Today, Core77 proudly introduces a limited edition bicycle—named the "Dutch Master"—celebrating New York bike culture and a heritage of local manufacturing.

The Dutch Master is based on the beloved Worksman cruiser frame—a workhorse foundation used throughout the New York delivery community, and manufactured in Queens, New York for over 110 years. Core77 customized the frame, fitting it out with a carefully curated set of components, each with its own story.

The bike was hand-built by KT Higgins, a Brooklyn-based ex-bike messenger (infamous for her crash in the movie Pedal), and proprietor of Bushwick Bike Shop, her one-year-old bikeshop in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The Dutch Master features stem and pedals from Brooklyn Machine Works, maker of high-end, indestructible parts. The Brooks saddle and the Dapper Dan grips, both leather, provide unparalleled feel and an authentic patina. The BMX Crankset is complemented by front and rear drum breaks from Sturmey Archer, and the shock-absorbing Schwalbe "Fat Frank" cruiser tires provide smooth-rolling, urban-friendly traction and durability.

The wheels are hand-built in Brooklyn with Swiss DT spokes, and the rear wheel is equipped with bike pegs, so that you can carry (at least) one of your posse home at the end of the night.

Core77 was founded in Brooklyn in 1995, and one of the reasons why the bike project is so exciting for us is that it both recognizes the history of the company and celebrates small manufacturing in the area.

As part of the product launch, the Apple Store SoHo New York will be presenting a Live "Meet the Designers" Event on Saturday, July 11th at 3pm, featuring the story of the Core77 Dutch Master Bicycle. Designers and builders of the bike will take the audience through the design and development of the Dutch Master, showing video and process shots of production and construction of the bike. The Apple Store SoHo New York is located at 103 Prince Street. Following the event, the Dutch Master will be on display in the lobby of the trend-setting Ace Hotel New York, located at 20 West 29th Street, for one week, from July 11 through July 18th.

The bike will be produced in a limited edition of 25. For more information, ordering, videos, and press photos of Core77's Dutch Master Bicycle, visit www.core77.com/dutchmaster.

Artist: fueledbycoffee
More: View all Core-toons

Packaging for Japanese booze? The results of the latest Absolut or Bombay design competition? Nope--these are the funky glassworks of Joel Philip Myers, the Pennsylvania-based artist with works in the The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Decorative Art, Prague, Australian Crafts Council, and Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan.

Philadelphia's Wexler Gallery is currently running a retrospective of Myers' work from 1971 to present; for those not in the Philly area, you can have a look at the works on display here.

The crazy-looking Fluxus is a "wave of glass and light" resulting from the combined skills of Karim Rashid and arts Michela Vianello.

The press release doesn't say whether it was a direct collaboration, but what we do know is that Rashid designed Knit (top two photos), the grid of glass elements the light fixture is composed of; Vianello then shaped it into the undulating form seen in the bottom two photos for installation in the White Gallery, a lifestyle store in Rome, and Italian manufacturer Andromeda International is calling the resultant product Fluxus.

Fluxus covers a surface area of 60 square meters, using 42,000 handmade glass Knit elements, in 5 colors; the lighting is provided by 5,000 punctiform micro lights distributed on the internal surface of the wave.

The unique fixture reportedly required two years of research and seven months of development, and we're looking forward to seeing what other shapes designers and artists will bend the Knit into.

Have any of you had experience with selling items on Ponoko.com - or similar type sites? I am trying to figure out the best way to sell a few furniture pieces I have designed and fabricated. Any advice and/or ideas would be appreciated!

>>Read and Reply

Designer Vadim Kibardin's suh-weeeet Black & White Clock turns two dimensions into three with a series of four OLED digits, each with their own power source.

A light sensor would figure out if it's bright or dark in the room, adjusting the numbers accordingly--going dark to form numbers during the day, and bright white at night.

Status: Concept stage, seeking a manufacturer.

The James Dyson Award design competition has a simple, broad mandate: "Design something that solves a problem." Shown here is one of the entries, The Access, a handicap-friendly fitness center designed to be used by the wheelchair-bound and able-bodied alike.

You can check out the rest of the entries (and vote on them, with free registration) at this link. The list is fun to go through--the competition's broad mandate means you'll see everything from surfing gear and automobile safety devices to "bionic cockpits" and wristwatches that display your current biological rhythms.

