design blog - DesignAddict

Michael Young's Portable Waterproof Speaker for EOps

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:48:00+0100

The i24R3Portable is an extension of the i24R3 wireless speaker project collaboration between EOps and Michael Young studio. The i24R3Portable is a family of portable speakers with various specific functional configurations to suit different user lifestyles.

"This project is about a serious portable waterproof speaker, I have always wanted one myself but there are big constraints to achieve the best sound quality while being waterproof and lightweight. The conventional waterproof speaker drivers are simply not up to the job. We have achieved a fundamental improvement in waterproof portable speaker design by using a totally sealed sound chamber design with light weight and powerful flat panel speakers and passive radiators which can provide really strong music perfomance. And the circular form and the thickness of the i24R3Portable speaker happens to be the most appropriate form that can satisfy the challenging engineering requirement and coincidentally also look nice with the original i24R3 wireless speaker system. The i24R3Portable comes with a tube stand that is very unconventional for a portable speaker. The tube stand is something playful but people can use it like a handle for portability like carrying the speaker from indoor living room to the balcony but it is also removable so that people can mount the speaker in the wall if they want.", Michael Young (UK).

The different versions available allow the user to listen to music via PC or Mac computers, mobile phones, IPhones or MP3Players.

Latis, new bathroom collection from Omvivo

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:15:00+0100

Latis is the latest bathroom creation from Omvivo. It is inspired by the fundamentals of tradition and quality. Simple forms combined with elegant materials such as natural stone to create a sculptural range of bathroom products that will compliment both modern and traditional spaces.

Designer is Thomas Coward, principal designer at Omvivo. Coward moved to Australia in 2004 from the UK. In 2005 Coward was recognised as one of Australia’s top 50 emerging designers, and his Parli-me chair was selected as one of only 16 exhibitors for the City of Milan’s young foreign designers showcase.

The Kaj Franck Design Prize 2009 to Hannu Kähönen

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:41:00+0100

Industrial designer Hannu Kähönen (born 1948) has received the Kaj Franck Design Prize 2009.

Hannu Kähönen graduated in 1971 from the University of Art and Design Helsinki. He is a versatile expert in design, whose perspective ranges from the practical design work to national design policy. He has helped to develop the field through his work in national and international positions of trust. Hannu Kähönen has also written about design and has taught design at the university level.

photo: Liisa Valonen

"Design is no longer the creation and development of new models. Instead, it has become a notable competitive factor. At present it is difficult to find any significant innovations with reference to old concepts. Design today must take note of the environmental issues – the requirements of sustainable design and changing needs of people and a population that is ageing. Pure materials, ecological and service design solutions will stay important issues in the future”, tells Hannu Kähönen.


Padlock series, 1994 Abloy	Ava, Abloy

Scala bus, 1999-2001	Helsinki city tram, 1996-1998

Trice chair, 1980-1985	2F-chair, 2005

Bamboom party fork	Metal detector, 1984
The Kaj Franck Design Prize of 2009 – Hannu Kähönen 30 October–29 November 2009 Design Forum Finland, Erottajankatu 7, Helsinki Free entrance

Tom Rossau's Danish lamps

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:08:00+0100

Continuing in the Scandinavian tradition of working with wood, Tom Rossau is working on the birch veneer prototype of the classic architects light. With this model Tom is demonstrating his affinity for natural materials and his drive to re-think traditional designs.
Check out his other designs on his website.

Kartono's slow design radios

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:55:00+0100

Product designer develops radio which incorporates Indonesian culture
by Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia

An Indonesian product designer has developed a simple radio that he hopes will become a timeless classic.
It is a functional piece of art, based on the designer's interpretation of Indonesian culture. But there are no traditional carvings on a Magno Radio.

Its creator Singgih Kartono wanted to go beyond established forms of Indonesian art, such as batik and carving, while retaining the cultural philosophy of having a connection between the user and the product.

He said: "We do not think of a product as an object, we think it is part of our life. And I try to explore that in my design."

The radios are made from Pinewood, Mahogany and Albasia - wood from trees indigenous to Indonesia. And Singgih plants a replacement tree for each one he uses.

He explained: "(This is) because wood is a soulful material. Wood tells us about life, balance and limits. When I combine electronic products with wood material, it seems like a soul embodied, it makes a closer relation to us. "

The radio started out as a final year university project in 1992 when he was studying product design, and it took 13 years to start production. The main challenge was difficulty in sourcing small numbers of radio circuits, to be encased in Singgih's wooden radio casing.

Suppliers normally only sell a minimum of 1,000 radio circuits per purchase. But in 2005, a supplier finally agreed to sell Singgih 100 radio circuits.

A Magno radio costs between US$200 and US$300, depending on its size.

