pimg src=http://www.productdose.com/images/products/draft_5320.gif
alt= //ppThese glasses are terrific. They fall into that category of primal humor where something just makes you laugh for no apparent reason. Same as seeing someone trip over the sidewalk as I’m driving past. This is how I’d like to have my milk in the mo’nin. |via a href=http://www.7gadgets.com/2009/03/25/spooky-tumblers/106707Gadgets/a|br //p
While I am proud to be a San Francisco native, I know it’s definitely not a fashion capital like New York or Paris. So my fashion spider sense definitely perked up when I heard about a local shoe designer making waves in the fashion scene. Originally from the East Coast, Martha Davis moved to San Francisco eight years ago for a job and never left. Looking to create something of her own after years of working in industrial design, Martha went to Milan where she enrolled in the Ars Sutoria program to learn everything about footwear. Lucky for me, I got a look of her current Spring 2009 shoe line and a preview of her upcoming Fall collection. Wearing a raw edged ruffle dress and mismatched shoes (from her line, of course!), Martha was a gracious host on the rooftop terrace of a posh hotel on the San Francisco waterfront. Everyone oohed and ahhed over the shoes and those with small enough feet got to try on the samples! Can you believe the shoes are made in the same Italian factory used by Chanel and Chloe? The leather is butter soft and even the tallest boots are generous enough to fit any calf shape without any zippers! By the way, every woman I asked wearing Martha’s shoes said they were super comfortable. In the Bay Area? Her shoes can be found in Metier in San Francisco and Deliciouz in Walnut Creek. For everyone else, Shopbop will be carrying her collection in June! Mark my words, Martha Davis is a name to watch out for. Click the slideshow for some droolworthy shoes.
Chicago-based multidisciplinary design team Vessel Ideation took home first place at this year’s World Kitchen Tea-Off with their pot-and-kettle combo aptly called One.
Designed to both boil and serve, the single vessel has an intuitive magnetic trivet that attaches to its base only when the kettle is hot, allowing for a seamless motion from stove to tabletop. In lieu of a whistle, the kettle’s thermochromic ink used in the decorative pattern surrounding the base becomes visible once the water inside has reached the boiling point, alerting you to its readiness.
To see a full demonstration on the One’s capabilities, check out the video online.
If you’re one of those fortunate people who a) still has a job and b) aren’t concerned about lay-offs so you can still do frivolous things like take vacations, we have a recommendation for you. The Guardian‘s Hans Kundnani reports in from Dessau, Germany, where you can stay, at a very reasonable fee, in the rooms once used by students at the Bauhaus architecture school. You can wander wander around halls Walter Gropius designed, visit the classrooms people like Kandinsky and Klee taught in, and take communal showers just like the students in the 1920s would have (the boarding is pretty historically accurate, see?). To us, it sounds like the world’s most perfect get away, and probably to you too — just make sure you clear it with your spouse or significant other first, particularly that communal showering part. Here’s a bit about venturing outside your room:
After breakfast in the canteen where the Bauhaus students used to eat for free (you sit on Breuer stools, of course), I set out to explore the rest of Dessau, which is easily navigable by foot or on bicycles that can be rented from the railway station. The most significant of the other buildings designed by Gropius and the school’s architecture department that are open to the public is the Torten Estate, a housing project consisting of more than 300 terraced one- and two-storey dwellings, which were built cheaply with standardised prefabricated components that could be assembled on site like Lego. Several units are open to the public, including an experimental house made entirely of steel.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media
Last day to purchase tickets to Thursday’s PSFK Conference in New York City, where speakers such as Kevin Slavin, Bart Haney, and Marc & Sara Schiller will be taking the stage. See you there!
pimg src=http://www.productdose.com/images/products/draft_5319.gif
alt= //ppWinner of the 2009 a href=http://www.tea-off.com/Tea Off/a Teakettle Competition, the One Teakettle from Vessel Ideation is designed to allow you to boil and serve tea from one container. The ink that make up the design is thermochromic and become visible as the water boils. I love the Space Invader aliens.That’s classy.br //p
Coining, a type of stamping, is a production method that uses brute force to smash a die into a piece of metal, leaving an imprint. (Kind of like when a ring-wearing Rick James punched Charlie Murphy in the forehead in that “Chappelle Show” sketch.) Coining is how they make coins (duh), military medals, and police badges.
The earliest industrial coining presses looked like this and were powered by large men the size of rhinoceroses:
In the late 1800s they were steam-powered and looked like this:
Nowadays the machines look quite different. Hit the jump to see them, along with photos of the entire coining process in action at the Denver Mint. We promise you, it’s fascinating!
Papier Valise carries exquisite paper treasures and finery. You must pay a visit to Janice’s shop, blog and photostream.
In designing the “interior identity” for South Korea’s Daelim construction company, Seoul-based SDesignUnit has ensured that light switches, temperature controllers, outlets, etc. all have the same simple but beautiful visual language. Check out their site to see more and larger images, but be warned–these guys have visual language down pat. English language, not so much.
With his Tok Tak, Seoul-based designer Taewan Kim has thought out the little intricacies of using tiny MP3 players–the interface design, ways to easily share the music with friends, and a simple, tactile way of adjusting the headphone cord length, which is normally a pain in the neck.
Kim’s Net Stick is a walking cane designed for the elderly that provides useful information, like maps and elderly-friendly social networking tools.
Take a look at Kim’s other work on Coroflot, most of it centered on how users interact with physical objects.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
