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Analog Modern's Secret Garden for Your Kitchen

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ModelCitizensNYC-AnalogModern-0.jpgWhat's in the box?

Almost exactly a month ago, we had the opportunity to visit the studio of Peter Buley (a.k.a. Analog Modern), where he was working on a second iteration of a concept that he first explored in 2010. Model Citizens NYC saw the debut of the Hydroponic Kitchen Island Mk.II.

This kitchen island grows culinary herbs right in your kitchen. The solid maple mitered frame is bleached and then whitewashed. Two stand alone ebb and flow hydroponic systems are nested in a cedar drawer system directly under two LED and two T5 High-output CFL grow lights. 60W × 33D × 36H. Custom iterations are available upon request.

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The new island takes the original idea in a somewhat different direction: in contrast to the worktable aesthetic of the first version, the 2012 model is rather more understated, both in terms of the softer finish and the fully concealed hydroponic system.

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Advances in Google Maps: Trekker, 3D and Offline

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"Lost, we are.
Go left, I said.
Go right, you did.
Listen well, you do not."

At a press conference yesterday Google revealed their Trekker, a backpack-based camera array that the operator straps onto their back like freaking Yoda. It enables Google to capture Street View where there are no streets. Ditching cars for a more Lewis-&-Clark mode of travel, G-Mappers can now open up entirely new vistas while burning a few extra calories.

"Wheels only get you so far," explained Brian McClendon, Google Maps' Vice President of Engineering. "There's a whole wilderness out there that is only accessible by foot. Trekker solves that problem by enabling us to photograph beautiful places such as the Grand Canyon so anyone can explore them."

A second thing they announced is that they've been renting fleets of airplanes. Why? To capture data for their forthcoming 3D addition to Google Maps, which combines aerial photography and software to create an insanely lifelike mapping experience. Teaser vid below:

A third, and pretty awesome, feature they announced is the ability (for Android users) to download Google Maps for offline use. If you're taking a jaunt overseas and don't want to pay for international roaming, you can download maps of your destination city, store them on your phone, and access the maps while leaving your phone's connection off. Pretty freaking sweet.

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"Lost AGAIN, we are.
Go RIGHT, I said...."

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DIY Furniture 2: Calling all DIY Furniture Builders

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DIYFurniture_1.jpegDIYFurniture_2.jpegThe Panther by Volido, excerpt from the original DIY Furniture Book

Although we love to checkout (and write about) beautiful home furnishings, there's really nothing more satisfying than building it yourself. And as we shared in our 2011 End of Year/End of the World Gift Guide, the DIY Furniture Book is a step-by-step guide to building your own, modern furnishings for home or bomb shelter!

Lucky for all you DIY builders, the editors of DIY Furniture are preparing for a sequel with a call for submissions. Along with the editor's curated list of designers, they are seeking works from builders like you!

Use readily available off-the-shelf parts (from the hardware store or online like McMaster-Carr) as the materials for your original design. No variations or reproductions of existing designs! The goal is to create unique gallery/boutique worthy furniture that no one has seen before.

Submit your designs today. The call for submissions wrapsup on June 15th.

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David Rasmussen's WUD Plates to See Sharp Sales In-Klein

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It's not often that something as mundane as a dish draws design attention, but furniture designer David Rasmussen's sweet-looking WUD Plates caught my eye.

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The Danish-Modern-looking platters, made from solid walnut or maple, began life last year as a custom order from a coffee shop local to Rasmussen; customers began clamoring for them, and soon the Colorado-based designer found that every batch he made "immediately sold out."

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Since then the WUD plates have come to the attention of one Calvin Klein, who liked them so much he's commissioned a charger and tray for his furniture line. Not too shabby, Rasmussen!

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Fantastic Glassware by Niels Cosman

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Designer Niels Cosman hasn't ventured far from his hometown of Boston, setting up shop at a couple notable outposts on I-95: Cosman is adjunct faculty at his alma mater RISD's Glass Department with an additional studio in Brooklyn, bouncing between the three cities as his practice develops. Although he's currently looking to get out of NYC and establish a more permanent space in Beantown, Cosman was one of several dozen designers who exhibited at Model Citizens NYC this past spring. Geographical stability aside, the mechanical engineer (M.I.T. 2005) turned designer made a strong showing during NY Design Week.

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"Acorn Pods" are a series of one-of-a-kind display cases for small objects, bell jars set on three-legged wooden stands.

