PorscheBook? Automaker pushes into social media, but neglects potentially-popularizing design emphasis

September 20, 2010, 10:01 am

≫ Next: London Design Festival 2010: Is Pretty the new S@*T?

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While I think of the heaviest social media users as being in their teens to twenties, and the average 911 or Cayenne driver as older than that, Porsche is making a push to "increase brand engagement across the online space, via content sharing." Porsche's new Origin website is loaded up with self-promotional articles, videos and interactives, and while I expected them to encompass the product space and the many non-automotive objects produced by Porsche Design, for now they seem to be targeting fans of racecars.

If Porsche PR is reading this, I think you guys are missing a trick here: Get us inside PD's design studios--"where the magic is made" so to speak--and you'll definitely have a steady stream of traffic, especially from us!

Those interested in what the site is currently about, hit the jump to see their promotional vid.

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London Design Festival 2010: Is Pretty the new S@*T?

September 20, 2010, 10:17 am

≫ Next: Video: Jim Henson Making Muppets

≪ Previous: PorscheBook? Automaker pushes into social media, but neglects potentially-popularizing design emphasis

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Top: Londonewcastle Project. Bottom: Works by Harry Malt and Stuart Semple.

The first Anti-Design Festival has taken over the area surrounding Redchurch Street in East London. The organisers promise an event that brings 'anarchy, art and antagonism' to 10 venues over the next 10 days.

ADF turns away from commercial outcomes and finished objects, choosing to focus of process, mistakes and manifestos. At the Londonewcastle Project (28 Redchurch Street) there is an 'Open Spike' wall, designed by Martino Gamper, displaying an growing collection of manifestos from various practitioners, promoting debate and critique within the industry.

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Video: Jim Henson Making Muppets

September 20, 2010, 10:20 am

≫ Next: Cooper-Hewitt's Fifth Annual National Design Week, October 9-17

≪ Previous: London Design Festival 2010: Is Pretty the new S@*T?

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We just came across a wondrous little video on making puppets by the master himself, Jim Henson. Along with his hilariously serious mustachio-ed sidekick Don, Henson and a few puppet special guests walk you through turning a styrofoam cup into "Fred," or a wooden spoon, cloth and rubberbands into "Spoonhead." This puppet-making session was taped in 1969, before Sesame Street began airing. His methods are nothing revolutionary, but the video is a great bit of simple "make stuff" inspiration, as Henson's amazingly chill demeanor lulls you into his p(m)uppet world.

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Cooper-Hewitt's Fifth Annual National Design Week, October 9-17

September 20, 2010, 10:49 am

≫ Next: Yahoo's new "Chicken Coop" server farm is a building that breathes

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Winner for Landscape Design: James Corner Field Operations. The High Line, section 1, New York, NY, 2009. Photo: Iwan Baan

The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum is hosting the fifth annual National Design Week, celebrating the National Design Awards. On October 14th, the award recipients will be honored at a gala dinner, and throughout the week, the museum, who will offer temporary free admission, invites the public to a number of educational programs and special events.

Hit the jump for the full schedule.

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Yahoo's new "Chicken Coop" server farm is a building that breathes

September 20, 2010, 11:27 am

≫ Next: Unconvential Design for Teenagers: Mathieu Lehanneur's Studio 13/16 at the Centre Pompidou

≪ Previous: Cooper-Hewitt's Fifth Annual National Design Week, October 9-17

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On a heavy Core77 blogging day, my laptop will become uncomfortably hot. And that's just one machine; you can imagine what kind of blistering heat a server farm must kick out.

Today Yahoo is opening a new data center in upstate New York, and the facility has been innovatively designed to deal with the heat problem. (It looks rather like a physical storage facility, but those aren't roll-up garage doors, they're louvers. Read on.)

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Unconvential Design for Teenagers: Mathieu Lehanneur's Studio 13/16 at the Centre Pompidou

September 20, 2010, 12:18 pm

≫ Next: Cool kitchen tool: The Rotary Peeler

≪ Previous: Yahoo's new "Chicken Coop" server farm is a building that breathes

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Earlier this year, we saw Mathieu Lehanneur's design for a children's workshop at the Centre Pompidou. This fall sees the opening of the Pompidou's teen room, also designed by Lehanneur, a flexible media space that accommodates a range of functional and psychological needs.

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Cool kitchen tool: The Rotary Peeler

September 20, 2010, 1:46 pm

≫ Next: Core77 Gallery: Ars Electronica 2010

≪ Previous: Unconvential Design for Teenagers: Mathieu Lehanneur's Studio 13/16 at the Centre Pompidou

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The Rotary Peeler designed by Damian Evans of Element Design is a beaut; the disc-shaped tool contains three blades that can be rotated into the business end, providing options for peeling potatoes, peeling soft fruit and doing juliennes. And that thing that looks like a zipper pull? It's for digging out potato eyes.

Two things we're not sure of: 1) Is it easy to clean, or can cuttings get stuck within the (thankfully clear) housing? And 2) It's not clear if this is just a concept or a forthcoming product; though attributed to Damian Evans designing for Joseph Joseph, at press time the Rotary Peeler hadn't appeared on either of their websites.

via design rulz

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Core77 Gallery: Ars Electronica 2010

September 20, 2010, 3:07 pm

≫ Next: Portfolio of the Week: Erwan Besancon

≪ Previous: Cool kitchen tool: The Rotary Peeler

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A shut down Tobacco Factory in Linz (Austria) is the perfect location for this year's Ars Electronica, a yearly festival for art technology and society attracting almost 100,000 tech lovers from all over the world. In the context of today's surveillance society, financial bankruptcy and climate crisis, this year's theme REPAIR is a call for action in order move things in the right direction.

