Readymade News

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design, 10 November 2009

It looks like Michael Young is on a roll after moving from Iceland to Hong Kong. DesignBoom has an article on the i24r3 portable wireless waterproof digital speaker and Dezeen covers his Chair-4A, a dining chair made of recycled aluminum.

Design Sojourn has posted a great video of Michael Bierut of Pentagram and Design Observer, summarizing 5 design secrets:

1) Listen first, then design
2) Don’t avoid the obvious
3) The problem contains the solution
4) Indulge your obsessions
5) Love is the answer

Beirut also says he is more "like a 'doctor' waiting for 'patients' to come to him with design problems to solve".    

The T.27 is the brainchild of McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray and Zytek Automotive Technology. The car has been designed in a way that minimizes the use of materials and keeps the embedded carbon of the vehicle as low as possible. The firm claims the innovative manufacturing system will use 20 per cent less space and 80 per cent less capital investment than a conventional factory A spokesman for Gordon Murray Design said the body panels, for example, would be made from material originating from PET bottles. Via BBC.

Yesterday Tasos gave a talk at the SABS Design Institute which marked the opening  an exhibition tour of the 40 years of South African design excellence, celebrating original designs (innovations) from South Africa. Tasos presented selected Readymade projects including strategic consulting for Optimal Energy, the company behind the Joule and the Arivi Non-Pressure paraffin stove. See the presentation here. 

 

Lastly Wired.co.uk examines IDEO's design thinking approach and how they use lessons learned from product design to solving bigger challenges. Bill Moggridge one of the co-founders of IDEO says "if you don't get out there and see what it's like, then you couldn't really design it right."

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design, 03 November 2009

Tasos has written an article for the November issue of Management Today; South Africa’s leading management Journal describing Design Thinking. The title is Design for future business: thinking like a designer to solve problems and create new solutions. Here is an excerpt: "Organizations everywhere are recognizing the need to change radically in a rapidly changing world. Unfortunately many of these attempts fail because traditional management systems lack the tools to innovate in complex environments and much less so when faced with wicked problems. However, some businesses have solved this dilemma and are able to consistently innovate and grow over the long term, despite temporary setbacks during economic downcycles. These include Apple, Dell, GE, P&G, Infosys. Tata, Toyota, Amazon and ebay. What these organizations all have in common is that they have used design thinking to help guide their traditional business processes. This has allowed them to concentrate on the factors that improve competitiveness rather than doing the wrong things very well.

Design thinking can radically change organizations by embracing complexity and constraints, working collaboratively and iteratively and using expanded logic to achieve this. Inherent in this approach is the ability to see issues as part of a system, with all of its components, relationships and maintaining a view of the overall context. Design thinking also is adept at cultivating a deep understanding of customers and using this together with the factors above to create synthesis, or resolution rather than compromise. Design implies something creative but this is not some sort of art school freeform wackiness, this is creativity in its true meaning as the act of creation. In that sense, design can be thought of as the careful conception of a plan and the disciplined execution of that plan to create something new. 

In fact, design has a process as structured and rigorous as anything in business. It is a process aimed at solving problems by using our ability to create new solutions. This design process consists of several phases. Firstly, creating common understanding by analyzing data and research. Secondly, creation, where the data and insights drawn from research guide the creation of new options. Thirdly, filtering, using critical thinking to select the most promising options. Fourthly, validation, where fieldwork is done to test assumptions. Fifthly, synthesis, where options are drawn into a business model and assembled into the strategic plan. Sixthly, engineering, which develops the idea technically. And finally, implementation where the chosen solution is built in totality."

For more on design thinking and what it means for business read The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage by Roger Martin, review here and if you happen to be in New York on the 11th of November catch Bruce Nussbaum talking to Roger Martin and Tim Brown of IDEO.

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design, 20 October 2009

The Dyson Air Multiplier™ Fan is the latest from James Dyson, the British inventor famous for making ordinary household appliances like vacuum cleaners better through technology and engineering. The Air Multiplier™ technology was discovered almost by accident. When working on the Airblade the team noticed  that the device was dragging a large amount of the surrounding air along with it, something that fluid dynamics people call "inducement."

