Hasta La Ideas

The window of London department store Selfridges has been dressed with a selection of new inventions by British designer Dominic Wilcox, including a reverse listening device and binoculars for viewing the future (+ slideshow).

Dominic Wilcox chose ideas from his Variations on Normal collection of absurd but logical inventions for the window display, which is part of Selfridges’ Festival of Imagination.

“The theme I was working to was extremely broad, simply ‘Imagination’,” Wilcox told Dezeen. “I started adding ideas into my sketchbook one at a time and eventually filled a few pages with a rough outline of thoughts. Once I started selecting materials and making the ideas into real objects they naturally changed and developed.”

His handmade sparkling beard is made from 2000 crystals and a Wedgwood cup and saucer has been modified to include a fan for cooling a piping hot brew.

An umbrella with inbuilt flowers pots is designed so the user can water their plants and stay dry at the same time. The Reverse Listening Device – shown in the short movie above – allows the wearer to listen to sounds on their left side in their right ear and vice versa. “It was interesting to use the device and find out that it actually worked well,” said Wilcox.

He created a pair of binoculars through which the user could view the future and past, simply by inputting their chosen date and looking through the eyepieces.

An alarm clock with a brass bugle attached to the side is powered by mini compressor to create a noise loud enough to ensure you wake up.

Metal objects are given a punk makeover by covering them in spikes include a faucet, a teapot and a hip flask.

Wilcox proposes attaching small aeroplane wings to the sides of London’s black cabs to alleviate the city’s traffic congestion.

A suitcase with legs so it can walk on its own instead of being dragged along and toothbrushes with maracas on the bottom to make cleaning teeth more musical also feature in the display.

The items are suspended in the window beside bubbles of text to explain their functions.

Wilcox’s No Place Like Home GPS shoes are on display in Selfridges as part of the Imagine Shop curated by Dezeen, which also features an augmented reality watch store and giant yacht – watch our movie about the pop-up here.

Wilcox will give a talk about his creations and other work in the OMA-designed Imaginarium in Selfridges’ basement, at 12:30pm on 7 February.

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displayed in Selfridges’ window appeared first on Dezeen.

London designer Dominic Wilcox shares his thoughts on 3D printing and presents some of his “fun, crazy” projects including GPS shoes, a combined coffin and desk and a reserve bungee jump in this movie we filmed at 100% Design. “We shouldn’t be so scared of putting out ridiculous thoughts,” he says.

“I think we’re all very tight and worried about what people think,” Wilcox explains. “But actually fun, crazy ideas – maybe something else comes out of them.”

Above: photos taken during the recording of Sounds of East London

Wilcox introduces the first of five images he chose for the talk, which shows pictures taken while creating his Sounds of Making in East London record; an alternative east London Olympic souvenir. ”We have a huge amount of creative makers,” he says. “What I decided to do was to celebrate that fact and so I visited 21 historical, skillful, creative makers and simply recorded the sound of them making, of them working.”

The next image is a montage of his races against a 3D printer earlier this year, when he beat the machine on two occasions. “The ironic thing about rapid prototyping is how slow it is,” he comments. He’s also sceptical about the usefulness of 3D printers: “I think if the quality goes up and the price comes down then a lot of people will get them,” he predicts, but asks ”do we really want people at home printing off a load of rubbish?”

Above: racing a 3D printer during Salone de Mobile 2012 in Milan

Wilcox then explains some of his illustrations from the Variations on Normal series, including a family poncho, shoes for walking up hills and a reverse bungee jump. “In my sketchbooks I’ve got lot of inventions, or just ideas of things,” he says. ”It’s just an alternative way of thinking.”

Above: invention illustrations

Another of those ideas is his No Place Like Home GPS shoes that were inspired by Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. ”When she clicks her heels together she gets transported back to Kansas and I thought, ‘is it possible to make that real in some way?’” he says.

Above: No Place Like Home GPS shoes

Dezeen Live was a series of discussions between Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and a number of designers and critics that took place as part of the talks programme at design exhibition 100% Design during this year’s London Design Festival.

Each of the four one-hour shows, recorded live in front of an audience, included three interviews plus music from Dezeen Music Project featuring a new act each day. Over the next few weeks we’ll be posting all the movies we filmed during the talks and you can watch all the movies we’ve featured so far here.

The music featured in the movie is a track called My Son is a Fish Finger by Reset Robot. Listen to more of their songs on Dezeen Music Project.

See all our stories about Dominic Wilcox »
See all our stories about Dezeen Live »
See all our stories about London Design Festival 2012 »

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printing rubbish?” – Dominic Wilcox appeared first on Dezeen.

London Design Festival: we’ve recorded each of the Seven Designers for Seven Dials explaining their aerial installations curated by Dezeen and compiled them on an interactive map of the area. Click on the icons in the image above to explore pictures and audio for each project.

Structures by young designers Faye Toogood, Vic Lee, Paul Cocksedge, Philippe Malouin, Aberrant Architecture, Gitta Gschwendtner and Dominic Wilcox are installed above the streets of the Seven Dials area of Covent Garden, London.

There are little exhibits on each one at our pop-up shop Dezeen Super Store at 38 Monmouth Street, where you can still get 10% off any Dezeen Super Store purchase (excluding sale stock and Jambox) and enter our competition to win a designer watch worth £150 by downloading this flyer and presenting it at the shop.

Dezeen has also put together a free map to chart all the events at this year’s London Design Festival. Explore the large map here.

The Seven Designers for Seven Dials installations will be in place until 5 October and Dezeen Super Store is open until 30 September.

See all our stories about the London Design Festival here.

Above: 7 x 7 by Faye Toogood – hanging high above the heads of passers-by on Monmouth Street, Faye Toogood’s installation is a series of 49 outsized workers’ overcoats, representing the different trades within Seven Dials that have shaped the area over the years.

