Hasta La Ideas

Industrial designer Ron Arad has created a set of vases that slot inside one another, just like a nest of tables, for glass brand Nude.

Concentrics is a set of four vases designed by Tel Aviv-born, London-based Arad for the contemporary Turkish brand.

They were unveiled during Milan design week in the opulent surrounds of baroque Milanese property Palazzo Litta.

Arad previously collaborated with Nude on a series of glass decanters and stacking glasses.

For this project, he designed vessels that are blown in flowing, fluid shapes of decreasing circumference and increasing height. This ensures they can nest inside one other.

The four vases, designed and developed over a period of seven months, are made from crystal-clear glass using a technique called çeşm-i bülbül, meaning “eye of the nightingale” in Turkish. The process involves wrapping coloured glass rods around molten glass to create a swirling, diagonal stripe effect.

The glass is then blown into steel moulds by highly skilled glass makers, who ensure that the coloured stripes on each clear glass vase are placed at opposing angles, so that when nested together in a stack, a moiré effect is created.

Designed to be as beautiful when empty as when in use, the vases can be stacked and rotated to create different patterns and shapes.

“The nice thing about this traditional Turkish technique is that you can create this moiré effect when you layer the glass together,” Arad told Dezeen.

“I thought it would be good to do a series of stacking bowls that you can use in different ways  – so you could have four bowls doing different things, with apples in the base and flowers in the top for example,” he continued. “They can work together or they can work on their own.”

Alongside Concentrics, Nude’s Milan show also included the Ecrin and Beret containers by German designer Sebastian Herkner, which were first seen at Paris’s Maison & Objet in January.

Inspired by the round stones of the Earth Pyramids of Ritten, the Ecrin series of containers feature thick glass bases topped with smooth, brightly coloured lids.

Meanwhile Herkner’s new Beret collection, which comprises colourful and sleek brass-lidded vessels, was inspired by the round, flat-crowned French hat of the same name.

American designer Brad Ascalon‘s Hepburn collection was also on show. First seen at Paris’s Maison & Objet in January, the glassware collection is designed to inspire mixologists.

Including a highball and lowball glasses, coupes, a pitcher with stirrer, and a shaker, the Hepburn series features understated metallic attachments and accessories.

Similarly, the previously launched Big Top collection by London-based Youmeus for Nude has been designed to enhance the experience of preparing and serving drinks.

Inspired by circus jugglers, the glass and gold-plated stainless steel collection mimics the movement and shapes of performers. The serving set consists of matching glassware, ice cube bowl, tongs, straws and cocktail sticks.

Istanbul-based Nude was founded in 2014 as a subsidiary of Sisecam Group, an industrial global glassware company. Nude has previously worked with Formafantasma to create glassware with swathes of coloured pigment, and with Slovakian  designer Tomas Kral, who designed a series of glassware that resembles parrots.

Other glassware launches at this year’s Milan design week included a range of painterly glass objects designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Wonderglass.

The post Ron Arad uses Turkish glassmaking techniques to create nesting vases appeared first on Dezeen.

What do you do when you first get to work in the morning? For most of us, it’s not starting up our computers or looking at our meeting schedules, rather, we head straight for the company coffee machine. I know this is especially true for me. Don’t even LOOK at me unless I’ve had my first sip. Designed with this sentiment in mind, Marmik Patel’s Nespresso concept gets to know each and every individual in the office and tailor makes their perfect cuppa joe every day.

It works in tandem with a smartphone app where users can input their favorite flavors and espresso styles. You can create a customized cup of coffee from the comfort of your desk or even when you’re on your way to work! Skip the line because, in seconds, a piping hot picker-upper will be waiting for you just the way you like it!

Designer: Marmik Patel

Studio Ben Allen has inserted a spiralling plywood staircase in the centre of an office in Birmingham, England, which is designed to get workers moving.

The London architecture studio was commissioned to expand the offices of global engineering firm Cundall in a way that would improve the health and wellbeing of its workers.

A skeletal timber staircase was pitched by Studio Ben Allen to the clients as a way of connecting the new office floor to the existing one, and to embody their idea of an active workplace.

“The helical stair [is] a central signifier that connects the newly occupied floor to the existing, intended as a visually engaging centre piece of the workplace that also promotes physical activity by its use,” architect and studio founder Ben Allen told Dezeen.

