Grosse8/Lichtfront's "Augmented Sculpture"

Augmented Sculpture by GROSSE8 & LICHTFRONT / Passagen 2010 from Lichtfront on Vimeo.

This installation work by German designers from Grosse8/Lichtfront named "Augmented Sculpture" consists of both 3-D sculpture and time based digital media. It was first presented last January at the Interior Design Week in Cologne and video documentation of the installation is not available online. The sculpture consists of two wooden parts about 2.5 m in height. Images and designs are projected onto this sculpture to create a very interesting effect. The projected graphics were created using AfterEffects and 4 videos are played by 2 different synchronized computers. The viewers mind is tricked by the projected images and the sculpture seems to change form as they are projected. (See original Core77 post here. See Designboom post here.)

Klaus Rosburg's Vertical Clock

German designer Klaus Rosburg just released his new clock design called Vertical Clock. Rosburg's design firm called SONIC Design is based out of Brooklyn, NY. The clock itself is made out of laser-cut anodized aluminum and brightly colored painted acrylic. It comes in nine different vibrant colors. Each design is hand-produced and they are only going to be producing 144 clocks in total. They are available for sale for $95 here. I really like Rosburg's other cuckoo clock designs alot too!

(See original core77 post here.)

(See another blog post about this design here.)

Studio Job's Wrecking Ball and Crane Lamps

Designers from the London design studio, Studio Job, have created the Wrecking Ball and Crane Lamps for a upcoming exhibition at the Carpenter Workshop Gallery. The pieces were commissioned by the gallery and will be shown with Studio Job's new furniture line from their Industry Series. The lead designers and founders of Studio Job are Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel. The lamps are both miniatured versions of the iconic industrial inventions: the wrecking ball and the crane. They are both made out of bronze and wired to be used as fully functional lamps. I love the whimsy and humor that these pieces have. Their miniature size makes them somewhat childlike but the dark color and material and the lighting features make them more sophisticated.

(See dezenn.com blog post here. See core77.com post here.)

Andy Hall Creates 24 Chairs in 24 Hours

Andy Hall, of HallMfg in Chicago, created 24 chairs in 24 (non-consecutive) hours in a Chicago Loop Alliance gallery space. Hall set up all his equipment in the empty gallery and created these 24 chair prototypes in this make-shift workshop. Over just the course of one hour, Hall created a to scale drawings of a design and then created a chair prototype. He did this for 4 hours for 6 days, adding up to 24 hours and 24 chairs. The process of which Andy builds is very different and interesting. His drawings are the basics for each chair's measurements. He does not use a tape measure, rather he traces each piece of wood. Then using the drawings creates each prototype chair. The wood that Hall used was provided by Rebuilding Exchange, a company which recycles materials ripped from old buildings and houses. The video below shows Hall creating each piece fast forwarded. It really gives you a sense of how little time he had to create each chair.

(See core77 post here)

Bodum's Ettore Kettle From 1986

Why is a 1986 design for a kettle being released in 2010? That is what I asked myself when I started reading this core77 article. Ettore Sottsass first designed this kettle during the Memphis Period (an Italian design and architecture movement during the 1980's) for the housewares company Bodum. The reason why it has not been produced until now is because of a manufacturing problem due to the kettle's stainless steel spout. Bodum had finally found a factory that can produce the Ettore kettle design and has released the product at this year's Home and Housewares Show alongside their new line called e-Bodum. The Ettore kettle will be sold in Sottsass's original pastel colors as well as Bodum's large range of vibrant colors. Below is a core77 interview with Jørgen Bodum (co-owner of Bodum) in which he describes the Ettore kettle.

Jørgen Bodum on the Ettore Kettle from Core77 on Vimeo.

Class Notes 3/16/10

When viewing a design image we (the viewer/user):

- First look for a human face or figure

- Then look for text

- Then asks the questions: What is in the foreground? and What is in the background? (we associate what is in the foreground to be the focus/main image)

- Then we look for differences. our eye is drawn to the differences, they stand out to us. (Ex: 5 brunettes and 1 blonde in a photograph: we look at the blonde)

Reptilian Mind V.S. Natural Mind

Reptilian=Fight or Flight Mind: Instinctual

- There is a threat: Do we run from it (Flight) or do we fight it?

