And The Winner Of The Jawbone ICON Bombshell Headset Is…

imageYou’re picky about what goes near those ears. Gold, diamonds, Tiffany silver – you don’t need an occasion to get your glam on. The Jawbone ICON “Bombshell” Bluetooth headset was made for your stylish life. Designed by Yves Behar, it features all of the top notch specs you want from an earpiece, like NoiseAssassin technology and wind reduction, in one pretty little package that looks more like contemporary jewelry than a necessary tech tool. The tiny headset will whisper caller ID, tell you how much battery life you have left, and even let you download apps to your iPhone that allow you to update your Twitter account, send texts, or record reminders- all by using your voice, not your freshly manicured (or otherwise occupied) hands. Jawbone was rated #1 headset by CNET. The “Bombshell” is sold for $99.99, but we’re giving one away!

Justin Van Genderen’s awesome Photoshop work

pThe recently-turned-twenty Photoshop often gets a bad rap in photography contests, as purists feel works graced by the program oughtn’t be included; their reasoning is clear, as Photoshopped images have truly evolved into their own art form/genre. /p

pChicago-based graphic designer and illustrator A HREF=”http://www.2046design.com/” Justin Van Genderen/A first came to our attention for his A HREF=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/justinvg/” humorously minimalist posters/A advertising planets from IStar Wars/I, like something you’d see in an old travel agency:/p

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/images/2010/02/0justinvg001.jpg” width=”468″ height=”361″ alt=”0justinvg001.jpg”//div

pBut looking deeper into A HREF=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/justinvg/sets/” his Photoshop portfolio/A, we were pleasantly surprised to see some of the most graphically awesome Photoshop work we’ve seen in a while–stuff that does not merely try to perfect existing images or make them hyper-real, but which pushes them into their own genre, distinct, we feel, from analog painting./p

pThe bloody photo below was inspired by that scene in IKill Bill/I, while the rest of the images are from JustinVG’s own mind./p

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/images/2010/02/0justinvg002.jpg” width=”468″ height=”723″ alt=”0justinvg002.jpg”//div

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/images/2010/02/0justinvg003.jpg” width=”468″ height=”672″ alt=”0justinvg003.jpg”//div

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/images/2010/02/0justinvg004.jpg” width=”468″ height=”624″ alt=”0justinvg004.jpg”//div

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/images/2010/02/0justinvg005.jpg” width=”468″ height=”723″ alt=”0justinvg005.jpg”//div

pWe’re only showing you a small sampling here (and our apologies to the artist for cropping some of the work). For greater variety, check out A HREF=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/justinvg/sets/” his galleries/A or A HREF=”http://www.2046design.com/” his website/A.br /
/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/justin_van_genderens_awesome_photoshop_work_16049.asp”(more…)/a
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Five Portland Venues



Portland’s influx of musicians is an adored attribute about the city. From the iconic house party to more traditional venues, Portland remains to keep their music scene fresh with an unconventional take on industry standards. Highlighted below are five interesting venues that host some of Portland’s best acts.

portland-venues1.jpg portland-venues2.jpg
The Woods



Portland’s newest venue is located in a classy up-and-coming southeast neighborhood known as Sellwood. The Woods intends to keep its line-up mostly acoustic and melodic, a suitable genre considering its decorous surroundings and the fact it was formerly a funeral home. Bands can play either in the main chapel area, which is where bodies were shown, or the basement, which was used for embalming and cold storage. While this knowledge could add a creepy air to the proceedings, The Woods is quickly becoming one of the hottest places to play in Portland.

The Artistery



The Artistery‘s all-ages shows are a great way to revisit those bittersweet teen years. Particularly since The Artistery is an actual basement, in an actual house, in southeast Portland. Don’t be fooled by the exterior, their line-up is as talented as any full-blown music hall, including performances by local favorites White Fang and Explode into Colors.

portland-venues3.jpg

The Gorge Amphitheater



Surely one of the most spectacular venues in one of the most spectacular natural landscapes in the country, The Gorge Amphitheater seats over 25,000 people and overlooks the mighty Columbia River. Such a magnificent setting inspires truly magical performances. The Gorge has seen acts such as Neil Young, Van Halen, Phish and Ben Harper and Pearl Jam’s iconic box set Live at the Gorge was recorded there. Every year The Gorge hosts the Sasquatch Music Festival, which hosts established as well as emerging bands such as Vampire Weekend and Portland’s own Nurses.

portland-venues4.jpg portland-venues5.jpg
The Old Church



The Old Church is a uniquely Portland venue. While it is an actual old church available for all the intended purposes, they also rent out the space for distinctly secular events. The building’s soaring ceilings and stained-glass windows offer a hushed and reverent air to everything from weekly Sunday jazz to local bands.