Thin plywood struts form a trestle-like structure that allows light to filter from floor to floor and creates a visual connection between both spaces in the Holistic Office.

“The structure also creates a visual moiré effect as users pass up and down the stair,” Allen added.

All the furnishings for the office are designed to combat static working styles.

High desks allow workers to stand rather than sit, and meeting spaces promote active discussions with moveable blocks arranged in a semi-circle that allow team members to move around and sit at different levels.

Bespoke shelving units made from solid Douglas fir also bring in natural materials and provide display areas for plants.

The shelves double as space dividers in the office, a response the architects had to “the common complaint that open-plan environments are agoraphobia inducing”.

In the Holistic Office, a latticework of felt panels adds visual interest to the ceiling and manages the acoustics of the open-plan office.

Felt acoustic were also integrated into the wooden quiet desks to create desk spaces where employees could work in peace.

In reception, the architects hung a piece of artwork made of all the materials used in the project arranged in pentagonal tiles.

“The innovative use of natural materials is used to reinforce the strong focus on health and wellbeing,” said Allen

Studio Ben Allen worked closely with local fabricators to keep the materials used in the project free of volatile organic compounds, potentially harmful chemicals that can vaporise at room temperature found in certain paints and coatings.

The architects are hoping that the office will be the first WELL standard compliant project outside of London in the UK.

The office they designed for the same client in the capital was the first to gain the award, which recognises buildings that prioritise the health and wellbeing of its occupants, in Europe, and only the seventh globally.

Curvaceous and suspended timber staircases are a popular choice for architects designing contemporary offices. For the Paris offices of LVMH French designer Ora Ït built a snaking staircase from hundreds of wooden slats, and Shanghai studio Neri&Hu added a boxy spiral staircase with meeting spaces cut into the wood for the Hong Kong headquarters of Bloomberg.

Studio Ben Allen specialises in using simple materials for striking effect.

For a residential extension in York the studio added a pair of brickwork vaults to a Victorian terraced house, and in London’s 1970s Barbican development the studio inserted plywood shapes to transform a pair of children’s’ bedrooms into a multi-level work/play area.

Photography by Quentin Lake.

The post Sweeping staircase forms centrepiece of engineering office by Studio Ben Allen appeared first on Dezeen.

YD has always had a large focus on concepts. The only way to pave the future, I believe, is to conceptualize, and we’ve seen so many products develop only years after the concepts did. So as far as they go, conceptual designs pave the way for real-world products, and they’ll always have their place on YD. Having said that, there’s no observing conceptual designs without stumbling across those made by Jonas Daehnert, or as the internet calls him, Phone Designer. Jonas’ conceptual phones range from pretty-well-chalked-out to tongue-in-cheek… although some of his conceptual designs feature rather logical details based off rumors, brought to life by his photorealistic rendering skills. We had a chance to have a word with Jonas, delving into his process, passion for phones, and what he designs apart from them. We’ve even taken a look at some of his phones we’ve featured on YD.

Yanko Design: Hey Jonas! Big fan! Tell us a little about yourself, your background, what you do…

Jonas Daehnert: Hey! My name is Jonas Daehnert, I’m a 31-year-old designer from Germany. In 2007 I started studying product design at the Bauhaus University Weimar. During this time I learned how to develop and design products. But, of course, even out of school, learning continues.
Currently, I work as a freelance product and concept designer. Sometimes I design new product concepts for companies or other design agencies, sometimes I visualize their products for packaging, advertising or for presentations, like MWC in Barcelona. In my free time, I’m a natural born geek.

Daehnert’s Leather Phone imagines an era where phones are flexible, so a leather construction provides a beautifully premium clad.

YD: How and when did you venture into the “concept phone” domain?

JD: In addition to studying, I founded a video game development studio with a friend, 9 years ago. He was, and still is, an excellent computer scientist and I was able to design the graphics, sounds and game mechanics. We did a good job. But even in 2010/11, it was hard to get attention, especially when you developed apps for Windows Phone 7. To increase our downloads we were looking for a way to advertise our apps more effectively. Then I came up with the idea to promote our apps on fictional devices. As chance would have it, Microsoft revealed their first Surface devices in June 2012. One week later we presented our games on the new fictional “Surface Phone”. I’m really proud of it, because it was my first phone concept and people really liked it. We got a lot of attention. It was also the birth of the Surface Phone myth. From that point on, I started developing phone concepts in my free time.

