In a new exhibition at LA’s Scion AV Installation space, artist Sage Vaughn questions the nature of human existence with contemplative works that juxtapose attractive and repulsive imagery. Appropriately titled, “LIFE” spans a bevy of media and allegorical iconography that showcase Vaughn’s interest in creating “a body of work…
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Birdhouse by Ottawa based design firm The Federal is just another example of our avian friends living better than we do. Seriously, why are modern birdhouses so much more AWESOME? Matter of fact, what if someone scaled up a birdhouse, plumbed and wired it for human habitation? I’m down! I digress. Made of only two pieces of powder coated aluminum, wood and some leather string. Available soon. Guess some birds will be moving in this Spring.
Designer: The Federal
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Yanko Design
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(Birds Have Better Homes Than We do was originally posted on Yanko Design)
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It is with great excitement that we introduce the newest member of our expanding Job Board Partner Network: Noble Desktop. For over 22 years, Noble Desktop has been training students in computer graphics and web development so we are thrilled to add jobs from Coroflot to this great resource.
As we continue to build our network, each new Partner gives us the opportunity to enhance our offering. Noble Desktop is the first of our Partners to feature a brand new user interface that helps job seekers understand how to search better, and find the jobs they want faster. Take a look at the new interface and wide selection of jobs on the new Noble Desktop Jobs Page.
When it comes to designing for the military, there’s not a huge distinction between industrial design and apparel design: Gear is gear. Whether it comes out of a sewing machine or an injection molding machine, form follows function, function is everything, and aesthetics don’t matter worth a damn. That makes military design appealing to me (independent of the politics of warfighting).
I’d been hearing good things about this design & manufacturing company called Tactical Tailor, based in Washington state. Here’s an example of what they design and make, and some of the thinking that goes into it:
In addition to that plate carrier, they produce literally hundreds of tactical products ranging from pouches, bags, holsters, slings, vests, armor, apparel, you name it. The customer base ranges from individuals to law enforcement entities to government orders that come in the tens of thousands.
The versatile Comet-3-Phase spotlight stands out among other generic track lighting systems with a modern, asymmetric design and high-end material. Made of powder-coated, die-cast aluminum with bicolor stainless steel accents, the series is available in a variety of colors and finishes. With a focus on making this style of lighting even easier to use, the design requires no tools to change out lamps or adjust positions.
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Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!
(Nicer Looking Track Lighting was originally posted on Yanko Design)
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Maison&Objet 2013: Japanese architect Toyo Ito will present a set of cutlery with slim handles like chopsticks at Maison&Objet design fair in Paris, which opens tomorrow.
Mu, which means “hexagon” in Japanese, was designed by Toyo Ito to complement the Ku crockery collection he created for Alessi in 2006.
Each piece of stainless steel cutlery has a slim handle that finishes in a hexagonal profile at the tip.
The range includes a fork, knife and spoon for the table, a fork, a knife and spoon for dessert, a pastry fork, a tea spoon, a coffee spoon and a mocha coffee spoon. Also available are salad servers, a ladle, a cake server and a serving spoon and fork.
Ito’s Japanese Pavilion at last year’s Venice Architecture Biennale was named the best pavilion at the event, while his previous projects include a spotty black theatre in Tokyo – see all architecture by Toyo Ito.
The cutlery is being shown at Maison&Objet design and interiors fair in Paris, which opens tomorrow and runs until 22 January. See all our stories about Maison&Objet 2013.
We previously featured another set of cutlery designed for Alessi by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec – see all designs from Alessi.
See all our stories about cutlery »
See all our stories about homeware »
Here’s some more information from Alessi:
MU Cutlery set, designed by Toyo Ito for Alessi
“Sharp, yet with a touch of sensitivity and elegance… Linear, yet with an organic quality of plants… We intend to shift our familiar sensations with chopsticks onto cutlery.” Toyo Ito
The Japanese architect Toyo Ito continues to build his family of objects for the mise-en-place of the table. The fluid shapes of the delicate KU porcelain service, designed in 2006, are now complemented by the MU Cutlery set, which means “hexagon” in Japanese.
The hexagonal section of the handle is created using a mould and the intricate manufacturing process involves various stages.
The precision of the slim, full handle is reminiscent of the shape of Oriental chopsticks and contrasts with the rounded profiles of the spoons and the knife blades.
The MU table service includes Table spoon, Table fork and Table knife, Dessert spoon, Dessert fork, Dessert knife, Pastry fork, Tea spoon, Coffee spoon and Mocha coffee spoon. The range also features four types of serving cutlery: Salad set, Ladle, Cake server, Serving spoon and fork.
Cutlery set in 18/10 stainless steel. Sets for 1 person (5 pieces), 6 persons (24 pieces) and 12 persons (75 pieces).
Table spoon – cm 20
Table fork – cm 20
Table knife – cm 22
Dessert spoon – cm 18
Dessert fork – cm 18
Dessert knife – cm 20
Tea spoon – cm 14
Coffee spoon – cm 13
Mocha coffee spoon – cm 11
Pastry fork – cm 16,5
Ladle – cm 26,5
Serving spoon – cm 26
Serving fork – cm 26
Salad set – cm 28
Cake server – cm 25
The post MU Cutlery by Toyo Ito
for Alessi appeared first on Dezeen.
Barton Damer is a Dallas-based digital artist whose hyper-detailed and dizzyingly surreal work, with its up-to-the-minute pop culture sensibility, has garnered attention from companies as big as Nike, Facebook and Supra Footwear, and from musicians as diverse as rapper Lil Wayne, Owl City and Wolfmother. “It’s all over the…
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A housing block shaped like icebergs (above) and our World Design Guide feature in this week’s issue of Dezeen Mail, along with all the latest news, jobs, competitions and reader comments from Dezeen.