Natural Mind: Rational

The original aesthetic question is the original primitive instinctual question: Do I eat it or does it eat me?

We are drawn to diagonal lines and love diagonal lines in design.

- primitively, diagonal lines are representative of an animal (a predator) leaping out: we are frightened and interested (back to the Fight or Fight Mind)

Chrome Experiments: Not Your Mother's JavaScript

Google Chrome has reached out to designers around the world and asked them to experiment with their new JavaScript Engine, V8. These designers and developers have created over 70 different fun and interesting uses for V8, called Chrome Experiments. Each experimentation can be accessed through the Chrome Experiment website. (You do not nee to use the Google Chrome browser to run the Chrome Experiments but it is the fastest and easiest way.) Each project turns your browser into an interactive application, game, or even a piece of art! There are about 12 designers behind the experiments, most notably Ricardo Cabello (Mr. doob). My favorite experiment is by a LA designer named Josh Nimoy and it is called Ball Droppings.

(googleblog post on Chrome Experiments)

Karim Rashid's Bobble

The great, prolific designer Karim Rashid has ventured into the water filtration industry with his new product Bobble. The product was designed as a way of solving our dependency on bottled water. Not only is bottled water expensive but the amount of oil, plastic, and other types of waste produced by their usage is massive. Rashid's design is a portable, affordable, convenient water filtration system. It consists of a very thin recycled plastic bottle, fit with a cap containing a very powerful and effective filter. The filters last for about 300 bottles of water and easily replaceable. The bottle and filter are now available for sale online for only $9.95 and comes in 5 vibrant colors. Soon the Bobble will be popping up at your local Whole Foods or Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I believe that this is not just another kind of water bottle, I really do think it is a great product. I predict that the bobble will catch on fast with it good design and low cost. Maybe Karim Rashid has found a way to stop America's love affair with bottled water!

The video below is a Core77 interview with Karim Rashid at the Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, where the Bobble was recently released.

Home and Housewares 2010: Karim Rashid on Bobble from Core77 on Vimeo.

(See original core77 article here.)

Real Simple Cover Clocks

Design and Home magazine Real Simple is celebrating it's 10th Anniversary in their upcoming April issue. To reflect the issue's theme of "the gift of time" they commissioned three different clock designs by three different New York based designers: Boym Partners, Scott Henderson, and Harry Allen Design. The three different design will be featured on three covers, one after another in the issue. The first clock on the left is by Boym Partners; It consists of a framed clock surrounded by 6 images representing the numbers 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, and my favorite 12 (a dozen eggs). The middle clock is Scott Handerson's design which reminds me of the melting clocks of Dali. Lastly the third clock, by Harry Allen Design is yellow and only has one hand which has the word Past on the top and Future on the bottom. This is my favorite out of the three because of what the designer says about the design: "It's just this constant reminder to live in the present." In addition to the covers, a downloadable screensaver clock design by Alan Dye is available via the Real Simple website.

(See NYTimes article here)

(See Core77 article here)

Jerrycan Luggage

Take a look at this suitcase design. Yes thats right, it is a suitcase. Ivorilla, a product design company from Frankfurt, was inspired by the 20 liter steel fuel containers known as jerrycans. The jerrycan originated in the 1940s and was primarily used by the military to store gas. These steel containers have been replaced by the plastic ones that we use today. Back to the design, the GasCase is available in a variety of colors and two different styles. The Diesel Edition opens like a traditional suitcase with the opening around the sides and The Fuel Edition has a top portion that opens like a Zippo lighter. This very durable design is made from sheet-steel with a telescoping aluminum handle and a butterfly lock. With the handle down the suitcase really does look like a gas container complete with the figures "20L" molded into the side. I really enjoy the irony of this design; Who would board a plane with a jerrycan of gasoline as their carry-on? I think the TSA might give a passenger's GasCase a double take.

(See original core77 post here.)

Stitch Lamp

I'm a pretty crafty person and I have been needlepointing and knitting for quite a while. That is why the Stitch Lamp caught my attention while browsing core77. LampGustaf, a Swedish company, came up with the idea this DIY lamp art piece. Basically, it is a white drum shade with a grid of holes drilled into it. The shade comes with 8 different colors of yarn so the user can create their own needlework pattern on the shade. The shade is available in two different shapes: portrait and landscape. The product will be for sale in May and LampGustaf will also offer downloadable pattern online as well as a photo gallery of other user's creations. Depending on the price, I would be interested in buying this product. The design of the shade itself is very simple, a cylinder with drilled holes, and I think I could create my own, but I'm not too sure about the whole electrical part.