White Eagle Saloon



Portland now bears little resemblance to the rough and tough Wild West town that it used to be, but White Eagle Saloon, located in Portland’s grittier Northeast quadrant, is a great place to lift a pint in nostalgia for those days when drunken sailors were shanghaied onto waiting ships and rouged ladies of the night hollered from upstairs balconies. The saloon features nightly live music of the folk and fiddle variety, as well as a resident ghost that likes to lock unwitting female guests in the ladies restroom.


4th Recycling Design Prize 2010: Call For Participation!

pimg alt=”avb_recycling_design_prize_2010.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/avb_recycling_design_prize_2010.jpg” width=”468″ height=”491″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p

pThe a href=”http://www.recyclingboerse.org/index.php/Designpreis2010en.html”strongRecycling Design Prize 2010/strong/a has just been announced, already the 4th edition of an unusual award which is all about turning ugly waste into beautiful products. This so called “open competition” is open to all creative minded people who don’t mind getting their hands dirty./p

pThe jury favors entries with opportunities for (small) series production in order to create not only stuff but also stimulating people’s employment. You can see design works of earlier competitions in a href=”http://www.recyclingboerse.org/index.php/RecyclingDesignpreis-Werke-2007/”2007/a, a href=”http://www.recyclingboerse.org/index.php/Eroeffnungs-BilderRecyclingDesignpreis2008.html”2008 /aand a href=”http://www.recyclingboerse.org/index.php/FotosEroeffnungDesignpreis2009/”2009 /a – this competition seems to get more exiting every year!/p

pFind all information about the Recycling Design Prize a href=”http://www.recyclingboerse.org/index.php/Designpreis2010en.html”here /aand write in your agenda: em”Closing date for registrations!” on August 31, 2010./em/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/competition/4th_recycling_design_prize_2010_call_for_participation_16048.asp”(more…)/a
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Gadget Of The Week: Zumreed Headphones

imageZumreed’s headphones are hardly new, but ever since I saw this photo on the Sartorialist, I can’t get my mind off of them. I don’t normally like clunky tech toys, but something about this candy-colored pair makes it more of an accessory than a gadget, and that is something I can definitely wrap my head around (err… around my head?). There’s an adjustable strap, cushioned earpads, and a stereo plug for top sound quality, so you know they’ll work as beautifully as they look. Get your own pair at Fred Flare!

Price: $65
Who Found It: lisannebee was the first to add the Zumreed headphones to the Hive

Photo credit: The Sartorialist

SixthSense, by Pranav Mistry—Still awesome, still vaporware

This TED Talk is from November 2009. It shows some of the awesome possibilities of augmented reality—way beyond that of Nearest Tube or Yelp’s Monocole.

In the talk, Mistry says SixthSense will be open-sourced. Five months later, it’s still vaporware.

Free aluminum extrusion seminars for designers

pimg alt=”0alumiextru.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/0alumiextru.jpg” width=”468″ height=”300″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p

p[Catalog image courtesy of A HREF=”http://www.1800extrude.com/” Cardinal Aluminum Company/A]/p

pNorway-based aluminum supplier Hydro is a good global citizen; last year A HREF=”http://www.hydro.com/en/Subsites/North-America/Resouce-center/Pressroom/News-and-press-releases/Archive/2010/February/Hydro-recycles-200-million-pounds-of-aluminum-in-2009-/” they recycled over 200 million pounds of scrap aluminum/A, some of it post-consumer waste, the rest from industrial waste. By combining the recycled scrap with virgin aluminum, they can produce new billets with over 70% recycled content, resulting in identical strength and performance but with a fresh, green smell./p

pHydro is now trying to spread awareness of their products through what we’ve come to learn is an admirable Scandinavian technique: Education. Hydro’s Extrusion Americas unit is holding A HREF=”http://www.hydro.com/en/Subsites/North-America/Resouce-center/Pressroom/News-and-press-releases/Archive/2010/January/Hydro-releases-Extrusion-Academy-schedule-for-2010/” 20 free-of-charge seminars/A targeting industrial designers, engineers and manufacturers. The seminars will:/p

blockquote…Provide practical instruction on the use of aluminum extrusion in product development, including the extrusion process itself, profile design and alloy selection. They will also focus on fabrication techniques, including welding, machining and bending. A product showcase will demonstrate innovative aluminum extrusion applications and techniques. Additionally, there will be designated time for attendees to bring in any plans to discuss one-on-one with Hydro engineers.

