In response to my weekly newsletter that I sent on Tuesday, Maria Carluccio shares this composition with us, made of chopped up old watercolour paintings. “It was so liberating!” she exclaims.
“Out with the old, in with the new—reusing old art to make new art.”
“I highly recommend it as a fun way to explore colour connection,” advises Maria. “After I pieced these together I started thinking about how colours remind me of emotions and feelings so I wrote in pencil the first thing that came to me when I thought of that swatch.”
Maria is one of the 100 artists profiled in the UPPERCASE Surface Pattern Design Guide included in the spring issue (#21). The Guide is also available as a free download when you sign up for my newsletter—I’ll send inspiring content directly to your inbox once a week!
The following are four super-simple things you can do in less than five minutes to make a huge improvement in your productivity and efficiency.
First and foremost: disable the alert sound that announces every new email you receive on your computer. This alert sound is such a compelling distraction that it can pull me out of almost anything I’m doing. It’s similar to the sound of a ringing phone — no one can resist it. A lot of people learn to check email at pre-determined intervals (which I recommend), but even just silencing that insistent little beep and checking your email whenever you want will go a long way to reducing distractions and increasing productivity. I killed the beep on my iPhone, too. You can easily turn these notifications back on if the need arises.
A second suggestion and another large improvement for me was eliminating leisure computing after 9:00 p.m. Nothing increases productivity like sleep, and late-night Facebook browsing or tweeting was robbing me of that precious commodity. Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy! I’m going to order the book iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us by Larry D. Rosen for more insight on this topic. But even my modest efforts have been beneficial, as I’m getting more sleep.
My favorite online calendar is Google Calendar. I’ve been using it for years and I love it. However, I only recently discovered the “Quick Add” feature. Here’s how it works: when creating a new event, click the downward-pointing arrow next to the “Create” button. Then, enter an event that follows the what, where, and when pattern (note that only “what” and “when” are required). For example, “Meeting with Tom at Starbucks on Tuesday 2.15 p.m.” Using natural language is SO much faster than creating an event and filling each field one at a time. How did it take me so long to find this?
Finally, and this is my favorite, install an app launcher. This is a piece of software that, among other things, lets you launch applications with only a stroke of a key or two. I’m a Mac user and I swear by Alfred. LaunchBar is another popular alternative. On the Windows side, consider Launchy. With Alfred, I can open any app by hitting Command-Space and then typing just the first one or two letters of that app’s name. I can’t even measure how much time this saves me throughout the day. All of these programs do a lot more than launch other apps, but this feature alone makes them worth installing. In fact, when I get a new computer, the absolute first thing I do with it is install Alfred.
You can get fancy with your productivity enhancement to great benefit, but remember that sometimes small changes can make huge differences. Share your favorite small tips that reap huge rewards in productivity and efficiency.
Movie: in the first of a series of exclusive video interviews with Bjarke Ingels, the Danish architect talks us through three of his practice BIG‘s current projects and explains why he considers diagrams to be such an important design tool.
One of the larger projects BIG is currently working on is West 57th, a 600-apartment block in New York featuring a rectangular plan, which is pulled up at one corner to create a tower nearly 150 metres high.
“We call it a court-scraper,” Ingels explains. “It’s a combination of a skyscraper and a courtyard building. One side is the height of a handrail and the other side is the height of a high-rise.”
Looking at the dramatic shape of the building, people might assume it was the result of “some extensive sculpting exercise,” he says. However, Ingels claims the building’s form actually came about through a series of simple, logical diagrams.
“As a way of keeping track of all the design decisions we make, we break them down to diagrams,” he explains. “We never make any design decisions just for fun.”
He continues: “[The West 57th site] is sandwiched between a power plant, a sanitation garage and a highway. We thought, ‘What they really need is a courtyard.’ So we started by putting the courtyard on the site.”
