Hasta La Ideas

There’s some great stuff coming in for Core77’s Powers of Ten video response challenge. One of the most interesting entries so far is Brian Morton’s concept for “Income Levels by Powers of 10” which breaks down people and organizations grouped by their yearly income level in ascending factors of 10.

The Community Challenge platform is collaborative and we encourage you to share your ideas early—story boards, sketches, rough comps—even if you’re not submitting we’re sure you have some good feedback, so please comment on the work of others and help evolve everyone’s ideas right up until the deadline.

If you’ve been distracted by end of year deadlines, shopping and holiday parties don’t sweat, there’s still time to get your submission in—not to mention a really good chance at scoring yourself one of the prizes packs from Herman Miller and Eames Office.

Enter Now!

(more…)

It’s got nothing to do with design, directly, but everything to do with inspiration: National Geographic’s Photography Contest 2010 has entries up for public voting, and the photos do not disappoint. Within the three categories of People, Places and Nature are astonishing shots of everything from thunderstorms in Montana to Himalayan monasteries to the long-exposure flight patterns of moths.

For a condensed version check out Boston.com’s faves, or look at the full galleries here. Shutterbugs still have time to enter–the contest ends in five days, and submitting an entry is just 15 bucks.

(more…)

We’ve all been following The Selby for quite some time, and we were excited to see the results of the recent “The Selby is in Your Place” contest, a collaboration held by photographer Todd Selby and CB2. Chosen from numerous submitted photos of ‘the most inspired living space,’ Eileen Peters’ Venice Surf Shack took home the grand prize of $10,000 in CB2 goods and a private photo shoot with Todd. Highlights of the detailed shoot include surfboard-salvaged shoe racks, a cactus-embellished outdoor shower, denim shorts embroidery, and the making of a mushroom-goat-cheese pizza.

Some of the contest’s honorable mentions are definitely worth a brief perusal as well: the beautiful brick backdrop of Dab Ito’s Old Brand New, as well as the eclectic chair collection in Gregoire Abrial’s Brooklyn Loft. A special nod goes to the fabulous full-bleed-looking chalkboard in Margaret Robbs’ Lofty Urban Castle.

More photos can be found at The Selby.

(more…)

Admittedly they’re not calling it that, and are instead using the boring “Taxi of Tomorrow.” But yes, NYC government officials have revealed photos of the three finalists in a competition to redesign the currently ever-evolving New York Taxi. Nissan, Ford, and a Turkish manufacturer named Karsan are behind the boxlike designs.

All three display a rather boring homogeneity, but it looks like the minivan form factor is a sure thing. I’d say the sliding doors of a minivan are a better design for the city, having seen more than one bicyclist crash into a suddenly-flung-open taxi door, and subsequently restore his honor by beating the living shit out of the door-flinger. Other than that details are pretty light. Each one boasts of roomier interiors, but that’s not hard to pull off when the incumbent is a Crown Vic, which made you feel like you were sitting in the back of a police car (because, well, you were).

The winner should be chosen by next year, and will be rewarded with a billion-dollar contract to supply all of Gotham’s hacks. We’re talking 13,000 vehicles over ten years, starting in 2014. It’d be nice to see a promotional commercial where Bobby De Niro drives the new cab to the Village and shoots up a whorehouse, but I’m guessing that’s not gonna happen.

Hit the jump to see the finalists (Ford, Nissan, and Karsan, in order).

(more…)

Core77 is proud to announce “Sustainable Refrainables,” our second Design Arena Community Challenge in association with the San Francisco chapter of AIGA to support their fourth biennial Compostmodern conference.

“Sustainable Refrainables” is a poster design competition celebrating words of persuasion. We’re inviting designers to share those mantric phrases they find most powerful in communicating positive action. Maybe the phrase is something as simple as “I never use the word ‘sustainability.'” or “The first rule is listen. The second rule is to ignore what you heard and do it better.” or “There is no silver bullet, just silver buckshot.”

Whatever your magic phrase, design it up in poster form, upload it to the competition site, and comment on your favorites. We’re looking for your most graphic, persuasive quotables!

There’s five prizes to be won:
Jury Prize Winner
$500 and a copy of Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 Master Collection.

Popular Vote Winner
$500 and a copy of Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 Master Collection.

Three Runners Up
Each receive a copy of Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 Master Collection.

All five entries will be printed and displayed in transit shelters for one week prior and during San Francisco Design Week, June 13-19, 2011. Each winner will also receive a printed copy of their poster design.

Jury:
Scott Thomas, Obama Campaign
Robynne Raye, Modern Dog Design Co.
Allan Chochinov, Core77
Lea Hickman, Adobe
Valerie Casey, Designers Accord
Steve Heller, School of Visual Arts

Schedule:
Competition platform open for entries: November 1, 2010
Competition Closed: January 2, 2011
Voting Closed: January 7, 2011
Winners Announced: At Compostmodern Conference, January 22, 2011

We are grateful to Adobe for making this competition possible and to Clear Channel for providing transit shelter space for this competition.

Enter Now!

(more…)