Hasta La Ideas

The iconic game Settlers of Catan is entirely about building a community… so why not go the distance and build the game from scratch using LEGO? This MoC (My Own Creation) from AthleticSkylor088 gives you creative control like never before, letting you build out your game in ways never imaginable previously. By relying on LEGO bricks instead of the conventional 2D board, this unique build lets you turn your game into a brick-based microcosm, with 3D details, plants, fields, humans, animals, and every detail you’d expect from the popular board game!

Designer: AthleticSkylor088

“Starting out with almost nothing, gathering materials, and building settlements is all part of the great game of CATAN. Building your own towns and cities is a lot of fun, so why not play in the form of LEGO bricks?” asks AthleticSkylor088. “Build your very own CATAN board and biomes,” he adds.

The beauty of the board game lies in the fact that it pops out of the board, immersing you in depth and detail. AthleticSkylor088 hasn’t detailed how many bricks are used in this build, but the fact that it’s so hyper-customizable means you can play around with details, make them more realistic or artistic, or even go off the deep end and build a futuristic version with cyberpunk biomes. Although that would stray a little too far from the original, the fact that it’s possible (and that it looks this adorable) is what makes this LEGO build such a charming one.

Mine for ore inside these LEGO mountains

Watch as the sheep graze on the field

Observe the farmers tending to their wheat fields

Avoid the robbers in the desert

Watch the masons molding the bricks

Multiple pieces offer the entire Catan experience, from roads to bricks, timber, and animals.

This, however, isn’t the first time we’ve come across a LEGO version of a playable board game. Many LEGO MoC builders have made a variety of popular games, like chess, Go, Scrabble, and even Monopoly… although one has to admit, there’s a distinct charm to this particular iteration of Catan.

AthleticSkylor088’s LEGO Settlers of Catan board game is currently on the LEGO Ideas forum, where fans and enthusiasts can not only build out their own unique LEGO creations but can even vote for their favorite ones. With 2083 votes under its belt, the LEGO Settlers of Catan is well on its way to hit the coveted 10,000 vote mark, following which it will get an internal review by LEGO’s own team and then will hopefully be turned into a box set that anyone can buy and build. Click here if you want to vote for this MoC.

The post LEGO version of ‘Settlers of Catan’ is PERFECT for brick-lovers and board-game nerds first appeared on Yanko Design.

American architecture studio NBBJ has created a series of interactive media displays in a California children’s hospital to ease young patients’ anxiety.

Designed by the NBBJ’s New York experience design studio ESI Design, the installations consist of screens that display a native California landscape where children can create animal characters to release into the wild.

It is located at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital (LLUCH) outside of Los Angeles. The team wanted to install a feature to quell the nerves of young patients entering the hospital for surgeries and other appointments.

The studio created an interactive digital forest display called Loma Land that spans five screens built into a lobby wall, and is accompanied by an audio soundtrack.

“Loma Land will greet young patients with an idyllic forest of animated creatures, rustling plants and the gentle sounds of flowing water,” said the team.

Along the digital experience, which spans 415 square feet (38 square metres), children select an animal companion, customise its fur, add accessories, and then release it into the “wild”.

Children select and customize their animals just outside security gates, within three oval-shaped touchscreens. There, they pick animals native to the surrounding California landscape including a fox, bear, deer and raccoon.

Moving along the screens, they can select from a variety of brightly-coloured fur and add accessories, including an acorn hat, leaf mask and grass top hat.

Once the animal is made, children can interact with it one-on-one via a fourth screen, or pass through the security gates, where the creature is released into a larger landscape that’s displayed on a 60-foot-wide (18-metre) screen.

As children and parents walk past the landscape and further into the hospital, the animal can be seen interacting with creatures created by other children and roaming around a forested environment.

“When it came time to design Loma Land, the greatest challenge became the fact there is truly nothing quite like it,” said the team.

