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| Posted: 01 May 2009 01:37 AM PDT Every month we take a look around and select some of the most interesting designs that was showcased here. Below you'll find the most popular designs we've tracked over the last 30 days - an overview of designs you shouldn't have missed in April 2009. 10) Mac Folder by Teyi Yeh. Permalink Hits: 8018 9) Braille E-Book by Seon-Keun Park. Pemalink Hits: 8613 8 ) MacBook Touch by Tommaso Gecchelin. Permalink Hits: 8679 7) One Person Band by Young-Shin Lee. Permalink Hits: 9059 6) UNI Watch by Takemura Ori. Permalink Hits: 9210 5) Fluid Rocker by Nick Trincia. Permalink Hits: 10,748 4) Sex Sells Anything. Permalink Hits: 12,033 3) Daylight Saving Time Clock by Denis Guidone. Permalink Hits: 15,332 2) Multifunctional Batteries by Qian Jiang. Permalink Hits: 17,041 1) Zip It Up Earphones by Ji Woong. Permalink Hits: 136,340 No Tags       |
| Posted: 01 May 2009 12:20 AM PDT As part of an ongoing series of quickstyle interviews with some of today’s most talented designers, I thought it prudent by kicking things off with the winner of our RELAX contest - Nick Trincia. It was a very VERY close call but in the end - the judges chose his entry (Fluid Rocker) for its design, feasibility, execution and overall presentation. Let’s start with your winning concept, the Fluid Rocker. Was this an original idea you came up with specifically for the contest or was it something you had brewing prior?The Fluid Rocker concept was an idea that I came up with specifically for the Relax competition. This competition seemed like a good opportunity to create something new. What’s your design process like? Do you brainstorm wildly and let experimentation lead or do you systematically go thru a defined procedure?My process depends on the nature of what I am trying to design and what issues I want it to overcome, but it follows a fairly defined procedure. If there is a specific problem that I am trying to solve, I usually start by researching the problem and determine how the object needs to function in order to overcome the problem. From the function I begin to develop the form, starting with loose gestural sketching and refining as I go. What was that process like for the Fluid Rocker?First, I thought about what piece of furniture I found most relaxing. I settled on the rocking chair because it is one of the few pieces of furniture that is active, where the user controls the experience through their own motion. It is this control that makes the rocking chair experience so relaxing. From here, I broke the rocking chair down into its basic components:, rockers, seat, backrest, and armrests and began experimented through sketching to find a shape that gracefully unified all of these components into a single form. Once I found that form, I played with several materials, and construction methods. and I decided that a smooth organic look would be the most comfortable and visually suggestive of relaxation. Fiberglass seemed the most suitable for the form because of its strength, ability to create a flowing form, and color options. I then softened the form of the chair a bit to take advantage of this material. I added the felt to the upper surface to make the chair more inviting and comfortable as well as to create some visual and textural contrast with the fiberglass. What’s your response to people who say Fluid Rocker is an imitation?Thought the Fluid Rocker has similarities to other chairs designed by various other designers, I think it stands on its own as a unique design. Did you see any of the other entries? What did you think about them? Any favorites?I looked at all of the entries posted in the Flickr gallery, and I enjoyed the vast range in style and form of the entries. I thought it was interesting that most of us chose to design a chair. Even though we have obvious difference in style, we all like to relax the same way. A few of my favorites in no particular order; Peanut Bed, End, Hive, Cloud Sofa. What inspires you as a designer?I often find inspiration through nature and the human body. Especially when viewing things at a macro scale to see how objects come together. Of course, nothing is more inspiring then finding a situation where a suitable product doesn’t exist or being annoyed by problems with an existing product. Music always helps the process too. Do you admire any other designers? Who are they?To name a few: Poul Kjaerholm, Buckminster Fuller, Charles and Ray Eames, George Nakashima When did you know you wanted to be a designer?I knew I wanted to be a designer as soon as I figured out what a designer was. Of course, there was a little desire to be an astronaut mixed in there too, but for as long as I can remember, I was creating things. When I was in my early teens, I was mostly driven by invention and a desire to build things. It wasn't until later that I developed a passion for form. Favorite color?It changes fairly often, but I always seem to come back to orange. Do you work best during the day or night?I am most often inspired during the day but I get most of my work done at night. I am also a procrastinator so it usually just works out that I am finishing projects late at night. Nick Trincia graduated from NC State University's College of Design in 2003 with a degree in Industrial Design. After graduating, he moved to Baltimore, MD where he worked for several years as a designer and fabricator of custom furniture, lighting, and architectural metalwork at Gutierrez Studios. Throughout his career, he has worked on various freelance design and build projects for residential and commercial clients. He currently resides in Boston working as… wait for it… a designer and even showed us a little something he and his brother are working on. Check it out. It’s a laptop bag that unfolds into a lap desk! Designer: Nick Trincia     |
| Posted: 01 May 2009 12:15 AM PDT Scared of the dark? Sure you could carry a flashlight but why not something a little cuter? The Light Tree is a small night-light. Sure it takes up one whole plug but look at it! Awww, so CUTE. Truth be told the designer had some “green” intentions. It’s supposed to inform you about the importance of energy conservation by using the international symbol for eco-friendliness; a tree. The logic is a bit convoluted but OMG it’s ADORABLE and look! The 110v adapter is a pot! Designers: Yoonsang Kim & Junse Kim     |
