Hasta La Ideas

Swedish product designer Simon Skinner has created a collection of afro hair combs that explore the effect of migration on Swedish identity. 

Called Afropicks, the collection of eight different combs was on show as part of the Hemma Gone Wild exhibition by Swedish Design Moves during this year’s Milan design week.

Skinner designed the combs to explore the ways in which identity could disrupt the perception of Swedish design. He chose to work with the afro comb due to its relative rarity in Sweden.

“As a mixed-race Swede with Afro-Caribbean roots I wanted to investigate how migration and multiculturalism is changing Swedish identity,” Skinner told Dezeen.

“The afro comb is originally known as a wide-toothed comb for naturally wavy or curly afro-textured hair,” he said.

“It’s a symbol of black power and it represents a part of black culture. It is not easy to get your hand on such a comb in Swedish stores today, so working with this object was important to me in many ways.”

Each of the eight combs relates to – and is named after – the personal experiences of black or mixed-raced Swedes interviewed by Skinner during the research process.

“It’s a collection of eight combs where stories, functions and aesthetics are portrayed in different ways. Behind each comb is a story, behind each story is a person,” Skinner said.

Femi, a 3D-printed aluminium comb with wavy teeth was based on the experiences of a mixed-raced Swedish man with roots in Nigeria. Although born in Sweden, he identified as a “Stockholmare” – the Swedish term for a person native to Stockholm.

Skinner engraved the comb with Femi’s name in a font similar to that used on Swedish train carriages: “It’s something that almost every Stockholmer can relate to,” he explained.

Miliona, a cast-resin comb incorporates real human hair clippings in its design. These refer to a woman who used to chemically relax her hair in order to fit into the predominantly white neighbourhood where she lived.

“As a response to Miliona’s story her comb is partly made out of afro hair. The comb preserves the hair and uses it as a decorative element. In this case, it’s a statement on black beauty,” Skinner said.

Bintou, a laser-cut acrylic comb references the vibrant colours used in fabrics from The Gambia. It is dedicated to a woman who despite feeling a closer connection to Gambian aesthetics, preferred Swedish design trends.

“In some cases we looked at different aesthetics from countries where participants had roots and compared it to Scandinavian design. People seemed to prefer Scandinavian design trends even though they expressed a stronger connection to aesthetics from other countries,” explained Skinner.

“That made me want to challenge the perception of what Swedish design is.”

Another comb, Alexandra, with a thicker olive green handle and teeth was designed to resemble fingers, which the subject described as the “best comb”, whilst another, Mille, is made of a series of three layered translucent combs in different sizes.

One comb, called Jade, is formed from several strands of bent steel that are held in place by a 3D-printed elliptical clasp, whilst another has a translucent plastic handle with neon button-detailing and is called Anton.

The final design, titled Jacqueline, has its handle incorporated into its light pink body, which features extra long teeth for a smoother motion through the hair.

During the research phase Skinner held workshops and group discussions to explore the idea of being in-between identities and how he might express these feelings in the design for the combs.

“We discussed race, in-betweenness and Swedish identity among many other topics. The outcome was crucial for the inspiration of this project and opened up many ways to translate stories and thoughts into an object,” Skinner said.

“In-betweenness is about living in-between, or outside different cultures at the same time,” he added. “It can make you feel lost. I hope that the collection in some way embodies a positive side of in-betweenness.”

The project won the Ung Svensk Award 2019, an award given to young Swedish designers. Other designers to win the award include Jan Klingler, whose Bacteria lamps are made by cultivating bacteria on a resin disc.

The post Afropicks by Simon Skinner challenges perception of Swedish design appeared first on Dezeen.

Worried that closed-cockpits were taking away the enthusiasm of watching a driver control a wild beast of an automobile down a racetrack, Dong Yi designed the Concept Chariot, a vehicle that brought back the joyous fervor the Romans felt as they watched their gladiators on the race-track, behind chariots led by wild stallions, fighting vigorously for survival.