“So, the team looked for inspiration from libraries, children’s museums and games. These cultural media experiences motivated the team to incorporate elements such as character play, active and passive disruption, and collaborative composition.”

The team surveyed a group of children and their families to select the digital setting for the installation, with the majority preferring a natural environment.

ESRI Design incorporated native trees and shrubs into the environment to provide further familiarity and comfort.

The team believes the Loma Land concept could be incorporated into other hospitals and expanded across LLUCH to meet future needs.

“While this innovation is truly remarkable, what makes it especially relevant to today’s healthcare system is the fact it can be easily replicated by any hospital that has the vision to transform the patient experience from one of dread into one of delight,” said the team.

They also noted additional displays could include different environments and plush toys of the animals could be incorporated into gift shops for an “offline” experience as an extension of the concept.

The team also prioritized the use of projectors when possible, instead of LED screens, in the interest of making the displays easier to clean as the display wall simply needs to be sanitized.

NBBJ recently collaborated with Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on a LA Playground and created a pediatric clinic in Seattle with “no blank walls”.

The photography is by Sean Airhart

The post NBBJ creates interactive forest display at California children’s hospital appeared first on Dezeen.

During the pandemic, one of the things that became a “trend” and has actually continued to this day is that more people are biking their way to and from their place of work. We’re seeing a lot of products catering to this market segment and there’s still a lot of room to grow as we look towards more sustainable ways of commuting. Safety is also a major concern for those riding bicycles and motorcycles so we see people carrying helmets around but it’s not always the most convenient thing.

Designer: Eliès Hamzaoui

To solve the problem of carrying around a bulky helmet, an engineer created a prototype for something called an OBH or an On Board Helmet system. The idea is to leave the helmet with your bike so you don’t have to carry it around but also without fear of it getting stolen. It is made up of the helmet itself called the Unicity and a Jorj unit which is bolted to your bike frame. The unit also has a built-in anti-theft alarm, hence the secure part.

The locking and unlocking of the helmet is actually made through an app. You don’t have a physical key so the unit needs to have Bluetooth and battery power, adding to the bulk. It is technically more secure but also a bit inconvenient for times when your smartphone may not be working. The alarm itself is activated only with prolonged movements and not the mere jostle of the bike so you don’t have to worry about accidental alarms.

While it may be more convenient to leave the helmet on your bike, it can also add to the bulk of it since this contraption seems a bit heavy because of the features mentioned. There’s always room for improvement though so hopefully we can get a better prototype for this eventually. The initial target market for this are the bikeshare companies but it can eventually appeal to the general bike-using public, provided the design is improved.

The post Leave your helmet on your bike securely with this prototype contraption first appeared on Yanko Design.

The Vilcek Foundation was established in 2000, with the purpose of celebrating immigrant contributions to the arts and sciences in the United States. In 2024, the foundation awards the Vilcek Foundation Prizes in Design to foreign-born designers living and working in the United States. The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Design specifically focus on honoring emerging immigrant designers who have demonstrated exceptional achievements and promise in their respective fields.

“Design enables us to interact with the world with elegance and artistry,” says Vilcek Foundation Vice Chair and Cofounder Marica Vilcek. “With the Vilcek Foundation Prizes in Design, we celebrate four immigrant vanguards whose work exemplifies the perspective, innovation and creativity that immigrants bring to business and society in the United States.”

The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise are awarded to immigrant designers and creative professionals; designers under the age of 38 working in the fields of digital design, graphic design, product design and social design were eligible to apply for one of three unrestricted cash prizes of $50,000 each.

Industrial and product designer Juan Carlos Noguera receives a 2024 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Design for his equitable approach to product design, especially for his work to develop accessible wheelchairs and educational tools that democratize society by promoting social and scientific engagement.

Equity has been at the center of Juan Carlos Noguera’s life’s work for as long as he can remember. “My approach to design is multidisciplinary and multicultural. I use empathy, accessibility, sustainability, and user-centric design as the pillars of my work.”

