Jul 02

RCA SHOW part two

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Here’s the promised second part of our round up of great work spotted at the Royal College of Art’s SHOW Two yesterday…

Paul Scattergood displayed this series of untitled lenticular images which were, in part, the fruit of his research project, Materiality and Space in Illusionist Pictures. The lenticular display helps to fool the viewer into believing that the flat print conveys spatial depth…

Geetika Alok created these typographic posters that warranted closer inspection:

Rebecca Davies produced a newsprint publication called The Elephant which contains observations made of the residents of Elephant and Castle prior to the demolition of the areas landmark shopping centre and the neighbouring Heygate Estate. Great drawings and transcripts of overheard conversations:

Mark El-Khatib and Ray O’Meara created these posters combined digital type with handwritten text:

Oscar Bauer (of Oscar & Ewan design studio) displayed several images by layering photogrphic images and overlaying illustrations on acetate:

Je Baak displayed three looping animations comprised of video footage of fairground rides cleverly comped together to create weird looking mechanical creatures…

The Structure Of (2010) from Je Baak on Vimeo.

Louise O’Connor explored the idea of creating a scale model that showed the vastness of the solar system in a more accurate way than the diagrams in text books. She created a walkable scale model and installed it along Kingsland Road in London. Various shopkeepers who happened to occupy the appropriate spot along the route acted as guardians of the planets – hosting models represented by everyday objects at their correct sizes on this 3.1km scale. Mark Henderson photographed the shopkeepers with the planets as part of the project:

We wandered into the product design section of the RCA show and spotted a few things of interest:


Robert Maslin‘s Edible Games really appealed. Here are some photos of the battleship version (outer packaging, above, inner (foil) package and the chocolate bar itself, below). The idea is that on removing the outer paper wrapping, you can rub the foil to see the game grid and rub individual squares on the foil packaging to find out if you’ve hit a boat or not:

Jamie Tunnard’s dual function Desklamp/Projector can be used as a normal lamp or as a projector. The lamphead contains a replacable LED bulb for use as a normal desk lamp. It also houses a miniature LED projector enabling moving image to be displayed. It can be connected to a TV receiver box or DVD player via ports housed in the base of the lamp. The projector is capable of screening an image up to one metre wide:

Hye-Yeon Park‘s Mr. Clock project also caught our attention:

The large flip clock only tells the time when you stand in front of it / pay attention to it. When left to its own devices it displays nonsensical abstract configurations. Watch what happens when people stop looking at it:

Mr.Clock_Hye-yeon.park_Design Product_2010 RCA from hye-yeon.park on Vimeo.

 

The work shown here really is the tip of a hugely impressive iceberg – there’s lots of really strong work (including some really great animation) and it’s well worth a visit to the RCA to check out the work on display in the flesh. The show is running until July 4 at the RCA, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU.

Details on SHOW Two on the RCA website rca.ac.uk/

Thanks to Cali Blackwell for helping with the images

 

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Jul 02

Traveling show reveals that design patents in the 1800s were a real pain in the patoot

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pNo one would argue that the process of getting an idea or design patented is easy, but few would argue with the fact that it’s far easier to draw something than it is to make it./p

pWe just came across this interesting historical tidbit: Before there were patent drawings, there were patent Iobjects/I. /p

p”Up until 1880, if you had a brilliant idea, something that you thought would change the world, and you wanted to get patent protection for it, you had to submit a working scale model to the government,” said Stephen Nowlin, vice president of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Nowlin is A HREF=”http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_15420348″ hosting an exhibit at Art Center’s Williamson Gallery/A called “A HREF=”http://smithkramer.com/web2/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=120%3Athe-curious-world-of-patent-modelscatid=22Itemid=119″ The Curious World of Patent Models/A,” a traveling show organized by the A HREF=”http://www.patentmodel.org/” Rothschild Patent Model Museum/A, which will reveal more than 50 artifacts submitted for patents way back in the day. /p

pimg alt=”0curiouspatent.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/0curiouspatent.jpg” width=”468″ height=”949″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p

pThose are designs for improved versions of a paper-cutting machine, an electromagnetic motor, a fruit basket, a roller skate, a lifeboat, and what’s either part of C-3PO or an artificial leg. /p

pAll of them were designed in the 1800s. I cannot imagine what it was like to source parts back then, before the internet and McMaster-Carr. So if ever you get a brilliant design idea and decide to enter the paperwork hell that is patent protection, thank your lucky stars that you got to CAD your design up at your desk rather than bang it out in the barn./p

p”The Curious World of Patent Models” runs at the Williamson through August 15th, and will be traveling throughout America thereafter. A HREF=”http://smithkramer.com/web2/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=231%3Athe-curious-world-of-patent-modelscatid=22Itemid=119″ Click here/A for a detailed schedule. br /
/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/traveling_show_reveals_that_design_patents_in_the_1800s_were_a_real_pain_in_the_patoot_16867.asp”(more…)/a
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Jul 02