The Air Multiplyer draws air in through the bottom of the unit and "is accelerated through an annular aperture. This creates a jet of air that passes over a 16° airfoil-shaped ramp, channeling its direction. Using an airfoil-shaped ramp (like a cross-section through an airplane wing), airflow is amplified 15 times." There are no blades, so there is no danger of children hurting themselves by accident. The Air Multiplyer is not cheap, but Dyson believes the technology could be put to use in other appliances. 

More British design news, Andrew Ritchie, designer of the Brompton folding bicycle, has won the 2009 Prince Philip Designers Prize. Brompton, which first developed its folding bicycle design has remained fundamentally unchanged for more than 20 years but compared to other types of folding bicycles, the Brompton is frequently held up as the winner. 22 000 bicycles are made in London annually with 70% being exported.

Ritchie spends more time on designing the manufacturing process than the bike itself. "It’s all very well designing the product, but it has to be makeable."

The Wikireader is one of those devices that does on thing really well, it is a simple device that has the whole of Wikipedia loaded. The small, durable and very energy efficient product is the latest from Openmoko with design from Thomas Meyerhoffer. Wikipedia is stored on an 8 gig SD card, which can be updated for a fee, the reader will retail for $99. Via DesignBoom.

It seems that Gizmodo has the lowdown on the Barnes and Noble Athena or ebook. Nice looking design that has an e-ink display and a touch sensitive color screen for navigation and input. Rumors are that it will have a direct link to 1 million Google Books. The product was designed by Ammunition Partners, a San Francisco firm headed by former Apple design chief Robert Brunner although there is no confirmation from any parties regarding the product.

Last week Tasos was a speaker at the University of Johannesburg’s two-day colloquium on Practice-Led Research in creative production. Tasos talked on Readymade's approach to design thinking. And yesterday he talked some more when the SABS Design Institute filmed at Readymade HQ for a new video featuring some of South Africa’s successful designers of the last 40 years.

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design, 22 September 2009

The Mission One Superbike was recently been put through its paces at the Bonneville Salt Flats, USA. The bike surpassed previous land speed records for an electric motorcycle, reaching 161 mph, which is almost 260 kilometers per hour! 

Designed in collaboration with Fuse Project, the "challenge was to create a design that would be accepted by motorcycle enthusiasts while also being immediately recognizable as a vehicle fueled by alternative energy. A central goal was not to appear as an ‘eco-toy’ but instead a performance bike augmented by electric power. Ultimately, the bike needed to balance innovation with tradition, overcome the stigma of a silent ride and define what an electric Bike should look like." 

The records were made with a production prototype, Mission One plans to sell 300 models in 2010 at a price tag of $69,000, with a cheaper version to launch in 2012. See YouTube videos here.

It seems almost everyone is launching an electric vehicle, the Trabant NT has been unveiled at the IAA Frankfurt Motor Show, Germany. The Trabant NT (new Trabant) is based on the original 1957 East German model. The project is the work of toy manufacturer Herpa, in partnership with auto parts maker IndiKar and engineering group IAV. The design was done by Nils Poschwatta, who previously worked for VW as a “Transportation Designer”. Out of enthusiasm for the newTrabi, he decided to devote himself to the project full-time and came up with the entire design-work for the “Trabant nT”.

The London Design Festival started on Saturday in London, seems like a busy week with 100% Design and Tent London happening from the 24th to 27th September. Additonally The Dock is an emporium of creative talent curated by Tom Dixon, running from the 21st to 27th. For coverage during the week make sure you follow Core77 and DesignBoom.

Fast Company Masters of Design has a great article on David Butler, the 43 year old master design strategist for Coke. Since he arrived in 2004, he has torn down and rebuilt the design strategy at every level of the company. And he has managed this epic list of projects with a low-key but extraordinarily effective strategy: avoid using the word "design" at all costs. "At work, I don't use the phrase 'design thinking.' Here, it's about creating more value. How do we sell more of something? How do we improve the experience to make more money and create a sustainable planet?" And "we're leveraging design to drive innovation and to win at the point of sale, which is fundamental to our business. Full stop."