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The "Geodesics" paperweights are a scored with a triangular pattern on the bottom in homage to Buckminster Fuller. (The angular scoring also suggests Dead Kennedys.)

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The "Stampo" cups take their name from the not-quite-obvious technique by which they're made: "These colorful cups are named from the Italian glassblowing technique called "mezzostampo," meaning partially molded. In this case, each cup is given a good kick in the bottom leaving the impression of a boot-print."

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"Urban Outlaw" Doc Follows a Man Obsessed with the Porsche 911

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If only Butzi Porsche were around to see this upcoming documentary. Industry Films' Urban Outlaw follows Magnus Walker, an Los Angeles-based Porsche customizer completely obsessed with the 911.

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"The 911's just such an iconic shape, you know, it's the classic Porsche," says Walker. "When people think of Porsche, they think of 911."

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Walker's mission in life (aside from fixing Porsches up to make a living) is to collect 911's from every year of their production, from 1964 to 1973. He's one car away from realizing his dream. But enough talk—peep the trailer, full-screen please:

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"Hey Six-Eyes!" 4occhi Eyewear from Giulio Iacchetti

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Your jaded correspondent rarely sees a product design that causes an LOL, but this one did it. Giulio Iacchetti's tongue-in-chic take on failing eyesight—he's had horrible vision since the age of ten—yielded his 4occhi ("four eyes") eyeglasses, which saves the user the trouble of having to carry regular glasses and sunglasses, or regulars and reading. (It's a more extreme take on the horizontally-symmetrical glasses we showed you at the link below, but these will raise more eyebrows. While your own eyebrows are framed by the upper lenses.)

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Though inspired by the classic bifocals, these glasses leave the wearer free to choose which lenses to use: for distance or close-up, for the sun or night use, for eye relaxation, for the mid-distance. Two pairs in one, to turn upside down for lens selection.

Simple in concept but highly original in construction. The frames for this first, limited-series production are made by hand in Cadore from cellulose acetate, a plant-based plastic (the same once used for manufacturing combs and buttons) derived from cotton and wood fibers.

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If you haven't already, be sure to check out our Q&A with Iacchetti from last year.

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Sofia Design Week 2012: Design and Happiness Courtesy of Stefan Sagmeister

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SDW-Sagmeister-Forum.jpgReporting by Temenouzhka Zaharieva. Images by Michail Novokav and Dimitar Dimitrov.

"Can happiness be manipulated?" was my natural question after Stefan Sagmeister, one of the most interesting guest speakers at the Sofia Design Week 2012 Professional Forum. "Yes!" Sagmeister answered, "Happiness can be trained like we do with fitness training."

Austrian by birth, based in New York, the designer has had his own agency, Sagmeister Inc., since 1993. Last month, all of this changed when Sagmeister Inc. relaunched as Sagmeister & Walsh with an eye-catching announcement (warning, NSFW) to prove that "we'd do anything for design." Using his own body to make a design statement is not new for Sagmeister—he also employed this tactic with his famous AIGA poster from 1999 advertising a speaking engagement at Cranbrook by carving the details onto his torso.

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With a stellar list of clients, including Lou Reed, the Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, The Guggenheim Museum and Levi's, Stefan Sagmeister certainly needs no introduction. He explains that he is trying to stay small and to work only on projects which he finds interesting, but they include a wide range: the design of magazines, advertisements, posters, installations, films and books. His work often involves experiments in which the main protagonist is himself.

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Sagmeister has an established tradition: every 7 years he closes the studio for experiments—a year-long sabbatical in exotic places. "The sabbaticals are the best strategy that I have come to in my life", said he. On the last such leave in Bali he began working on a feature length documentary that explores happiness and that seeks to prove whether people can consciously increase their own happiness. [Editors Note: See the review from Sagmeister's screening in New York City last fall] The film is still in production. The organizers of the festival explain that Stefan Sagmeister agreed to speak at the forum of Sofia Design Week provided that we contribute to its implementation.

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BMW Group DesignworksUSA is seeking a Sr. Automotive Exterior Designer in Shanghai, China

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Sr. Automotive Exterior Designer
BMW Group DesignworksUSA

Shanghai, China

BMW Group DesignworksUSA, a global design consultancy, is seeking a team member for their Shanghai studio specializing in Automotive Exterior Design to create innovate exterior design concepts for all BMW Group brands (BMW, BMW i, MINI, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars). The ideal candidate has experience with all phases of the design process, from ideation throughout production. The designer will create compelling and appropriate design proposals for various concept and production vehicles in form of sketches, renderings and 3D digital models.