Quote of Note | Inga Sempé

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sempe.jpg
A pair of Sempé’s mattress-topped “Rouché sofas for Ligne Roset

“I’m proud to be difficult, if that is what I am. Because I don’t want to do bad work. The aim of a designer is not the same as the aim of a company. We have different aims, but we have to combine them. Sometimes designers have to ‘win’ more than the producer so the product is good enough. And so I think it’s normal to be difficult as a designer. In fact, usually I don’t think I’m difficult enough.”

-Industrial designer Inga Sempé

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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Jul 02

Designer Mark Sanders uploads his original Strida bike student thesis

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div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/07/0stridaorig01.jpg” width=”468″ height=”309″ alt=”0stridaorig01.jpg”//div

pYou’ve seen it in the window of Design Within Reach, or cutting through traffic down Broadway; but now you can take a very different look at the iconic, folding Strida bike./p

pMark Sanders, who designed the Strida while he was an Industrial Design Engineering student at London’s RCA 25 years ago, has now uploaded his A HREF=”http://issuu.com/mark77a/docs/masters__thesis_june_1985_-_strida” original graduate thesis/A presenting the original bike. (He’s even uploaded his A HREF=”http://issuu.com/mark77a/docs/business_plan_december_1985_-_strida” business plan/A!) /p

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/07/0stridaorig02.jpg” width=”468″ height=”467″ alt=”0stridaorig02.jpg”//div

pIn the presentation, Sanders lets on where some of his inspiration came from:/p

blockquoteWhen folded, the bike can be pushed along on its wheels, which come together to form a long thin package. This folded form was chosen after seeing folding baby-buggies in use, as these fold into long, thin package with wheels at one end, and are used in exactly the same way as the bike (put in car boots, taken into shops, etc.) The baby buggy is one of the most successful folding products./blockquote

pvia A HREF=”http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/07/the-fascinating-history-of-the-strida-bike.php” treehugger/A/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/designer_mark_sanders_uploads_his_original_strida_bike_student_thesis_16866.asp”(more…)/a
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Jul 02

Small, tidily-designed Korean-Italian hybrid house

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pThis week A HREF=”http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/07/01/greathomesanddestinations/20100701-seoul.html#1″ the ITimes’/I “On Location” section/A features a pretty killer Seoul domicile. It looks like a traditional Korean house (Ihanok/I) on the outside, but the inside’s a different story, having been designed by the Italian architect who lives there./p

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/07/0seoulhybhouse01.jpg” width=”468″ height=”820″ alt=”0seoulhybhouse01.jpg”//div

pCheck out the open-to-the-elements courtyard, the one throwback to old-school Korean houses. The sunken seating area in the living room tidily absolves the space-tight room from needing a couch, and we like the idea that you can sit facing any of the four directions, meaning you can read wherever the daylight or artificial light is strongest at that moment./p

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/07/0seoulhybhouse02.jpg” width=”468″ height=”600″ alt=”0seoulhybhouse02.jpg”//div

pAnd we especially dig how the kitchen, described as “the engine of the house,” was designed to have a view into nearly every other room./p

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/07/0seoulhybhouse03.jpg” width=”468″ height=”324″ alt=”0seoulhybhouse03.jpg”//div

pCheck out the full slideshow A HREF=”http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/07/01/greathomesanddestinations/20100701-seoul.html#1″ here/A. br /
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Jul 02

Neighborgoods Goes National!

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pobject width=”468″ height=”263″param name=”allowfullscreen” value=”true” /param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always” /param name=”movie” value=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10659908amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=1amp;show_byline=1amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=00ADEFamp;fullscreen=1″ /embed src=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10659908amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=1amp;show_byline=1amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=00ADEFamp;fullscreen=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowscriptaccess=”always” width=”468″ height=”263″/embed/object/p

pa href=”http://neighborgoods.net/”Neighborgoods.net/a, a compelling service that lets you borrow and lend stuff to your network, and has just launched nationally (it was only available in southern California before). Got a circular saw, or straight jacket (no joke), or a coffee grinder? People in a href=”http://neighborgoods.net/?zip=10012″10012/a need those!/p

pemvia a href=”http://unconsumption.tumblr.com/”unconsumption/a via a href=”http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/30/neighborgoods-borrow.html”boingboing/a/em/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/business/neighborgoods_goes_national_16865.asp”(more…)/a
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Jul 02

iPhone 4: “We’re working on it…”