Above: Aerial Escape by Gitta Gschwendtner – German-born designer Gitta Gschwendtner has also taken inspiration from the area’s slum history, when each of the seven apexes facing the Seven Dials monument housed pubs linked by underground escape tunnels. In Gschwendtner’s installation, seven interconnected ladders link two windows either side of Earlham Street to seemingly provide an escape route across the road and beyond.

Above: The Birds of Seven Dials by Dominic Wilcox – London designer Dominic Wilcox has created an arch across Neal Street made out of empty bird cages, symbolising Charles Dickens’s description of Seven Dials as a place full of bird shops. Each cage is left open to symbolise the memory of the bird shops and birds long departed from the street.

Above: Catchpenny Quackery by Aberrant Architecture – Aberrant Architecture’s installation consists of 18 large metallic coins hanging above the street. Each coin features a unique symbol that advertises one of the bogus products and services that used to be offered by quack doctors in the Seven Dials area in years gone by.

Above: Bunting by Philippe Malouin – Philippe Malouin has erected a giant installation of bunting made from transparent PVC to celebrate and highlight the Seven Dials area and its landmarks. Blown by the wind, the sixty bunting lines point the way to the Seven Dials monument.

Above: Illustrations by Vic Lee – London-based illustrator Vic Lee has created a series of flags that draw on the shady history of the Seven Dials area. The illustrations incorporate the old street names during the 17th and 18th centuries, a time when Seven Dials was a slum famous for its gin shops.

Above: Dial by Paul Cocksedge – Paul Cocksedge has suspended a mysterious interactive installation called Dial, consisting simply of a large floating telephone number suspended between two buildings. Only those curious members of the public tempted to call the number will discover its secret.

Photographs are by Mark Cocksedge.

Dezeen’s London Design Festival map

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The map above is taken from Dezeen’s guide to the London Design Festival, which lists all the events going on across the city this week. We’ll be updating it over the coming days with extra information on our highlights so keep checking back. Explore the larger version of this map here.

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audio guide appeared first on Dezeen.

In case you missed it yesterday, designer Dominic Wilcox has created an animation that links together some of his illustrations of absurd inventions, including a reverse bungee jump (above).

The animation also features slides for falling leaves (above) and a dock that matches the outline of a ferry (below). It was created to coincide with the launch of his new book, Variations on Normal.

We are running a competition to win one of five copies of the book – find out how to enter here.

Wilcox has a solo exhibition running from 6 to 26 September at the KK Outlet in east London, where the book is shown for the first time.

A selection of his illustrations are available to buy at Dezeen Super Store, our pop-up shop in Covent Garden, London.

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by Dominic Wilcox appeared first on Dezeen.

Seven aerial installations by young designers Faye Toogood (above), Vic Lee, Paul Cocksedge, Philippe Malouin, Aberrant Architecture, Gitta Gschwendtner and Dominic Wilcox will be installed above the streets of Seven Dials in London during the London Design Festival next month, as part of a project curated by Dezeen.

Called Seven Designers for Seven Dials, the project is a collaboration between Dezeen and the Seven Dials shopping district, and will run from 14 September to 5 October 2012.

Each of the designs, which draw on different aspects of the history or character of Seven Dials, will also be showcased in an exhibition at Dezeen Super Store, our pop-up design emporium located in area. You can see details about each installation below.

Above: Queen Street, one of four illustrations by Vic Lee

London-based illustrator Vic Lee will create a series of flags that draw on the shady history of the Seven Dials area. The illustrations will incorporate the old street names during the 17th and 18th centuries, a time when Seven Dials was a slum famous for its gin shops.

Above: Dial by Paul Cocksedge

Paul Cocksedge will create a mysterious interactive installation called Dial, consisting simply of a large floating telephone number suspended between two buildings. Only those curious members of the public tempted to call the number will discover its secret.

Above: Bunting by Philippe Malouin

Philippe Malouin will erect a giant installation of bunting made from transparent PVC to celebrate and highlight the Seven Dials area and its landmarks. Blown by the wind, the sixty bunting lines will point the way to the Seven Dials monument.

Above: Catchpenny Quackery by Aberrant Architecture

Aberrant Architecture’s installation will consist of 18 large metallic coins hanging above the street. Each coin will feature a unique symbol that advertises one of the bogus products and services that used to be offered by quack doctors in the Seven Dials area in years gone by.

Above: Aerial Escape by Gitta Gschwendtner

German-born designer Gitta Gschwendtner has also taken inspiration from the area’s slum history, when each of the seven apexes facing the Seven Dials monument housed pubs linked by underground escape tunnels. In Gschwendtner’s installation, seven interconnected ladders will link two windows either side of Earlham Street to seemingly provide an escape route across the road and beyond.

Above: The Birds of Seven Dials by Dominic Wilcox

Dominic Wilcox will create an arch across Neal Street made out of empty bird cages, referencing Charles Dickens’s description of Seven Dials as a place full of bird shops and bird cage makers. Each cage will be left open to symbolise the memory of the bird shops and birds long departed from the street.

Above: 7 x 7 by Faye Toogood

Hanging high above the heads of passers-by on Monmouth Street, Faye Toogood’s installation will be a series of 49 outsized workers’ overcoats, representing the different trades within Seven Dials that have shaped the area over the years.

Seven Designers for Seven Dials
14 September to 5 October 2012

Seven Designers for Seven Dials is a collaboration between Dezeen and Seven Dials. More information about each of the installations can be found at:  www.sevendials.co.uk/events.

www.dezeen.com
www.sevendials.co.uk

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aerial installations curated by Dezeen appeared first on Dezeen.