Hasta La Ideas

An article in the Times entitled “From the Pen of a Giant of Industrial Design” looks at Brooks Stevens, a prominent industrial designer of the last century and one of the original nine founders, along with Raymond Loewy, of the IDSA. Stevens opened up his first design firm in the 1930s and went on to design everything from logos to consumer products to automobiles, including the ridiculous but iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile seen above.

As for that planned obsolescence stuff, the Times depressingly notes:

A speech [Stevens] gave at an advertising conference in 1954 was titled “planned obsolescence,” and while he didn’t coin the phrase, he is said to have popularized it. More significant, he had faith in the concept; for that he was reviled by some.

To Mr. Stevens, however, planned obsolescence was a positive. He was a practical-minded champion of commerce and felt that satisfying the consumer’s desire for something new and different was a good thing, even if that desire moved people to buy a little sooner than might be necessary.

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Tweet to win a one-off design object made by one of our featured Icons

By now, you’ll hopefully have read one or more of the profiles we’ve been producing as part of the Audi Icons series, highlighting the work of emerging creative figures like Leon Ransmeier and Rafael de Cardenas. Though the individuals we’re profiling work across a spectrum of disciplines, they all possess a similar dedication to their distinct vision and craft—whether it be paper art or industrial design.

True to one of our mantras, “Always More,” Cool Hunting is curious about other such unique creators that we may not already know about. Readers can either tweet the name of the person they think deserves Icon status with a link to examples of their work (be sure to include @CoolHunting with the hash-tag #A7Icon), or pay a visit to our Facebook page and leave a comment with a name and link—and yes, you can submit yourself if you’re feeling confident.

Readers have until mid-June to submit suggestions, and the most compelling entry will win a one-off item currently being produced by one of the Icons. We’ll reveal the designer and their item at a later date, but for now, start letting us know who you think is Icon material!

See the full terms and conditions below.

Official Rules for the Audi Icons Contest

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. THIS PROMOTION IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH OR ADMINISTERED BY AUDI OF AMERICA INC. IN ANY WAY.
1. Eligibility
The Audi Icons Contest (the "Contest") is administered by Largetail LLC and is open to U.S. residents age 18 and older in all jurisdictions where receipt of prizes or entry in the Contest is not prohibited by state or local laws, rules or regulations. Employees of Largetail LLC or any of its respective affiliates, participating sponsor or any other company involved with the design, production, execution or distribution of the Contest and their immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings and children) and household members of each such employees are not eligible. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Largetail LLC’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Contest. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.
2. Administrator
Largetail LLC (19 W 21st St #702, NY, NY) is the sole Administrator of the Contest.
3. Timing
The Promotion begins on May 16 2011at 12:00 PM Eastern Time ("ET") and ends on June 23 2011 at 11:59 PM ET (the "Contest Period"). Administrator’s computer is the official time keeping device for this Promotion.
4. How to Enter
Entries may be made in one or both of the following. To enter via Twitter, send a Tweet from your account naming the person you think is an Icon. You must use @CoolHunting #A7Icon in your Tweet to be a valid entry. To enter via Facebook you must first “Like” Cool Hunting. Anyone who “Likes” Cool Hunting may then leave a comment including the name of the person you think is worthy of being an Icon on the page featuring the A7 Icons story. General Conditions Regarding Entering: One entry per Twitter address or Facebook profile (entrants may enter multiple times but must use separate Twitter or Facebook account for each entry). Use of any automated system to participate is prohibited and may result in disqualification. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible or misdirected registrations, which will be disqualified. Potential winners may be required to show proof of identity. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of the rightful winner, Largetail LLC will gather proof of identity from the disputing parties and will solely be responsible for choosing the winner. There is no charge for entering, and free Internet access is available at many public libraries. Any information you provide will only be used to administer the promotion and in accordance with our privacy policy.
5. Winner Selection
Largetail LLC will select a winner at random from all of the eligible submissions during the duration of the Contest.
6. Verification and Notification of Potential Contest Winners
ALL POTENTIAL CONTEST WINNERS ARE SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION BY SPONSOR WHOSE DECISIONS ARE FINAL AND BINDING IN ALL MATTERS RELATED TO THE CONTEST. Potential Prize Winner must continue to comply with all terms and conditions of these Official Rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements. Potential Contest Winners will be posted on the following web page: http://www.coolhunting.com/design/audi_icons_contest.php. Potential winners must respond within 7 days of his/her name being posted. In addition we will attempt to alert the Potential Grand Prize Winner using the email address you supplied with your entry as a courtesy but we are not responsible for any technical malfunction or lost notifications. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO CHECK THE WEBSITE ADDRESS ABOVE AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF THIS CONTEST TO SEE IF YOU ARE A POTENTIAL WINNER. Once the potential winner has been verified to the satisfaction of the Sponsor, the Sponsor will arrange for prize fulfillment. If the selected potential Contest Winner is determined to be ineligible by the Sponsor, or fails to respond within the required time period, the potential winner forfeits prize and is disqualified. In the event that a potential Contest Winner of a prize is disqualified for any reason, Sponsor may in Sponsor’s sole discretion select a different winner from all remaining eligible entries.
7. Prize
The "Prize" includes: Limited Edition Art Object valued at $2,500. Winners are responsible for all taxes and fees associated with prize receipt and/or use.
8. Odds of Winning
The odds of winning will depend on the number of entries.
9. Release
By entering this Contest, entrant agrees to release and hold harmless Sponsor and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, distributors, agencies, and each of their respective member companies and each such company’s officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, the "Released Parties") from and against any claim or cause of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or damage to or loss of property, arising out of participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize. Entrant also agrees to hold harmless Audi of America Inc. and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, distributors, advertising/promotion agencies and their officers, directors, employees and agents from and against any claim or cause of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or damage to or loss of property, arising out of participation in the Promotion or receipt or use or misuse of any prize.
10. General Conditions
Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Promotion, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Sweepstakes, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or any other promotion or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.
11. Limitations of Liability
The Released Parties are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Promotion; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Promotion or the processing of entries; or (5) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize. If for any reason an entrant’s entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, entrant’s sole remedy is another entry in the Contest. No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded. In event that production, technical, seeding, programming or any other reasons cause more than stated number of prizes as set forth in these Official Rules to be available and/or claimed, Sponsor reserves the right to award only the stated number of prizes as selected by the judging panel among all legitimate, un-awarded, eligible prize claims.
12. Disputes
Entrant agrees that: (i) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prizes awarded, other than those concerning the administration of the Contest or the determination of winners, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; (ii) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved exclusively by the United States District Court or the appropriate New York State Court located in New York, NY; (iii) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this Contest, but in no event attorneys’ fees; and (iv) under no circumstances will entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses , and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the entrant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of New York or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of New York.
13. Entrant’s Personal Information
The only information collected is a Twitter or Facebook account name will be used to contact winners. It will not be used for any other purpose, nor it will be kept, sold, rented or otherwise distributed.
14. Promotion Results
For Promotion results and/or a copy of these Official Rules, send a hand-printed, self-addressed, stamped envelope to Audi Icons Contest, c/o Largetail LLC, 19 W 21st St #702 NY, NY 10010. Requests for the winners list must be received by June 23rd, 2011. VT residents may exclude return postage.