The I.D. Annual Design Review 2010 is open for entries. Work must have been created between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009 and student work must be the result of a classroom/academic assignment completed during the 2008/2009 academic year. Related: Five Truths About Design Awards.

Johanna Schoemaker was declared the winner for her "Clam OLED lamp," at the BraunPrize 2009 Award Ceremony on September 16th, with about 150 jurors voting in her favor. The other Top 3 from the 22 finalists include Karsten Willmann for Skylino, Stephan Zimmermann for Anemone and Tobias Stuntebeck for White Cane.

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design, 15 September 2009

     

Hack 2 Work, 'essential tips for design professionals' from Core77 has articles like On Being T-Shaped by Tim Brown, How to Look Bigger Than You Are by Allan Chochinov and 5 Keys to Successful Design Research by Steve Portigal. Image: Ernesto Rodriguez.

Hack 2 Work has everything from how not to design a business card to dealing with clients. Well worth the read.

For students and professional designers Design Droplets has a great compilation of sketching resources including IDSketching, Coroflot and links to books and tutorial DVDs.

 

Apple launched a new version of the iPod Nano at a special event called "It's Only Rock and Roll" early in September. The new iPod Nano now has added photo and video capabilities, the quality of the video is good enough, but what really stands out is battery life and storage capacity, the 16 GB version holds up to 16 hours of video. Not bad for a device you can keep in even the smallest of pockets.

Design Thinking for Startups from Amir Khella of Fictiv is a good explanation of design thinking and how innovation fits into it. Some quotes from the presentation-design thinking is: "a mindset of combining creative and analytical thinking, and applying it to solving a problem", "it's believing the best solution is yet to be found" and  "it's being comfortable going forward in a state of uncertainty". 

The James Dyson Award is an international design award that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers. Run by the James Dyson Foundation, as part of its mission to inspire young people about design engineering. The brief for the 2009 competition was put simply; design something that solves a problem.

One of the finalists was the Prio Paper Cast from American design student Nicholas Riddle. The products is a flat pack splint for disaster response that combines low-weight, ease of installation, and easy triage identification within a folding paper cast. The primary function of the paper cast is to immobilize injured limbs, in this case an arm. The problem that exists at the site of an accident or disaster is one of scarcity – of medical expertise, resources and communication.         

   

Congratulations to Clive Roux on becoming IDSA's (The Industrial Designers Society of America) new executive director on September the 14th. Clive was previously Chief Marketing Officer for Baumgartens and former design leader with internationally-renowned Philips Design. 

"With significant global experience across the design disciplines—including four years working in Africa, seven years in Europe, seven years in Asia and nine years in the US—Roux will bring both design thinking and business management skills to his new role, which will help him represent the Society both within the design world and to the business community." IDSA.

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design, 01 September 2009

 

The winners of the INDEX: Awards have been announced, they are Better Place, Pig 05049, Kiva, Street Swags, the Freeplay Fetal Heart Rate Monitor and the Chulha stove. Congratulations to all the winners.

The Freeplay Monitor is created expressly for the harsh conditions of rural and remote settings in the developing world. it is simple (it has only an on-off switch and a hand crank for generating its own electricity). it is built for robust operation and made to withstand knock-about conditions. The intent is to safeguard childbirth for mothers and infants in remote areas of the developing world where expert care and electrical power are in short supply.

 

The Chulha stove is being made available by Philips Design to the universe of social entrepreneurs so that they can, free of charge, produce the stove, themselves, and generate local business while helping counter what the World Health Organization estimates is some 1.6 million deaths per year from conditions prompted by the toxic fumes of indoor cooking with “bio-mass” fuels. The stove also won an IDEA Design Award last year. 

The BMW group has been busy this week, the Vision Efficient Dynamics concept car is a low carbon plug-in hybrid supercar that not only looks amazing, but has the fuel consumption of 3.76 liters/100 kilometers.

