Hasta La Ideas

For his Bachelors Thesis at Austria’s FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, Industrial Design student Bernhard Sobotta began with the question: “Can you integrate an overnight stay on a bicycle?”

His resultant creation is the Cercle bike:

Bernhard Sobotta © FH JOANNEUM / Industrial Design

Bernhard Sobotta © FH JOANNEUM / Industrial Design

Bernhard Sobotta © FH JOANNEUM / Industrial Design

Bernhard Sobotta © FH JOANNEUM / Industrial Design

Bernhard Sobotta © FH JOANNEUM / Industrial Design

Bernhard Sobotta © FH JOANNEUM / Industrial Design

Bernhard Sobotta © FH JOANNEUM / Industrial Design

Bernhard Sobotta © FH JOANNEUM / Industrial Design

Bernhard Sobotta © FH JOANNEUM / Industrial Design

Bernhard Sobotta © FH JOANNEUM / Industrial Design

“Cercle offers a professional answer to all areas of daily nomadic existence through a modified frame geometry and an integrated bed, chair, table construction. By simply folding out the bed frame, any suitable place can become a campsite, regardless of the condition of the ground. The height-adjustable table and the bed construction converted into a chair provide a portable workplace. The roofing of luggage, driver and vehicle offers safety and lets the adventurer merge with his vehicle.”

If this seems like some wacky never-gonna-make-it student concept to you, consider that Sobotta puts his money where his mouth is. The avid cyclist, along with friend William Cornwell, took the Cercle on a long-range test drive, covering nearly 1,000 kilometers. For stretches of the trip where they had to take the bike onto a train or bus, “We always found a free space somewhere, despite the slight excess length.”

In an interview with Bike Citizens, Sobotta discusses the inception and ongoing development of the project. “So far, touring bikes are based on a very narrowly defined initial question: What does a machine have to look like that is light and durable in order to be able to drive around the world on its own? That was a good and important question – and it was answered comprehensively and satisfactorily.

“When traveling, you don’t just want to move forward, you also want to eat, chill, sleep. Questions that you ask yourself again and again: Where can I sit down and relax and have a snack? Where do I put the stove so it doesn’t fall over? Where can I find a place for the tent that is reasonably level, clean and maybe even dry? Do I leave my panniers outside today or do I prefer to bring them to my tent so that they are safe? These questions have not yet been adequately answered with regard to the touring bike, which is why there is still a lot of scope for further development and innovation.”

During the long test journey, Sobotta found that “The user experience in camping mode feels really good. The multifunctional bed-chair-lounger-table frame, which we call CampingCompanion, can be quickly unfolded. You sit well, the table is quite stable, you can sleep relaxed, and all in all, this module weighs just 3.5 kilograms.”

Sobotta and Cornwell are planning to embark on a cycling world tour next year, with each of them riding a Cercle. This fall, prior to the journey, the pair are trying to solve one of the remaining design issues, and they could use a little help. “A big chapter is definitely the design and customization of the tent,” Sobotta says. “So far we have been using an old tarpaulin as an emergency solution. It would be ideal to find someone who is interested in the project and has experience in tent construction.”

You can follow the Cercle’s development (and/or contact them if you’ve got an idea for the tent solution) on Instagram and Facebook.

On Etsy, every seller in the world seems to make a wooden monitor/laptop stand. If you’re seeking an alternative with a lighter visual impression, a company called Heartwork makes theirs out of metal. Because they’re made of 12-gauge steel, they can support 30 pounds across their 17″ span, yet are ultra-thin–a shade under 1/8″ thick.

They’re powder-coated and sold in a variety of colors, in both solid and perforated options.

Reminding us that production methods are more expensive than materials, the solid models are $60 while the perforated models run $85.

The ANVIL looks like the nutcracker you’d get when you combine Flintstones with Alessi. It’s functional yet fun, and doesn’t compromise on the nut-cracking ability. You don’t need a manual to use it, and it’s designed in such a foolproof way, you’ll get it right every single time.

Created by Düsseldorf-based designer Lennart Ebert, the ANVIL is simultaneously old-fashioned and modern, aesthetic and practical. Its two-piece design is modeled on the basic theory of a mortar and pestle – featuring a base for holding the nut, and a large weight for cracking the nut’s outer shell. The design, however, comes with a cup to hold the nut, a tray to gather the fragments of broken shell, and a pestle with hollow base that makes cracking the nut an easy affair.

The name ANVIL probably comes from the large cast-iron block used by metallurgists. The nutcracker has a similar ‘heavy-looking’ design, and comes with a mildly textured metal surface too. Just like an ironsmith hammers hot molten metal on an anvil, the ANVIL lets you hammer away at a walnut, shattering its hard outer shell to reveal the edible nut within. It helps that the ANVIL comes with a nice wooden handle too. Not only is it more comfortable to hold onto, it also creates a beautiful visual contrast with its smooth surface and wood-grain pattern against the rough-looking coarse metal body of the nutcracker. It’s probably not coincidental that the handle’s made from walnut wood too!

Designer: Lennart Ebert

With its roots as the annual meeting for the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), the International Design Conference (IDC) has evolved into something much bigger. Today IDC is a global platform for amplifying the unique and bold voice of industrial design while celebrating the deep interconnection with other disciplines.

