Several years ago, Norwegian scientist and photography enthusiast Victor Henning had a problem: He found that his smartphone could take incredible images, “but in decisive moments, I missed the speed and precision of my real camera.” The slippery smartphone form factor isn’t ideal for quickly pulling out and aiming, nor quickly adjusting settings.

Henning had some ideas for how to add DSLR-style controls to an iPhone, and approached Norwegian industrial design consultancy Frost Produkt for help. The project was called the Fjorden Grip.

“In a world where smartphones are rapidly replacing dedicated cameras, Victor Henning – founder of Fjorden, embarked on a mission to elevate smartphone photography by combining the convenience of iPhones with the precision of DSLR-style controls,” Frost Produkt writes.

Design and Development Process

Victor teamed up with Frost Produkt and we started an iterative design and development process. Extensive prototyping, involving cardboard models and 3D prints in combination with user testing was employed to refine the ergonomics of the Fjorden Grip. One of the key challenges was fitting the internal components and electronics within the slim, pocketable form factor of the grip.

Result

Fjorden lets you take better photos by turning your iPhone into a professional compact camera. It offers the same physical camera controls as a DSLR but is small enough to fit in your pocket. It clips into, and out of, compatible Fjorden iPhone cases in less than a second, so you can take it along to a new iPhone when you upgrade. Aesthetically, the Fjorden Grip has been inspired by the construction and craftsmanship of classic cameras such as Leica and Rollei. The clean, functional and ergonomic design is designed to work well with the iPhone, while retaining its own, timeless visual identity.

Accessories and packaging

As part of the project we developed a range of accessories including wrist straps, carrybags, iPhone cases for several models and a magnetic Magsafe adapter that can be used for all iPhone models after iPhone 12. We also developed the packaging system for all Fjorden products.

Fjorden was launced on Kickstarter July 2021 and received over 2000% funding.

Following the success of the Kickstarter campaign, Henning was able to launch Fjorden as a viable business. Then, last month, it was acquired by none other than Leica!

Congrats to Henning, and nice work by Frost Produkt.

Tactile Craftworks is a leather goods company founded by Sarah Heck and Anna Warren. The two have backgrounds in making theater props, but transitioned to leatherworking.

Both lovers of travel, they specialize in producing cartography-inspired leather goods. Among their offerings are these passport wallets:

Flasks:

For me, their showstoppers are these refillable journals, which take Moleskine inserts:

Heck and Warren formed their company in Milwaukee in 2014. By 2016, they began wholesaling, and today they have over 200 retail clients.

You can see more of their stuff here.

As a pragmatist this object shouldn’t appeal to me, but good gosh it does. This Round Tissue Box was designed by FDS (Form Design Studio). It loads from the side and is made out of iron.

“The cylindrical holder, which floats slightly above the desk, is made of 3.2mm thick iron, a design that contrasts with conventional lightweight tissue boxes. As the emphasis is on the appearance and texture of the product as an interior item rather than on convenience, thick iron and a finish that retains a natural texture are used.”

“Designed with a different mindset to the universal appeal that is the basis of product design, this is an exquisite product that has a visual appeal that can withstand being used as an interior accessory.”

I suppose it would come in handy, in the manner of concrete furniture, if you live in a windy environment. Or if, I don’t know, visitors are constantly stealing your tissue boxes.

These are in production by Japanese ironworks To-Tetsu and retail for ¥11,200 (USD $73).

In the 1970s and ’80s, handheld electronic games became a thing. This will be difficult for the current generation to understand, but each object contained only a single game; these were not consoles with interchangeable media. (Imagine buying a laptop that could only run one application.)

This entire category of objects was killed in 1989, when the Nintendo Game Boy came out; it was one object that could play multiple games.

Category killer

In the 1990s, Dutch designer Jaro Gielens started collecting those obsolete handheld electronic games. He now has more than 900 of them. In addition to presenting them in a book, Electronic Plastic, he’s left up his early-2000s-style website documenting his collection. It’s a treasure trove of obsolete forms, created by designers wringing everything they could out of injection molding:

It’s remarkable how many of them look like stud finders!

Plenty more to see here.

Here’s what we looked at this week:

Outside the box thinking: A one-legged camping table.

Nodo Inertia Wheels: An ergonomically superior interface design for camera operators.

Package design problem? Oshun’s electrolyte concentrate resembles boutique cosmetics.

From Italy, a robot dog with vacuum legs that sucks up cigarette butt litter.

Form follows fancy: Artist/modder AK’s deconstructed PC builds.

Case study: Disney Research designs an expressive, character-driven robot.

FiiO gets user interfaces both right and wrong.

These architectural interiors, photographed by Charles Brooks, are actually the insides of musical instruments.

From Switzerland, this LightSpray sneaker production method produces a shoe in just 3 minutes.

Rig Studio’s Benjamin Sofa has internal motors that allow you to adjust the seat depth.

Yea or Nay? This Salto hanging desk accessory.

Industrial design success story: Frost Produkt brought the Fjorden Grip from concept to product. The resultant company was recently acquired by Leica.

Cat claw kintsugi: Repairing cat-damaged furniture with embroidery.

Cartography-inspired leather goods by Tactile Craftworks.

This disappearing hanko seal is made using EDM.

This tissue box by Form Design Studio is made out of iron.

Industrial designer Andrew Smith’s ShooAway is a brilliant fly-repelling invention.

Obsolete forms: Designer Jaro Gielens’ massive collection of handheld electronic game designs from the 1970s and ’80s.

The Poynt Smart Terminal, by industrial design firm Bould.