“But to give it Manhattan density we had to pull up the north-east corner, up to 500 feet, keeping all of the other sides low, so you still get the sun from the South and the West. You still get the views over the water.”
BIG’s visitor centre for Lego, “a childhood dream” for Ingels, will resemble a stack of the toy bricks rising from a public square in the company’s home town of Billund.
“Denmark recently went through a structural reform so what they’re actually doing is tearing down the former City Hall and building the Lego house instead,” Ingels reveals. “That says much about the city of Billund!”
“[Audemars Piguet] is actually the last remaining family-owned Swiss watch company,” Ingels says. ” But a lot of people will know abut them because Jay-Z sings about them. There’s a whole series of American rappers who like Audemars.”
A harpoon gun, hand grenades, Bat-a-rangs (twice!), a “morning star” spiked flail, a 60mm mortar round, and of course handguns: These are all things you can’t carry onto an airplane. Ditto with these weird circular multi-bladed things, labeled “Fantasy throwing stars:”
But that doesn’t stop the millions of folks going through airport checkpoints each year from trying to smuggle these things through—often in carry-on luggage. With firearms alone, there were 1,477 discovered instances in 2013 alone, which is about four per day.
Camping is about getting away from it all: ditching the internet for a few days, embracing the wild and soaking in the sounds and views of nature. But as those who have tried planning the perfect trip know, it can be a frustrating…
After sharing the stunning works of last year’s winners, we’re pleased to announce this year’s call for entries at the third annual Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards. Co-founder …
With its new home at the Düsseldorf airport in Germany, RAY is the world’s first operational parking robot! When you drive up, it scans your vehicle and adapts to its size before lifting and carrying it away to an ideal parking space. With connectivity to the flight database and a user-controled mobile app, it can have your car ready as soon as you land or whenever you’re ready. More flexible and agile than self-parking, it’s super-efficient and can create almost 60% more parking. Next time you’re at Düsseldorf, check it out yourself at parking structure P3!
– Yanko Design Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world! Shop CKIE – We are more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the CKIE store by Yanko Design! (The Virtual Valet was originally posted on Yanko Design)
Le photographe japonais Ken Kitano nous propose avec sa série One Day des clichés de son pays, utilisant la technique de la longue exposition pour réaliser des clichés pris du matin jusqu’au soir, résumant ainsi une journée avec un superbe jeu de lumières. Des images surprenantes de Tokyo, du Mont Fuji ou d’Okinawa.
News: not content with playing host to the tallest building in the world, Dubai has unveiled plans for the world’s first indoor city – a temperature-controlled mega resort featuring a retractable glass roof and the world’s largest shopping centre.
Mall of the World is the vision of property developer Dubai Holding and is conceived as a 450-hectare resort, attracting over 180 million visitors each year with the promise of a glitzy theatre district and a gigantic theme park.
At the heart of the proposal is a 750,000-square-metre shopping centre. Designed as a contained street spanning seven kilometres, this space is described by the developer as an alternative experience to the typical Dubai mall.
All facilities will be covered during the stifling summer months – when temperatures can exceed 50 degrees celsius. But thanks to a retractable glass roof, they can be exposed to fresh air in the cooler winter season.
This will ensure that guests can “enjoy a week-long stay without the need to leave the city or use a car”.
“We plan to transform Dubai into a cultural, tourist and economic hub for the two billion people living in the region around us,” said Dubai president Mohammed Bin Rashid at the project launch. “And we are determined to achieve our vision.”
As well as the extensive shopping district, the proposal features a theatre district modelled on London’s West End and New York’s Broadway, as well as a “celebration district” designed in the vein of La Rambla in Barcelona.
These will be accompanied by over 100 hotels and serviced apartment buildings, plus a health resort offering everything from general medicine to rejuvenation and cosmetic surgery.
“Our ambitions are higher than having seasonal tourism. Tourism is key driver of our economy and we aim to make the UAE an attractive destination all year long,” said Sheikh Mohammed.
