A new face mask design competition hopes to stop the spread of COVID while getting young people engaged.
While the U.S. currently leads the world in COVID-19 cases and deaths, rates are rising worldwide. According to Reuters, “Almost 40 countries have reported record single-day increases in coronavirus infections over the past week, around double the number that did so the previous week.” Aside from the obvious leaders of the U.S., Brazil and India, countries like Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Belgium, Israel and others are helping the U.S. lead this deadly charge.
Whatever we as human beings have been doing to stop the spread, is not enough. The easing of social distancing is one culprit. A failure to wear masks is another. The first thing can only be solved through government policies from individual nations and states. The second thing might possibly be solved through design.
Thus the X Prize Foundation, sponsors of the famous XPRIZE design competitions, have turned their attention to face masks with their Next-Gen Mask Challenge. They’ve looked at what non-mask-wearers complain about to identify five pain points: “Ill-fitting, uncomfortable, not breathable, and the most effective masks are often unavailable or expensive.” Entrants are asked to design a mask that can defeat those complaints.
“We need an alternative—face masks that are readily accessible and affordable, functional for our everyday lives, fit a wide variety of wearers, and are effective in protecting the wearer and the community.”
Interestingly enough, the X Prize Foundation is looking solely to youthful minds for this competition; they’ve limited entrants to the age category of 15-24. The top prize is $1 million, and registration is live now. The deadline for entry is October 22nd. You can learn more here.
The apartment, named Rubikum for Three, is situated just outside the centre of Ljubljana and belongs to a young couple and their pet dog.
They had previously lived on the rural fringes of Ljubljana but missed the hustle and bustle of city life, so decided to move closer to the capital.
While the location of the 60-square-metre apartment was better suited to the couple, the standardised arrangement of the floorplan felt out of sync with their “dynamic” lifestyles. Locally based practice Arhitektura d.o.o was tasked with adjusting the layout.
“The clients mostly work from home and also have a lively social life organising lunch get-togethers, movie nights and dinners with friends. They practice yoga and train their dog,” explained the practice.
“Therefore fixed and rigid furniture with predetermined position and function would hinder this.”
All of the existing partition walls in the apartment have been knocked through to form a looping floor plan that allows the inhabitants – and the dog – to easily move from room to room. The bathroom is now the only space that is now fully enclosed.
The variety of routes throughout the apartment is what encouraged its name of “Rubikum”, a Slovenian term that the practice likens to a Rubik’s cube.
A stainless-steel counter with in-built drawers features in the central living area.
It’s set on castor wheels so that, when necessary, it can be moved around to serve as a prep counter, a dining table, or completely pushed out of the way if the couple has large groups of friends over.
The grey sofa has has wheels and features a stainless-steel back. The practice specifically chose this material for the mobile furnishings in the hopes that its “subtle lustre” would give the impression of additional light in the apartment.
A pale terrazzo floor features throughout.
There are a couple of fixed elements in the living area. Down one side runs a wooden sideboard that’s integrated with a work desk.
Beside the apartment’s entrance, there is also a kitchenette with wooden cabinetry, hidden behind a series of green floor-to-ceiling panels that contrast the other metallic surfaces in the room.
Should the inhabitants want the living area to feel cosier and closed off, they can draw across a full-length silver curtain that has been set on a curved track on the ceiling.
When drawn back, it reveals a small winter garden that’s dressed with a couple of armchairs and an array of leafy potted plants. This can be walked through to access the bedroom, which features tall wooden storage cupboards.
In the latest in our series asking creatives what they would like to change about their industry, Made.com’s chief creative officer Jo Jackson reflects on what the coronavirus pandemic means for retail and how it has prompted new ways of working for Made’s creative team
Back in 2017, Coventry was named the 2021 City of Culture and the new branding for the upcoming year-long programme has just been unveiled. The programme, called Coventry Moves, aims to establish a template for a city fit for the future, and the identity combines elements of the city’s past, present and future.
