I plan to speak about my current work and how to build musical instruments on a small scale, at very high quality and with limited space and resources. I’ll talk not only about building wood products, but about taking full advantage of what’s around you and where you live to keep the creative spirit alive. I’ve lived in one bedroom apartments, shared spaces, houses and in each I’ve been able to build and craft goods from prints, to textiles, to musical instruments. I’ll share my experiences and knowledge to help people build no matter where they are in life.
Late in high school, seeking alternatives for creativity outside of the school environment, Matt began woodworking with his grandfather. The instant passion that was formed lead to the discovery of industrial design and to a degree from The Ohio State University. Upon graduation, Matt moved west to Seattle and built his first basement guitar in 2002. Rather quickly that turned into a career and Matt has worked for music companies Dusty Strings, First Act Inc. and at music video game producer Harmonix as an industrial designer. More than ten years later, a constant in Matt’s life has been building, no matter the living situation or resources at hand. Half Iron Design was started in late 2012 with an emphasis on building electric guitars and ukuleles. But in the basement, anything can be built.
This is totally one of those concepts that hurts your heart because it doesn’t exist yet! Bemoove is a futuristic urban vehicle with a wild aesthetic that was dictated not by a desire for attention, but by experimenting with material & powertrain options ideal for the city. The ultra-lightweight frame of the trike’s base is carbon fiber, but the real innovation is the inflatable cab that offers safety, shock absorption, & total panoramic views to passengers. So, how does it move? Hit the jump for more! —>
The main steering device is the spherical rubber-Kevlar back wheel, moved by electric engines in any XY-plane direction. Controlled torque is applied to the support-case of this wheel to make the two main frame arms free to swing and accommodate curves and uneven ground. Traction is provided by four rubber-Kevlar tape-shaped tires which rotate independently forward or backward on their guides thanks to four electric motors positioned in the main frame, so as to maximize traction as well as turning radius.
« One Second out of an Hour » est le nom de cette vidéo réalisée lors d’un shooting pour un magazine appelé Humbug par Sebastien Linda. La vidéo nous rappelle que pour un cliché d’Erik Gross effectuant un trick réussi, il faut bien une heure de préparation, de moments d’échanges ou d’échecs. A découvrir dans la suite.
News: next month’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York will be the first major design fair to place 3D printing and digital fabrication at the core of its programme, with a four-day series of workshops introducing the hardware and software that could change the face of design, manufacturing and distribution (+ interview).
DesignX, which takes place from 18 to 21 May alongside ICFF, will comprise 15 one and two-hour workshops on topics including 3D printing, online product customisation, parametric design and even 4D printing – the nascent technology of programming materials capable of self-assembly.
“At […] these trade shows, you typically have a very large audience who attend over multiple days,” explains Ronnie Parsons, a 3D printing expert from New York studio Mode Collective, who will lead the event’s 3D printing workshops with design partner Gil Akos. “There are talks that address design and technology, but there really isn’t anything that allows people to have direct access to industry leaders through an educational programming model.
“So we thought, why don’t we have a specially built classroom, a lounge space with a little gallery, and put that in the middle of the showroom floor and do educational programming throughout the course of the entire trade show? So that people who attend ICFF could take classes in the very tools and technology that are used to make the things that are surrounding them at the event.”
Partnering with The Architect’s Newspaper, Parsons and Akos have put together a programme of workshops led by experts from across the digital design and manufacturing industry, including MIT architecture and programming lecturer Skylar Tibbits, Duann Scott of 3D printing marketplace Shapeways, programmers Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg from Massachusetts design studio Nervous System, and Francis Bitonti, whose 3D-printed dress for burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese we previously featured on Dezeen.
Other DesignX workshops will include programmer Andy Payne’s introduction to using Arduino microcontrollers to control design environments, a look at the networked future of computer-aided design, and a session about online marketplaces for distributed manufacturing.
Ronnie Parsons of DesignX organisers Mode Collective
“3D printing is the thing that is most visible right now, that’s the thing that is most at the surface,” says Parsons. “But I think that the skill that is really important for designers in the future is not really 3D printing, but actually the processes of thinking through the design to production phase – beginning to think about how things are made and how the new tools and technology out there will change the way you think about design.”