The Surface Phone was Jonas’ first concept phone, modeled off the Surface Tablet that released in 2012.

YD: Softwares! What do you use to model and render?

JD: Like a lot of product designers I use Rhino 3D for modeling and Keyshot 7 Pro for rendering. Both applications are relatively lightweight, versatile, affordable, and easy to learn — but hard to master. They work perfectly together.

A poke at the #bendgate controversy surrounding the iPhone 6 launch

YD: How do you start with your concepts? Do you follow the rumor-mill?

JD: My first concepts just followed the rumors and as a product designer it is always a good exercise to work on fictional things for companies you have never worked for. It’s like a role playing game. You analyze their design philosophy and create new products for them, without restrictions or limitations. It’s just a typical design process with a lot of research, sketching and failures.
But in the last two years I stepped back to just do some smaller stuff on Twitter, because these days I don’t see any advantage to designing smartphones under a false flag. Most companies became boring, predictable giants. The biggest topics in the last six month were notches, great cameras and the disappearance of the headphone jack. That’s it.
I would like to go further and design my own visions under my own concept brand. For nearly a decade I’ve called myself Phone Designer. This doesn’t mean that I’m only focused on phones, though. Currently I’m working on a laptop concept, which will be totally unique.

The Lumia 940 was built on rumors and these incredibly realistic renders probably circulated more than the actual photos!

YD: Share some of your tips for photo-realistic renders!

JD: Of course for every render scene the quality of the 3D model, its details, textures and materials are important. But even more important is the arrangement of the 3D models, the camera and light settings. Many 3D artists make the mistake of using very low focal lengths and aggressive viewing angles in their camera settings. As a result, lots of renderings are distorted and the original character of the product is destroyed. Be more conservative in terms of camera settings and spend more time developing a sophisticated light setting to push the product characteristics. Having some knowledge about photography is really helpful, too.

The Pixel concept actually used Google’s brand colors as product lighting, creating a beautiful atmosphere for the render!

YD: Favorite phone of all time? What phone do you own?

JD: Definitely my first phone, a C35i by Siemens. It is an extremely durable phone with two weeks of battery life. And it still works, after 18 years. I’ve spent a long time with Windows Phone and I’m still a fan of the Lumia phones, especially its Fabula Design language. But Windows Phone is dead, so I switched to Android. Actually I use an old Moto G4 — it’s enough for my needs. I prefer purism and simplicity.

Jonas bid farewell to the Windows Phone in a rather humorous way. It’s pretty comical how the Windows Mobile tile-UI fits into the crucifix design too!

YD: Do you ever plan to make concept wearables like smartwatches or VR headsets, etc?

JD: I already did. A couple of years ago I designed a wristband that could have been a product by Microsoft, before they launched their first Microsoft Band. The similarities were surprising. I also created a fictional VR headset, the Google Nexus Glasses.
For a real client, I’m currently designing a wearable, which will be used in the sport of boxing. It’s not released yet.

Jonas dropped his own version of Microsoft’s Band in 2014, when the watch market had just begun developing with the Apple Watch.

YD: Lastly, one thing you really wish you could change about the smartphone industry.

JD: There are over 3000 smartphone brands in the world. Each company should produce less devices per year and focus on durability, their software services and updates. Planned obsolescence generates the money. This is a problem. That’s why I really appreciate Google’s Project Treble, which tries to change the current situation.
We should also think about our material choices. Using aluminum or glass for the backsides of the phones requires a lot of energy and resources that are not recyclable. We should use less glue and more screws. We have to prevent the garbage from landing in Africa. The whole industry has to change its attitude towards pollution.
Finally, as a geek I say: We need more battery life.

(I couldn’t agree with you more, Jonas…)

Daehner’s Spinner Phone, also from 2014 (not inspired by the fidget spinner), explores a rotating camera module machined in metal, allowing you to click incredible photos and selfies… using the same camera.

To check out more of Jonas’ work on YD, click here.

by Alexander Frane

Cannabis purveyor Mirth Provisions, out of Washington, has recently released Drift, a line of sublingual cannabis sprays. Built for ease of use, quick activation, and discretion, Drift is a convenient alternative for non-smokers……

Continue Reading…