New Tech Reviews Just another NEW TECH NEWS

Snowboard bindings? What! It’s getting into summer when I’m posting this, so it’s a bit strange to even think about snow – but hay! Like a good Minnesotan, in summer I wish for winter, and in winter I wish for summer! These bindings are split down the back, adjusting the cant of the high back for “greater support and control.” Better for your ankles? Better for your mind. But you can’t be too furry! It’ll get caught in there.

Also check out the aluminum block holding all the straps and high back in place. What’s up with your knowledge of straps? In skateboarding, as well as with snowboarding, the only thing the average first-time buyer of a setup is the design of the board. Pretty skulls and gore and knives and whatnot. Are these designed for you, the audience reading this post?

Also, what kind of bindings do you use now?

Designer: Joshua Benjamin Harris

Yet another “twist” on something we twist everyday. Designer Jess Han hasre-imaginedthe simple door handle with a DaVinci Code style lock that denies entry for all but the chosen few (cue: dramatic music). This intuitive door handle dubbed the “NUMLOCK HANDLE” features a numbered dial-lock that re-shuffles and locks itself after every successful entry. Get the code incorrect and Tom Hanks gets punched in the gut by an albinoassassin. The numbers can be replaced or supplementedwith braille for that extra level of mystery.

Designer: Jess Han

In 2037, 70% of the French population will live in urban areas. The Nervastella concept provides the means to respond to the impulsive urge to escape, to disappear with reckless abandonment. But it also captivates the concept of luxury, possessing values that are synonymous with excellence. The integration of a living environment at the front evokes a continuation of home, while the separation between the cockpit and luggage compartment confers a noble and luxurious tone to the journey.

Designer: Adil Benwadih

Really Smart eh? Can you recall all your recipes by heart; tell me exactly how many calories are there in the dish that you are preparing; the amount of protein, cholesterol in it; are the ingredients fresh enough? NO!! NO!! Youre not a SMART Chef then. Actually you never can be, coz then youd be this computer with an intelligent cutting board and integrated scale. The wise guy here can connect with local farmers and farmer’s markets to help you procure the seasonal produce. It can even help you share recipes, formulate diet plans etc. The unit is made up of a bamboo surfaced cutting board element containing the SmartChef’s computing and food scanning hardware, while a portable touch-screen tablet provides a kitchen-safe interface that can travel throughout the kitchen and home.

Technology has invaded our kitchens and smart refrigerators and ovens are a proof of it. Envisioning a smart cutting board is not too far fetched, its just the question of us accepting and getting used to it. I know there are several issues that need to be addressed, like juices that come out of the veggies that we cut and how will an electronic board tackle that. With such similar issues resolved, Im sure some Smart company will see the potential and come up with the apt board.

Designer: Kaiju Studios

Look around you computer. You probably have one too many cables strung about and a few more dangling off your desk. Some of us have come up with creative ways to keep them in place but for a measly $9.95, you can keep them in check without resorting to tape or ugly twist ties. The Bluelounge CableDrop comes in multi-colored packs of 6 with adhesive backs. They are uniquely shaped to hold everything from cables to pens. Skies the limit really.

Designer: Bluelounge

Its a good thing you learnt about planets in school; otherwise this Torbit Time-Orbit Watch Concept would have gone over your head. Apparently its been totally inspired by the fascinating movents of planets in their orbit. The digital numbers on the annular panel display indicates time while moving clockwise around the circumference of the display; also corresponding to the position of where the hands on a traditional watch would have been. For me, its just a cool looking watch that craves for a SWATCH branding.

Designer: Evan Yiwei Ma

Its so damn hot where I live that I cant think of anything else but an air conditioner at the moment. But since we have readers from across the globe, this ones especially for those who experience snow in summers. LASKO Home Innovations commissioned a space heater, and this is what they got. Its a special one that sucks in air from the perforated silver piece on the bottom. The internal oscillation varies from 90 degrees, 170 degrees to a full 360 degrees, thereby making it convenient to place centrally in a room.