Attendees can sign up for any number of workshops individually, but must already be registered to attend ICFF.
This month Dezeen launched Print Shift, a one-off print-on-demand magazine dedicated exploring the fast-changing world of 3D printing and the way the new technology is changing the worlds of architecture and design – see all our coverage of 3D printing.
News: crafts will no longer be considered part of the creative industries under proposals published by the UK government this week.
The proposed change is part of a review of the UK’s creative industries set out in Classifying and Measuring the Creative Industries, a consultation paper released by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport yesterday.
“We recognise that high-end craft occupations contain a creative element, but the view is that in the main, these roles are more concerned with the manufacturing process, rather than the creative process,” says the paper.
Arts and antiques will also be dropped from the list of recognised creative industries, while other categories will be merged into “broad creative industry groups”.
A number of new IT categories are proposed to reflect the growing technology sector.
Announcing the consultation, culture minister Ed Vaizey wrote on his blog: “Huge and rapid changes in the use of technology and digital media in the creative industries means that it’s time to take a full review of our classifications.”
He added: “Digital tools are now utterly embedded in the creative process, so we want to introduce some areas of IT that are used creatively.”
Adopting the new classification system boosts the number of people employed in the UK’s creative industries to 1,487,000 people, according to the DCMS, compared to 897,000 under the previous methodology. The figure rises to 2,153,000 if creative occupations outside the creative industries are taken into account.
IT, software and computer services is the biggest of the new broad creative industry groups, with 470,000 employees, according to the paper. Publishing employs 214,000 people while Film, TV, radio and photography account for 205,000 jobs.
Music, performing and visual arts employ 182,000 people. Advertising and marketing is the next largest with 144,000 workers, followed by Design and designer fashion with 103,000. Architecture is the smallest of the new broad creative industry groups, employing 99,000 people.
The proposed changes are intended to update the ground-breaking 1998 Creative Industries Mapping Documents, which were one of the first attempts to quantify the value of creative businesses to the economy.
The review adopts the “creative intensity” methodology to discern which sectors should be included as creative industries. Any industry where more than 30% of workers do creative jobs is considered a candidate for inclusion.
Consultation on the proposed changes closes on 14 June 2013. Details of how to respond can be found here.
News: online design retailer Fab.com has announced it will design its own range of furniture and homeware to be sold alongside its existing inventory.
The brand has also announced its expansion into France, the acquisition of a German furniture company and the opening of its first physical retail store.
In a blog post today, Fab founder and CEO Jason Goldberg revealed that the company, which originally launched in 2011 as a social network but switched focus last year to become a retail site for design, was once again “pivoting” its retail strategy as it looks to compete with global retailers like Amazon and Walmart.
“We won’t rest until we’ve created the global brand that is synonymous with design for years and years to come,” Goldberg wrote, adding that the relaunch was part of his plan to make Fab “the world’s number one design store”.
From today, the brand will add three exclusive product ranges to its offering: a line created in-house, called Products Designed by Fab; a specially selected line of products by other designers, named Products Found By Fab; and Designer Collaborations, which will see Fab developing products with other designers.
Goldberg also announced the launch of Fab’s operations in France, a move that he says gives the brand coverage of 99% of the European Union, as well as the acquisition of MassivKonzept, a German startup specialising in customised furniture. MassivKonzept has been rebranded as Fab Designed By You, offering customers the chance to order made-to-measure shelves, tables and sofas in a variety of materials.
The company is also opening its first physical retail store in Hamburg, Germany, as well as expanding its mobile shopping experience with the new Fab iPad and iPhone apps.
You know the annoying feeling of sitting in a doctor’s waiting room, for minutes on end, doing nothing while the doctor is running late? It can be aggravating. Oncologist Dr. James Salwitz recently published an article expressing a doctor’s perspective on this trial on our patience. He wrote about a normal busy day at his office — or what was a normal day, until this happened:
The 1:30, 1:45, 2:00 patients all arrived at 2:15 and suddenly I was looking at an afternoon that would run deeply into eve. I really hate it when patients are late. …
As an oncologist, I detest running late, because it means leaving people with cancer on their minds, stewing in my waiting room. Personally, I worry when I am waiting at the dentist for a cleaning. What goes on in the mind of someone waiting to see me?
