Hasta La Ideas

News: Solveiga Pakstaite, an industrial design student from Brunel University, has won the UK James Dyson award with Bump Mark – an expiry label that decays to tell you when food is no longer safe to eat (+ slideshow).

Described as a “bio-reactive food label”, Bump Mark is designed as a tactile labelling system that could help cut wastage by replacing static expiry dates with a more organic marker that tells consumers if food has gone off.

Each Bump Mark starts as a smooth label, which is made predominantly of gelatine. Over time, the gelatine begins to break down, altering the surface of the label and creating “bumps” that can be felt by a person running their fingers over the top.

“Because it is a protein, it decays at the same rate as protein-based foods like pork, milk and cheese,” explained Pakstaite. “And the gelatine can be adapted to match the expiry period of the food by altering the concentration.”

“So, the higher the concentration, the longer the gel will stay solid. The label simply copies what the food in the package is doing, so the expiry information is going to be far more accurate than a printed date.”

Pakstaite has developed over 20 prototypes to test the concept, which Dyson said could save the average UK family more than £700 a year on wasted food.

“The UN food report estimates that 100 million tonnes of food is wasted and in the UK, residents throw away 7 million tonnes of food each year,” said the James Dyson Award organisation. “This is a project which is certainly needed to try and prevent these terrifying numbers increasing.”

Created by British engineer James Dyson, the award is an annual prize granted to students who are working on innovative design engineering projects.

UK winner Pakstaite will receive £2,000 to further develop her prototype, and will progress to the international stage of the award. The international winner will receive £30,000, with an additional £10,000 awarded to their university department.

The Gravity 3D drawing tablet by a team of students from the Royal College of Art (RCA) was among four other projects shortlisted for the UK leg of the award.

Also on the shortlist was Bruise by Dan Garret, also from the RCA – an injury detection suit for disabled athletes with loss of sensation with a pressure sensitive film that changes colour on impact – and Spokefuge, a low-tech centrifuge alternative used to diagnose anaemic patients in rural developing countries, designed by Jack Trew from Birmingham City University.

An inflatable incubator designed to try and decrease the number of premature child deaths in refugee camps called MOM, by James Roberts from Loughbourough University is the final project on the list.

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win UK James Dyson Award 2014 appeared first on Dezeen.

Lee Broom opened doors at his Shoreditch studio last night to launch an opulent new collection of lighting and objects under the tongue in cheek title, ‘Nouveau Rebel.’ Recognized on the design scene for his contemporary twists on classics and high-end finishes (see his Crystal Bulbs from 2012) Broom’s collection this year shows some creative and incredibly crafted use of marble—thin tubes of the stuff, for example, making even strip lighting look swanky.

Moving away from generic studio opening format or indeed the mock shop of previous LDF’s, last night’s dramatic exhibition ushered visitors down monochromatic corridors of curtains with only the collection to dramatically lighting the corners and crevices.

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London Design Festival 2014: Ace Hotel Shoreditch London is hosting Super Stimuli and the Extra-Ordinary Gallery, a series of installations including flower displays by Bethan Laura Wood, ceramics by Max Lamb and furniture by Martino Gamper (+ slideshow).

New biannual design magazine Modern Design Review invited four London-based designers – Fabien Cappello, Martino Gamper, Michael Marriott and Bethan Laura Wood – to install work in the public areas of the hotel for Super Stimuli.

“Rather than pretend we were walking into a black space we thought we would celebrate what is there already and exaggerate it in a playful way,” said Laura Houseley, editor of Modern Design Review.

Alter is a series of floral and ceramic arrangements by Bethan Laura Wood. Inspired by altarpieces, harvest festivals and temple displays, the designer has adorned a runner board in the Ace Hotel restaurant, Hoi Polloi and a shelf in adjoining florist, That Flower Shop, with sprays of foliage in ceramic containers.

Rainbow, a collection of ceramic vessels by Wood, join new pieces by Max Lamb, Silo Studio and Martino Gamper and a selection of vintage West German vases in the displays.

A bank of foliage planted in colourful plastic buckets and baskets that decorate the hotel steps completes Wood’s contribution to the exhibition.

Fabien Cappello has installed a pile of beanbags in assorted patterned fabrics that heap into a corner of the main hotel concourse. Soft Play is intended to provide contrast to the structured lobby furniture.

Michael Marriott responded to a request from Modern Design Review to provide a display area for the publication by issuing a special oak and black steel edition oak of his Croquet shelves featuring neon pink cross-braces.

A new wooden trestle table and bench named Slee’d and Slamom provide a seating area beside the shelving, while the Sled cabinet provides storage. Marriott also presents prototypes for a table lamp and bowl made from old propane drums.

The Recto Verso chair by Martino Gamper is a take on the bentwood café chairs, a type of seating typically used in cafes.

The chairs take up residence in the hotel cafe for the duration of the exhibition and are accompanied by two Arnold Circus tables by the designer that feature a hexagonal wooden top on an asymmetric base.

In the hotel lobby, London Italian design studio Fabrica present the Extra-Ordinary Gallery – a cabinet of curiosities displaying products from the collection the brand launched in Milan earlier this year.

The designs, which also occupy the space behind the reception desk, form a collection of every day objects reinterpreted by young designers.

“These things are made special through attention to detail, and are reinterpreted with a broader potential – to become a little bit more than what they already are,” said Fabrica.

The collection uses a monochrome palette and includes a set of marble dumbbells by French designer Charlotte Juillard, a wire-framed wall organiser by Federico Floriani and a marble and wire vase that reveals both the stem and the flower by Japanese designer Ryu Yamamoto.

A ceramic cake stand, by British designer Dean Brown, doubles as a fruit bowl when stood on its head. Dilemma is intended to make every day use of an item less frequently used, and to play on the dilemma of whether to eat healthily from the fruit bowl, or indulge from the cake plate.

“It’s an extraordinary object. That’s our mission,” said Fabrica designer Federico Floriani.

Super Stimuli and the Extra-Ordinary Gallery installations run concurrently at Ace Hotel Shoreditch, London until 22 September.

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installations at Ace Hotel Shoreditch appeared first on Dezeen.