The perforated piece on the bottom can be removed to reveal the meshing. Keeping this mesh clean prolongs the life of the heater. I simply love its minimal design coz its really space-saving

Designer: Matthew Catrino

Lets call this a Swiss Watchmakers worst nightmare, a clock where you can barely see the time. We are so caught up in our own time-warps that we rarely get an excuse to pause and ponder. The Soft Clock here is best described as an incessantly twisting art-object than a proper instrument for time measurement. For those who want constant reminders of the persistent tick-tok, get a real clock. Let this Soft one be for us dreamers

Designer: Egor Myznik

On the flip side, for those of us who need to live by precise timings, check out these timeless beauties!

Digilog by Masayoshi Suzuki of Pinto

Ora illegal by Denis Guidone

Silence Alarm Clock by Johan Brengesjo

Having met Jon Kolko at the Bounce IDSA conference I was pleased as punch to get him to sit down for an exclusive YD interview. Acting as Senior Design Analyst at Frog Design in Austin and Editor-in-Chief of Interactions Magazine, Jon brings dizzying insights to the worlds of interaction design and its ramifications to industrial design and research. Click through to our interview after the jump, but also check out some of his excellent talks like the recent Austin Creative Confab or his presentation on design synthesis.

Basing his conference talk on the influence of outsourced design and how we need to change as designers to stay relevant, Jon Kolko urges us to become more culture-centric to stay afloat (see his presentation’s slide deck here).

_______________________

Billy May: Your career has had a predominant focus on interaction design and even software, yet there has always seemed to be a affinity for industrial design lingering just behind the curtain. What continues to draw you to that field over the perhaps more germane (or at least typical) field of graphic design?

Jon Kolko: I have a degree in Industrial Design, and I think standard industrial design training basic form exercises in the context of a traditional Bauhaus studio model helps forge a fundamentally different way about thinking about more timely design problems of time and behavior. I can keep a fairly complicated problem of interaction in my headspace at once, much like an industrial designer can keep the complexities of a physical object in their working cognition and manipulate it as they desire, flipping it over or cutting through it. An interaction problem has nodes and branches and ultimately takes up an artificial mass when visualized. Consider a concept map, or a flow diagram; this can be navigated and manipulated in the mind just like a toaster or a blender.

My draw towards interaction is kind of ironic, I guess, because I love beautiful objects but I hate things. Ive never really been passionate about mass produced items, like an iPod or a car, only with art one offs, made by hand, crafted and cared for. Design is less, to me, about the output and more about the process.

BM: In an earlier talk, you professed a love for configuration software; besides fun projects like that, what kind of problems and projects really get under your skin and excite you?

JK: As tongue in cheek as that point may have been, I do enjoy designing configuration software, and pricing software, and the other gnarly problems of the enterprise, not because Im some sort of configuration masochist but because these problems are hard. Ive worked on the entire spectrum, from consumer electronics to software and to the web, yet the design problems I enjoy most are the ones that are difficult to solve. Un-fucking the complex is one of the things that I get the most excited about. This is true in the public sector where the problems are complicated by various stakeholders, agencies, and a lack of resources and in business, where the problems are fueled by competing groups, quarterly priorities, and a tendency to latch onto fads and trends. Taming complexity, making sense of chaos, and generally righting the wrong thats what designs all about.

BM: Your talk gave a lot of attention to the aggressive expansion of outsourced industrial design and designers’ need to gird their careers by reaching deeper into research. Having a background in both education and curriculum development, what challenges do design schools face in the changing market and how do they need to react to keep their students relevant and marketable? What do students need to start doing themselves if their programs fail to adapt fast enough?