The identity has been designed by Uncommon Creative Studio, and is inspired by brutalist elements and modernist architecture in a nod to the city’s rebuilding after World War II. Based on a modular system of squares and simple shapes, the identity also aims to play on the innovations, movements and stories that have come to characterise the city. The graphic icon in place of the ‘O’ for instance, can be interchanged with various circle-like symbols to represent the industries that have played a role in Coventry’s make-up, such as bicycles, clocks and watches, aircraft and music.
Billboard poster for Coventry Moves
The bright blue that features throughout is tied to Coventry’s medieval past as a centre of the UK’s textile industry. Distilled from the colour of historical yarns, the hue has been named Moving Blue and adds brightness to an otherwise monochrome aesthetic.
“Branding and launching the UK City of Culture 2021 is an incredible opportunity,” says Nils Leonard, co-founder of Uncommon Creative Studio. “Coventry Moves is just the start, working closely with the incredible team in the city to build this year of activity and positivity is something we’re really proud to play our part in.”
Sheet poster for Coventry MovesLamp post banners for Coventry Moves
Coventry’s year as the UK City of Culture will begin in May 2021 (delayed slightly due to coronavirus), and will include a host of international artistic events, world premieres, and commissions across theatre, music, dance, literature, comedy, festivals and conferences. The cultural programme aims to highlight the way culture can be a force for change. “After a very competitive tender process we are thrilled to be working with Uncommon,” says Laura McMillan, director of operations and legacy at Coventry City of Culture Trust. “It was clear they got Coventry. They understood that although we are mostly known for our past, what is most exciting is our future. Our ambition and innovation, constantly moving us forwards with people at our heart. This is an identity designed to evolve and adapt as we do, as the city has always done.”
Branded stationary
To accompany the Coventry Moves identity is a one-minute film featuring archive footage. It includes pivotal moments and iconic locations from throughout the city’s history, from Coventry City’s 1987 FA Cup win to the city’s Two-Tone music scene, and even its infamous ring road.
Though the festival merch is speculative for now, the posters and banners, which also feature photographs of the people and places that make the city, can be seen across Coventry for the next two weeks, as a taster of what’s to come.
Dawoud Bey is a photographer, educator and social activist whose work centres around the lives of Black Americans and other marginalised communities amid the ongoing struggle for civil rights.
Known for his large-scale colour photography, Bey’s new monograph, published by the San Francisco Museum of Art with Yale University Press to coincide with a major retrospective of his work at the museum, marks a departure from his typical aesthetic.
The two series featured in the book, which were presented as installations when exhibited, feature monumental black-and-white images that focus on historical events and collective memory.
Night Coming Tenderly, Black (2017) evokes the experience of a slave fleeing to freedom via the Underground Railroad in Ohio, while The Birmingham Project (2012) is a tribute to the six Black youths killed in the Ku Klux Klan bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church on September 15, 1963.
In the cross-generational series, portraits are paired into diptychs: on one side, a child the age of the young girls and boys who perished in the bombing, and on the other, an adult about the age the murdered child would have been when the picture was made.
Pentagram’s Eddie Opara created the design for the book, which mirrors the juxtapositions at the heart of Bey’s work, in which conceptual arrangements of images into grids and pairings often feature. In the book, the series have been paired side by side, to represent two different projects from the same artist that tell a linked story.
Juxtapositions in typography echo the contrasts in the series, while the two series are placed within a sequence of curatorial essays that offer insight into Bey’s art and historical context on the featured works.
“I studied graphic design, which gave me a kickstart. Most of all, it helped me structure my work. But I quickly found out that everything I designed or illustrated had to move. So I felt like animation gave me the freedom I needed to showcase everything that I had in mind,” says Canada-based animation director Vincent Bilodeau.
“In order to perfect my technique, I spent an infinite amount of hours in my new small apartment in Montreal. It was me, my computer, a slice of bread and a peanut butter jar. That lasted six months (and 23 jars of peanut butter).”
Loop from L’eau entres mes doigts
Since those days of desk time and peanut-based snacking, Bilodeau can now be found creating animated music videos and surreal shorts. Often using computer animation, Bilodeau’s style is reminiscent of The Sims mixed with the Dancing Baby from the 90s, but his way of storytelling through this aesthetic is unique, as is his whole view on the world.
