What's All This Then?
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What's All This Then?
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Friday Edition
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Coudal Partners
fresh signals categorical archives
Industrial Design
The Rotolog by Nixon.
Grab our blended RSS feed here.
Stormtroopers, and how they got that way.
I am not a watch guy, but if I was...
1975 Ford Taunus Coupe.
African Aviation in the 1960s, Identity & Branding, by Rachel Cole.
Ingenious new identity and website for Women's Creative Collective, by Blok.
Odessa Utilities Signs, by Art.Lebedev.
New logo and identity for Oslo Kommune.
The Volvo Polestar 2, all electric and looking great.
Snøhetta unveils the S-1500 chair made from discarded fish nets.
"He wants you to look at your pepper like raindrops through a frosted window." Mortar Transparent.
Conserve the Sound. I could click on these all day. Thanks Marshall.
I am a computer.
Auge Design's fantastic limited-edition packaging system for Mutti tomato products.
This Unusual Cafe In Seoul Will Make You Feel Like You Walked Into A Cartoon.
Favorite industrial design firm Teenage Engineering teases Raven. OMG.
Three Stripes.
What would U.S. money look like, given the proper attention of an industrial designer? Here's one idea.
Jesus Diaz on the automotive designs of Giorgetto Giugiaro.
Related to the last, building the Bollinger B1, the world's first all-electric sport utility truck.
The Nobe 100, three-wheeled, electric sedan from Estonia on CarType. Check the launch film too.
Behind the Design. "...the story about how a former Buddhist monk designed the soy sauce bottle seen in Japanese restaurants around the world."
Keys, buttons, and dials.
"In what has to be one of the most famous design briefs in electronics history, Bill Hewlett asked Osborne and Cochran to shrink the 9100. 'I want it to be a tenth of the volume, ten times as fast and cost a tenth as much.'" Another great post by Jim Hughes, The HP-35: Consumer Electronics, an Origin Story.
The History of the Solo Cup, From the South Side to Star Wars, great piece by Robert Loerzel
A view of a tomorrow we never got, from 1976.
Microsoft Surface Hub 2.
Related to the last, It's the fiftieth anniversary of Wyman's identity system for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Lance Wyman on the power of graphic design to transcend language barriers.
I have absolutely no practical use for this, nor do I think buying it would be a good use of money. But man do I want one... Ballfinger Reel-to-Reel Tape Decks.
2018 Roush JackHammer Mustang.
Ford Mustang Milano Concept, 1970. Boss.
Lovely identity system by Agency LG2, for Quebec restaurant Louise Taverne.
"The following was filmed autonomously in one continuous shot." Skydio R1: Self-Flying Camera.
The 1974 Hedstrom Trail Cycle is optimized for hotel hallways.
John Hammonds' 1973 Plymouth Duster. Boss.
Image search, just because. Olivetti Form and Function.
Vestaboard. Great idea, will do my best to resist.
"Obviously, the backstory is everything: the logo being built from a piece of wood of the same batch that was originally used to build the theater is the stuff concepts dreams are made of..." Armin on the new logo and identity for Shakespeare's Globe by The Partners.
For your next Matchbox cars date: the Drive-In Phone Stand.
1966 Shelby GT350 Prototype 001. Boss.
ODGER Chair, designed by Form With Love for IKEA, has a simple simple click-lock assembly.
Color changing cabinets.
Digging the packaging for CoastWise Session IPA by MiresBall.
Useless design features in modern products, including "buttons that lie to us." By Zaria Gorvett.
1981 Delorean Sales Video. Fab.
A thin carbon fiber chair that weighs just over a pound.
Love this, a smokeless wood-burning fire pit that you can also cook on, the BioLite FirePit.
"The A.V. Club took a trip to Chicagoland's Stern Pinball, the "oldest and largest designer and manufacturer of arcade-quality pinball games on the planet," according to its website."
⌘, a brief history.
BikeBlock concrete bicycle stand. Via Swissmiss.
Love it, the Roellinger Pepper Mill.
Japan Package Design Awards from JPDA. Very scrollable.
"For years I've wanted a writing machine that would combine the best parts of a typewriter and a word processor. After months of tinkering, my friend Ben Gross and I just finished building one. We call it the DocWriter. It's a typewriter that sends its keystrokes in real time to a Google Doc."
Previous identity for Polaroid.
New identity for Polaroid.
This Book is a Camera.
A phone that makes and receives calls, and only calls. Thanks Drake.
Ford GT 1967 Heritage Edition. Boss.
"Machine Art" at MoMA, in 1934.
A look at the World's Biggest Super Soaker.
Leonardo and Vittorio Frigerio's Effeffe Berlinetta.
Leica updated TL2. Yum.
Not sure you could take this on a plane but it would definitely work at the beach, the portable BBQ suitcase.
Wired introduces us to an 89 year-old who built a train in his backyard.
"I've been asked why he didn't have a Trans Am instead. Well, he would've liked one -- it's much sexier -- but I don't think he could afford it." Our Favorite Underdogs: Jim Rockford and his Sierra Gold Firebird Esprit, by Priscilla Page.
So you know, the 55 Best Car Blogs.
Citroen Type H 70th Anniversary Van.
The beautiful new packaging for Inveralmond Brewery features watercolors by Peter McDermott. Design by Freytag Anderson, Glasgow.
1966 Shelby GT350-H Fastback Mustang. Boss.
Relocatable shipping container pools.
Related to the last, Tests for Colour-Blindness, also from Codex 99.
Mario Bellini, I would love to see this new career retrospective at the Milan Triennale.
Kumiko Cabinets designed by Staffan Holm. Sublime. Via Daily Icon.
So you know, how to build a teeny, tiny Macintosh classic that works.
"The pictograms Otl Aicher designed have been pointing the way for 40 years or more and are encountered all over the world. Otl Aicher pictograms set benchmarks in directional signage, advertising, sporting events, websites and media of all kinds." Via P&C.
Sons of Liberty Playing Cards, created by Jeff Trish. Four stars.
Neighborwoods.
Mir manual docking system: Toru control panel and attitude control joystick. Cool.
LEGO compatible tape.
Laser engraving, cutting, and marking by Big Secret in Richmond. Via the always observant Fabien Barral.
Ideo visualizes autonomous vehicles and ride sharing.
Related to the last, The Branding of Polaroid, 1957-1977, by Paul Giambarba.
Polaroid's SX-70: The Art and Science of the Nearly Impossible, great article from 2011 by Harry McCracken.
Carsthatnevermadeitetc. Like it says.
The All-Black 1979 Toyota FJ40. Boss.
For BB, the Jollylook camera.
Squirrcle, the shape of things you click.
We Made This toured and photographed a sweet exhibition last year, Olivetti - Beyond Form and Function.
"Atmoph Window is a digital window that opens to beautiful scenery from around the world with 4K-shot videos and sound. Place it anywhere, be anywhere."
Lofree, a keyboard inspired by traditional typewriters.
The IBM Selectric Typewriter and its digital to analogue converter. Nerdy, fun film about an all-time fave product design.
The IBM Selectric Typewriter and its digital to analogue converter. Nerdy, fun film about an all-time fave product design.
Photos by Clint Clemens from The Hifi Book, a catalog for a stereo component chain store from 1981. When I say these are fantastic, I mean it. Via OMFG.
"Norman Wilkinson, a marine painter who was in the Royal Navy, is credited with being the first to develop dazzle camouflage for ships." Lots of sweet drawings can be found in the RISD Fleet Library. Via the always observant Present & Correct.
"I cut the holes by hand. I should mention that I have no idea what I'm doing." Oh man, I totally love this. The making of a DIY Overhead Control Panel. See it in action too.
Animated Engines & 507 Mechanical Movements.
"Each of our patterns are artistic interpretations of symbols that Vietnamese associate with new beginnings." Coca-Cola's Tet 2017.
Wired gives us their picks for their fave gadgets at this year's CES Show.
Pocket-sized duct tape.
1969 De Tomaso Mangusta. Nuff said.
ETCH Clock transforms an elastic membrane into digital numbers.
The first line of dialogue in this video is, "Holy shit, holy shit, what the hell? Holy shit." Seems appropriate.
Edison Pen Plotter in action.
If this doesn't start an argument, I don't know what will. Top 20 Logos of All Time.
Writing robot.
Not terribly practical for feeding your family, and I don't even really care for pancakes much, but PancakeBot is pretty tempting.
Gorgeous architectural birdhouses by Sourgrassbuilt. Via Fubiz.
New from Studio Neat, "Canopy is a case for your Apple Magic Keyboard that folds open to create a stand for your iPad or iPhone. Now you can use a full size, honest-to-god keyboard with your device."
Cherubim Bikes from Japan. Check the Air Line and the Humming Bird here.
Cute lamp.
Airblock, a modular and programmable starter drone.
A polyhedra calendar system, designed with mathematical precision and finished in high quality European sycamore, Dodecal. Unfortunately, the first edition is sold out.
Dodecahedron + Calendar = DodeCal.
Target is teaming up with Dwell for a collaboration. Start waiting in line now.....
Love these geometric lamps by COZO.
Volkswagen's electric concept, The I.D.
Zulkey's interview with Eric J. Nordstrom, the salvager who saves pieces of Chicago architecture with his company, Urban Remains.
With its mechanism neatly hidden under its machined aluminum base, this compact and minimal bottle opener encourages discovery through interaction.
A golden throne at the Guggenheim.
"For about 90 percent of its history, the Dart was the kind of a car you drove because you were 16 and your parents were getting a new car. But there were some legendary Darts over its 56-year history, and some shouldn't be forgotten."
Dongles.
"Legends. These are the truly great, revolutionary products that change everything. They elevate themselves from being merely a design icon to a cultural icon. The Sony Walkman TPS-L2 introduced in 1979 is one of those legends." A great illustrated post by Andrew Kim.
Logotype Only. Logotype and Symbol. Symbol Only. More on this matter from Kalle Oskari Mattila in The Age of the Wordless Logo. Both via Quipsologies.
"Unlike a typical radio, Time Travel Radio doesn't tune to frequencies - it tunes to years. You can fill it with songs from throughout your life, then use music to travel through time. There are only two knobs: one controls power/volume, and the other sets the year. Turn the year knob and Time Travel Radio will play music from that year."
Awesome laser-etched radial LED lightbulbs.
RIP father of the 747, Joe Sutter.
Wire furniture by Muller van Severen.
"There's a table surface that rests upon the knees of the couple, physically connecting them as they eat or drink. The nature of the design leads the duo to focus on each other and to be aware during the experience." Sati Tala.
"These tables sport curvaceous wooden legs in lieu of the regular spindly ones, and boasts a new table color called 'Les yeux bleus.'" Rio's Olympic ping pong tables.
Schindelhauer Bikes' Ludwig VIII, Brooks Edition in matte black. Wow.
20 Oversized planters worthy of your fiddle leaf.
Cinefade, a cool camera system that changes the aperture at the same time as a variable ND, so you can rack the depth but the exposure stays the same. Wild.
On a scale of 1-100, Milton Glaser rates every Olympic logo design, by Emily Gosling. Via Kottke.
Soy Shape.
"The goal is to redesign useful objects making them uncomfortable but usable and maintain the semiotics of the original item." —Katerina Kamprani. Thanks Ron.
A Visual History of the Corvette Logo, by Rain Noe.
Industrial handmade lamps by WO & WÉ.
1980's Porsche 911 Targa Interior.
James Friend has got Classic Mac OS 7.0.1 running in a browser. Sweet.
"This particular 1975 Mazda RX-3 puts a slight twist on the age-old recipe, by adding a whole heap of low into the mix, thanks to a custom air suspension setup." Boss.
Nice interactive experience for the BMW concept vehicle, the Vision Next 100.
2017 Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition. Boss.
Hasselblad X1D.
Sound of Power is a company that makes speakers built into busts of world leaders. Now includes a limited-edition Trump: "A perfect use of an empty head!"
Promo for The Drive, a new book from Gestalten on custom cars and their builders. Rad.
For MCJ, LYFE is a zero-gravity growing system allowing you to cultivate your favorite plants in the air.
"Ten years before the rise of the supermarket generic brand, Champion Papers produced these colorful packaging designs for a series of print advertisements."
Mario Bellini, Olivetti Programma 101 computer, 1965-1971. Hardware architect Pier Giorgio Perotto, Italy. Sublime. I don't even know what it does but I want one.
The Design Legacy Of Dieter Rams, a nicely illustrated post by Anna Ker.
A simple concrete wall clock.
Dome 90 would look pretty cool in the studio. Via Designboom.
Cabel tells the story of The Panic Sign on their building in Portland, and how you can change its colors from your phone.
Honey on tap.
Garden Igloo.
Almost gorgeous enough to make me want to go camping, check out the Timberleaf trailer. Via Uncrate.
UQAM, smart exercises in industrial design.
Thorough and insightful piece on the redesign of Ryanair's boarding pass system by Lynsey Duncan and Aonghus Davoren.
Hiding in Plain Sight, the history of camouflage, by Josh Kramer. Via Things Mag.
Hans Jenssen Illustration, beautifully rendered cutaways, cross-sections, exploded views and more, including classic Star Wars vehicles. Via Isn't.
Autodesk's Project Escher, a multiple-nozzle 3D printer for quicker, more elaborate printing. Yow.
40 years ago today.
Building the Moving Axis AirCraft Simulator, a homemade motion flight simulator.
Product, a nice industrial design tumblr.
Julian Bleecker and Rhys Newman are looking to give cyclists a beautiful bike computer that looks and feels just as analog as the bike they are riding.
DIY smart blinds.
Beautiful illustrations for Atari Computer Concepts.
For MCJ, the Mygdal Plantlamp.
Shelby GT500CR Mustang.
Of local interest, if you happen to drive on Ridge Ave between Devon and Pratt, like I do, you're probably always curious about the massive office/industrial compound on the east side of the street. To answer all questions, here's a 16-minute, Bill Kurtis-narrated promo film explaining what goes on over there: S&C Electric Company: The First 100 Years.
Life is too short for ugly cars, Chromjuwelen.
It's not you. Bad doors are everywhere.
Raffaello D'Andrea and his drones, via Kottke.
Paul Blackburn chooses his five all-time favorite transport logos for Grafik.
How a Mini Cooper is manufactured, in twelve minutes. Thanks Marshall.
In 1991 the 49ers announced a new logo, wait a minute, not so fast. The story of "the biggest logo-related disaster in Bay Area sports history." Via Brand New, of course.
Just stumbled on the Hofmeister Kink. Hmm.
1970 Pontiac Firebird brochure. Excellent.
Building a Daft Punk helmet.
Everything you need to know about the awesomeness that is found in the design of TEAC/Tascam reel to reel tape recorders.
A video essay about control rooms in film and television since the 1970s. The Cinematic Control Room. Super smart.
Chris Petty's long, interesting recounting of the development of the "impossible dream", The X-30 National Aerospace Plane.
Jet geeks alert, Qantas Airlines on "that time when we strapped an extra engine on to a jumbo."
Lame name, endearing design, a new electric concept from Volkswagen. Lots more pics, sketches and info at Autoblog.
Part software promo, part interview, with Mark Henry Phillips, the mixer, sound designer, and composer for the Serial podcast.
"It's an overt declaration that your phone, or your computer, or your tablet is not really yours to tamper with, a public statement that you are not qualified to fix your own things." The Pentalobe and iFixit.
1969 Buick.
Finally, an acceptable alternative to the selfie-stick.
"That's the idea behind the 1M Hauly Heist, a bag specifically designed for transporting $1 million in cash, discretely." We received a smaller version from our pal Jan at SDR Traveller and next time we have 10 Gs sitting around, we know how we'll carry it.
So you know, how to build your own supercar.
Great browse. Future Forms: Space Age Electronics & Design. Man, it would be sweet to take an important call on this.
The evolution of the Persian banknote.
Related to the last, the Darwin Tank is a small jellyfish aquarium.
Giants of the Sea from | Avaunt Magazine. Photographs by Greg White, written by Alan Dron.
Inside Apple's Perfectionism Machine, by Lance Ulanoff. Great piece. Via John Gruber.
"Gretel has even made the guidelines and vendor brand central exciting and interesting. Heck, they even make Gotham feel relevant and new again." Amin on a slick new identity package for Netflix.
Farewell Metrocenter, the mall I not only learned to ice skate in, but also was employed at throughout high school. For the non-Phoenician, you'll likely recognize it as the mall from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
The Finnish pocket computer that wants to take over the world, by Olivia Solon.
Real-time Expression Transfer for Facial Reenactment
Meghann Ney flips through a 1960s edition of the IBM Graphic Design Guide. Via Brand New.
Balight is a customizable, lighted bicycle wheel display.
Now that all the lumberjacks are hanging out in trendy coffeeshops in Portland, it's come to this. (via George, who says "It comes for you next.")
In Through the Out Door, Codex 99 on Hipgnosis and the 1970s Album Cover.
Chromjuwelen. "Life is too short for ugly cars." Amen.
Keyboard Smörgåsbord. Eli Schiff goes deep on the Shift Key on iPhones. Smart.
Eclipse of Rainbow, a lamp design by Eugenia Antoniou. Brilliant.
Moto Borgotaro sure likes the 1979 Moto Guzzi Le Mans.
Rodolfo Bonetto. T 1228 TV set, 1975. Made by Voxson, Rome. Green and black plastic. Marked: Voxson T 1228, Made in Italy. Fantastic! Via Design is Fine.
Box Vox, a blog on "packaging as content" by Deborah Davis and Randy Ludacer. Bookmarked. Via Things.
I'll take one in Pacific Blue please.
Hello beautiful.
Ear-free headphones that transmit sound via bone conduction.
OMG, I definitely need to get one of these. A cat sneezes a block away and I'm wide awake.
Interface | People, machines, design "explores how design has been applied to information technology products; about how a handful of companies made complicated technology appealing and easy to use." Currently showing at the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences in Sydney.
Lite-Brite for grown ups with a lot of money. Via Core77.
The BMW Concept M4 GTS debuts at Monterey Car Week. Wow. More from CarType.
Patent issued for ultra-rapid air vehicle and related method for aerial locomotion. London to New York in an hour?
Draw with the sun.
The Cyanometer Postcard refers to the variations of blueness when looking at the sky on a certain moment.
So you know, everything you ever wanted to know about Chicago's bridges,
including my neighbor and favorite, which is currently closed for repairs.
Speaking of Polaroid, pretty much any excuse will do for a relink to The Branding of Polaroid, Paul Giambarba's first-hand account of the company's corporate image and product identity development. Required reading.
"The white plastic Swinger, with black and red accents, is now displayed in museums as an example of Pop Art, which was reaching its zenith at the time. Aiming for the 'youth' demographic, Polaroid pronounced it 'the camera for a whole new generation.'" —Michael Beschloss.
If you are at Comic Con, take a look in the skies for this flying R2-D2.
"Massimo Vignelli asked if we could make a watch without hour and minute hands."
A new table for the conference room?
Drop dead gorgeous and built here in our hometown of Chicago, the Floating Record Vertical Turntable. Want.
"...a complex arrangement of gears and cogs that can be used to perform a wide array of calculations by a combination of rotating and arranging an array of dials and sliders." Thanks to Things Magazine I've fallen into a rabbit-hole on The Curta Calculator.
Not open to the public, an inside peek at the Le Creuset factory.
"This is a coordinated, comprehensive design program, not just another ornamental badge to be stuck on a multitude of different products by countless personnel and sub-contractors." The history of the NASA "worm" logo.
The Solo Jazz Cup, possibly more awesome than The Carpet at Portland Airport?
Watching the assembly of the 2016 BMW 7 Series is sorta boring and hypnotizing at the same time.
Video-gamish preview of "America's next great rocket," NASA's Space Launch System.
Marian Bantjes goes deep on the aesthetics and awesome names of various types of barbed wire. For more, check the Devil's Rope episode of 99% Invisible. Clipped from Quipped.
"Hardly a new design style in sports, nor is it a new fad, roundel style primary logos can be traced back a cool one-hundred years to the 1915 Philadelphia Phillies." —Chris Creamer. Via Brand New.
The jury members have been heard from, now it's your turn, The 2015 Core77 Community Choice Prize.
Maria Mordvintseva-Keeler's "Food for Thought" book collection in tins. Only brilliant. Via This Isn't Happiness.
PicturePhone: How Bell Telephone lost a half billion, but nearly created the internet. From EngineerGuy.
Related to the last. From the pebbly matte steel skin to the zippery feel of the margin controls and the interchangeable "golfball" element, the Selectric stands as an icon of industrial design and a shape that still defines an era of modern business. Check how it fits in the timeline history of the IBM Typewriter. The man responsible for the Selectric, and in many ways for corporate America embracing Modernism and design driven communications, is Eliot Noyes.
Leno takes a long look at one of three hand-built Koenigsegg Trevita CCXR supercars.
Djurdjic Winery packaging by Peter Gregson.
A video visit to the Kakimori Stationery Shop in Tokyo. Beautiful. Via Three Staples.
Exquisitely designed light bulbs from Buster + Punch.
Who is the Olivetti girl? And other questions can be answered with a simple, specific search at Design is Fine.
"...I was seized with terror when the 20-foot vehicle developed uneasy, oscillating swivels, with the tail wanting to wobble like a shopping cart's bad wheel." A test drive of the death-trap car designed by Buckminster Fuller, a recreated Dymaxion #1. All car reviews should be this fun.
"The aim was to recuperate the essence of the classic plastic chair. The reference of Robin Day's iconic chair was always present but with the added value of timber's warmth. The shell is then held by a wooden easel." Kuskoa line by Jean Louis Iratzoki. Sublime.
So cool, leather-core plywood.
Audi's Prologue concept, coupe and wagon. Sweet.
One more, from Joshua Topolsky, You'll Want One, but You Don't Need One.
Here's the one you've been waiting for, John Gruber goes long on the Apple Watch after using one for a week.
Brick Lamp.
"The Model S is a daring public experiment in automotive vision that has the impudence to make the finest, fastest luxury cars feel like Edwardian antiques. I know a lot of gear heads. The only ones who don't think the Model S is the best in the world haven't driven one."
Data is nature.
A Stella television set from Stern-Radio Stassfurt, photographed by Ben Garret. More information on this 1970 or 71 East German beauty.
"Reviving an old computer is like restoring a classic car: There's a thrill from bringing the ancient into the modern world. So it was with my first 'real' computer, my Mac Plus, when I decided to bring it forward three decades and introduce it to the modern Web." —Jeff Keacher.
A lecture by Antenna Design's Masamichi Udagawa and Sigi Moeslinger at the Vignelli Center at RIT.
"A logo is read; a pictorial symbol is viewed." Paul Rand's notes for a lecture in 1981, courtesy of Mr. Heller.
Nerd alert. How Apple Makes the Watch, by Greg Koenig, an expert and an excellent writer, decodes the 'making of' metallurgical videos presented at the launch. Best thing I've read all month.
"If you want to imagine how the world will look in just a few years, once our cell phones become the keepers of both our money and identity, skip Silicon Valley and book a ticket to Orlando. Go to Disney World. Then, reserve a meal at a restaurant called Be Our Guest, using the Disney World app to order your food in advance." —Cliff Juang
Happy 100th birthday to the oldest vertical-lift bridge in Chicago. So beautiful. Also, a shout-out to the Cortland Street bascule bridge, going strong since 1902.
An adorable way to spread butter on your corn on the cob.
Tree trunk turntables.
The identity system for Redscout by design studio Franklyn is a sweet series of customizable icon/portraits.
Air & Space magazine's fantastic cockpit panoramas from inside some of the most iconic planes.
Toot-A-Loop.
As soon as we figure out how to hydro-dip pocket notebooks, you'll be the first to know.
Six Colors on the : Apple Watch, and what we know so far.
Related to the last, a different small orange car. Don Dethlefsen's restoration of a 1973 BMW 2002tii.
Marc Newson's design for the 1999 concept car, the Ford 021C which, to be honest, is damn ugly.
Engadget reviews the new View-Master, a Mattel and Google collab. No more slide reels.
"Mechanism-wise you can intuit quite a bit about the whole system by watching that video. Note for example the way the rotary action causes a coil-uncoil with the middle whirrer, which uninvolves the pen gear, in turn causing the quirt to devilate, which itself leads to the essential pulsing grombus before the return hose coil inductor is repronged. Couldn't be simpler." A classic Paul Ford post on rotary phones.
Cute tipi lamps.
Love at first site. One of our favorite companies anywhere, Teenage Engineering has released a new line of pocket synthesizers that are just $60 per. Pocket Operators. As with everything from TA, the design is amazing.
Peel, Pucker, Pinch, or Puncture? Fascinating video on disposable plastic coffee lids. More here. Via Things.
Copiously illustrated post from DesignBoom on retrospective of 1960s Braun design, at Moda International in Paris. Beautiful.
A new take on the original Mac. Make them and we'll buy them. Via The Verge.
Furniture made from seaweed and paper.
The Seaboard, from Roli. A rethink of the piano keyboard which enables "seamless transitions between discrete and continuous input, and captures three-dimensional gestures while simultaneously providing the user with tactile feedback." Just watch. Via Jim Dalrymple.
The pattern on the papershade is screen-printed with a special ink that charges itself throughout the day. The Loena Lantern, by Ontwerpduo.
The Mercedes concept, Autonomous F 015 is pretty slick and not-so-very-far from the future I have been waiting for, the one from Logan's Run of course.
Related to the last, The 1973 Buick Apollo. Yowza.
Something really different, and beautiful, the au Fx0 Transparent Phone, designed by Tokujin Yoshioka.
Trick Mat. A fun idea from A.P. Works.
"The NoPhone acts as a surrogate to any smart mobile device, enabling you to always have a rectangle of smooth, cold plastic to clutch without forgoing any potential engagement with your direct environment."
The HB Lamp by Michael & George. So fun, sharp.
With new changeable type bars electric typewriters "really speak your language".
But can it tell time? The 1925 Henry Graves Supercomplication watch by Patek Philippe, as described in this entirely-too-dramatic video from Sotheby's.
Any second now...
Family Flight, a promo film by Airbus featuring five A350-900s.
Relink. Cloudpaint will take you back 30 years.
1. Driftwood from the ocean. 2. Found at a beach. 3. Marked with the coordinates. 4. Equipped with magnets. Genius.
TING's luxury leather flooring re-works vintage leather belts to create a beautiful, glossy and hardwearing surface.
Jim Hughes on The First International Paper Airplane Competition, from 1966.
Smooth, Gillette. Smooth.
Prototype for ZURI 01 Paperbot System, "a programmable robot made from paper and grey cardboard. This motion machine, conceived of as a kit, can be assembled with a few tools."
Modern Christmas trees.
Jeremy Mayer makes people out of typewriter parts.
Branding and identity for the Fort Point Beer Company by Manual in San Francisco.
The baby blanket, yeah, that one.
The Real Thing, Bodie Stroud's 1969 Mustang Boss 494. More information here.
Growing up, I had a bunk bed. A boring, average, bunk bed. I would have loved to have had one like this.
The Surrealists' tarot deck from 1940. The aces are ace. Via John Coulthart.
Let's get some hamster wheel standing desks for the office.
Glowing circular swings in Boston.
VHS-inspired skateboard decks from 5BORO. Via Doobybrain.
A Brief History of Citröen, Parts One and Two. By Rain Noe.
John Gruber on the new iPhones and some thoughts on the watch.
Leica M Edition 60.
Aisle One on 5Boro's series of skateboard decks as an homage to VHS videotape packaging. Surprisingly awesome.
C77 on everyday woodworking projects in stop-motion. More from the craftsman, Frank Howarth.
Zulkey's interview with Colin Furze, "the Thomas Edison of fart machines, magnet shoes, walls of death, and scooters that go 70 mph."
C-Clamps and other letters too.
"In celebration of the original British retro telephone, also known as the 'modern phone,' the 746 remake retains a vintage look and design featured in the 1967 edition."
Fiero + Harley = Fieri.
Related to the last post, anyone remember Think Big!?
Cute, mushroom shakers.
X to Close, interesting investigation on how an essential part of user interfaces came to be. Also, fabulous old OS screen grabs!
"Like so many Leica products though, the T hasn't been without controversy. People say that it's overpriced and say that it's beauty without any substance. Here are my thoughts." Andrew Kim reviews the Leica T in his Minimally Minimal fashion. Via Toke Nygaard.
Forgotten Chicago, The 12th Street Bridge That Never Was. Beautiful architectural rendering.
An epic tale of lies, deception, stolen work, and crappy logos, by Sacha Greif.
Theatrical Bamboo Lighting by Estudi Arola.
Shaping burgers since 1937. Hollymatic goes The Distance, by Wailin Wong.
Yes. This.
GrandArmy's USPS branding and what might have been, by Mark Wilson.
An acorn speaker.
Sense is a simple system that tracks your sleep behavior, monitors the environment of your bedroom and reinvents the alarm.
Information on The Witching Waves, a ride at Coney Island from the early-to-mid 1900s. More info here. And here it is in motion in the silent film, Fatty in Coney Island.
A look at Japan's amazing new luxury train. Wowza.
Priority Designs engineered a sweet futuristic bike design by Cannondale. Todd Mendoza fabricated the prototype.
A smashable concrete lamp.
Want.
Kottke on The Bike Brothers, a BBC doc on Jack, Ken and Norman Taylor, racers and bike builders.
The design process behind the New York City Football Club identity by Rafael Esquer and Alfalfa Studio.
What time is it? Blue. Duncan Shotton's Colour O'Clock. Via Net Diver.
Carlos Rambaldi's Alien Head.
"Ernest Wright & Sons of Sheffield, is the last remaining hand manufacturer of scissors. The film documents 'Putter' Cliff Denton literally a putter together of scissors." Via Colossal. Wonderful.
William Morgan on how we lost our way, regarding the design of license plates. Amen.
For drivers, ↑ works better than ↓.
Want.
New test flight footage from Space X's F9R rocket, which rises and then lands in the same spot again using fins.
From 1974, a promo film for the Volkswagen Beetle Mini-Camper. Some fun copywriting along the way.
Vintage hi-fi audio components at the Golden Age Of Audio. Via Things.
"These chromolithographs come from a decorative arts book published in about 1910 (or a little later) called The Decorative Use of Wallpapers." —BibliOdyssey. Lovely.
"No Springs. Honest Weight." Taking a look at a pre-WWII Toledo Scale. Via Doobybrain.
Life is too short for ugly cars, Chromjuwelen.
If I were ever to wear a watch, it might be this one.
"Napkin Table designed by the graduate of the industrial design, Tunghai University in Taiwan and it is a product responding to the dining culture which is influenced by the modern technology."
Data is nature. Truly it is.
Alan Watts built a Wormhole Actualization Machine.
This holiday weekend, get the JAG Grill and make your guests cook their own damn food.
Break out the tie dye and patchouli, VW is bringing back the Microbus.
Count me as one of "the diehard fans of an obsolete piece of software who refuse to bow to the inevitable and switch to more modern alternatives." Freehand: The Software That Wouldn't Die.
Dig the look of the Cylo Bike.