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The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.

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Creative Re-Usage, Part 3: Raffaele Iannello's Upside Down Ceiling Fan

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While this project is a bit of a stretch for the "Creative Re-Usage" heading, it's too fun not to include: The Upside Down ceiling fan is a 1:6 scale model—with working props, obviously—of a Hughes MD 500 helicopter, a 1970s civilian version of a military spotter 'copter.

Produced by Milan-based industrial designer Raffaele Iannello (remember his dark take on knife racks?), the Upside Down is made from fiberglass and aluminum, with carbon-fiber blades that rotate at three speed settings, controlled by the user via remote control. Perfect for circulating the air in your living room while you watch Blue Thunder and old episodes of "Airwolf."

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"You can save a bunch on utilities"

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DesignMarketo's BREADWorkShop at Design is Human Week, Atlanta

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Food-design instigators DesignMarketo are at it again. The duo is taking their BREADWorkShop and Bar Alto installation on the road from London to Atlanta this weekend for the fifth annual Design is Human Week. We wrote about Bar Alto during it's debut at London Design Festival 2011. The installation pays homage to the infamous late-night afterparty destination for the fashion and design illuminati, Bar Basso in Milan.

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But we're most excited about the BREADWorkShop—an ongoing project from DesignMarketo's Alexandre Bettler. What started out as a graduate project for RCA has evolved into a multi-city conversation exploring the intersection of local bread-baking recipes and individual manufacturing. Like ceramics, bread is "fired" in an oven to produce a final product. As Bettler explains in an interview:

For my dissertation at the RCA, i wanted first to research about tea, as i was interested in the fact that it has an important role both in Japan and UK, both countries that I like the design and traditions from. So I researched about it but couldn't go very far. But I also found out about japanese ceramics and I specially appreciated the concept of being able to do individual mass production. That connected with my interest in medium size production (mainly in printing industry).

I then found out about the bread (baking as a way to individually mass produce, both bread and ceramics). I then found out about the co-pain idea about friends and started to see a connection with my concepts of communication, and my interests not on the design but more on the process to arrive there. One of the sentence i really like about communication comes from my mum and I think it is a very important rule for design: The important is not what you say, but what the other understands. So good! So, I found out that the best thing to get to that level of communication is to get the Receiver to designer the message. By doing this, I could make sure that he (but also people of his same level/language/understanding) will understand it perfectly.

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Zombie Furniture Returns from the Grave

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caldwell4.jpgAll images courtesy BRC Designs.

When South Carolina-based furniture designer Benjamin Rollins Caldwell, of BRC Designs, flew out to Ghana, he knew he'd be in for a unique opportunity to develop his design practice. He began an apprenticeship with Eric Adjetey Anang, the famous coffin designer near Accra, Ghana's capital. Caldwell would join Anang's crew, creating custom coffins that reflect the individual's hopes, dreams, hobbies and/or lifestyle. Some of Anang's more famous designs range from a mobile phone to a fish to a bottle of alcohol.

"Building coffins was the hardest work in my life (literally)," Caldwell explained in an interview with Core77. "I have so much respect for Eric, working in the heat and using mostly hand tools as opposed to power tools. It took me a while to grasp the construction of the coffins and how they are put together."

caldwell5.jpgEric Adjetey Anang at work in his studio building a new coffin.

And after all that hard work, the coffins, like Tibetan mandalas, would be appreciated briefly during the ceremony, only to be buried and never seen again. "I experienced mixed feeling during the actual burial," noted Caldwell, "as this artful coffin we built was now being buried in the ground never to be seen again, and yet at the same time serving its purpose of providing a resting place for the corpse it contained. This made me realize that coffin making is really about the process of building the coffin and not necessarily about the final result (although the final result is quite stunning)."

Caldwell's newest line emerged from this work, as he realized he wanted to focus on process as well, while creating something of functional value. And so the Risen in 30 Days line was born, a series of "zombie furniture" pieces. He and his assistants dig holes in the ground and lay plastic down. Due to the variation in the ground, the exact shape always varies. After dropping in a little sand, they place concrete into a mold, upside down, and let it set for 30 days. After this one-month incubation, they unearth the furniture.

caldwell2.jpgUnearthing the furniture pieces, which are buried underground.

