It’s been an exciting two months of head-to-head competition but our Braun & Core77 Design in the Wild photo challenge is drawing to a close. VOTE TODAY for your favorite example of beauty in every day design from our four categories: EAT, PLAY, WORK and RELAX. The photograph with the most votes will receive an industry leading tablet! Our distinguished jury team of Core77 partner Stuart Constantine and Braun section head/manager for Product Design Duy Phong Vu will also select a Grand Prize Winner that will receive an industry leading notebook computer and tablet.
With a global representation of every day design from Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United States, we’ve been delighted by the incredible breadth of entries we received and learned a lot about designed objects from around the world.
And here are our eight finalists in alphabetical order. Vote for your favorite photograph today!
PLAY – 2,000 FILAMENTS
The Koosh ball has always been a favorite toy of mine. Colorful, soft, tossable, lively. It’s a delightfully simple concept: a ball composed of 2,000 natural rubber filaments.
Jennifer DiMase, United States
Jennifer DiMase wrote this bio while baking biscotti and rendering bacon. She is a multi-tasker. A designer. A researcher. An organizer. A list writer. She is driven by curiosity about how things come to be, inspired by good design, and passionate about people. She has self-published a collection of comic strips from college and a glossary of food for children. Jennifer studied cognitive psychology—memory, attention, and perception—in college and grad school, and pursues opportunities to create with others’ wellbeing in mind. The bacon…so good. Biscotti take a while.
EAT – CITRUS SQUEEZER
We didn’t have these when I grew up in the Northeast. When I moved to the South, Texas specifically, there is much more citrus (limes are 12/$1) and the need to extract the juice from citrus increases dramatically. Margaritas are an every day type of drink here, not something fancy for Saturdays. Lime and lemon juice are used in all types of cuisine, especially as an element Mexican dishes. That being said, when I moved here, I knew exactly what this item did the first time I saw it. I purchased mine for $3 or $4 almost 10 years ago, it still looks and performs as new. Heavy duty aluminum parts, nice colorful thick coating, no plastic parts anywhere, no branding anywhere. A simple tool, easily overlooked. It squeezes every last drop out of the citrus, quickly, easily, efficiently. No mess and no acid in the eyes either. Squeeze, juice pours out, open it up, the citrus half pops out to be easily discarded. Perfect. Genius.
Taylor Welden, United States
Taylor Welden is an experienced and skilled Industrial Designer currently searching for challenging Freelance and Full-time opportunities. Born and raised in Hershey, PA, educated at the Savannah College of Art and Design (BFA of Industrial Design), Taylor now resides in Austin, TX, working as a Full-time Freelance Industrial Designer for numerous clients all over the world.
EAT – CUTLERY
Cutlery of the armed forces of Germany.
Felix Stark, Germany
Felix Stark was born 1976 in Bonn, Germany. After his university entrance diploma he completed an apprenticeship as cabinet maker and studied at the Ecosign Academy for Design. He graduated in industrial design and completed a practical training in Hong Kong. Back in Germany again he opened his own industrial design office “formstark” and started working as a freelance instructor at several higher education institutions such as Ecosign Academy for Design and the Bochum University of Applied Sciences. He has won numerous prizes, including a prestigious RedDot award.
RELAX – I PUT A RECORD ON
We find ourselves busier than ever in the digital age, and although we may have the means to relax in our back pockets or our handbags, sometimes we find joy in the trails of the past. Playing a record on my old Sony player brings an inner calm—no longer a nomad, I sit back and relax to the sound and its purity.
Nick Hayes, New Zealand
Nick Hayes is a 22-year-old Bachelor of Architectural Studies (University of Auckland) graduate and is currently completing an Honours in Product Design (Auckland University of Technology). Hayes has a real passion for design and music and a growing enthusiasm and passion for photography.
WORK – JUST A PENCIL?