While being a gladiator in 2nd Century B.C. essentially meant having a death-wish, Dong decided to take the aspect of performer-to-crowd engagement by redesigning the vehicle to be more open, more visceral, more chariot-like. Designed in cooperation with the Hockenheim ring, Dong’s Concept Chariot aims at rekindling the joy of watching humans as they control their chariots that race speedily down a track.

The car’s top-profile showcases a split in the volume towards the front. Drawing inspiration from chariots that usually had a pair of horses on the front, Dong split the vehicle’s anterior, making it look like the Concept Chariot was being pulled by two masses at its forefront. The volumes unite at the back, much like a horse-pulled chariot would, and the driver is required to mount on the vehicle much like a snowmobile, making their seating posture much more dynamic, like a jockey.

Ultimately, the Concept Chariot is a vehicle with a completely exposed cockpit, borrowing from the setup found in motorbike racing, and bringing it to car-racing. Concerned that video-games were becoming very immersive while the real sport of racing wasn’t rising up to the challenge, the Concept Chariot also has video-game-like stylings, and with a driver that’s clearly visible to the audience, rather than being shut from view, the chariot design is sure to keep the audience’s interests piqued!

Designer: Dong Yi

Since founding her eponymous fashion line in 1984, Eileen Fisher has been focused on bringing mindful consumption to the fashion industry. Her timeless, built-to-last approach to design is just one example of this—she’s also led a range of sustainability initiatives like Vision 2020, the company’s pledge to be using all organic cotton and linen by 2020, among other goals. Most recently, her famous buy-back program—through which customers can return lightly-used garments for store credit—has evolved into a more creative incarnation titled Waste No More, an interdisciplinary design studio dedicated to making artisanal textiles from post-consumer clothing.

Some of the recent work created through Waste No More was on view at Rosanna Orlandi during Salone del Mobile in Milan, in an exhibition curated by Lidewij Edelkoort and Philip Fimmano. The regenerative concept at the heart of Waste No More was interpreted into a white, sanctuary-like space meant to confront visitors with the reality of overconsumption while showcasing some of the decorative objects created by Fisher’s team entirely from garments beyond repair.

“I love to solve problems, to me, that’s where the creativity is.”

“For many years, I thought natural fibers were sustainable, partly because they are biodegradable, but while there’s a lot of good about natural fibers, there’s also a lot of cost and pollution created during the process,” Fisher told us as we visited the installation. “By 2010 we were only using about 15% eco-preferred materials and we just said, we’re not moving fast enough, we have to make a serious commitment.” Pretty soon after starting their buy-back program as a way of reducing the brand’s footprint in landfills, they were faced with over three warehouses packed full of clothes. For a while, they had a team working on transforming the lightly used pieces into one-of-a-kind items and special collections, but as the number of items continued to rise they had to get more creative.

“Sigi [Ahl], who was my first employee, found this felt machine and started felting and we set up a little team and just decided that this idea has potential,” Fisher says. The group—made up of artists, designers, and seamstresses—now has a dedicated studio in Irvington, New York where they use the felting process to transform garment waste into artistic wall hangings, acoustic panels, and a range of home goods. It doesn’t matter how damaged a textile is when it arrives at the studio, the destruction is incorporated into the aesthetic and potential is found in every scrap.

Fisher hopes that people will look at the studio’s work and realize that embracing sustainable practices can be fun and a source of unexpected creativity. “Where others see waste, we see possibility,” she says. “I love to solve problems, to me, that’s where the creativity is.”

The company hopes that this can become a new model for the textile industry—one that leads away from unsustainable consumption and toward a future with much less waste. “People have told me that this business could be bigger than our core clothing line,” Fisher noted. And that success comes from the support of an increasingly savvy clientele who are seeking brands that make sustainability a priority. “The shift is coming,” Fisher says, optimistically. “I heard that last year, 66% more people searched for sustainable fashion than the year before. Isn’t that crazy?”