A team of 30 craftsmen makes about 200 sets every month at a workshop the social enterprise entrepreneur had set up in his home town in Central Java in 2005 to provide jobs for his fellow villagers.

That is not enough to meet demand from Europe, the United States, Australia, China and Taiwan. But Singgih has no intention of increasing the production of Magno radios. And he is in no hurry to come up with new designs.

He said: "I will make developments. But my design is slow design. I do not want to make things fast because I am not driven by the market, or driven by the money."

Singgih said the Magno's simplicity means it can be a timeless product. And he hopes it will evolve into a collector's item that is used for many years to come. - CNA/ms

Royal VKB introduces iD/cutlery

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:36:00+0100

Royal VKB has developed iD/cutlery with Dutch designers Richard Hutten, Gijs Bakker, Ineke Hans and Japanese Atelier Bow Wow.

Royal VKB is the latest brand from Dutch company, Koninklijke Van Kempen & Begeer. Founded in 1789, Koninklijke Van Kempen & Begeer has made history with stainless steel products and silverware.

iD/cutlery by Richard Hutten

Eating is fun and social, so my cutlery has to contribute to the fun of eating. Therefore I created cutlery that is easy to use, playful and no-nonsense. The shapes are essentially geometrical and carry the trademark ‘Hutten-loop’. Use it as a necklace. Hang it on a spike.

iD/cutlery by Gijs Bakker

I took a drop of water and flattened the top to create the basic shape for this elegant design. My iD/cutlery combines the looks of a reclined silhouette with a great feel of plasticity and perfect balance. Because I am a big fan of Italian food, I designed the fork with extra long teeth and a perfect hilt for spinning spaghetti.

iD/cutlery by Ineke Han

I based my design upon the archetypical shape of cutlery and made it robust and heavy. It may seem plain at first but the backsides are nicely engraved with different patterns as a reference to the lusciously decorated cutlery designs of the past. There’s more than meets the eye.

iD/cutlery by Bow Wow

We thought back to more primitive times and imagined the dining table as a landscape where nature prevails. This awakened our awareness of the moment when tools were first discovered and inspired us to use natural elements. We designed this cutlery by combining the minimalistic shapes of branches and leaves. Why not create a different dining landscape by combining the three main pieces to form the shape of a “tipi”.

Kiran, a low-cost solar lantern

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:33:00+0100

D.light Design has launched the Kiran, a low-cost solar lighting solution, designed especially for households without access to electricity. The Kiran retails at USD10, making it affordable for most low-income families throughout the developing world.

The Kiran is five times brighter than a kerosene lantern and can be fully charged in a day under the sun. It provides bright, 360-degree illumination for working, studying, or traveling. There are two light settings, which offer up to 8 hours of light on a full charge. With an integrated solar panel and a multiple-setting handle, the lantern is extremely flexible and easy to use. For households with access to grid electricity, the Kiran can also be AC-charged with a standard Nokia phone adapter.

Recent market tests establish the Kiran as a viable and desirable alternative to kerosene. Customer feedback consistently praised the product’s ease of use, durability, and bright light. According to Niwrtti Jawane, a welder from Miraj Village in India: “The Kiran has benefitted us in several ways: It is portable, has good brightness, and prevents the harmful effects of kerosene fumes. This purchase has been a good one-time investment. As there are no costs for recharging, it will be economical over time. We are happy with our purchase as it is a definite improvement over the emergency lights, kerosene lamps and candles previously used.”

London 2012 Olympic pictograms

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:20:00+0100

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games unveiled the London Olympic pictograms which will be used during the Olympic Games in 2012.

The 38 pictograms represent the sports and disciplines at the Games and will be used for signage, on tickets and on the field of play at Games-time, becoming an important ‘wayfinder’ tool for spectators.

The London 2012 pictograms were developed in consultation with each International Sporting Federation and have been designed to be vibrant and accurate depictions of each sporting discipline.

Olympic Games pictograms were first used at the 1948 Games in London and have become a regular feature of the Olympic movement since the Tokyo Games in 1964. The pictograms will be featured on limited edition adidas t-shirts on sale from October 24 2009 to celebrate 1000 days to go until the Olympic Games. There will be a full set of Paralympic pictograms which will be launched later this year.
The London 2012 Olympic pictograms designed by SomeOne represent each of the sports and disciplines of the Olympic Games.

There are two formats for each pictogram - a silhouette and a 'dynamic' version.

The 'dynamic' pictograms:
The dynamic format of the pictograms bring the representations to life. They will be used on merchandise, posters and sign-posts. They were inspired by the London Underground map.