Noguera’s career is marked by a series of groundbreaking projects that reflect his dedication to improving the lives of individuals, pushing design boundaries, and promoting inclusivity, exemplifying his passion for design with the potential to change lives.

Humble Origins

Born in Guatemala, Noguera is no stranger to hardship. His early life fueled his desire to work towards improving both himself and the world around him. “As an immigrant from very humble origins, I have learned to be self-reliant, to do more with less, and to never say something is impossible.”

In 2013, he received the Fulbright Scholarship, which allowed him to move to the United States to pursue graduate studies in industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design. This period was transformative for him, both personally and professionally. In 2015, he returned home to Guatemala to help start an Industrial Design BFA program at Universidad Francisco Marroquin

Empowering Mobility and Quality of Life

Noguera’s project Wheelchair Designs for Developing Countries illustrates his dedication to improving lives by using design to democratize access. In collaboration with the Transitions Foundation and Design Without Borders, Noguera designed a range of wheelchair models tailored to the needs of people in developing countries, particularly his home country of Guatemala. These wheelchairs are highly durable and specifically adapted to the anthropometrics of the local population, and terrain that individuals need to navigate in their communities. Since their introduction in 2011, Noguera’s wheelchairs have provided thousands of Guatemalans with much-needed access to mobility and an improved quality of life.

Editor’s note: This project was a Professional Runner Up in the Design For Social Impact category in the 2013 Core77 Design Awards.

“Hormiga” wheelchair, the first tilt-in-space children’s wheelchair created for developing countries. Created in cooperation with Transitions Foundation (Guatemala) and Design Without Borders (Norway). (Photo credit to Juan Noguera, Design Without Borders and Transitions Foundation).

Revolutionizing 3D Printing

In 2015, Noguera embarked on a venture that would reshape consumer manufacturing. Collaborating with Harvard SEAS scientists and engineers, he designed the Voxel8 Developer’s Kit, the world’s first desktop 3D electronics printer. This revolutionary innovation liberated designers and engineers from the constraints of traditional fabrication methods, enabling the production of functional electronics parts using filament and conductive feedstocks.

Voxel8 Developer’s Kit 3D printer, the world’s first multi-material printer created to print fully functional 3D electronics circuits. (Photo credit to Juan Noguera)

Transforming Education with Innovative Toys

Noguera’s impact extends beyond industrial and product design. His dedication to education and accessibility is seen in his work on the Circuit Scribe Educational Toy. This innovative system, incorporating a novel conductive ink developed by Harvard SEAS PhD students, consists of a conductive ink pen and magnetic components like batteries, LEDs, motors, and transistors.

Circuit Stickers, a fun way to learn basic electronics concepts by using fully flexible electronic stickers and a conductive ink pen. (Photo Credit to Juan Noguera)

Circuit Scribe has revolutionized the teaching of electronics in K–12 education. It allows students to visualize and experiment with simple circuits directly in their school notebooks, accelerating their understanding of electronics concepts. This innovation has not only enhanced STEM education but also attracted more students to the fields of engineering and design.

A Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity

Noguera recognizes the value of cultural exchange and the power of individuals to engage their own diverse backgrounds and experiences to solve complex problems. As a professor of industrial design at the Rochester Institute of Technology, he imparts his values and vision to the next generation of designers.

Join us as we congratulate Juan Carlos Noguera on receiving this prestigious award, and for all the great work he has done so far!

Learn more about the 2024 Vilcek Foundation Prizes in Design at Vilcek.org.

Editor’s note: We previously profiled Noguera in October 2022 for his work incorporating AI into his student’s design process.

Design in the mobile market never sits still, although we are now seeing certain brands leave their design DNA on their phones for longer periods of time. Most of those designs involve cramming everything but the kitchen sink, turning smartphones into a display of technological marvels more than anything else. That’s great for specs and features, but not always for the overall user experience, especially when it comes to aesthetics and usability. Amidst a sea of thick slabs of glass and metal and bulging camera bumps, the Vivo V30 arrives with a more familiar yet still enchanting face. But is it just a pretty face or does it offer something more inside its incredibly slim physique? We take it for a spin to find out.