Unexpectedly, one of the few installations at Milan Design Week that resonated past the thick, blurry Instagram lens wasn’t created just by designers. Google’s A Space for Being (in collaboration with Muuto and the Arts + Minds Lab at Johns Hopkins University) provoked deep thoughts about the future role of technology in intimate spaces like the home by bringing visitors into a world where their only requirement was to ‘be’—no cell phones and no talking allowed.

Before entering the space, a colorful screen-less band was placed on the wrist to measure each individual’s reactions, like heart rate and skin temperature. Upon entering, winding hallways led you through three separate rooms, each designed with different furniture (most by collaborator Muuto), textures, books, color schemes and even scents. At the end of the experience, the bands were collected and the data was interpreted by Google, revealing which of the three spaces the algorithm felt you were most ‘at ease’ in. For Google, this installation was less about designing the next best wearable and more about demonstrating the potential for this technology to influence the design process, whether it be conducting user research before designing a new appliance, or even redecorating a home based on what makes the owner feel most comfortable.

After experiencing A Space for Being ourselves, we sat down with Ivy Ross, VP of Hardware Design at Google, to learn more about the collaboration and to hear her thoughts on technology’s role in the future:

When I initially read this installation would be about neuroaesthetics, I thought it would be depicting this scary sci-fi world, but I was shocked to see that it’s quite the opposite.

I’m so glad that we surprised and delighted you! Last year when we showed up people said, “oh the tech giant showed up so unexpectedly human”. Well yeah, because that’s what we are. Us being here is about being a thought leader. We really want to share with everyone the way we think and how thoughtful we are when we design product.

So how did the idea for A Space for Being come about?

It all started last year when Muuto saw our installation here in Milan and said, “Oh my god, we love your aesthetic”, and we said, “We love your aesthetic!” We had pictures of their dots up on our wall at the time. They brought up the idea of doing something together for this year, and I just didn’t want to put our home products in their living room settings. That would be really boring.

Photo: Maremosso

Two years prior, I had been contacted by Susan [Magsamen] in the Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins. She told me that she runs the Arts + Mind Lab, and that they were studying something called neuroaesthetics. I didn’t know what neuroaesthetics meant, so she explained to me that it’s the study of the effect that aesthetics have on the brain and the body. I know the effects it has because I’ve been a designer and an artist my whole life, and we know that intuitively. But wow, if neuroscience can prove this, than that could be such a great support system for designers.

I also met Suchi Reddy of Reddymade Architecture a few years ago. She is designing a room in a hospital for kids who are coming out of comas to help knit back their brains each sense at a time. It’s a beautiful project, so I put them in touch.

I called both of them and said, “Ladies, I have an idea. Can we actually put people through living situations?” I wanted it to be like real life, not some art project. We could make bands with sensors, and Johns Hopkins could help us make an algorithm. We decided to pick at the feeling of ‘ease’ because it’s the opposite of stress, and right now I think there are a lot of stressed people in the world. We could’ve picked anything, right? I mean excitement is good, being relaxed is good… so we picked this phrase “at ease”. We did a lot of research to find a phrase that everyone understands.

“Preference and taste are so individual. I want the world to go in a way where we’re amplifying our own individuality, we’re not trying to be like each other. We’re celebrating who we are.”

The idea was to show that we are in control of our environments. Everything affects us, and we have agency over that. I think we’ve gotten a bit flat lined as a society. Aesthetics isn’t just making something look pretty, it’s awakening all the senses. And we can do that through an appreciation of all of these different elements—sound, light, color, texture.

On that note, everything within the space and the user experience is so thoroughly executed, down to the data presented as a piece of art. This is, of course, something that appeals to designers because it’s a beautiful presentation, but it also makes data more readable for people who aren’t designers. Is this something you considered during the design process?