p”Hydro’s Extrusion Academies present a unique opportunity for designers and manufacturers to explore how extrusion can solve manufacturing challenges by connecting directly with experts in the field,” said Lynn Brown, senior vice president, Extrusion Americas sales marketing./blockquote/p

pWe love initiatives like this because they’re not hard-selling you anything, just hoping that after learning about their processes you’ll have a desire to partner with them–and if you don’t, no sweat, at least you walk away with a better understanding of aluminum and extrusions. We just hope that they don’t point out that we Americans are spelling it wrong–Hydro spells it, as the Brits who invented our language do, “aluminIum.”/p

pHit the jump for seminar locations and dates, or A HREF=”http://www.hydro.com/en/Subsites/North-America/Resouce-center/Pressroom/News-and-press-releases/Archive/2010/January/Hydro-releases-Extrusion-Academy-schedule-for-2010/” click here/A for more info from Hydro./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/education/free_aluminum_extrusion_seminars_for_designers_16046.asp”(more…)/a
pa href=”http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3G-RVyvkMMQF1JtPSLoNQHwjJVY/0/da”img src=”http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3G-RVyvkMMQF1JtPSLoNQHwjJVY/0/di” border=”0″ ismap=”true”/img/abr/
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The Foursquare Rap – Badges Like Us

Why product photography is so very important (and how to grade maple syrup)

pCouple months ago we showed you A HREF=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/package_design_beautiful_syrup_bottle_15632.asp?utm_source=feedburnerutm_medium=feedutm_campaign=Feed%3A+core77%2Fblog+%28Core77.com%27s+design+blog%29″ Back Creek Farms’ leaf-shaped maple syrup bottle/A, which was the purtiest I’d then seen:/p

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/02/0maplesyrupbotl001.jpg” width=”468″ height=”554″ alt=”0maplesyrupbotl001.jpg”//div

pThis morning I was browsing other maple syrup bottles, because I’m craving waffles but don’t have any (my urges have strange outlets) and I came across A HREF=”http://www.singleservecoffee.com/archives/031330.php” a new fave syrup bottle on Single Serve Coffee/A, used in a promotional photo for Timothy’s Sugar Bush Maple K-Cups:/p

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/02/0maplesyrupbotl002.jpg” width=”468″ height=”291″ alt=”0maplesyrupbotl002.jpg”//div

pLook how sexy it is! The ghostly handle gives the rich-looking syrup inside a much more visually interesting shape./p

pAfter some searching, I eventually tracked down A HREF=”http://www.olkkolafarm.com/products.html” a company that sells these bottles/A, but they sure didn’t hire a proper shooter to present them:/p

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/02/0maplesyrupbotl003.jpg” width=”468″ height=”562″ alt=”0maplesyrupbotl003.jpg”//div

pReally? On-camera flash and shooting from below the product to cast a Dracula-like shadow above? And cripes, at least clean the background next time!/p

pAnyways, during my search I came across this interesting and Pantone-like process for A HREF=”http://www.forestryalumni.siuc.edu/Maple/MakingMapleSyrup.html” grading maple syrup/A: They grade them by color, using a craftsy little wooden box with holes in it:/p

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/02/0maplesyrupbotl004.jpg” width=”468″ height=”175″ alt=”0maplesyrupbotl004.jpg”//div

pMan now I want waffles even more./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/why_product_photography_is_so_very_important_and_how_to_grade_maple_syrup_16045.asp”(more…)/a
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My most-desired design feature for a washing machine

pNew York’s currently buried under 8 inches of snow, which is not a lot to you Swedes, Canadians and Tibetans, but it’s enough to make our sidewalks a mess. This morning I spotted some poor soul slogging through the slush while hauling a laundry sack either to or from the laundromat./p

pWhich reminded me: One of the best purchases I ever made was the washing machine I bought, over ten years ago. In that time it has paid for itself many times over. But it’s not the prettiest thing in the world, and I live in a city apartment, not some suburban house with a laundry room, so I can’t tuck the thing away–it sits out in the open, next to my kitchen sink. /p

pOne trend that I hope trickles down from the luxury to the regular consumer market is the simple design feature on A HREF=”http://www.appliancist.com/washers_dryers/integrated-washer-dryer-teka-lsi-1260-s.html” Teka’s LSI 1260-S combo washer-dryer/A: A door. That’s it, a simple, clean cabinet door so you don’t have to see the console and a window filled with your dirty socks doing acrobatics. /p

pimg alt=”0teka-lsi-1260-s.jpg” src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/images/0teka-lsi-1260-s.jpg” width=”468″ height=”809″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p

pI even thought about covering mine with a door, DIY-style–God knows A HREF=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/the_screwpop_great_for_sidewalk_hardware_pickers_like_me_15984.asp” I’ve got the hinges/A for it–but as I stood in front of it with a power drill, I thought “Hmm, you’re about to drill holes in something that holds water. What could go wrong?”/p

pSo I’ll continue having staring contests with my ugly washing machine. And even though it always wins, it’s better than hauling my dirties through the snow./p

pvia A HREF=”http://www.appliancist.com/washers_dryers/integrated-washer-dryer-teka-lsi-1260-s.html” appliancist/Abr /
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