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June News: Complete Coverage of NY Design Week + New Columns by Don Norman and Steve Portigal

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Core77 sends a monthly newsletter with our favorite news stories, job listings, Coroflot portfolios and Discussion Forum topics of the Month! Subscribe Today!

Greetings Design Fans,

After the whirlwind of NY Design Week, we're excited to bring you our full coverage of the best and brightest from the week's festivities including editor's picks, photo gallery and more! Speaking of the best and brightest, check out the full gallery of Core77's debut All City All Stars exhibition during NY Design Week—we showcased 35 New York City-based designers representing all five boroughs in our showcase!

Our two newest columns arrive just in time for summer reading—Steve Portigal argues for the Power of Bad Ideas. And as you rev-up the engine on your summer vacation plans, take a moment to contemplate Don Norman's newest column on automobile reviews. But before you get too relaxed, MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the live announcements of the 2012 Core77 Design Awards. July 8-16. 9 Days. 17 Categories. Eight Countries. 74 Jurors. Live!!

Happy Summer,
LinYee Yuan
Managing Editor

FLOTSPOTTING

Vivi Feng - Brooklyn, New York
Michael Barthels - Berlin, Germany
Jean-Francois Fullum - North Reading, Massachusetts
Matt Betteker - Billund, Denmark
Ivan Ponce - Portland, Oregon

» Check out our full
June Newsletter here

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Plant-in City, Bringing Nature In a Box

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When Frederick Law Olmstead developed his vision for Central Park in 1857, he was inspired by the picturesque and privately owned gardens he had visited in England and France, vast greenery that was at once organic and controlled. The New York City park was revolutionary for the time as it was a public space where all people could enjoy the virtues of nature, despite social standing. Today, New Yorkers are still looking for ways to commune with nature and creatively imbue the city scale with greenery, stacking plant life on top of man-made structures like the Highline, rooftop farming or yesterday's news about kitchen island hydroponics.

Then comes the Plant-in City art installation, developed by a collaboration of NY architects, designers, and developers. The handsome terrariums made of cedar frames, copper pipes for water, digital sensors, and integrated lighting bring picturesque gardens into your home or office. The Plant-in collaboration contains the sense of park in your private space, the lighting and boxed frames lend themselves to punctuating the vitality of living plants, much like a still life. The boxes are equal parts art, science experiment, and high design. Huy Bui of HB Collaborative says that he and his partners, Med44, in the Plant-in City project spend a lot of time indoors surrounded by technology and hardware and were "looking for an opposing force to balance all of that and considered creating a living wall."

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The QU-BD Open Source Universal 3D Printer Extruder

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The QU-BD (pronounced "cubed") project on Kickstarter seeks to make 3D printing cheaper and more precise, at least for the tech-savvy. Aimed squarely at those who are already familiar with 3D printers, QU-BD is an open-source mission to improve the individual components of 3D extruders, buy raw materials in bulk to produce those components inexpensively, and sell the parts piecemeal.

To that end the QU-BD team has purchased, used, and torn apart different 3D printers on the market, then come up with their first replacement part:

Essentially what we did is take Makerbot's open-source design and improve reliability by replacing the hobbed gear with a 20 tooth spur gear (ala Makergear) with a groove machined into it which centers the filament along the axis of movement; this majorly cuts down on any slipping or stripping.

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Q: How much does this improved gear cut down on stripping?
A: Majorly!

We also changed the 'plunger' to allow for much smoother engagement and precision during adjustment. The extruder is also ready to go for dual-extrusion for those that want to experiment, you would just need to get two of them instead of one! All the parts of the extruder are CNC machined in house at our mini machine shop.
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Sofia Design Week 2012: CHERGA >> fast forward

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SDW-cherga-milena_irena_1.jpgReporting by Temenouzhka Zaharieva. Milena Paleva and Irena Pamukova "Bent Stool"

CHERGA is a group of young Bulgarian designers working together with common goals, regardless of differences in temperament, way of working and style. During this year's Sofia Design Week they presented their latest products, prototypes, designs and concepts.