The concept car will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. It has an anticipated top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) and can reach 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds.        

           

The design itself combines low weight materials, aerodynamic detailing such as the solid underside of the car which minimizes drag and an interplay between exterior and interior elements. More images at Car Body Design and Auto Blog Green.

 

More BMW related news, this time to celebrate the 50th anniversary, Mini has released a 'concept' model that is basically a Mini Cooper with a new roof. By eliminating the back seats and giving the car a more roadster look does make the car look a lot sportier than previous models.

We like LEGO, it is a great tool to grow creative minds and it's fun to use when making a pirate ship or using it it to explore creative solutions. But here is a new take on the humble LEGO block; Top Gear presenter James May is building a house made entirely from LEGO and he plans to live in it when it finished, at least until it falls apart. 

The building itself is located in a wine estate in Surrey, UK. Volunteers were invited to take part in the manufacturing process, 1200 people worked building LEGO 'bricks' which are made up of 272 LEGO pieces. The life-size house uses over three million bricks and features a staircase, toilet and shower. Via DesignBoom.  

To end off, another functional object inspired by toys; the Mechano Chair made of powder-coated folded mild steel was designed by Andre Klauser for Thorsten van Elten. Also available in black of course.

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design, 25 August 2009

 

The Finalists for the 2009 INDEX: Award will be announced on the 28th of August together with the People's Choice Award, a Facebook and INDEX: partnership, where anyone can vote for their favorite design to improve life. 

Currently there is an outdoor exhibition at Kongens Nytorv of the 69 design finalists. After its debut, it tours both to other parts of Denmark and to many cities around the world. A schedule of the INDEX:Award 2009 Exhibition tour will be available as domestic and international bookings are finalized.

Tesla Motors has released images of the updated Model S EV sedan with a more refined front end and it even has retractable door handles to reduce wind drag. The car seats five adults plus has two unique fold down rear facing seats for children similar to the old style station wagon folding seats. Via psfk. 

The EniCycle is similar in some respects to the Segway, leaning forward makes you go faster, and leaning back slows you down. To turn left or right simply apply pressure on the footrests. The difference is the fact that it only has one wheel, but seemingly it is much easier to learn to ride than a regular unicycle. Via Tino Chow.

         

Via DesignBoom, a new take on the humble coat hanger, Alain Berteau has designed 'Pick Up Wood' which is "sold by sets of 8, these hanger hooks require you take a walk in a natural environment to complete the object with some fallen branches." 

Ben Huggins' Little Star is made up of four geometrical components, designed to slot together with no screws or fixings to form a solid and striking occasional table. The table flat packs neatly in to its own pizza-style box. Three tables can be cut from one 1200mm x 2400mm sheet of 15mm ply by CNC router. Via Yanko Design.

Nokia is looking for a senior design manager in their Original Accessories department better known as Nokia Gear Design Team. "This work will involve leading future concepting projects, managing intense product development programs, coaching and leading creative individuals and fostering an excellent team spirit."

More Nokia news; the Nokia Booklet 3G is a nice looking mini laptop (netbook) running Windows 7 with integrated 3G wireless and a hot-swappable SIM card. Nice video here.

 

An Illustrated Weekly World of Design, 04 August 2009

Via Today and Tomorrow; "Shukuno Rintendo is a Japanese bicycle brand. Between 1996 and 1998 they produced a special series of power assisted bicycles, 2 of them were the Fire Trick Bob and the Water Trick Bob. The Fire Trick Bob had a small turbine which produced 4.4 horsepower of thrust. The water and air tanks of the Water Trick Bob could generate enough thrust for 50 meters." The Electric Bob model is pretty cool too, almost like something from Around the World in Eighty Days. 

Cognitive Media are a very unique company, they describe themselves as visual thinkers, creating amazing drawings to communicate almost everything, these drawings are part mindmap and part comic book, and the result is a visual map that tells a story. Cognitive Media use a range of visual tools and creative techniques to help their people develop, design, understand, and communicate complex information, Andrew Park, founder of Cognitive Media says that once something is drawn on paper it becomes part of their memory and sets the visual language for that conversation.