JK: Theres no if about it; with some obvious exceptions (such as Delft or University of Cincinnati), design programs in the United States and Europe havent adapted fast enough. Its a strange time for graduating seniors; the economic strife we have going on in the states is a red herring for design graduates, who should really be looking at Asia and thinking about how they can stay relevant when the million Asian designers hit the global marketplace.

I think students need to focus on the intellectual aspects of design, rather than becoming enamored with the more obvious, traditional, and seemingly glamorous parts of design. Many students see Karim Rashid, or other flamboyant form givers, talk about design, and fail to realize that these are purposefully produced public approaches to a profession, much like Paris Hilton is to media. Design isnt about that, at least not the design thats going to land you a job and help you pay your mortgage. Its about something thoughtful, and methodical, and useful, and beautiful, all at once. The design I talk about, and the design work we do at frog, is so far away from the making beautiful objects of yesterday that its almost a different job entirely.

BM: Many of the designers I spoke with at the conference shared your conviction for a greater amount of responsibility on the part of students for activities upstream of form giving. Do you think design programs need to append more skill sets on top of the typical foundation of form giving or do you see the intellectual side of things cannibalizing other course work?

JK: Its a difficult line to walk. Having built a curriculum in Industrial design, I feel the pain of any educator trying to balance the increasing demands of the design profession with a constrained set of slots. The constraints are actually larger than simply fitting in all of the required design courses; most accreditation programs require a percentage of classes as general education or liberal arts, which ultimately may be the most important classes students take but are viewed by both the students and the faculty as wasted space that could otherwise be filled by more drawing courses.

Im a proponent of the foundational studies programs at most art and design schools, as they teach the care, craftsmanship, and appreciation for quality that is critical for any type of design (form giving or otherwise). What Ive found, however, is that 17 and 18 year old students are obviously too green to understand and appreciate the point of the foundational program, and so the exercises seem pointless and time consuming; as an example, most designers can recall a freshman year exercise of being forced to draw something (a bell pepper, usually) very small and then VERY LARGE. Theoretically, this is a great project to introduce a sensibility of scale, perspective, craft, and detail. Yet most students see it as a waste of time and a waste of resources (those prismacolors are so expensive!). This is not a fault of the student, as they should not be expected to value something that has little relationship to their world or life. In fact, this is less a problem that design schools can solve as much as it is a critique of the base education system (grammar school and high school) in the United States.

BM: As designers make their way to higher, more cerebral climbs of design output to safeguard their jobs, do you see the jobs themselves becoming harder to justify as the deliverables become another step removed from the final tangible products? Or do you welcome that separation of thinking from product?

JK: I long for a day where designers, without long and convoluted explanations and examples and spec work and hand waving, are paid for the output of their mind, rather than their hands. We produce artifacts to visualize, and to illustrate, and to show what we mean; these are ancillary to the things we think. Doctors, lawyers, even smarmy politicians arent compensated directly based on their output only on their intellect. Ultimately, we need to realize and we need to communicate to our clients and to the general public that design is a culturally embedded phenomenon about changing behavior.

BM: How do we, as designers, validate our quality of thought, what metric do we grab hold of aside from our occasional excel spreadsheet and powerpoint?

JK: We need to exhibit value during the process of design, rather than placing emphasis on the value we added to the output of design. The litmus test for designers to claim success has frequently been to gather awards, or to point at a finished product on the shelf; this implies that our role is in the development of a static artifact. As a first step, we need to care less about the outcome and more about how we got there. Then, we need to educate those around us in a non patronizing fashion why our process is valuable. This education usually comes by example, and with patience; Ive heard so many designers bemoan the stupid client who doesnt get it. This is like faulting a five year old for not understanding complex trigonometry; of course they dont understand it you have to teach them. And just like the five year old, they arent going to learn it because you said it to them once, and they arent going to learn it by getting mad at them. We need to evangelize, and teach, and show, and do these things methodically, overtly, and patiently.

