Hasta La Ideas

To some they look like bow-legged cowboys. To others, swaggering pirates. Either way, the..(Read…)

Captured on December 5th, somewhere on the infinite Pacific Ocean,  this image shows the Orion..(Read…)

It seems absurd to be burning energy by using lightbulbs while the sun is shining, but buildings can only have so many windows, and sunlight can only penetrate so far. MIT’s Solar Bottle Bulb and Ross Lovegrove’s Sun Tunnel are two ways to get sunlight inside, but both solutions require piercing a roof for installation. This new system called the Light Bandit, in contrast, is a no-construction-required solution. And it’s brilliant:

“Sunlight is the fuel that powers all life on Earth, yet our lifestyles block most of it out,” the developers write. “Between work, school and home we spend most of our time indoors under artificial lighting that lacks important benefits of natural lighting. The Light Bandit changes that.”

What’s fascinating is that the coating on the reflectors filters out UV and infrared, delivering only visible light; this means you won’t fade out the part of your couch that’s got a Light Bandit lamp over it.

The Light Bandit Kickstarter is no foregone conclusion, by the way; these guys need help and publicity. At press time they’d clocked under six grand out of a $200,000 target, and there’s just 21 days left to go. But we’ve seen less impressive projects hit higher targets in a shorter stretch of time, so we’re hoping this product becomes a reality.

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The latest issue of YCN’s members’ magazine features an interview with Wolff Olins co-founder Michael Wolff. To accompany the article, YCN has also released a short film shot at the designer’s home in North London…

Directed by Ed Andrews, the film features a glimpse of Wolff’s home studio and some of the artworks and artefacts he has collected over the years, from a leopard created by collage artist Peter Clark to a 1966 cover of Paris’ Match magazine commemorating the death of Walt Disney.

He also offers some words of wisdom for designers and reflects on the importance of creating design with real purpose and value: “It’s very easy as a designer to think what you like is what’s right but actually, what’s right is more important than what you think is right”, he says, adding: “If [design] doesn’t bring joy, if it doesn’t satisfy people in some way or delight them, or improve the quality of their lives, I can’t see the point of it.”

The film accompanies an interview written by Sarah Snaith and published in the Winter Issue of YCN’s magazine, in which Wolff reflects on lessons learned from 50 years designing communications for clients. Snaith’s article is featured alongside a photoshoot with Wolff, shot by photographer Nick Ballon in Regent’s Park:

Also in the issue is a look at four studio partnerships, including A Practice for Everyday Life’s co-founders Emma Thomas and Kirsty Carter as well as Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh and an article on Ballon’s latest project documenting some extraordinary architecture in the Bolivian city El Alto, plus illustrations by Alice Bowsher, La Tigre, Jordy van den Nieuwendijk and Joe Cruz.

For details or to order a copy (priced at £6) see ycn.org

Dezeen promotion: Italian brand Ceramiche Refin has launched a porcelain tile collection based on the winning concept from its Create your Tile design competition.

Conceived by young Polish designer Kasia Zareba, Fossil is a new range of porcelain tiles informed by the prehistoric imprints left by plants and animals in rock formations.

Ceramiche Refin’s research arm, DesignTaleStudio, launched the Create your Tile competition in February 2014, which invited tile design concepts from professionals across the globe.

Over 800 entries were submitted and then judged by Italian designers Alessandro and Francesco Mendini, before Zareba’s concept was announced as the winner.

Available in brown, beige or grey, the 60-by-60-centimetre tiles are produced in five hand-drawn patterns and are intended to look like they’re made from natural stone.

Her original sketches were inspired by the physical impressions left by the grooved, coiled shells of extinct sea creatures called ammonites.

“In the subtle motifs, one’s imagination can see different figures. They bring to mind the regularities of form found in the natural world,”said Zareba.

“Some people can interpret the ornament as strokes of fur, others see in it the tree rings of annual growth or the surface of rams’ horns.”

After studying architecture in Poland, Zareba received a place at Design Academy in Eindhoven. She opened her own design studio in the Dutch city after graduating in 2012.

For more information about the Fossil series, visit the Ceramiche Refin website.

Here is more information from Ceramiche Refin:

Fossil Collection

The Fossil collection of porcelain tiles is a translation of the prehistoric imprints left by plants and animals in rock formations, and Zareba took early inspiration from the fossilised marks left by the fluted shells of ammonites. The hand-drawn pattern gives it a unique feeling, resembling traces of primeval creatures pressed against the surface of the stone. Traces of the pattern break and overlap much like the signs of time in prehistoric sites and archaeological excavations.

Moving in different directions, the five separate hand-drawn graphic elements that make up the Fossil collection create a curious optical illusion of depth, created by the perpective shortcuts of separate strokes. The interlocking mosaic of the shades resemble a natural stone, creating a modern interpretation of marble – the symbol of tradition and refined taste of the luxury of precious materials. The Fossil pattern gives an interior a simple, natural and elegant atmosphere.

The winning collection comes in 60-by-60 centimetre porcelain tiles in three neutral colours –beige, grey and brown– with five different graphic patterns to be laid randomly.

www.refin-ceramic-tiles.com

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