Industrial design students and pros alike will appreciate Martin Esteva’s form studies: Like his endlessly imaginative kindred spirit George Yoo, Esteva conjures compellingly three-dimensional abstractions from pixels, flexing his software prowess in generating science-fiction-y yet organic forms.
However, Esteva actually brings the renderings to life, going so far as to actually make 3D models of the abstract forms.
Amid the veritable downpour of CES coverage this week, we were interested to see a gadget that is tentatively set to launch in 2050. Quentin’s Debaene‘s hypothetical “AIRBLOW 2050” umbrella concept is worthy of James Dyson himself… at least to the extent that the French design student hopes his design will be deemed so: it looks like he’s entered it into the British innovator’s eponymous annual awards program.
Once Debaene had identified the fabric portion of the umbrella as the root of all of its problems, the solution was clear as day: to get rid of the bulky, easily inverted membrane entirely. Instead, a vacuum draws air through the telescoping shaft to deflect raindrops around a small radius of the device, creating an invisible overhead barrier to the elements. (Besides describing what it does, its somewhat dubious name seems to be a play on “Airblade.”)
Kevin Boulton is a Northampton, UK-based 3D Modeler and Animator who is a few years out from Uni, pursuing independent projects under the moniker Studio Scarlet. Frankly, he can call himself whatever he wants—the kid’s got chops.
According to the description for an older motorcycle project (above): “While learning Maya on the 30 day trial I built this bike to see what I could do.”
Image rotated to fit
It looks like he was duly inspired by last year’s summer olympics: Boulton mentions the games in the description for the Custom Bow, and he’s also dreamt up a slick TT/Tri bicycle concept.
Come New Year’s Eve the champagne will start flowing, and Milan-based Marco Dragotta’s designed a better alternative to the silver ice bucket that turns bottles into a sopping mess.
Dragotta’s Galaxy champagne bucket is “designed to glorify the bottles, keeping them in the ideal position to [best display] the labels…”
…but there are also ergonomic/functional improvements over a bucket: The design replaces ice cubes with ice packs, which are inserted inside the ABS housing to keep the bottles cool (and absent melting ice, dry). The entire thing spins on a circular bearing in the base, letting your guests pick their poison.
Besides its sustainability, these days bamboo is often utilized for its physical properties of rigidity, durability and relative lightness. But Taiwan-based industrial designer Kai-Chi Yao’s Extension lamp exploits a more overlooked property of bamboo: Its flexibility.
While going for her Masters Degree in Industrial Design at Shih Chien University, Yao’s Craft Design/Lighting Design course allowed her to experiment with the properties of bamboo in an exploratory way. By visiting traditional bamboo craftspeople and studying the range of effects they were able to achieve with the material—for example, slicing it into flexible strips for weaving—Yao struck upon the idea of regional slicing, allowing the material to go from rigid to flexible and back to rigid along the length of a single piece.
Another guy who’s produced a Turner’s Cube is Jake Horsey, a Coroflotter and metal designer-fabricator based in Sunderland, Massachusetts. Horsey can blend CNC with manual milling skills, as in this mariner’s astrolabe (done in collaboration with Ben Westbrook), where the dial was done via CNC and the indicator was manually milled.
Horsey’s the guy you go to if you want a bad-ass custom headbadge for your line of bicycles, like NFG Cycles did:
It is always empowering to see projects overcome the limitations of the human body. It’s one of the reasons why we love super heroes, or watching people skydive from outerspace. In a similar fashion, perhaps more entertaining is Daniel Love’s mannequin figurine products. Just as a concept rendering now, these fully articulated, gold plated figures are human size scaled lamps.
Imagine the classic movable mannequin on a whole new form and style. The classical lamp has evolved much over the past several years. As much as it has evolved very few lamps let your imagination run wild. Every joint is fully articulated and at the users control. With so much control of the form what will ensue? The results may be controversial, provoking or elegant. Finished in gold plating for a touch of exquisiteness.
The provocative leg lamp from A Christmas Story has grown up and now is a golden vixen. As Daniel mentions in the product description, the positioning of the figure becomes a statement. For the evening’s dinner party a sexy or sensible position for the lamp may be the newlyweds dilemma for the night.
