Design Speculations is a monthly feature that rounds up the latest news and postulates on what it implies for the future of design.

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February seemed to have zoomed by, as it always does, but there were some crucial events in the short month that are sure to have long-lasting effects. Let’s dive into it:

How algorithms will feed the future of design

While scrolling through TikTok in early February, I came across a video that led me down a rabbit hole about technology and how it’s bound to affect the evolving visual direction of design.

The video is by TikToker Derrick Gee, a fun follow for anyone interested in music and lesser-known design facts. He first discusses the computational photography updates of the iPhone 14, announced in September 2022. Apple’s “deep fusion” software use contextual information to create an ideal photograph by configuring multiple photography frames, and adjusting elements such as exposure and contrast. In other words, this technology shows that camera phones are moving away from technically perfecting features like lenses to produce a more true-to-life image. Instead, phones are opting for technology that creates a more “perfect” image, regardless of how true to life it may be. What is perhaps most interesting in Gee’s commentary is that this editing algorithm was developed not just to create a more perfect photograph, but one that will appeal most to the average consumer consensus.

Gee then makes a connection between this and Spotify’s Discovery Mode feature, described on the Spotify for Artists website as a “marketing tool that helps your music get heard when audiences are most open to discovery.” The algorithm for engagement is driven not by novelty, but by popularity (and the more your song is heard, the bigger the cut Spotify gets for your song). So smaller artists with songs that capture a large audience get prioritized and a chance for a major spotlight- a win-win right?

Gee argues the overall effect is a bit more complicated. He worries that relying on engagement analytics as a curatorial guide will stifle innovation in music, as songs that appeal to the greater masses will be more profitable. This raises an important question in the realm of design: what happens to the aesthetic evolution of design when a technological tool is deciding what is considered exemplary? As we increasingly incorporate image-generating AI into our design practices (though it should be noted while AI is not strictly an algorithm, it does rely on sets of algorithms in order to learn and evolve), it opens up the potential for an output we previously could have never imagined.

A fascinating LinkedIn viral post was published in February by Creative Director Eric Groza, who used AI to envision a sophisticated conceptual collaboration between British Airways and Burberry. Aside from the indecipherable logo giving away AI’s handiwork, I would argue many designers would look at these renderings as passable for a pitch deck.

A luxury eye mask design for British Airways in the style of Burberry (Image credit: Eric Groza)

British Airways seating with a Burberry touch, imagined by AI (Image credit: Eric Groza)

It is important to highlight that these images were selected from hundreds of others by Groza, emphasizing the critical role of an editor’s intervention when using AI for creative purposes. While AI is certainly a remarkable tool in this regard, we must also consider that it can only draw upon examples of excellence from the past to generate these sophisticated images.

The British Airways x Burberry experiment is a testament to AI’s ability to match the quality and aesthetic of 2023. But what comes next? How can we innovate beyond current trends if our brand directions are based solely on the culmination of past references?

Gee’s concern about Spotify’s algorithms promoting music that appeals to the masses rather than fostering true innovation carries over to the world of design and AI’s role in it. How can we use AI as a helpful tool without sacrificing design’s potential for introducing truly new and noteworthy ideas into culture? This is a question that requires careful consideration moving forward.

In other AI news

AI no doubt imitates life, but how will life imitate AI in the future? This LinkedIn post poses a curious potential scenario:

Reporter Has a Bizarre Chat with Bing’s New A.I. Chatbot Sydney, Stating, ‘I Want To Be Alive.’

For those who have yet to read this interview Kevin Roose did with Bing’s A.I. chatbot named Sydney, it’s a wild ride. Perhaps even more unsettling is the fact that when asked why Sydney behaved the way they did during this conversation with Roose, Microsoft had no clear answer.