(See original core77 post here.)

If there are any other people interested in knitting, sewing, needlepointing, or any other needlework check out The Purl Bee. It is great blog filled with projects, tips, book reviews, and ideas for crafty people. The site is affiliated with the NYC Purl knitting and fabric stores in Soho. I love their knitting stores and I love finding new patterns and ideas from their blog!

Standard Time

Mark Formanek's performance art installation titled Standard Time is quite intriguing. His idea for this large work, reminiscent of the face of a digital clock, came to life in Berlin in 2007 with the help of Datenstrudel. The piece has been exhibited many times around Europe and has been documented on film which is now available on DVD and even as a desktop application for you computer. The work itself is a series of wooden planks that are placed together to make up the numbers of a digital clock. The work also consists of a performance by 30 or so workers who change the position of the wooden planks every minute so that they read the correct time.

I think that the whole idea behind performance art is the 4th dimension of time. I enjoyed watching the Standard Time video because it is not stagnant. It is constantly changing and being worked on which makes it interesting. The viewer not only focuses on the wood numbers themselves but on the movements of the workers and how they assemble and disassemble each wood form.

Another artist who deals with similar concepts relating to time is Maarten Baas. His works, most notably Real Time, all have an apparent relationship to the idea of time passing.

See more photos and videos on the Standard Time website.
Video #1

Video #2

(See original core77 post here.)

Skinput

Imagine dialing your phone using a projected keypad on your hand. This idea seems pretty crazy but Chris Harrison, a researcher from Carniege Mellon Univeristy, is making it a reality with Skinput, a device which used the body as an input device for small electronics. "Since we cannot imply make buttons and screens larger without losing the primary benefit of small size, we consider alternative approaches that enhance interaction with small mobile systems." A sensor is worn around the upper arm and when it's user taps a particular part of the arm the device somehow measure the waves and echos produced by the tap in order to perform a certain function. This video fully explains how this technology works. The device also contains an on-body projector which means that it's user can use their arm as an input device. Chris Harrison has been working on Skinput with Desney Tan and Dan Morris from Microsoft Research. Skinput will be presented at the 28th Annual SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Atlanta, Georgia this April.

(See original core77 post here.)

MINI Space Product Design Competition

MINI has asked their consumers participate in a design competition to help them design components for their 4th generation MINI Clubman. Their new design consists of a center rail that runs from the front of the car to the back in-between the seats. The rail can hold snap-in cup holders, iPod cradles, and sunglasses cases, ect. but now the designers are seeking new ideas for things to snap into their rails. MINI says "[We ask] what YOU would put on the brand new MINI Center Rail of the MINI Countryman. What is something that you don't want to leave home without and always want to have at your fingertips?" The winner will get a trip for two to Paris for the Paris Motor Show. Entires are due May 11th and are posted for public voting on MINI's website.

(See original core77 post here.)

KML 22 Seamless Mesh

New Zealand design company Kaynemaile has developed a material that they call KML 22 Seamless Mesh. KML 22 is a polycarbonate, injection-molded product that is seamlessly connected together. The material is cost-efficient, odorless, thermally insulating, impact-resistant, rust-free, and translucent. Up close the material looks like a series of rings hooked together into a mesh-like fabric. The material has an aesthetic appeal to it as well and therefore will probably be very successful in the design world. Kaynemaile says that their product is an "innovative, functional design solutions and tremendous future potential for a range of commercial and industrial applications that depend on a lightweight, durable and versatile mesh." KML22 has already been used the design of a in a pair of AIrport Control Towers in Christchurch, NZ, the Dish Restaurant and Lounge in Dallas, a showroom at last year's Salon del Mobile and a chandelier Shade at Perth's Berthwood Casino. I think that this material will catch on and we will see it more and more in products. Kaynemaile hopes to apply their product into body armor, aquaculture, water filtration, vehicle drivetrains, conveyor belts, and even artificial ski slopes.

(See original core77 post here.)