BM: As Yanko Design caters to just as many designers outside the US as it does those within, what advice would you put to those trying to bridge the gap culturally, if not geographically. Are channels like the internet breaking these cultural barriers down or is geographic relocation a must?

JK: If designers are going to take on larger problems than those of form and function, I think, to some degree, we need to be in the culture we are designing for. This does mean that we need to move around geographically; the internet is great, but it hasnt broken down any geographic barriers in any substantive way. As a parallel example, a recent post on core77 implied that the flickr group whats in your bag? can substitute for ethnography. Steve Portigal took this to task as being the lamest post ever, and to some degree, hes right. When we reduce culture down to a set of differences, like they eat different food or they like vibrant colors, we only serve to paint ourselves as ignorant; if we actually act on these reductions and design based on these silly observations, we end up with some awful results. Culture is richer than that, and so as hard as it may sound to design for the richness of any culture, designers need to go absorb that culture and become part of it.

Pratt students are making their mark at the “Design for a Dollar” exhibition, International Contemporary Furniture Fair. However Im here to showcase how enterprising their ID students can be. Three projects: Grind by Dana de Vega, Loop End Table by Carla Franciose and Array Series by Jason Pfaeffle; reflect how simple thinking and industrious application can prove to be winning designs. Take a look at them after the jump.

The Grind by Dana de Vega

Inspired by the motion of twisting and industrial instruments such as boiler drain valves, Dana has designed this seasoning mill with black anodized aluminum for the pepper mill and clear anodized aluminum for the salt mill.

Notes from Dana:

The aluminum-spun shaft is a locally made part. It is anodized for protection and sealing. The ceramic mechanism inside is suitable for salt and pepper. To refill the mill, simply unscrew the cap at the bottom of the mechanism and remove the small ceramic grinder. Aluminum is 100% recyclable.

Loop End Table by Carla Franciose

Fashioned out of nickel-plated 14-gauge hot-rolled steel strips, this table screams sophistication. The base is made is made from five ribbon shaped modules welded together. The dimenstions for the table are: 25 diameter clear glass top that is 3/8 thick; table height 21.

Array Series by Jason Pfaeffle

The Array Series revolves around the use of a single cast aluminum component, combined with hardwood dowels that can form a range of useful products. It uses one main component and a stock diameter dowel, thus reducing materials and production costs.

Notes from Jason:

No permanent connections exist between the separate elements, which make assembly easy for the user as well as disassembly for recycling. If a part of the product happens to be damaged, a single unit can be purchased to replace it, which not only saves money and material, but also extends the life of the products. At present, Array Series includes a coat rack, side table, and light with the potential of other pieces being added later.

Special Credit to Diana Pau for all the photographs.

The kind of pot you put sauce in. And self-stirring in that it’s got its own mechanism built in to the pot. You put your sauce in there, start to heat it up, put the cover on, and turn the crank. Turn the crank and laugh! Laugh at the industrial genius of this mechanism! Ah haaa! Yes! Sauce! Sauce forever!

Seriously sauce forever. What more do you want from a pot than a stirrer automatica? I can think of a few times where it’d be less-than-helpful. Those times with stuff such as spaghetti, I’d opt out of the stirrer. But check out the bottom of the pot! It’s concave! It is shaped thus so that the “specially shaped teflon base will increase the suface area that is exposed to fire.” Physicists, is this ever a bad idea?

This “Wrinkle” pot was designed by Cem Tutuncuoglu – a very, very strange man. You simply must check out his landing page: http://cemtutuncuoglu.com/

Designer: Cem Tutuncuoglu

The wires are abuzz with the Zune HD News, and many are wondering what Jobs has in store for the iPod this summer. However, the thread that ties both these MP3 players together is their form. Besides the obvious rectangle shape, very few people like Sony have ventured into a daring cylindrical shape for the MP3. Heres a look at the adventurous folks who broke away from the mold and gave us Unique And Creative MP3 Players

10) Ladybug MP3 Player For Children by Mark Honschke

Cute little Ladybug! Resembling the pull-along-toy that we get our kids, the reassuring design of this player is apt for tots. Spare wings in colorful designs can be swapped to customize the player for each individual user.