This app could block text-to-image AI models from ripping off artists

The power of past example in generating AI also calls into question the issues of copyright. It appears programs are being developed to thwart AI’s attempts to copy artists’ work, but even the developers of these programs note it’s just a short term solution. Founders of the Glaze Project at University of Chicago noted that their AI-fighting program is “not a permanent solution against AI mimicry…AI evolves quickly, and systems like Glaze face an inherent challenge of being future-proof…It is important to note that Glaze is not a panacea, but a necessary first step towards artist-centric protection tools to resist AI mimicry. We hope that Glaze and followup projects will provide some protection to artists while longer term (legal, regulatory) efforts take hold.”

National news brings sustainability urgency to the forefront

A concerning news story emerged on February 3rd when a train crashed in the town of East Palestine, Ohio, spilling a cocktail of chemicals that were quickly burned into the atmosphere to avoid lethal explosion. This burn, of course, sent noxious chemicals into the air, leading residents to experience terrible headaches, clearly contaminated river banks, and strange phenomena such as chicken laying eggs with a disturbing purple hue.

A view of the smoke caused by the Ohio train derailment the night of February 3 (image source: Wikimedia Commons)

How this story connects with design has to do with the chemicals spilled in Ohio—a combination of substances including but not limited to vinyl chloride, isobutylene, ethylhexyl acrylate, and benzene. Vinyl chloride, for one, is a chemical most commonly used for PVC pipes, but can also be found in products like vehicle upholstery and plastic kitchen ware.

While the story of the derailment itself has much more to do with parties like Norfolk Southern (the company operating the train that derailed), the damage done to our environment due to chemicals used in products designers bring to market reaffirms the role design plays in climate change. It is a well known statistic that an estimated 80% of all product-related environmental impacts are determined during the design phase of a product—this puts a lot of power in the hands of those making final decisions about manufacturing, product development, and materials.

Can environmental disasters such as this be used as an urgent call to start re-evaluating our systems? While it’s difficult to imagine our reliance in supply chain on chemicals parallel to vinyl chloride and toxic plastics fading any time soon, it certainly is a moment that calls for conversations to be had about our future reliance on materials, and how we can evolve them to lessen impact.

Sustainability: it’s not all bad news

While it’s understandable to feel a sense of overwhelm about the state of climate change today, February did carry some news that suggests there are phenomena we can take advantage of to start working toward positive change.

The exciting bits of news in January released by the World Meteorological Organization that efforts to repair the thinning ozone layer are working has served as a guiding light of optimism for anyone feeling a sense of doom about the climate. A report released early February by the International Energy Agency also bared positive news, suggesting renewable energy and nuclear power is projected to meet almost all global demand for electricity within just the next three years—huge news in a time where electricity consumption is set to rapidly increase.

There is also interesting development in the realms relevant to design showing how the industry can mitigate further damage.

Read Space10’s Regenerative Home Report

A report published on February 22nd by Space10, an IKEA-supported research hub, provides interesting key learnings around the potential ways design can effectively reduce energy consumption in the home. The Regenerative Home Report focuses its research on the fact that energy consumption in the home is an immense future challenge, with household consumption behavior responsible for a shocking 72% of global greenhouse emissions (with high-income countries responsible for the largest chunk of that percentage).

Looking at positive change through the lens of design, the report explores how designed interventions can significantly reduce emissions in the realms of home building/construction, energy consumption, food and agriculture, and consumer home products. It’s a fascinating read, full of helpful statistics about home energy usage, resources on up-and-coming products and technologies tackling issues related to home energy consumption, and interesting examples of progressive sustainable design interventions that can serve as examples for the future.

Veteran industrial designer Carl Liu, who’s worked for everyone from Designworks to Disney, Astro Studios to Motorola, designed these headphone holders apparently as a personal project. The first is a monolithic wooden piece:

The second offers additional desktop storage:

And the third is wall-mounted, designed with a removable plug that provides the mounting point.

The rest of Liu’s book, which runs deep, is well worth a look.

Industrial designer Kevin Nguyen quit his traditional ID gigs to design his own specialty clay tools.

The Camera Shy Hoodie, by artist/designer Mac Pierce, uses embedded infrared LED lights to blind night vision cameras.

Pioneering drone delivery company Wing has designed these AutoLoaders, package pickup stations designed to share a parking space.