"Our Artisan Canoe Paddles are made from solid cherry sourced from Northern Ontario. Each paddle is selected for its unique attributes and hand finished in our Montreal-based studio." —Norquay.
Span, a "modern timepiece" concept integrating analog and digital, from Box Clever.
"If I had been a photo-realist painter I would have tried to paint the numbers as they focused the light and the shadow on the inner surface of the peanut butter." Nicholson Baker presentation for Dcrit, Wrapping Sentences Around Things.
The Devon Tread 2 Timepiece. A crazy mechanical beauty.
Tons and tons of automobile design sketches. A great resource and a fun browse.
Dream Cars.
"The 901 and I were born in 1963. I came in with it, I'll go out with it." John Benton restores, races and remakes Porsches. This is his story, directed by Heath Mattioli. Via A Continuous Lean.
Nerd alert, The Mac Pro Daisy Chain Challenge, how many devices can you hook up to one Mac?
Furniture inspired by Japan's bondage fetish.
We linked and loved Andrew Kim's recent visual ode to The Walkman, so we spent some time in his archives and discovered he is collecting, and has an eye for, calculators. Sweet.
If you need some patterns of dogs rolled into your dough, here are some nifty laser-engraved rolling pins.
I'm not sure about a liquor made from chilis, but I'm positive that the branding by Sociedad Anonima for Ancho Reyes is tasty.
A clever 3D ad running in a Columbian newspaper.
"We have poles on this floor so the floor above won't fall down on this floor." In response to The Barbarian Group's agency tour video showing off their fancy new offices, Barton F. Graf 9000 made one of their own.
Call me skeptical but, One Ring To Rule It All... By Bluetooth, by Kat Bauman.
"To create and design for all the wrong reasons." kkstudio's The Uncomfortable, a collection of intentionally-irritating design.
A look at the Seven Stars, a super-luxury rail car line in Japan.
Sweet. The new Audi S1 and S1 Sportback. More on the car and its rally heritage, at Designboom.
I have no heart. I'm doing well with transistors and intricate electronic blocks.
Work begins in Amsterdam on DUS Architects' 3D printed house, the world's first.
"Legends. These are the truly great, revolutionary products that change everything. They elevate themselves from being merely a design icon to a cultural icon. The Sony Walkman TPS-L2 introduced in 1979 is one of those legends." A great, copiously illustrated post by Andrew Kim. Via Large Hearted Boy.
What do you know? New nice-looking USPS stamps, designed by Antonio Alcala and Michael Dyer. Via Hoefler & Co.
The Take-Off Light by fifti-fifti is an ingenious DIY design that allows you to customize your own geometric shade. Via Core77.
"Our challenge was to design packaging for a series of 3 guitar effect pedals marking the 35th anniversary of the release of Van Halen's debut album." — Jimmy Dunlop.
The Making of Neon Signs. Sweet film, via Rob Cruickshank.
For BB, the Vespa Segway.
Smart rearview mirror, from Nissan.
Game Frame is a grid of 256 ultra-bright LED pixels, perfect for showcasing pixel art and old school video game graphics.
HUVr.
"...artistic taste in selection and arrangement of type faces and pictures, grammar, spelling and appropriateness of copy." An utterly charming post by Jennifer Kennard on Superior Marking Equipment's "The Cub," a tiny printing press marketed to kids and other aspiring press barons in the 50s.
Learning from SciFi, Wearable Control Panels, from Make It So.
Robot riding a fixie, bet it blow through stoplights too.
Zoom.
Nicholas Baker designed an ingenious nightlight called "Prism." Proof that there's always room to make something simpler. Via ISO50.
Skyline rulers.
Interesting study of touch interactivity for car dashboard controls by Matthaeus Krenn.
Prism Nightlight.
Here's a review of the FourSevens XM18 Maelstrom, a flashlight/searchlight that puts out 15,000 lumens of light.
Renault concept car, complete with quadrocopter.
"The technique of marbling entails floating colours on a liquid and mixing them by chemical and physical means to achieve a pattern. A sheet of paper is placed on the pattern and is then removed, essentially forming a monotype print." BibliOdyssey on Marbled Paper Designs.
Regular Car Reviews takes on the 2006 Mazda RX-8. Some of the best Wankel jokes you're likely to hear all day.
Half for you, half for them.
Select potential customers are given this Audi Test Drive Cube. Once they press the start button, the clock begins to count down, reaching zero when a new Audi A8 is delivered to the cube-holder for a 24 test drive.
Terrific read from Rebecca Burns in Politico, "The Day We Lost Atlanta," about how it wasn't the snow that shut the city down, it was decades of terrible urban planning across the country. Atlanta just had the misfortune of being the poster child.
You'll start this real estate tour video thinking, "Who would want a mini-train on their property?" but then very quickly transition to, "I wish I had a mini-train on my property."
"Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste — Z, X, C, V." Special, by John Gruber.
"When it rains it pours."
Get in the car.
Garamond and Helvetica eyeglasses from (of course) Japan.
D is for DeLorean, Dodo, Darth Vader, and Dalek.
Related to the last, an Eames promotional film on the Polaroid SX-70.
Polaroid's tiny cube.
Audioklassiks vintage hi-fi equipment from the 60s and 70s. So beautiful.
Toyota FT-1 Concept.
First Car Illustration, Carlos at Cartype checks out a sweet service for the car lover who has everything, custom illustrations of that one car you had and loved. Hmm, do I really want a picture of an early 70s Celica?
"We got this over Christmas. It's a handy little tool for opening that horrible sealed plastic packaging that's everywhere these days."
Pioneer SD-1100 Scope Display, stereo unit, 1972, as 3D paper model. Nerdiest thing I ever posted?
The "Moonshot Factory." Core77 goes behind the scenes with the design team at Google X.
The Culture Engine, four-wheeled awesomeness from the Things Mag crew.
Architecture for Dogs.
Nendo redesigns the chopstick.
1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater. Via ISO50.
1962 Volkswagen T1 (Split Window) bus modified with a 500 Bhp Porsche 993 Twin Turbo engine, and Porsche 996 GT3 six-speed gear box. Holy shit. Here's what it looks like on the outside. Via Bodie Stroud.
From pet rocks to iPads, 50 Years 50 Toys.
3P Clock.
2015 Ford Mustang. Bam.
Lot 19:
1970 De Tomaso Mangusta Coupe.
A funded Kickstarter project by Kano. A computer and coding kit for all ages, all over the world. "Simple as Lego, powered by Pi."
"...a certain fascination with classic image segmentation routines, particularly renderings constructed from text." Amen. Teehan Lax Labs presents D.I.G.I.T. Just watch. Via Waxy.
"A minimalistic, unconventional, retrofuturistic analog GIF player, handmade with passion, precision and patience in Italy." The Giphoscope by Officina K.
Coin. One card to rule them all. Brilliant idea.
The Rio 2016 Olympic pictograms are lovely.
Elements is an installation by Britzpetermann for a prefab housing show. Viewers can use "the installation intentionally or can influence it by walking around in front of it." Via DMiG.
This silly Huffington Post collection of architectural renderings, "This Is What New York City Could Look Like In 2033," fails to mention the most exciting thing about this exciting future: it will always be bright and sunny!
Core 77 takes a look at old school coffee mills made by Peugeot.
The new Nikon Df looks just great.
So you know, putting wine in a beer can is not as simple as it sounds.
Math, magic and design. I found these new German playing cards impossible to resist. Cha-ching.
Mirror 2.0.
Luggage tags made of reclaimed truck tubes.
Form in fact, does follow function. Rogues' Gallery and the "Farming Cars" of Awaji Island, by Shogo Jimbo for PingMag.
Need a keychain?
1970 Orange catalog.
Jason Kottke on the myth of NASA's expensive space pens. By the way, if you want one of the genuine article with a Field Notes logo on it, you can have one.
Nice video preview of the previously mentioned new book Iconic, which catalogs every single Apple product.
Donhou Bicycles in London builds custom bikes and wanted to see how fast they could go. Turns out the answer is very fast.
"The arm of the bench acts as the focal point of the piece and casts a shadow that works as the hour hand of the sundial." Core77 on the Shadow Memories Bench/Sundial.
Tikker is a wrist watch that counts down your life from years to seconds, and motivates you to make the right choices.
Jellyfish lamps.
Shrine of Apple. Jonathan Zufi's aim is to photograph every single product Apple has sold since 1976. Betsy McKay chatted with him for the WSJ.
Great rundown by Chris Ziegler for The Verge, The Amazing Products of Weird Sony.
Handsets for your iPhone from Native Union. Smart.
*Sigh*, Want.
Swell work from Someoddpilot, a rebranding for our pals at Sound Opinions. Bam.
Every single NHL team logo, year by year. Via Brand New.
Sweet video of the design development of the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo. Thanks Marshall.
Just the needle and the numbers, Chevrolet Speedometer Design from 1941 to 2011. Like our main image today, this by way of Christian Annyas.
From Jessica Svendsen: "Every day for 100 days, I redesigned a canonical Josef Müller-Brockmann poster according to four criteria: line, circle, movement, and sound."
The Minox Riga, the first true subminiature spy camera from 1936. Sweet.
The Royal Mail celebrates British automotive design with this series of stamps. One of those MGs, please.
Fun animation and really nice sound design: 108 Years of Herman Miller (in 108 Seconds).
Best and worst college football's logos, according to Athlon. Via Brand New.
Graft is a series of bioplastic disposable tableware designed to look like plants.
Formzoo's sweet identity for Gybe, a German racing team.
The 1939 Pontiac plexiglass ghost car.
Balsa wood seaplanes from the Schneider Cup, by Okolo. Via Daily Icon.
Rethinking electric cars, the i3 from BMW. Very interesting.
Finally found the perfect gift for my son's first birthday next month: the Crazy Cart.
Noted without comment. 1970s Skyline GTR.
AeroVelo's "Atlas" won the Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition by thinking big.
"Syd Mead didn't work on The Empire Strikes Back, but he made a significant contribution nonetheless, when his designs for US Steel ended up informing the imperial walkers deployed on Hoth."
The Bike Craze of the 1890s.
A new site featuring iconic industrial and product design by Richard Sapper.
A nice collection of packaging for 25 Craft Beers at The Dieline. Love the bittle for Ippon Matsu.
A great chat by a longtime CP friend: Chris Glass' talk from the Cincinnati chapter of Creative Mornings. Do yourself a favor and put aside the next 45 minutes.
Jeongwon Ji has made her own bioplastic from crab shells.
You know you need this.
Ooohh, they made a wristwatch.
Heads up BB. Vespalogy is a fun 90 second animated tour through the history of Vespa product design, by Paris-based Nomoom.
Think of it as a really big Lego kit. The Camatte57 concept car from Toyota is a "build-it-yourself" model.
So you know, what's inside Google Glass. Star Simpson tears one down.
As James just tweeted, "The original Game Boy box art from '89 sure was awesome."
Core77 on Elon Musk's latest idea, The Hyperloop, a fanciful, futuristic transportation system that echoes an idea from the Rand Corporation. See also Logan's Run, sort of.
Core77 on Victor Johansson and the thinking behind his circular Ceramic Stereo design.
Teddy's photostream is chock full of industrial design greatness as embodied by plastic, lamps, TVs, radios, clocks and ball speakers from 60's & 70's. And, especially the magnificent Sony TR-1825 from 1970
io9 has a nice roundup of automatons, the predecessors of the early 20th century electronic robots.
MS: "Can I get one of these?" JC: "No." MS: "But NASA says it will boost my productivity!"
"Clichés work because they are clichés." Bill Gardner on current trends in logo design. Via Quips.
Droga5's clever promo for Qantas airlines: Stories for Every Journey, a collection of books, with their lengths timed to those of varying flights' distances. Short film about it, here.
Volocopter VC1, an electric "multi-copter."
Quite likely the only nice thing I will say about Detroit during the next couple weeks, Shinola Watches are sweet and made in Motown.
The proprietor of Beer or Kid has started a new blog all about his newly-found passion for building and launching rockets: Borketry.
The winners of the 2013 National Design Awards have been announced and include Paula Scher and local firm, Studio Gang Architects.
"I have a follower who likes Nikon schematics, so I scanned a few from an old French magazine."
Even though this hasn't been updated in a long time, I visit this gallery of early Atari industrial design drawings regularly.
Checking in at Consollection, a great collection of video game systems. I wasted a lot of time on this
beauty.
The Me.We, a Toyota concept car by Jean-Marie Massaud. Crazy, but sort of adorable too.
Amazing modern doll houses that double as furniture. So much better than the Barbie Dream Boat I had growing up. Via If It's Hip, It's Here.
Kottke on the Design of Cattle Brands. Great.
"Dealership emblem salvaged from my first vehicle. The 1967 Plymouth Belvedere was my mom's daily driver until 1981, when I inherited it in high school. The slant six threw a rod in 1986 and I ended up storing the car outside for at least another decade. I finally realized that I would never get around to repairing (let alone restoring) this creaky, old Mopar." —Grant Hutchinson.
An admirable project from Bethany Heck, The HalfLiner, a beautifully designed baseball scorebook.
In response to this Godawful thing, Core77 reminds us that the best-looking-ever U.S. money was designed in the 1890s. Amen to that.
Oh, for Christ sakes.
"Since its debut in 1951, the Eames Molded Plastic Side Chair- - a body-embracing wonder designed by Charles and Ray Eames- - has come a long way. The first unupholstered chair to be mass-produced in plastic, it has metamorphosed into a wiry creature, learned to rock, gone to school, entered the workforce as quintessential office furniture and found its way back into the canon of high design."
Mid-Century Modern Freak.
Sandwichbike.
Looks like the US has lost the race to build the first working time machine.
"Current camera devices are steeped in antiquated gestalt." Jared Mankelow's Conran Camera Concept.
To support the increasing number of cyclists in Zurich, Switzerland, the government--with the help of designers--has unveiled a 'drive-in' for bicycles.
A classic Raymond Loewy logo heads for the ash tray, Lucky Strike rebrands. LSMFT.
Jon Wheatley's Space Dice and how they got that way. Great post what's involved in making a physical product. Via 37s. I just ordered a set, In space, no one can hear you roll.
A look at the impressive, mechanical, full of hidden drawers Berlin Secretary Cabinet owned by King Fredrick William II in the early 1800s, and designed by Abraham and David Roentgen.
A nice look back at the last twenty years of The History of Rotoscoping in After Effects. Lots and lots of hours spent with a big bunch of those iterations.
An Aqua Velvet Logo Collection, Billows & Curves, 1970s.
When you dip the egg into your carton of paperclips it comes out looking like and egg sitting in a nest.
Hotello, the portable hotel room.
The new Finnish passport has a moose animation.
So very awesome. Knobfeel, electronics reviewed "based purely on the feel of the knob." Via Rob Walker.
Related to today's main link, The Tamiya Volkswagen Type 2 Wheelie. Boss.
We definitely need one of these for the studio.
Mug Tray by ideaco.
Just two weeks remain to enter the Core77 2013 Design Awards. There's lots to admire about this competition, not the least of which is the trophy that makes trophies.
Great. Now they've taught the Boston Dynamics robot how to throw bricks. Next is implementing its human-catching nets and brain-scrambling ray?
The Sports Car, The Laptop And The Science Behind The Golden Proportion, by Anthony Wing Kosner, for Forbes.
An explanation of how that familiar got to be that way: "Why the School Bus Never Comes in Red or Green."
"He was a scientist - he wasn't a showman, although I think he rather liked the involvement of his technology in the world of entertainment." RIP Petro Vlahos, blue and green-screen effects pioneer.
Relink. New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual, Unimark International, New York 1970. Only fabulous. Via Swissmiss.
"Rely contains a sleeping bag and light shelter, a bottle of water, a lighting tool, a stool, tableware, and toiletries. All the components are rolled up into a hexagon-shaped cylinder that can be zipped up and carried on one's back with the help of straps."
Think I need one of these for my office wall.
Piamo is a microwave espresso maker.
Spacebus.
Man, I wish I had thought of this. The brilliant Systemform Kalender, designed by Anje Jager.
The handsome City Bike from State Bicycle Co.
A fun demo of the quality of the motion capture "Depth Analysis" software used in the game: L.A. Noire Gag Reel.
Antrepo redesigns modern companies' logos using the line-based text and extended outlines that were popular with Japanese camera companies in the '70s and '80s.
"As we descend deeper down the rabbit hole of lid support design, it appears that many of the variations are attempts to save plastic." A Large Pepperoni, and Don't Skimp on the Cheese, by Paul Lukas.
The Blop Lamp, a shapeless mass made from paint chips.
NeighBirds.
Sweet (and unexpected) update to the Swedish market 7-Eleven branding by BVD. Let's move it over to the states please.
From the archives of the Artificial Language Laboratory: "Donald Sherman orders a pizza using a talking computer, Dec 4, 1974."
Daniel Libeskind will lead the first course through the free online school offshoot of Leuphana University in Germany: "ThinkTank: Ideal City of the 21st Century."
We totally need a squishy monster fishy for the office.
Really clever and great idea for my next dinner party.
Eames House timeline. Fab.
This should fit in the corner of my office quite nicely.
Lina-Marie Köppen's Learn To Unlearn project shows how everyday objects might look – if we knew nothing about them.
The latest in a long history of collaborations between LaCie and Philippe Starck: the Blade Runner external drive.
A nice and simple bird house made from a flower pot and plywood. Via Dezeen.
Pretty sure this will fit on the deck.
Cool electric bike concept, The nCycle by designers Skyrill and Marin Myftiu.
"By specifying the pitch of the sounds, it also is possible to make the computer sing." Demonstration of synthesized human speech from Bell Telephone Labs in 1963. Via WFMU.
Fifteen minutes of b-roll from 1982 from inside a Bally/Midway factory as workers assemble Ms. Pac-Man machines.
Classic JBL speaker designs as selected by Scott Hansen. Amen.
Ambigu is the easiest clock to adjust for daylight saving time.
Pinokio likes attention.
Gorgeous, the Brick Alarm Clock.
Footage of a test of the Blue Origin New Shepard Rocket that
uses rocket-powered vertical take-off and vertical landing technology. Future, now. Via Jason Fried.
The 365 Knitting Clock by Sirene Elise Wilhelmsen is stitching the time as it passes by.
Hello Romo, the smart-phone robot. Via Jason Fried.
A visual explanation in video of the redesigned University of California systemwide identity program. Via Victoria.
The Donky Bike, a bicycle that moves the cargo load off of the handle bars and onto the frame, allowing you to both haul bunches of stuff while also managing to keep safely steering.
Created By Us, a newly launched web series profiling interesting things being made by interesting people here in Chicago.
Designers and their lights, 1950-1985.
Staying with this week's occasional Otl Aicher focus, here's a short doc on the design and identity for Lufthansa, 1962.
Bravo OMFG, Bravo.
Ever dreamed of nesting in a tree?
Armin on the Winter Olympic Games pictograms for Sochi.
Let's all pause for a second to appreciate the DS Citroen.
Lennart Ziburski's Smartwatch concept is simple and gets right to the what's useful. Via The Loop.
Veerle got a new bike so, of course, she recreated it in Illustrator. Sweet ride.
Mark Vanhoenacker on the beauty and genius of airline baggage tags. Via Next Draft.
Autographer, an "intelligent, wearable camera." A sweet design and an interesting combination of features and specs, due in November.
Love this.
Aside from an OP-1 from Teenage Engineering I now have to get a 3-D printer so I can print my own replacement parts. So cool. Via Waxy.
Custom Designs Gallery and Construx Creations! show off things built using the Fisher-Price toy series, Construx. Sure, it was a somewhat blatant Lego knock-off, but growing up in my house, it ruled supreme.
LEGO Great Ball Contraption. Wow.
"Yes we can! Let's start the vertical living! Make good use of your wall!" The Magic Wall. Via Core77.
Really? C'mon, really?
Firebirds.
Apropos of nothing. Wild Dragster Bike from Popular Mechanics, July 1969. Via Chromjuwelen En Route.
For SD, the Bubble Baby Bed.
Scans from Top Symbols & Trademarks of the World, parts One and Two. Great selections from Tim Boelaars.
Why would you buy a plain old ukulele when you could get one shaped like an avocado?
"...a possible greenlight" for the Microbus-inspired Bulli concept from VW. Via Chris Glass.
"This camera will be the mother of all limited editions based on one simple fact: only a single unit of the camera will ever be produced." That, and the fact that it's to be designed by Jonathan Ive.
Well, we do need a larger kitchen table in the studio...
Great new episode of Depth of Speed, this time featuring a Datsun wagon.
A terrific adaptation of classic hotel key tags: Three Potato Four's Secret Club Tags.
Want
Want.
Landscape Abbreviated is a kinetic maze consisting of modular elements with rotating planters, which form a garden that is simultaneously a machine. Via BLDGBLOG.
Luminch One is an interactive lamp controlled by the movements of your hand.
Capitol Butter Dish. Via TSA.
Hidden Radio. The further you lift the cap the louder it gets.
The blade of this simple, contemporary handmade letter opener is constructed from a fusion of 100% post consumer recycled paper and a clear, 100% water-based resin made using cashew nut shells.
Nice, Vacation In A Can. Via Bless This Stuff.
Practical Motorhome reviews the VW Doubleback Camper. Would love to take this up to my favorite spot at Gov. Dodge State Park.
"He has designed chairs, restaurants, boutiques, cars, planes, and even a spaceship. For Australian industrial designer Marc Newson, the sky is no limit." Daily Icon on a new monograph, Marc Newson: Complete Works. Looks great.
Mechanical sculptures built from discarded electronics and toys by Andrea Petrachi. Next someone should animate these. Via the always-observant Colossal.
Izhar Cardboard Bike Project. Nice, via swissmiss.
Bobby on the design of the London Olympics medals.
"Solving for y is as simple as typing your name." Great post from Codex 99 on The HP-35 Scientific Pocket Calculator.
This clearly can't be a good development for humanity: video of the Shark Robot in action.
Designing 007, fifty years of James Bond style.
Defakto One Hand Watches. Their simple and beautifully proportioned faces scale time in a new way.
50 years ago these calculating machines represented the pinnacle of technology. Kevin Twomey's mesmerizing film on mechanical calculators. See also his beautiful stills.
The "1997 MacAdvocate CD-ROM, full of 'Why Mac?' presentations." Via Doobybrain.
Core77 2012 Design Award winners. Lots to love here.
A beautiful, simple weather app that you don't even need to go to the iTunes store to download: Sun.
"This was once used bottles and part of a building. This is now a medium canister." Smart packaging by Jog Limited for the Provenance reuseful line of products.
Brilliant "snap together" upper and lowers for custom shoes from Urshuz. Cha-ching. Via Core77.
We could use a few of these bike racks in the studio.
Orange. Definitely the Orange.
Selling Olympic branded merch, circa 1972. Fab.
"The idea of painting with light had become a reality." Quantel Paintbox Demo, 1990.
Egmont Arens: Ever Hear of Him? Thankfully Steven Heller has.
Weird: the Steadicam Smoothee for iPhones.
Evolution of the F1 Car, a simple, sweet animation by Ruf Blacklock. Via Things.
Some nice design/charity work thanking firefighters in Colorado: greeting cards and t-shirts.
Only brilliant. Via Josh.
An interesting and in-depth making of the Madonna Super Bowl halftime show from Moment Factory, the Canadian company who put it all together. The projection stuff is fascinating.
Had no idea that building homemade backyard water slides was a thing, but once again, the internet has provided.
Have an extra million bucks laying around? Get yourself a restored genuine PT Boat.
AAKKOSET Shelf.
Interesting ongoing series from Slate about where and how the things we use came to be. The Evolution of Everyday Objects.
A series of concept designs for the Orbit, a more compact and efficient food cart for airplanes.
Claudio Chair.
A story about an ill-fated, semi-autonomous employee of an Italian restaurant in Tokyo: "The Rise and Fall of Ken-chan, the Robot Waiter."
Cute spot for the Pannier Skaterack, which helps you carry your skateboard on your bike.
1961's future is swanky, according to Motorola.
Toyota's new "toy" concept model, The Camette, is wonderful. Via Things.
Stephen Kenn's The Inheritance Collection takes military fabrics from WWII and repurposes them into furniture. A short film profile, here.
Shape as a brand attribute by David Airey. See also Brand Spirit from Andrew Miller, "every day for 100 days, I will paint one branded object white, removing all visual branding, reducing the object to its purest form." Fabulous.
SoupStudio's tear-off top Post-Itable.
Chicken footstools.
Sagmeister Inc. has become Sagmeister & Walsh, a change which was announced with a set of decidedly revealing images. Probably NSFW, unless you work there.
Mid-Century furniture by Arne Vodder.
LiquiGlide, a solution for getting all liquids out of bottles; most notably: ketchup.
A "hotel of the future" concept by Pentagram's Daniel Weil, which automatically orients a hotel's bed in the same direction as the one they sleep in at home, thus helping to fight off jet lag. The Way You Sleep.
A strangely hypnotic demonstration of new soft-body physics for video games.
For David, a tour of the Brooks Works factory. Via Selectism.
Finally!
And just like that, I realize I need an axe. Lovely.
Touchscreen minus the touch part.
The Honda Uni-Cub is probably our future. Looks like it'd fit right in aboard The Axiom.
ChibiDashi is a cute little box for jewelry or other small trinkets. Via Spoon & Tamago.
Footage of the 2012 Sea Lion in action, the "world's fastest amphibious land speed vehicle." More info and photos here. Via Atencioblog.
Designer scooter helmets.
The Hornster, a "bicycle equipped with a horn that is louder than Concorde."
Want.
While the OutRun Augmented Reality Driving Video Game is certainly interesting, the most impressive part of the whole thing has to be its inventor's grant writing skills.
So simple. Stamp for check list from Muji. Check.
A collection of Fortune covers from the magazine's annual '500' rankings issues, starting with July 1955.
If you like it, then you should put a ring in it.
For MS, Booh shakers.
It's the Lamborghini of bicycles. No, it really is.
A nice collection of wood housewares by French collective Y'a Pas le Feu au Lac.
I'll say this, going black and white with a pro sports logo is a bold choice, and it's going to sell a ton of swag. Hello Brooklyn.
A handful of strange automobiles spotted on the set of Michel Gondry's latest, Mood Indigo.
A working, full-size 737 flight simulator in a suburban garage.
What time is it? Want.
Ikea's cardboard camera was designed by Teenage Engineering, creators of the OP-1 synthesizer.
"Bloom has the shape of a vase so that the television automatically becomes the flower of the whole." Via Contemporist.
For $12,000 you figure you bought top-of-the-line speakers. Until you meet the guy who just dropped that much on speaker cables.
One minute and one second spent with the Morgan Three Wheeler. More info here.
The future may include Breadfast.
For MS: Chop Salt & Pepper.
Power pylons Core77 would like to see.
Randy Sarafan made an energy saving light that turns off when you close your eyes.
The playful and undulating geometrical matrix-like form of the Eigen Coat Stand creates a plethora of storage options for jackets and bags, hats and scarves. Via Design*Sponge.
Things Christen Carter learned from researching the history of buttons, an Ignite Talk from ORD Camp.
Edwin is a fully repairable and sustainable fruit squeezer. Via 2Modern.
QlockTwo by Biegert & Funk. We have their wall clock, this is the watch version of "time in words."
Forbes on technology to help improve cell phone audio quality, but hampered by a terrible name: HD Voice. Though I suppose that's better than "Noise Gate Voice," which would be more accurate.
Nao Matsumoto created hundreds of middle finger candles to protest nuclear power in Japan.
Footage of the maiden voyage of the PAL-V, a Dutch-built flying car.
Doubleback converts a VW van into something else entirely. Via Glass.
The Who's There Chair "plays on that Hollywood icon of defense, while making it functional." Via Doobybrain.
Put to use Brandon Setter's excellent DIY camera dolly plans this weekend and everything turned out great. Comes highly recommended.
A 92% bamboo keyboard.
The Very Nice Bike Rack. The name says it all. Via Doobybrain.
Meanwhile in 1960s England: the Motorized Bath Tub. Via Arbroath.
A quick game of Plate Roulette decides who pays for the pizza.
Glitches are the new stitches.
Blacked Out Military Case for iPhone. Cool, via This Isn't Happiness.
A stylish leather seat bag for your bike.
This video of the Bachelor Thesis project of Tobias Precht and Jonas Kimmelmann needs no translation, they've developed An Interactive Tool for Schools that is friendly and entertaining and the proposed user interface is pretty much the best thing ever. Via DMiG.
A visit to The Inverted Bike Shop in Brooklyn. A film by Show Love World. Sweet.
Alice Rawsthorn on the demise of the pocket calculator.
R2-D2 crayons.
"To bake a nice loaf of bread you only need flour, water, yeast, sugar and oil. Every spoon is for one ingredient, you can see this on the side of the handle." Bread spoons for MS.
An Audi concept car that uses OLED lighting.
Project Wisconsin is attempting to create images for 365 towns in 365 days. Via blinks.
Sweet site for Düsseldorf based singlespeed and fixie bike shop My Own Bike. You don't need any translation to have fun with The Konfigurator. Via DMiG.
Some fun proposed hallway makeovers for the Lyon airport in France.
Interesting look at the various iterations of a recent issue of the NY Times Magazine: "Fiddling with the Irish Cover."
An apple-shaped pencil sharpener. Via Spoon & Tamago.
"The glass icosahedron is framed in Hard Maple and spins on top of a matching tripod base allowing the viewer to experience the plants from 360 degrees." Via Design*Sponge.
"Got that? We're talking about children's toys built by an AI scientist from where Siri was born, that tracks human movement, can interact with spoken words, is connected to the web and mobile by an engineer with a world-beating scalability background, promoted by an early advocate of blog publishing software that changed the world and designed by people behind the most popular children's movies in history." Yowza.
A chalkboard in a school isn't surprising. But this one in a Frankfort cafeteria is pretty tasty. Via DMiG.
"It's been a great hobby thus far, dreaming up - building all sorts of different miniature equipment from kits or from scratch for this 'mining' project." Digging out a basement using only RC trucks and tractors.
Brian Jewett makes bowls out of rolls of tickets.
A new desk for BB.
A gyroscopic self-leveling pool table in action, on board a cruise ship in rough seas. Via Doobybrain.
Printed a year before the attack on the Eastern Front: a German-Russian Translation Guide from 1940.
Simple and brilliant: the Free Key Ring. Via Book of Joe.
To help celebrate Helsinki being named 2012's World Design Capital, the Kauko coffee shop has opened in a popular mall. All the drinks are free, but the heights of the chairs and tables, the lighting, and the music are all controlled by visitors to their site, making for an interesting and unpredictable experience. More info here.
Here in Chicago, we're going through our own subversive-image-in-a-government-symbol design controversy thing right now, but there's an even better one in Vermont.
Yourtime, Worldtime, Timer, and Alarm. All in an innovative graphical interface. The Nooka App for iPhone.
'Tis the season for this sort of post: FotA Steven Heller, Debbie Millman, and Alice Twemlow offer up commentary on the 2012 campaign logos.
The ZBoard, a weight-sensing electric skateboard. Via Doobybrain.
Cool old trucks, especially this one.