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pimg alt=”iphone4_arrow.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/iphone4_arrow.jpg” width=”486″ height=”308″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p

pThe iPhone 4 has received it’s fair share of criticism (and lawsuits?) due to a design flaw where holding the phone a certain way causes dropped calls and lowered reception strength. Yesterday Steve Jobs supposedly said, a href=”http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/07/01/exclusive-conversation-with-steve-jobs-on-the-iphone-4-antenna-problems/?utm_source=feedburnerutm_medium=feedutm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBoyGeniusReport+%28Boy+Genius+Report%29″”We’re working on it…”/a and today, the “Death Grip” problem is being acknowledged on Apple’s site as a “software calculation error.”/p

blockquoteOur formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place./blockquote

pApple goes on to say they used the same formula for past iPhones, but it’s only noticeable now because of the new antenna./p

pAlready have an iPhone 4 and want to reduce your Death Grip? You’re not alone. People around the web have been hard at work: some have a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jun/26/iphone-4-nail-polish-fix”painted clear nail polish/a around the phone, others have a href=”http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/06/24/can-black-electrical-tape-make-your-iphone-4-go-faster/”wrapped tape on the corners/a, a few have used a href=”http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/06/29/cute-cheap-iphone-4-mod-use-modeling-clay-on-the-corners/”Sugru/a, while the most audacious have a href=”http://www.crunchdot.com/does-adjusting-or-trimming-the-iphone-4s-micro-sim-fix-the-antenna-issue-probably-not/”taken a knife to the ports and modified their SIM cards/a. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures, but you could just buy a case./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/iphone_4_were_working_on_it__16868.asp”(more…)/a
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Jul 02

“We’re working on it…”

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pimg alt=”iphone4_arrow.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/iphone4_arrow.jpg” width=”486″ height=”308″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p

pThe iPhone 4 has received it’s fair share of criticism (and lawsuits?) due to a design flaw where holding the phone a certain way causes dropped calls and lowered reception strength. Yesterday Steve Jobs said, a href=”http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/07/01/exclusive-conversation-with-steve-jobs-on-the-iphone-4-antenna-problems/?utm_source=feedburnerutm_medium=feedutm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBoyGeniusReport+%28Boy+Genius+Report%29″”We’re working on it…”/a and today, the “Death Grip” problem is being acknowledged on Apple’s site as a “software calculation error.”/p

blockquoteOur formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place./blockquote

pApple goes on to say they used the same formula for past iPhones, but it’s only noticeable now because of the new antenna./p

pAlready have an iPhone 4 and want to reduce your Death Grip? You’re not alone. People around the web have been hard at work: some have a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jun/26/iphone-4-nail-polish-fix”painted clear nail polish/a around the phone, others have a href=”http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/06/24/can-black-electrical-tape-make-your-iphone-4-go-faster/”wrapped tape on the corners/a, a few have used a href=”http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/06/29/cute-cheap-iphone-4-mod-use-modeling-clay-on-the-corners/”Sugru/a, while the most audacious have a href=”http://www.crunchdot.com/does-adjusting-or-trimming-the-iphone-4s-micro-sim-fix-the-antenna-issue-probably-not/”taken a knife to the ports and modified their SIM cards/a. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures, but you could just buy a case./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/were_working_on_it__16868.asp”(more…)/a
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Jul 02

Recession Chic: 10 Cocktail Rings Under $30!

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imageWhile “gaudy” is never a look to go for, there’s something about an oversized cocktail ring that’s totally chic without looking tacky. After all, a little bling never hurt anyone… that is, except when said cocktail ring burns a serious hole in your wallet! Luckily, aside from the giant diamonds and precious gems, there are plenty of affordable options to rock the costume jewelry look and make a fashionable statement that doesn’t say “I spent a fortune” or “This was as cheap as it looks!” Who says nice jewelry has to cost an arm and a leg? Without further ado, take a look at the slideshow for 10 cocktail rings under $30!

view slideshow

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Jul 02

Bill Moggridge on Learning Interaction Design

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pOver at a href=”http://blog.cooperhewitt.org/Bills-Blog”Bill’s Blog/a, Bill Moggridge has a href=”http://blog.cooperhewitt.org/2010/07/02/learning-interaction-design-bill-moggridge”a quick reflection on his recent visit to the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design/a (you can download his presentation slides too!). Here’s the wrap-up:/p

blockquoteSome argue that interaction design, meaning the design of everything digital, can no longer be considered a separate discipline, because all of the design disciplines now reside in a digital world. I agree that everything that can be digital will be, but I still think there is a lot of value in learning how to design in virtual space, gaining fluency in thinking about the abstractions of the digital realm, such as user’s conceptual models or navigation journeys./blockquotea href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/education/bill_moggridge_on_learning_interaction_design_16863.asp”(more…)/a
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