Until reading the description, we couldn’t figure out what the heck this object is.

This Twins Chair, designed by architect Yuji Tanabe, is two chairs in one.

Helsinki-based furniture design studio Antti Tuomi designed this Combines collection of flatpack furniture, which ditches conventional joinery for straps.

Product designer Chris Kabel created these keys for the remote Fogo Island Inn by casting 29 locally-found artifacts in bronze.

Hailing from Norway, the AssiStep is a staircase aid for those not quite ready for a chair lift. It’s mechanical and requires no electricity. (Click the link to see video.)

Industrial designer Albert Rakhimzhanov came up with this Ultro, a wild concept for a drone-based air purifying system.

The Obicuum Water is a striking-looking, modernist-looking cordless power mop.

Several good projects done by Kaelan Abernathy as an Industrial Design student:

Ishinomaki Lab’s DIY furniture started out as a disaster relief effort, and has turned into an enduring furniture brand and workshop series.

Bottle Farm’s Mini Kits are a minimal, economical design for growing herbs at home.

Architect Maxime Prananto’s Continuous Chandelier “operates within a continuum of contradictions.”

These unusual lamps and mailbox were designed by Zurich-based Lu¨tjens Padmanabhan Architects.

Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken’s Ypsilon bench makes good use of angles for both comfort and drainage.

The Revo line of chairs, by industrial designer Simone Viola, brings clean lines and functional simplicity to institutional furniture.

Here are three unusual designs for headphone holders by veteran industrial designer Carl Liu.

Healthcare-focused design consultancy Studio Doozy is developing this modular, adaptable toilet designed for all mobility types.

God created light. Brava perfected the art of cooking with it. Meet Brava, an oven that harnesses the power of pure light to cook food to perfection. Unlike radiant heat, which heats the entire oven chamber, light can be precisely delivered to specific zones within the oven chamber, allowing you to cook with precise control and no energy wastage. The Brava Smart Oven takes that a step further. With three dedicated zones on the cooking tray, and lights above and below it to match, Brava can cook three-part meals at three different temperatures at the same time, on the same tray, and in minutes as opposed to hours on a grill or oven. Heating coils on an oven need time to heat up (the pre-heating phase)… but the Brava Smart Oven has no such disadvantage. Its powerful infrared bulbs heat up in seconds, cooking faster, more efficiently, and more intelligently.

Designer: Brava Design

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Pure Light Technology – Brava’s unique lamps are capable of delivering 900˚ of searing power in seconds, and can turn off just as fast with minimal residual heat.

The title of the World’s Most Futuristic Oven isn’t something to be taken ‘light’ly (no pun intended), but it seems Brava may have figured out a faster, more versatile, and more efficient method of cooking foods than using radiant heat or conduction, and a “healthier” (in the public opinion) method than using microwave energy. Its technique, to use an array of six lamps that deliver over 900°F of searing power in seconds by shining hot light onto your food from the top as well as the bottom. Using light as a delivery mechanism for heat is absolutely genius because you can pretty much point the light exactly where you want, instead of heating up an entire oven to a certain temperature – something that famously takes a good 10-20 minutes depending on how powerful your oven is. With the Brava’s light system, that gets reduced down to mere seconds, which has a massive impact on the overall cooking time. The three light zones also help focus the heat into three distinct categories, letting you cook meats and veggies on one tray, but at different temperatures. A one-hour meal with three components gets ready in under 20 minutes… and the best part? You get to monitor the entire process.

True Multi-zone Cooking – Each of Brava’s 3 zones cooks independently, delivering the convenience of a sheet pan meal without compromising on the quality.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and what makes the Brava so fascinating to use is that your food doesn’t cook in a mysterious hidden void, like your microwave. The smart oven keeps tabs on your food for you, letting you know when it’s ready to take out… but more importantly, it lets you watch your food be cooked too. A camera built into the smart oven gives you a literal window into the oven’s interiors, letting you see your lasagna bake and your meat sear in real time. See something burning? You can catch it before your meal’s a charred mess. See your meat still looking pink? Crank up the temperature for the last couple of minutes to get that amazing seared crust.