"I suspect that a consultant has convinced too many companies that it's best to have as few moving parts as possible and therefore the future will be all about unsatisfying pokes and swipes at lifeless stretches of glass." Touching the Void, by Tyler Brûlé.
Clock for an Astronomer and Clock for an Architect, by Daniel Weil. Via Things.
Ross Anderson on Why Apple Should Start Making a 3D Printer Right Now for The Atlantic. The article focuses on our occasional co-conspirator Brendan Dawes and Field Notes gets a shout too. Thanks for that.
Star Trek Enterprise NCC 1701-C coffee table.
For MS, the Mast Humidifier. Via bblinks.
Sheaff's Ephemera, Purely Visual. Why? Because of this, this, this and this.
Jalopnik's great effort to ban the check engine light in cars.
Serve snacks, hide what's left behind. Via swissmiss.
"Nothing else, simply time." White & White LED Clock by Kibardindesign.
For tiny illuminations: the Matchbox Light. Via bblinks.
The Solar Bottle Bulb. Developed by MIT to help bring interior lighting to developing countries.
A table full of secret compartments.
Lukas Peets' Hanging Clock.
Photoluminescent objects by Lucedentro.
"For better or worse, construction materials, methods, and dimensions are quite homogenized in the United States. From the 2x4 wall studs to the cheap light switches, it seems that when building a wall, location is really the only decision left to make. The utilitarian relationship between these standard materials, dimensions, and parts comes together to create a modern icon that is hidden in plain sight. By deriving its character directly from this set of rules, the American Standards Lamp's is instantly familiar and intuitive to use."
We need a few of these in the studio for post-lunch food comas.
Gah! It's so cute! I think I need one of these for my desk.
The perfect stool for time out.
A look at the new London Bus design.
The grass filled picNYC dining room table. Just supply your own ants and you're all set.
For CalArts online holiday card, they built a slightly spooky robot that plays a slightly spooky version of Jingle Bells.
By pointing out errors in posters, greeting cards, wrapping paper, and so on, the Campaign for Real Snowflakes hopes illustrators and designers begin adhering to the scientific fact that snowflakes can only have 3, 6 or 12 sides.
A short chat with Mark Matuszak, the designer of the Obama's holiday card.
A gorgeous set of white ceramic humidifiers.
"Can I take a bullet? Do I look good after I've taken a bullet?" I have been thinking a little about getting a new bag for carrying my laptop and other stuff while traveling. Lucky for me Rands has been thinking a lot about it.
"An architect in the audience asked: 'What is graphic design?' Brownjohn replied: 'I am.'" An interesting piece by Alice Rawsthorn about Robert Brownjohn: "The Man Who Broke the Record on 'Let It Bleed'."
Koostik is the natural alternative to electronically amplified iPhone sound docks.
Future Drama collects tomorrows from yesterday. For example, this splendid demo of Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad, "a man-machine graphical communication system" from 1963. Via Waxy.
Mototype on The Honda Motor Compo. Awww.
Future Drama takes "another look at yesterday's future." Thanks Andrew.
"A portable letterpress I made with scrap materials." Little Press by Ishac Bertran. Ingenious. More about the project from Core77.
"Back in the summer of 1990 Pepsi released some limited edition 'Cool Cans.' I was 14 years old, and I clearly remember going nuts for these things." —James White.
Linking this at the risk of overloading their production capability to get my order done by Christmas: The Cranky Pressman's Inspector Stamps, via NCZ.
Related to the last. Speedometers, Beer Stamps and Handlettered Logos from Defunct Department Stores.
From the pebbly matte steel skin to the zippery feel of the margin controls and the interchangeable "golfball" element, the Selectric stands as an icon of industrial design and a shape that still defines an era of modern business. Check how it fits in the
timeline history of the IBM Typewriter. The man responsible for the Selectric, and in many ways for corporate America embracing Modernism and design driven communications, is Eliot Noyes. Maybe you don't know him? Maybe you should.
A FoamBot builds a quadruped robot. Holy smokes, this must be how Skynet started. Via Things.
Little Printer lives in your home, bringing you news, puzzles and gossip from friends. Use your smartphone to set up subscriptions and Little Printer will gather them together to create a timely, beautiful mini-newspaper.
Design Story: The Decanter, "a promotional film produced by Walter Landor and Associates in the 1960s, shows the start-to-finish process of several designs for Old Fitzgerald whiskey. Narrated by Walter himself." Charming. Thanks Reilly.
"The Featherfighter MK 1: the world's first low-altitude, avian-pursuit plane, bristling with compressed-air guns, water cannon, and loudspeakers blaring recorded 'Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!' warnings." Bruce McCall writes about and illustrates some lesser known experimental aircraft. North Korea's N-78 Flying Cloud is just fantastic.
We only sell Dieter Rams designs and Braun products issued between 1955 and 1995, the period of Rams' office as Braun's Director of Design. Das Programm.
If you've just wrecked your Ferrari but you're also in need of a new coffee table, today's your lucky day.
Lego clock. Nuff said. Mesmerizing.
Really want one of these for the studio's kitchen.
A faithful recreation of Girl Skateboards' Modern Chair Series from the late '90s.
Karton's simple, sturdy tables, beds and shelves. Made from cardboard.
We've got a soft spot for vintage manuals and instruction books so the Lunar Rover Operations Handbook prepared by LRV Systems Engineering in Huntsville, Alabama on April 19, 1971 has really caught our attention. It's a geeky read and the handmade nature of the charts and diagrams prepared for a very small list of operators are lovely. It's part of The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, edited by Eric M. Jones and Ken Glover.
The Guardian's Jonathan Glancey meets Terence Conran who "transformed the high street" and is central to the London's Design Museum's The Way We Live Now exhibition.
The Animated GIF Player, sort of a zoetrope for today. Very clever. Via It's Nice That.
The Sony TR-1825 Radio. Scott Hansen appreciates a classic piece of industrial design.
A sunken pedestrian bridge in the Netherlands.
Love this collection of wood home goods.
The GroundBot is watching.
"The only reason your mind doesn't explode every morning from the sheer awesomeness of your balletic achievement is that everyone else in the world can do this as well." A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design, by Bret Victor. A fun read and very smart. Via Craig Hockenberry
This past week, I got to ride Perugia's Minimetro. Some video of nearly the whole route, as well as audio of the fantastic sci-fi humming noise it makes, here (unfortunately it stops before they get to the even more sci-fi looking tunnels).
"One divided by eight equals six." The Juuri Glass Series by Sarah Böttger.
Walkmen. Photos by Grant Hutchinson.
Big fun. Yellow Tangerine puts together a quick beat with The OP-1, an innovative portable synthesizer from Teenage Engineering, and at the top of my Christmas list.
"The Bottle Lock is not designed for drinking unless you are a Transformer and your favorite beverage is braided steel." So smart. Cha-ching, just ordered.
Evolving an Icon, an update to Jack Daniels iconic packaging by Cue, Minneapolis. Via Allan Peters.
The CBS logo has turned 60. Here's an interesting look at how it came to be from the 50th anniversary. Via Doobybrain.
Quick video from NASA on "Curiosity," the new Mars Rover.
Relink for Coop. These Antique Radio Dials are beautiful. Some are backlit and some opaque but they all are attempting to organize the same information in a way that makes physical sense for dial-based tuning while making it easy for users to understand. UI problems are rarely new, and it sometimes makes sense to look back to see the way forward.
Superboxes, a quick, joyful film from David T. Cole.
Last Clock, with hands that are made from slices of live video.
"Factory 20 is a multi-disciplinary art and design collective which strives to create an ever-evolving nonlinear consumer lifestyles collection." In other words, they collect really unique and amazing things. Case in point, this Industrial Infinite Drawer Cabinet. Via Core77.
Colin from Van writes, "For your consideration, a tumblr devoted to the writing instruments people use on a regular basis. It seems like something that might be right up your alley."
The Pen I Write With. Thanks for that.
Core 77 Design awards cast from precious crayons. So great, via Quips.
Gorgeous: the Barcelona bird feeder.
Vintage Rams-designed Braun electrical products, nicely presented, photographed and offered for sale at Das Programm. Via Wanken.
From the pebbly matte steel skin to the zippery feel of the margin controls and the interchangeable "golfball" element, the IBM Selectric stands as an icon of industrial design and a shape that still defines an era of modern business. The designer? Eliot Noyes. Maybe you don't know him? Maybe you should.
In helping to make a mundane task more bearable: turning a washing machine into an arcade game.
Want. Thanks Jeff!
A design Q&A with Charles Eames.
Letterheady.
Hairdresser tools from 1928. SE, remember the machine in the building that looked like image 6?
An account of biscuit stamping, communion wafers, and whether the Oreo's success hinges on its links to the Freemasons. By Nicola Twilley.
When you put together a bunch of SpaceWarp roller coaster toys together, you get a Big SpaceWarp. Via Doobybrain.
Thomas Thwaites' The Toaster Project, wherein he attempted to build a toaster from scratch, down to physically mining the needed materials, has been turned into a book, set to come out later this year.
Quarterre, furniture for bikes. Via It's Nice That.
Finally, a pairing the world has desperately been waiting for: Ice Cube Celebrates Ray & Charles Eames.
The Past and the Future of Famous Logos. Via Doobybrain.
Driver-less, computer controlled cars have just started operating at Heathrow airport. Via Arbroath.
That NASA Standards Manual. Yeah, that one, Reposted with better images by Tim George. Via Scott Hansen.
Half Wolf, Half Dragon, a Whole Lot of Awesome, Armin on Bitdfender's identity redesign including a sweet process video.
Some great archival photos of the Electroliners that once ran on Chicago's North Shore Line.
Jan Gunneweg's wooden bike.
English Black Iced Tea version please.
Want.
AT Lamps by studio juju.
Popular Science gives us their picks for the best gadgets of September.
Scans of the McDonaldland Specification Manual, a style guide from the 1970s for the fast food giant's various characters.
A rendering of the world's longest water coaster, opening next summer in Santa Claus, Indiana. Via Doobybrain.
"Urban Camper is a collection of lighting objects and installation present by designer/student Chieh-Ting Huang. Aiming to create an urban camping experience, people can gather around the campfire and celebrate the beauty and the brightness that lighting brought to us." Via MoCo Loco.
Shrine of Apple: awesome photos and video of every Apple product ever.
Popular Mechanics presents their Backyard Genius 2011 winners; the year's best DIY creations.
Gah! Want.
Building a small device to mute your TV anytime keywords like "Kardashian" or "Palin" come up in the close captioning: Enough Already: Silencing Celebs.
A look at Obama's new wheels on the ground, Bus Force One. Via Doobybrain.
Engineering students at the University of Adelaide testing out the EDWARD, or "Electric Diwheel with Active Rotation Damping." Via Doobybrain.
From artist David Hanauer, rugs created with images from Google Earth. Via Fast Company.
For MS, the only daddy longlegs that should be in your home.
A cedar Mid-Century bird house.
IXEA: The Roman Store features furniture modeled after items found in the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum. Via Gadling.
From Core77, Bike Safety Lighting System, Part 4: Revolights. Smart.
A door handle with a built in LED flashlight.
Bike Fixtation, self-service bike repair. Yowza, solid idea. Because sometimes you just need a pedal wrench and nothing else will do.
Relinking the awesomeness that is Stephen Coles' Chromeography, a collection of metal letters on things. See also, Cartype's massive collection of emblems and badges. Thanks Andrew.
PSFK on the history of the Budweiser can design.
Gorgeous, the Legion Pallet Table.
For the 21st Century, cell phone-equipped wanderer, here's how to make QR Hobo Codes. For the old school, traditional method, we recommend consulting the inside cover of our Field Notes Steno Pad.
"Michael Bierut and team created a customized program of environmental graphics, including a massive landmark sign on the building's facade and an interior program of wayfinding and identification signage." Via Dan Pink.
Known as "The Meatball" and "The Worm," the story behind NASA's two logos.
Virtual house from Siemens. Beautifully done, in a calm, simple tone you don't usually see in animated 3D rendering. Via Design Made in Germany.
Concrete desk accessories by Magnus Pettersen. Via Dezeen.
Click through for more images and clips of these Cinematic Cars. "Carspotting at the movies" from the excellent Motoring Con Brio. Bookmarked.
Finally something that will compliment my father's calculator watch: the wireless calculator mouse. Via Doobybrain.
Analog hi-fidelity equipment porn.
Mouse over this Illustrator file of a classic Nagra IV-S by Yukio Miyamoto. Drool.
Scott Hansen links to this page of photos "from 1960's Japan featuring Eames and Herman Miller furniture in its natural habitat."
Marlowe, a film about a man and his 1971 Dodge Charger. Via Laughing Squid.
Alexis Madrigal on the technology of the pizza box. Via Mefi. Great.
Antonio Carusone on the NASA Graphic Standards Manual from 1976, by Danne & Blackburn.
Gorgeous short film about the most perfect car ever made: Sky Lund's BMW 2002. One day I'll finally hit "Buy Now" on one of these on eBay. Via Doobybrain.
The Sasa Clock aims to bring the benefits of ancient African concepts of time to our modern lives. Rather than being dominated by time, it encourages us to relax and let time flow. "Sasa," in African Kiswahili culture, means "What is now."
A look at the making of Leica's lenses helps explain why they cost what they do.
So, there's my jetpack.
"This blog features the groundbreaking research and technology that GE has been developing since the days of Edison. Follow us here for a look inside our research labs, manufacturing plants, and archives, as we explore 130 years of innovation."
Wow, how can I just be learning about the BMW Isetta from the 1950s? A great idiosyncratic design supported by excellent promotional print materials. Much more in this post from Jim Hughes at Codex 99.
Boris Bally makes chairs out of old street signs.
Affordable cardboard furniture.
"By using the sun's rays instead of a laser and sand instead of resins, I had the basis of an entirely new solar-powered machine and production process for making glass objects that taps into the abundant supplies of sun and sand to be found in the deserts of the world." Markus Kayser's SolarSinter
Amazingly, even slower than As Slow As Possible, information on the Jeff Bezos' funded project in the Sierra Diablo Mountain Range: the 10,000 Year Clock. More firsthand info about its construction here.
The perfect thing for yourself or as a passive aggressive gift to an always late friend: the On-Time Wall Clock. Via bblinks.
"Making the desirable accessible through an A4 printer." Matthew Nicholson's 3D Paper Objects. Via Aqua-Velvet.
Polaroid's SX-70: The Art and Science of the Nearly Impossible, by Harry McCracken. Great story, well told. Via Daring Fireball.
Mitsubishi Electric's "Geo-Cosmos" is the world's first large-scale spherical OLED.
Himatic's Robots are assembled from "ordinary objects, broken electronics, recycled materials and old toys." Love Stickyphille. Via BB.
Glide, toast from the future. Via Matt Haughey.
"Stepping away from previous DJ centric performances, and instead providing a large scale live audio/visual experience," a behind the scenes look at building the massive set for Amon Tobin's current tour. Wish it were coming to Chicago.
American streamlined design.
Dieter Rams on Ives and Apple.
Ooh la la, a limited-edition veneer Vespa.
Red Pop from our pal and occasional co-conspirator, Brendan Dawes. Given the team that developed the idea, you expect it to be be useful, beautiful, simple and smart. You'd be right. It's an ingeneous big red button for your iPhone. We're kicking it started, you should too.
Now that's the hovercraft for me.
The City Boy Picnic Grill.
A short film about custom motorcycle engineer Shinya Himura, directed by Henrik Hansen. Great.
Project Aura, a lighting system for your bicycle that uses Smart LEDS inside the wheels that "change from red when slowing down to white when going at cruising speed." Intended safety purpose aside, it also just looks really cool. Via Doobybrain.
Released from the "carrier aircraft" at 51,500 feet, Virgin's SpaceShip2 successfully tested its re-entry or "feathered" configuration by rotating its tail section to 65 degrees and then gliding down. Via It's Okay To Be Smart.
Vitamin T's Ad Agency Bloodline.
1968 illustration of a Soviet Supersonic SST Jetliner.
"Patrick, a 24-year-old Austrian, decided to have his dysfunctional hand amputated and replaced with a bionic hand. He lost the use of his left hand after being electrocuted at work."
The faux wood grain Alarm Dock for the iPhone. Not out until September, but when it's released, at least one will be shipping to CP. More of designer Jonas Damon's work here.
Related to the last, James May of Top Gear interviews Margaret Calvert, the designer of modern road signs in the UK. Starts at about 2:10.
The fully functional Lego Technic Super-8 Movie Projector. Via Doobybrain.
The USB Typewriter, "a new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence."
A Little Atari 810 Disk Drive. Very, very little. Via Peachfuzz.
Want.
Definitely not the iPhone dock for me.
Nautilus is a bookshelf inspired by the life long need for growth through learning. As an heirloom object, it contains only the family's most valued books.
Poemas del rio Wang looks at the history of the stroller and the cart.
A few choice photos from the Less And More Dieter Rams Exhibition at Design Museum.
Buro, a sweet series of uniform desk tools by London's Designwright and developed for Lexon.
Turn your iPad into an arcade game. Fab.
"A treat never experienced before. Gives the fullest illusion of a sea or river bath. Absolutely no water splashing in the room... Specially recommended for invalids, delicate people, and children." The "Nautilus" Wave & Rocking Bath is a steal at just £4.
Joey Roth's felt computer mouse. Via TH.
A fancy brass pencil holder set. Some other pencils might look nice in it too.
Brand New on the "look of the games" for the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, created by Bosco Sports. Previous BN update.
"I bought a handheld stylus that I embedded in the plaster nose. The plaster comes mixed with fibers that make it look hairy." Finger-Nose Stylus for Touch Screens.
A video documenting the making of designer Marc Newson's beautiful and expensive The Hourglass. It's just the thing to put beside your Lockheed Lounge as you sit and count your money.
A few days late, but interesting that Martha Steward has learned about CMYK. Those eggs should print nicely. Via Peachfuzz.
To celebrate the company's 125th anniversary, Coca-Cola has hired a series of designers to make limited-edition cans. Here's from James Jarvis and the pin-up series from Bulletproof. Via Doobybrain.
A Knight-Ridder produced video offering a view of tablet computing from 1994. Outside of the stylus, it's remarkably iPad-similar.
Black Design Associates' mock-up of concept combining a Leica camera and an iPhone. While we're at it, a relink to The WVIL, "Wireless Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens," which was created by Artefact Group. Via ISO50.
Love this, a custom stacked book side table. Via Book of Joe.
Step-by-step instructions on making your own Eames-inspired drinking glasses.
Whaddayknow? "Bob and Joe Switzer, two brothers born in Montana and raised in California, experimented with fluorescent dyes and hot alcohol in the 1930s until they created what we now know as 'Day-Glo' colors." Thanks fellas. Via Kirstin Butler.
"Euthanasia Coaster" is a hypothetical euthanasia machine in the form of a roller coaster engineered to humanely – with elegance and euphoria – take the life of a human being.
An illustrated history of Lego packaging, from Codex xcix.
Growing up and maybe losing the cute? The 2012 VW Beetle was unveiled in NYC this morning. I dig it.
Cars the US Government says you cannot have.
Denis Milovanov recycles tree stumps. Via TH.
Want.
Mercedes-Benz A-Class Concept.
Concept for a camera, The WVIL, "Wireless Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens." Created by
Artefact Group.
Be Your Own Souvenir. "The user becomes the producer as well as the consumer through a system that invites him/her to perform as a human statue." Via Polkadot.
The only thing that could possibly follow that last "pointy boots" link is one for the Superbus. Those first two sections of narration makes the whole thing feel like a Look Around You sketch. Via Doobybrain.
UK based Mark Styling's specialty is aviation illustration and he's damn good at it. Check the close-ups.
Well, well, well, look who's back.
"This thing is absolutely insane. Perfectly capable of traveling over 80mph." Photos of the Monkey Likes Shiny Gravity Bike. Via Doobybrain.
Sushi Memo Pads. Cute. Via This is Colossal.
Amandine Alessandra makes letters out of a chair for her Ideographic Alphabet. Via 2 or 3 Things.
I haven't been tinkering under a car since high school, but I still desperately want a Dexter Work Sled. Video of it in action, here. They're likely to sell lots to the Best Made axe crowd. Via Doobybrain.
Gah! Want for my desk. Via Cool Hunting.
"Some of the decisions my Dad made on that board might have impacted the Rand children's school, at best." Design Info on learning how close to Paul Rand's house he used to live.
Not sure I'd want to eat it as it got near the bottom and definitely not if someone else borrowed it, but fun none the less: Dave Hakkens' Edible Pen.
The perfect thing for making a meal an excruciating experience: the EaTheremin, a musical utensil. Reminds me of the "Love Hungry" episode of Tales from the Dark Side.
The Wall Street Journal rightly touts the appeal of the gorgeous Brionvega ts522 radio. Want.
Auge's Eyeglasses for Lovers. Via Doobybrain.
A look inside President Obama's Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or "secret tent."
A simple premise takes an unexpected detour down a dark alley. The Committee is a limited-edition by the Auditorium Toy Co. which was "founded with the intention of celebrating the elegance of simple designs fabricated by historical craftsmanship." Wow, we'll be keeping an eye on Brad Denboer.
Love these, Museum of Robots Rocket salt and pepper shakers.
FotA and former Guest Editor Rob Walker's piece for Slate: "'Help Japan' T-Shirts and Posters: Can Good Design Help the Beleaguered Country?"
Paperclips, not packed in oil.
Time-lapse of a Virgin Atlantic 747 being repainted.
Object for the Display of Memories, from Mr. Dawes. Simple. Perfect.
For MS, Fluo salt & pepper shakers.
Custom Worktable/Desk created by Chris Brigham of Knife & Saw. Beautiful. Love the carefully crafted drop-cap on the page too. Via Chris Glass.
The Most Useless Machine, made from oak, walnut and aluminum.
Aaron Melander and Phil Clark's work on materials for the Target Chalet at the Winter X Games in Aspen.
Speculative project for a World Flag System by Martin Oberhaeuser. Via DMiG.
Join Cutlery.
Upgrading through every version of Windows.
From the Geneva Auto Show, VW concept, Bulli Microbus. Sweet.
Aquarium Phonebooth. Yep.
This stunning new Lambo is a genuine super car, capable of reaching speeds of 217 mph on the top end, breaking to 60mph in a blinding 2.8 seconds. To put that in perspective, the Aventador hit 60 mph before you finished reading this sentence.
Space Suit of the Week, photographs by Matthias Schaller.
Phew! "We are aware that the 100-watt incandescent light bulb will no longer be available beginning in 2012. In Fall 2011, Hasbro will launch the Easy Bake Ultimate Oven, introducing a new way to bake for the next generation of chefs. This new oven features a heating element that does not use a light bulb and offers an extensive assortment of mixes reflective of the hottest baking trends for today."
"The piggy bank itself is alive and randomly gets sad when is moved or when it senses that somebody is around. It calls your attention and to make it feel better, its owner has to feed it with a small random amount of money that will be taken from the credit card."
The "Turbo Encabulator." Thanks Marshall. I always wondered how that thing worked.
The Classic by Joystickers is a simple product that solves a fundamental problem with touch screen devices: the lack of tactile feel in gaming. Thanks Daniel.
Robert Dabi's terrific new concept, The Zero Watch. Here's a promotional video and here's the model I want. Grrr. Backordered.
The one-of-a-kind "Porteur Bike" from Ateliers d'Embellie sports copper touches and brown leather hand-made detailing.
The Samson Motorworks Switchblade, meets "the growing demand for flying cars and roadable aircraft."
A well shot tour of Marcel Wanders' gorgeous studio in Amsterdam.
The Space Suit of the Week is the EX-1A. With a video demo.
Stranger and Stranger specializes in packaging and design for liquor. The whole portfolio is aces including their own holiday Absinthe. Plus check The Waxed Bat Shiraz, Innis & Glunn Beer and Maestro Tequila.
MC Escher's Waterfall brought to life on video (thanks to a few visual tricks).
Illustrator Matt Sewell's new Spotting and Jotting, a digital treehouse offering a cornucopia of delights for bird lovers. Via I Like.
Speaking of talented people who played memorable Layer Tennis matches, IBM's Watson had his game-face designed by Joshua Davis for Jeopardy. Awesomeness. More at Flowing Data.
Bethany Heck's take on the Official Baseball Scorebook. Beautiful work.
Popular Mechanics takes a look at the best cars from this year's Chicago Auto Show.
For BB: modding work lights for studio use.
Think I'll stick with my old fashion gears and knobs kind, but this USB Follow Focus is super cool.
"Complicated technical solutions to aid in simple acts of vandalism." Robo-Rainbow.
Studio Hanna & Seo's Ripple Effect Tea Table. Via Byrdhouse.
Haptica is a Braille watch that allows blind people to check the time quickly and accurately without an audible disruption.
Not a movie set. Huge, "ultra high-voltage test bench (popularly known as a 'Tesla's set')" located outside of Moscow.
VW Microbus concept, which Chris calls "my dream ride that doesn't exist."
Remnants of a disappearing user interface. What's left behind when George Kokkinidis finishes a session on the ipad. Via Things.
For MS, Chef Power.
Yowza. What former CP crew member and DK Creative Director Anthony Vitagliano has been working on for the last year. Check the digital experience at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas.
Finally, a tissue holder that isn't crocheted or covered in flowers, the Vessel Toro tissue ring.
Pocket Card Light, via BB-Blog.
Josh Berta's highly scientific (and at least half correct) NFL Conference Championship predictions based solely on logo design.
Delta IV Heavy Rocket versus 2011 Ram 3500 Heavy Duty Diesel pickup truck, with a handy infographic too. Via alms at Mefi.
Remodelista on Clothespin Chandeliers.
A concept car from 1970 by Gruppo Bertone: the Lancia Stratos Zero.
The nominations for the Brit Insurance Designs of the year for 2010 have been announced.
Coming up with the money should be easy enough. Getting it into Lake Michigan will be the tricky part. The billion-dollar 'Streets of Monaco' Yacht.
Christmas was pretty nice around Gowalla HQ. Make more, I'll take one.
Hand-building British bicycles since 1926, take a look at Pashley Cycles Guv'nor. That, my friends, is style. Via Materialicious.
Fab new site for designer Mario Eskenazi. Check this classic, the typography and wayfinding for the Centro de Convenciones Internacional de Barcelona. Via Armin.
Samples and a history of playing cards hand-drawn by Russian prisoners from between 1967 and 1981.
Bullerjan is a series of hot air furnaces developed by Canadian lumberjacks. I think I'd like the Bullerjan Classic for myself.
"If an alien came to Earth and made a single request for 'bike,' this would be the specimen given, based on number produced, and number in use today." The Flying Pigeon.
Currently out of stock but that gives me time to try to talk JC into getting one of these for the studio. Fab.
Make the other kids jealous with your Porche bobsled.
After a decade of easy-to-use 0s, novelty glasses manufacturers are having a tough time trying to figure where to put the eyeholes in 2011.
Brilliant and useless, simple 3D gizmo for iPhone. Via Craig Mod.
Swiss graphic designer Julie Joliats' Agenda 2011 includes 50 "connect-the-dots" puzzles of famous works of art. Sold out. Darn. Via Today & Tomorrow.
Minimalist effect in maximalist market.
A modern sustainable Christmas tree, the Tannenboing.
The San Andres Fault in coffee table form.
Great packaging by Design Ahead for 1516 Premium PIls.
Sweet MIDIBox controller with arcade-style buttons.
1987 Nissan Pao Concept.
Sublime, a clock for an architect.
Scott Hansen takes a look at a brochure and pics of the first digital Leica, the S1. Nice.
"The sinister-looking black coupe sits in a corner of the showroom floor, oozing macho and muscle. Square headlights. Evil sneer for a grille. Six cylinders of turbocharged fury. If Darth Vader drove a car, this is what you might find in his garage. This new car is 23 years old."
Daily Icon on Bobby Fischer and the Time Life Building Lobby Chair. Nice.
Andy Carol's Antikythera Mechanism, "a 2000-year-old analog computing device reconstructed out of Lego." How it, and the film about it, were made. Thanks Nick Z.
Core77 on Tokyo's huge, and very smart vending machines . More, including video, from Akihabara.
Wrapping paper printed with QR codes that play short holiday films when scanned.
Fruit Invaders.
Artist Adrian Johnson recycles old car seating and vintage refrigerators to make gorgeous Fridgecouches.
Gavin Rothery makes robots and other cool stuff for movies and other cool things.
X-RAY, beautiful rethink on mobile phone design by Tokujin Yoshioka. Via Thinking for a Living.
From the mind of Mr. Brendan Dawes, The FIDO Weather Indicator is a "a selfish cube created to do the task at hand without fuss or distraction. Even the display mechanism has no room for variation being laser etched into wood."
What a coincidence, that's exactly how we handle all of our accounting for Field Notes Brand too.
I think I bought the wrong car. Wow.
For BB: clips from a promotional video from 1968 for the Ferrari 512 Modulo (strangely set to a sleep-inducing track). Via Doobybrain.
Ingegerd Råman's Light Shadows Bulb.
Related to the last, a coffee table version of Han Solo in carbonite.
Given the resurgence of interest in the form and aesthetics of the audio cassette tape, I suppose it was inevitable that someone would treat these similarly, The 3.5 Inch Poster Set. Lucky for us it was Antrepo.
A video demo of Marion Bataile's fab ABC3D, which won the Meggendorfer Prize for best pop-up book.
In honor of GM's stock coming-out party today, I give you The 1970 Chevelle Super Sport 396. Boss.
MS, you should get this for your office.
Book designer David Pearson.
The history of the tablet computer at Apple. Via Daring Fireball.
Who invented the paper bag? Via TMN.
Perhaps a visual answer to those persistent "Where is my rocket car?" questions. French industrial designer Ora-ïto has created a sculpture/prototype for Citroën called the Evo Mobil. Here's a hypnotic short film on an Intersection Magazine photo shoot of the object. More pics ViaComIT.
Related to the last. The awesomeness that is Consollection.
So you know. A brief history of the home video console. There were a lot more than I remember. Via Things.
An Audiovoltaics interview with Teenage Engineering about their hotly awaited OP-1, check the incredible design and this pulse and sequencer demo.
Wired lists their 39 best products of 2010.
Moneyphant.
Gorgeous. From artist Pavel Sidorenko, Re_Vinyl Wall Clocks. Via Design Sponge.
10:10.
CheesyCam tests out flying a Parrot AR Drone with an iPad. Why don't we already have 10 of these in the studio?
FotA and one of the subjects of our Museum of Online Museums documentary, The Curators, Brian Collier, has just launched his own custom furniture company.
Because most MIDI keyboards look like cheap toy spaceships from 1982, Bård Edlund had an idea.
The folks over at GadgetCrave have a to do list for James Dyson.
Nice and simple porcelain wall vase.
The Herman Miller online store is now open.
"The Dymaxion was meant to be phase one of a social revolution, fuelled by the latest technology, but only three were ever built. No 1 caught fire and No 3 was turned into scrap: only No 2 survived." And now Norman Foster has built No 4.
This gorgeous yacht will only set you back a cool 20 million.
Time of the sky.