| Would a Woodchuck Chuck a Bike Made of Wood? Posted: 01 May 2009 12:10 AM PDT Wood frame bikes have long given way to aluminum and space age materials but designer Arndt Menke thinks we were too hasty in giving up on one of the strongest, resilient, and lightweight natural materials. There are over 60,000 woody plants worldwide but we use less than 300 of them in a terribly unsustainable way. The Holzweg bike’s frame is totally made of wood and weighs a scant 2.3kg. Could wood frame bikes make a comeback? This diploma thesis for Menke’s master’s degree demonstrates how careful attention to wood’s natural retention, expansion and anisotropic properties can be advantageous in design. The end result is an incredibly light weight bike, strong and pretty darn good looking too. I really want one. Designer: Arndt Menke     |
| How to GO GREEN With A Shower, Wand, Shoe, Dish and Bamboo Posted: 01 May 2009 12:00 AM PDT Recently Sony encouraged some ID students from China to think GREEN and come up with eco-friendly products that can be incorporated into everyday life. The results were amazing concepts like a showerhead kinda music player, a conductor's baton-styled TV remote, a shoe clasp GPS device, a solar powered speaker dish and a bamboo work frame for a music system. Take a look at them in detail after the jump. Sony Sound of Water: Bathman Shower Music Player Students from Peng Shi-Nan Dong Hwa University have come up with this ingenious music system that mimics the flow of water from a showerhead. The basic premise for this design is this: while you shower, the force flow of the water is used to trap some hydro energy to power the Bathman Player. An invigorating flow of water results in some hard rock music coming your way while a gentle shower plays some soft mellow music. If you don't like the selection of the songs, you can manually change the settings. A nice marriage of eco-sense and technology! Sony Conductor TV Remote Donghua University students have tapped kinetic energy as a source for powering the Conductor. This wand-shaped remote requires you to sway it from side to side to power it. The green LED lights fire up to indicate the power levels. To navigate, wave the Conductor left-right and change the volume, waving it up and down changes the channels and moving it in circular motion switches the TV on or off. A cool factor included is that the TV switches off automatically when the wand detects no movement for a considerable period of time. Sony Green Walk Travel Companion Walking is a good form of exercise and trekking through forests and mountains is even better. The Green Walk designed by Tongji University students looks at harnessing the kinetic energy generated by walking to power this Bluetooth enabled GPS gadget. It fits snugly across the face of your shoe and is discreetly connected to the sole. The gadget can be synced with your comp to download travel trails off the net and upload your walkathon details. By merely observing the LED lights on the device one can determine the distance left to the destination. A pretty neat feature in this gadget is that in case you are about to venture off the chosen trek or are lost, a vibrating sensor comes into play and guides you step-by-step by vibrating either to the left or right to indicate the correct direction. The flip side to this particular feature that I can think of is, that incase the diversion is deliberate or intentional; the sensor will probably go crazy jerking your foot! Sony Solar Speaker “TransferJet“, is a Close Proximity Wireless Transfer Technology enabling the high speed transfer of large data files (photos, HD images, etc.) between electronic devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras, digital video cameras, computers and TVs. Using this technology, data can be sent at speeds of 560Mbps. So once you place your MP3 player or phone on top of this dish-shaped Solar Speaker, it pulls all songs and files wirelessly to play them, plus charges the device. Designed by folks at Southern Yangtze University, the unique feature included is a sensor that automatically tilts the solar panel face towards the sun for maximum energy absorption. A fancy looking iteration, this Solar Speaker will look groovy in any room. Sony Bamboo Frame Music System Advocating the benefits of using bamboo as a material for constructing a music system, the Bamboo Frame is a unique blend of modern technology and traditional craftsmanship. At the end of its life, this system's components can be recycled thus justifying the eco-friendly tag. This system has been designed by students at the Zhejiang University. Unfortunately the tech-specs on this piece are very low. My apologies for that! No Tags     |
| Posted: 01 May 2009 12:00 AM PDT Like all other centrifuges, laboratory centrifuges work by the sedimentation principle, where the centripetal acceleration is used to separate substances of greater and lesser density. To give you a scenario, for testing your blood, a sample of it is put into centrifuge tips and placed into a lab centrifuge to separate its components, which is then analyzed. Here we have the LABCENT jazzing up a lab's tabletop coz even though the stream may sound too intense, even scientists can do with some hot looking gadgets in their labs! Typically we have two sizes for lab centrifuge: normal and microcentrifuges and stability is an important factor to be considered while designing them. LABCENT is the normal one and incorporates a big heavy base making it quite sturdy and stable; after all spinning at those high speeds can make anything go woozy! A big OLED touchscreen on the lid of device houses all the function keys and to make things simpler an icon menu has been included for navigation. Feed cables and all necessary ports are situated on the back side of centrifuge, making it a very practical design. Designer: Jan Rytir     |
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