The silhouette pictograms:

'Silver Art' by Elium Studio for Rowenta

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:53:00+0100

There are so many born-dead projects floating about we sometimes forget that - before anything else - design is an exact discipline in which function gives nothing away to style, and technical innovation is there to serve real user protocols and not just the sales pitch. With their 'Silver Art' range, Elium Studio has made this clear, demonstrating how French elegance can inform industrial design.

Five pieces compose the breakfast set - espresso machine, coffee percolator, toaster, electric jug and juice extractor - enacting subtle crossovers from kitchenware to tableware, and from function to décor. Purity of line and high finish given to materials (brushed stainless steel, wood chrome) in series products opens a new window on these archetypes of modern living: in the 'Grand Hotel' spirit, modest everyday accessories for preparing and serving access to the status of potential collector's pieces. The range reflects the way Elium Studio uses technology - efficiency must always be user friendly. This is the right stuff in the French vein, expressing clear balance between function and form.

Espresso Machine

Coffee Percolator

Toaster

Electric Jug

Juice Extractor

Zaha Hadid - a retrospective exhibition

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:44:00+0100


Icone Series Bag For Louis Vuitton	Crevasse Vases For Alessi

A major retrospective on the works of Zaha Hadid Architects is taking place within the salone of Palazzo della Ragione, Padua, Italy. The exhibition examines the practice’s continued experimentation and research into digital design and construction methods at the cutting edge of the industry.

To coincide with the exhibition, Zaha Hadid Architects have designed a 20 metre long wooden table with seating for Cavour Square in Padua.

Product designs include some of Hadid’s most notable pieces and examine the diversity of her work including Mesa Table for Vitra, Genesy Lamp for Artemide, Aqua Table for Established & Sons, Melissa Shoes, sofas for Sawaya & Moroni and B&B Italia, and Louis Vuitton’s Icone bag. Many of these pieces are now exhibited at museums and galleries worldwide and have become collectors’ pieces alongside design classics from previous centuries.


Scoop Sofa For Sawaya & Moroni	Mesa Table for Vitra

The salone of Palazzo della Ragione (constructed 1172-1219) is considered one of the most notable monuments in Padua. Its medieval roof remains amongst the largest in Europe unsupported by columns, whilst the frescoes that adorn the interior walls date from 1425. As with each of her projects, Hadid has organized this exhibition as a direct response to its environment within the salone, articulating the inherent contextual relationships of her work. The historic qualities of the space presented an exacting design challenge for Hadid. The exhibition design respects these spatial and contextual characteristics whilst also intervening in the unique manner of Hadid's digital, liquid fluidity. Conceived as an interior urban landscape, the exhibition should be considered as a large scale installation; a pixilated field defined by algorithmic formulae that introduce complexity and generate an interior urban condition. Space has been organized as a single fluid landscape with connecting individual fragments and clusters.

Zaha Hadid
Exhibition from October 27 2009 to March 1 2010
Palazzo della Ragione, Padua

Dyson Air Multiplier

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:23:00+0100

This is Dyson's latest invention: The Dyson Air Multiplier™.
The fan works very differently to conventional fans. It uses Air Multiplier™ technology to draw in air and amplify it 15 times, producing an uninterrupted stream of smooth air. With no blades or grill.

Air is accelerated through an annular aperture. This creates a jet of air that passes over a 16° airfoil-shaped ramp, channeling its direction. Using an airfoil-shaped ramp (like a cross-section through an airplane wing), airflow is amplified 15 times.

Blades cause buffeting - The blades on conventional fans cause unpleasant buffeting because they chop the air before it hits you.

No blades. No buffeting - Air Multiplier™ technology amplifies surrounding air, giving an uninterrupted stream of smooth air.

The first Solar Bus Stop in Spain

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:03:00+0100

The Solar Bus stop (SBS) is a sustainable and innovative system of informational boards for public transportations that functions integrally with solar energy. The SBS increases the quality of the service, since the user, upon arriving at the stop, will be punctually informed of the time of arrival of the buses from different lines, until six. The information updates every 30 seconds and also offers other informations of interest for the user.
This is the first solar bus stop in the Spanish territory, that is totally self-sufficient, that uses only its own energy resources and doesn’t need wiring.

The solar bus stop has been developed by 4 students of the Investigation + Education (I+ ED Barcelona) under the supervision of Horge Perez. This team worked in collaboration with the urban furniture company Capmar, specialized in the production of urban furniture.

Lamp Gras available again

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:31:00+0100

In 1921 Bernard-Albin Gras designed a series of lamps for use in offices and in industrial environments. The Gras lamp, as it was subsequently called, was astounding in its simple, robust and yet very ergonomic design. There are neither screws nor welded joints in the basic form.