"The Self Powered, Portable Suitcase Stereo system works with your iPod/iPhone or any device with a headphone jack." Ridiculously cool, the Boom Case. Via If it's hip, it's here.
Etch A Sketch iPad Case.
"One of my favorite pieces isn't even from the British Airways side, but from Air France's in-flight service. It's a simple bottle opener, much like any cheap $2 bottle/can opener combo you've seen a thousand times before, but with two simple yet significant modifications." Nathan Shedroff's Concorde Thing. Via Things Magazine.
SPD on publications reinventing the front page. And, related, the design of Portugal's i Daily.
Freshness on Heineken's sweet black-light STR bottle. Thanks Marshall.
The Orla Kiely designed EVOKE Mio radio. Gorgeous.
"The collection is designed to have a playful, modern and bold brand image which is flexible enough to be adapted across a wide variety of items. This is my online portfolio.
"Some guys managed to take these shots in a secret department laboratory of the Moscow Aviation Institute." Via Things.
Hex Marks the Spot, Steven Heller on the real story behind the CBS Eye logo.
50 + years of Japanese concept cars.
Martin Taylor's fun DIY PVC Skate Dolly. Here's how to build it.
Fireplaces made out of mine shells.
Gah! The ridiculously awesome offices of the company Inventionland. I want my office on a pirate ship deck!
The Levytator, an attractive escalator alternative. More info here. Via Archinect.
The Nogg chicken coop, a stylish and sculptural piece of garden
furniture with breakfast thrown in.
You can cash in that jar of change, or decorate with it.
Our SD's photos have just appeared in GOOD magazine's Picture Show feature, "Outhouses, Rest Stops, and New Modern Architecture in Nowhere, Norway."
That is one awesome Dad.
Gorgeous bamboo iPhone cases.
"Moonwatch has been designed to establish a relationship between the moon cycle and a person's emotional states. It's a new concept of time based on nature which invites people to reflect upon and gain a closer understanding of their mood and daily life on earth."
Want.
Land Carpet, inspired by looking down from an airplane at the geometrical shapes that make up the landscape. Via bblinks.
For MS, Alex Hulme's cut-and-paste calculator.
Love it, the Etch A Sketch iPad case.
My calculator is in constant use here at CP. Yes, I have an old-fashioned calculator, a leftover from my retail buying life before CP. So, when I saw these calculator stools, it made me smile. Very cool.
Designed by famed automobile designer Walter de'Silva and with a limited edition of only 500, you'd better place your order immediately for the stunning Leica M9 Titanium.
Too bad summer's winding down, this outdoor kitchen would be a nice addition to the backyard.
The simple, wooden, clever furniture of ROLU Studio.
This would look awesome on my deck. However, I'm not sure "weather-proof" takes into account our Chicago winters.
An illustrated post at wm$na profiling Swedish designer Nille Svenson. The work is varied and all over the place, in very good way. Check the "Fake China" series and also the "Post-It" style identity and sign system for the Kalmar Konstmuseum.
Denyse Schmidt on the making of the modern quilt. Via Design Info.
Gorgeous repurposed furniture. I love this piece.
A series of objects inspired by the red clown nose.
"They"re not writing songs about cars anymore." —J. Mays.
Hot Wheels, like it says.
The electric version of the world's tiniest manned plane takes to the skies.
1957 BMW Isetta 250 Microcar.
Yum, just in time for dinner. Meals, ready to eat. Via Michael Williams.
Nice tape dispenser.
How Eames House Blocks are made.
"It was not the young Danish designer's intention to create a comfy and soft sofa, but rather a simple resting place, which still requires some physical activity."
Metal tiles.
Various Telefunken ephemera, nicely collected. Take that iPhone.
Atari Computer concepts and drawings. Slick.
Federico Mancosu's Minimalist Music Video Posters.
Related to the last. Dazzle Camouflage, described and displayed by the RISD Fleet Library. Via Core77.
"... something that looked like it didn't belong in the water at all, much like the cubist patterns of WWI & WWII 'dazzle' naval camouflage." Marian Bantjes' Laser Sailboat. commissioned by Wallpaper. Fantastic.
"We stripped the bike from whims that can only break or cause frustration." Sjoerd Smit's Vanmoof Bikes, classic and brand new all at the same time. Via Daily Icon.
An Electric Guitar Paper Model Kit and Ninjabread Men Cookie Cutters, both via bblinks.
From September 16 to 23, in Trafalgar Square London, the general public will be able to take control of eight industrial robots on loan from Audi's production line. Via CR.
BB, I'd go camping if I had one of these suckers.
For the modern beekeeper, a very contemporary Beehaus. Via DesignCrave.
United Visual Artists' laser-based installation, "Speed of Light." More here.
Some neat wood animal boxes by Karl Zahn. Via Happy Mundane.
Michael McDowell's ceramic air plant pods. Via Contemporist.
"The assumption behind modern electronics is that smaller is better. So I have set about completely re-thinking and re-building the electronic calculator using old-fashioned heavyweight switches, cranks, and levers mounted in antique chassis." Andy's utterly gorgeous Aaron Adding Machines.
Want.
As we are facing a full week of temps in the 90s this week, it would be so great to have this air conditioned bed.
The multi-wheeled Flowlab Skateboard lets you "surf without waves and ride without snow." Via Torrez.
Notgeld "Emergency Money" was issued in Germany and Austria during the inflationary period caused by the first World War. Designed to appeal to collectors, the notes display a variety of beautiful type, form and color. Via Cooper Union Typography.
A working prototype of solar roadways.
For the studio, a secret knock detector.
Who isn't familiar with that wonderful yellow frame? 120 years of National Geographic Magazine design as seen through the lens of four random issues, by Alexander Ross Charchar. Via Matt Linderman.
Troika's new sign for the V&A, "Palindrome," is an installation in the tunnel connecting the museum and South Kensington tube station. It's hypnotizing. More info here. Via The Minister.
For BB, gipsy furniture.
Make sure you're up to speed on the Space Suit of the Week from Kitsune Noir. My personal fave.
Hello Typewriter. Hello Selectric.
3-D door stickers.
You know why we need this toaster for the studio? Because it has the brilliant A Bit More button. Seriously, haven't you ever wanted to have one of those on your toaster?
Relink. These Antique Radio Dials are beautiful. Some are backlit and some opaque but they all are attempting to organize the same information in a way that makes physical sense for dial-based tuning while making it easy for users to understand. UI problems are rarely new, and it sometimes makes sense to look back to see the way forward.
Ridiculously cool, a pool table made out of a 1965 VW Micro Bus.
Yep. Definitely need one of these for the deck.
Time lapse of the Falkirk Wheel boat lift in Scotland. Via Daily Dose.
Gorgeous laser engraved silverware. Via Thinking for a Living.
An urban picnic box.
"The government is penny pinching. I mean, pinching the life out of the once noble copper coin." Penny Dreadful, by Steven Heller. The cent goes well with the awful new c-note.
Want.
The eerily real Handsome Guy Mask. Via Doobybrain.
Have a really small bathroom? Save space with this folding shower.
Nice bike basket.
Gorgeous, the Kalamazoo Edo Grill.
Two FotAs in just one link: Kate Bingaman-Burt and Alissa Walker are on this week's episode of Studio 360, redesigning Uncle Sam.
So you know. How a Skycam works.
Rainbow in Your Hand. Ingenious, by Masashi Kawamura. Here it is in action.
"It's a design thing. The cat is lost in the negative space. " Why, if your cat sneaks out, you shouldn't hire a designer to make the missing poster. Via Doobybrain.
Want.
Mushroom lamps.
Love this coat rack. Via Minimalissimo.
Wheel of Nutrition plates.
"Entirely drawn by hand, using different printing techniques, it features security measures common in banknotes such as watermarks, tactile elements, see-through images and invisible UV ink." Handmade, a student project by Xavi Garcia. Via The Minister.
Modern products, redesigned to launch in the 1970s. Splendid idea with great graphics and text. We Are Not Time Travelers. Via Waxy.
Clock made from a recycled portable record player and a Woody Woodpecker 45, "which is replaceable."
Getting pretty close to the Logan's Run "Groundcars." The Ford Start concept. Via Jason.
A nice collection of vintage Wega brochures and manuals for hifi systems and televisions. Via Ralf, who featured this super-fab concept model.
Very cool, titanium and carbon fiber drink coasters.
Wee Fiat 1970s concept car.
The evolution of the World Cup ball.
Related to the last, and an instant MoOM classic, License Plates of North America, 1969-Present. A fabulous collection, well-organized and annotated. Check the ALPCA Plate of the Year Winners.
The acceptable, the unfortunate and the so-bad-it's-good in license plate design.
Lego felt tip 110" printer connected to a Mac. Fab. Via Mefi.
Could've used one of these over the weekend.
Gavin Potenza's Truth on Brands. Would make a great poster. Via Doobybrain.
Yesterday's tomorrow is often cute or funny, today's however looks sort of creepy.
Sci-fi lunch boxes. Just because.
Nice wood furniture by Studio Dunn. Via mint.
Space Suit of the Week from Kitsune Noir.
A foosball table built from pieces of furniture and spare parts.
Huh? Kevin Costner riding to the rescue on the BP Oil Spill?
No Barcode a blog about vintage design and packaging by Javier Garcia. Immediately bookmarked. Everything here is hand-picked, beautifully shot and smartly annotated. Bravo. Via Hovering Cat.
Matt Stevens' AirMax1-a-Day Gallery, each in the style of a different designer. Sweet. Via Wellington Payne.
"Kerfs and bridges." Interesting shoptalk about laser cutting paper from Candyspotting. Via the Panic blog.
Related to the last, maybe they ought to try a little of this instead of so much of that.
The 2011 V6 305hp Mustang in metallic grey with black shoes. Wow, forget the 2008 special edition, style-wise this one is a worthy successor to the coolest Mustang of all time.
Met the pair behind the fantastic handmade shop Akertoys this weekend at MaxFunCon. Read up on their blog about all the all-wood projects they're working on.
A collection of graphic design created for Olivetti. Via Monoscope. I. II. III.
"This authoritative and meticulously researched collection charts the story of product design over the past 200 years." The Phaidon Design Classics edition for the iPad. Via Dirty Mouse.
The LEGO Robot Rubik's Cube Solver.
"If you look at Mozart, who had this strict classical framework, you see that within that formula, he got results he might never have gotten if he had all the options in the world." A visit to the studio of Irving Harper, the designer behind many of George Nelson's iconic works for Herman Miller, including the Marshmallow Sofa and Starburst Clock.
Bill Geerhart's great read: "An Indelible Cold War Symbol," a complete history of the fallout symbol sign. Via Heller.
Peter Nencini's 50 limited-edition Hand Werk boxes. Via 2 or 3 Things.
Sweet Juniper has built a Dog Wagon. Part two, here.
For BB: a good story about Graeme Cameron, co-founder of Best Made Co.
In the category of "people who like this sort of thing will find this exactly the sort of thing they like," Nuclear Reactor Cutaways.
If you're like me, there's nothing quite like curling up in a chair with a good book. A chair with easy access to books is a really great idea.
Patrick Sung's Universal Packaging System "eliminates most of the otherwise wasted space in a cardboard box which means saving extra shipping space and eventually, needing less trucks during shipping."
Fun time-lapse of a SWA airplane assembly.
DRB asks, Where's My Jetpack?
Gorgeous, might need to get a set for the deck.
Bookshelf. Sounds mundane. Isn't. Via Murketing.
A robot built from parts of an old television. Beyond that, inspiration that couldn't possibly fit in this space, and a reminder to try to leave this world better than you found it.
Puma questions, nay, eliminates the shoe box. The environmental impact of this move is phenomenal.
The evolution of the Fiat 500 from 1939 until today, in photos. Via Core 77.
Why have a bulky headboard when you can have this clever headboard wall decal instead?
They sure don't design letterheads like these anymore.
Veerle's great report on the new icons for Adobe's CS5.
"Expanding Contexts for Design", a fascinating interview with IDEO co-founder Bill Moggridge. Via Nice Red Shorts.
Alphabetic mugs.
"On January 22nd, 2010 I started the project of designing and building one chair each hour that I was at this site. Each hour started with a drawing and ended with a new chair prototype." Andy Hall's hour chairs. Via Kris Henry.
Quick look at the Dieter Rams exhibit currently at The Design Museum in London, Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams. Via Cool Hunting.
Want.
Is black floss next? New from our co-conspirator in Field Notes, The DDC.
The Idea of the Cassette: A Gallery With Musings, by Rob Walker. Now that's a blog post.
Had no idea this existed. In preparation for this exhibit, John Hill talks about Roosevelt Island's "Avac," a retro-futuristic system of underground tubes used to collect trash from its 14,000 residents. More info about the system in this 2003 New Yorker piece.
For MS, Spiderpodium.
Gruber just posted this great piece of historical nerdery by Tandy Trower, "The Secret Origin of Windows," which lead me to hunt for the tale of IBM's TopView and the complete OS/2 timeline. I'm going to stop now before the rest of my afternoon is consumed with something like AmigaOS.
The history of proposals for moving sidewalks in New York from around the turn of the last century.
I'm so ready for Friday, the new Apple product looks totally amazing.
"The Big Red Word vs. the Little Green Man," Julia Turner's piece on emergency exit indicators around the world and why we maybe don't have it quite right here in the US. Part of Turner's great six-part series on signs.
The graphic design of racing cars and Sven Voelker's Go Faster.
"The font that Apple currently uses on its keyboards was developed for Volkswagen in 1979." - @stko.
The Loch Ness Monster Lamp by 2-B-2 Architectur.
Core77 announces the winners of their 1-Hour Design Challenge on Emergency Shelters. Great thinking and sketches.
I totally want one of the stainless steel elliptical bathtubs. *Sigh*
Inspiration. Guns & Ammo, some nice scans of near extinct film packaging. Related, Super-8 Love. Both from the excellent Watsonian and via Scott Hansen.
Salt shakers for MS, Red October and Jaws.
One of these days, I'll actually try building one of the many of these out there. This one looks particularly cool: DIY Steadicam. Thanks Henry.
A New Scientist slide show on data preservation through the ages, Set in Stone or Written to Disc. Via James Hynes.
"The sculpture hovers off the wall about six inches allowing the florescent bulbs installed within to bathe the wall with green light." Acoustapus.
The Martin Jetpack in action.
"Imagine a small flying object with a multicolored light source, flying along with others, controlled in synchrony, creating a free-form display with animated light control..." You're imagining Flyfire Now watch the videos. Brilliant and limitless. Via the always observant Today and Tomorrow.
StudioMakgill's fab identity system for The Lollipop Shoppe, a furniture and accessories retailer in the UK. Via Design Work Life.
Want.
2010 Lincoln One-Cent Reverse.
"...reveals the current time through a looking glass while fading the past and the future."
Play chess on any sidewalk you want with the Chalk Chess set.
Gorgeous birdfeeder, Spuntino.
Keyboard, mouse, stylus, multi-touch, mud.
Gorgeous, designer Odardo Fioravanti's tribute to Galileo's telescope.
For the CSI fan in your life, Forensic pillows.
"Everyone loves an architectural plan don't they? The precise and often intricate line work; the annotations and technical specifications; the info boxes and reference numbers; and especially, if you're lucky, the fading at the folds and ever so slightly blurred (old school) ozalid print." -Ace Jet 170.
Ichiro Iwasaki's playful, sleek mobile phone design for the lotta.
All the Super Bowl logos and way too much about the evolution of the Saints and Colts unis.
Nice set of six porcelain espresso cups on a bamboo tray with inset saucers.
Stunning fireplace that will set you back a cool $9,700.00, the Zeta fireplace.
This American Infographic, "infographical companions to the celebrated radio show."
So that's where the black box is located. Kulula Airplane Rebranding.
Current Guest Editor Josh Berta on the stick figure graphics on the NYC subway, "based on their aesthetic merits and their success (or lack thereof) as easily read icons."
Jamie Bolton's Back to the Future posters are great, but I think the second film was much more convoluted than how it's illustrated here.
Re:collection, "an inventory of Australian graphic design produced in a period circa 1960-1980." Why can't our milk cartons look this good?
Modernica has the finalists for the Pets on Modern Furniture contest. Laugh if you want, the winner takes home one of these beauties. Anyone have a cat I can borrow?
Good at keeping doctors away: the 'An Apple A Day' Calendar.
DRB collects a pile of unusual money.
Stephen Fry maintains his dorkness with his iPad report from on the ground in California yesterday.
If you can't wait for a whole month, here's a more immediate method of making your Apple product function like a book: BookBook.
Several examples of ashtrays that look like cigarette packs -- including an awesome generic pack.
A bit late on this but here are the winners of Wallpaper's Design Awards 2010.
If you've been looking for a portable round fireplace look no further.
Gorgeous, the CUNA bathtub.
Josh calls the winners in the NFL this Sunday. "I decided to base my predictions solely on the teams' identity designs." Sound like a sound betting strategy to me.
Koichi Futatsumata's Elekit Tube Amp concept. Wow.
Shopping carts converted into furniture. Via Unconsumption.
Sweet dust jacket and bookmark concepts by Igor Udushlivy.
"The biggest change in coinage history since decimalisation."
Soccer balls made from relief packaging. Via Khoi.
Sexy, groovy Frigidaire! A message from our Paleo-Future.
Bertelli Biciclette Assemblate NYC. Gorgeous, one-of-a-kind, custom sourced and assembled bikes. Via Bobby Solomon.
The Toy Lamp is exactly what it is named, but not what you think. By designer Ryan McElhinney.
The Office for Lost Objects' Lighting Appliance No. 9.
If you're going to read just one essay on the mysterious Apple Tablet project, make it John Gruber's.
A prototype of the Mag+ Project, another view of how we might be reading in the future.
Super Oldies side table. Fab. Via Materialicious.
Othmar Muhlebach's toast printer is not only cool looking, but it also opens up the opportunity of being able to print religious icons on your bread and sell it to the gullible on eBay for fun and profit.
"As longtime readers are no doubt painfully aware, when it comes to certain items I have the tendency to objectify, to glaze over purpose and function and context and just splash about in the shallows of aesthetics." Good thing that. Long Duration Love Affair, from the archives of The Nonist.
Big Blue Stationary. Via Byrdhouse.
Mac Funamizu's simple and simply brilliant idea for remaking pocket change.
COP15 generative identity software. Fascinating, via Folkert.
Gorgeous, the Axi Tealight Pendants.
Part of the Omega watch museum collection, the Omega Milestone 1941 is a stunner.
Related to the earlier space post, a dark side of the moon rug.
I had a bunk bed when I was little, my sister and I liked nothing better than piling the mattresses on the floor and jumping off the top bunk. Good times. I thought my bunk bed was cool, then I saw this one. Fab.
So you know. A Shooting Brake is a two-door car with a squared-off rear, generally with a hatchback or a pair of side-hinged doors.
The LED Menorah.
Geoff Smith's Fluid Piano, "a totally acoustic instrument with micro-tonal tuning on every single note." Via J-Walk.
To remember: don't hire John Galliano and his team at Christian Dior to design your Christmas tree, because you're just going to wind up with something hauntingly lit that has a snow leopard in it.
Brilliant, charge your iPod or iPhone without the mess of cords with the WallDock.
From the Dyno-Wheel Motor Bus to Helicopter Tow-Ropes, What Was Popular Mechanics Thinking?
A time-lapse showing the installation of dbd's Studio's digitally fabricated bookshelf. Via Archinect.
Maybe we should get one of these for the studio, a microwave oven that plays Youtube videos. Via The Design Blog.
Preview of the next Creative Review Monograph on the Bibliotheque designed Dieter Rams exhibition at London's Design Museum.
Porsche Factory Tour 1972. Via ACL.
Perfect for those in teeny tiny apartments, the La Vie Boheme Table.
For Howard, who will be tailgating at Lambeau Field today for tonight's Monday Night Football game, a collection of over-the-top custom BBQ grills.
Moonfire, a collection that includes Norman Mailer's Of a Fire on the Moon, reprinted alongside images from Apollo 11, accompanied by a table designed by Marc Newson, and your very own lunar rock. All that for just $90,500. Via Transbuddha.
Nice walnut spinning tops.
Relogik is the portfolio of Damjan Stankovic, a designer in Belgrade, Serbia. The site is gorgeous and the projects are inventive and surprising. The Eko traffic light, for example.
The 2011 Ford Mustang V6 Peformance Package. It is very nice looking but to be honest I am noting it here as an excuse to relink the chase scene from Bullitt.
"To remove the back from one of their tiny creations is to plunge into an unknown world."
The Daily Icon on the new photo book Movement, by Guido Mocafico.
If you thought the 70's customized vans we posted earlier were boss, you ain't seen nothing yet. Imagine cruising down Main Street in this tricked out baby.
If this van is rockin...
Related to the Dieter Rams post below, here's a podcast of the designer discussing the exhibit.
For those lucky enough to be in London, get yourselves over to the Design Museum for the current exhibition on Dieter Rams. Lucky ducks.
rAndom International's You Fade To Light, an installation that captures the qualities of Royal Phillips new OLEDs, with mirror finishes and natural light temperatures. Check the video.
Architect Thom Faulders' optical illusion vortex deck, built for an Apple exec who "wanted someone to barf when they look at it." Via Archinect.
The Neti Pot is so 2009. Next year it's going to be all about The Lung Flute.
Nice companion to this timeline post from last year: LEGO's 1979 minifig design patent.
Get yours while you can, the limited edition Stanley Classic.
Take it from a dame, this is brilliant.
The magazine wall at the offices of architecture firm Elding Oscarson in Stockholm. Via Design Info.
A complete, original collection of Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand's beautiful Dormitory Room is available for sale (likely for the same cost as building an entire dormitory).
This will definitely fit in my office and a pair of shades will hide my closed eyes while I'm napping, the Daybed by Manuel Saez.
For all the cat owners in the studio, which is pretty much everyone except me, the ModKat litterbox.
For the tea drinkers in the studio, new directions in teapot design.
This beautiful poster for the exhibit Paper Architecture: Posters by Michael Bierut reminds me a little of the first book cover that made me realize that book covers could be cool: Nicholas Negroponte's Being Digital, designed by Chip Kidd.
Unique Japanese Barcodes.
"...a protective (and usually decorative) paper cover placed around a bound book, usually with the title and author's name printed on it..." Jacket Required, by Alexandra Cardia.
Joey Roth's Ceramic Speakers.
"It was kind of inspired by the 'big-head mode' seen in videogames." Eric Testroete's 3D Head and how he built it.
Simultaneously creepy and cool: That's My Face. Via Byrdhouse.
New applications for OLED. We all need to hurry up and start adopting this en masse.
For MS, Doublefacette salt cellar and pepper mill.
"On the carpet, on the dining table, next to the sofa, on the terrace, or in the garden, now the atmosphere of the fireside can be enjoyed anywhere." Brilliant, the Travelmate mobile fireplace.
Ultra modern, the cube birdhouse. Via Materialicious.
"How can we communicate our emotions over distance in a package that is quick and easy to use?" MeMe.
A collection of camping gear for people who probably shouldn't be camping (the Best Made axes being the exception).
Posted without comment: the Hummingbird Hat and the Hummingbird Helmet.
Not so much for me with the camping, (Blair Witch anyone?) If I was to have my memory erased so little piles of sticks in the woods would not turn me into a quivering mass of pure terror, I'd be more than happy to camp in this gorgeous Opera Camper.
The Happiness Hat, "a wearable conditioning device that detects if you're smiling and provides pain feedback if you're not."
Gorgeous wood bathtubs, I'll take the Flava in Ash please. Via If it's hip, it's here.
Apparently aimed at either people after sparse aesthetics or by those easily distracted by tiny characters, the Das Keyboard is completely devoid of any writing on its keys. Definitely wouldn't want to try to put it back together after a run through the dishwasher. Via Murketing.
For BB, the Vespa chair.
+0's 6th Collection. I'll take the humidifier and the toaster oven, please.
Shahee Ilyas breaks down each country's color palette into easy to read pie charts: Flags By Colours. Via Denver Egotist.
Randomly found on the way to something else: U.S. Patents for Roller Coasters and Related Rides, everything from 1869's "Artificial Sliding Hill" to just last month's patent for the "Passive Magnetic Levitation Ride."
Rome is burning, in front of your fireplace.
Apropos of nothing. Mac System 7.0. Beautiful.
For MS, Dolly Salt & Pepper.
For the tea drinkers in the studio, some pretty cool tea brewers.
Gorgeous, the Nespresso Citiz.
Too cute, the Garden of Eden salt and pepper shakers.
Noted without comment, ladybug headphones.
"The Rezon has 2 octaves and 15 tones per octave. The tone pitch depends on the instrument's bar height. Bars are different heights; on one side is a lower octave,
and on the other side, a higher octave."
A gorgeous alternative for those of us who don't have a built-in fireplace, the wall-mounted Vauni Cupola fireplace.
Cue the gorgeous bathtub alert. *Sigh*
Some pretty amazing pimped out golf carts.
A look at Peugeot's new electric car prototype, the Peugeot BB1.
For MS, the customized Cupcake Car.
Scissors and sliders, Honda's fab Skydeck concept van.
A demonstration of PhotoSketch, a program that quickly creates comps using found images. Via Denver Egotist.
The beautiful Elekit Tube Amp.
I'm not a huge bike enthusiast but these bikes are drop dead gorgeous.
The creation of anti-wi-fi and radio wave paint. Best part: "You could block phone signals from outside and stop people's phones ringing during a movie." Via PSFK.
The Breakfast Machine, "a Rube Goldberg machine which can serve you an omelet, coffee and a toast with jam."
30 Dumb Inventions. I would make it more like "28 Dumb Inventions" because who wouldn't want a Fast-Draw Robot or a Yodel Meter? Via bblinks.
The band Cake's next album will be recorded using 100% solar energy.
Honda's U3-X Electric Unicycle.
Interesting interview with Nick Pritchard, creative director at Epitaph Records.
Lego gadgets.
So you know. How to make an origami paper stand for your iPhone from Julien Madérou. Via Cult of Mac.
Too bad I found this so late in the summer, will keep this in mind for next year's Ravinia schedule, MOMA's Fishnet wine tote.
X Planes, a blog of experimental aircraft.
Busted Carbon, "photos of broken carbon fiber bicycle components." Not for the faint of heart or weak of bone. Via Beer or Kid.
Love this aluminum mirror by Daniel Rybakken
The work of designer Noma Bar. And here's more in Creative Review's recent profile of Bar. Via Denver Egotist.
A Fischer turntable clock.
Paper clip chandeliers.
Having suffered the indignity of wearing that stupid carpel tunnel wristband at work, and having my super nice co-workers not make fun of me at all (sarcasm), think the Radius ergonomic garden tools are a brilliant idea for gardeners like me.
NYC Bike Helmets designed by Yves Behar and the rest of the gang at fuseproject.
Gorgeous handmade lamps by Sarah Foote at Bonne Nuit. Via d*s.
"What do you mean, it works!? was something I overheard a bunch of times. And really, one glance at this setup and you might be surprised it worked too." An old-school, mainframe computer room assembled and operating at Dencon.
Gah! Ridiculously cute Banana Bros, salt and pepper set.
Totally need this for CP birthdays, the Magic Cake Server. Via Swissmiss.
Laurence Aegerter's ongoing art project Opening Soon / Opening Now has built a temporary public library, a Turkish snack bar, a mini-golf course, and even a tiny public pool. Via Eyebeam.
Who says the album is dead? A look at The Ditty Bops' Summer Rains Pop-Up LP, which was nominated for a Grammy earlier this year for its packaging.
"Amazingly, there is still a large, undeveloped and underutilized site in the center of New York City." The very funny Manhattan Airport Foundation.
For around $1,650, you can buy a completely 'teen-proof' room.
I love these awesome toasters.
Trying to plan a trip to Belgium next spring and will have to add this lecture hall at Museum 1302, designed by Studio Arne Quinze, to the list of places to stop in and see.
An electric unicycle.
QLOCKTWO, a clock that tells time in words.
MS, they dont have any GPO "Trim" phones at the moment, but Oldphoneworks should keep you busy for a while.
Brooklyn's got a pool made out of dumpsters.
Post and pics from Bonneville Speed Week by Jalopy Journal. Excellent. Via Secret Service.
The Dieter Rams Pool, especially this beauty. Via It's Nice That.
Music Cage, gorgeous.
For my Dad, totally cool wine cellars.
Sweet new bath tub designed by Karim Rashid. Love it.
Jonas Damon's wooden flashlight. Via Selectism.
"...an infographic that not only communicates the information, but does so in a way that engages the readers by adding more than just graphs and charts to the conversation." The Bygone Bureau chats with designers from GOOD Magazine. Via Waxy.
Marbelous.
Love these, cassette tape lamps.
Scans of the beautiful Olivetti Lettera 22 Instruction Manual. Via We Made This.
Prototype of glowing Nike shoes for late-night joggers and cyclists.
Finally, someone to take on the pitching machine.
Holger Schubert's Maserati-focused garage.
Chris Harrison's Providing Dynamically Changeable Physical Buttons on a Visual Display, "offering some of the flexibility of touch screens, while retaining the beneficial tactile properties of physical interfaces." Wow. Via Byrdhouse.
Craig Robinson's Minipop drawings in cross stitch. Via bblinks.
The End of Driving from c77. Mike and Maaike's thoughts on the "autonomobile." Nice. I believe this also falls right in line with my the future will look like Logan's Run theory.
The next bike I buy will come from the Mission Bicycle Store.
Brought up during lunch while talking about types of lumber to use for a weekend project: the Triton Logging Company's tree-cutting submarine, The Sawfish.
Good thing the edition of 500 is already sold out because I might have a hard time explaining why I spent $980 on No Future Companion by KAWS and Hajime Sorayama.
Related to the last. "While his design of the Selectric typewriter (which dominated 75% of the market four years after its introduction) and the logo he hired Paul Rand to create are well-known, few could name the man responsible." BW on Eliot Noyes.
Jason Santa Maria's latest post got me thinking about my favorite model. A Timeline History of the IBM Typewriter. Dig the form and lines and of the Selectric and especially the Selectric II. More information, pictures and manuals for download, from Jim Forbes' Selectric.org.
Black & White Clock.
Gah! cutest table clock ever. Via Design Milk.
Huh. Wonder if I can talk JC into letting me get one of these.
A Lego combination safe.
Information on and photos/footage of Buro Happold and Hoberman Associates' 50 ton expanding video screen, currently being used at U2 concerts.
The Scratch DJ coffee table.
For all the tea drinkers in the office, a collection of modern teapots and kettle designs.
"It doesn't care that you have an iPhone or an RSS feed. It lights up, it's delightfully analog." Kevin Byrd's Not*A*Clock. More info on the project here.
My Robot Made This.
"Now we are incorporating the world of art into this stunning machine with the DeLonghi Artista Series. Artists from around the globe have had their art laser-etched onto an extremely limited run of Perfectas." The Artista Series.
Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum in London and the author of The Language of Things: Understanding the World of Desirable Objects, is interviewed on The Sound of Young America.