9) Rubik Cube Mp3 Player by Hee Yong

Creative genius? I think not, coz the Rubik Cube design has been abused many a times in the past. Innovativeyes! Coz I think its the first time its being used for an MP3 player in an intelligent way. The only way to activate the player is by solving the puzzle; by solving each layer has a specific function such as play, pause, forward or back. And of course the only way to turn it off is by completing it. Wicked!

8 ) MP3 Pebble Object by Branko Ludovic

The Pebble was solely developed to explore variations in a single design. Imagine churning out MP3 players with same exact specs but with contours as diverse as pebbles. A manufacturers nightmare I guess!

7) Wrist MP3 Player by Nathan Davis

This player is best suited for those who need music while workingout. It slaps onto the wrist and uses a Bluetooth headphone for convenience.

6) Tie Clip MP3 Player by Jin Woo Han

Yeah, ditch your diamond studded tie-clip for this MP3 player. Shy-guys can use it to flash intro messages like Hello, my name is. . .

5) Tok Tak Plug MP3 by Tae-wan Kim

This one is a pretty basic and probably the smallest MP3 player concepts weve seen. Resembling a standard audio jack, the player dangles from your earphones when used on the go.

4) Sony Project Red Zik MP3 Player by Harold Terosier

Ok, Sony does not support Project RED, so this is kinda weird. And its also weird that this player is fashioned like a tear drop pendant.

3) Zero by Francesco Cugusi & Roberto Strippoli

Adding a twist to the retro era, Zero is actually a CD Player serenading as a LP Player. In its defense for being in the list, it does support MP3, MP4 and WAV files.

2) Music Flow by Min-Kyung Kang, Tae-Seung Kim, & Jeong-Min Og

Of all the things, its a TAP! Like the flow of water, this one pours out your music. I really think its an innovative approach to design. The set includes earphones, a faucet along with a controlling knob and a remote control. Ironically, Not water-resistant!

1) NVDRS Tape by Stefano Pertegato, Massimiliano Rampoldi, Eloisa Tolu, Francesco Schiraldi & Giovanni Mendini

The host of designers did not spoil this broth, coz I think its one of the best representation of a blast from the past. You can get more modern and retro in the same breath as this. The tape is an MP3 player that follows the 45/60/90 minutes norm, holding 10/15/20 select songs in digital format.

You know the giant metal sculptures of the world-renound sculptor artist Richard Serra? Well get on that! Read and roll! Then come back and see this direct homage (NOT DIRECTLY AFFILIATED) to Serra through room dividing walls. Hangers and all kinds of stuff too! Don’t put these on carpeting or clay. That would just plain spell disaster. Also be wary of hanging any long artwork.

A personal moment with me, Chris Burns, your humble narrator for this and many other posts:

Have you ever been to Minneapolis? Rich people live in Minneapolis. They do business. Poor people live in Minneapolis, too. They do artwork. If this “Serra” project were made in Minneapolis, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were made by one (the artists), and purchased by the other (the rich.) Happens all the time. ALL the time.

Incidentally, Serra wasn’t conceived or built anywhere near Minneapolis. The 2-B-2 Architecture group is Russian. And these walls were built on Russian soil. Be sure to check out the rest of the work by 2-B-2 available here at Yanko Design. They are totally amazing and splendiferous.

And lest we forget:

Can you imagine such a setup in your living room?

Designer: 2-B-2 Architecture

One sorry soul has to always stay back ashore to take care of our belongings, while rest of the family is out there having fun on the surf and sand. Beach thefts are a reality and its not just about losing your valuables, but about the violation of trust in mankind. Gigga Clam is a water proof safe that kinds tries to ease your day on the beach. Ergonomically designed, the Clam is meant to be pushed under the sands surface for safekeeping and has some pretty cool high-tech features. Its roomy enough to store a large pair of sunglasses, phone, wallet, mp3 player, and keys.

