Hasta La Ideas

Secret mission-worthy gadgets to aid travel-bound photographers and filmmakers

Whether traveling the world, making documentaries or just pretending you’re Jason Bourne, we put together a few special-ops tools to enhance any photographer or filmmaker’s on-the-go lifestyle and resulting images.

POV.HD

Mounted to a helmet or vest, POV cameras offer an exciting—if not slightly frightening—first-person perspective. For skiing down a mountain or hunting down targets, this type of camera keeps you hands-free and makes for astonishing imagery. Marquette, MI-based developer V.I.O. recently released POV.HD, a high-def model that means you can play back your latest mission on a massive flat screen TV at full resolution, if that’s your thing.

Features on the new camera that make it easier to shoot include a convenient wireless remote for controlling start/stop as well as tagging clips so you can watch favorite moments over again individually and a unique looping option for continuous recording (which also allows for tagging of clips when something happens to only save the last few minutes and thus conserving card memory). A great device for documentary filmmakers, pre-order the POV.HD from V.I.O. for $600.

SeV Vest

With the host of film production applications geared for the iPad, having one on set has become a key component of many shoots. Out of Sun Valley, ID, the travel label SeV created a collection of vest and jackets for storing iPads and other gadgets when they’re not in use. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is both a fan and SeV board adviser, offering input on features including a Weight Management System, which evenly balances the weight of items stored in its plethora of pockets, and a patented Personal Area Network, which lets you run your earbud cables through a hidden channel in the fabric. The SeV collection spans $20-450 and sells online.

Maglite XL100

The Maglite XL100 packs a mighty punch in a small device. Not only can it emit an SOS signal if you find yourself deserted from your crew on a late-night shoot, but it also has a built-in motion sensor that turns the light on in case you need to grab it in a hurry. Also ideal for when you’re rooting through your bag to find that extra SD card, with a simple twist the torch will remain off in a locked position. With a light range of about 440 feet into the distance, the Maglite XL100 is an essential expedition item and sells online or from most hardware stores for $40.

Zaggsparq 2.0

An extended shoot may keep you from an outlet for a few days, so keep all your gear charged with Zaggsparq. Fitted with two USB ports, the Zaggsparq will give you four full charges on most items like iPhones or GPS devices before it needs to be plugged in again. Pick it up online for $100.

IsatPhone Pro

Because you never know where your next assignment will lead you, a phone with full coverage keeps you connected in the most remote areas. A sensibly-sized satellite phone, Inmarsat’s newest addition—the IsatPhone Pro—works with their extensive global network and offers new features like text messaging, email and GPS information. The phone sells for $700, check the Inmarsat site for a convenient service provider.

Retrospective 30 Bag

With a bag full of expensive lenses and gear, keeping contents on the DL could save you both money and trouble when traveling. For photojournalists or camera nerds, Think Tank Photo offers a quality bag in a subtle gray or black colorway. The Retrospective 30 style can carry up to two professional size DSLRs and three to six lenses. Combined with their “No Rhetoric” warranty, the Think Tank messenger is an attractive way to transport all of your photo paraphernalia. It sells online for $180, where you can also check out smaller models.

Sruli Recht and Ghostly collaborate on a multi-use cable organizer

Reykjavik-based leather designer and CH mainstay Sruli Recht has had a great 2010 and is set to have an even more exciting 2011. Preparing to launch his first menswear collection at Paris Fashion week next January has been his recent focus, but he also somehow found time to repurpose waste materials left over from a collaboration with record label Ghostly earlier this year.

Taking remnants of the ethically-sourced Icelandic horse leather used in their notebook project, Recht cleverly created simple ties that function as either a multi-purpose keychain or cable organizer.

The package of three ties comes in Ghostly battle green and each is heat-branded on the underside. They ship in a limited-edition fold-out box (perfect for gift giving) and sell exclusively through the Ghostly Web Store for $25.

Cyprien Côté loved people, loved nature, and everything in between. “Especially everything in between” he would say. He was an explorer, an industrial designer, and more than anything else a friend to the natural world. As a designer he was known for his strange antics with clients. Routinely he’d lose fifty pounds for the first meeting, get the brief, only to show up four months later buff with fifty pounds of new muscle. In the early 60’s, when he got his start, he convinced more than one client that doing macaroni art was a critical part of the design process. He was from the town of Tadoussac in Quebec and from visits to his Aunt in Terrebonne he quickly gained an appreciation for plants and beasts early in his life. His first design/invention took 10 years to produce- the whalesong radio (CHANT DE BALEINES) – a radio that could tune in to the bellows of whales from around the world.

The radio was a collaboration with several colleges from all over the world. Special listening pods had to be sent throughout the world’s oceans to pick up the sounds. Sadly, only one of the listening pods still exists today and if you’re lucky enough to have one of the radios, you’ll only be able to hear humpbacks a couple days out of the year.
After a brief hiatus, Cyprien returned to the design world with his now famous CowCows (VACHEMENT VACHE ). Completely “fed up” with seeing cows unsuccessfully wipe flies from their eyes, he came up with an ear extender that could be used by the cow to fully remove any pest that was bothering them. They were made out of a super-soft material and cost about fifty cents (Canadian) per set.

CowCows were a huge success in Sweden and in the Midwestern USA. Although the cows couldn’t buy the extenders themselves, they could speak through their milk production. If one farmer got his cows the extenders, sooner or later his neighbor’s cows would stop producing milk in protest until they also had them.

In 1968 Côté took a trip to Italy that would change his life forever. One morning he was outside exercising when a small earthquake took place. He noticed a beetle near his feet that left his den while the earthquake was progressing. Intrigued by this Côté took the beetle back to his lab. As it turns out, this insect- the LoDuca Beetle- can sense earth tremors and always comes out to the light when he senses anything. Côté immediately took over a thousand of the Beetles back to Quebec and designed his earthquake warning system, INSECTES TREMOLOITANTS. The device was simple- one dark room, one light room, one tunnel. If someone would ever see the beetle, they would know that an earthquake would be on the way. Insectes Tremoloitants has saved over 800 lives and counting.

Côté died young at age 35 in a diving accident. In 1974, four years after his death, his brother Cypriaque realized and released one of Cyprien’s early sketches- a sea shell empowered white-noise generator. All proceeds went to an undisclosed charity.

Does Côté’s legacy live on? A quick google search will tell you that it doesn’t, but certainly this was a man that deserves to be remembered. There are huge gaps in his career history and any evidence of his existence is welcomed.
As Côt&eacute would say: “Fête fort pour les bêtes, fête fort pour toé.”

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Original cow image by Sunfox

Design Fancy is a series of short stories about fictional designers who make fictional things. The stories (and the objects) are by Matt Brown. Special thanks to Pierre-Alexandre Poirier and Jerry O’Leary.

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