Xovel : Ergonomic Digging Shovel by Jaeseok Han

Xovel : Ergonomic Digging Shovel by Jaeseok Han:

Redesign an existing product is part of modern industrial design practices; take a look at Xovel, an ergonomic shovel design that provides users comfort and convenience while working. A shovel is an important tool that you can usually find in a construction site. However, the design of our conventional shovel leads to 3 main problems: strains on wrist joint or muscle due to inaccurate direction of the shovel, inconvenience usage in small area, and limited function against various situations.

Designer : Jaeseok Han (ahhaproject)

Using Xovel, the newly redesigned shovel, forces are distributed effectively when digging or moving. The extra handle on the neck is very useful to balance user’s energy. The head of Xovel can be changed depending on the situations, the length is adjustable just in case the user’s working in limited space.

The source of Xovel : Ergonomic Digging Shovel by Jaeseok Han is Industrial Design News

One Handsome Chair

One Handsome Chair:

Inspired by the human form, the beautiful Klassiker lounge chair was designed to comfortably hug both the back and bottom of the seated person. A polished oil finish and high back make it an elegant choice for classic and contemporary rooms alike.

Designer: Minwoo Lee

1.3 Chair Breathes Sustainability Into a Classic Design With Delicate Balsa Wood

1.3 Chair Breathes Sustainability Into a Classic Design With Delicate Balsa Wood:

The 1.3 Chair is a classic design constructed using balsa wood (from Ochroma pyramidale), a material considered a sustainable alternative to many other woods. Designed by Kihyun Kim, a recent graduate from the Royal College of Art, the lightweight chair is yet another fantastic piece of furniture spotted at the Korea Pavillion at this year’s 100% Design show.

The 45-Degree Neck

The 45-Degree Neck:

What will happen if we shift the mouth of the bottle from the top to a 45-degree angle? You may not be able to fill it to the brim, and drinking from it may be a bit weird, but filling the bottle from a water cooler or fountain will surely become easy. This simple placement difference can do a heck lot for the packaging design and I think it’s radical and awesome.

Designers: Hsu Hsiang-Min, Liu Nai-Wen & Chen Yu-Hsin

TED: Richard Seymour: How beauty feels - Richard Seymour (2011)

TED: Richard Seymour: How beauty feels - Richard Seymour (2011): A story, a work of art, a face, a designed object -- how do we tell that something is beautiful? And why does it matter so much to us? Designer Richard Seymour explores our response to beauty and the surprising power of objects that exhibit it.

realistic human face masks by real-f

realistic human face masks by real-f:

using a combination of multiangle photography, 3D printing, and attentive styling, the japanese company produces custom photorealistic human face masks and mannequin heads.

read more

Nylon Bike Made Using Satellite Technology is as Strong as Steel!

Nylon Bike Made Using Satellite Technology is as Strong as Steel!:

Spotted at the London Design Festival earlier this week, this awesome bike really blew us away when we found out it was made entirely of nylon but is as strong as steel! Launched this year by a team of development engineers, the bike is made up of successive layers of fused nylon powder that are each just one-tenth of a millimeter thick. Designed by Andy Hawkins and Chris Turner at the Aerospace Innovation Centre in Bristol, UK, the bike is constructed from a manufacturing process known as additive layer manufacturing (ALM), which is also used in the manufacturing of satellites.

VTM Spacester

VTM Spacester:

If we had to guess what the future holds, we'd predict that there will be Roombas shoveling our driveways, electric grills that give you that charcoal taste we all crave, and this bike. Shaped by [...]

Visit Cool Material for the full post.

Go Chair by Ross Lovegrove for Bernhardt Design

Go Chair by Ross Lovegrove for Bernhardt Design:

The symbol for magnesium in the periodic table is straightforward: Mg. Often recognized for its fame-stricken presence in supernova stars, Magnesium is also found in gorgeous designs created by man. Take for instance the powder-coated magnesium frame sported by the Go chair by Ross Lovegrove for Bernhardt Design.

Go. Designed by Ross Lovegrove. Manufactured by Bernhardt Design.

Modern, Contour Lines Define the Go Chair by Ross Lovegrove for Bernhardt Design.

An award-winning little piece of art, the Go chair designed by Lovegrove received the 2001 Best of NeoCon Award and was included in Time Magazine’s Best of 2001 list. Its awards have seen ten years of rave reviews, making its presence in the field one of pure style. Perhaps in part also due to the chair’s two versions that allows it to be an indoor or outdoor chair - with a seat made of veneer (indoor) or polycarbonate (outdoor) - the chair creation by UK-based Lovegrove is here to stay.

Lightweight and contoured, the Go design is ultra modern and astonishingly comfortable. Spatial efficiency is achieved with the design’s form, allowing up to three chairs to stack easily. The chair itself comes in a silver or white frame. The polycarbonate seat is available in gray or white plastic, and the maple veneer seat comes in a variety of finishes to tie in other furnishings you may have. In addition to the standard seat options suggested, the Go Chair can be upholstered in COM or other Bernhardt fabrics also. It measures 23”W x 27”D x 30.5”H.