Read Dezeen Mail issue 135 | Subscribe to Dezeen Mail
The post Dezeen Mail #135 appeared first on Dezeen.
American Airlines has unveiled a new brand identity from Futurebrand, replacing the 1967 Massimo Vignelli classic with a 3D ‘flight symbol’ and plenty of the good ol’ red, white and blue
Anyone who is familiar with Mad Men will have an idea of just what a central place American Airlines has in corporate America. Don and the boys are forever holding it up as the ultimate account, the piece of business that could transform an agency’s fortunes. In design terms too, American Airlines, along with perhaps IBM, FedEx and UPS has been one of the greats – the last survivor indeed of the golden age of US corporate design when Rand, Bass, Vignelli et al branded America.
Unimark/Vignelli’s 1967 classic has now gone the way of Bass’s AT&T logo and Rand’s UPS, with American Airlines unveiling a new brand identity by Futurebrand (read Rick Poynor’s piece for CR on Unimark here). This video partly explains the airline’s thinking and Futurebrand’s reponse (more here).
UPDATE: Read our interview with Vignelli abut the new identity here
This is evidently an important time for the airline. Though mired in financial difficulties it has made a major investment in a new fleet of planes and wanted to signal very clearly the changes that will bring. It has also been in merger talks with US Airways so that may well have affected both the decision to rebrand and the work itself.
Key to the new look is what is being referred somewhat clumsily to as the ‘flight symbol’ (above). This 3D device combines several AA ‘assets’ – the letter A, a star, an eagle and the red, white and blue livery.
The ‘flight symbol’ is combined with the airline name (set in a custom face named American Sans) in a new mark.
The tails of the planes will feature red white and blue stripes
Twitpic via @avphotographic
It’s interesting to compare the stated intentions of the Futuruebrand work with that of Vignelli’s original. The latter, was all about stressing “the professional, no-gimmicks attitude” of the airline. It is, Vignelli’s site says, “one of the few [logos] worldwide that needs no change”.
Obviously, AA thought otherwise.
Perhaps relying on a “professional, no-gimmicks attitude” just won’t cut it in the airline business these days.
The Airline has stressed its desire to show that it has made a lot of progress – on its planes, its service, its cabins and so on. It talks about a “a clean and modern update to the core icons of our company”. They’ve changed and they really want you to know it.
For its part, Futurebrand says its work reflects “a more modern, vibrant and welcoming spirit” for the airline, while “the livery expresses American’s origins but also the spirit of modern America: innovative, progressive and open to the world”.
Well, the ‘flight symbol’ is certainly more modern in the sense that gradients and 3D effects are a (relatively) recent phenomenon in graphics. The way the various assets have been combined is undoubtedly ingenious (although a colleague thought it looked like a pair of 3D glasses) and it will be interesting to see how it works in motion and in airport lounges etc. But the type is disappointingly anodyne and to me really doesn’t feel “modern” or “vibrant”. Nor does it have the spirit of “brightness and optimism” which Futurebrand’s Sen Seger hopes for in the film above.
The highlight for me is the tail livery. Combined with the AA planes’ silver bodies (which I always thought looked stunning) it looks really beautiful and indisputably American. Apparently, though, the materials used to make many of the new fleet mean that the raw silver fuselages of old will no longer be possible in some cases. Instead the silver will be faked using mica paint. Sigh.
UPDATE: Read our interview with Vignelli abut the new identity here
CR in Print
The January issue of Creative Review is all about the Money – well, almost. What do you earn? Is everyone else getting more? Do you charge enough for your work? How much would it cost to set up on your own? Is there a better way of getting paid? These and many more questions are addressed in January’s CR.
But if money’s not your thing, there’s plenty more in the issue: interviews with photographer Alexander James, designer Mirko Borsche and Professor Neville Brody. Plus, Rick Poynor on Anarchy magazine, the influence of the atomic age on comic books, Paul Belford’s art direction column, Daniel Benneworth-Gray’s This Designer’s Life column and Gordon Comstock on the collected memos, letters and assorted writings of legendary adman David Ogilvy.
Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878 to buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.
CR for the iPad
Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month.
Politically speaking, the war in Afghanistan may be winding down; but technologically speaking, things are ramping up. Earlier this month a shipping container was quietly deployed to a remote outpost in Afghanistan. Kitted out by the U.S. Army’s Rapid Equipping Force, this particular shipping container is essentially a digital manufacturing lab in a box.
Known as the ELM or Expeditionary Lab – Mobile, the unit contains a 3D printer and a CNC mill (as well as more conventional tools like a plasma cutter, welding gear, a circular saw, a router, a jigsaw and a reciprocating saw). Unsurprisingly, troops on the ground are not using the ELMs to print out heart-shaped gears; rather, the point of the ELMs is to allow last-minute rapid prototyping upgrades to crucial pieces of equipment.
As one example, soldiers discovered that the on-button for one standard-issue tactical flashlight had a raised button that could accidentally be pressed, unintentionally turning the flashlight on while the soldier was moving around. Best case scenario, the thing’s in a pocket, you don’t realize it’s on and the batteries drain down. Worst case scenario, the sudden illumination advertises your position to the enemy while you’re sneaking around in the dark.
Under normal Army procurement procedures, designing, commissioning, manufacturing and distributing an updated design would take months or years. But with the ELMs, which come with two digital manufacturing technicians, a solution like this clip-on guard to shield the button can be quickly designed and printed.
The ELM shipped earlier this month was actually the second; the first was sent to Afghanistan last summer. Following the concept’s success, a third ELM is in the works and will reportedly be deployed later this year.
The following video on the ELMs isn’t terribly detailed, and features CG footage that doesn’t quite track with the narrative, but it’s all we’ve got:
via 3ders
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