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.
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.
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!!
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.
FSW Design Inspiration 