In 1927 the Ravel company purchased the patent and started production of the Gras lamps. Bernard-Albin Gras was one of the most innovative designer of the 20th century. The functional esthetic of his lamps and especially the design of details such as those of the arms, stems, brackets and bases were truly original and far ahead of his time.

Early on Le Corbusier was seduced by the modern design and user-friendliness of the lamps and became one of Bernard-Albin Gras' most enthusiastic supporters using the lamps in his own offices as well as employing them in numerous architectural projects all over the world. Others such as Robert Mallet-Stevens, Emile Jacques Ruhlmann and Eileen Gray followed this trend as well. Furthermore, such well-know artists as Sonia Delaunay and Georges Braque also used these lamps in their studios. For the first time in history, a lamp was equally popular in professional as well as in residential applications.

Today, the Gras lamp has become sought after a collector's item all over the world, most notably in France, in the United States and in Japan. Bernard-Albin Gras's talented and visionary design has proven to be timeless.

French producer DCW, created in 2008, has acquired the exclusivity of the rights to reissue the Gras lamps.

photos credit: Cécil Mathieu

MetaboliCity - Urban growers

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:55:00+0100

MetaboliCity is the name for a vision of a city that metabolises its resources and waste to supply its inhabitants with all the nourishment they need and more.

As a participatory design research project it explores how designers can intervene sensitively within local urban food growing cultures by providing a design thinking and crafting that may help to sustain these initiatives and catalyse larger positive changes in the surrounding environment.

The team has installed urban grow-kits accompanied by a set of guidelines to be tested and developed at a broad sample of communities in London, UK and Brussels, Belgium. This is a design-service system that integrates both traditional and hi-tech industrialized agricultural techniques into the fabric of the built environment whilst simultaneously being rooted in an ethical systems thinking.

The project is led by Rachel Wingfield of Studio Loop.pH based at Central Saint Martins, London and funded by the Audi Design Foundation.

MetaboliCity is about empowering people to grow food in the most challenging of urban spaces, be it indoor window farms or vertical green cladding that clings to the buildings. Design studio Loop.pH has been developing lightweight, architectural structures together with soilless growing techniques for the project. The rigid 3D lace provides support for plants and irrigation and can be retro-fitted to buildings or become free standing vertical gardens for indoor or out.

The agenda is driven by how design can be used to bring about positive change. Recognizing that it is social innovation and open collaboration that is needed to address some of the most pressing problems of today. Rather than favoring single solutions for diverse and complex problems the outcome of MetaboliCity is a diverse portfolio of solutions to empower city-dwellers to create sustainable human habitats.

The project explores how designers can work in multiple ways, taking on different roles within an interdisciplinary context, mediating between experts and amateurs in the field of urban agriculture and regeneration. The initial case study, based at Central Saint Martins, School of Art and Design, is to test the feasibility of urban agri-tecture kits with a broad spectrum of participants that covers four main city activities for small-scale amateur growing; Restaurants, Community and public spaces, Workplaces such as offices and schools and Housing both social and private.

The role of the designer in this project is that of a facilitator, mediator and co-researcher working alongside the participants, offering designerly ways of thinking, documenting and crafting within each case. A new collective imagination of the city is cultivated through workshops and the weaving and planting of temporary grow spaces within each of these local contexts. The participants of MetaboliCity share their experiences via a collaborative online platform to create a live journal for the project and knowledge ecology. This is a dynamic space to document activities, create a library of resources and support discussions.

A series of MetaboliCity Workshops and instruction sessions are underway with the participants to provide a think tank for UA initiatives and a structured platform to discuss possible future, long-term developments.

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'Cocoon' is the winner of Electrolux Design Lab 2009

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:17:00+0100

Swedish design student Rickard Hederstierna from Lund University wins Electrolux Design Lab 2009 with his concept 'Cocoon', the meat and fish maker.

'Cocoon' is a sustainable response to the world’s growing population and its desire to consume meat and fish. Similar to heating popcorn in a microwave, Cocoon prepares pre-packaged meat and fish dishes by heating muscle cells identified by radio frequency identification (RFID) signals. The signals detect the specific dish and then suggest the required cooking time. This process uses science to create food, lifting a burden on the planet by reducing the need for further intensive farming and fishing.

Jury's motivation: “Cocoon addresses a controversial issue that is very real: humankind’s continued desire to eat meat and fish. A great design concept polarizes opinion, and this is exactly what Cocoon achieves by exploring this issue. An inviting, tactile design, the Cocoon resembles a gemstone with a metal accent reflecting the heritage of the Swedish art-glass industry. Cocoon meets all of the brief’s criteria: it is daring, cutting edge and truly innovative in its focus on social and environmental issues.”

The Electrolux Design Lab 2009 award is a prize of EUR 5,000 and a six-month paid internship at one of Electrolux global design centers.