress is a good idea--I have a feeling it would be lumpy for the first few minutes of sleep--but perhaps the "Cold foam, ergonomic mattress" the company uses is the same as memory foam. Alas, they don't specify, nor do they list a price.
Tomato are trying their hand at footwear again after the semi-successful reflective Underworld/Tomato Adidas Superstar shoe they did for for the 35th Anniversary Music Series.
They recently posted these pics of a Birkenstock sandal sample due for release in spring 2009. Much closer in style to their signature typographic approach than the treatment of the Superstar, the sandal will only be available at the Birkenstock shop in Tokyo's hip Daikanyama neighborhood.
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In this period of crisis, designing for the depression certainly seems to be taking its toll on many of us pencil-pushing-product-ers -- evident not only in the previous post, but also in this poster we ffffound online. There's tons more inspiration/instigation where this came from, so if you haven't checked out ffffound.com yet, click there right now! It's a dynamic sharing platform for all things design-y -- and hey, if you still have your job, it just might spark some great ideas during lunch time surfing.
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Everyone's got their own "sweep" system for checking out of a hotel room, that final scan you do before boarding a plane and realizing you've left your camera charger plugged into the wall for some Radisson maid to find.
Most of you will check under the desk, where your cell phone charger is hanging out. The $6.50 driin Mobile Phone Holder, above, won't keep you from forgetting your phone & charger, but it will at least look a damn sight nicer than the way you've normally got it. And if you do forget your phone, at least the maid who finds it will be like "Oh cool, look at this thing!" and maybe gain a new appreciation for product design.
Up above is the Legato GT recumbent bicycle concept, designed by CCS grad Mathew Zurlinden. We like Zurlinden's blend of practical and fanciful: he's thought out details concerning the transmission as well as spec'ing out existing components (Shimano Dura-Ace brakes, for instance), and the hub-less wheels, while not yet mass-manufacturable, look pretty kick-ass.
Click here for Zurlinden's Coroflot portfolio.
LaCie's Hard Disk MAX, designed by Neil Poulton, is beautiful and looks like something you use in a sci-fi movie to control the universe.
On the other end of the aesthetic spectrum is Logitech's G-series gaming peripherals, which look like something you use in a sci-fi game to control the universe.
The former is a 2-terabyte drive that can be used in conjunction with Apple's Time Machine. The latter is comprised of four components (keyboard with LCD, peripheral keyboard, headset, laser mouse) and is also a time machine, of sorts: it transports you back to a time before you had any interest in meeting girls.
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Once-proud, now-embattled Motorola is trying to stage a comeback on at least two levels: Design, and eco-attractiveness. Their new Aura phone (above, photo by T3) has a textured front surface whose tactility and Zen-garden-like lines induce one to touch it; their less-pretty but better-for-the-environment MOTO W233 Renew phone, below, is 100% recyclable, and made from recycled water bottles to boot.
Austrian designer Christian Precht's "Hold the Line" bench is designed for waiting areas in public spaces like banks, movie theaters, playgrounds, and offices. The form is meant to allude to the looping quality of a queue, and would be wired with power for laptops.
You may recognize Precht's name--he's recently been making the blog rounds for his OrganiCube project, a conceptual design for living in a 3 x 3 x 3-meter space. While you might expect a living space designed to fit into 9 square meters to look like this,
Precht has come up with this:
Precht's website is here.
In celebration of the launch of this year's Greener Gadgets Design Competition 2009, we are taking a periodic look at some of the standout entries from last year's Greener Gadget Design Competition. Below is one of our favorites: Eco Drop Shower.
It looks like a normal shower but it is not. The secret is in the base: normally it is wonderfully shaped with concentric circles conveying the waves of the falling drops. But after having been staying under the water for too long something happens.. those circles rise, so that you are not allowed to stay longer in the shower, and you are forced to turn off the water and go out. "Eco_Drop" Shower will help save water and energy.
Inspired by this design? Register now, fire up those rendering tools, and enter this year's Greener Gadgets Design Competition! Remember that top entries will be online for public voting, and the top 10 finalists entries will be judged LIVE at the Greener Gadgets Design Conference.
REGISTER FOR THIS YEAR'S COMPETITION!
It's hard not to like the Vestalife Firefly iPod dock and speakers, designed by California-based RKS. The company's enthusiasm for design is apparent in the product's details: Hidden hinges unfurl the speakers at a carefully calibrated angle, opening them to the sides and slightly forwards, towards the user, in a sort of welcoming gesture. The negative space tri-secting both the overall form and the metal ring on the front lead the user to visually complete the shape in his or her own head, providing a connection with the object.
None of these touches are accidental, of course; RKS designer and CEO Ravi Sawhney is a proponent of a design methodology he calls "Psycho-Aesthetics, our philosophy of emotionally connecting consumers to brands through design."
Psycho-Aesthetics is now a Harvard Business School case study, taught at leading EMBA programs globally, including USC, UCLA, Harvard, Stanford, and INSEAD. Its ability to empower and unite all key stakeholders behind a strategic design manifest is at the heart of Psycho-Aesthetics' continually increasing adoption by leading businesses.