The indoor city marks a return to the headline-grabbing projects that regularly came out of the Arab state before the recession.
Dubai has boasted the world’s tallest building for over four years – the 828-metre Burj Khalifa – and is also home to the planet’s largest flower garden and biggest aquarium.
Dubai Holding chairman Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi described the project as “an innovative concept” that will “strengthen Dubai’s appeal as a tourism hub”.
“This project is a product of extensive research studying international and regional tourists’ requirements and preferences,” he said. “The objective is to create an integrated city with a plethora of best-in-class options within pleasant environments.”
Site plan
Mall of the World is set to be constructed along Sheikh Zayed Road, not far from the 2005-built Mall of the Emirates, which features an indoor ski slope.
Dezeen promotion: there is just one day of public voting left in the LaunchBox new product contest, before the ballot closes on 11 July.
LaunchBox is an online competition created by Cut&Paste, Intel and HP, which exhibits new pre-crowdfunded product designs from across Europe.
There is a total of £14,000 in prizes to be won in contributions towards crowdfunding campaigns, as long as projects have not received any sales revenues or crowdsourced funds prior to entry.
This image and top – Fuzo by Bertrand Besnard
This year’s entries range from concepts and ideas to fully-developed prototypes. A number of the projects focus on transport, with bicycles, a motorbike and car concepts among the submissions.
Highlights include modular furniture, clay kitchen utensils and a medical lighting system for developing countries.
Fuzo by Bertrand Besnard
Fuzo is a piece of furniture made from wood and welded metal consisting of three parts, which can be turned into a high seat, footrest, locker or plant pot.
“I think the compact size of this creation will interest people who don’t have a lot of space to live, maybe students or young couples,” Fuzo’s creator Bertrand Besnard told Dezeen.
“Initially, the user can’t fully understand the project because its isn’t shaped like a familiar interior furniture piece, but after using it they gradually discover multiple functions.”
Exo Electric City Car by Mark Beccaloni and Mauro Fragiotta
Exo Electric City Car is a concept for a three-seater city car with a unique structure designed to improve the safety of the vehicle.
Its creators Mark Beccaloni and Mauro Fragiotta removed all the details that usually sit on the outside of a car, replacing them with an uncovered exoskeleton and unified chassis.
Exo Electric City Car by Mark Beccaloni and Mauro Fragiotta
“We had to think about a completely different car system, choosing advanced technologies and different space distribution from a conventional car,” said Beccaloni and Fragiotta.
“At first inspiration came from nature, in particular from arthropods, which are animals that have an exoskeleton to protect their internal organs.”
Exo Electric City Car by Mark Beccaloni and Mauro Fragiotta
Its angular exterior and external chassis are intended to reduce the car’s weight and cost, as well as increasing its speed.
“We used Buckminster Fuller’s work on geodesic structures to adapt our exoskeleton idea, developing a light but strong geodesic external frame,” Beccaloni and Fragiotta added.
“The exhibition was about daily objects, which is why I designed a squeezer,” said Ferrari. “It’s a modest object that is always needed in any kitchen.”
Squeezer by Jacopo Ferrari
The product consists of two parts that are linked together by a coloured rubber gasket, and the upper part is unglazed.
“Every time someone squeezes an orange in my home, its flavour lingers in the air for some minutes. The properties of unglazed terracotta led me to design a squeezer that absorbs and slowly releases the orange flavour,” Ferrari told Dezeen.
“I hope Squeezer will be appreciated outside design community, by people who love simple objects made of beautiful materials,” added Ferrari.
Squeezer by Jacopo Ferrari
The LaunchBox Gallery will be reviewed by a panel of industry jurors, including senior vice president of design at Fab.com Evan Clabots and 3Doodler’s Maxwell Bogue.
Click here to browse the full gallery and vote for your favourite projects. Voting closes on Friday 11 July.
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.