The International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2009 awards are up on BusinessWeek and IDSA, although most of Apple's product line received awards, other companies like Samsung managed to get a few too. IDEO won a gold award in the Strategy category for their Human-Centered Design Toolkit and a bronze for Peek amongst others. NewDealDesign won four awards, including a gold award for the Better Place Charge Spot; a dual-outlet compact charging station for electric vehicles which is part of the Better Place system. "Better Place is developing and deploying EV driver services, systems and infrastructure. Subscribers and guests will have access to a network of charge spots, switch stations and systems which optimize the driving experience and minimize environmental impact and cost," Better Place.

Great book review from Core77; Less and More, The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams is a book cataloging an exhibit held at the Suntory Museum in Osaka, Japan. The book has beautiful product shots of products Dieter Rams is famous for while at Braun where he was chief of design from 1961 until 1995. Of the 1,272 products designed during his stay, Rams, or teams in which Rams was a member, designed 514 of them. Dieter Rams has influenced many designers, including Jonathan Ives, Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa, also see Dieter Rams' 10 Design commandments.

A design with a mix of old and new school from Charlie Pyott. Linnos is a USB record player for those who still have a vinyl collection, nice drawings and renders of this concept.

It looks like the next step in the desktop manufacturing revolution after 3D printing is rotational molding, design students Andrew Duffy, Craig Tyler and Edward Harrison from the University of Rochester have constructed a miniature rotational molding machine. The D.I.Y rotation molding machine was built to replicate the industrial process to help further understand its possibilities. It was built at no cost from scrap materials and is simply powered by a cordless drill. With the use of cold setting bio resins, hollow plastic products are created. Via DesignBoom and Core77. 

An Illustrated Weekly World of Design, 28 July 2009

Nick Veasey photographs normal objects; trucks, cars, buses, even underwear, but they are not the usual images, he X-rays these objects, often taking months to compile a single image, such as a Boeing 777. The process involves taking objects apart, X-raying individual parts, even cutting cars in half and creating a collage. At TEDGlobal, Nick explained that he uses a cadaver for most of the shots that need people because of the high levels of radiation generated, he even wears a device that measures the amount of radiation he's been exposed to. Currently he is busy working on an image of a classic Mini Cooper. 

Via Business Week; Caterpillar has produced the D7E Hybrid tractor (bulldozer) which is 30% more fuel efficient than conventional diesel models. Over the course of ten years Caterpillar involved customers in the development process which improved the design and allowed users to compare the hybrid with other models during testing on locations throughout Europe and North America. 

The Landrover S1 mobile phone is for all those serious adventure types who need a phone to match their vehicle. The phone is impervious to dust, dirt, shocks, drops, is completely waterproof to a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes, can take up to 400 kgs of pressure and comes with a three year unconditional guarantee. Via Designboom.

 

Diane Steverlynck has designed the beautifully simple Tight Stool. 'Tight stool is a wooden puzzle of legs and a seat kept together with a coloured thread. This stool is inspired by the elementary binding system people use in everyday life to place together loose elements and form, change or fix objects. The thread is essential to the construction of the stool, it's the structural binding element, but it indirectly brings a decorative note that refers to the tradition of trimming. With a simple element as a rope, individual elements stick together to make a seat. The only thing required is some strength.' Diane Steverlynck. Via Ponoko.  

PSFK interviewed Karim Rashid discussing his Doride lamp design and other topics. Some words of wisdom from the design superstar; 'Design is about shaping the future, about contemporary needs, desires, technologies, materials, and new social behaviors. Design is about revisiting and evolving our culture and physical landscape. Innovation is inseparable from design. It is not about trends, it is not about problem solving, it is not about just ‘form’ or just ‘function’ – design is the tool of progress and evolving our experiential aesthetic world. Everything needs to be designed from our airplane interiors to our shampoo bottles to our money – from our everyday household items to our mobile phones, from light switches to our urban landscapes. We need to beautify this planet in every aspect, in every corner of the earth. Today especially, design must prove its’ worth and address the inhuman built environment to give us elevated, more pleasurable, more qualitative, aesthetic humanized seamless conditions. Design must evolve us – and create a beautification and betterment for society. In that respect design is needed more than ever!  We should focus on how we can make our world more beautiful, more sustainable, more functional, more fluid.'

