Lovely self customisable clock
I really love products like these, SO simple yet SO effective. It’s a great concept offering a part finished product which can finished simply by the user in whichever way they seem fit.
This little clock can be wall mounted, then you pick literally anything you like to make the hour and minute hand.
This is the sort of design one looks at and immediately may think ‘ah that’s so simple, why didn’t I think of that!’ however, from experience it tends to be these sort of concepts that actually take more thinking than initially expected. With the rise in popularity of mass customisation, products embracing this movement are generally met with much satisfaction.
Mobile homeless shelter
Although it may look like a pine-constructed caravan prototype, I quite like the concept behind it – a solidly constructed tent. You may feel as though you’re living in a cupboard on castors but the compactness is really quite engaging and looks like it could actually be fairly cosy. Reminds me of capsule hotels.
Savant’s Interactive House Control
Found this on coolhunting.com and thought it was quite a nice sample of interaction design. Smart home concepts and technology have been around for a while now so it’s no news that you can control most things in your house from one little tablet. However I like the idea shown in the image below; the screen shows and image of the room you’re in and you simply touch elements on the image e.g. a light to turn it on and off. And of course it goes without saying that there is the obligatory iPhone app to go with it, so you can remotely control your home whilst away on vacation.
My one little niggling thought with these concepts though is that currently this sort of technology integration is only really available if you’re pretty wealthy due to it’s excessive cost. So by the time this sort of thing becomes accessible to the vox pop, new and probably cheaper technology will be available – I predict that in time you won’t need a screen to access the technology, it will all be motion/gesture detection.
Shanghai World Expo
The Shanghai World Expo see’s some pretty inspiring architecture with each country having it’s own ‘pavilion’. This one here is the UK Pavilion dubbed the ‘Seed Cathedral’, apparently inspired by a seed, featuring 60,000 slim acrylic rods which will quiver with the wind. Beautiful notion and wonderfully executed. Would love to go and visit, pity it’s so far away.
Pylons – intended temporary or accidental permanent solution?
I was out on a stroll yesterday afternoon, nice typical sunny sunday afternoon activity, in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, and was suddenly struck by how ghastly Pylons look, tearing through the countryside like a raging torrent of steel and cabling. I think possibly, I’ve grown so used to seeing them that they’re almost not really noticeable anymore. Is this the eventual effect the designers/engineers were hoping for – give enough time and eventually nobody will notice them and they’ll almost become part of the landscape? If so it’s quite a long game they were playing, or if it was accidental then they are quite lucky with the ultimate result.
However, this does not detract from my initial thoughts upon really considering these metallic constructions, in that they give me the impression that when the sudden need for power distribution came about, Pylons were erected as a quick, relatively cost-effective and temporary solution with a view to developing something more discreet in due course; a ‘we’ll design it properly later’ moment. Unfortunately, if this actually was the case, the temporary solution has actually become ‘the design’, a snowball effect where once so many Pylon networks have been developed its impossible to justify the need to tear down vast mileage of them again to instigate the eventually-intended permanent solution.
I may of course be grossly mis-informed on the subject, but these are just my immediate thoughts upon standing beneath one on a sunny hill-side.
At last a nicely design 3 Pin Plug!
After a while of working on products revolving around power input and output etc. it’s wonderful to find this lovely example of a mundane, functional but necessary item redesigned in a considerate and practical fashion. 3 Pin plugs are among the most bulky and awkward in the world, storage of them on a product can be a nightmare, but this gives me hope: the pins given a rotational axis enabling them to be folded down for storage and finally a brilliant 3 way splitter, so much more discreet and elegant than the one you buy from the hardware store. Genuis.
Via designboom.com
IDEO’s rather drear prediction of the future
Found this illustrated video on good.is and upon watching was given the impression that IDEO doesn’t have a terribly cheerful outlook on energy usage in the future. Interesting and poignant it most certainly is, but in my opinion the black and white illustration and mildly psychotic fairground music make me think of Brave New World…Lets have some colour!!
When more is decidedly less…
Over the weekend I was in a hardware store and saw a shower unit on offer next to the cashier, this was most definitely not your standard old tried-and-tested, but a horrendous example of a single function product having been over-designed to propose a multitude of gimmicky controls. It even has a pause button! so you can apparently answer a call mid-shower and then press play again to resume.
Without wishing to sound like the worst kind of opinionated, outspoken dullard, but who seriously commissions/designs these products? I’m all for interesting use of technology and innovation, however I find it difficult to see the need for a touch interface shower with all bells and whistles, products like this are just creating need rather than fulfilling it.
Augmented Reality concept
This is quite a thought provoking visualisation into what AR could look like when it eventually becomes common place in everyday life.
Though what I find funny is that even though there’s visual concepts behind this that will make you fill your boots, it’s overlayed on quite old style appliances – the kettle is the standard cordless one most people have etc., however I know that this is not the focus of the video but it rather amused me, such a juxtaposition.
Origami foldable MP3 Player
I found this desperately inspiring piece of interactive design on yankodesign.com. What struck me about it was it’s novel (not gimmicky!) method of interaction with the user. Instead of using the standard: play, stop, forward, reverse etc. the user simply folds the product into the shape of the play icon to play and slide one piece accross to fast forward and unfolds to a square to stop.
Though not on the levels of interaction of which Pranav Mistry was expatiating (see earlier blog post – trust me it’s worth it!) this product has got me thinking differently about product operation and control, so wonderfully refreshing and inspiring.
Design is The Problem
Nathan Shedroff’s thorough and informative survey of virtually every aspect of sustainable design. Something I feel we should all read as designers.
Cat Display Table
Found this product on joshspear.com and found it really rather amusing. I guess partly because cats tend to make me smile at the best of times, but also the concept of being able to eat, read, drink whilst never having to take your eyes off your cat! Also could be problematic trying to persuade him/her/it to take up residence there.
Conductive Trees
This seems a bit Aldous Huxleyesque. Trees that will be able to conduct electricity and potentially eventually be able to be used for computational purposes. In it’s essence, the tree would grow electrical conductivity.
Call for improvements in Battery recycling
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8490175.stm
Interesting article on how we are facing a problem with the lack of recycling of our domestic batteries. The government is looking to improve this by instituting recycling at local supermarkets and kerbside collections as currently 97% of standard AA and AAA batteries are disposed of in landfill sites.
WRAP offer a comprehensive assessment of kerbside recycling methods. Perhaps we as designers need to look at ways to make the kerbside recycling process easier, quicker and more attractive!
PDF Document from WRAP to be found here:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/Choosing_the_right_recycling_collection_system.44b6afc7.7179.pdf
FSW Design Inspiration 