This is the greatest gift for all this hard work, that you get it. For designers that are here experiencing this, we want to support them and tell them that what they do matters. For people that aren’t designers, we want to tell them that design matters. Everything you encounter matters. What you choose to surround yourself with matters.

Preference and taste are so individual. I want the world to go in a way where we’re amplifying our own individuality—we’re not trying to be like each other, and we’re celebrating who we are. But in order to have any insight into who we are, we need to understand that who we’ve been and everything we’ll become is a byproduct of what we have experienced.

The data presented at the end looked like a piece of art—the bigger, warm splotches represent spikes in excitement, while the thinner, cool splotches represent moments of zen. Photo: Maremosso

I love that people are telling me how surprised they are that the data is coming out as this beautiful art piece. The data is a series of numbers that feed into this system, but the truth is that the output in the infographics could look like anything. My team worked hard on devising how to use the spread of the ink and bursts of color to indicate one thing versus another.

This installation is obviously one scenario in which this type of data collection can be applied, but do you see other ways in which it could be useful?

Even in the Google School for Learning, we’ve started to think about what the right environments are for learning. There are certain neuroaesthetic things that actually encourage retention, memory and learning. So I think its just a matter of being aware. The research around this has been going on for 20 years, but only in the last three years has it come into the applied area—out of the science realm and into real world applications. This is pretty much the first exhibit that talks about it.

There are definitely implications in terms of applying this to homes. I don’t want to see a world where we’re all striving for the same chair or the same table. What’s right for one person is not right for another. In different situations, I think this could amplify that. You think we’re riding the elephant, we’re controlling the elephant but the elephant is really controlling us, and the elephant is the subconscious. Are we saying we love a specific room because that is the room we believe is the prettiest or the one that we should like versus how our body actually feels in it. So in homes we should not get obsessed with it but just use it for a little bit of self knowledge.

Do you think being comfortable is more important than being surrounded by beautiful things?

Not necessarily. Some people equate being calm with being bored. And you know, being bored is a mental construct, but being calm is a physiology thing. What we are finding is healthy for our body is being in that calm state, where we’re not excited or stressed all the time. But we live in a world where we’re optimizing everything all the time.

Photo: Maremosso

I’m interested in this idea of finding those calm places beyond the spa where we can just be chilled out, so I particularly picked the home environment because it’s an environment that you can control. So for me, I designed this modern tree house for myself. Anything could be going on at work, but when I come home to the trees, sit on my couch and look up at that forest—I can just feel it.

People say to me, “oh you have so much responsibility at work but you’re so calm”. I think it’s because I’ve learned to know what works for me. There’s all this pressure for us to meditate. It’s about finding that calm at times, which you can do even just by listening to the right music and just being. We’ve asked you to not have your phones in [A Space for Being] because it should just be about being. For some people it’s really hard to spend five minutes—it seems to be a real treat that we have to give ourselves permission to do. But it’s really important that we do it. So A Space for Being is just a little exercise to remind you that you are in control of finding a peaceful environment.

When I first saw the bands, I was surprised to see that they are screen-less and don’t send out notifications. They weren’t bossing us around like we’re used to. Is silent but helpful the next wave of wearable tech?

The band, which is currently not a commercial product, was done for this exhibition, but it does represent our philosophy that tech is able to amplify our humanity and that it can be here to help us. It’s what we do with it that matters. This is a prime example of an indication that tech should give you information about yourself without being scary—just helpful.

Photo: Maremosso

It’s just like Google Maps—how did we live without it? Before that you had to carry a thick Thomas Guide in the passenger seat. I don’t know how we didn’t get into more accidents because how did you even look up A9 on a grid while driving? Anyway, even though the band is just for this exhibition, we were very thoughtful with how and why we were doing it.

