Icon Flashlights

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Right now the trend in flashlight design is to go with the “tactical” aesthetic, with everyone skewing towards that rugged I’m-a-Navy-SEAL look. But it’s nice to see at least one company, Icon, doing something different. The Solo, up top, is a pen-sized flashlight designed to clip into a pocket. The Link flashlight, below, has an integrated carabiner and comes in bright orange so that a) you can always keep it clipped to you and b) if you do happen to set the thing down, it should be easy to spot amidst the clutter of your other tools during a job.

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Participate: the 10 best…

I can hardly believe that I am working on issue 10 (summer) already! TEN issues… that’s over 1000 pages of content created so far.

In honour of number 10, I invite you to list your creative spin on “the 10 best ______.” 

For example:

“the 10 best reasons to sleep in”

“the 10 best tools for drawing”

“the 10 best books on design”

“the 10 best places to find inspiration”

“the 10 best excuses for procrastination”

“the 10 best fixes for writer’s block”

“the 10 best methods to jumpstart creativity”

Please compile your own “the 10 best” list: be serious or be funny, be practical or be fantastic. Be creative, be curious! Leave it in the comments or email janine {at} uppercasemagazine {dot} come with “10 best” in the subject field. Please provide your full name so that you can be credited should your submission be published. thanks! DEADLINE: MAY 20

Here are my “the 10 best qualities of UPPERCASE readers”

1. Enthusiastic
2. Talented
3. Generous
4. Sincere
5. Inquisitive
6. Connected
7. Inspiring
8. Optimistic
9. Friendly
10. Appreciated!

Seats Series

L’artiste berlinois Jens Sage a eu la bonne idée de réaliser cette série de photographies intitulée “Seats”. En imaginant des clichés de personnes assises sans support, une impression de lévitation et de décalage se crée dans ces visuels à découvrir dans la suite de l’article.



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NY Design Week 2011 Preview: "OUT" & "Isle of I" by AGENT

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Mexico City’s Alberto Villarreal and Michel Rojkind collaborate as AGENT, a strategic product development studio that will be exhibiting two new projects, “OUT” and “Isle of I,” at the ICFF this weekend. Both of the pieces were commissioned to complement specific interiors in Mexico: “OUT” is a chair that was designed for public work areas in Monterrey’s Outbox office complex, while “Isle of I” is a bathroom sink & mirror fixture for R432, a high-end residential tower in Mexico City.

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The “OUT” chair is manufactured out of a single piece of plywood, such that the back leg doubles as a narrow storage space for books or magazines. The combination of the form and the material also provides “natural cushioning for the back rest.”

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Foscarini at Milan Design Week 2011

Wake up with Wim

The Design Museum has released the CrouwelClock, an alarm clock app featuring numbers designed by Wim Crouwel and even wake-up messages from the man himself

The Design Museum is certainly not holding back on the tie-ins to its Graphic Odyssey retrospective of Crouwel’s work. Earlier this year we posted about the Crouwel wallpaper available from its shop: there are also badges, tote bags, notebooks and all sorts of Crouwel-related posters on sale. Added to that is the Museum’s first app, an animated alarm clock for the iPhone ‘inspired by the graphics of Dutch graphic designer Wim Crouwel’, Numbers are displayed in a Crouwel typeface.

So far so as you might expect but then things get a little, er weird. In addition to the numbers, Crouwel has recorded three wake-up messages on the app – wishing you ‘a nice and well designed day’ and reminding you to ‘keep your grid straight today’, and finally ‘a grid today keeps the doctor away’.

The app was created by Spin and Large Blue and costs 59p. Available here

Related content

Rick Poynor on the Cult of Crouwel
Our post on the Design Museum show

 

 

The Creative Review Annual is out now, published as a special 196-page double edition with our May issue and featuring the best work of the year in advertising and graphic design. If you would like to buy this issue and are based in the UK, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 292 3703 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

Third Rail System

The slimmest iPhone case and charger combo on the market offers more than just power
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Released today, the Third Rail iPhone 4 case from Third Rail Mobility takes a fresh look at the issue of smartphone battery life. The case is designed to be as compact and dynamic as possible, the only additional real estate present in comparison to a traditional case is a small nub of circuitry on the docking end of the phone. This smart circuitry, combined with their smart batteries offer a superior level of control and customization when it comes to mobile charging.

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Unlike most case/charger combos the Third Rail system does not incorporate a built-in battery. Instead, the ultra slim case has a dock on the back where the user can swap super light weight batteries—only 1.4 ounces—in and out, or stack a number of batteries for as much charge as is desired, allowing for the case to always remain on the phone. If you have multiple batteries attached, the intelligent charging system can determine which has the most charge and will transfer power from other batteries to the one it determines to be a primary battery, always guaranteeing you have one fully charged brick. Additionally if you have several batteries attached you can plug the whole unit in and simultaneously charge all the batteries and your iPhone.

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Since the batteries are swappable you never have to worry about the system becoming obsolete with each new smartphone purchase. The batteries will work with all cases offered by Third Rail, including future ones, to reduce waste and consumer cost. Each battery also contains its own built in micro USB port so it can directly charge any micro USB device independently or while strapped to your iPhone.

Third Rail Mobility, a family owned and operated business, has created a very functional, forward-looking product with this new case. The system can be purchased from their site for $90 which includes an iPhone 4 case and one battery.


Ford Motors is Seeking Interior/Exterior Designers in Dearborn, MI

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Interior/Exterior Designers
Ford Motors

Dearborn, MI

Join the team that’s invigorating one of the world’s premier automotive brands. We have a commitment to our products and our customers, but also know that our employees are the driving force behind our success. Find out what it’s like to love your job. Discover a company focused on designing better cars but also cares about you, your family and your community.

+ Interior/Exterior Designers (Ford)
+ Interior/Exterior Designers (Lincoln)
+ Color/Materials Designers

» view

The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.

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Organizing regular processes

No matter if you’re paying bills at home or working on a proposal at the office, having a fairly standardized method for completing your tasks can be beneficial in numerous ways. It’s easier to keep track of where you are in the process, it reduces your likelihood of leaving out an important step, and you’ll work more efficiently each time you go through the process if you’re orderly with your work.

Even if the tasks you’re completing are ones you have done many times, it can be beneficial to pause before you do them and list out exactly what you need to do. This list can take place in your mind or you can physically write or type it out, based on the complexity of the work.

After creating your list, analyze it to see if you may be able to improve your speed and efficiency if you take on the tasks in a more organized fashion. For example, running errands might be something you do every day on your way home from work. Simply by identifying these regular stops, you may find you can group the trips to one part of town on Tuesdays and the other part of town on Saturdays to decrease the total time you spend running errands (and your mileage).

It usually takes a few times working through a new process to know if it is going to be good for you. It took me close to a year to refine my writing workflow so that the process helped instead of hindered me. After months of trying different methods, I found that I desperately needed a “Temporary” folder on my computer to save all of my work to over the course of a day. At the end of each work day, I open up the Temporary folder and delete or properly save the files to their permanent locations with appropriate file names. If I don’t use this method, I end up with files in the wrong folders, files with weird names, and I save things that should just be deleted. Reviewing contents of the Temporary folder is an additional step, but one I needed to make my writing more efficient.

Take a few minutes to review your regular processes to make sure you are being efficient with your work. Write out these steps in checklist form, if necessary. Then, use your new organized processes to save you time and energy.

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.