If you live in NYC, you HAVE to go see Sleep No More!

PUNCHDRUNK, presents SLEEP NO MORE, a Shakespeare’s classic Scottish tragedy through the lens of suspenseful film noir. Audiences move freely through a transporting world at their own pace, choosing their own path through the story, immersed in the most unique theatrical experience in the history of New York.

I cant explain how awesome, cool, thrilling, visual stunning, creepy the play is. This has been the coolest thing i have ever done in NYC.

watch the video here. and get tickets here. Im going again!

For the That’s Why It’s 30 campaign, the Barbarian Group devised a display for the matrix signs used by New York City Department of Transport. If a passing car breaks the speed limit, the pedestrian graphic takes on a rather grim appearance…

“The NYC DOT came to us with a startling statistic,” The Barbarian Group write on their blog. “When a pedestrian is struck at 30mph by a vehicle, there is an 80% chance they will survive. If a pedestrian is struck at 40mph, there is a 70% chance they will die. 10mph, a seemingly subtle difference while you are behind the wheel, is the difference between life and death as a pedestrian.”

Using the DOT’s Wanco matrix sign, a speed radar, and a 48 x 27 dot matrix, BG created a board to remind car drivers in New York to reduce their speed.

The speed board shows a graphic of the familiar pedestrian ‘walking man’, with the speed limit of 30mph. The fitted radar detects the speed of passing cars – if one breaks the limit, the pedestrian then changes into a skeleton (the graphic was designed by BG art director Henry Lai), alongside SLOW DOWN in giant letters.

An animated gif of the sign is on the Barbarian Blog, here – though the finished version actually consists of the two static signs shown above.

The proposed animated version apparently violated the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (it used rapid flashing) and BG were also bound by the fact that they only had 2-6 seconds of display time and 2KB of RAM to play with.

The drawers of this children’s dresser designed by Seattle product designer Peter Bristol are shaped to match their contents.

Training Dresser comes in two different designs, one for girls and one for boys.

The graphics help children learn to find or put away their clothes.

More stories about furniture on Dezeen »

Here are a few words from the designer:

Training Dresser

Like Dr. Suess and Pixar, the Training Dresser is for more than one audience. The informative drawers create an engaging dresser for kids and an iconic furniture piece for parents.

Well considered and well made. The dresser is hand crafted and packaged with care in Eastern Washington by the crew Mountain View Cabinetry.

The cabinet is made from ¾” ULDF and finished with conversion varnish. The drawers are 9 ply ½” maple plywood, dovetailed and finished with clear catalyzed lacquer. All cabinet and drawer components are cut, drilled and dadoed on a CNC table router. Assembled with a combination of screws, pins, staples, glue, and Pacific Northwest fresh air.

See also:

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Chambre d’enfants by Ciel Architectes	Stacking Throne by Laurens van Wieringen	Atelier Book Chair by Kana Nakanishi