Gigga Clam combines the locking mechanism and GPS tracking. Once you push the safe under the sand, a light sensor mechanism gets activated via the interactive waterproof wristband that you need to wear. Essentially this means that if someone manages to unearth your treasure trove, then the safety features kick start. First you get a repeated vibrating notification via the wristband and once you confirm the theft, it converts into a tracking device that beeps you the exact location of your Clam.

Construction-wise the safes casing and hinges are made of Polycarbonate plastic and the transparent windows are made of Thermoplastic Polyurethane. The interior is fitted with Foamed Polyurethane Resin cushions that are sealed with cotton. Although you can play with a palette of colors for the exterior, its best to leave it at an earthy-sandy color so that it blends in when you bury it.

Designer: Chris Stratton

Oh, the Swiss. Look at what Michel Bussien’s made. It’s called the “Growing Chair” and it’s potted just for you! Sit on your favorite tree and think about how elvish you are. You can see it growing like it’s an ant-farm! Potted and on rollers here, but if you plant it with the right elements in nature, remove the box and the plant is treeish!

It’s an experiment in naturetoligy. Or naturalism. Or un-naturalism? In any case, Bussien wants us to get back to our roots, literally, etc. In his manifesto below, explore the greener side of things for great justice!

The Nature Manifesto

Having evolved from nature, we have gradually differentiated ourselves from it. Modern society has come to build itself on the perception that nature and man are separated. This differentiation has come to inhibit us and our way of creating. We have now reached the point when the way forward is going back.

We have to accept that we and everything we create are part of nature.
This mindset is essential for evolution as a whole. When applying this to our way of thinking we will liberate ourselves from stagnated conventions.

To move further we need to incorporate the living matter that surrounds us. Let us use the complexity of living nature and include it in our creations. These creations will then redefine the way we reconstruct nature. Only then will we truly move forward.

It is time for man and nature to reunite.

- Michel Bussien

Generally trees are pretty comfortable to sit in. They are made that way for monkeys. Monkeys sit in trees and just hang out because trees were made for monkeys to hang out in. Because we humans were never meant to climb tall trees to sit in, the seat portion of the tree is generally higher than most people can reach. That’s where this chair comes in! Bend nature to your will!

Or do what Michel Bussien suggests: re-root!

Designer: Michel Bussien

The Outdoor Party Platter is quite modest in terms of design and presentation, but that doesn’t come in its way of it being a winner concept. It’s a dish-in-dish design, with the bottom insulated part made from cork and the upper platter part made from bamboo. Place sufficient ice in the bottom half and serve cold cuts or salads from the top platter. The thoughtful (optional) inserts allow you to serve more than one food item at a time, without them running into each other. A handy-dandy for those who like to plan picnics and outdoor parties.

Designer: Vicki Runnegar

Escape pods are nothing new to our collective consciousness. Hollywood writers have used this concept to save presidents from crashing planes to landing R2-D2 and C-3PO on Tatooine. Now designer Alp Germaner(coolest name today) has dreamed up an escape pod that may not take you off planet but will certainly take you off road like never before.The “Peugeot Capsule” is a one person, off-road, electric vehicle inspired by the KLR 650 motorcycle. Complete with integrated GPS, LCD screens that double as rear-view mirrors, full time internet connectivity(for jungle porn of course) and comes with enough luggage space to make a weekend of it. Master Chief not included.

Designer: Alp Germaner

As some of you may know, the Industrial Designers Society of America plays host to a collection of conferences every spring, and this year Long, our magnanimous editor, saw fit to send me off to the mid-east conference in Pittsburgh to report back to you all. The long and short of it? If you don’t have a job, don’t worry, nobody else does either. If you have a job, buckle up for extra hours and responsibility, because you’re gonna have to justify that pittance we designers make. And worse comes to worst, move to china, apparently they have some jobs. Hit the jump if you wanna see what a $300 weekend on YD’s tab looks like.