Although the above copy, taken from RKS' website, offers no examples of who those "leading businesses" are, Sawhney has been awarded an honorary doctorate by San Francisco's Art Academy University for his work on Psycho-Aesthetics.
For further reading on the methodology, click here. You can also check out other projects by RKS, as well as more in-depth case studies.
via tuvie
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A bite-sized list of what's happenin' now:
dexigner
Autodesk & Target Corporation to Sponsor IDEA 09
soa world
World-Renowned Team Commissioned to Design 2010 World Expo "Dream Cube"
ali baba
Alliance of Plastics Processors' first international plastics design competition
interior design
James Dyson Increases Breadth of Design Competition
design news
Virtual Product Development Gaining Traction
SSI Shredding Systems has a very simple mission statement, in the form of a question: "What needs shredding?" The contract shredding company designs, builds and operates shredding machines capable of destroying everything from torpedos to washing machines to full-size automobiles.
Watch as they shred engine blocks...
...bowling balls....
...and a refrigerator.
Not enough destruction for you? Check out all of SSI's videos, some of them quite disturbing, here.
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We've come across all manner of uniquely-designed power strips (above, clockwise from top left: the T12 Power Strip, the Swivel Socket, the E-ball Rounded Power Strip, and the Rotating Power Strip) but one thing they all have in common: They're all designed to be screwed to the wall or sitting on the floor under our desks. And while that's fine for our stationery office set-ups, it means whenever someone introduces a new piece of hardware--let's say your friend brings over an external hard drive to show you some files--you've got to get down on your hands and knees to plug the darn thing in.
So the power strip we really want is this neato, integrated-into-the-worksurface pop-up power strip presented on the website of a custom cabinetmaker, HearthWood Kitchens.
Unfortunately there's no product info, so it's either bespoke or a one-off. We think we have our next DIY project....
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Back in design school, making our projects was fun; photographing it for our portfolios was not. An expertly-shot photograph of your prototype will make all the difference, but while we had plenty of instruction on how to build that prototype and make it look convincing, we had little instruction on how best to manipulate light in a photography studio.
We could've learned a thing or two from Canadian photographer Michael C. Eng, who's licensed some of his photographs to design consultancy Ziba Design. Check out his excellent work here. His lighting, depth of field, and composition all make these products look even better than they do in real life.
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In many suburban houses, the neatest piece of mechanical engineering is the folding attic stairway. It has to be compact enough to fold up out of the way, yet it must be strong enough to bear you and all the boxes of old photos you're bound to carry up it.
Australia's Attic Ladders Ltd. not only makes the common folding wood type, but has a nifty aluminum variant that "accordions" into shape and stays open by means of a spring-loaded suspension system. With anywhere from 9 to 15 steps, it will reach ceilings of virtually any height, and comes in weight capacities of up to 500 kilograms. Check 'em out here.
Stick lamp is one of many lighting prototypes from the recently formed Italian outfit AtelierUtopia. Produced in black aluminum, It comes in 2 sizes and is characteristic of their clean-line approach and monochromatic silhouette forms.
Is it just us, or does it look like a friendly nod to Konstantin Grcic and his Mayday portable lamp—not that there's anything wrong with that!
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You might remember a few months back (well in June) we posted the hand-built bike from Freeman Transport that breaks down easily with S-and-S couplings, and packs into an airline approved waxed canvas and leather carrying case.
Selectism recently caught up with founders Ben Ferencz and Nathan Freeman to find out how they got Freeman Transport off the ground, their commitment to US manufacturing, the steep learning curve they've been through in business and the Commuter, Cyclo-cross and Road bikes planned for 2009.
...We wanted people to know how important it is for us to support US manufacturing and the lack thereof. If things continue to go the direction they are going, we could potentially have no products made in America. I think it is important for us to take control of that. I see that Jeff Staple has produced a line of button down shirts made in New York. Steven Allen makes some clothing in New York. Freeman Sporting Club makes most of their clothing in New York. Band of Outsiders, Thom Brown, Engineered Garments. I just saw that Huf did a bunch of his cut and sew in America. So that's really nice. That's not to say we don't see both sides of the conversation and recognize the challenges and limitations. I mean after all, there are certain things that just can't be made here anymore.
The financially beleaguered Pininfarina Design House is best known for monster designs like the Ferrari P45, above, but who knew they've also designed...showers?
Below is the Pininfarina-designed Morphosis Omega by Jacuzzi, the "ultimate hydromassage steam cabin," which features four massage jets, a steam bath function, a seat made of teak for chrissakes, and "Skin touch cascade down the seat," whatever that means.
As Pininfarina--hit by the global crisis, like the rest of us--restructures their debt, investors in the company will probably want to spend a couple hours in one of these. (The shower that is, not the $3,000,000 base price P45.)
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A bite-sized list of what's happenin' now:
poughkeepsie journal
Sleeker Sedans: Four-door coupe design trend
businesswire
solidThinking to Offer Free 'sTudent' Software at Macworld
cambridge network
Amino's 'IPod of set tops' wins prestigious global 'good design' award
media bistro
John Maeda Names All-Time Greatest Design Object
asu news
Design Innovation programs stand out in national rankings
taipei times
Famous motorcycle designer shines in Taiwan
gallaudet university
Summit brings together innovative design concepts
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