Though the collapsible umbrella was invented roughly 2,000 years ago, major product updates have been slow. In recent years we've posted on the SENZ and the Nubrella (pictured above), but it's taken until now for someone to take a biomimetic stab at the bumbershoot.

Inspired by flower petals that unfurl, Talus Furniture's Calyx Umbrella prototype (video below) contains ribs that expand both radially and sideways. It's clearly not yet ready for primetime, but will hopefully be that important first step towards Umbrella 2.0.

Frogdesign founder Hartmut Esslinger shares a "" slideshow with Businessweek, as part of an article reviewing his book A Fine Line: How Design Strategies Are Shaping the Future of Business.

Throughout his book, Esslinger is keen to proffer tips on how design can affect both innovation and the bottom line. Apple stories abound, including intriguing behind-the-scenes tales that humanize both Jobs and Esslinger. But the writer also includes anecdotes of his design firm's work for an impressive, disparate collection of the world's leading brands, including Disney, Louis Vuitton, and SAP.

In brief case study after case study, Esslinger builds momentum for his main argument. "Creative strategy offers clear benefits over the traditional supply-chain dominated approach to business," he writes. How? By producing solutions designed for human beings rather than mere commodities. Apple's status as the poster-child for a design-centric approach that has paid off with continuous profits underlines his argument.

As you know, we love clever business cards here at Core77 (see here and here), so we wanted to make sure that you saw Sparkle Lab's brilliant Paper Circuit Business Cards, packaged with all the parts you need to create a tiny circuit by following the printed placement diagram. Creators of the already popular Discover Electronics Kit, Sparkle Labs will soon be releasing more printed paper micro-circuits, sure to be a delight to both electronics enthusiasts and graphic designers everywhere.

A couple more shots after the jump.

Senior Industrial Designer
Frog Design
San Francisco, California

We are looking for a new type of senior designer who is up for the challenge of their life --- someone who can grasp a culturally relevant product experience; one that transcends any one discipline. We're looking for people who can understand human behaviors, brands, trends, perceptions and overall interactions; people who can tell stories and who can creatively synthesize analysis and put themselves in the mind of the consumer and client company to help them achieve their goals.

» view

The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.

For the Bach program at the Manchester Art Gallery Zaha Hadid Architects designed and installed a temporary music hall inspired by the solo works of JS Bach. The original designs were tweaked to ensure acoustic perfection and we expect that the marriage of sound and vision will prove to be breath-taking.

The festival runs through July 18.

via FastCompany

This latest issue of David Report is a checklist for sustainability. They write:

"We will not provide all of the answers, but we will on the other hand ask a lot of questions - one of the most important ways to acquire knowledge. You will also find thoughtful quotes and best practise examples. One thing is for sure - sustainability is not about doing nothing.

If you were a fan of the Zweistil shape-shifting bike concept when it got featured here on Core77 back in May (or on co-designer Stefan Wallmann's Coroflot portfolio), you'll want to head over to SolidSmack.com, where Stefan gets into some detail about the design and development of the unique vehicle. There's some pretty detailed discussion of mechanism development, the extensive use of physical prototypes, and the role CAD played (and didn't play) in taking a slightly crazy concept from sketchbook to road.

Pro/Engineer
Wildfire 5.0 first look on MCAD Cafe
PTC named "Official Supplier" to Ducati Motor Company

SpaceClaim
New service packs released for SC Engineer and SC Style

Alias
Video Tutorial: Projecting 2D sketches onto 3D surfaces

Rhino
Savanna3D model library for architecture and interior design
Hydraulic Design - advanced modeling tutorials for Rhino
TheVeryMany: RhinoScript-enabled art installations, opening July 9 in NYC (pictured above)

SolidWorks
SustainabilityXpress module: review by Kenneth Wong at Desktop Engineering
SustainabilityXpress module: review by Al Dean at Develop3D
Tutorial: Linking values to ensure consistent thickness in extruded features

Inventor
Video Tutorial: Part configurations
Video Tutorial: Creating a grill with the Grill tool

General Strangeness
Some thoughts on brain-based CAD interfaces

Note: Alistar Dean will be taking over the 3D CAD weekly post from Carl Alviani for the next three weeks. Al is an occasional Core77 contributor, and the Editor and Co-founder of the highly regarded CAD and product development websites Develop3D and MacDesign. More on him later.