This got me thinking about how much grief we can cause for ourselves and others when we find ourselves running late. Usually we just inconvenience people, but sometimes the implications are more serious. Laurie Perry shares a story about the woman who hit her Jeep:
After the crash she sat in her car, writing out her phone number for me, saying, “I was late for work.” I remember looking at her with absolute disbelief, thinking You almost killed me because you were late for work?
That line keeps coming back to me at the oddest times. I’ll see someone blow through a red light and hear that lady saying, I was late for work. And then I think, I hope they don’t kill someone just because they couldn’t bother to leave on time for work today.
What causes us to run late? Some people fall prey to underestimating the time it will take to get somewhere. That’s not my personal weakness. I’m what Penelope Trunk calls a “time pessimist”; I assume things are going to take longer than my first estimate. I’ve learned that Google Maps gives me an optimistic driving time. And I live in an area with minimal public transit and winding two-lane roads, where any traffic snarls lead to major delays — so I’ve learned to pad many minutes into my driving times.
Some people are hooked on the adrenaline rush of cutting things close. In her book It’s Hard to Make a Difference When You Can’t Find Your Keys, Marilyn Paul notes that “there is a thrill in running late, postponing something to the last minute, or meeting a deadline by minutes. If you’re in your car, rushing to an appointment, you experience the exhilaration of trying to get through each traffic light.” She goes on to explain that there are better ways to get your adrenaline rush. But I don’t get a thrill from cutting things close — quite the opposite. I’m one of those people who is nervous enough about missing a plane that I arrive at airports ridiculously early.
I’m also not someone who tends to get held up because I’ve misplaced something. My house keys go on a hook by the front door. My Prius car keys and my wallet stay in my purse. I’ve got a tote bag that has everything I need for a certain weekly meeting. Sure, I will sometimes misplace something and have to scramble, but it’s a rare event.
Rather, when I’ve found myself leaving home later than I intended, it’s usually due to what Kathleen Nadeau calls one-more-thing-itis. I send one more email. I do one more seemingly tiny task. Then I hope there’s no traffic jam, because I’ve eaten up all my carefully planned buffer time. And I promise myself I’m never doing this to myself again.
But for many people, it’s difficult to develop the habits needed to arrive on time. For anyone who is chronically late and concerned about that, but is finding it hard to change, I’d recommend Never Be Late Again, by Diana DeLonzer, which presents “seven cures for the punctually challenged.” It’s a book filled with both humor and wisdom, from an author who has overcome this challenge herself.
Additional help: Hang something as simple as a removable utility hook near your front door or inside your coat closet to hold your keys every time you come into your home. Set alarms on your smart phone, watch, or Time Timer to remind you to get out the door when you need to. Time yourself doing regular morning activities (brushing your teeth, taking a shower, walking your dog around the neighborhood, getting dressed, eating breakfast, etc.) to see how long it really takes you to do these activities. As humans, we often underestimate how long things take us to do, and having a real sense of the time it takes you to get ready can help you plan your day better so you can get places on time.
Need help getting organized? Buy the DRM-free audiobook version of Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week today for only $8.99.
It’s been just over seven months to the day since the Morpholio Project debuted their Trace app to much acclaim. By January of this year, they had added several new tools for designers beyond the original audience of architects, and now, just a few months later, they’re pleased to announce a suite of new tools that constitute a major release. “The App Store’s number one portfolio app re-imagines the portfolio as a design utility, moving it into the fast, flexible, at-your-fingertips device era. The project seeks to advance the ways that creatives access, share, discuss, and get feedback on their work from a global community of users.”
By combining production and presentation software with web-enabled tools for sharing and critique, the app offers a fully-integrated platform for production and collaboration. To hear Morpholio’s Anna Kenoff tell it, “Aside from making design production easier, we wanted to know if better tools could make it smarter by integrating the wisdom of crowds and capitalizing on the power of the touchscreen to capture feedback.”