Oftentimes, technology acts as a way to disconnect from your emotional intelligence. What you’re envisioning is instead a way of using tech to better understand yourself and what you need…

Absolutely. We have dug these pathways that thinking and feeling are two separate things. We think we’re being smarter by operating from our neck up and always being in our heads, but we forget that the body is an incredible barometer.

Did you see the movie “Her”? It was such an impactful movie to me. It came out right before I took this job at Google. I remember thinking that it was an interesting example of where technology actually helped someone learn more about themselves than any shrink or anyone else seemed to be able to. Now I’m not suggesting that we walk around with an operating system like Samantha, but technology that is additive to your life instead of taking away humanity is the type of technology that my team and I are interested in.

“Our window is a magic frame, with pictures never twice the same” – Eleanor Hammond.

Before televisions crept into our lives, windows were where we consumed content. Whether it was the classroom window, where you’d stare out to see the kids playing on the grounds, or a window at home where you’d sit every morning having your cup of tea or coffee, or even the window through which you’d peek at your neighbors fighting, laughing, or having a party. The window has always been a magical portal, allowing us to look at people, animals, trees, birds, sunrises and sunsets, and the occasional rain-showers and snowstorms.

That window now overlooks a concrete jungle, and nobody looks out of it anymore. The scenery has been replaced by the gray and the mundane. Atmoph wants to change that. The Atmoph Window 2 isn’t really a window, but it behaves a lot like one. This smart high-definition display is capable of quite a few things, including playing from a library of a 1000 videos of sceneries that you’ll love. The View Store at Atmoph Window 2 consists 4K footage from Earth, seen from ISS to Amazonian rainforests to Parisian lanes, and from Hawaiian beaches to a view of the snowy peak of Mount Fuji, and its display with vividly accurate colors literally transports you to wherever you want… so no matter where you live, you can always have a view of the Eiffel Tower, or of the whitewashed neighborhoods of Santorini, Greece.

All of Atmoph’s videos are filmed using a 4K camera and a hi-end microphone, so its library of audiovisuals are completely the real deal. The Window packs a vibration speaker that allows the entire display to pump out audio. Atmoph even goes the distance and packs facial-tracking into its visuals, so the scenery shifts as your head shifts around the room, accounting for even parallax. The facial-tracking is courtesy a camera that also works as an indoor camera when you’re away, or when you want to keep an eye on your pets.

The Atmoph Window 2 is the perfect example of a product that’s absolutely unique, even though it uses technology and hardware we’re so familiar with. The scene-shifting smart-window also displays the time, weather, as well as your calendar tasks, keeping you in touch with reality as you stare for hours into the Finnish Laplands, and even comes with Google Home compatibility, allowing you to execute simple voice tasks like “Hey Google, show me Hawaii and play some Hawaiian music”. Not happy with just one Atmoph Window? You can pair as many as THREE Windows side by side to display the same image in continuity (even accounting for the space between individual frames).

The idea behind the Atmoph Window 2 is so simple, pure, and well-executed, it wins my heart. Giving you the ability to transform your interiors with a simple touch of a button or a voice command, the Atmoph Window 2 is a great way to escape the boring concrete life and live in the place of your choosing… perhaps your last holiday spot, or your hometown that you fondly miss, or a suitable scene to match the cuisine you’re eating (extremely effective on date nights, I’d assume). Oh, and if the library is missing something? You can directly beam videos of your own to the Window 2 too!

Designer: Ryota Yokozeki

Click Here to Buy Now: $299 $399 (25% off). Hurry, for limited time only!

What is Atmoph Window 2?

Atmoph Window 2 is a smart display in the shape of a window, from which you can see scenes from around the world. With over a thousand videos of beautiful scenery from around the world, complete with audio, you’ll feel as if you’re actually there.

Featuring Over 1,000 Original 4K Videos

Enjoy scenes from around the world in 4K ultra-high resolution. Together with true-to-life sound, you will feel like you are really there. Each looped video lasts around 15 minutes, and only costs about 5 dollars (ten fixed views are installed initially). Every month their dedicated videographers shoot new scenes, so the choice only gets bigger.