Designer: Vivo

Aesthetics

The Vivo V30 will immediately strike you as a very different beast from its peers, and that’s even before you pay close attention to the rather graceful patterns on its back, which we’ll get to later. Even before you hold it in your hand, you can already get an impression of how thin it is, a trait that seems to be quickly disappearing even among premium smartphones. Yes, it’s probably because of that curved glass back and “3D curved screen,” a design that some consider to be no longer fashionable these days, but at just the right angles and with the right play of light, it’s hard to deny how sleek and slim it makes the phone look.

The camera bump is similarly distinctive and unique as far as conventional camera designs go. It’s a single raised rectangle with rounded corners that catches your attention not with an obnoxious size but with a pleasant combination of form, color, and finish. The black rounded square of the camera lenses contrasts and complements the similarly shaped Aura Light ring below it. The “2.5D” curved edges of this raised “One-Piece Cloud Step” design are surrounded by a polished metal bezel refined using a diamond cutting technique, providing not just protection for the cameras but also adding a sleek look to anyone looking at those cameras.

The real design highlight, however, is the subtle patterns that give each Vivo V30 model a unique personality. The greenish-blue Waving Aqua review unit we received employs tens of thousands of tiny magnetic particles integrated into a flowing resin material, creating the illusion of ripples that may conjure up images of beaches, lakes, or rivers, all giving a serene and peaceful vibe. The other designs are no less stunning, with Bloom White’s 3D Petal Pattern, created by engraving 13 million tangent lines into the surface using photolithography, or the color-changing Lush Green that turns into tranquil Blue when exposed to UV light. Even Noble Black, with a typical Fluorite AG Glass back, sparkles like a starry night sky thanks to an etching liquid process that transforms the microscopic crystals on the glass surface into prism-like structures.

All in all, the Vivo V30’s slim profile, minimalist aesthetic, and subtle yet elegant design make it easily stand out from the rest of the crowd, especially at its price point. Yes, some might say that its curves make it a bit dated, but that’s exactly why it also feels rather refreshing to take a break from that current trend, especially when the end result is definitely just as beautiful, if not more so.

Ergonomics

There is still some debate on which predominant smartphone design is actually more ergonomic. Fans of curves claim that their preferred design is more comfortable and gentler on the hand, while advocates of flat edges criticize how it doesn’t provide a confident and solid grip. The Vivo V30 is obviously on the former camp so your mileage may vary, but there’s one aspect that puts all those debates to rest: its weight.

At only 186g, the Vivo V30 is easily one of the lightest smartphones on the market, making it comfortable to hold for long periods of time. That’s even more impressive when you find out that it hides a 5,000mAh battery, also one of the largest among smartphones, which should have weighed the phone down significantly, not to mention adding to its bulk. Thanks to a new “One-Piece Encapsulation Technique,” that large battery can become unbelievably thin, and a “Comprehensive Cushioning Structure” is credited for not just the phone’s aesthetics but also its durability.

Performance

The lines between traditional smartphone market tiers are continually blurring as hardware becomes more diversified yet also more powerful. In the old days, a phone like the Vivo V30 would be classified as a mid-range device because of its Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, but that distinction barely holds today. With 12GB of RAM (plus 12GB Extended memory), the Vivo V30 can handle pretty much anything you can throw at it, with moderation, of course. Mobile gaming is no sweat, especially if you turn down the settings a bit, and the large vapor cooling chamber inside ensures your hands won’t burn when you do so.

The large 6.78-inch AMOLED screen boasts 2800 nits of brightness and a fast 120Hz refresh right. The display is definitely bright and vibrant enough to make your content pop, though it’s not exactly something that will blow your mind either. Audio is a bit so-so, decent enough to let you enjoy music, videos, and games without having to reach for wireless earphones, but more discerning users will prefer higher-quality sound anyway. As mentioned, the 5,000 mAh battery is a major highlight for this unbelievably thin phone, and the 80W charger makes sure you can fully top off in a little just 50 minutes or so.