CHERGA is the Bulgarian word for rug, specifically the kind with horizontal stripes of different colors and widths. The name was chosen because it suits the nature and diversity of the Bulgarian people. The goals which members of the CHERGA have set are:

- building a professional working environment for designers of furniture products and interiors;
- establishing a comprehensive vision of Bulgarian design through participation in competitions, exhibitions and cultural events;
- involvement of institutions and businesses in Bulgaria to support the development and promotion of Bulgarian design;
- establishing a formal organization of industrial designers in Bulgaria - a unified information system that allows easy communication between members, businesses, institutions and other organizations.

SDW-cherga-Elefante-naif.JPGElefante Stool by Naïf

The CHERGA >>fast forward exhibition showcases the work of 18 designers including:

A project by design team naïf—Irena Pamukova and Giacomo Baruzzi Vaj—is 1000 kilometers a virtual room between Sofia and Milano where you can 'meet' others to design, talk, create and dream. The products presented are used for furnishing of this room: "Elefante" stool, "Nero/Slancio" is a table which is half used for work and the other half is made to be more comfortable for serving and eating, "BUL_dog" is the dog that meets you at the door and a lamp to light the room made of fishing-net.

SDW-cherga-NeroSlancio-naif.jpgNero/Slancio Table

SDW-cherga-BUL_dog-naif.JPGBul_dog

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Wood for Your Ride

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On Monday we showed you a wooden wallet by an Idaho-based couple. Today we we've got another not-typically-made-from-wood item by another design duo, this one out of Canada: F&Y's bicycle handlebars.

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Frederique and Yannic are Montreal-based designer-woodworkers currently working on a line of furniture. But while that's on the boil, the pair have released the Les Classiques wooden handlebars line, borne of their love of cycling.

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Milk-Crate-Inspired ID Grad Hits a Quirky Target

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When it comes to DIY modular storage, it's no wonder that the milk crate has been a dorm room and shop staple for decades: It's stackable, sturdy, easy to move around, and for college students they're easy to come by if that supermarket's loading dock doesn't have any surveillance cameras.

Atlanta-based industrial designer Jenny Drinkard decided to take the milk crate to the next level. After bringing it through the Quirky process, the now-ready-for-primetime Crates feature accessories like shelves, drawers, connectors, wheels, legs, and protrusions for hanging stuff like corkboards and cable clips:

By the bye, Crates is Quirky's first product manufactured in the U.S., with the mold coming from a toolmaker in New Jersey being used for final production in Vermont. You can catch some shots of the tooling process in the video below.

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A Royal Flush of Fonts with Helveticards

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Helvetica. It's a font. It's a movie. And now it's a set of cards. Tennessee designer Ryan Myers has released Helveticards, a gorgeous set of playing cards with—you guessed it—Helvetica as both the type for the cards but also the  cards' primary subject matter.

As Myers explains on his site, "I wanted to take a new approach on how the cards are used and bring them to a more usable and modern design." Indeed, the cards themselves read more like a study in typography, with one big, gorgeous character as the centerpiece. The further utilize the font, Myers spells out each number ("Five of Hearts", for instance) in black and white. And even the suits lack serifs: the clubs, for instance, are basically three circles collided together, with no stem.

Printed in high gloss, the cards are almost too nice to play with, more apropos of a gallery exhibition than a casino room. But at $10 for a deck, they'd make a fine addition to any designer's studio—or poker table.

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Hat tip to Curiosity Counts

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InteriorLifestyle Tokyo: Traditional Japanese Woodwork Abound

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Japan has a rich tradition of carpentry, among other arts and crafts, which was represented in a full gamut of materials, techniques and products at InteriorLifestyle Tokyo. While we've already had a look at Ishinomaki's community-oriented approach, there were several other notable wood specialists throughout the show. Here are three of our favorites:

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Yoshihara Wood Works

Designer Keiji Yoshihara hails from Misumi Town in Shimane Prefecture, where he has mastered the technique of kumiko: creating pattern and form from precisely cut, interlocking strips of wood. While the method is over 800 years old, mechanical accuracy certainly helps to minimize the margin of error, freeing the designer to explore new possibilities for the process of 'weaving' the strips together.

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The kaze (wind) lamp has no glue or screws: the curvature is based on the infinitesimal angles at which each strip of hinoki (cypress) is cut. Yoshihara's description is succinct: "Bracketed wooden wall lamp shade made with the shape of 'wind' in mind."

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The designer has also adapted the technique to create what he calls "Border Kumiko," which can serve as subtle lighting, elegant trim or more overt (yet still understated) decorative wall-mounted elements.

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