When choosing the object for this challenge, I could think of numerous things which to describe and which are interesting for me, but I felt that that was not enough. After writing down many pages notes and ideas, I realised that all this time I was holding the greatest invention of anything made by man, a pencil. Could you imagine that pencils were used by world famous scientists, artists, musicians to complete their magnificent works and give inspiration to all of us? Cheap and erasable pencils were used by astronauts instead of expensive ink pressurised pens. With pencils only Roald Dahl wrote all his books. With a pencil one can draw a line up to 56 km and still write with it if it is not sharpened. Thomas Edison and Van Gogh used for their creations only specially made pencils. Annually, 1 million pencils are used on the New York Stock Exchange. I am a designer and I have to draw a lot. I have new markers, gel ink pens and permanent fine liners to make my work clean and understandable. But nothing makes it look more creative and impressive than a simple pencil drawing does.It is thrilling to acknowldge how such a small and insignificant thing has affected life of human kind and has shaped the way the world likes today.
Arina Fjodorova, Latvia
Arina Fjodorova was born in Riga, Latvia in 1992 and traveled to Florence to study Industrial design in 2010. After sucessfully completing one year course in Florence Design Academy, Fjodorova enrolled to study Product Design in Brunel University, London. Always obsessed with drawing, illustrations and graphic design, currently, she is trying to establish a Photo/Graphic Design society for design students who are not confident in their photography, sketching and photomontage skills and want to improve their portfolio.
PLAY – LET’S PLAY A TUNE
This is the Floyd-Rose style floating bridge on my Guitar. I love to play surf music and the floating bridge makes it a snap. Sometimes adjustments can be tricky but it is worth it in the end. The colored balls are the strings, each size string has a different color to help prevent them from getting mixed up during restring operations.
Paul Bennett, United States
Paul Bennett is a Fire Protection Engineer living on a beautiful lake in South Carolina, USA. He has always been interested in design and the way things look, function, and interact with people and surroundings. He considers himself a minimalist with regards to design and believe less is more. Bennett’s philosophy on life is all about balance and includes the mental challenges of engineering problem-solving and the physical challenges of firefighting (formerly) and motorcycle riding.
RELAX – SURROUNDED BY LOVE
A Korean couple is enjoying their leisure time together, while being surrounded by thousands of padlocks at the N Seoul Tower, South Korea. The padlocks are not used for their original function, but symbolise the lovers promise that they will never separate. The “Locks of Love” are a clear example of a products symbolic performance; they show the value of symbolism in the relation between product, owner and society.
Kevin Smeeing, Netherlands
Kevin Smeeing recently graduated as Industrial Design in the Netherlands. His passion for design lies in creating experiences, in translating thoughts into things but in the same time he tries to be responsible and works on projects with meaning in different areas of design. To get a grip on what inspires him, Kevin uses photography as a tool. After a minor at Aalto University of Art and Design he travelled for design related projects to Hong Kong, China, Finland, South Korea and Brazil, carrying his camera with him. A selection of his photos can be found under INSPIRATION on his website.
WORK – SYSTEM VS CHAOS
We all have a system for the way we work. “Organization” is a very relative term; what might make total sense to you will look like complete chaos to the casual observer. Ultimately, you design the way you design.
Nour Malaeb, United States
Nour left his home country of Lebanon to explore the fascinating and foreign world of industrial design. He fell in love with the process of understanding people and providing them with tools and services to make their lives better, or simply more enjoyable. Since 2009, he has been working at RKS Design in southern California on projects such as high-performance audio equipment, design language for biotech lab equipment, and smartphones for the blind. Nour reads too much internet, eats too much Korean food and talks about design too much.
Design in the Wild is presented with the support of BraunPrize 2012. Established in 1968, the international BraunPrize competition is a triennial design competition aimed at promoting the work of young designers, highlighting the importance of industrial design and increasing the profile of innovative product ideas globally. This year’s theme, “Genius design for a better everyday,” emphasizes the importance of well-designed products that enhance the everyday lives of consumers around the world.
Visit the BraunPrize 2012.
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Think Recycling! Create packaging from the competition using a simple sticker.
Think Materials! Bottles made from brewing dregs encourage consumers to help plant more vegetables, offering an interesting lifecycle opportunity!
