Une idée réussie par le designer Victor M. Aleman avec ce projet de vélo urbain & compactable permettant d’économiser de l’espace. A la fois transportable et pratique, la roue est composée de 6 modules et d’une structure détachable. Un mécanisme complexe, à découvrir dans la suite.
Construction will begin on a wall to be built entirely by a robot – designed by Swiss architects Gramazio and Kohler – in New York later this month. (more…)
Dutch designers Snodevormgevers and artist Paul Segers have completed a temporary structure allowing visitors to cross a hedge in Rotterdam. (more…)
A new shipment of papergoods has arrived in the store! Lots of lovely new things, particularly from Chronicle Books. One of my favourite photographers, Jen Altman (Jen11, Old School) has curated a Polaroid Notes card set, based on her book “The Love of Light”. The cards are just slightly larger than an actual polaroid picture, but with some visual texture and laminate coating the notes really do feel like the real thing. Drop by the store to see what else is new!
The upcoming exhibit “Bike Rides” brings together a global cast of artists to celebrate pedal power at a time when the developed world is reclaiming the ubiquitous two-wheeled wonder as a possible savior for our urban transportation woes. We refer, of course, to the trusty bicycle. As the sun sets on the auto age, the work in the show speaks to the increasing cultural relevance of the vehicle.
Established visual and conceptual artists like Brazilian Jarba Slopes (see his work pictured at right) , Israeli Guy Ben-Der and Tom Sachs joined forces with with talented up-and-comers like Brooklyn-based Jonathan Brand (that’s his fiberboard bike below).
The end product makes for a multimedia showcase of cycles crafted by individual artists, some making a statement, others simply forging their ideal ride. Because after all, cycling is fun and deserves honoring—this exhibition aims to capture that spirit.
The man-behind-the-curtain of all this is bike advocate and former Talking Head David Byrne.
Bike Ride
26 September 2009-3 January 2010
Exhibition Reception: 4 October 2009, 1-5pm
Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
258 Main Street
Ridgefield, CT 06877
map
tel. +1 203 438 4519
Images: Top – Susan Murtaugh, Bottom – Andrew Meehan
There’s an app for that: finding a taco stand, playing Frere Jacques on the pan flute, figuring how much to tip, making fart sounds… As the iPhone App Store climbs towards the 100,000 offering mark, we occasionally sigh and wonder when something genuinely useful to professional designers will appear. As of 9am EST tomorrow morning, that may finally be answered, with Autodesk’s release of Sketchboook Mobile, the handheld counterpart to their “worth buying a Wacom for it” Sketchbook Pro design sketching software. The interface for SB Mobile is more than a little reminiscent of its bigger, older counterpart, featuring a simplified marking menu for tool selection, and a similar set of icons and workflows.
A quick browse through the App Store turns up plenty of drawing utilities, so there’s nothing momentous about adding one more. The most famous so far is Brushes, which gained notoriety in June when Jorge Colombo used it to create a cover for the New Yorker, spurring its sales, and spawning an evocative series of short videos depicting the stroke-by-stroke construction of various NYC scenes on Jorge’s touchscreen.
Compelling as they are, though, these videos highlight one of Brushes’ (and pretty much every other drawings app’s) main shortcomings as a serious design tool: poor layer control. Each image is constructed in a rigorous back-to-front order, and while that’s fine and familiar to artists used to acrylics and oil paints, it’s excruciating for the Photoshop and Corel proficient. The latest Brushes release does offer layers — four of them — but the interface is clunky and childish, and few users seem to employ them. While still limited, SB Mobile offers six layers which can be re-ordered with an elegant Photoshop-meets-Apple kind of interface, as well as some other features familiar to design professionals: customizable brushes, sample-based color selection, multiple undos, and sketch symmetry.
Image: Rae Morris — Seriously, you did that on an iPhone?
Image: Sidney Cheang
 | Harajuku Lovers has adorable nylon and canvas makeup bags that have the ultimate “awww” factor. From travel bags to brush cases, these super cute bags are the perfect accessory to hold makeup and toiletries. They are easy to clean and fit perfectly into any purse or travel bag, small or large. My favorite is the Summer of Lovers Bag Collection. I also adore the I Love Ice Cream line and the Preppies bags, made especially for anyone with a preppy streak and a “fatal attraction to cuteness.” I might just have to get my hands on a travel bag for my trip to Hawaii next month! Exclusively sold at Sephora, the collections are priced from $20 for a brush case to $48 for a travel bag. Check out Shopdiary.com for more adorable accessory must-haves! |
Cabracega, a design firm in Portugal, has invited graffiti artists Hium, Mar, Mr. Dheo, Quillograma and Tosco to give classic Portuguese porcelain sets a graffiti motif.
It’s intended to confront two different places and times. On one hand, we have the elegant quality of porcelain – represented by the table sets and decorative objects, taking us back to a different timeframe. On the other hand, there is graffiti as an art form and a way for contemporary urban intervention, which aims to promote new perspectives over cityscapes.
The pieces were shown at Experimenta Design Lisboa and will remain on view through October 9th at Espaco Zaum in Lisbon. More info here, and a couple more shots after the jump.
Here’s a sexy take on the home bar by Cactus Designers, a Lyon-based collective of French freelance designers created by Marc Salagnac and Quentin Hueber, that takes up no floor space and gets rid of the counter altogether by going wall-mounted. The sleek surface of the cabinetry is interrupted only by the silver ice dispenser, from which is suspended a tray for mixing drinks.
Check out more of their stuff on Coroflot, and/or see their website here.
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.