 

Eight finalists have been chosen for the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom, the finalists submitted designs ranging from an outdoor classroom for children in inner-city Chicago, learning spaces for the children of salt pan workers in India, safe spaces for youth in Bogota, Colombia, a bamboo classroom in the Himalayan mountains. 

An Illustrated Weekly World of Design, 30 June 2009

 

The Sustainer is a unique solution to produce fuel and electricity in remote rural areas, for example in the African countryside where only 5 to 20 percent of the population have electricity. In many of these situations, access to energy would facilitate development, higher productivity and better education. Moreover, locally available resources can be used instead of expensive imports. 

Says Jan Hein Hoitsma: 'The Sustainer is a containerised installation which can be used in rural areas to convert oil-bearing crops and seeds into edible oil and biodiesel. The seeds are stored in an integrated bunker which feeds the oil press. After the oil has been extracted, it is then refined into edible oil or it can be used as raw material for the biodiesel process. The 'press cake' by-product can be used as livestock feed. Many nuts have shells/husks which can be used as fuel for cooking. An integrated tank unit allows for the biodiesel to be directly dispensed into, for instance, diesel vehicles. The Sustainer is fitted with 4 wind turbines and its side panels consist of foldable solar panels which generate electricity. The electricity can be supplied directly to the grid or can be stored/buffered in a battery pack which can, for instance, provide electricity in the evenings or at night. The Sustainer is also fitted with a 25 kVA generator which runs on diesel or biodiesel and which guarantees a constant supply of electricity. The availability of electricity can make life more comfortable in many areas - just think of a refrigerator, lighting and a computer.' Via Innovation Africa. 

On the topic of sustainable energy, there is continuing support for large farms of solar panels in the Sahara desert that could provide clean electricity for the whole of Europe, according to EU scientists working on a plan to pool the region's renewable energy. The Desertec Foundation is proposing to erect 100 GW of concentrating solar power plants throughout Northern Africa. 

   

We have mentioned OXO before, more known for ergonomic kitchen tools. Now they have used their universal design expertise to innovate the medical syringe, a design that has not changed much in 40 years. The Cimzia pre-filled syringe uses several smart improvements to improve ease of use; a non-slip finger grip, over sized plunger and thumb pad, an oval syringe barrel magnifies graduation and a rounded finger loop for easy removal of pull cap. Via Core77 and Fastcompany. 

The 29th of June was World Industrial Design Day. 'This international day of observance is celebrated in order to raise awareness about the benefits of industrial design in improving our quality of life' icsid.

Plakkies are flip flops using recycled car tires for the soles, an initiative between KidsRights and students of the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at TU Delft. The result is fashionable footwear made by economically disadvantaged people in KwaZulu Natal. 'A special factory was established to facilitate the project with the aim to offer permanent employment in one of the most socially and economically neglected parts of South Africa. The factory now employs 70 untrained residents from slum areas, many of whom are infected with HIV. This job offers them a chance to rebuild their lives, often after years of unemployment' Design.nl. 

Other news from the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering of the Delft University of Technology has developed an industrial design reference wiki; Wikid. Wikid aims to be a design tool, it has 142 articles so far, ranging from design theories to methods and techniques. Via Product Design Hub. 

Between 10 and 5 reports on the final three applicants for the 2009 South African International Young Design Entrepreneur (IYDE) award. The finalists are Given Gugulethu Nkuna, Majolandile Andile Dyalvane and Ricky Lee Gordon. The South African winner will join 8 - 10 other finalists who will visit the UK in September 2009 to undertake a common program where they will take part in valuable networking both with key UK design sector partners and amongst their IYDE peers. The tour will include elements of the London Design Festival program – openings, seminars, and events - concluding at 100% Design.