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Electrolux Design Lab’s 10th Anniversary challenge to international design students is tied to Electrolux professional knowledge and exprience i..

Competition: we’ve teamed up with BIS Publishers to give away five copies of Sketching, the Basics by Koos Eissen and Roselien Steur.

The 184-page hardback book explains basic sketching techniques and the decisions to be made in detail with step-by-step examples.

It’s intended as a prequel to Eissen and Steur’s earlier book Sketching and starts right from the beginning with a blank sheet of paper or screen.

To enter this competition email your name, age, gender, occupation, and delivery address and telephone number to competitions@dezeen.com with “Sketching the Basics” in the subject line. We won’t pass your information on to anyone else; we just want to know a little about our readers.

Read our privacy policy here.

Competition closes 20 December 2011. Five winners will be selected at random and notified by email. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of our Dezeenmail newsletter and at the bottom of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.

Subscribe to our newsletter, get our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter for details of future competitions.

Here are some more details from BIS Publishers:

Sketching, The Basics

This is the long awaited successor to the international besteller Sketching by Koos Eissen and Roselien Steur. Sketching sold over 70.000 copies to date and has many fans, among whom design guru Colani who dubbed it: “The best sketching book I have ever seen.”

The new book explains the basic sketching techniques and decisions more in depth and provides much more step-by-step example drawings, which makes it even more suitable for students and professionals who want to become better sketchers.

Sketching The Basics can be seen as the prequel to Sketching as it is more targeted at the novice designer. The Basics explains the essential techniques and effects more in detail, taking the reader by the hand and guiding him step by step through all the various aspects of drawing that novice designers come up against.

Sketching the Basics starts with the white sheet of paper or the empty screen and explains the rudiments of learning to draw both clearly and comprehensively, using step by step illustrations, examples and strategies. You will learn to use and master the different techniques and also how to apply sketches in the design process.

The authors believe in active observation and participation by the student. During the drawing process there are many moments when choices alter the outcome. Being aware of those moments and the variety of choices and opportunities makes your attitude more flexible and less rigid. Sketching the Basics helps you to sketch with an open mind. And an open mind is key to a good design process.

Koos Eissen and Roselien Steur teach drawing techniques. Eissen is associate professor at Delft University of Technology, where he is responsible for the freehand and digital drawing classes at the Faculty of Industrial Design. Steur is an experienced drawing lecturer at university and art academy level who now specialises in design sketching workshops.

ISBN: 978-90-6369-253-7
Author: Koos Eissen and Roselien Steur
Design: Booreiland
Format: hardcover
Dimensions: 27 x 21 cm
Pages: 184

Buy this book and others at the Dezeenbooks store
(in association with amazon.co.uk)

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Competition: we’ve got together with design brand Republic of Fritz Hansen to give readers the chance to win a Kaiser Idell Luxus lamp worth £600.

Now celebrating its 80th birthday, the lamp was originally designed in 1931 by silversmith Christian Dell and Republic of Fritz Hansen acquired the license to produce it last year. The Kaiser Idell Luxus comes as a table, floor, wall or pendant lamp in black, ivory, white, red and green.

We have one table lamp in ruby red to give away. To enter this competition email your name, age, gender, occupation, and delivery address and telephone number to competitions@dezeen.com with “Kaiser Idell Luxus” in the subject line. We won’t pass your information on to anyone else; we just want to know a little about our readers. Read our privacy policy here.

Competition closes 13 December 2011. The winner will be selected at random and notified by email. The winner’s name will be published in a future edition of our Dezeenmail newsletter and at the bottom of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.

Subscribe to our newsletter, get our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter for details of future competitions.

Here are some more details from Republic of Fritz Hansen:

Celebrating 80 years of design: KAISER idell Luxus by Republic of Fritz Hansen to be won

Recognised as one of the most famous lighting designs that evolved from the Bauhaus era, the KASIER idell is the perfect gift to light up your Christmas.

Created by the German silversmith Christian Dell in 1931, the KAISER idell light collection is available as a table lamp, floor lamp, wall lamp and pendant in the original colours; black, ivory, white, ruby red and dark green.

Distinguished by its characteristic dome lampshade, embossed with the trademark words ‘ORIGINAL KAISER idell’, the iconic design creates a special sculptural effect whilst the hand-painted shade and base beautifully reflect the light, creating Danish ‘Hygge’ (meaning cosy and relaxing) during the dark winter months.

The KAISER idell series is today manufactured by Fritz Hansen who acquired the designed rights in 2010. The timeless design virtues of the KAISER idell series perfectly match Fritz Hansen’s design profile. As with Poul Kjærholm and Arne Jacobsen’s furniture designs, the lamps are design icons where aesthetics and functionality unite wonderfully to exude robust elegance and Bauhaus quality.

The designer behind the classic design icon Christian Dell (1893-1974), is recognised as one of the leading characters behind the innovative and pioneering designs that appeared in the early thirties. Trained as a silversmith at the “Sächsische Kunstgewerbeschule” (School of Arts and Crafts) in Hanau, Germany, Dell pursued his passion for craftsmanship and design working as a supervisor at the “Metallwerkstatt Bauhaus Weimar” (Weimar Bauhaus Metal Workshop) before being promoted as principal of the Metal Workshop at the “Frankfurter Kunstschule” (Frankfurt School of Arts) in 1926.

