15 architects 15 chairs

posted by: Rob Alek

Protesters Crash Apple Stores, Demand Apple ‘Manufacture Different’

Today at Apple Stores around the globe, users gathered to deliver a petition calling for Apple to make its next iPhone model “ethical.” The petition’s more than 250,000 signees want Apple to respond to allegations of worker abuse in its Chinese factories, and dedicate itself to developing ethical products in the future.

posted by: Rob Alek

3D printing and the future of product design: Inside Quirky

The short of is that Quirky has a business model based on crowdsourced product ideas. An inventor submits a product concept to Quirky's Web site, where it goes through various phases of community-suggested refinement. Eventually Quirky's own designers vote on a user-submitted, community-honed idea to bring into production. Everyone involved, from the inventor to the participating community members to, of course, Quirky, gets a piece of the revenues from the final product sales.

More in the article

posted by: Rob Alek

Flourish

Flourish Activity Monitor is a cool gadget designed specially to encourage elderly people to stay active. We get weaker as we age, however, it’s really important to stay active by doing daily exercise to increase our balance, strength and independence. This tool helps monitor the progress during everyday activities such as walking, exercising, or biking and many more. Flourish is based on positive reinforcement, the elderly have an instinctive urge to nurture after years of parenting. This tool has been designed to mimic the growth of a living plant, through its visual feedback and positive reinforcement, in order to take care “Flourish”, user is motivated to live a healthy lifestyle. The more it is used, the taller and greener the device will become.

Designer : Brad Mitchell

Posted by Adam Ott

Auto parachute

Before writing anything about this superb auto parachute concept, I would like to say that, “Keep this parachute out of children’s reach”. The reason is, thought this is an active and efficient life saver in case of fire or other disasters in high-rise buildings, kids may find it an adventurous playing idea jumping out of the rooftop, considering the high level of

safety the parachute is offering even for those who have never even seen a parachute before. LOL. Just kidding.

posted by Adam Ott

electric folding bike concept

The name of VEU stands for Vehiculo Electrico Unipersonal or in English Individual Electric Vehicle. As you probably can guess, the main objective of this bike is to design a collapsible bike where you can carry almost anywhere. A bike can carry you from one point to another, like from your house to a bus stop, however, most of the time, you have to leave/park your bike somewhere if you’re going to get on the bus. Using VEU – individual electric vehicle, all you need to do is fold the bike and carry it with

posted by Adam Ott

Solid Gray

Minimalissimo is one of my favorite blogs. If you're at all interested in minimal aesthetic you should add them to your RSS reader. They cover consumer products, architecture, fashion etc.

Solid Gray is a solid backpack to carry and protect your personal items.

Posted By: Jared Brown

The Long Road from Terrorist Attack to Bombproof Trash Cans

Posted by: Jared Brown

Not Far From The Tree: Products and Apps From Former Apple Employees

I'm sure a lot of you have come across this thermostat already, but this article talks about other products including Flipboard for iPad.

Posted by: Jared Brown

Reinier de Jong's Expandable Coffee Table

At least once a year Reinier de Jong designs a new piece that catches our eye, and for 2012 he's graced us with the REK coffee table, related to his expandable bookcase design of the same name. The Rotterdam-based designer has incorporated the perfect-fit sliding panels of that bookcase into a smaller package, creating an adjustable piece of furniture that grows or shrinks with your needs. Concealed, built-in stops ensure you don't pull a particular section out too far, and if you're wondering where you're meant to achieve some purchase with your fingertips, look to the subtle bevels on the inner edges of each slider. The REK, which comes in oak, birch or beech, with laminate on particular surfaces, will stretch from a 60cm x 80cm box out to 130cm x 170cm.

Posted by Rachel Briggs

Christian Dior / Spring 2012 Couture

At the preview of his Christian Dior spring haute couture collection on Sunday evening, Bill Gaytten, the designer entrusted with the house’s creative direction post John Galliano,talked of viewing the iconic look of the house with X-ray vision. Gaytten went on to say he was thinking about transparency versus opacity, of clothes having to be perfect enough to be held up to intense scrutiny, and of floral embroidery that gradated from placement stitches to only-in-Paris-could-you-see-this-level-of-craftsmanship, a commentary on the brilliance of the work needed to conjure up couture.