Add a punch of glossy, powder-coated magnesium for a starry-eyed effect with your guests by including the award-winning Go chair by Ross Lovegrove for Bernhardt Design into your interior or exterior design.

About the Manufacturer: Bernhardt Design, a contract casegoods division of Bernhardt Furniture Company, creates seating and textiles for corporate offices. As a subset of one of the largest family-owned furniture businesses, Bernhardt Design enjoys the reputation of being part of a longstanding American company (started by John Mathias Bernhardt in 1889). Bernhardt Furniture Company is based in Western North Carolina with five offices overseas. Their showroom is located in High Point, NC.

Mobile Food Garden Improves Urban Living Gardening Experience

Mobile Food Garden Improves Urban Living Gardening Experience:

Mobile Food Garden targets people who live in urban area (limited space) or in small high-rise buildings who don’t have a chance to experience the joys and benefits of gardening. The main objective of this project is to connect people with nature by designing a system that allows apartment gardening experience.

Designer : Nancy Wang

Text from Nancy :

We are becoming increasingly aware of our current unsustainable practices. Many people currently live in compact high-rise dwellings, and as populations increase, and residential spaces becomes more limited, these are likely to rise dramatically. Apartment homes do not have the luxury of a backyard and there is limited opportunity to experience gardening and its associated benefits. This mobile food garden project aims to reconnect apartment dwellers with nature, through the design of a product/system that improves the urban living gardening experience, while communicating urban dwellers the potential benefits of a more self-sufficient way of living.

Analysis of initial research and subsequent observations concluded that gardening activity in apartment is very limited, and usually restricted to growing low-maintenance plants in confined areas. In addition, soil and water were viewed as difficult to maintain and keep tidy, especially in confined spaces without outdoor cleaning aids. Furthermore, people who live in apartments are often transient. This was regarded as a significant barrier towards establishing an apartment garden.

In response to the project mission and insights gained, a self-assem­bled mobile food garden was designed, which allows apartment dwellers to create their own balcony vegetable patch. The garden is designed as an ecological system based around three dominant cy­cles found in nature: growth, water and nutrient. Most plant growth occurs in the top two levels. These are adjustable in height to maxi­mize sunlight. Seeds may be germinated in the lower levels and rotated to the top trays to allow further growth. Rainwater feeds garden from the top, it then flows through the lower planting trays and collects in the bottom water tray. A worm farm is incorporated to utilize food scraps so that soil may be continually nourished.

The Mobile Food Garden system aims to improve apartment gardening experience by providing an optimal growing sys­tem with enhanced versatility specifically for apart­ment living. It can be arranged in a variety of ways to provide the best growing conditions for a diversity of crops, while allowing the personalization of the gardening process. Each planter has a removable base and can be stacked to provide deeper soil as required by some crops (i.e. root vegetables). The containers also function as tool storage spaces, and may also be arranged to form a double level worm farm, so nutrient rich worm juice may be collected along with any excess water. The Mobile Food Garden system has been designed with maximum space utilization as well as mobility for better use in confined areas.

The story of Mobile Food Garden Improves Urban Living Gardening Experience is an original content from: Industrial Design News

'Wryneck' table by Léa Padovani & Sébastien...

'Wryneck' table by Léa Padovani & Sébastien...:



'Wryneck' table by Léa Padovani & Sébastien Kieffer, the POOL design duo. This small coffee table seems to have been eaten by a beaver.

Everything Old is New Again: Wilcox Collection by Urban Woods

Everything Old is New Again: Wilcox Collection by Urban Woods:

Urban Woods is a Los Angeles furniture manufacturer that uses only reclaimed timber from local sources. By using timber from old buildings, the company takes advantage of the beauty and strength of wood that’s been “seasoned in sunny Southern California for decades, giving the wood unparalleled stability and resistance to future distortion or structural movement.” Urban Woods also contributes to reducing the waste stream and minimizing fossil fuel use, since all their products are manufactured in Los Angeles.

Wilcox Collection. Manufactured by Urban Woods.

Vintage Wood Meets Modern Design

The company’s Wilcox Collection melds vintage material with modern design. The furniture maintains clean lines and simple forms, although the manufacturing process complicates the look because the wood is assembled in a patchwork pattern. All Wilcox pieces are supported by brushed steel legs welded in Los Angeles and are finished with water-based, non-toxic stain and low-VOC acrylic.

The Wilcox platform bed can be appreciated from any angle, making it a great piece to float in an open bedroom or studio. Or place the headboard against a brick or painted wall to create a interesting textural contrast. Both the nightstand and the dresser revel in their boxiness, though their shapes are tempered by the four smooth, slender steel legs. All Wilcox pieces illustrate the beauty of reclaimed wood with their tight growth rings and aged patina.

About the Manufacturer: Los Angeles-based furniture company Urban Woods uses only reclaimed wood in the products they build. Taken from local, vintage buildings that are slated to be torn down, the timber dates from 50-100 years ago. By repurposing reclaimed wood, Urban Woods is able to use a beautiful material without affecting the current forestation of the planet. The company handmakes everything in California, using water-based, non-toxic stains and an environmentally conscious manufacturing process.