Dell’s influence was trend-setting and visible in many designs over the decades and he was particularly well known for his lamp designs. The KAISER idell series originally produced by the German lighting company Gebr. Kaiser & Co. was and still is a timeless design.

The story telling and iconic status of the KAISER idell lamp design makes it the perfect Christmas gift that will light up your Christmas in style. The KAISER idell is available to purchase from Fritz Hansen’s Republic Stores and authorised Fritz Hansen dealers in Europe.

Subscribe to Republic of Fritz Hansen’s newsletter and also follow them on Twitter and Facebook for more news.

Competition: we’ve teamed up with bi-monthly publication Architectural Design to give away five copies of their latest issue, Experimental Green Strategies.

The book highlights the work of 14 architecture firms from around the world that are researching experimental sustainability and implementing their findings into built projects.

Featured studios include Atelier Ten, Aedas, Biomimicry Guild, Foster + Partners, 3XN/GXN, Hoberman Associates, Nikken Sekkei, Perkins and Will, Rau and more.

AD editor Terri Peters also invites people to attend a launch party for the book being held this evening in Copenhagen – click here for more details.

To enter this competition email your name, age, gender, occupation, delivery address and telephone number to competitions@dezeen.com with “Experimental Green Strategies” in the subject line. We won’t pass your information on to anyone else; we just want to know a little about our readers. Read our privacy policy here.

Competition closes 6 December 2011. Five winners will be selected at random and notified by email. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of our Dezeenmail newsletter and at the bottom of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.

Subscribe to our newsletter, get our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter for details of future competitions.

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Dezeen Wire: a system that extracts moisture from air like a desert-dwelling beetle has won this year’s James Dyson Award for students working on innovative engineering solutions.

Edward Linacre from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne chose to tackle the problem of providing water to crops in arid regions following droughts that affected Australia earlier this year.

Airdrop pumps air through underground pipes, lowering the temperature to the condensation point and the resulting water is moved around to nourish the roots of the plants.

The James Dyson Award is an international student competition organised by the James Dyson Foundation with a simple brief: “Design something that solves a problem.” Linacre receives a £10,000 prize that he says he will use to develop the concept and his university department also receives £10,000.

See our previous story on the UK winner Kwick Screen by Michael Korn, which was also announced as a runner up for the overall award.

Here are some more details from the award organisers:

James Dyson Award winner 2011: Airdrop overcomes drought, with inspiration from a beetle.

Engineering, not magic: the 2011 winner of the James Dyson Award extracts water from thin air. Airdrop is a low cost, self powered, and easy to install solution to the problems of growing crops in arid regions.

Inspired by Australia’s worst drought in a century, Edward Linacre from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, turned to nature to find ways of capturing moisture from air. Edward studied the Namib beetle, an ingenious species which lives in one of the driest places on earth. With half an inch of rain per year, the beetle can only survive by consuming the dew it collects on the hydrophilic skin of its back in the early mornings.

Airdrop borrows this concept, working on the principle that even the driest air contains water molecules which can be extracted by lowering the air’s temperature to the point of condensation. It pumps air through a network of underground pipes, to cool it to the point at which the water condenses. Delivering water directly to the roots of plants.

James Dyson said, “Biomimicry is a powerful weapon in an engineer’s armoury.  Airdrop shows how simple, natural principles like the condensation of water, can be applied to good effect through skilled design and robust engineering. Young designers and engineers like Edward will develop the simple, effective technology of the future – they will tackle the world’s biggest problems and improve lives in the process.”

Edward’s research suggests that 11.5 millilitres of water can be harvested from every cubic meter of air in the driest of deserts. Further iterations of his design will increase the yield of Airdrop.  He said, “winning the award’s £10,000 prize will mean I can develop and test the Airdrop system.  It has the potential to help farmers around the world and I’m up for the challenge of rolling it out”. A further £10,000 has also be awarded to Edward’s university department to support other young engineers keen to follow in his footsteps.

Runners Up:

Kwick Screen (UK)

A portable, retractable room divider developed by Michael Korn, a student at the Royal College of Art in London. The KwickScreen allows healthcare professionals to make the best use of available space; giving maximum privacy, dignity and protection to patients.   Michael explored the use bistable materials such as slap on bracelets and tape measures, and like Edward drew inspiration from concepts found in nature, including the Venus fly trap and a frog’s tongue.

Blindspot (Singapore)

An aide for the visually handicapped, helping them travel around unfamiliar surroundings, developed by Se Lui Chew from the National University of Singapore. Blindspot informs the user of nearby friends using information from geographical-based social apps such as Foursquare, and communicates with them via a Bluetooth earpiece connected to the cane. The cane guides the user to their friend using a horizontally rolling ball on the cane handle which points in the direction they should walk.

Highly Commended:

Amo Arm (Canada)

Michal Prywata from Ryerson University, Canada, developed Amo Arm to overcome the invasive muscle re-innervation surgery required for amputees. It can be strapped on and is controlled using brain signals, avoiding major surgery and the long rehabilitation period after.

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