For instance, this is how Bilodeau describes his style: “Imagine a purple dolphin browsing the internet for the first time while illegally sliding his skateboard on a Fruit-O-Long snake who ate something super sour. His stomach is upset but I think he wants more.”
But the confusion, bewilderment and downright weirdness you might feel when viewing his work is exactly what he wants. “I like when the viewer is intrigued and doesn’t quite get where they’re going,” says Bilodeau. “I’m happy when people tell me they had to watch it over and over.”
Two of his most recent projects, music videos for Canadian folk and country musician P’tit Belliveau’s tracks L’eau entre mes doigts and Stand There, epitomise this eccentricity perfectly.
“We’re in 2020, there’s a global pandemic. People are being forced to stay home for weeks, months, years? You start thinking about fulfilment, sailing away, leaving everything behind and starting all over again,” says the director on the inspiration behind L’eau entre mes doigts. The video follows an odd baby-man-thing in dungarees setting off on a new adventure on his boat, along with all the different characters and animals he meets along the way. It is both brilliant and bonkers.
“While finishing that first music video I started noticing that everyone was trying to connect via all the platforms like Zoom or even Tiktok,” says Bilodeau. “I thought it would be fun to represent that new reality in 3D, in my friends’ homes.”
So for Stand There, Bilodeau has created a compilation of animated Facetime calls, Zoom chats and Tiktok-like clips with images and videos of real-life homes as the backdrop. His characters are both familiar, yet oddly terrifying but under the guise of classic lockdown behaviours, start to feel ‘normal’ pretty quickly.
As might be expected, Bilodeau’s creative process is as puzzling as his work, and he says it can take him a while to fully focus on a new project. “I first take a bath, then go skateboarding for a few hours,” he says. “After that, I take a second bath, bike to the office, disturb all my colleagues, shop online, buy a monkey, realise I forgot my hat at my house, go back, choose between the blue and the red, follow the rabbit, eat a calzone, think about skateboarding, think about my monkey, think about my monkey skateboarding, go back to the office, start my computer, get a call. I’m meeting my friends in 15 minutes at the bar.”
When he does get going on a project though, he is fully invested in bringing his imagination to life. “They say, ‘find something you love and you’ll never work another day in your life’ … I find it’s hard to stop working when you do what you love,” Bilodeau says. “With animation, there’s no limit to what we can create. Look at my dolphin.”
A pair of wireless algorithm-driven headphones features in this captioned video produced by Dezeen for audio technology brand IRIS.
The highly engineered product, called IRIS Flow Headphones, features integrated technology that aims to engage the human brain.
IRIS is a UK startup best known for developing patented software that digitally enhances sound to recreate the qualities of a live listening experience.
UK audio brand IRIS has designed a pair of wireless headphones
“IRIS will change the way you listen to audio forever,” states the brand’s founder Jacobi Anstruther. “By presenting audio as you would experience it in the live environment, IRIS not only creates dramatically improved, immersive audio, but also uniquely engages the brain to create active listening.”
The headphones are designed to stimulate a neurological state in which the brain is simultaneously focused and relaxed.
This mindset, commonly referred to as “flow state”, encourages individuals to listen to sound more actively.
“Listening to music with IRIS enhances the engagement and absorption of the music and provides more stimulation of the brain,” says Joydeep Bhattacharya, professor of psychology at Goldsmiths, who conducted an independent study into the effects of IRIS technology.
“This in turn can lead to a flow-like state for the listener as they are listening more actively – their brain is more engaged.”
The headphone set is available in black or white, and can be purchased through Indiegogo.
IRIS plans to launch the headphones with a campaign called ‘Find Your Flow’, which will explore the effects of flow state and immersive audio on human performance and mental wellbeing.
Alongside a range of people within the creative industries, the campaign will also feature Formula 1 racing drivers Max Verstappen and Alex Albon of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, which is a partner of IRIS.