Upload your Own Video

Not only can you relive that unforgettable time, but you can share it with your friends and family. A nostalgic place, or that once-in-a-lifetime journey.

Join 3 Windows Together in a Panorama

Join three Atmoph Windows together to make a synced Panorama. A fish can swim along from left to right, a boat can take off from the port from one side, and head out to see on the other.

Live Streaming

See what’s going on in the world in real time. They plan on increasing the number of camera spots, so you can enjoy the ‘now’ from locations across the world.

Change your Frame

You can choose from high quality resin frames in five different colors, or a supreme quality timber frame that has been made to bring out the inherent warmth of genuine wood. This wooden frame has been custom made by Japan’s premier long-standing traditional wood furniture maker, Karimoku.

Maximizing the Potential of Everything a Window Could Be

Atmoph Window 2 has all the best qualities of a real window, with all the excitement of a smart window. By including various additional modules such as the Camera Module, Atmoph Window 2 can even do things that normal windows can’t.

Face-View Follow

With the Camera Module option, Atmoph Window 2 can track the position of your face using the camera, so it knows what angle you are looking at your window from. The scenery changes accordingly, making your view look even more real, more three dimensional.

Indoor Camera

With the Camera Module, you can check the inside of your home even when you aren’t there. Want to see how your pet’s doing? Your smart phone can turn into a small window that allows you to glimpse inside your home when you never could, up until now.

LED Light Module

Attach the LED Light Module and it’s just like having that light stream in. Not as bright as the sun, but just enough to help your pot plants grow. How about relieving that stress with an indoor garden?

Link to your Smart Speaker

You can also operate your Atmoph Window 2 through your smart speaker, change the view or adjust the volume. Don’t want to get off the couch? Got your hands fully tied? Just tell your Google Home ‘Hey, Google, change the view to Hawaii’, and the view will transform into a tropical paradise. Brighten your mood in just one moment.

Sound that Goes to the Next Level

An increase in the number of interior speakers from one to two also means you can enjoy more surround sound. Moreover, Atmoph Window 2 is equipped with a vibration speaker, turning the entire screen into a sound experience. From high pitched birds to the thunder of the Niagara Falls, everything sounds truly real.

Listen to your Favorite Music

With Bluetooth or Spotify, you can choose your playlist together with whatever view you like. Enjoy your “me time” to the fullest.

Know your Day at a Glance

It’s your busy morning, and you want to check the time, the weather, the news. Atmoph Window will tell you what you need to know. There is no need to have multiple devices any more. You can check everything, at a glance.

With Google Calendar synchronizing, you can confirm your work and your family’s schedule, and it’s so big and easy to see. Now that’s convenience!

Begin a New Journey

You can book a trip to the other side of the window, any time!

Choose your Operating Method

From the smartphone app, to the remote control and sensor, and even automatic scheduling, there are multiple ways to operate your Atmoph Window 2.

Decoration: Try Them Out

You can even change the inside frame of your window. Adjust it to suit the view, or there are different Decorations to suit the season. Feel like you are at a Halloween party or inside a plane.

Technical Specs:

– 27-inch high-contrast display (1920×1080, anti-glare)
– CPU: 1.9 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A53
– GPU: Mali-G31
– H.265 hardware decoder
– 2GB memory
– 32GB storage
– Wi-Fi: 802.11 ac/b/g/n (5GHz/2.4GHz)
– Bluetooth: 4.0
– 3W full-range speaker x 2 and 10W vibration speaker
– Size: 25.4” x 15.2” x 2.4” (645 x 385 x 60mm)
– Weight: 12.1lbs (5.5kg)
– Power: 60W
– AC adapter: 100-240V (50/60Hz)

Click Here to Buy Now: $299 $399 (25% off). Hurry, only a few left!