Like any smartphone these days, a lot of focus is placed on the Vivo V30’s cameras, no pun intended. Truth be told, it’s a rather mixed bag for Vivo’s 2024 V-Series frontrunner, checking a few boxes in some areas while missing out on others. For example, there is no dedicated telephoto camera, which means you’ll have to rely on digital zoom and in-sensor cropping for those closeups. Instead, Vivo puts two co-equal 50MP cameras on the V30’s back, one for the main shooter and the other for ultra-wide panoramic or group shots. In fact, group shots are a big thing for the Vivo V30, but we’ll get to that later.

The main 50MP camera advertises a “True Color” Camera-Bionic-Spectrum VCS technology that is supposed to produce color-accurate images that are close to how our eyes see. While the resulting photos do look vibrant and colorful, they still tend to lean more towards oversaturation rather than the more natural and realistic tones. A highlight of the Vivo V30’s camera system is the latest iteration of its Aura Light, basically a mini Ring Light that’s popular among live streamers and influencers. Used for portrait shots, it offers a softer and more distributed light than what a single LED flash can give. It’s even guided by AI so it can automatically adjust its intensity and temperature depending on the distance from the subject and ambient light.

Vivo positions the V series as a line that targets a more youthful crowd, and nowhere is that more evident than with the selfie camera and its whopping 50MP sensor, complete with autofocus and a 92-degree field of view. Just like the 50MP ultra-wide on its back, this camera was made for taking Group Selfies, ensuring that your friends won’t be left out of those Insta-worthy shots. That said, you don’t have the advantage of the Aura Light with this selfie camera, something Vivo might want to look into for future iterations.

Sustainability

It’s going to be hard to deny that the Vivo V30 isn’t exactly a premium device, at least not with the specs above. Most of the phones on this tier skimp on a few features to meet a certain low price point. In most cases, some corners are cut when it comes to durability, but not this beautiful phone. The V30 boasts an IP54 rating, which is modest but sufficient to protect the phone from dust and water accidents. Given who the phone was made for, those accidents are often the norm rather than the exception.

When it comes to materials, however, the phone doesn’t exactly have anything to boast. It uses quite a variety of special materials and processes to make those intricate patterns on its back, none of which can be said to be sustainable or environment-friendly. The V30 doesn’t stray from the beaten path in this aspect, but hopefully, trends will change and even the young will start demanding for more responsibly made smartphones to put inside their pockets.

Value

Given its target audience, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Vivo prices the V30 very competitively. It’s still playing coy about exact figures, but it should start somewhere around $300 upward, depending on the configuration. It’s something that those with very tight budgets would be able to afford, but it’s almost too easy to say you will also get what you pay for. In reality, however, you’re actually getting a solid deal.

Vivo chose its battles wisely and focused on the things that matter most to its core customer base. The phone is light, easy to hold, and easy to take out of or slip into your pocket. Its design adds a bit of glam to the device, and its cameras, though lacking one member, are made for a generation that loves to take selfies, either alone or with others. With gaming performance the only consideration, the Vivo V30 actually offers a well-rounded set of features wrapped in an elegant aesthetic and matched with an accessible price tag.

Verdict

The market is overflowing with smartphones and, despite all the analysts’ warnings, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of slowing down. Designs are also ever-changing, though the trend seems to be moving towards bigger, thicker, and flatter smartphones. Against this backdrop, the Vivo V30 arrives like a breath of fresh air, offering a face that is both familiar and striking. It’s not going to win benchmarks or photo contests, but its features have been carefully selected to really address the needs and desires of its target market: people who just love taking selfies and holding their phones almost all day.

The post Vivo V30 Review: Slim, Stylish, Simple first appeared on Yanko Design.