One of my many quirky flaws is my habit of setting my clock 20 minutes fast. I can hit the snooze button and know I have that 20 minute cushion. Some of you will understand, some of you won't. I don't care, it works for me. That said, I wonder if they take custom orders?
Michael Ubbesen Jakobsen's BauBike, "constructed around the geometric shape of the square and the equilateral triangle."
Angela Riechers on printed tickets and innovation. Excellent.
Just gorgeous, the Filisky Drop pendant lamp. Via Style-Files.
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories' Bulbdial Clock. So cool. Based on an Ironic Sans idea. Via Iridesco.
The Chicago Printers Guild took a field trip to the French Paper Co. of Niles, Michigan.
Satellite photography meets floor coverings: the Be My Neighbor Rug. Via Making It Lovely.
Totally cool, furniture made from old airplane parts.
Nylon TV has a quick chat with famed designer Karim Rashid. You can see more of Karim in CP's fave film of the year, Objectified.
Bumper stickers for people who just don't care all that much.
Don't really need this as my internal clock wakes me up anywhere from 3:30 am to 5:30 am every morning but I love the idea of it, designed by Paul Koh, the Click Clock.
Remodelista's latest "Steal This Look" feature takes a look inside Portland, Oregon's Canoe, a great store I've ordered many a gift from, as well as one of Field Notes' fine retail locations.
Not sure where you'd put it or why, but it's certainly interesting. The Band Aid Rug.
So clever, two bowls, a colander, a sieve, and four measuring spoons all fit together for a great space saver in the kitchen, the Joseph Joseph Nest set.
This is why I love my radio. I love your radio too.
If the Phantom was an artist, he'd need crayon rings. Via Mig Reyes.
I wonder if there is a weight limit? Totally need one of these for the deck this summer.
The Bau-Bike.
"Can we watch decay? Can we see glass as a fluid slowly slumping and deforming over time?
Everything is in constant flux, yet we consider many things around us static and fixed. 3.16 Billion Cycles is an attempt to unravel a seemingly unchanging 100 years into a set of relationships in digestible increments."
Nice yacht.
Building a gigantic Gundam robot in Odaiba, Tokyo. It's like the anime Statue of Liberty.
Following their iPhone coasters from last year, Meninos has now released Adobe CS icon coasters. Just the thing for the drinking designer.
For BB and DW, the Brammo Enertia electric motorcycle.
The work of the Japanese furniture design firm monokraft. Check out "Furnitures for Kindergarten" and "Kitchen Shelf." Via 2 or 3 Things.
The evolution of Crayola packaging from The Dieline. 1949 is lovely. Via Quipped
So cute, I can't choose just one so posting them all, Jonathan Adler's salt and pepper sets.
"Welcome to my blog, where I post stories and photos about the homes of people I visit." Liz Arnold's Homebodies.
Kevin shows off the great work he and his firm Armchair Media did for this year's Modern Atlanta Guidebook.
An interesting collection that always results in a new bookmark or two, The 2009 Editors' Awards for Online Excellence from TMN.
"... why you get a layer of something cute on top of something kind of black on top of something kind of scary." Design Related interviews Paul Budnitz of Kidrobot.
For pretty much everyone in the studio, sans me and JC, the curve wall mounted pet bed. Via Materialicious.
From "The Lofthouse" to "The Clovermill" and everything in between. A Field Guide to Freeway Interchanges.
For BB, Kellbot's Katamari ball project.
Victorinox and Airstream have teamed up to produce the 125th Anniversary Special Edition Airstream Trailer.
Celebrating 50 years of the Mini.
wm$na on Ayah Bdeir's littleBits, pre-engineered circuit boards connected by tiny magnets so you "can play with electronics without knowing electronics." Cool idea. More here.
"Dekochari is typical Japanese phenomenon, deko is short for decoration and chari is slang for bike. Dekochari are actually the kids version of dekotora, which are decorated trucks. Satoshi Minakawa made these photos of these awesome vehicles."
"We understand that when you need ice cream, you need it NOW. So when your spoon can't penetrate the frozen treat, are you going to sit around and wait for the stuff to soften? Or are you going to take matters into your own hands?" Brilliant , the Aqua Heated Ice cream scoop.
Daily Icon on NASA space tools designed for the Hubble Mission.
"Welcome to the next generation of workplace." The OfficePOD.
Rethink your perceptions of wicker furniture with these gorgeous chaise lounge chairs. Via Design Milk.
Like Things Magazine, we love the Bombardier B-12.
Be ready to make a quick transition from "Why would I ever need an axe?" to "I must purchase several axes immediately" once you take a look at Peter Buchanan-Smith's Best Made Co. Thanks Ben.
A gorgeous wooden carpet by Elisa Stroyzk.
Mr. Dawes is always up to something interesting. Today it's custom wooden Dopplr luggage tags.
Really great photos from the 2009 Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan.
Characters reinstalled with LED lighting.
On my wish list, the Twist portable espresso maker.
"If you feel you shouldn't get precious about such things, perhaps graphic design isn't your thing." The Minister on details and the Xerox Star user interface.
Eames elephant.
"Desire: 1: to long or hope for : exhibit or feel desire for." Um, check.
It won't save your waistline but will help save the planet, the pizza Green Box.
Related to the last. Retrospective on the career of legendary designer, Ladislav Sutnar. Tons of inspirational work here, check especially the "1934 Exhibition" boards found under "Designing for Display."
No modern household should be without it: The Bicilavadora, via Materialious.
A great walkthrough of the assembly of a student newspaper in 1970.
Video of BMW design chief Adrian Van Hooydonk talking about the newest 7-series.
iPhone haters, check out the iWood with "3B Technology."
Nice selections by Francesco Mugnai, fifty great infographics, especially this resume or Development of my Interests, by Chester, Lau Cheuk Hang.
Apple's form factor evolution, 1976-2009.
Now that's a typo!
Love this, may need to get one for the deck, the Fire Cube.
James Fallows reports on some "positive aviation news." I'll say. The Terrafugia, a flying car or perhaps, drivable airplane has taken its first test flight. Video here.
Tetris furniture.
A faceless LED watch.
Super sweet industrial design for The OP-1 Synthesizer and Controller created by Teenage Engineering. A great company name, identity and site. Also check their Absolut Choir project.
So you know. Video illustrating the "four processes commonly used by industrial designers to create prototype concepts." Very cool. Via Core77.
Nice and simple, the paper-wood stool.
"Shortly afterwards, the brothers Michelin attended an auto exposition and noticed vertical stacks of tires that looked vaguely like people. 'Add some arms,' said Edouard, 'and you'd say they were men.'" SE on Bibendum.
Too cute, the Face chair.
Gorgeous, the S bed.
Admired recently at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs; wall murals of Montparnasse glazed brick tiles from Design and Direct Source, a new venture from Ann Sacks (founded after she sold Ann Sacks Tile & Stone).
Brilliant, sip your morning coffee and get reminded of your daily to-do-list at the same time.
An awesome Wall-E computer case.
I was going to post a link or two from one of my fave sites but found too many good ones to choose. So you decide, Daily Icon.
So simple, the Magnetic photo rope.
Love this, a lamp full of lamps.
Fruit Juice Packaging by Naoto Fukasawa. Via Byrdhouse.
The 1 hour sprocket clock.
Tropicana rebrands and loses an astonishing 20% market share in six weeks.
Great idea, would be perfect to take to my niece's assorted soccer and softball games. The Messenger Bag Director's chair
CHANGE! by BCXSY features furniture and home accessories built from rubber-coated foam.
Fashioning Felt at Cooper-Hewitt.
Neat tea kettle by vessel. Via d*s.
Where there's smoke: Admired recently, the Smoked Oak Dining Table with Oil Finish from German designer Rainer Spehl (creator of the wooden MacBook case) and Smoked Oak Engineered Flooring from German flooring company Parador.
A look inside the new book The Worst Hotel in the World about Kessels Kramer's print work for the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel in Amsterdam.
"If he does not like what the sensors tell him, all he needs to do is dial a digit on his phone and the Kalashnikov attached to the alarm box goes off." Hanif Molavizadeh's Homemade Alarm. Via 2 or 3 Things.
Totally cool materials to mess around with. The sample boxes look inviting, check "Translucency." Thanks Jeff.
For those looking to live in an igloo but aren't very handy with ice: Intershelter Domes. Via Materialicious.
81 in 8.
Hey Ref, check out these boombox bikes.
This block of 100 wooden matches designed by Fitzu was found among a ton of other beautifully curated and displayed examples of current product packaging at The Dieline.
Pentagram's great work for The Library Initiative in New York, featuring murals from the likes of Stefan Sagmeister, Yuko Shimizu, and Christoph Niemann, among others.
65 of some of the best business cards of last year. Via Byrdhouse.
The lighting at the Snog frozen yogurt shop in London features 700 glass globes containing LED lights which change colors throughout the day.
Gorgeous recycled magazine mirror.
Posted without comment: the Tweet-a-Watt, a modified power meter that automatically publishes your home's daily power consumption to Twitter.
"A postcard with an integral stopper, measuring the time between sending and receiving." Dag Design Lab's Stopper Postcard.
Now this is a bathroom scale for me, ignorance is bliss.
Impress, a video demo of a flexible interactive display developed by Silke Hilsing. Cool. Via Tabakman.
Gorgeous bathtub designed by Marco Tallarida.
Love these, book hooks.
Fuego's amazing outdoor kitchen.
Gorgeous in floor bath tubs.
Josh Benton writes, "You might be interested in something we just just posted at the Nieman Journalism Lab. It's a round up of how various artists are using data from news organizations to create beautiful visualizations of history." Why yes, we might be interested in that.
Something consider next time before you head to the recycle bin: a shelter built from trash.
Well, here is one lamp that will never be in my house.
My washer/dryer is right by my bathroom, so on really cold mornings, I throw my towels in the dryer for a few minutes to warm them up. A much easier and definitely more stylish way to go would be this gorgeous paper clip shaped towel heater.
Eiko Ishizawa's Great Bear Sleeping Bag. Probably not the best thing to sleep in while camping out in bear country.
"The pairs of images in this set are similar in one way or another. Some are more similar than others."
Clear and intuitive, it is hard to beat the look of classic analog gauges.
Unboxing a Lamborghini.
One hundred designers create one hundred credit cards.
"Problem: Create a clock that tells time the way people do." Solved.
"Recently I've begun designing electronics to convert film cameras into audio transducers, or optical microphones." Eric Archer's Sound Cameras.
The product design portfolio of Jamie McLellan. Dig the "Stacked Cutlery." Via Kitsune Noir.
Sebastian Brajkovic's furniture inspired by Photoshop's pixel stretch.
Gorgeous, the Travelmate Ventless Fireplace.
Probably the most gorgeous cutlery tray I have ever seen.
Not to be found in my house, but perhaps appealing to someone a little more in tune with nature: the Moss Bathmat.
For BB, Japanese custom scooters. Via Look at This.
Sort of related. A nice short film on the production of Danish banknotes.
Quite possibly the coolest pizza slicer ever.
A piece from the NY Times about northeast Portland: "A Street Saved by Design" featuring some nice words about our friends at Office, one of Field Notes' retail locations.
The world's first glass top pool table. Be sure to check the video.
Fantastic photos of a pre-1914 Epsom-to-Brighton motorcycle rally. (Thanks, Elephants)
Lovely, the Singgih Kartono wooden radio.
For BB and his crew at 2strokebuzz: Carpenter Carlos Alberto's Vespa.
Some great Wiimote IR tracking projects. "The list gets more 'unusual' the further you go down." From Johnny Chung Lee's totally bookmarkable Procrastineering blog.
Graphicology on Arabic versions of global brand identities. Plus more from The Ministry.
A quick and easy way to broil bacon in your microwave.
The Times in London has redesigned its Saturday Review edition and it's beautiful, from the grid to the unified approach to typography.
Speaking of hockey, a high school goaltender has come up with camouflage goalie pads, much to the dismay of offensemen everywhere. "If you put the net on the pad, they'll shoot at the pad instead of the goal."
Illustrated history of hockey goalie masks. Sweet. Thanks Ant.
Instructions on how to build a desk out of pallets. Or a nice method of displaying a basketball and a gas can in front of your garage.
Bet your clock is not as cool as mine.
JazzMutant, multi-touch controllers for audio production, live music and media performance. Sleek, check the interface videos. Via Notcot.
10 Bizarre But Useful Appliance Combinations. Via bblinks.
Related to the last, our current Guest Editor, Alissa Walker (alw), wrote this great piece about Rural Studio for GOOD Magazine.
Designer Li Jianye's real life Coverflow: iShelf.
The United States of Logos. I sort of miss Wisconsin's old "Come Smell Our Dairy Air" slogan. Via Brandflakes.
A real estate listing for 118a Woburn Road, an amazing home that seemingly hasn't been lived in or so much as look at since 1965. Quick, someone buy this place for Todd Haynes and John Waters and build a reality show around them staying there.
The Kupe line of furniture is made from used bourbon barrels.
The Little Robots, toys with floating organs combined with mechanical parts.
Futurliner: the baddest bus ever? I'd say yes.
Gorgeous, the Exline Agape bath tub.
A Core77 1 Hour Design Challenge: Design a laser-cut grip tape inlay for a longboard.
"There is nothing inevitable about a chair any longer." A 1961 Playboy article on furniture designers. The photo is priceless. Via Ph.D.
Huh, for 350 bucks, my mind better be pretty darn relaxed.
A more animal-friendly version of a bearskin rug.
Dumpster Hot Tub: Yea or Nay? You decide at The Design Vote.
Gorgeous retro breadbox.
If you were friends with the Eames' back in the day, what kind of Christmas card would you send them? An obvious choice would be an Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair with Metal Legs dressed as Santa.
Aston Martin's winning design for London's new buses, hitting the streets in 2011, just in time for the Olympics.
Brilliant idea, the Bright Bike. Via NotCot.
A new LED streetlamp design for NYC.
So you know. How to manufacture an Eames shell chair.
What could be the only cat for me.
Ton Fisk's Sugar & Cream Set. Via Remodelista.
A nice addendum to that Sol Sender interview making the rounds: Obama Logo Ideas That Weren't Chosen.
Local note for those out west: this Thursday night, FotA and Field Tester Alissa Walker is hosting GOOD Magazine's Design LA, an event featuring Stefan Bucher, Barbara Bestor, and the subject of Western State #3, Geoff Mcfetridge.
Nice wooden headphones by Dutch artist Parra and The Perfect Unison.
Creepy or cute? You decide.
For the pet that doesn't know how to float there's the illuminated inflatable pet collar.
Zero gravity recliner? Yes please.
U is for Underground Lair. A young mad scientist's first alphabet blocks.
The napBook, "a laptop case which also happens to be a comfortable cushion." Via bblinks.
Staircase Light Installation using old car headlights, by PSLAB. Via Remodelista.
Love this, a bookshelf and reading light as one.
The Evolution of Game Controllers in diagram form.
A lot of fixed gear goodness.
This green light is actually a lantern.
Audi 1939. Beautiful and beautifully scanned sales brochure. Via Michael Preidel.
Martin Smith's Applause Machine.
Lovely, pillar salt and pepper shakers.
Love this, the vintage viewfinder clock.
An ongoing war at CP has been resolved with the delivery of my very own space heater. Peace my friends.
For Howard, perfect for the ManDen, furniture with racing stripes.
A laptop for the environmentally conscious, a bamboo laptop.
A Daily Dose of Architecture's annual Holiday Gift Book Recommendations. I'll take the Bruce Mau designed reissue of Le Jetee please.
NL Architects' Moving Forest, "100 trees planted in shopping trolleys at the Urban Play event in Amsterdam."
My office is always freezing in the winter and a war over the thermometer generally ensues at least twice a week. Maybe Santa will bring me one of these this year and peace will return to the studio.
Marianne Bailey's Box to play for Yamaha Design Labs. Try not to smile. More at Booooooom.
Remodelista takes a look at the new Ace Hotel in New York, set to open in February.
Awesome, now you can make s'mores at your desk. Via Popgadget.
Jet Pack! It's about time!
London, Berlin, Cairo, Shanghai. Where will you dine tonight?
SpaceX, the private space-flight company, has posted a video of a test of their nine-engine Merlin thruster.
Just the sort of thing that James Bond would carry around, a very stylish condom box.
Lovely, a nice collection of modern sinks and wash basin designs.
Yes! This is the bench for me.
Could use one of these for the back door, the solar power key hole light.
Angela Lidderdale's aluminum chair at home. Via It's Nice That.
Ron Wise's Banknoteworld, a geographical directory of world paper money. Tons of great scans. I. II. III. Thanks Sean.
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Gorgeous, the Exline bath tub.
Touring an Emirates's new A380, complete with showers, a bartender, and three live video feeds from the exterior of the plane.
So you know. How to make money with free software. Not what you think.
Related to an earlier post: learned that Bob Cassilly, the guy behind St. Louis' City Museum, is planning his next big project, Cementland, a cement factory turned theme park.
A collection of alt-weekly covers, both pre-election and post-election.
Love this, the Crescendo bed. Via Design Milk.
Spending the day with NASA's Industrial Design Team.
Either the greatest lamp ever or the worst, depending on how much you like doing math problems.
Remodelista's roundup of ten beautiful modern chandeliers.
Recycling fire extinguishers into speakers.
Attractively sparse Alka Seltzer print ads from France.
Michelle Kaufman's Vessel Wall Light. Via Remodelista.
What a brilliant idea, pot clips. Cha-ching.
Gorgeous, the Woodline bath tub.
Charles Kalpakian's boxy Dog Tables/Lights.
"At the first sight of this massive collection of displays, the word 'array' ran into the corner and cried itself to sleep."
The 1,000mph Car, "a muscular streak of gunmetal and orange designed not to break the world land speed record but to shatter it."
Bookmarked. Infographics News by Chiqui Esteban. An weblog highlighting international approaches to news visuals. An excellent resource.
Yves Behar and Canal +'s Le Cube, a super cool set top box for your TV.
"Olivetti, Una Bella Societa --which could be translated as something that sums up the ideas of a fine company and a better society." An illustrated post at wm$na.
Rad, recycled skateboards are turned into Deckstools.
The world's cutest nightlight.
Lovely, salt and pepper shakers made from reclaimed wood.
Noted without comment. Round and wide. Via D+R.
Yes, it's lovely but not sure how comfortable a stone bathtub would be.
The perfect example of form and function, Pinel and Pinel's home entertainment trunks.
Entries and winners from Platform 21's "Hack IKEA" contest. Via c77.
Burn before reading.
Red, definitely in red.
"Paper airplane launched from the space could land the earth? Such a dreamlike project has started." Via the unstoppable Pink Tentacle.
The 13 drawer band saw safe.
The Aero Concept Pen Case.
Brush Knuckles, a collection of things inspired by the brass variety.
"Each time a new table is produced, one pixel is removed from the design. Following these rules of self-destruction, the shape becomes more intricate as it diminishes." This Table Will Self-Destruct from Chicago based Studio 1a.m. Via bblinks.
Etienne Meneau hearts wine.
Brilliant, we need one of these for the studio refrigerator .
Winners of the 2008 Worldwide Logo Design Annual Awards. Via LogoDesignLove.
A look inside Tina Roth Eisenberg's house, where all the swissmissing goes on.
For the loneliest of musicians: The Teenar, "a girl and guitar rolled into one."
Honda unveils their competitor to the Prius at the Paris Auto Show, take a look at the Insight.
Reuse those water bottles and feed the birds at the same time with the Audubon Soda Bottle Bird Feeder.
Talk to your fishies while brushing your teeth with the Italbrass Moody aquarium sink.
Gorgeous, the AQ Hayon bathtub.
The best umbrella ever.
Too bad they did not have these around when I was in college, the Ramen Spoon Fork Set.
Ctrl, Alt, Delete. So cute, keyboard cups.
Simple furniture by Decarus. Via swissmiss.
Cardboard Box Bedding. "A large proportion of the proceeds go to SZN, the foundation for homeless young people in the Netherlands." Via bblinks.
Never over-steep your tea again with the Red Dot design winner Finuim tea control glass teapot.
Artist Joel Hester takes the hoods from old cars and turns them stunning tables. Via Design Milk.
The folks behind Keep Calm have premiered their new Alphabet Bags. Nice.
Gorgeous, wood bath tubs.
For everyone in the studio, except me because I refuse to be the crazy cat lady, the modern critter bent plywood cat scratcher.
Love this, perfect for the cook in your home, the colander cutting board.
Sweet, the Comet coffee table.
Hot, very hot. The fully transparent glass bathtub.
Cute as a bug! The Peapod electric car.
Nerdbots, creatures made from thrift store finds. Via bblinks.
PostlerFerguson 1:1 styrofoam and paper model of a jet engine from the Concorde. Via Creative Review.
Pretty much everything you could ever care to know about monowheels from Dark Roasted Blend.
Compact, gorgeous and powerful, the Bang and Olufsen BeoLab 4 speakers.
Brilliant, inflatable hangars.
Too tired to stir your own drink? No worries.
A smart, illustrated post on airport signage and wayfinding systems. Clipped from Quipped.
The Colombo Two home phone. Via The Cartoonist.
The intense-looking new Rubik's Cube, and a Rubik's Cube for the blind.
The Single Octopus Lamp. Though probably not for MS, as it sort of resembles a spider. Via Remodelista.
When I was little, I had a bunk bed. We'd pile the mattresses on the floor and jump from the top bunk. Good times. These loft bedroom collections for kids put ordinary bunk beds to shame.
Tangentially related to SE's architect post below, must re-link the architect's birdfeeder.
Turn your bathroom into your very own planetarium.
Too cute, the Plus salt and pepper shaker set.
Remodelista on yellow's big comeback.
Tapeworm is a strip that slides into any roll of tape for an instant tape dispenser. Brilliant.
Cute Blogger Alert! Our SD, moonlighting for Unbeige, picks some design favorites for the New York TImes home section.
Gorgeous, the Planika fire coffee table.
Takeshi Miyakawa's Affordable Housing filing cabinet. Via 2 or 3 Things.
Oh yeah. Tetris Tiles.
Utterly brilliant, wish that this was in production, a lunchbox that turns into a plate.
This is what a chair sounds like.
A little piece about a classic ad campaign involving one of my all-time fave creatures, the Nauga.
A compendium of electronic calculators.
The story of the two year, rocky road in bringing Availabot to market. Via Torrez.
The walnut and brass Pappa*Phone.
Too cute, the leaning man and pushing man bookends.
Love this, the Switch Me salt and pepper shaker.
"Happiness is a warm raygun. That is, until it overheats in your hand, causing moderate to severe skin damage." Get your very own raygun here.
Anneke Jakobs has posted an instruction manual for how to make your own version of her Chiquita Chandelier. Check it out here. Via Core77.
Did you know you can order uncut sheets of US Currency from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Store? Me neither. Via c77.
Lovely, a simple and modern twist on the salt and pepper shaker.
Delicious, the oversized shower head from Zucchetti. *Sigh*
For those with a small book collection, the see-saw bookshelf
Interesting look at how to copy and paste on the Apple Newton 15 years ago.
Odd bits, whatchamacallits, thingamajigs, they all need a place to rest. Help them out with the What-Nots chest of drawers.
Great gallery of images from the FIETS exposition of bicycles at the Designhuis in Eindhoven.
Dude, get your favorite band's touring schedule and get ready to hit the road.
Styrobot.
We love flipping through books with Grain Edit. Today it's the fab 1967 Design Coordination and Corporate Image by FHK Henrion and Alan Parkin.
Love this salt and pepper set.
Cute as a button! Not sure if that has been said about a car before.
Gorgeous, the LUM lighting collection.
Remodelista's roundup of Architect-Designed Flatware.
The always stable GyroBike, sort of like a Segway bicycle. Via Arbroath.
Sweet, the Slink chair.
Kids these days are so lucky, wish I could have had this R2D2 mini-fridge in my dorm room in college. Via SlashFilm.
The Waffle Bike, "a fully weaponized waffle making device." Via Arbroath.
Might have to get one for the studio, the El Zulo, an ergonomic pod for power napping.
The outside will stop traffic for sure, the inside stopped my heart. The gorgeous Mehrseller caravan. Thanks Chris.
Lovely, the plastic bottle lamp
Perfect for a camping/boating trip, Kahuna.
Rabbit-kun garbage bag + friends.
Gorgeous, the Brunopasso espresso machine.
A peek at the new, innovatively designed Philips Holedar Earphones.
Too cute, the bubblehead webcam.
A post about Sara Huston and her work which explores the relationship between and expectations of art and design.
Sweet, the Simpson magnetic chalkboard door. Via Materialicious
Fab, the Lightspeaker lamp.
That is one red hot bed.
Nice, Wii Transfer.
"Fabbing represents the next step in the digital revolution. After years of virtualization, with machines and atoms being replaced by bits and software, we are coming full circle." The Generator.x Conference and this set of photos from the event.
Objectify me. Marian Bantjes and Her Toothbrush.
If orange isn't your thing, perhaps blue?
Too cute, gorilla salt and pepper shakers.
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and an elegant typographic solution, set in all caps. BVD's cafe concept Stories. Via The Dieline.
Fab, Bendit bookends.
Gorgeous, the Smoon ombrella.
Designboom on the History of the 'We're #1' Foam Hand.
Lovely, the Noguchi table lamp.
Diane Steverlynck's Wall-Paper, wall-sized sheets of notebook paper.
Rotating Electrical Outlet. Why hasn't this existed since the birth of modern electricity? Via Remodelista.
No more ketchup and mustard bottles here at the studio, it's the condiment gun for us.
More pro-pallet love for this week: Jonathan Glancey's Classics of Everyday Design No 49: The Humble Pallet.
Imagining a future with compressor-free, solid state refrigerators. Via Onegoodmove.
A note for around the office: let's stop throwing out those pallets and instead learn from Studiomama on how to make chairs, lights, and stools out of them.
Need one of these for the deck.
Too cute, the race clock.
25 water bottles, a typological photographic study by Frank Yamrus. Via swissmiss.
So you know. How to make an Air Chair.
Lovely, the hourglass salt and pepper shaker.
Perfect for small spaces, the Ponton fireplace.
"Adaptable. Fun and Functional." I'll say, the Suspended bed.
Love this, the Delete fly swatter.
For DW, BB and SD, the kittypod. I will never have three of these in my house.
Screw the bicycle built for two, I want this tub built for two.
Not for my anti-pattern, minimal self, but way cool: powder coating that allows digital graphics on bike frames.
Some crazy concept cars.
Iconeye has a great gallery with images celebrating 30 years of the Lego minifigure. Happy 30th, all of you.
Sweet, a shelf that hides a projection screen.
Neat LED clock/shelf combo.
For the worldly-wise nursery, the Global Warming Rug.
Is it a light saber? A kitchen whisk? A tiki torch? A look at the design history of the Olympic torch from 1936 to the present.
Camouflaged LED streetlights.
Typographic coasters.
Expensive but very cool, the Treadwall is a combination treadmill and climbing wall. Via Oh Gizmo.
Lovely, the rasp salt and pepper set.
Love this, Gotcha cheeseboard.
Too cute, trophy hangers.
Dreamy, the Charade shower head.
Threadless meets Timbuk2 for some limited edition bags.
Some neat furniture made out of cardboard.
Derringer Cycles, perfect for the lazy yet stylish cycler. Via 2 or 3 Things.
Fab, the
In the neighborhood magazine rack.
The flatpack Penta lamp.
Love this, the
shining image shadow lamp.
E-Legno's wooden bathtub. Gorgeous.
Can a magazine rack be sexy? In a word, yes.
Love these, city slickers bookends.
For the playboy in your life, the beam bed.
Here's what we need at the studio: The Buddy Bike for Filmmakers, amongst the usual interesting bike culture and commentary at Copenhagenize.
Too cute, the lift and shake salt and pepper shaker.
"These unique lamps are made from discarded propane, refrigerant, and helium tanks collected from forest shooting areas. the bullet-riddled steel makes a striking impression in daylight and the skeletal structure projects beautiful patterns when illuminated at night." Lovely, tank lamps.
I dig the style of Space:1999 as much as the next nerd but not nearly as much as Catherine Bujold, who lives in her own Moonbase Alpha.
Fab, have a cuppa while you watch tv and no need for a coffee table when you have the sofahanger.
Clever, faucet wall lights.
"How to balance your pig-in-a-blanket with your Dom Perignon...
that is the question." And they have the answer.
Custom chandeliers, you had better be pretty damn sure you can justify hanging top row, last image in your house.
Fantastic minimalist wastebasket.
So fab, the coolest coat rack ever.
Lovely, the flying circles bookcase.
Pink Tentacle looks into the Japanese method of demolishing a skyscraper a floor at a time, starting at the bottom.
For Tracie, or better known here as Mrs. BB, motorcycle pens.
A circular bike made from salvaged parts.
Seriously, who doesn't feel like shooting their alarm clock in the morning?
Actually see your meat while you cook it.
Look over Matt Willey's shoulder while he lays out a feature for Royal Academy Magazine. Fun. Via Design Observer.
"I am not an audiophile and I do not have a golden ear, but I am extremely interested in the blunt force trauma of the awesome clarity and unambiguous nature of completely rocking out." Amen to Quadraphonic.
Digging these tripod seasoning pods.
For the skateboarder in your life, the skate mirror.
One or two more bikes at our house, and maybe we could get a bike dispenser. So cool.
Hey, where do I hang my coat? Oh, here's where I hang my coat.
Fab, the Quad shelving unit.
The Han Solo in Carbonite Desk. Maybe a good place to sit and enjoy your Han Solo in Carbonite Chocolate Bar.
The color of money.
Michael DiTullo, design director at Converse, sketches a new sneaker in 4:39.
Scrap chairs.
Auto-Rickshaw Mud Flap Customization.
Absence of Water photo series, via (NON) 2.
The gallon milk jug gets a new look.
Steampunk hits the road in the Victorian RV. Via 2 or 3 Things.
The futuristic, superb industrial designs of Luigio Colani.
Interesting tableware by Kathryn Hinton.
FLOR designs by Alexander Girard. Great combination.
Recycling packing materials from an art gallery into bird, bat and bee houses.
"These new designs re-imagine the classic, all aluminum Emeco 1006 Navy chair, built for submarines in WWII, and manufactured by Emeco since 1944." The Emeco Nine-O collection.
Sweet, take your tunes into the pool.
Need one of these for the deck this summer, the E-Z hammock.
Lovely, the flower power fan.
So cute, Mr. and Mrs. Chin salt and pepper shakers.
Gorgeous and ridiculously expensive, the tree bed.
Because a regular can opener is so darn difficult to use, the easy crank can opener.
Sweet, a modern see-through birdhouse.
Sweet, solar powered tents in Australia.
One more reason to sing in the shower, the ipod shower station.
Lovely, the Cocoon fruit bowl.
Yes, people will stare at you but you'll just smile at them through your plastic bubble.
The Icon Aircraft. Yowza. Thanks Marshall.
Cute retro Bullet Planter. Via Design Crush.
Of course it's at the MoMA store, the perfect bento box.
Carlos wants you to get a handle on how you perceive everyday things.