To achieve this, Morpholio had to become very sophisticated about all the ways that designers communicate—not just through language, but most importantly through their eyes and hands. Over the past year, the team of architects and programmers has collaborated with experts from various disciplines to build a robust design-centric workspace that could be used by anyone—from fashion designers to photographers, architects and automotive designers, even tattoo artists. It builds on research into human-computer-interaction to deliver innovations like a tool for image analytics called “EyeTime” and virtual “Crits” where collaborators can share images, and comment on each other’s work via notes or sketches. Human behavior data-mining is essential to offering these forms of powerful feedback, letting you know how your followers are interacting with your work.
by Katie Olsen Back in 2009, buddies Indhra Chagoury and Jeremy Somers had a great idea for what was potentially just a side project. What began with five sample products is now Australia’s We Are Handsome, a…
Here are the latest images of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners’ extension to the British Museum in London, set to complete early next year.
Currently under construction in the north-west corner of the British Museum‘s Bloomsbury quadrangle, the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre will provide new galleries, storage facilites and conservation studios within a nine-storey structure conceived as a cluster of pavilions.
Referencing both the nineteenth and twentieth century architecture of the museum, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners designed a steel-framed building clad with a mixture of stone and glass. The height of the roof will align with the eaves of the existing building, while three of the storeys are to be buried underground.
The Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery will occupy the ground floor of the new building and will be accessed via the north side of the Norman Foster-designed Great Court. The column-free rectangular gallery will feature a large door to allow access for larger exhibits, as well as a series of floor-to-ceiling windows that can be easily screened to protect light-sensitive objects. The space could also be subdivided to house smaller exhibitions.
Other floors of the building will be dedicated to conservation of the museum’s collection. The uppermost floor will contain top-lit studios for working with smaller artefacts, such as metal, glass or ceramic objects, while additional laboratories and offices will surround a two-storey atrium in the lower levels of the building and will be used for examining larger objects.
The three basement floors will function as a storage and lending hub for over 200,000 items. Each floor will contain a study room, plus a 16-metre truck lift will allow items to be transported in and out of the building.
“The World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre represents a vitally important combination of a purpose-built exhibition gallery and a celebration of the amazing behind-the-scenes activities,” said architect Graham Stirk. “These facilities will be contained in a bespoke twenty-first century building that provides the next stage of the museum’s evolution.”
The World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre will complete in March 2014 and the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery is scheduled to open with an exhibition dedicated to the Vikings.
British Museum celebrates progress on the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre development
With less than a year to go until the first exhibition opens in the new exhibitions gallery, the British Museum today reveals the extent of progress on the construction of its new capital project, the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre (WCEC). Designed by Rogers, Stirk, Harbour + Partners (RSHP) and constructed by Mace, the new Centre will cement the British Museum’s reputation as a world leader in the exhibition, conservation, examination and analysis of cultural objects from across the globe. The WCEC will enable the Museum to build on current successes, to store, conserve, study and display the collection for the future.
Located in the north-west corner of the Museum’s Bloomsbury estate, the WCEC is one of the largest redevelopment projects in the Museum’s 260 year history. The Centre will provide a new public exhibitions gallery, state-of-the-art laboratories and studios, world class stores for the collection, as well as facilities to support an extensive UK and international loan programme. This will rationalise and greatly improve the Museum’s operations on-site, and modernise facilities ‘behind the scenes’. These will allow the Museum to extend support to our UK and International partners in terms of increasing capacity for staff training and joint projects.
The building consists of five pavilions (one of which is sunk into the ground) and the design is sensitive to the British Museum’s existing architecture, connecting to the historic building whilst maintaining its own identity. The exhibitions gallery is due to open in early March 2014 with a new exhibition devoted to the Vikings (supported by BP). It is anticipated the conservation studios, science laboratories, loans hub and stores will be fitted out and occupied by summer 2014.
The total cost of the project is £135 million. The Linbury Trust, established by John Sainsbury (Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover KG), and the Monument Trust, established by Simon Sainsbury have together committed £25 million towards the project, one of the largest gifts to the arts in the UK in recent decades, which will be used to fund the exhibition gallery. The Heritage Lottery Fund has committed £10 million towards the project. Other significant benefactors include the Wolfson Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the A.G. Leventis Foundation and the family of Constantine Leventis, the Clothworkers’ Foundation, the Fidelity U.K. Foundation, Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement, the Band Trust and others as well as continued support from the Department for Culture Media and Sport (worth £22.5 million over 4 years). A fundraising campaign from the British Museum Members is underway.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