This captioned video was produced by Dezeen for IRIS, which is a UK brand specialising in audio technology.
Sometimes when I get done with my day, there is a moment when I stop and wonder how much simpler life would be if I did not have so many things lying around! Especially with the ongoing quarantine, our days and nights seem to blend into one, weekends included, all I crave for is a break. As we get more materialistic, we get caught in this cycle of storing and maintaining these possessions by buying more of them. It’s a wicked cycle! Enter the phase of minimal micro-living also known as tiny homes. A simple, elegant place where each belonging has a place for itself and a purpose to it because you simply cannot store anything more than essentials! So from luxury campers, simple caravan style homes, or even rickshaw houses, we have a micro-living setup to woo you.
The Pacific Harbor is a tiny house built on a 30’x8.5’ triple axel Iron Eagle trailer – compact, convenient and classy. The interiors are kept light and breezy to manifest the feeling of spaciousness. The tiny home includes a downstairs flex area that can be turned into a bedroom or home office, a sleeping loft in the back, and stainless steel appliances in the kitchen.
Laëtitia Dupé of Tiny House Baluchon is designed for a French couple and this new abode finds itself in the French Alps, offering great views and ample space to live in.
The Solo 01 was inspired by Arun’s own dream to travel the world and own a house – a dilemma everyone in this generation can relate to. It is a compact 6 x 6 feet space that includes all necessities that a person needs to turn a house into a home they can comfortably live in. It is the perfect modern home on wheels for the solo adventurer, “This ingenious small space design transforms a customized 3 wheeler into a comfy mobile home/commercial space. We’ve maximized the total area to give you value that isn’t minimalist but fully utilitarian. The concept is the fruit of research into actual needs; we’ve outwitted complex challenges with simple solutions” says Arun while describing his project. From the humble look of the house, you cannot gauge the exterior’s full strength – it is built to endure most constraints such as topography, material, aesthetics and weight balance with design details that allow for plenty of natural ventilation.
Italian architects Massimo Gnocchi and Paolo Danesi probably also can’t wait to enjoy some downtime and therefore created the Mountain Refuge to express their desire for travel. The cabin was designed as a ‘refuge for the mind’ and radiates warmth and coziness that relaxes you instantly. The visual aesthetic and interiors have been carefully crafted with earthy tones and natural materials. The sweeping polygonal windows let you soak the nature in even if you don’t step outside. It lets in ample sunlight and makes the otherwise small space, spacious. Since it is so compact, the furniture has been kept minimal (in terms of size and design) and the one accent piece is the suspended fireplace which completes the perfect cabin picture. Already pinned this to my board!
The Z-Triton Electric Houseboat was created as a vehicle that could serve as an alternative to the traditional camper. It is comfortable enough to house two adults for a weekend getaway and the choice of land or water is up to the travelers. The amphibious nature of the modern camper fits into the flexible lifestyle we lead today, especially since air travel is not on the cards anytime soon it is opening up a lot of avenues for local trips in less popular/offbeat locations. The durable houseboat measures 3.6 meters in length, 1.2 meters in width, and 1.55 meters in height.
A45 project is an iteration of the traditional A-frame cabin, known for its pitched roof and angled walls with a customizable micro-home that can be built within a rapid time-frame in any location by bjarke ingels group (BIG).
Japan’s iconic brand Muji has launched its own design for a prefabricated house named the Muji Hut, and it will be available for purchase for ¥3,000,000 (£20,989). The design constructed from Japanese wood is about nine-square-meter in interior and also includes a covered patio, measuring three square metres. “It’s not as dramatic as owning a house or a vacation home, but it’s not as basic as going on a trip,” said the brand. “Put it in the mountains, near the ocean, or in a garden, and it immediately blends in with the surroundings, inviting you to a whole new life.”
While a tiny home of our own is often a cherished dream, nothing fits the bill better than Paradise Tiny Homes custom-designed solutions! This particular design sits in Hawaii, in the middle of a rainforest, with a beautiful front porch and yard to make you feel your residence is not a temporary affair!