Imagine a car covered with light, flexible skin instead of metal. The BMW GINA Light Visionary Model.
"If good design is a balance of aesthetics and utility, the craft peaked in the years between 1940-1970. This era of modernism hit the design sweet spot: functional beauty." The Mid-Century Modernist. Swiped from Ryan, who's a Noob.
Lovely, the Roost birdhouse Via Design Milk
Sweet, the Atrio fire basket.
Domestic Aesthetic makes some pretty nice home products including a salt and pepper shaker set for MS.
Sweet, the hot dog toaster.
If you are going to swat a fly, do it with style.
Come on, a $47,000.00 bathtub?.
Sweet, get your green on while cooking your shrimp on the barbie with the eco-friendly Baja BBQ firepack.
Carlos changes out the the sheet-metal on Cartype. Nice redesign of a great resource.
The digital pot lets you know your plant's needs by giving it facial expressions.
No need for anyone to get food poisoning from Aunt Verla's potato salad at the family picnic this year, just pick up the inflatable salad bar.
No need for anyone to be poisoned by Aunt Verla's potato salad at this year's annual family barbecue, get yourself the inflatable salad bar.
Fabulous, feel like a kid again with the Tangram bookcases.
Lovely, the Prism 5 suspension lights.
A red chair by Sawaya & Moroni.
Lightin food lamps by Jérôme Reubrez.
Musical furnishings for your home.
Watch out, Ikea. The stadium proposed for London's hosting of the 2012 Olympics is meant to be demountable.
Solar in the shade.
Brilliant, the modular bathroom system Vertebrae.
Perfect for small spaces, the ironing ladder.
Macbook Pro x blackboard paint = Blackboard Pro.
Related to the last. Newsdesigner on the history of the "Dingbat" and its clock at 6:11.
New logo for the International Herald Tribune. Regarding the "dingbat," deputy managing editor Robert Marino said, "I'm kind of sorry to see it go, but that's progress."
PingMag profile and interview with Chin Music Press, publishers of highly detailed and beautifully designed books.
Gorgeous, the Bulthaup b2 mobile kitchen system. I want.
Stop playing with your food! Play with your tablecloth instead.
Takeshi Miyakawa designs beautiful furniture.
Sleevelessness reviews the book Band ID.
Brilliant redesign of peanut butter and jelly jars.
Remember the MTV Le Run?
Stylish and a place to store all your magazines, the Divide coffee table.
Love this, the Tubes Tea Light.
Meet Newton, SynPet.
Confusion, not concealment.
Choose clusta, not clutter.
Talk about reusing and recycling: Thomas Wold creates a whimsical yet functional wall display out of found odds and ends. More photos. Via Unplugged.
The Quin.MGX by Bathsheba Grossman. A twelve-sided dodecahedron lamp with intertwining stars. Sweet.
Building a better take-out box.
A new meaning for "walking your bike." Via.
Constructicons, Voltron and the Terminator will soon be our overlords.
Illustrated Made You Look profile of and interview with Olivier Bucheron, aka Zamak, who creates 3D characters that pretty much defy description, except to say they're totally awesome.
Because real ones don't scare me enough. Thanks Marshall.
Lovely, the Sorgente bathtub.
So jealous.
I'm all for bike safety, and this new glow-in-the-dark ride appears to take safety to another level.
Chris Gilmour has imposed a strict logic on his works he makes objects using only cardboard and glue. Via Preik.
"It's in the drawer by the phone. No, the other one, left of the dishwasher, second from the bottom." Or.
This new concept for airplane seating looks like the answer to my frustrations on many levels, but what happens if you're sitting with family or friends and DO want to interact? Interesting to see what happens with this one.
While in Japan recently, The Dieline filled a suitcase full of little packaging design treats and PingMag shows how Japanese gift-wrapping is all about the folding.
"A chest of drawers divided and put together again so it looks like it defies gravity." Divided.
Sweet hand-built-to-order bike frames by Frances in Santa Cruz, CA. (Sweet site design by Naz.)
Obsessional on Arne Jacobsen's Egg Chair.
Nice set of photos from the Milan Furniture Fair.
Sweet, the Alba MA clock.
Sweet, the architect's birdfeeder.
The "Huggy" convertible chair/bed by Brit Leissler.
Debuted in Milan this week, 11: The Beautiful Game, a spectacular reinvention of foosball or "Baby-Foot" if you prefer. Sadly, not for sale.
"Loud voice and naughty temperament, slight drinking habit, good with the ladies."
"I am not a paper cup."
Form salt and pepper shakers.
The Honeywell H316, a "kitchen computer" from 1969. Via c77.
"Cubicle utopianism was probably a victim of its own success. The idea that cubicles formed a more exciting, humane workplace became less plausible to those who had the experience of working in one." The Moral Life of Cubicles.
A great 50s promo film for NSU's Lambretta motorscooter. Never knew they were bear-powered!
10 Unusual Bicycle Designs.
Beautiful interior design and architecture: the work of Platt Dana Architects. Via Remodelista.
Is it a stool or a tv? Both, it's NapTV.
Sometimes the cleverest solutions are also the grossest. (May offend sensitive readers.)
A behind the scenes video of FotA Douglas Wilson letterpressing posters at his studio.
"The smallest and most portable BBQ on the planet." Meet the Grilliput.
Sweet, the Motorized Monocycle.
My obsession continues, salt and pepper shakers held together by magnets.
Get helvetica off our money.
I don't really have any need to copy data to 20 flash drives at once but I dig the design of this thing that does that.
Collection of 30 of the Most Creative Designs. All cool, but not so sure I'd want any of them in my home, except, of course, for the bookcase wall. Via Exhausticated.
Can you have good design in something as mundane as a tape dispenser? Yes, you can.
Quite possibly the coolest swing in the history of swings, the Sense Light Swing.
"It's, ah, kind of liberating, I've been without an arm for 26 years." Designed to help soldiers with missing limbs, Dean Kamen's Robotic "Luke" Arm. Luke, as in Skywalker.
Sweet, the La Sorrentina Coffee machine.
Theme Magazine profile of Tokyo design collective Groovisions. Check their identity and collateral for 100% Chocolate Cafe. Via Jean Snow.
"We liked that this solution embraces and exploits the behavior that people are already engaged in..." That's a great design rationale. The TheftProof Bike seat lock wins the Core77 One Hour Design Challenge. Nicely done.
Lovely, the Gabbiano Daybed.
Meet Dextre, a Canadian robot for the International Space Station.
Sorry, Edison, you're no longer the father of recorded sound.
At first glance, this reminds me of that awful bug zapper my grandparents had near their pool. Thankfully, the Original Windlight is nothing of the sort. Via Inhabitat.
Related to an earlier post today. The best part of bowling last night at the Fireside was their Brunswick 2000 scoring console and interface. Too cool.
Sweet gallery of technical illustration. Via The DDC.
Gone could be the days of expensive solar panel installation. Imagine if solar power was just a paint stroke away.
A word is processed into a sound wave, then it's shape is bent into steel. The result is the lovely Storyline bookshelf.
Totally sweet, we need one of these for the studio kitchen.
Using only gravity to purify tap water, the Aquaovo is sleek in design and environmentally friendly.
Gorgeous. The Bugatti espresso machine.
Green Toys creates environmentally friendly toys using plastics from recycled milk containers.
"A glorious thing while it lasted." The Wall of Sound, a custom, over-the-top PA system for the 1970's Grateful Dead. Here's an interview with one of the band's roadies at the time, Richard Pechner and his photos of the wall in action. Groovy.
USB Bomb.
Very cool. Yes, it's suspended but does it swing?
Noted without comment except to say I am very afraid. Big Dog from Boston Robotics. Watch all the way through. Via 37signals.
For Draplin (but really intended for Gary): Ball Throwing Machine for Dachshunds. Via Cynical C.
Singgih Kartono Magno's Wooden Radio. Via Remodlista.
Bloxes are building blocks made of interlocking pieces of corrugated cardboard, folded together.
"40 minutes before the pre-set alarm time the pillow begins to glow and gently brings the user out of sleep. This natural waking process helps to set the circadian rhythm or "body clock" and results in more healthy sleep/wake patterns." Soothing way to wake up or the most annoying pillow ever?
For the stylish pet in your life, "Modern Pet Furniture That Will Make You Jealous."
From Mrs. BB: "Where recycling meets design."
So cute, who wouldn't want a toaster phone?
We have covered pieces of this phenomena previously but here's a nice summary of things that resemble the Death Star, from Mental Floss.
Oobject gathers selected images of gadgets and other things by category. Thanks Christian.
Perfect for the studio, a giant Anglepoise lamp.
Love these, the Hug Salt and Pepper shaker set.
In the running for the most excellent thing of all time, The Comdyna LPG-20.
"With great power comes great responsibility." Photoshop Disasters.
SE, once you've got Lego for your iPhone, you can also get this Lego iPod Dock.
Glass: "This is why our planet is dying."
Long day? Chill out on a bumpy, solid wood Lego sofa.
My obsession with salt and pepper shakers continues with these wind up bird shakers. Too cute.
A knife holder for people with a sense of humor.
Not a lot of space but need places for guests to sleep? Try the Lollipop bunk bed system.
Solar cells made on an inkjet printer.
"A new media format meets an old media format." A 12" gatefold sleeve for the Blu-ray HD of Helvetica, designed by Experimental Jetset.
Sweet, the Cloudburst Shower Head.
Gorgeous, the Muon speakers.
Lovely, the Hemingway Table Lamp.
Gorgeous mortar and pestle set.
The Brain Mouse "is essentially a brain controlled mouse, relying on EEG readings of the brain's alpha and beta waves."
CR goes behind the scenes on Moving Brands' admirable redesign of the Swisscom identity. Via Monoscope.
Not really sure that this is how I'd like to wake up in the morning, but I suppose it might work for pirates.
Latest project for Spencer and me, acquired over the weekend, a model wooden trebuchet kit. We will report on its destructive power after completion. This is an awesome episode of Nova btw.
Lovely, the Starburst Cluster chandelier.
Neat alternative to a book of matches, the Pyreness Wood Block. Via Design Crush.
Very cool but don't they sort of seem like they might creep up behind you?
"We enjoy all parts of vintage electronics, mid-century buildings and classic cars, but the images here shall focus solely on their knobs and toggle bits." The Control Panel photo group.
Tulibri, a blog about handmade books and binding, in German and English. Via The Cartoonist.
Red when hot, Blue when cool.
Since SE is in Colorado, perhaps she can try out one of these bamboo mountain bikes.
These salt and pepper shakers make me giddy. Via the always fab Design Milk.
Any baseball is beautiful. Especially in February, in Chicago, with most of the staff down with the flu and a winter storm on the way.
Lovely, the Freehander shower.
What time is it? Whatever.
Interesting, a curtain that stays in the shape you make it.
For the Star Wars fan, Coolest. Desk. Ever. Via Boing Boing.
Get the real estate without the big price and impress your dinner guests. Via Materialicious.
Sublime, need one of these for the summer.
Thanks to Blair for sending a link to these good vs evil salt and pepper shakers. Lovely.
Thanks to Heidi for pointing me in the direction of these gorgeous salt and pepper shakers.
The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round.
My obsession with finding the perfect salt and pepper grinders continues, although I may have a winner.
Sweet, the name says it all, Happy Lamps.
Looking for a stylish bed that won't break your budget? Apartment Therapy has some ideas for you.
Made of wood and bone china, the Salt and Pepper Polka.
"For three decades I have tried to imagine how it might be possible to build a car that can fly under water. Now we have made this dream come true." The Rinspeed sQuba, half sports car, half submarine.
The Institute of Police Technology and Management's Crime Scene Template. Via Defective Yeti.
Very cool tv stand.
"Work benches from a decrepit Packard Motor Car plant become a kitchen island. Steel parts carts from a General Motors plant in Detroit become rolling liquor cabinets. Long forgotten wooden foundry objects become "high art" when placed on metal stands or hung on a wall. Large metal shoe racks from a foreclosed Ohio factory become book shelves." This is so up SE's alley.
For those who have difficulty with normal chopsticks, the beginner's version. Being an amateur was never so stylish.
Not actually in production yet but I'd buy one if they were, The Shining cuckoo clock.
A wardrobe, desk/table, cabinet, desk chair, two stools, bed, mattress and set of shelves... in a box. Via Geekologie.
"Collective4 is a diverse team of Pratt Industrial Design students who bring an eco-preneurial mindset to all their work through the use of sustainable materials and processes." Check out their new bench design. Via Josh Spear.
Bizarre chocolate shapes from Japan and not so bizarre, typography and chocolate, from Germany.
I'm a great admirer of auxiliary objects designed well, and love to come across objects that others appreciate in this way.
Permafrost's Silence rug calls to mind those perfect white tracks outside in the snow, before they melted in the sun.
Lovely modern salt and pepper shakers.
For people whose goldfish like to watch tv.
Super cool toaster.
Get your very own Batphone.
Ok, so I'm always cold. I'm cold in the summer with the air conditioning and always freezing in the winter. I'm in a constant tug of war with everyone in the studio about the temperature. That said, I totally need one of these for my office.
Bikes from old watches. Via FF.
Lovely, the Dalby thermostatic shower.
Sweet, the Darwin modular fireplace.
Oh, yeah. Pollen robots!
Cute AM/FM radio made of wood.
Neat panorama of the Airbus A380 cockpit. Via Gadling.
Cartype's hypnotizing series of car cut-away illustrations. I love the inside of the 1959 VW Bus, and the outside too. Especially this one.
*Sigh* Perfect for people like me who love movies, if only I had an extra 5000 bucks laying around.
Sketching at MIT on an intelligent whiteboard.
Dude, cool watch.
Velotribute. Rusty stuff AND track bikes! Check the photos here. Some sweet eye candy if you like to ride.
Um, Bless you.
Sublime, the WMK A-16 Shower Enclosure Unit.
Details and pix of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo design.
I wish I seen the Salkim Bookhanger before I bought my bookcases. The word "covet" totally applies here.
Reinventing the Bic pen and creating amazing portraits with it too.
Hideaki Matsui's "Handshake" is a brilliantly simple prototype for a card and ring set for sharing information. Click "Nomad" for picture and information. Via Yanko.
I so want one of these, the MC1 Supercar concept.
Perfect for cold winter mornings, microwaveable slippers.
Bit, byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, and terabyte.
Lovely, the Calliope chandelier.
So you know,When is a motorcycle not a motorcycle?
Hitachi's StarBoard interactive surface. Cool. Via /.
Unique Soviet snowmobiles.
Two part illustrated "making of" on creating illustrations for for the Vredestein tire website from Art.Lebedev.
Star Wars sculptures made out of scrap metal.
Anyone who really, really cares about their writing instrument should head over to Who needs friends... when you have pens. Not a Biro in sight.
"There was a time, not so very long ago, when it was a shining symbol of modern man's ingenuity- evidence of an energized drive toward the future." The Secret History Of The Revolving Door.
Lovely, the solo pendant light "star".
Drainspotting - for all your manhole cover needs. They're still design, right?
The world's cheapest car is quite possibly also the world's cutest car.
Is it bird? Is it a plane? No, it's an amphicar.
Insect Lab is an artist studio that customizes real insects with antique watch parts and electronic components. Bzzz. Via Thompson.
"When chairs break or become useless people usually throw them away, or if the chair is made of wood it can be used as firewood. Here are some photos of chairs that continue their existence and still server their purpose."
Black or Red? I'll take both.
Somewhat phallic but really cool, the Hand It Over Oil & Vinegar set.
Sweet, the freestanding Anthropos shower cabin.
I'd never know what time it is. A clock for Math Geniuses.
Mid-Century modern classics in miniature. Gorgeous.
Sweet, Taste of Talking salt and pepper shakers.
Cardboard "could be reborn as a disposable carpet that could instantly provide you with a clean space wherever you are, almost like a home." Cardboard carpets by Dutch designer Wendy Plomp.
"You can create a landscape on your very own table." The topography soup plate.
This is for the the kind of people that jump out of bed in the morning, ready to take on the day. The Puzzle Alarm Clock.
Rockin' salt and pepper shakers, literally.
A different sort of chess set, they wobble. Via Elmanco.
Let the person in the car behind you know how you feel.
Perfect for the cold Midwestern winters, the Shaker stove.
I so want one of these, the Kabuki Chandelier.
Make your house stand out from the neighbors with these Macintosh House Numbers.
Crazy simple, crazy cool, the Pluviae shower head.
Speakforyourshelf.
"Being able to identify a public toilet seat that has just been sat upon is of particular concern to a significant number of the population."
The cutest robot snowplow ever, meet Yuki-taro.
I have a rather odd fascination with salt and pepper shakers, love this Amoeba Condiment set.
I need one of these for my office, the napshell.
Brilliant modern furniture by Enrico Pellizzoni.
For the surrealist fan on your Christmas list, the Salvador Dali watch.
Dieter Rams' Braun design photoset. I. II. III.
Coolest salt and pepper shakers ever.
For the seriously lazy-no-business-even-being- in-a-snowball-fight-just-stay-in- your-recliner-and-leave-it-to-the experts people out there, the Snoballer.
For the hockey fan in your life, Hip Check Hockey Stick Box.
PingMag's Japanese Packaging Design #5, consumer bottles made from PET resin.
The Go Fast Jet Pack, a personal flying machine. Demonstrated, appropriately, near a house from yesterday's future.
Take a Seat, student project from the Design Academy Eindhoven. Via One Good Move.
The Disappearing Car Door. "When you pull up next to other high end cars, yours will render them boring by comparison!" Via Drop Safe.
On MS's theme from earlier this morning, if I lived in Amsterdam and had not quite so many hills nearby, I'd be tempted to look like a dork, but eat with ease on my bike.
So cool, the retro alarm clock.
Fab, how about a clock made of numbers?
Sublime. The Dream Light Rain Canopy shower. *Sigh*
Really neat clocks by architect Jason Linde. Via d*s.
With a heavy ice storm warning on the way for our fair city, maybe I should hop a plane and head to the world's largest indoor water park. Sweet.
That is one hot tub.
Garbage cans are for the most part boring. Yes, they serve a purpose but why not have one that stands out from the crowd? ( Click 1,2,3 )
Jake Dyson's Motorlight can be adjusted precisely from spot to flood or programmed to adjust dynamically.
If BB celebrated Hanukkah, he'd have a menorah like this.
For the environmentally friendly, computer geeky man in your life, keyboard cufflinks.
The Non-Lethal Area Denial, a machine that emits microwave beams to stop vehicles from operating. Sound cool, just as long as it looks exactly like it does in their illustrated example.
A very funky Nativity set designed by comic illustrator Massimo Giacon.
Yvonne Fehling and Jennie Peiz' merging of chairs and benches for a Bank Headquarters. Via Omami.
Very cool magazine rack. Whose gonna look at the magazines with that around?
Totally sweet, a simple, modern teapot.
Wow, the Omega shower by Jacuzzi.
"Take it from the boot to the piste in a jiffy." I'd be sledding all day with one of these.
Peel microcars. You just can't buy a good Isle-of-Man-built car for £189 these days.
For Star Wars fans everywhere, the Wii Light Saber.
Ridiculously fantastic, the Boom Cabinet.
Create your own lighting design and wow your guests with the customizable glass links chandelier.
If you aren't traveling for Thanksgiving, live vicariously at the dining table with some of these cool conversation starters. Either that or everyone will be silently staring at their plates, reminiscing about their favourite part of Berlin.
So neat, Big Dipper makes 24 chandeliers of wick and wax in 24 hours.
Lovely, the Chiocciola shower.
"Walk/Don't Walk." No, sit.
A new kind of hotel for you, the mobile citizen.
Life and Incredible Adventures of Optimus Keyboards. Lots of new notes and photos on the fabrication of this beautiful idea which was created by Art Lebedev, our second favorite design studio anywhere.
The world's first dishwasher safe crystal chandelier. We know a thing or two about cleaning things in dishwashers.
Speaking of Polaroid, pretty much any excuse will do for a relink to The Branding of Polaroid, Paul Giambarba's first-hand account of the company's corporate image and product identity development. Required reading.
The perfect coat rack for a teacher. Be sure to click the camera icon for alternate pics.
Sweet. The HutJ Camila Rocker by Matthew Kroeker.
"Dutch architect Luc Merx's lampshade is an algorithmic mass of writhing nudes that recalls the classical motif of the fall of the damned. He imagines the lamp hanging above a dining table, the shock of the frozen, terrified bodies disturbing diners with age-old questions of guilt and morality, issues usually kept behind closed doors."
For BB, Lamponi's Lamps.
MIT's City Car. Via Inhabitat.
So you know, 101 gadgets that changed the world.
Give your goldfish something cool to look at while swimming in circles.
My daughter Ella was on the research committee for this cool project, and our buddy Niko's great designs feature prominently on the new Make My Own Monster, from which some proceeds will benefit Global Action for Children.
The cutest little reading light around, Little Man with a Book.
For the UFO enthusiast, the Spaceship Paper Vase.
For BB and DW, the scooter cutting board.
It's almost too cute to drive.
For SE, the perfect coffee table.
Come in or Go Away, one doormat for both thoughts.
Living in the Windy City, we know what happens to umbrellas in a strong gust of wind. Perhaps we should look into one of these?
Plans to put a wind dam on Lake Lagoda in Russia. Via Dezeen.
Bright a little sparkle to your life with the Confetti Light.
How would you even use this thing?
Showreel of the moment. Mark Coleran Visual Designer.
For the Rob Fleming in your life, the LP to iPod converter.
So you know, the Top Ten Most Annoying Alarm Clocks.
So cool I just might be able to get past the bird.
The Nomad. A Yurt reinvented. Hmm, wonder if it would fit in my office?
The Abduction Lamp. Perfect. Thanks Marshall.
For BB, fabulous photos showing how a soccer ball , excuse me, football is made.
Every kid needs a honeycube.
Heal yourself while you work with Swiss Aromatherapy pens.
Strata is a range of furniture made out of old battered office desks. Via Inhabitat.
"The body of the Puyo is not traditional metal but a soft gel designed to look and feel like human or animal skin." Pretty interesting concepts going on in the new Honda concept car.
Build yourself some cardboard furniture with Foldschool. Via Archinect.
The furniture design of Max Lamb. Check out the "Exercises in Seating" area which describes how he uses beach sand to cast the pewter table shown.
Wired beat us to the punch with a post in the Gadget Lab about our pal Brendan Dawes and MN's latest project. Mixa, a super sweet way to make a "USB cassette for your digital stuff."
Illustrated history of Apple's OS System Prefs panels.
SkinBag. "Autonomous seamless organisms in synthetic skin" and also "an alchemy between the repulsive and the captivating."
Tokyo Does Chocolate by the Number.
Life in the cubicle farm getting you down? Let the other guy show he's "funky" with Hoop Jams. You, my friend, need to show your teeth.
Smeg's 50's style fridge. *Sigh* But which color? Orange? Lime green? No, it's got to be Red.
Splat Stan, a coaster with attitude.
Always wanted to drive a Ferrari? Here's a slightly more attainable version.
Okay, but how do you watch tv like that?
A beautiful morning begins in eating the message.
Perfect for the upcoming dark days of winter. Designed by Adam Frank Incorporated, the Reveal light.
Too cute. JF needs to add this to his tea arsenal.
Scott Hansen on the only-perfect B&O Beogram, circa 1974.
Don't you hate it when your cereal gets soggy? Fear no more.
Sweet. Now you can stuff your face with that pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and not worry about frozen hands.
We tried an experiment about a year ago here at CP. We turned off our IM for a week in a quest for more face to face interaction. And you know what? It worked. We talked to each other more. Except BB cheated. Yeah BB, I knew. Anyhoo, think this is the next idea. Picture dozens of them flying around the studio with notes attached.
Say hello to Thingamagoop. Via Veer.
Canova's Dual-Screen Laptop. One, please.
Interesting use for potatoes. Introducing environmentally friendly Spudware Via Inhabitat.
Snap and Dine.
Lovely. Designer Buro Vormkrijgers' About Time clock. Via Cool Hunting.
Temps are dropping and heading into a Chicago winter, we'll need some of these.
Coroflot Magazine #3, The Shoe Issue, is available for download.
Whoa, can't wait to see Aptera on the road. $500 puts you in line.
The RedPost/Kit home picture frame. Sweet.
Been meaning to post this for several days now, but the always great design*sponge is up and running with the new site. Nice.
Ross Lovegrove's Solar Trees are being unveiled this evening in Vienna.
Problem: Design a remote control with as many buttons as there are channels on TV. Solution: the Pultius remote control. From the minds at our second favorite design studio anywhere, Art Lebedev. Thanks Marshall.
Let's be honest, the only really good use for Venetian blinds.
Danish designer Rasmus Fenhann's geometric hiKARI lights. Via dezeen.
Ice cream and espresso from the same machine? Nirvana. Via OhGizmo!
This wireframe of a Toyota Corolla doesn't seem so unusual until you realize that it's a frame made of wires. Via Core77.
Cool or stupid? You decide.
Introducing the Shoprider Flagship 4 Wheel Scooter.
Not sure about you, but when I want to go to sleep, I don't want a light bulb for a bed.
Some of you might remember when you used to make cassette mix tapes for friends, lovers, etc. Take a step back in time and check out the cassette MP3 player.
Trouble getting up when your alarm goes off in the morning? You might try a flying alarm clock.
Hey, where is the KU love? Via PopGadget.
Illustrated obsessional on telephone system electromechanical relays. Via GaB.
Sure to send kids everywhere into fits of giggles, Plushie Chairs.
Compact, bendable, twistable, and enemy to lemons everywhere.
Quite possibly the most unusual and beautiful expresso machines I have ever seen. We need one of them for the studio but how to choose?
The new five dollar note with a big, modern sans-serif number "5" and purple ink. Thanks, appropriately, to Bill.
So you know. How to Make a Chair from a Shopping Cart. Comfy.
"A book, when opened, should lie flat when placed on a table, and stay that way without help from its reader's hands." Books That Lie Open, by Robin Kinross.
For the musician with little space in your house or in your commute. Rock out and save some space. Dude, your guitar rocks. Via Popgadget.
A kid's-eye view of laptop design .
As some frequent FS readers know, I recently had some creepy crawly issues. I so totally need one of these. Click the video, be amazed and get one of your very own. I know SD will be ordering as well as me.
Ladies, prepare to meet the ultimate wicked bathtub. So cool. Via Gizmodo.
"Theo Jansen demonstrates his amazingly lifelike kinetic sculptures, built from plastic tubes and lemonade bottles. His "Strandbeests" (Beach Creatures) are built to move and even survive on their own." Wow.
Undercover, ingenious stolen Mac recovery system. Via Stan.
For former smokers who long for the feel of the cigarette box and a good read.
Thanks, but I don't do that anymore.
Wake up BB.
If only the tree house were, you know, spherical.
A peak to peak gondola is opening this winter between Whistler and Blackcomb. Thanks Marshall.
Don't have a fireplace? Presto, now you do.
Clever or possibly annoying? You decide. Popgadget points us to the Mathmos Astro Light Charms.
Zeno, creepy or cute? or Chucky?
So cute and easy to parallel park too. Toyota's IQ.
Adam Frank's Reveal, his new ambient interior lighting design, is finally available. I'd love to see this in person.
The Eames Lounge chair debuts in 1956 on NBC. So great that a design debut can take the stage, even if they do struggle a bit with Ray's contribution. Don't miss the second part.
You know the desktop metaphor is dead when it attains a pomo apotheosis like this. Via fueledbycoffee.
From the my-that's-so-right department comes a toothbrush that funnels water straight into your mouth for the final rinse. Via Richard Smallbone.
Tangentially related to one of our brand-new MoOM exhibits, The Forgotten Pioneer of Corporate Design by Jessie Scanlon, on Eliot Noyes, who designed the sculptured housing of the IBM Selectric.
Quad, shelving reoriented, by Nauris Kalinauskas. Via Anamorphosis.
Gifted With Beauty, the third in a series of articles on Japanese packaging design, from PingMag.
Wish I had this at camp when I was growing up, every camper should have one. Via Popgadget.
BIO: Bendable Interior Objects. Via dezeen.
Been seeing a lot of gorgeous modern, sustainable furniture lately, like that of Loll Designs and even a few by Ineke Hans. Both lines celebrate recycled plastic as a material that can be beautiful, durable and sustainable. Bravo.
The Marc Newson designed "vehicle for space tourism." Via Reluct.
The Itbed, "made from 7mm thick cardboard that is folded like an accordion." Via 2or3.
PowerPLANTs and PowerSEEDs in Pasadena. Via Inhabitat.
What goes together like peanut butter and jelly? Tunes and beers. Sweet.
So you know. Coffee and tea color matching guide. Via The Big Noob.
PingMag on Japanese toy firework designs.
Retro electronic device of the moment, The Atari Video Music Console. Groovy.
So cool. Cardboard mini boom box.
Aaron Adding Machines, handcrafted, antique-looking calculators. Via Eyebeam.
A bit of research on the previous post led me to Markus Wolf and Markus Bader's brilliant Bootleg Objects. "A phono-radio without the phono, a cassette receiver sans cassette, and a non-turning turntable are the first three pieces in a series."
Spiekermann on design from today's Apple and yesterday's Braun. Via Daring Fireball.
The man who collects Apples.
"Did I remember to turn off the coffee maker? " Never worry again.
Daniele made a Lego Rubik's cube solver.
Roger Arquer presents 15 variations on the standard fish bowl.
Frédéric Eyl and Gunnar Green's Aperture project is an interactive installation consisting of a wall mounted matrix of iris diaphragms. So cool. Make sure to check out the videos. Via Creative Leap.
"Twelve different fonts are printed within the mechanism of the clock providing a random, mixed display of graphic language within a single timepiece." The Font Clock over at Established & Sons.
Deckchair Dreams, 25 deckchairs transformed by 25 celebrity artists. Via CH.
Um, Jason did you see this?
So pretty.
With so many cute dresses out there for us ladies to choose from, this one offers not so much form but function.
Not sure what to do with your flip flops after the summer? How about a recycled flip flop mat? Great idea.
These are interesting, but if it's a Pantone phone, why not specify the PMS numbers?
Hyposurface, a billboard developed at MIT which "behaves like a precisely controlled liquid." Sort of. Click the image for videos. Via Core77.
Scott Amron's Die Electric and Brush and Rinse projects.
Robbits is an installation featuring long-eared robots that are aware of themselves, their location and their community.
So cool, the handy dandy Backpack Bicycle.
Windmills are so last year. Make way for the Maglev Turbine.
The 21st century actually began on October 1, 1982, according to this early Epcot direct mail piece. Via Boing.
Kids play, water pumps.
Porfolio Mag asked IDEO, thehappycorp and Ziba to remake the interface for Bloomberg terminals. Excellent feature, surprising results.
Handy breakdown on the features of the
$100 laptop.
Joel Hesselgren's Lego Salt n' Pepper Shaker.
Life and Incredible Adventures of Optimus Keyboards. Notes on the fabrication of this beautiful idea which was created by Art Lebedev, our second favorite design studio anywhere. Via Paperholic.