Stopping off at the Carnegie Mellon School of Design for a tour from one of its students Nadeem Haidary (top right), I glommed onto a group from the University of Cincinnati and enjoyed some barbecue. Captive to a mostly absent trolley, we eventually found our way to Daedalus Excel for an open house of its facilities and some good cheese, crackers and discussion of its philosophy and methods.

The next morning brought a talk on design patent litigation and Gorham’s Ordinary Observer test from Cooper Woodring followed by Tucker Viemeister’s presentation of his Design Manifesto. In it he brings up both the uneasy relationship design has with the economy as well as how his own OXO Good Grips pairing knife for arthritic hands ended up as a murder weapon in Madison.

The day moved onto the delightful Student Merit presentations from Will Oltman, Tylan Tschopp, Justin Ezell, Matt Betteker, Dan T Rowe, Kevin Yang, Hannah May, and Nadeem Haidary (last four pictured below, left to right). My personal pick would have been Nadeem Haidary for some of his mind-blowing projects which you can catch over on his site.

Just as energy was running low and people around me started errantly sketching objects on their notepads, Jon Kolko of Frog Design took the mic and delivered a much needed kick to the pants. Highlighting the impending threat China poses to not just our form giving responsibilities, but research and broader-scope roles, he advised the conference to look around and find the intrinsic, deeply buried insights in our culture, hidden behind things as random and odd as a piece of argyle lamb grafitti, that allow our research and design work to remain relevant. Check out the presentations’ deck here and keep your eyes peeled tomorrow for an in-depth interview with Kolko himself.

Winning the Student Merit Award was Dan T. Rowe (above middle) at the nearby Bossa Nova Navarro room followed by much wine, beer and good cheer, provided you had a green bracelet and some drink tickets. And kudos to the underaged lush who thought fast enough to snag a stranger’s badge and driver’s license to partake in the joviality herself. Those stumbling back to the hotel at just the right time were also treated to a lovely fireworks display which was rather more impressive than the small fire that broke out in the restaurant earlier thanks to some poorly placed candles.

Wrapping up the conference was the groggily attended portfolio review which put a lot of students under the harsh but helpful light of professional opinion. The most common advice I heard was to build a story, utilize scope and sell yourself (metaphorically). Below, Will Koehler (top right) shows off some work while Erin Hamilton (bottom left) of Lextant helps out a student.

That’s about it. Look out for some interviews with Both Jon Kolko and Tucker Viemeister, legendary co-founder of Smart Design, Frog NY and many others.

Part 3 of this fantastic exhibition. Makoto Azuma, Mint Designs, Nendo, Nissan Motor CO. LTD.

Part 1, Part 2

Exhibition:Tokyo Fiber

Biodegradable Moss Planter

Makoto Azuma / Unitika Ltd.

Material: TERRAMAC

Flower artist Makoto Azuma’s characteristic, scrupulous style unhesitatingly draws out the beauty of plants and flowers, revealing their dignity and majesty. here, he uses TERRAMAC because it is manufactured from plant derived polylactic acid to make the material biodegradable. In other words, it is a fiber that will eventually return to nature. The material is woven so as to give depth to the resulting fabric. Azuma uses it as a very broad planter, turning the exhibition site into a mossy wetland. Gorgeous!

The Mousse Earpiece is a bit of an oxymoron. It is a wireless headset even tho we can clearly see wires. The wireless bit comes from the little metal control unit. It transmits the Bluetooth signal but also doubles as a cord retractor because tangled wires piss me off and they should you off too. Aside from that, designer Ming Yi says noise reduction and volume control are a given. We will see since this is just a concept and since when does Braun make headsets?