The coordinated symphony of light from the top and bottom is an absolutely new kind of cooking method, but where it really outshines (again, no pun intended) other cooking appliances is in its ability to be versatile. The way the lights shine can help mimic different types of cooking styles, from grilling to searing, toasting, slow-cooking, dehydrating, air-frying, rice-cooking, and even reheating or keeping food warm. A small touchscreen display above the oven door helps you navigate all the options that the Brava offers, selecting zones, temperatures, and time periods intuitively without any knobs and buttons. A mobile app gives you access to controls too, along with the camera feed inside the oven, and an entire roster of over 8000 recipes from breakfasts to main courses and desserts, specially curated for the Brava oven.

While the microwave promised speedy cooking, the sous-vide machine promised consistent cooking, and the air fryer promised healthy oil-free cooking, they all had their own caveats. Microwaves don’t cook the way an open flame does, sous-vides are expensive and time-consuming, and the air-fryer just does one thing. The Brava, remarkably, ticks a lot of boxes by being able to fulfill the roles of multiple appliances, while offering faster cooking and even faster clean-up because you’ve got just one tray to wash at the end of your meal. The Brava Smart Oven wears a lot of hats, but the one hat that really makes a difference is the chef’s hat, because, unlike other cooking techniques that constantly require human intervention and monitoring, the Brava Smart Oven does it all for you to the point of perfection, in just a few minutes.

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The post The ‘Tesla of Ovens’ uses light to cook your food better, easier, and faster than ever first appeared on Yanko Design.

International architecture studio Hassell teamed up with creative collective to.org and 3D printing studio Nagami to create an astounding prototype for a 3D-printed public pavilion. What makes the pavilion super interesting, is the fact that it’s built using recycled plastic. “The design is the beginning of a larger plan to create a series of pavilions that encourage conversations around material waste and how technology can solve our planet’s most urgent problems,” said Hassell.

Designer: Hassell x Nagami

The 3D-printed pavilion is inspired by indigenous shelters, and functions as a gathering or meeting point for education, reflection, and knowledge. The pavilion can be customized and modified to adjust to a whole range of different climates and settings. The idea for the pavilion was created by Hassell’s Head of Design, Xavier De Kestelier, Manuel Jimenez Garcia, founder of Nagami, an additive manufacturing specialist, and Nachson Mimran, Co-founder & Creative Executive Officer of to.org. They wanted to combat the issue of plastic and create a new way of viewing plastic as a construction material.

Manuel Jimenez Garcia said, “We have more than 5 billion metric tons of plastic waste on our planet. As 3D printing scales up into architecture and construction, we can massively increase the demand for recycled plastics and speed up the cleaning process of our oceans and landfills. We hope this project will contribute to inspiring a new generation of architects to truly believe that a radical change in construction, driven by eco-innovation, is truly possible.”

They utilized computational techniques and 3D printing for fabrication. This ensured that the public pavilion can be customized and modified without incurring any extra cost and allowing it to withstand the local climatic conditions. “The Pavilion pushes the boundaries of 3D printing to create full-scale functional architecture. 3D printing allows higher geometrical freedom compared to most traditional methods of manufacturing. Setting a precedent for the future of design, this architectural freedom allowed the designers to shape the pavilions so that they operate with minimal energy and off the grid,” said the architecture studio.

The 3D-printed pavilion can be easily and efficiently transported and assembled on-site as it comes in 24 individual pieces. Inspired by indigenous shelters, the pavilion is designed to sustainably and efficiently handle harsh temperatures. In case of cold climates, the pavilion will feature an outer skin equipped with fins that are meant to capture snow and provide natural insulation. Whereas in hotter climates, those same fins will provide natural cooling, passive cooling, water harvesting, and cross ventilation.

The post This 3D-printed pavilion is inspired by indigenous shelters & can withstand extreme climates first appeared on Yanko Design.