CargoHome had designed a way to build you your dream tiny home while recycling a shipping container, giving you a low-cost option while repurposing the container. This small, Waco-based company specializes in turning shipping containers into elegant, efficient living spaces. These portable, sturdy tiny houses are perfect for a weekend home or a guest house and we especially love the terrace setup that we are sure promises spectacular views of the sky.
The Strandweelde Beach Cabins in Zeeland, the Netherlands feature 2 terraces so that residents can enjoy the sun all day long. While we do see a lot of custom tiny home designs, these cabins are situated on metal stilts that keep the home safe and dry even on the days when hightide threatens to engulf that space. The first floor of the cabin features full-length windows, giving a stunning view of the ocean at all times!
Can’t get enough of these modern minimal tiny homes? Check out more of our curated collection here!
Beijing studio DnA_Design and Architecture has built a tofu factory from wood for the village of Caizhai in the mountains of Songyang in western China.
Set across a sloping site, the project was designed to improve the village’s tofu production facilities.
It is also intended to showcase the manufacture of the soy-based food and includes a viewing gallery for visitors to observe the tofu-making process.
“The village has always been known for its best tofu production in the county region,” explained DnA_Design and Architecture.
“But the products from the traditional family workshops could not fit into current food certificate standards to be able to sell in supermarkets.”
DnA_Design and Architecture built the tofu factory, which is located at the entrance to the village, to upgrade the local farming community’s collective food manufacturing resources.
The studio used traditional mortise and tenon joints to build the timber structure so that it fits in with the existing farmhouses of the 200-year-old village.
The factory is divided into separate rooms where different stages of the tofu-making process take place.
There are rooms for soaking, grinding and boiling the soybeans, as well as vats for curdling the tofu and pressing it into blocks.
There is also an area for deep-frying the tofu, and a tasting hall for visitors to sample the products.
These spaces are arranged in a linear fashion going up the slope, so visitors can walk up the stairs either side to observe the process from start to finish, then taste the tofu at the end.
Sections of the sawtooth roof are orientated to suit the processes going on in the rooms below, directing light and airflow.
Open sides help ventilate the factory and allow visitors to observe the production process.
“The factory is both production and exhibition space of traditional heritage for Caizhai village, and has already welcomed groups of primary school students to experience traditional tofu making,” said the studio.
California practice Umé Studio has created a modular sofa with bolsters, wooden units and traditional Japanese Zabuton cushions that are often used on tatami floors.
Umé Studio created the Zabuton Sofa to provide a different use for the cushions that are traditionally placed on tatami, which are woven-straw mats placed on raised floors in Japan. For centuries, the cotton-filled cushions have been used to make resting on the floor more comfortable.
“Our Zabuton Sofa is a take on re-introducing traditional Japanese living into a modern piece of furniture,” the studio said.
“With the raised floors being popularised in the 17th century, Japanese society as a whole adopted tatami living as the driving design principle of housing design, Zabuton were used to bring comfort to the seating of the nobility.”
The cushions are used to pad out the wooden furniture piece, which comprises a low, maple wood plinth that has grooves for modular, triangular-shaped dividers.
The units form backrests and armrests that can be placed in a variety of arrangements, such as a bed-like platform or a couch with two seats.
A wood partition can also be placed in the middle of the plinth and comes in two sizes, either as a full-height backrest or a low table-like unit with a flat top for cups.
One rectangular cushion can be placed on the base, while others can be wrapped over the modular volumes, or layered for more comfort. In addition to the rectangular cushions, rounded bolsters are also used.
Umé Studio worked with Kyoto-based futon maker Takaokaya to make the Zabuton cushions for the design. The wood frame, with its plinth and partitions, is made in Oakland and coated in a water-based clear matte polyurethane.
The sofa measures 108.5 inches (275.5 centimetres) long, 43 inches (109 centimetres) wide and 33 inches (84 centimetres) tall.
Umé Studio is based in Oakland, California and led by Victor Lefebvre and Mei-Lan Tan, who both worked as architects at Herzog & de Meuron before founding the practice.
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