Designer: Ming Yi

So you need a bike. You need a bike that’s also a lock, and that’s all you need. It’s black, and it’s metal, and that’s about it. But I’ll tell ye what, it’s darn secure. DARN secure. When the thing you’re trying to lock up is the lock, what more do you want? It’s the “Freelock.”

Are you a police officer? Can you tell me if this will be really really really secure? Also are you the bike fashion police? Will this be really really really cool on the streets?

Keep rolling.

Designer: Bong Hokuen & Ko Yoenjung

Trash bins on the street?! Oh we already have that. But wait. This is for recyclables? This concept, the “Olla” waste management system, is for the home and the streets. You collect your disposables and recyclables at home, fill up your travel bags, bring them to these community bins, and empty-em out! And look: pretty colors!

Look there’s three different bins. They’re intuitive. Green Circle for glass, square yellow for plastic and metals, diamond blue for newspapers and magazines.

And what are those bars on the top of the bins? Just ask Romaric! Romaric will also be seeing this thread and answering questions if they’re awesome enough.

Yes. These pipes are used for the pots to be lift up by a machine system called ‘kinshofer’; this is a standard system. Then the pot is put over a container which receives waste. As it is a standard system i just redesigned the skin, but not the global shape; right now the pipe is more dynamic.

Dynamic pipes abound!

Designer: Romaric Le Tiec

I said that and I’ll say it again. Stomping. Design is best with stomping. If you have to stomp to make the device work, then it’s good. Unless it’s a television. This is what you throw the tiny broken tv into. Then you stomp it. With the ironically titled “Armstrong Bin” compression dustbin, you can compact your trash and get a total thumbs up from the earth that the garbage is inevitably going to fill up!

Kidding! The title is actually very clever with the concept. It’s Armstrong like Neil Armstrong, aka the first man to stomp on the moon. The Armstrong dust bin aims to be the first cleverly named step in reducing the space taken by the garbage we just do not stop making!

Stomp it. Stomp it and KILL it.

Designer: Sukwon Park & Sungwoo Park

UPDATE: 2 Weeks Left!

Self-help is the best help, the sooner you imbibe this rule in your life, the faster you will find success. Im not trying to be preachy here, but this is a fact that most biggies in the industry live by.

If you want to own the best possible mobile phone in this world, my dear friend youre gonna have to design it yourself, because you know whats best for you. We live for the future and this is the theme for LGs Design the Future Competition as well. Partnering with crowdSPRING and Autodesk, LG is accepting applications from eligible candidates who have the power of transforming their creative thoughts and imaginations effectively to design. Its a chance to do something for yourself that others can benefit from as well.

To help in this adventure, participating designers will get a free 15-day trial pack of the Autodesk SketchBook Pro software to showcase their talent. Of course, the rewards are plenty! The First Place takes home $20,000 Cash Award; the Second Place: $10,000 Cash Award; Third Place: $5,000 Cash Award; 40 Honorable Mentions: $1,000 Cash Award + 1 LG U.S. Phone (A.R.V. of $300).

Regulations require participants to be a U.S. resident, 18-years and above, and the entries need to be submitted before June 7, 2009 @ 11:59 p.m. (midnight) PST. Owning an LG phone or purchasing a new one wont win you any favors, so designers dont bother, just let your creative juices flow.

Official rules can be found at www.crowdspring.com/LG.
Winners will be announced on July 7, 2009 at www.crowdspring.com/LG/winners.

For no apparent reason, for camping or simply summertime funk; the idea of a backyard shower sounds cool and sublime. Carry the canister out and hang it from a tree and indulge in some unadulterated fun! Fashioned as a plastic molded box, the can of the Portable Shower has a capacity of 12 liters. To enhance the pressure of the water flow, one can kick-start the pump with the touch of a button; which is powered with a detachable rechargeable battery. Pull out the spout end and get going wet!

Designer: Petr Hampl