Design Trends
The Scope Camera for Kids
This prototype by designer Bas Groenendaal
is an easy-to-use camera for kids that encourages them to interact
directly with their surroundings from a fun, new perspective. Inspired
by James Nachtwey’s TED Prize wish,
The Scope is shaped like a car steering-wheel and has a windowless
viewfinder, helping bring the photographer closer to the action and
his/her subject. The picture is captured with a simple squeezing of the
sides of the wheel. Groenendaal designed the camera “to be used as a
therapeutic instrument for underprivileged children, e.g. children
living in (former) warzones. Children can take photographs and
self-portraits in order to rediscover their environment and identity,
and share their point of view with others.” TED Blog explains more:
Design Trends
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Touch Sight: A Camera For the Blind
Urban Electric bike for US market. (Sonja knows the designer and the model!)
A clever name, a clever design and a solid premise — now, if only we didn’t see a set of front and rear pegs along with Dave Mirra grinding down a stairwell each time we looked at it, we could actually take this thing seriously. Unfortunately for our childish hopes, Ultra Motors’ A2B electric bike actually won’t be used in the next X-Games, but it may just get you to and from your downtown apartment. This comparatively small electric bike features a full suspension setup, an oversized seat and a battery arrangement that provides 20 miles of travel without a touch of the pedal. Also of note, riders can reach speeds of up to 20mph (or 50mph if traveling downhill, so we hear), and an optional secondary battery can double the aforesaid distance capability. Look for this one to hit authorized dealers next month for a presumably lofty amount of scratch.
Kids’ spaces
Ask a child what their favorite subject is at school, and chances are they’ll say recess. It’s the one time during the day when they are almost absolutely free to make decisions for themselves – from who to play with, what to play, and where to play. And as children grow, the social dynamics of who can play where shifts and an age-based pecking order ensues.
The Netherlands-based design team at Carve integrate architectural expression into their playground design thereby generating unique play experiences for children of all ages. Don’t let the kids know, however that the Carve team strives to encourage a cognitive process – even during free time. This new equipment and play structures stimulate decision-making, group and continuous play (use of the same equipment in varying way) encouraging children to climb, hang, swing, skate, slide, run, jump, vault, hide.
One of Crave’s creation in particular, the wall-holla, has received special notoriety as it was nominated for the Dutch Design Awards in 2006. Thirty children at once can climb, crawl, roll and maneuver through the large fence-like structure. Older children are able to scale the climbing wall or just relax and look out over the domain they’ve waited countless years to control. By Andrew J Weiner.
Kids indoor spaces
Playground in Berlin
China’s internet access has been plagued with rumors of restricted browsing, missing articles and even bloggers who can’t publish to their personal sites.
The Freedom Stick gets around this problem. This €20 ($30) USB dongle is pre-loaded with software which will secure the communications of any computer it is slotted into. Made available by Germany’s Chaos Computer Club, the stick uses the TOR (The Onion Router) network to cloak your connections, routing traffic around the world through anonymous computers, thus avoiding detection.
The name is a little antagonistic but that’s the point, you can actually achieve the same hack with a software solution. Still how bad can getting detained by Chinese customs over issues of censorship really be.
Andy Gilmore Graphics
Artist Andy Gilmore
 
Take a look at these incredible abstract and retroesque pieces by designer and illustrator Andy Gilmore. Born, raised and based in Rochester, New York, Gilmore applies the understanding of one practice with the other - applying the proportions of harmony to form and color - colors as chords - and scales as tonal gradations, in order to create these geometric works of art.
If you love his work as much as we do, you can get your hands on a print (or even a t-shirt) over at Esty. - Brendan McKnight
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Interactive Goolge Earth
Cool interactive Google Earth. Check video at: http://uk.gizmodo.com/2008/07/04/interactive_touch_sensitive_ho.html
An interesting development of the touch-sensitive table technology.
Set an effort-based goal.