Returning virtually Sept. 22-23, 2021, the 24-hour IDC is packed with skill-building workshops, panel discussions, keynotes, networking opportunities, and breakout sessions for designers of all kinds, including industrial, UX, UI, graphic, branding, packaging, service, transportation, CMF, fashion, footwear, furniture, and social impact designers, with sessions for design managers, researchers, futurists, educators, and students alike.

Running on six tracks and incorporating IDSA’s annual Education Symposium with the theme, “Breaking Down Barriers: Fostering collaborations for systemic change,” IDC 2021 centers on forward-thinking solutions: rebuilding in the face of a crippling pandemic, incorporating DEI into emerging tech and hiring practices, and capitalizing on the technologies that designers and business leaders need to master now to drive innovation.

This year’s IDC is open to a diversity of designers and creatives from around the world, with 50+ sessions led by global innovators at Amazon, IDEO, Samsung, and more.

The annual conference’s start was much smaller, and much less high-tech, yet steeped in the IDC’s continued goals of providing inspiration, challenging assumptions, and advancing the conversation about what design can contribute to the world’s future.

56 Years of Bringing Designers Together

The first national meeting of IDSA was held September 30 through October 2, 1965, in Oakbrook, IL. This event included panel discussions on “Today’s Design Education,” “Designer’s Responsibility to Management” and “Industrial Design: 1975.” Famed designer Charles Eames delivered the keynote address.

Over time, these national meetings turned into national conferences, and expanded to welcome more designers whose disciplines overlap with and influence industrial design, both on stage and in the audience.

Attendees of these conferences can attest to many a memorable moment over the years, such as the Northeast blackout that happened during the 2003 event in New York City, and the start of a little company called Airbnb during the 2007 event in San Francisco.

Airbnb co-founders Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky were living together in San Francisco at the time and anticipated a wave of conference attendees. As the story goes, Gebbia came up with the idea to rent out three air mattresses in their apartment, to raise money for Chesky’s half of the rent. “We called it the Airbed and Breakfast,” said Chesky in a commencement address at Rhode Island School of Design in 2017. “Three designers stayed with us that weekend…and with that, Airbnb was born.”

In 2018, the reimagined International Design Conference kicked off in New Orleans and was followed by a sold-out IDC in Chicago in 2019.

As Paul Hatch, FIDSA wrote in the Summer 2018 issue of IDSA’s INNOVATION magazine, the seed for this IDC rebrand was planted in 2015. Then-IDSA President John Barratt, FIDSA asked Hatch and Jeevak Badve, FIDSA to analyze the IDSA conference and what it could become. From these analyses and discussions, a new kind of gathering emerged: “a more inclusive, relevant, and cross-disciplinary event,” wrote Hatch, that embraced the expansion of the industrial design profession and became an international platform for exchanging ideas across all areas of design.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a virtual IDC for the first time ever. Nevertheless, it was a hit with attendees and welcomed more participants from more countries than ever before.

IDC will stay virtual in 2021, with a planned in-person IDC 2022 in Seattle.

What to Expect From IDC 2021

Whether you’re a design student, educator, executive, or designer at any level, you’ll walk away from IDC 2021 with plenty of inspiration and an abundance of tools you can immediately implement into your practice.

Takeaways include, but are not limited to:

– How to improve your design process by identifying three killers of your ideas, and arming yourself with nine weapons to fight them off
– How to design more equitable and innovative creative teams, with tactical solutions to apply to hiring, internal reviews, meetings, critiques, and delivery
– How to achieve carbon neutrality in makerspaces with a circular design toolkit
– How to best market yourself and your work through design journalism
– How to anticipate, understand, and forecast trends for application in design
– How to safely and ethically navigate design with biometrics
– How to leverage 3D printing, NFTs, and blockchain technology
– How to harness technological advancements to build better software for the underserved
– How to enhance diversity in design education and practice

Click Here to Buy Your Tickets Now: IDC 2021, Sept. 22-23

“For over 20 years, I have gained so much from this annual gathering and got to know so many awesome people.” – Surya Vanka, multiple-time IDC attendee and presenter

“The IDC encapsulates what a contemporary design conference should look and feel like. It is an integrated blend of tech, traditional ID-ers, UX/ UI designers, graphic designers, and educators within a safe space to have thoughtful conversation.” – Excerpt from the Core77 IDC 2019 recap

“IDSA seriously set the standard for online events that are engaging, diverse, thought-provoking, entertaining, and seamless, without skipping a beat on the soul of what these gathering are.” – Spencer Nugent, virtual IDC 2020 emcee

Follow IDC on socials @intldesignconf and use the hashtag #IDC24HrLive.

Dezeen Showroom: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have extended their Cotone Slim seating line for Cassina, creating a sofa based on the same slender, minimalist form.

The Cotone Slim sofa is distinguished by its linear extruded aluminium frame, which has a faintly tapered shape.

Its backrest follows the same line as the frame, with a rigid exterior and plush, inviting interior.

The sofa can be upholstered in a wide range of fabrics and leathers, which can be matched or contrasted with the anodised or painted finish of the metal frame.

The Cotone Slim sofa is available with either a high back for privacy or a low backrest that creates a sense of openness.

Cassina says the sofa is “perfect for contract projects that call for uncluttered, linear modern decor to furnish corporate headquarters, executive offices and waiting areas”.

Product: Cotone Slim
Designer: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
Brand: Cassina
Contact: info@cassina.it

About Dezeen Showroom: Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.

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