Industrial Designers always seem to be tackling the issue of prosthetic limbs, there is good reason to. It is estimated that in the United States, there are approximately 1.7 million people living with limb loss. The difficulty in replicating the functions of the human arm and hand lay in the complex machinery required. Kaylene Kau, a recent graduate of the University of Washington for Industrial Design, came up with this concept. Unlike conventional concepts, this one is essentially a tentacle-like arm that allows for dexterity and grip.
The radical approach allows for less motors and machinery to occupy the space within the arm. This translates to less parts, cheaper to produce and easier to maintain. The tentacle arm approach allows someone to grip multiple objects just like a real hand would. However, I am skeptical about how finer, more tactile operations such as using a pencil or picking up a small object could happen.
The solution to control the arm unit is simplified here but with further refinement such a concept could work. It is great to see that there are design solutions that can extend so far from conventional approaches. The organic form, not human, is a beautiful contrast to the Darth Vader like arms that are on the market already.
It’s been a minute since we saw the last badass compressed air-powered motorcycle, so seeing as digital designer / 3D modeler Pierrick Huart finally got around to uploading the Saline Airstream to his Coroflot portfolio this past September, it’s worth revisiting even a year and a half after its debut.
Back in March 2011, Technologic Vehicles reported that Huart was a member of one of seven teams of students from the International School of Design (ISD) in Valciennes, France, who submitted projects to a speedy brief from “Les Triplettes de Bonneville.” (As such, we’d be remiss not to credit fellow team members Vincent Montreuil, Julien Clément, Thomas Duhamel and Benedict Ponton.) Described as “crazy French DIYers,” the triplets selected the Saline Airstream design, when features an Alu-Magnesium chassis by Daniel Heurton and weighs in at only 102kg (224 lbs).
Meanwhile, Wes Siler of Hell for Leather explains the technology behind the engine far better than I could ever hope to:
Pneumatic engines using compressed air as their power source aren’t new. If you’ve used an impact wrench or other pneumatic workshop tool, then you’ve used a compressed air engine. The technology enjoys particular interest in France, where Victor Tatin conceived an airplane powered by it all the way back in 1879. That’s where Les Triplettes des Bonneville, the team that will run the Airstream and the makers of its engine come from.
The company making the engine is MDI, which is pushing the technology in low-speed, urban vehicles. Like electricity, compressed air is zero emissions (well, technically it’s emitting air…), but unlike electricity, fill ups don’t take hours. You can fill a compressed air tank from a compressor or storage unit in the same time it takes to fill up with gasoline. The downside is that power output and therefore performance are so far somewhat limited, something Les Triplettes are trying to address.
The function of a pneumatic piston engine of the kind employed here is incredibly simple. Air is stored in the Airstream’s three tanks at 3,626psi and fed into the engine at 363psi, where it expands, pushing the piston down. That pistons’s return path exhausts the air through a valve, just like in your gasoline-powered motorcycle.
The Natural History Museum really does come alive, and not just at night: one of New York’s most well-known museums is home to live and stuffed animals alike. After admiring the massive mammoths, you begin to notice the vivariums. The word itself is defined as a semi-natural space designed for specific flora and fauna for viewing and study. Maximizing the efficiency of a vivarium is just as important in the design of a window display. Understanding the relationship between animal and the viewer, designer Roy Lorieo shows his design and fabrication process.
Living space for Tree Frogs in New York’s best known Upper West Side museum
With a diverse education, studying architecture at Yale and design at Pratt, it only seems natural for Roy Lorieo to pursue such a project. The vivarium is designed for Tree Frogs in the Natural History Museum. As an exhibition designer, Roy has also worked on a Traveling Dinosaur Exhibit as seen here on his Coroflot portfolio.
Blue foam construction shows more dynamic living space that will improve life longevity for the Tree Frogs
The previous vivarium suffered many design flaws that hindered the living habits of the frogs, as well making upkeep by the caretakers difficult. Roy addressed the flaws and sought out a solution.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