If you’re honest with yourself, you probably already know which tools in your box need sharpening, and setting yourself a specific goal for improvement is the obvious next step. Creative growth can be difficult to measure, so the most effective short-term goals are usually based on effort rather than quality:
-”I will sketch for one hour after work every day until the end of the month.”
-”I will design four album covers for a band that I like by the end of the summer.”
-”I will learn enough animation to make a one minute movie about my last project by September 1.”
The beauty of goals like this is that they lift the heavy burden of performance from your labors; a burden which, paradoxically, can prevent you from doing your best work. Bill Buxton’s recent book recounts the story of a friend teaching a ceramics class, who chose to divide the students into those whose grade would be based on the quality of their best piece, and those graded purely on volume of output. Across the board, the best work came from the latter group: freed of the pressure to perform perfectly, they instead created prolifically, learning and experimenting in the process, with little fear of failure.
Setting a “volumetric” goal like this for yourself can achieve similar results, and has the added benefit of coaxing you into a more flexible mindset regarding skill-building in general.
Design Trends
Microsoft gives glimpse of the Sphere
Are You Ready to Go Green?
The science is in: The time to save the planet is now. But going green isn’t just about reversing global warming. It also means creating safer places for your kids and pets to play, improving your own heath, and saving money. But if you think going green demands a radical overhaul of your life, think again. In Treehugger’s new book, Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living, our super-savvy green staff shows you how to make the simple adjustments that can get you started on your way to living a green life. Already a card-carrying member of the green brigade? Our program can help you take it to the next level.
If you’re tired of scanning lists of green tips that don’t apply to your life, Ready, Set, Green can help. Our goal wit this book is to debunk common eco-myths and equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to achieve a lifestyle of health and sustainability, whether you’re a soccer mom or a rock star. From the truth about what’s in your sunscreen to assessing the air quality of your home and workplace, this week-by-week plan can help you shift into a state of pure, green bliss.
Barack Style: Providing a stylish yet clear approach to speaking your mind without saying anything at all, the statement tee has become a popular wardrobe choice among consumers. Depending on the issue at hand, one might be able to get a clear read of what’s going on in the minds of consumers just by looking at their t-shirts. Speaking to this trend, CafePress, a popular online destination for consumer submitted t-shirt designs, has got some hard numbers that seem to indicate where young people’s political allegiance lies (or at least that of the creative DIY crowd…who like to submit t-shirt designs). Pitting the number of t-shirt designs featuring Barack Obama with those featuring John McCain, as ofthis morning Obama is in the lead with about 26,000 t-shirt designs while there are just 6,400 McCain designs. Either way, the t-shirts are way cooler than anything available during the Reagan administration; our favorite designs include “John is my homeboy”, “Barack to the Future” and “My Mama’s For Obama.”
You can be a materials geek if you want–you can think titanium’s the coolest, or carbon fiber bike frames are full of awesome. Maybe you’re a little more esoteric and dream about aerogels or aramids, or maybe nanocoatings. But in the end, the only title that really matters is Strongest Material in the World, and that title’s just been granted to…something you’ve never heard of.
It’s called graphene, and anyone familiar with molecular structures probably won’t be surprised to know that the new Strongest Material Ever is mostly carbon, the same building block in diamond and buckytubes. The difference with graphene is it lays neatly in a sheet one molecule thick, like ultra-thin plastic wrap. If plastic wrap could do this:
[Columbia professor James] Hone compares his test to stretching a piece of plastic wrap over the top of a coffee cup, and measuring the force that it takes to puncture it with a pencil. If he could get a large enough piece of the material to lay over the top of a coffee cup, he says, graphene would be strong enough to support the weight of a car balanced atop the pencil.
The catch, as you may have surmised from the quote, is that graphene has so far only been synthesized in extremely small pieces, making it useful for high-conductivity transistors, but not so much for physical applications. No word yet on when you’ll be able to run to the fabric store and buy a yard or two for making the ultimate shred-proof parachute pants. Assuming you could figure out how to cut the stuff.