Inside GM's Rapid Prototyping Labs

Inside GM's Rapid Prototyping Labs:

These videos are about twice as long as they need to be in terms of conveying the relevant data, but these looks inside General Motors' Rapid Prototyping Labs are worth a gander. Anyone who's worked in an ID firm where you had to e-mail the CADs out to the modelshop and sit on your hands for two days can't help but feel envious at seeing their onsite stereolithography and selective laser sintering machines.

The editors have blurred out some of what's on the designers' monitors and some of the larger physical parts, as GM has apparently worked out a proprietary method for joining RP parts together, like when they need to produce something too big for the machine and have to bang it out in sections. Still, you at least get a good look at the process:

(more...)

Sorellina occupies the space of a chair but...

Sorellina occupies the space of a chair but...:



Sorellina occupies the space of a chair but splits, happy to welcome a surprise guest. A simple and functional line hide a surprise: another chair, the little sister, who disappears with perfect joints. Designed by Vincent Blouin.

Bull by Ander Lizaso

Bull by Ander Lizaso:

Take a look at this cute child’s chair designed by Spanish designer Ander Lizaso – it has more than one use… can you guess what?

Bull is a the tiny chair’s with a backrest shaped like a spinning wheel, so it can roll along the floor when placed upside-down. Kids can put their toys in the underside and use it as a wagon or pretend it’s a pet. Bull is intended for children between 3 and 6 years old.

The prototype is made of CNC cut baltic birch plywood but a more production-friendly version made using curved plywood is on the way.

Urban Seating with a Twist

Urban Seating with a Twist:

Composed entirely of the hardwearing and visually seamless HI-MACS material, the S Urban bench by designer Veronica Martinez isn’t just a twist on public seating but a perfect demonstration of HI-MACS’ unique malleability. Inspired by spiral movements found in hurricanes, chains of DNA, and other natural elements, the fluid shape of the bench appears to shift as it captures the essence of movement between abrupt lines. Made from a single mold, the bench is as efficient to produce as it is nice to look at.

Designer: Veronica Martinez

Design Process – Donn Koh

Design Process – Donn Koh:

I just finished doing interviews for a design position and I can’t tell you how nice it is to see a high quality portfolio that is actually thought through. I saw a small sample of Mr. Koh’s portfolio quite a while ago on Engadget and finally got around to checking him out. He has some great examples of the design process in action and each visual element has a reason for being there.

So, if your a student working on your own and need an example or your just curious go check him out.

All credit goes to Donn Koh, Tracy Subisak, & Herlinda for the above Renew project.

The Ovo high chair for Micuna by CuldeSac.

The Ovo high chair for Micuna by CuldeSac.:



The Ovo high chair for Micuna by CuldeSac.

Oregon Manifest 2011: IDEO x Rock Lobster's "Faraday" Fared Well

Oregon Manifest 2011: IDEO x Rock Lobster's "Faraday" Fared Well:

IDEO's Adam Vollmer with "Faraday" at Checkpoint 2 of the Oregon Manifest

I suppose I was trying to be a bit coy with that last teaser shot from Oregon Manifest, which included the silhouette of the IDEO × Rock Lobster entry in the foreground, but savvy Googlers have most certainly turned up the full image sets from my fellow journalists Jay Greene of CNET and Jonathan Maus of BikePortland.

IDEO collaborated with Santa Cruz, CA-based Rock Lobster on an e-bike that can only be described as elegant: the frame itself is distinguished mostly by its double top tube and the beautifully welded front rack, but there's more to "Faraday" than meets the eye. Insofar as IDEO is involved, many of the key design features remain invisible: a custom algorithm controls speed based on rider feedback and internally-routed cabling runs connects the motor and lights to a discreet "brain" at the seatstay cluster.

Photo by IDEO

Photo by IDEO

Moreover, the signature aesthetic touches of the frame belie functional utility as well: the top-tube holds the Lithium ion batteries—reportedly the same as those in the Chevy Volt—while the front rack can be swapped out for other cargo units such as a trunk or child seat. (It's worth mentioning that the same is true of Fuseproject × SyCip's "LOCAL" design; in fact, Fuseproject is supposedly developing additional ideas for bringing their vehicle to market.)

(more...)

Waste Converters is a Recycled Material Depot Frequented by Melbourne’s Top Designers

Waste Converters is a Recycled Material Depot Frequented by Melbourne’s Top Designers:

An old recycling depot in a suburb near Melbourne may seem like an unlikely place to see some of Australia’s most acclaimed furniture designers, chefs, architects and artists, but that’s where many of them go for inspiration and materials. People like Vue de Monde’s Shannon Bennett, furniture designer Mark Tuckey, eco-entrepreneur Joost Bakker, architect Jerry Wolveridge and artist David Bromley are all regular visitors at Waste Converters , and sift through the yard’s secondhand timber and other goods. The practice was recently awarded the Australian Timber Design Award and last year Waste Converters’ recycling activities provided a net carbon benefit of 14,500 tonnes.