You can see where I am going with this, can’t you? Work in a state of flux, a forensic eye on everything you create, and the relationship between conceal and reveal; it all marks the current state of the house of Dior, which has been subject to the name game for nearly a year now, with the world guessing as to who is going to permanently replace Galliano. Plenty have been touted. For its part, Dior—and its owner, LVMH—have done nothing but keep a dignified silence over the matter, and just let Gaytten get on with his work. Would that everyone have been so gracious and not contributed to the rumor-mongering that has been going on. Take into account the fact that Dior’s sales have ticked upward in less than a year, too, and perhaps there isn’t the pressure to make a change soon or maybe even ever. Certainly, in Gaytten’s case, he has emerged this season as a perfectly fine keeper of the Dior flame. He didn’t deviate from the house’s heritage as shaped by John Galliano, whose masterly collision of light and air with construction and restriction was extensively riffed on here.

The X-ray idea was evident from the opening look, worn by Karlie Kloss, a white sheer organza coat that looked like Gaytten had belted a cloud with a minimal/clinical black leather, and then proceeded to embroider it with black flowers over its full gauze skirt. From there on, he explored a transparent/opaque, positive/negative, black/white theme through billowing jackets, dresses, full skirts and coats, to a closing series of grand ball dresses, some heavily tiered and concertina-pleated, others fluttering with wispy feathers—all as if putting shadow and light into clothing form. Along the way, he touched on the house’s shade of red, with a finale to end all finales: a dramatically proportioned strapless evening dress on Aymeline Valade. There was also the classic houndstooth worked as an embroidered check on a jacket or pencil skirt. And Gaytten emphasized his stricter, controlled silhouette via the use of faux-tailoring basting stitches. To put this fifties glamour moment across, the models struck the kind of poses they would need to have worked if they’d wanted to convince legendary fashion illustrator (and Dior collaborator) René Gruau to put pen to paper.

In the end, what transpired was a well enough executed show that spoke to what Dior can be by referencing what it once was. Therein lies the rub. With so many creative directors advancing the cause of the role of forward-thinking design in defining their brands—Phoebe Philo at Céline springs to mind, with her cool-girl urbanity, as does Givenchy’s sexed-up tough chic, courtesy of Riccardo Tisci—it feels more important than ever that Dior start pushing into new territory, too, regardless of who’s at the helm. Right now there is a vacancy for pretty, feminine, youthfully elegant clothes drawn for the twenty-first century—and someone should be filling it.

Posted by Rachel Briggs

THE BEND - MODERN ELECTRIC MOPED

The Bend is a modern electric moped which offers urban dwellers the riding experience of a motorcycle with the ownership experience of a bicycle. With the Bend we looked to revitalize the moped with a modern electric drive train and materials, while still evoking the style and emotion of the past. Mopeds, which are traditionally powered by 50cc 2 stroke motors and have pedals, were popular during the 70′s and 80′s during the oil crisis.

One to one drawings, ergo jigs, and full scale card board mock-ups helped us justify our design decisions and helped form the final design. From there we were able to start working in the CAD world while simultaneously working on a full scale prototype. Utilizing metal, wood, and plastics techniques we worked as a team to bring the bend to life. The frame is made from box steel extrusions which were bent on a press, tig welded, and then brazed together. The seat was laminated from 1/8th inch plywood sheets utilizing a vacuum bag and molding jig. Finally the storage bin was created using MDF molds and a vacuum-forming machine.

Posted by : Erin H Perillo

LESS IS MORE

Uniform Wares

Found on one of my husband's favorite websites: mrporter.com

With a classically minimalist design, the Uniform Wares watch is a perfectly understated accessory. Built with a precision Japanese quartz movement for accuracy and functionality, and an aerospace-grade stainless steel case, this watch is as hard-wearing as it is stylish.

SHARED BY MELISSA LEMIEUX

EAMES: THE ARCHITECT AND THE PAINTER

NOW ON NETFLIX!!!

Eames: The Architect and The Painter
2011 NR 84 minutes
This documentary tells the story of the husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames, widely considered America's most important designers. Their creations include furniture, photography, interiors, multimedia exhibits, games and much more.






SHARED BY MELISSA LEMIEUX