Ain Supplio, fragrant pencil lead. "The aromatic blends are specially designed to boost the learning capacity of those in smelling range."
So you know. How to make a propeller-driven tricycle.
Design Museum Q & A with Jonathan Ive.
Jacob Palmborg's Credit Card Of The Future. "...an RFID card linked to every account you have. A small interface indicates your own economic situation and forecasts what effects your purchases might have on your future economic status."
Of course John Gruber waited in line. His first impressions of his iPhone.
Because putting money into a piggy bank adds to your savings, not subtracts. Via Douglas Wilson. (PS: Hey Coudal crew, thanks for having me on this month -- I'll save up my money and buy you a drink next time I'm in Chicago!) Editor's note: Deal.
Apple Form Factor Evolution, 1976 through 2007.
So yes, the iPhone is amazing. But no, it's not perfect. The NYT reviews the iPhone.
Cool, simplified external data storage on the Drobo.
The Levitating Lightbulb by Jeff Lieberman. Via Geekologie.
Timeline of Science Fiction Inventions, listed by publication date.
Moscow Metro memorabilia. Oh Lord. Tokens, fare cards, stamps, matches and best of all, tons of maps. Site by our second favorite design studio anywhere, Art Lebedev.
"A true fan, Catherine Bujold has modified her apartment to look like the interiors featured on the show Space 1999."
"An outer door which appears to be slightly opened. A door that always welcomes you inside, but still makes sure you're safe and sound behind it." Wis Design's Outer Door. Via Random Coolness.
Susanna Hertrich's Chrono Shredder.
The hottest Stingray of them all.
Old news but worth checking, especially for the grid-geeks in the house. Spiekermann's redesign of Le Monde Diplomatique.
Pentagram's design for the Global Cities exhibition in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall was built in 18 days, and here's a time-lapse film to prove it.
Witness the "donut-making fury" of the
Belshaw Donut Robot 42, aka the Donut Robot of Love 2000.
The Novel Novel makes products from discarded library books.
Portable Barbeques for the griller on the go.
Newdesigner on The Virginian-Pilot's redesign which employs a fresh typographic system in an open and flexible layout. Admirable.
"Hans Gugelot considered design as a moral question rather than one of beauty, more a question of attitude than one of taste."
Sustainable Design for Living. Lovely.
"Plus savings are far better than minus savings."
London 2012 Olympics logo. Hmmm.
A Stanford class with Michael Shanks about design, Pretending with LEGO.
"Packaging is a part of modern life. This article, an insight into the design of a consumer package for satellite radio provider XM, includes many aspects of a typical package development process." Excellent, illustrated piece at .think. Via SvN.
Premier Eye Candy, PingMag on Tokyo Design Premio.
Neat ribbon OLED chandelier by Makoto Tojiki.
Classic Typewriters. Via Beautiful Stuff.
Seville's Solar Power Tower is 300-stories tall and surrounded by 624 solar panels. It produces enough energy to power 60,000 homes.
Books That Lie Open by Robin Kinross. A lovely, illustrated survey of book binding techniques including the modern Otabind process. Plus, for the extra geeky, a Dutch manufacturing film on that process.
"Plagiarism is also a hallmark of tiki culture." John Skewes' Tiki Odyssey. Via Core77.
Anti-Sit city-solutions. Via Popurls.
Sweet Objects of Desire feature, from Technology Review.
Students from the College of Art, Science and Engineering's product design course have created six sensual phones to support intimacy and sensuality. Via Textually.
A new tram design for the Cathedral at Reims, "Thin, like a knife."
Three words. Elastic. Folding. Structures.
Many interesting things from Gerson Lessa, most of them plastic and all of them beautifully photographed. Via Scrubbles.
Related to the last, Swissair-Boys, available for sale. So cool.
"The Sonic Bed is a purpose built portable place which plays music that moves for the audience, who can come lie in the bed alone or together." It might be good for other things too. Like this for example.
Legos for adults. Very cool.
The designer Tejo Remy is probably best known for his Chest of Drawers.
Colourful Awamori, a PingMag feature on Japanese bottle labels. Sweet.
The 'Still Living' project revolves around the concept of a 'living' graphics. The graphics are using instantly readable visual codes: pie-charts, bars, curves, etc. But instead of transmitting information about specific developments and alterations, they produce vague and imprecise images. Instead of strict rationality, we see metaphors of a type of indecision which is not supposed to exist in our world dominated by precise numbers. Antoine Schmitt received the second prize at the 2007 Transmediale Award for this project.
Photoset of the mothballed and oh-so-cool Inverkip Power Station. Via I Like.
My friend Gome says "if I was an internet millionaire, I'd TOTALLY be buying Steve McQueen's Ferrari. It'd be like having Keith Moon's head in a jar."
ICT Blog on a very nice flat-panel televison concept seen at the Triennale di Milan.
Missed this before Opening Day, Paul Lukas' MLB Uni Watch Season Preview. Scarlet is the new black, but of course we knew that a long time ago, when we designed the Astros' logo and uni system.
The commentators at NewsDesigner don't seem to think much of the Globe and Mail redesign but I like it quite a bit, especially the unusual approach of setting the news columns ragged-right. A lovely (albeit ad-free) sample page.
The Polar Clock v2 and also the downloadable version. Lovely. Via Subtraction.
Foldschool. Instructions for making cardboard kids' furniture.
As promised yesterday, Studebaker photos. (Sorry, no good hearse photos.)
Commonwealth, The Licorice Series.
Speaking of hearses, there are a few sweet ones on display at The Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, IN. Fozzie Bear's 1951 Commander is there, too. I'll post some photos tomorrow.
It's possible to know about Swapped things before they're ever Swapped.
Lamp Lamp.
The Sculpture of Christopher Conte. I'm a big fan of the Articulated Antique Singer Insect but there's a lot that could be said for the Lethal Injection Droid Prototype too.
David of Ironic Sans has a 'jewelboxing' idea that's quite a bit different from ours.
Wired's Gadget Lab finds another use for one of our Swapped Items.
Citroen DS Moviestar. Found among other things.
Is it a JC Penney catalog or new weekly tabloid for Dubai called Xpress? Hard to tell.
Constructing the Future from Monocle. Robotic Swiss bricklayers. Via City of Sound.
What time is it? Twenty to six. The Verbarius clock, from the mighty Lebedev.
Photoset of mid century ship interiors. So cool. Via I Like.
Reading more, it turns out the Fiat Nuova 500 (unlike the new Vespa, Beetle, and Mini) was designed with budget, scale, and simplicity in mind, as well as retro charm. It's growing on me, not that it'll come to the U.S.
Beetle, Vespa, Mini, Airstream, as long as we're stripping legendary vehicles of their original appeal and marketing them to nostalgic yuppies, why not add the Fiat Cinquecento?
Well, it's about time. "The government of South Korea is drawing up a code of ethics to prevent human abuse of robots and vice versa." Via bblinks.
Chair of the moment. Antony by Prouve. Or maybe this.
Our man in Vancouver points to this poster for the Curta-Rechenmaschine. So sweet. Here are some pix of the coolest calculator of all time.
"The office employee turns Vector depending on how much success he or she has been having of late."
Cool idea. A soda bottle design that lets you mix your own flavors.
Berlin designer Frank Buchwald's improbably beautiful, expensive and one-of-a-kind lamp designs. Via Collision Detection.
Jonathan Glancy on a "classic of everyday design," The Bic pen.
Livingstones, oversized pebbles as furniture. Thanks Carlos.
"Over the years a large number of artists impressions of proposed and new design rolling stock have been produced for the rail industry." Dig the Class 93 and DVT fleet. Via The Cartoonist.
And to accompany your custom chandelier, why not pick up one of the 25 available Cartoon Chairs by The Campana Brothers? Via Dezain.
Anti-skateboard devices in San Francisco. Via Portigal.
A perfect, unexpected gift for any filmmaker: the Anamorphic Cup. Via Chris Glass.
Oh man, do we ever need this at 400 North May. How to make a magnetic poster wall. Maybe we could finally do something with that "pile of cool stuff we bought on the internet." Via aWLN.
Great Creative Review interview with Mark Adams and Michale Burke who are curating a show at the Vitoe Showroom in London, featuring graphic design elements from the 1972 Munich Olympics. More at Bibliotheque.
Pruned on control rooms and command centers, big rooms full of screens and data.
"This is a set of 25 ceramic tiles. The patterns are based on satellite imagery of major highway interchanges that have been built worldwide." Via Airbag.
The Happy Hacking Keyboard. "Each key is handpainted with 10 coats of Japanese lacquer, then sprinkled with gold dust." Via Designboom.
"Time to buy roller skates and a new Superbitus." From the minds at our second favorite entrepreneurial design shop, Russia's mighty Art Lebedev Studio whose constitution is well worth upholding.
Now that the decision for the Citi branding has been made, Paula Scher and Pentagram show the napkin.
Super sweet desk and the demo is cool too. Milk, designed by Soren Kjaer and manufactured by Holmris Hansen. Via Wilson Miner.
The Aquaskipper, a human powered hydrofoil. Via Amoeba.
CR interview with currency designer Ootje. Via Design Observer.
Ballpoint pen chandelier.
Add a little thriller-action to your morning routine. The Dangerbomb Alarm Clock must be defused each time it wakes you up. Via Core77.
PingMag's Japanese Packaging Design #2: Snack Characters. Long, great, lusciously illustrated post. In case you missed it here's #1: Strawberry Fair!.
Common household objects given new purpose. Perhaps we'll get a few inspired gardeners over at Jewelboxing.
Another, even cooler multitouch screen demo from Jeff Han. Via Daring Fireball.
Our SD was at the Chicago Auto Show Wednesday for UnBeige. Check his coverage there starting with Forget the Cars, Let's Talk Displays.
The winners have been announced for designboom's Radical Radiators of the Future contest. Really dig Eric Wang's Moire Radiator.
With a top speed of 87mph, this sofa is the fastest piece of furniture on the planet.
The Folding Chair. Wow. You'd like be too busy playing with it to actually sit down. Via Chris Glass.
The Vermaport, that escalator thing in department stores that carries up your cart. Never knew it had a name. Via Daily Guilt.
"...as if regular candy began melting and became slightly rounded in the mouth." Naoto Fukasawa's Infobar mobile phone concept.
PingMag on Elephant Design. Gather ideas. Materialize them. If enough people are interested, sell and produce. Dig the Tetris sofa.
"He could never find the way to make the one word he was so eager to form. The word was 'Eternity.'" The Evigheden-2 Ice Tray, from our favorite design studio anywhere, Art.Lebedev.
"We enjoy all parts of vintage electronics, mid-century buildings and classic cars, but the images here shall focus solely on their knobs and toggle bits." The Control Panel photo group. Excellent art direction reference for our 72° film project.
Plen, desktop hobby robot.
David Monsen's Sunny Day Trailer Park Wallpaper. Via Pruned.
New Scientist on "a contest to build a robot that can operate autonomously in urban warfare conditions, moving in and out of buildings to search and destroy..." A la Neill Blomkamp's Alive in
Joburg
Marc Newson opens Thursday at Gagosian. Check the slideshow to see his "extruded" pieces done in Carrara marble.
"When there's enough rice for a meal, water is added automatically to the rice and the cooker is switched on. When the rice is ready, an email is sent out inviting people to eat the rice." Via WM$NA.
In case of emergency, food and water, for 14 days, for each person. Mmm. Via gmt+9 (-15).
Speaking of VW, check out this Vespa/Beetle rickshaw from Indonesia. (Via my blog.)
For a bit of abstract inspiration on color and texture, check the fabrics at Maharam.
The Observer's new architecture critic wastes his encyclopedic knowledge ranting about Philippe Starck chairs.
"Some years ago, on New Year's eve, an entertainment was given at the home of Mr. William J. Hammer, in Newark, N.J., which, for the display of the powers of electricity has seldom, if ever, been equaled." Mr. Hammer's Electrical Dinner. Via Things.
Need a good place to store your Pinsetter buttons and your Alexander Girard Alphabet Blocks? Set26 has the answer. Via Fontblog.
We have buttons, and so does History of the Button. Buttons for computers, buttons for driving, buttons for cheese... Interesting stuff.
Jamie Wieck has many ideas to answer many questions. For example, "How can a bag carry something?" and "How can I make something appear from nowhere?" Via Notcot.
James N. Sears' journal about the development and construction of his Orb Project. So cool. Thanks Coop.
The Jorg & Olif City Bike. Lovely.
This kitchen gadget would make a fine present for your ex. Thanks John.
Noted without comment. Banana Guard FAQ. Thanks Judson.
"Russell Porter was one of the pioneers in the field of cutaway illustration. Although technical illustration was only a side-line for Mr. Porter, his work is some of the earliest of this artform." Via The Nonist.
The Cardboard Revolution. Via c77.
Photos of the $100 laptop.
"Since 1965, Roctronics has pioneered the design of unique and spectacular animated, full color displays for underlit dancefloors, nightclub ceilings & walls." Oh yeah. Thanks Rev.
Wrap your presents this year in hot mulled wine and pizzelles, courtesy of Jason Santa Maria, as a part of AIGA NY's annual charity event.
Resonantware, "Near-future ubiquitous networking devices visualized by designers." Via Designboom.
So you know. Paper Fastening Technology Timeline. Like it says.
I'm not quite sure about the how or why behind the Kokuyo Design Award 2006 Winners but I like them anyhow. Via Jean Snow.
We linked this when it was in concept. Now it's live and even cooler than it originally sounded. Colour by Numbers on a tower in Stockholm, using your cellphone.
Ora-Ito product design.
Cool concept from Sirkka Hammer. A wall full of post-it notes that becomes art as you use them. Pixelnotes. Via the Miss who is Swiss.
The Suspicious Looking Device seems to live up to its name. Via IT&W.
Onyx phone concept. Luscious, as in "having strong sensual or sexual appeal: seductive."
Villian Chair. Sweet. Via IBC.
Matthew Waldman's Nooka Watch. Something simple and new.
So you know. How to skin your own R2-D2. Perhaps the original 20th Century Fox blueprint might help.
Make this black box and I will buy that black box. Via c77.
NewsDesigner on the lovely, measured redesign of the Los Angeles Times. Of particular interest, as a commenter points out, are the multiple dropheds in the lead story. A step forward that comes from looking backwards.
If I sat here, my first instinct would be to try to make "kwyjibo." Via the Miss who is Swiss.
Daniel digs the helicopter link and sends another, along the same lines, from Kevin Hulsey Illustration.
People who like this sort of thing will find this exactly the sort of thing they like. Nice interactive cutaway illustration of a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter.
No Ideas But In Things. Dan Saffer of Adaptive Path and other places curates a new weblog as "a library of controls, animations, layouts, and displays that might be a source of inspiration for interaction designers."
The PlayPump. What a great idea.
Sort of a Pinewood Derby competition for designers. Fitzsu's Grand Prix.
Sleek and efficient. The Dyson Airblade.
The Placentero Chair $3400, from Argentinean designer, Batti.
PingMag's Top 10 ad-tricks in Tokyo's train stations including #10, Tunnel Movies.
Tina wants one of these "so bad." Us too, actually we want three. Red, tan and grey.
Modular light system for architecture, which reacts to the electromagnetic fields generated by touch.
Candykiller. Candykiller blog.
Noted without comment. Container Ships.
The MAKE Blog has added a bicycle category to their archive and is adding old entries this week. I really dig these.
Nice idea and execution. Web Designer's Calendar 2007.
"An Oribot by definition is a folding bot. By this definition, anything that uses robotics/botics and folding together is an oribot." Check the video. Via Make Ready.
Sure are some interesting pay phones in Brazil. Via Core77.
Bike Furniture Design specializes in contemporary, modern furniture made primarily from recycled steel and aluminum bicycle rims, handlebars, and frames. Via GGG.
design*sponge sits down to chat with designer Angela Adams.
Laura Reutter designs and Tim Taylor glazes Ravenstone Tiles. Via PrairieMod.
An interesting conceptual cuckoo clock by Michael Sans. Via Reluct.
The Bicycle Design blog is a favorite, so I was pleased to see a number of cool entries lately, with this pointed out today by Swiss Miss.
Dutch artist Paul Veroude created a real-life exploded diagram of a Honda F1 car at the London Motor Show more photos).
We were just talking book design last week and how it's a lot more than just choosing typefaces. India's Making Castoff is a good technical primer on some of the issues. Via Make Ready.
Tom Coates on the design of American State flags. "In terms of bizarre flags, Hawaii takes the biscuit."
Industreal in Italy asked designers to create items from their dreams. Sublime. Via Reluct.
Nice photoset from Mode Design Brussels 2006.
A very cool bamboo mountain bike frame, and a sweet one for the road.
Steve L. already has his own In Real Tight contest going. But only gearheads need apply. Everybody else, shoot for ours.
It's not Friday and so this is not exactly a Drink Link, but it is a nice collection of NYC Liquor Store signs. Via DO.
"...in a field so exacting and repetitive, organic shapes, the hand drawn, and human error are a critical part of giving a pattern a personality." PingMag interview with Dan Funderburgh. His site is full of nice stuff.
The documentary The Tailenders opens with the operation of an ingenious, manual record player called a CardTalk. The Mountain States Collector has a history of the device.
Obsessional on Illinois Tollway Oases.
James Clar & Associates' Square Eclipse. Via MoCoLoCo.
Noted without comment. Free Spirit Spheres.
Icon Magazine on the new Mercedes-Benz Museum. "This building is what happens when capitalism realizes that it's not inferior to culture, but that it is culture."
"Cassidy had a bucket of broken crayons and couldn't use them for her drawing. She was inspired to create a way to make use of all the small pieces." Thus, The Crayon Holder was born. Via SNP.
The Xerox Alto, the world's first GUI. Via Cynical-C.
Shop of goods featuring the "Ampelmann," the little man with the hat who previously served as the "walk" and "don't walk" icon in Eastern Germany. More here.
The Royal College of Art Vehicle Design Show 2006. Via Dezain.
Could have used this at the beach yesterday. Via Inhabitat.
Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad's Quite Alarming and Friendly Reminder projects. Via Reluct.
The cover comes off July 20th.
2006 Industrial Design Excellence (IDEA) awards winners.
"On that day of August 1975, the day I first saw the ad on TV for Space: 1999 on my local TV station, I was blown away just like the Moon in the series ! I couldn't believe my eyes! A world beyond belief! This was the perfect world!" Here are some pictures of my house.
Subway ad posters get moving in London.
"Invisible Sphere is a 5.5 foot diameter sphere covered with video monitors and surveillance cameras. Each monitor displays live video feed from a camera placed on the opposite side." Via Infosthetics.
Perfect little Muji travel alarm clock.
So you know. The Anatomy of a Fountain Pen, The Parker "51" to be specific. More on this model, "unanimously acclaimed as a classic." Via Shopiere.
RoboCup 2006.
Looking for something else entirely I've just blown the last half hour Updating the Computer, from Design Magazine in January of 1969.
Neatorama's Top 10 Coolest BBQ Grills. Via my friend Mike who actually designs BBQ grills for a living.
The world's first calculator watch, the sweet-looking HP-01, profiled in Scientific American in 1977 and scanned by Modern Mechanix.
Um, is this really necessary?
Why goalies hate the World Cup's soccer ball and why Herr Spiekermann hates its logo.
Motion Texture, extant imagery, motion graphics as environment.
History of Humanoids from Honda. "Man's dream takes first step forward." Via our Guest Editor for June, Chris Glass (cg).
"The SMS Guerilla Projector is a home made, fully functioning device that enables the user to project text based SMS messages in public spaces, in streets, onto people, inside cinemas, shops, houses..."
Rebrandings, gum, pop and beer.
We're remodeling the studio. Here's what it looks like so far. Thanks to TSR.
At last, a scooter/bicycle combo post for both BB and myself. During the Giro d'Italia bicycle race this year, one stage took place in Pontedera, the original home of the Piaggio Vespa. Race officials and press were taken on a tour of the Museo Piaggio, and they've posted some photos.
"My reasons for making the Physical Periodic Table Table were purely practical: We needed a new conference table for my office area, and I didn't want an ugly one from the office supply catalog." Via Things.
Robo Topobo, construction toys that remember. Check the video. Via Electro Plankton.
BldgBlog on "a six-meter wide inflatable sphere that magnifies seismic movements and converts them into sound - plate tectonics as musical composition."
Two brothers in a temperature-controlled Manhattan apartment have built a supercomputer. They never turn it off; it's computing pi. One of the brothers has an autoimmune disorder; the same A/C that keeps the computer running keeps him alive. The machine is humming away, calculating. Link via callmeoblomov.
MIDAS: Multifunction In-Dorm Automation System.
If you sit on it too long, it will biodegrade - and shoots of grass will poke through your pants. What is it? It's a biodegradable bench made from long brown tubes.
We already have a foosball table in here, but we absolutely NEED one of these, especially after we finally build that roof deck.
If you need a new place to hang your jacket, try using a wall-mounted fork.
Can one of London's Tube stations be transformed into a kind of cylindrical power plant, generating electricity from the vibrations of trains and stair-climbing commuters? One architect thinks so: BBC. Via Archinect.
My little Soundbombs.
Adjaye/Associates' "Nobel Field" Installation. So, so cool. Check the videos.
If you're in the market for a new end table and have $600k to throw around, perhaps you'll find a great one during Sotheby's Important 20th Century Design Auction (reg. req'd).
Video of a nightclub installation of 'interactive tables' developed by Human Locator. So cool. Via MoCo Loco.
Need some silence, empathy, or just a little pause? A bit of sustainable innovation? Well, all of those are now on sale - at the FLOWinstitute's FLOWmarket. Open up a can of unconditional love.
How to, from the The Spudgun Technology Center.
"24 Sony digital projectors, an eight-channel audio system and ultrasonic motion tracking technology": it's the future of the border, the future of war, and the future of simulation. It's The War Room.
David constructed a LEGO Music Machine that scans colored blocks and translates that into sound. Via Make.
PingMag interview with Super Robot, designers, fabricators, architects.
Making the bathroom fun again with these interactive urinals - you're in control now.
People who like this sort of thing will find this exactly the sort of thing they like. The London Underground's corporate identity design standards and usage guides. The 'Signs Manual' is particularly interesting. Via The Cartoonist.
Weird valves and other large-scale hydrological mechanisms. Renaissance waterworks. Water wheels and windmills. Even more here.
"...more often than not, corporate logos fall back on graphic cliches that allow the company to fit in, rather than to stand out." Long Live the Big Red Donut. Via Design Observer.
Speaking of robots, here's a nice one.
A journey through the evolution of Western dining from the Renaissance to the present, Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table. Thanks Roderick.
"You too can become a Certified Thunderbird '64 Expert!" Check the fab video, then take the quiz.
Can't make out the subtitles, so not always sure what exactly the objects do, but the presentation is stellar. Industrial Facility's In Progress.
Using an "indestructible mix of ice and wood pulp," could the British military have made "a massive floating island" suitable for going to war? Kircher Society
Piaggio, makers of the Vespa, today unveiled an innovative scooter with two front wheels.
Lumen is a series of acid-etched, stainless steel, oil lamp shadow projectors. Sweet. Via WDIK.
Clip-n-Seal's new site is looking, um, fresh, except for that bright green liquid.
Little slivers of unused urban space - medians, gaps - are now the focus of a design campaign looking to "beautify" these orphan spaces. (Via Archinect)
About that ugly new ten-spot.
Wish I had somewhere to fly to. Would love to check out this new gigantic touch screen at O'Hare.
Thump. Pimp My Heart by Takehito Etani. Via Bezembinder's.
Digital Retro is a new coffee table book which tells the story behind 44 classic computers of the Seventies and Eighties. Amazon link. Via Matthew at Sum of Seven, who has a nice collection of vintage computers of his own.
Nice site for this year's Electrolux Design Lab competition focused on appliances and healthy eating. Also, check "behind the scenes" for a quick video on making letters out of stuff. Via Typographica.
"Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness." Upgrade chats about Airbus' idea to add a standing-room section to Asian carriers.
Christopher Robbins' Infobreath Project Video. "Breathing on the plant triggers a flurry of text that makes visible the wireless internet traffic passing through the air around the viewer. The plant absorbs this information, analyzing the bytes of data for those aspects that seem more 'alive,' or human-generated, and releases those packets in a form comprehensible to humans." How and why. Via Dodeci.
Pendant Lights shine light onto phosphorescent tables creating highly addictive light patterns.
We just bought an inexpensive light tent for the studio but were we a bit handier or pressed for cash we might have made our own.
On the Venn diagram showing "motorcycle lovers," "nerds," and "graphic designers," the small place where all three overlap is in Australia, and it's called "Deus Ex Machina.
Mind-blowing MIDI input device. From Monome. Thanks 37.
Piaggio is testing prototype gas/electric hybrid Vespa scooters in Milan. (this is not the April Fool's prank hybrid scooter from last week).
Joe Colombo's Mini Kitchen, back in production.
"Do you really need that extra quart of ice cream? I notice you've put on some weight since the last time you were here." Watson Systems' InStore Information talking shopping cart. Via Designboom.
Animatronic human sculptures in bronze and stainless steel by Mark Ho. So cool.
"The first thing that I saw when I entered the factory are the newest models and colored mixers lined up, practically floor-to-ceiling! They ranged in hues like sunny Meyer Lemon, Martha Green (named after...), Caviar (black with silver flecks), a cheerful Green Apple, Olive, and colorfully-red Bing Cherry." David visits the KitchenAid Factory. Via C&Z.
American Streamline Design: The World of Tomorrow at the Bard Graduate Center. Here's an overview of the exhibition. Via c77.
So you know. The history of the Photoshop tool bar.
The Top 10 Weirdest Keyboards Ever. Via Things.
Sprout Home has some cool vases and vessels.
"The Grass Armchair is self assembled, each pack contains 14 corrugated cardboard frames and 100g pack of grass seeds."
Terence Woon's kitchen of the future, an entry in designboom's Imagine the Home in 2020 competition.
A smorgasbord of well-designed living and working spaces in The Design Public's Fresh New Spaces Pool.
Israeli Design Today.
"This DVD camcorder provides only the essential functions, which lead to simple and smart interactions that bring the device closer to users. This camcorder is acting as a transition from a traditional button camcorder to an action driven interaction camcorder."
I love it when Gruber gets cranky.
"This is the future, but real." The eight-wheeled, super-retro-future-looking Eliica. Plus you can make your own.
Universal Connections. Via F&F.
Interesting thread on newspaper design and innovation, or the lack thereof. Via NewsDesigner.
Yep Ralf, you're right, I do like that. Neat carrying-case presentation stand, The Coffin.
Will either make you feel like Peter Gabriel on his last tour or will make you throw up. Or both.
Also via Designboom, the amazing Kvadrat showroom in Sweden by Ronan & Erwan (images on the bottom right). Made of foam and fabric.
"I'll trade you my two Harry Becks for one of your Hans Schmollers." Design Tutor's Designer Trading Cards. Via Designboom.
The Feel Seating System. Comfortable, but hard to coordinate a living room around. Via Gizmodo.
After spending the day distilling icons down to their most spare yet most meaningful iteration, it might be nice to come home to this.
"This is actually for my husband who has had such a problem with paper towel holders. He couldn't believe it when I told him about yours. He is very excited, like a child." Via SNP.
Have absolutely no need for this whatsoever, but I will buy an Asono DAB1 simply for its looks. Gorgeous. Via Reluct.
"Chronos Chromos Concrete is a system that is able to dynamically display patterns, numbers and text in concrete surfaces."
Nixon's Rotolog watch is sweet.
There are lots of sites that point to attractive or uniquely designed furniture, housewares and textiles. But few of these sites have an aesthetic vibe of their own, a la Design Sponge. Great taste, tastefully presented.
"Swedish telephones developed a worldwide reputation very early on. A Swedish telephone was a design that united the quality of the technical design with aesthetic appeal and functional design." Beloved Telephone - A Design Story. Via Designboom.
For bb: they might not have motors, but they're still bikes and they're still customized. Via Swissmiss.
Cute rubber radio.
The Society of News Design honors two papers this year. The redesigned and reformatted Guardian and the spectacular and I'm ashamed to say, completely new to me Rzeczpospolita from Warsaw. God it's beautiful. Via, of course, NewsDesigner.
Finally, stapling just got easier and way more expensive.
Bennett Robot Works. "They are not meant to be a toy."
I want candy: the PEZ mp3 player. Thanks, Cy!
Former Chicago co-conspirator Charles Forman's Interactive Waterfall a for Children's hospital. People walking by "affect the visuals of the display by their movement directly in front of the waterfall. This was done with an overhead infrared camera that measured the changes in people's movements."
Point your cellphone camera, capture an url. Super smart. Plus the geometric codes are cool-looking too, like combination lock tumblers. ShotCode.
Belle Mead Hot Glass. Via Charles & Marie.
More keyboard sweetness from Art Lebedev. It'll do until the full size is available.
Nice recycled belt from Schlauch.
Interview with Lance Barr, Nintendo console designer. Via c77.
Karl Hartig makes big, interesting charts. Like so.
Reactive Cube. "designed to transform digital images into apparently physical objects." Don't miss the films. Thanks Coop.
Very tasty juice-box packaging. Via AWLN.
Proof that Toronto is nothing if not really cool: Douglas Coupland was recently commissioned to co-design a park there. Make sure to look for it the next time you're watching a movie that's set in New York. Via Things.
"We need to think differently about how solid state lighting can be designed and delivered in ways that are useful and acceptable to the practices of different cultures." Via c77.
"He arranged his pieces to spell out many words; but he could never find the way to make the one word he was so eager to form. The word was 'Eternity.' The Snow Queen had said to him, 'If you can puzzle that out you shall be your own master, and I'll give you the whole world and a new pair of skates.'"
I love to check Karin's Style Blog for her wonderful and various inspirations, especially in the winter when Sweden is looking picturesque and Chicago's looking more than a little grey.
The GE Kitchen of the Future.
If you find Design Within Reach a bit beyond your specific reach, try Design without Reach.
Obsessional on a cool subject I didn't know existed, Polymer Bank Notes. Via Rivets.
Tiletoy, modular electronic game prototype by Tuomo Tammenpää and Daniel Blackburn. TileToy weblog.
Your Prius can basically suck it. If you really cared about the environment, you'd go pneumatic.
Buchstabenmoebel Set 26 Moebelalphabet. 'Capital' idea for shelving and furniture. Via Veer.
Photoset for today: Kevin Byrd's snaps of Matt Soorikian's new Cantilever Dresser. Let us know if you need our address to deliver one in time for Xmas.
Sweet stationery and desk tools from Craft Design Technology in Tokyo. Via K10k.
"The Designer Emulation Kits (DEK's for short) are meant as the sincerest homage to some of the greatest modern designers of our time. The lamps and designers being 'emulated' have a particular importance." Via c77.
The revolving door was not always saddled with such negative connotations. There was a time when it was a symbol of modern man's ingenuity, an artifact from our energized drive toward the future." Via Things.
Obsessional on the 1967 AMT Piranha. So nice.
Finally. Katazuke, the tidy table. Check the video too. Via Boing.
Cut or Shred Into Strips 5 Sheets of 8 1/2" x 11" 20lb Paper Individually With a Shredder in 20 or More Steps. Via Plep.
When we become millionaires from Copy Goes Here, this is what I'm gonna buy first. Feel my 1Hz! Do Mudhoney CDs even play 1Hz?
"A small American furniture company dedicated to the creation of well crafted timeless designs." Interesting furniture from BDDW.
I think we definitely need one of these here in the studio, maybe covered in chalkboard paint or miscellaneous collage. From Design Within Reach for kids.
Dialounge: the pairchair.
TactaPad. Oooh.
Analog Awakening, good morning idea.
"The Solskin is a solar lamp designed for milking the light from the sun." Created by Hrafnkell Birgisson. Via Formislandia.
Check the Kansas City Star's special 125th Anniversary front page from last Sunday at Newsdesigner. Beautiful, just beautiful.
Mike and Maaike's Windowseat Lounge, a sub-architectural space.
Nice work. Kenneth LeVey of Illinois Tool Works reinvents the screw. Via GB.
Pirolette: Your profile captured forever in an object of art. An optical illusion of shadow and light, each one unique because it's you! Via Inhabitat.
If I was a little kid and could pick my own bike, this would be my choice: Like a Bike. (scroll down for pictures)
The winner of the Design Museum's inaugural Designer of the Year award in 2003 was Jonathan Ive, senior vice-president of design at Apple whose innovations include the iPod and iMac. Interview with Jonathan Ive Via Reluct.
Ars Technica's murder and autopsy of an iPod nano. Cheers, Cy.
On redesigning The Guardian's print version into a tabloid, four video chats. More at NewsDesigner (of course), and a long, thoughtful assessment from City of Sound.
Remake Light. Via Ruelog.
"At this point you should be hearing the radio station coming in loud and clear
in the amplifier across the room. Put your hand in front of the laser beam to
break the connection, and notice that the music stops. Wiggle your fingers
in the beam and listen to the music get chopped up by your fingers. Your laser communicator is ready for the next step."
Shelf wall bed by encompasso. Perfect for tiny NYC apartments.
Promise Design - New Design and Post Industrial Art from Israel.
No question on which one's which.
"Unlike other head-tracking solutions, the Head-Tracking Pointer does not require special-purpose hardware, head gear, or tracking aids, such as retro-reflective dots." IBM's Head-Tracking software. Via Gizmodo.
Marcel Wanders is thinking differently about consumer electronics and component design. Beautiful stuff. Thanks Carlos.
A collection of great ads from American steel and coal companies. Via Evenings.
"Sit here. No, here, on the 0758, trust me, it's sunnier." Via Cameron.
Geek My Ride: a complete video editing suite better than many found in smaller post houses. Oh, and it's also in the backseat of a Lexus.
If we had a pool on the roof we'd definitely have to have one of these. Via Core77
"Digital microscopy systems can cost thousands of dollars but a very useful model can be assembled by using one decent compound microscope and consumer products that cost less than $150."
Aunt Marie (in the photo below) actually bought one of those cruddy Kodak Disc cameras. I like to attribute the graininess of that print to a 8.2mm x 10.6mm negative, but that photo's probably older than her camera.
The Urban Nomad Shelter, an innovative shelter for the homeless. I wouldn't mind having one, too, and that's just fine with the designers at Electroland, who aimed for an object that would cut across a few boundaries.
Frog Design Mind takes on Status Prams and the very euro Bugaboo. Via Core77.
Swanksigns, dedicated to the art of mocking public works.
Some wonderful furniture and housing concepts by Barber Osgerby. Unfortunately, nothing's for sale, and even if it was, would be wildly expensive. Via Lounge72.
Good Morning! Why do industrial designers tease me with stuff that I can't actually buy?
I wasn't really thinking of redoing our kitchen at home. Until now. Danke M.
United Designers Network has a new site, providing a peek at an inspirational portfolio of work, especially Studentenfutter in the Editorial Design Section and the Bosch Corporate Design System.
The MultiPot: like a regular pot, but glowing. Via Designboom.
There are very few things more visually satisfying than a nice exploded diagram of something mechanical like the ATC 304A Record Player Motor breakdown. Unless, of course you're an exciter lamp cover and soundhead from the Bell and Howell 1568B 16mm projector type of person. Viac77.
Gaze into The R*Emote Mirror.
Kyocera's "Solar Grove" is pure genius. Via Treehugger.
Porsche factory part supply ads from 1950 to 1965. Via Evenings.
Paper Pixels, by Aram Bartholl, is a cool sort of player-piano mechanism with light, and makes a nice compliment to Florian Ortkrass's amazing Pixiel Roller.
It is easy to imagine ordering a box of Optimus keyboards for the entire studio. Via Waxy.
Boy does this bachelor pad swing. Cool product from Chicago's own Stitch. Thanks Carlos.
Interesting design trend: intricately cut or perforated sheet metal or plastic. For instance, this outdoor "wallpaper", these tables, this lamp.
The Food Loop appeals to both my inner sci-fi geek and my inner foodie.
The Studio Troika SMS Guerilla Projector is "a home made, fully functioning device that enables the user to project text-based SMS messages in public spaces." Listed under 'devices.' Via 1+1=1.
Paternoster in Hamburg. "Each paternoster lift runs with two rotating, 'infinite' chains, which are moved by a gear wheel." Via The Cartoonist.
Awe inspiring innovation and creativity on show at the 2005 IDEA Awards.
YES! These are brilliant and I need some immediately.
How to disappear completely.
"This notebook was printed Gutenberg's way in an old-fashioned printery, with letters and figures found in old drawers. It was not easy to find someone available to do this work. Many printeries gave away their moveable types to be melted and transformed in something newer." Lisbon's Serrote Publishing's Notebook Projects. Via Netdiver.
The Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design Spring Exhibition 2005. Tantalizing glimpses of the degree projects of Master students, out of Stockholm. Via c77.
Nice article by Marian Bantjes and much discussion to follow I presume, on design cliches at Speak Up. If you're working on a project and the identity system contains a lightbulb, a globe or a compass, you might want to read this. That goes double for a 3D orb of any kind.
This table apparently recognizes which CD jacket is placed on it and displays the song list of that CD. The user can choose a song by moving the hockey-puck thingy. Or that's the general idea anyhow.
The typewriter-keyboard conversion "Yes, it really works. Even down to slapping the carriage return for enter." Via Cameron.
"Camouflage hides shapes by generating hints of many other possible shapes."
Core 77 is blogging from Chicago, where Neocon invades yearly.
"A timeline history of the IBM Typewriter with old ads to show what the machines looked like." Faves. I. II. III. Via GaB.
Industrial design from AllesWirdGut, inspired by Kubrick's 2001 rotating zero gravity room. A circular living module which can be rotated to alter its funciton. Via Life Without Buildings
Graphic Design USA, LogoLounge's Logo Trends 2005. As far as I can tell we haven't been guilty of any of them this past year. Interesting article for designers and non-designers alike. Via c77.
This fab obsessional on the Curta Calculator had been updated. As all sites of comprehensive adoration should be, it's a single, long scrolling page. If you don't have time for everything, make sure you check the exploded diagram poster, the pictures of Curt "The Man" Herzstark and the operations manuals.
Us too Ralf.
Surely this is a hazard on the road...
Images from the McCormick-International Harvester Collection via Andrew at gmt+9, who keeps a close eye on Wisconsin, from Osaka.
Folding Chair History Poster. Via Airbag.
You don't often get to see the design and identity ideas that didn't make the final cut. Like a lot of designers, at CP we have an 'anti-portfolio' that's full of good ideas that never saw the light of day. One Plus One Equals Three posts on Coodabeens for Jetstar Airlines.
Autonomous Driving Robot. Via SlasHDot.
Confederate Motorcycles b91 Wraith. Yowza. Via a whole.
Elms Blog on 50 years of the Goggomobil.
Jack Chang's redesign of the weather kiosk in Central Park.
Twenty-one international artists from the fields of graphic design, urban art and illustration have transformed the former Park Hotel in Copenhagen into the Hotel Fox. I'll request room 105 or 106.
Levitated | Organic Machinery, a showcase of computationally generated insects. "...constructed from a set of individual, hand drawn elements. Unique graphic elements are attached, hinged, scaled, and skewed to anatomical specification."
iWoodKiosk. "When technology meets nature."
This new bike/trike called SHIFT is able to transform from three-wheeler to two-wheeler as the rider speeds up, then morphs back to three-wheel mode for stability as the rider slows down. And it looks great, too. Thanks, Jonathan.
Daily Calendars, Slidebox and Slide Mounts. Nice. Via c77.
"The pixel roller does exactly what it say it is, rolls pixels. It can be viewed like a hand printer, the pixel roller can roll out any image, video or text manually, at any speed or direction, round corners and over surfaces." From rAndom International. Make sure to check the videos.
So-Cal Speed Shop Streamliner races across the El Mirage lake bed. Sweet.
A life-saving redesign. Via Sunday Morning. No, seriously.
EutoMobile, do the grand tour.
Try Dynamism for all your palmtop computer, USB glowing duck, and digital mini-Rolleiflex needs.
Icon Magazine's informative listing of the design world's "21 Most Influential."
The alleged World's Ugliest Car is back on the road. I'd say the Pontiac Aztek is a good sight uglier, but that's just me.
If we needed a 3D modeler with imagination and taste, we would have offered Kelvin Tan of Malaysia a job right after seeing his concept for a Sony portable DVD recorder. Via Core77.
Walldesign Stockholm. Via K.
A selection from "101 Unuseless Japanese Inventions." Via Byrdhouse.
Nice piece by Anne Van Wagener on debunking myths in newspaper design. "If you†place a dollar on top of the text of a story and you see text all around it then there's just too much gray." Where did that come from? Via Newsdesigner.
Predicta, what gmt+9 calls "the coolest televisions on the planet." Agreed.
How To Build Modern Furniture by Mario Dal Fabbro. A beautiful thing scanned by no, 2 self and linked where we could find it via The Cartoonist.
Engadget strikes again: How To Turn your iPod in to a Universal Infrared Remote Control. Slick.
The Society for News Design announces the Best-Designed Newspapers for 2005. Via Newsdesigner.
Augmented Reality. Yowza. Thanks Carlos.
The Kansas City Journal-Post. A Digital Version of the Diamond Jubilee Section of December 29th, 1929. Beautiful. Thanks Will.
A beautiful, completely blank keyboard. But before you buy, you have to ask yourself questions like, "Do I know by heart what number the ampersand is associated with?" Via Gizmodo.
Adventure Lounge: Early Aircraft Design. "A gallery of airplane designs from yesteryear. The aircraft images in this collection were discovered in U.S. patent applications." Thanks to our man in Toronto.
Shift Magazine Number 099 is up featuring a great interview with Marcos Weskamp, creator of the much-too-cool-to-not-be-from-the-future Newsmap and other information visualization tools. "Today, utilizing the network as a medium, we can then start creating engines to which we feed either previously harvested or realtime data, and depending on the quality and quantity of it, the visualizations reacts in different ways, becoming each time a completely different being."
Design Barcode, Inc. creates usable, working barcodes, but ones that cleverly play with the familiar layout. Samples (use the link in the lower right corner). Via Gizmodo.
Bored goldfish unite.
Photo Essay, The Evolution of Portable Audio by Matthew McKinnon.
Bob H. writes to admit his totally geekiness, a geekiness I share and one that is manifested by a love of graph paper. Get some free online from Incompetech or better yet, make your own.
Pamper your banana with the Banana Bunker. Thanks, Gome.
Of course anyone with money can just go out and buy a new Leica or Zeiss camera. But the beauty of these objects is they last several lifetimes. So I suggest you buy used. But how will you know which one to buy? Simple, read the several hundred page Leica FAQ run by Andrew Nemeth.
A rather clever advertisement for the new Golf GTi.
Vickers Airship Catalogue, 1920. Greg might be interested in this. Via The Cartoonist.
When I think of asthma, I think of wheezing myself awake and fishing around for my inhaler in the nightstand drawer at 3am, but IntraMed is making asthma fun again. Just don't let your older brother borrow it when he's in the basement with his friends listening to Pink Floyd.
A variety of products and sustainable practices that positively impact your immediate environment at Treehugger.
Apple confirmed countless rumors circulating online when it unveiled the new Mac mini today at MacWorld, alongside the iPod shuffle, the latest weapon in their growing arsenal to control the mp3 market.
Presenting "the world's first coffee-table equivalent of a Photoshop lens flare": the Pressure Drop Trestle Hub. Via gizmodo.
"The third year product design students at the Iceland Academy of Arts held an exhibition. The idea was to pick one Ikea product each and transform it into somthing that Ikea would not represent. Some of the stundents made the products more valuable, some made new products from the old, and others added humor and irony to the design." Via Design Boom.
Fresh Water generation through simulation of natures hurricanes. Read this short page on a new idea to save the planet and let me know if you would be willing to send him money. Not as an investment mind you, but for the common heritage...
A perfect pairing of form and function, Burton Snowboards release Bluetooth helmets and beanies which receive signals from a corresponding Bluetooth-equipped jacket. Now you can't blame dangling wires when you botch an otherwise gnarly 720.
"Being a designer used to mean you drove a Benz and you could get good drugs. Now it means you own a computer. What the f**k?" Vice Magazine's A to Z of Design (Warning: adult themes).
"The mouseradio is a fully functioning radio without buttons. The idea was to use the mouse navigation and to implement it in a radio. Moving the radio vertically changes the volume, moving the radio on the horizontal axis changes the frequency. The radio is on, when the black speaker points up in the air." Don't miss the video. Thanks Jason.
Only one issue to go before my subscription to Car Magazine (last year's Christmas present from Mom & Dad) is kaput. I found this just in time.
How to build a remote-controlled digital picture frame from "the spoils of an old laptop." Via SlasHDot.
Gotta love a tutorial that starts like this, "It was Thursday evening and I needed a teleprompter." Via our man in Toronto.
Artist Eric Doeringer's " Smoke Filtration Systems." Yep, I just posted a bong link on coudal.com.
De Morgen toots its own horn after winning Europeís most prestigious award in the field of newspaper design. Not a choice without detractors. Via Typographica.
Off shore oil rig replicas. My M.A.S.K. action figures would be super happy if I had one of those babies as a command base.
A Proposal for the redesign of the Volkswagen Welstfalia. Gorgeous. Project awarded the Michelin Challenge Design Award. Top to bottom great work. Via Airbag
Speaking of songs, I saw the Song plane design for the first time leaving
Ft. Lauderdale airport yesterday. It looked a bit derivative of iPod and I
wonder if the same designer or crew did both. We won't discuss its color scheme or that of the Southwest Boeing 737-100 that Grandma and I were in.
Modular pillows, kitchen scales by Porsche, biodegradable coffee mugs and more at MoCo Loco.
The picture screen is a lamp screen printed on paper. When switching on and off the lamp, things change. Found among lots of other smart stuff at 1kilo.
While in London, I had the chance to visit the Design Museum, which was exhibiting work by the massively talented Marc Newson. I tried dropping hints that I would like an Ikepod watch for Christmas, but Santa doesn't have three grand to drop at the moment. Humbug!
"Appropriately un-fancy in its spirit of high-end office supply," Time Tags. Thanks Chris.
Historic Newspaper Mastheads from the Library of Virginia. Via Grow a Brain.
Color Printing in the Nineteenth Century. An Exhibition from the University of Delaware Library. Via The Cartoonist.
Wreck havoc with a guerilla projector or TV predator from Studio Troika.
Clock-ish.
Clocks.
Obsessional on Three-Wheeled Automobiles like the fabulous Messerschmitt Kabinenroller.
Silhouettes of Aeroplanes. via cynical-c.
Simple chic. Make a shaker oval box.
Because robots need friends and ray guns.
"The Bell System is about to add Picture-Phone service [pdf] to the many services it now offers customers." 1969. Also check The Bell System logo page.
JapanDesign feature highlighting retail window displays. Lots to see. I. II. III.
The View-Master Resource. Includes downloadable PDF versions of vintage View-Master camera and projector manuals. Check out these great sleeves too.
Kinetic, robotic sculptures made from recycled materials. Nemomatic.
Like something out of Brazil, this beautiful typewriter-faced laptop was found listed with other 'bootlegs' and 'mods' at Design Boom. Via Archinect.
Reprodepot Fabrics was started in 1999 out of a love for vintage textiles. "Unable to find suitable yardage and with supplies dwindling of actual older fabrics, we decided to compile a handpicked selection of brand new fabrics with vintage and retro themes."
From now on, all CP meetings will be carried out on this. "It lowers inhibitions and after just a few minutes even complete strangers begin talking to one another. Children come running; adults are transformed into children. It's not just a bike: It's a PARTY ON WHEELS!"
I dunno about you, but I have always dreamt about owning a flying lawn mower. Sky Cutter .40 V2 over at Flying Thingz.
Robo Garage at Kyoto University. Meet the robots and watch the movies. 'Chroino' is the coolest.
"So tiny, so bold, so precise, so clever, so furious and so dope." Tygun.
The Midwest's Greasiest Hot Rod Show.
Robomop
Marshall points to Transportation Futuristics. "Here comes your helicopter coupe."
34 years of incredible product design from Frog Design.
"A conviction that good design can be an important tool to create
a better every day life for people, companies and societies." The Stockholm Design Lab speaks the truth.
Wake up.
Sickeningly awesome product design from Sweden at Front Design.
Wogg, out of Baden, creates products full of "inquisitiveness and innovative strength." Check the Wogg 31 Pavillon under "outdoor." Elegantly simple designs.
"(Design is) the only competitive leverage left." [reg. req.]
The Maharam Virtual Library, Interactive Binders Online. Fabrics. Inspiration. "Repeat" by Helen Jongerius.
Pakistan enters the SUV market: the Sitara City Cart.
Superheroes need super timepieces. Thanks Marshall
If you designed the Audi TT, Volkswagen New Beetle, Ford Thunderbird and GT40, they'd give you an exhibition too.
The Free University of Bolzano/Bozen organized a project that commissioned international top designers to bake cookies. "A project encompassing innovation and tradition based on inviting international designers to create a new biscuit that will have an innovative taste and appearance without losing the old tradition of the Christmas biscuit made in the region." Thats a mouthfull.
A collection of Atari industrial design drawings. Via Evenings on the Lake
While in Portland, OR, for a wedding this past weekend, strolled past an exhibition of environmentally safe electronic vehicles. Included in the display was that well known CP studio conversation piece the eGO. Visit the studio for a test drive.
Aquariass. For people who like to have pet fish, but are too lazy to walk to the bathroom and flush them down the toilet when they die.
Sweet illustration on a warning sign. Tons more like that and not-so-much like that, at Swanksigns.
Design ≠ Art at Cooper Hewitt. "The first museum exhibition of the virtually unknown design works by some of the most influential artists of the last half century." Via Archinect.
Old is new when it comes to Schwinn Stingrays. Marshall writes that "the Stingrays are cool but these come in adult sizes. Ratfink!"
Cutaway, Ghosting, Section View & Exploded View Technical Illustration. Amazing work by Kevin Hulsey. Via CL.
Carlos points us to this cool stuff from Japan.
"Science discovers, genius invents, industry applies, and man adapts himself to, or is molded by, new things... Individuals, groups, entire races of men fall into step with science and industry."
"For all her popularity, though, there are 'people out there who have Hello Kitty issues,'" How Hello Kitty Came to Rule the World.
Norwood, Ohio, a city nestled (Lesotho-like) within the boundary of Cincinnati, was home to a GM Firebird and Camaro factory until the early 90s, and probably sold most of their end-product in the area, "Kentucky Porsches" are all over the place, but even after living there for nearly ten years and visiting the factory with the Cub Scouts, in 1982, I'd never witnessed the legendary Firebird for Girls in the flesh until my trip this weekend. Majestic.
I don't usually like to qualify things I see by calling them "the best ever" or "the greatest", but here is probably the best, greatest thing ever. Make sure to watch this and this.
Doodles, Drafts and Designs Industrial Drawings from The Smithsonian. Of particular interest, this sheet of assembly line instructions, this crayon raw materials test and this sublime lifting cam drawing. Via Life in the Present.
"Those irritating ringmarks that mugs and cups leave... well, you can turn them into a nice floral pattern now with a set of Stamp Cups. The pattern on the base of the cup match up so you can join as many marks as you want." Check these other fab products from Thorsten van Elten. Thanks Chris.
We're on our way at lunch today to check out Rotofugi. New shop just west of us. Must have Yeti. Found on the the Block.
Is it kitsch? Is it retro? Is it hip? These are the questions you'll ask yourself after a few hours watching your favorite programs on these custom, vintage-looking televisions.
Consumer design travels full circle as designer Nicolas Roope has released these full-sized, handset additions for your tiny, little cell phone.
I have lived in small apartments, sure, but they have never been a) as hip as an Abito, b) as seemingly spacious as an Abito, and c) inhabited by attactive models, as the demo Abito seems to be. So the Abito seems to win out, but if you lived in one, don't you think it would feel like living in a ultra-modern, ultra-Ikea, ultra-? Maybe it's just me.
Ladislav Sutnar, a retrospective on the work from a great designer. Under toying with design there's a great "build your own town" building block set. His typography and household items shouldn't be missed either.
The Branding of Polaroid, 1957-1977, "How we beat Eatman Kodak and its little yellow boxes at point of purchase despite a clunky product and an irrelevant corporate name." Great account by Paul Giambarba, head of Polaroid's identity and packaging at the time. These posts are full of smart thinking and interesting details, none of which seem out of date today. "We came to the conclusion that Polaroid would be better off if we didn't paint ourselves into a corner with a logo that might be appropriate for a few years, then less so as time went on." Amen. (Start under Categories with 01. Polaroid's Lack of Brand, 1957 to read through from the beginning.) Via NSOP.
"We asked nine designers in nine cities around the world to build a seat in less than nintey days. Oh... and it had to fit in a FedEx box." Check this video of the entries being unpacked at City-Magazine.
Eurobad '74 a look back at some of the worst interiors of 1974. Whats up with keeping the horse in a green kitchen? That can't be good.
For stylish pets, postmodern pet furniture.
Background patterns are the new white. Good thing that Lorenzo has put a bunch of fresh ones up at dromoscopio.net. Coordinate, you might want to get the same patterns as gorgeous wallpaper in your office.
Wanna add flames to your Volvo? Check out the Flavawagon. Via ObeyGiant.
The ElectriClerk, a fully-functional retrofitted prop computer. Via SlasHDot.
Open! Concepts. Love Cube! Candythrone! Backside Watch! Some Things! All brilliant.
Marshall and his mom have helped to solve our little mystery about that thing we found in our building today. Apparently it's a Permanent Wave Machine, inspired by pot roast cooking rods. You could go down to the barber shop and be sizzled to perfection. We've still no idea why there's one by our freight elevator, though.
New favorite product design 'magalog' or should that be 'catazine?' Either way, Reluct. Via City of Sound.
Stencil Revolution Collectively Reconstructing the Urban Campus. Check the artist profiles. Link found alongside some lovely stuff at The Design Kitten.
The world's flags given letter grades. Like it sounds. Via Tom McMahon.
"Leif Parsons is a complex identity, and should not be misused. When using his identity you should be vigorous about applying the standards outlined in the manual." Via Jemma, via Surfstation.
Swell vintage camera ads. Found among other things.
Link o' the month. The Deora Story as told to Thomas Voehringer by Harry Bentley Bradley. A fascinating tale of automotive design and creativity. Thanks a bunch Rev.
There's a couple of newish projects up at Style.org. If you're at all interested in the math and science of visual information display you'll find some time there gratifying. That's a bit of an understatement really. 'Scaling Counties in a Checkerboard State' is a logical and beautiful presentation. Also, I'm not exactly sure why it's so fascinating, but the simple sewing together of Mars images makes for a pleasing composition.
The IDE Virtual Design Museum. Browse this.
The greatest web page about a mechanical calculating tool in the history of the world. Sweet poster too.
Smoke 'em if you got 'em! Years and years of the Zippo. How the Zippo was made, as of 50 years ago. If I did smoke, I'd run this rustic model.
Phones of yesteryear, for sale too.
The illustrated history of folding chairs. Mined off Designboom.
Color Me Plastic, brightly colored, modish stuff that used to be junk is discussed at Modern Matters, an online magazine affiliated with retailer Go Mod.
Streamliners, America's Lost Trains, an American Experience episode and a nice web resource on the subject too.
"The American Sign Museum was founded to inform and educate the general public as well as business and special interest groups of the history of the sign industry and its significant contribution to commerce and the American landscape." Amen to that.
Big news for scooter fans like me: Vespa's new Granturismo 200 motorscooter will arrive in the US in February.
"My aim is to offer up the services of a small town 'job printer' with the informed style of an urban artist crafstman. A post modern stationer's shop as it were." Interrobang Letterpress. Cool.
Michael Fey's Cinema-3D blueprints and models of spaceships are amazing. Very amazing indeed. Almost mad.
Extraordinary. Industrial Strength Design: How Brooks Stevens Shaped Your World. Photos and drawings of The Studebaker Hawk, The Toastalator. The Jackie Gleason Golf Cart and tons more. About his most famous design, Brooks said, "There's nothing more aerodynamic than a wiener." Via ToT.
1001 ink bottles.
"Lisa cost Apple $50m and 200 person years to develop. It sold in the U.S for nearly $10,000."
A splendid gallery of antique and retro Italian espresso machines.
These 1960 images from Ephemera Now are immaculate.
What time is it?
Lolah gives the familiar beige water cooler a makeover. Check out the Tower water dispenser in the Products section under Accessories.
The gadget-obsessed have their own weblog. Behold: Geeked-out insanity, American-style!
Dutch design is always a great inspiration for me, as there seems to be a lot of pleasingly low-key work that involves the everyday seen in a new and stylish way. Piet Hein Eek, a designer who works with salvaged materials, creates furniture and even whole houses from salvaged wood and metal. Check out the "kindermeubiliar" under "collectie" for found-wood baby furniture, something you don't see every day.
Muji, Just the "right" personal collection of writing and stationery supplies.
"To the ocean, for the future, with technology excellence." The STX Shipbuilding Cyber Yard Tour. Found among other great stuff in Wellvetted Number 11.
For Michele: The Spider Web Construction Gallery.
The Lustron Homes of Lombard, Illinois. Lustron's were inexpensive and easy-to-maintain homes built entirely from post-war surplus steel. Thanks to Excitement Machine.
Hey, what time is it?
MeBox. The simple application of a simple idea. Nice. Now the stack of old records in the storage room can speak for itself.
Make your own at the Barcode Server.
The Micro Car Museum collection includes the cool 1955 Fuji Cabin. Link found among other things.
Great exhibit of illustrations by post-war futurist Radebaugh. Be sure to check out the panels from his syndicated comic strip "Closer Than You Think." He was right on about the "Television Recorder," but just missed on the "Rocket Mailmen."
C'mon, it's spring already! If the weather doesn't start getting better, I'm just going to end up staying indoors and buying a bunch of cool stuff from designobject. A glowing pillow and a milk bottle lamp should do the trick.
The Stump House. Lucky kid. Thanks to Plep.
If enthusiasm counts for anything then Bling Method gets the nod as the coolest computer remodeling site of all. Who can resist advice like this? "When cutting plastic, it might be wise to purchase a variable-speed jigsaw. Else your blade goes so fast it melts the plastic and causes it to re-bond with itself
"For a Dignified Last Ride."
More than 18,500 flags, organized alphebetically and by clickable maps.
Logos for Russian electronic tube manufacturers. Via Ishbadiddle.
When in Porthcurno, visit The Museum of Submarine Telegraphy, although with their incredibly confusing hours of operation you might want to call ahead. Courtesy of Plep.
People who like this sort of thing will find this exactly the sort of thing they like. Apple's guidelines for developers regarding the creation of user interfaces. Michael Chevalier writes, "Too bad Apple spent all that time gushing over their aqua interface and not enough time on building a website where the frames actually work."
House Industries, Dion Neutra and Otto Design Group have joined to recreate Richard Neutra's Boomerang chair. A lovely place to sit patiently and wait for Neutraface, "a digital font collection based on the lettering Richard and Dion Neutra specified for use on their professional buildings."
Redesigning all the signs at Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark airports. Paul Mijksenaar's specialty is "taming chaos."
No Easy Chairs here.
The Subaru WRX PC runs the 0-133Ghz in less than one second.
Techies with style... Afrotech - Ghetto Hardware Fun.
Gourd speakers. That is to say, speakers made out of gourds. (via Metafilter)
Brilliant. Olivier Blaser Industrial Design. Via jd at k
Michael Mulvey writes. "Caught your news post of Feltron.com and his car logo shots. I did a similar photo project last year, check it at the Combustion Chamber.
Desert Space Foundation sponsors design competition for permanent warning sign to alert future civilizations about radiation from the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site. "The project is not intended to present a biased opinion in favor or in opposition to the issue," reads disclaimer.
The future we thought was coming after seeing 2001, A Space Oddyssey for the first time has arrived. The next time we redo the office, we'll do it this way.
A sightseer's guide to engineering. Engineering sights and attractions around the USA.
Inventors Online Museum. A really great resource, with separate sections for medical inventions, communications, transport, earth sciences, fun and games etc.
The all-new dform1 856M Aquila. Vroom. Vroom.
A thorough examination of child iconography on international traffic signs. Way more interesting than it sounds.
If I were an assemblage clock by Robert Wood I would be an "Air-Way Sanitizer Table Clock," set 15 minutes fast.
Fact I didn't know: Each country designed its own Euro. The flip side anyway.
Check out this spare and elegant array of furniture from Norway Says. If they keep receiving commission work for royal wedding presents, the future look of European royal residences will prove to be very different indeed.
Carter Wong Tomlin is a London based design shop with a slick site that includes 1057 "A photographic study compiled by Philip Carter of the infinite interpretations of the cycle lane sign found in London... These painted bikes have evolved into fantasy contraptions blissfully ignorant of the laws of mechanics."
Furniture. "A menu of wireframe drawings designed by Jason Mohr of C404, artfully set the stage for viewing the colorful, hyper-realistic paintings of artist Bob Knox." Sleek.
I distinctly remember throwing one of these away when it stopped working. What was I thinking?
Design Within Reach has a very cool catalog of nicely-designed furniture for the "money-is-no-object" crowd. Different viewing options allow you to see each item in close-up detail or in a room environment. Still couldn't get me to pay $100 for a corkscrew, though.
Made by Mistake, Dutch architectural and urban development model making firm. "It's all about materials."
Japanese manhole covers. The site SE wishes she'd found before me.
More on the man behind the mysterious "Ginger." (Thanx to 37signals.)
Here is the alleged patent for "Ginger." (thanx to TMN for pointing us to the Delphion Intellectual Property Network) It's some sort of personal transportation thingee.
One of my favourite sources for inspiration, the innovative Droog Design. They are scheduled to have a retrospective in early 2001 here in Chicago.
Minneapolis Sign Project.
The Museum of Useful Things is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but they have a cool online home as well. Check out the current mousetrap exhibit and browse their shop for those things which are both aesthetically pleasing and terribly handy.