REPAIR looks both back and forward with future oriented exhibitions such as CyberArts and Future Factory - and exhibitions on historical awareness such as Requiem For Dying Species and The World In 100 Years. The over 200 performances, productions and installations including human-like robots, robot-like plants, high-tech laboratories and hands-on workshops make visitors understand the beauty and power of repairing and do-it-yourself. All together, this year's festival is about future, change and how to admit failure.

Over three days, Aart van Bezooyen followed this unique event along the Donau river from a rough steel industry site to a delicate research center, also known as the Ars Electronica Center, where the future is born and a robot kid ASIMO makes his debut. Enjoy our gallery and see why those who repair have a future!

>> view gallery

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Portfolio of the Week: Erwan Besancon

September 21, 2010, 7:25 am

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Paris-based designer Erwan Besancon's got a broad portfolio encompassing transportation, product, interiors, apparel, and more, with strong sketching skills, expressive renderings and great color sense. Shown above are some of his watch concepts; hit the jump to see our favorites of his in other categories, or wade through his full book on Coroflot.

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Guidebook for evil designers

September 21, 2010, 8:24 am

≫ Next: OK Go's latest vid, White Knuckles, is a miracle of creative coordination

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To view in fullscreen, click “Menu” (bottom left), then “View Fullscreen”

Harry Brignull has a great presentation on his site DarkPatterns.org that illustrates user interfaces that have been designed to trick users into doing things they wouldn't otherwise have done.

It functions as a guidebook for evil designers -- like the ones who work for low-cost airlines, online retailers or insurance companies.

via Bruce Sterling

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OK Go's latest vid, White Knuckles, is a miracle of creative coordination

September 21, 2010, 8:40 am

≫ Next: MIT's Discover Product Design program: Photo narration of new design students' first week

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It's got nothing to do with design per se, but in terms of raw creativity, OK Go's video for "White Knuckles" is as impressive as ever. The quartet seems determined to make videos that are fiendishly complicated to coordinate, and in this one, not only did they use dogs--a big no-no if you're striving for ease-of-shooting--they primarily used rescue animals, not Hollywood stunt dogs:

As OK Go explains,

For our latest video, White Knuckles, we had the opportunity to work with some amazing collaborators. These four-legged rock stars worked harder (and with a lot less complaining) than we did, and never ceased to make us smile during the extensive training and filming process.

As most of the dogs in this video are rescues, we decided to donate a portion of all proceeds from the sale of the video on our site to animal rescue in this country. The video will be available for sale shortly, at which point you'll be able to buy one of several different video packages as a way of donating. But if you just can't wait that long, don't let us stop you from donating directly to the ASPCA right now.

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MIT's Discover Product Design program: Photo narration of new design students' first week

September 21, 2010, 8:53 am

≫ Next: London Design Festival 2010 On-The-Go: Jasper Morrison's Shop/Gallery

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As a way to introduce product design to incoming MIT students, Mechanical Engineering PhD student Justin Lai formed the Discover Product Design project, a one-week program where the newbies visit both campus facilities and local design firms with cameras in tow.

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London Design Festival 2010 On-The-Go: Jasper Morrison's Shop/Gallery

September 21, 2010, 9:13 am

≫ Next: Saratech Permasorb: Air-cleaning wallpaper

≪ Previous: MIT's Discover Product Design program: Photo narration of new design students' first week

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No photos allowed inside, but it you're in the area, Jasper Morrison's shop/gallery presents much of his SuperNormal exhibition, alongside a really fascinating tray collection and three newly launched products: a watch with Rado, shoes with Camper and a new phone with Punkt. 24b Kingsland Road.

London Design Festival On-The-Go posts are sent to Core77 via MMS by Shai Akram. For more, follow us on twitter.

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Saratech Permasorb: Air-cleaning wallpaper

September 21, 2010, 9:57 am

≫ Next: Pre-order Craighton Berman's Pinch on Kickstarter

≪ Previous: London Design Festival 2010 On-The-Go: Jasper Morrison's Shop/Gallery

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It's possible you grew up in an apartment building where the walls had ears; in coming years, we may live in buildings where the walls have lungs.

German company Blucher Technologies has developed a material called Saratech Permasorb Wallpaper, which is embedded with thousands of tiny spherical absorbers, which are themselves filled with thousands of branching passages that resemble the interior of lungs. These open passages within the spheroids absorb and store pollutants, making this the first wallpaper that actually cleans the air. And the filtration process works from both sides, so the wallpaper will also suck chemical pollutants out of the walls, for those that live in older buildings.

via 3 rings

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Pre-order Craighton Berman's Pinch on Kickstarter

September 21, 2010, 10:05 am

≫ Next: The Hypothtical Development Organization gets real.

≪ Previous: Saratech Permasorb: Air-cleaning wallpaper

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Internet and social media are most satisfying when used to fuel the development of things and experience in the physical world, away from light-emitting screens. Chicago-based designer and Core77 cartoonist Craighton Berman is no stranger to this, using Kickstarter to take pre-orders for the first production run of one of his earliest design products: Pinch, a salt and pepper set that brings the salt cellar from the stovetop to the dining table. Berman demonstrates above.

When launched, project pledges were available in amounts from $1 to $150. Now, all $150 pledges—which buys a first edition Pinch set and a hand-picked selection of spices—are sold out, but you can still pledge anywhere from $75, which is "effectively a pre-order," to $1, which will get your name listed in a hand-drawn thank you note on Berman's blog. Pledge/Pre-order before Oct. 22 to reserve your own set and help make this project real.

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The Hypothtical Development Organization gets real.

September 21, 2010, 10:46 am

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Last November, we told you about one of Rob Walker's concepts for some collective street art: Signs advertising fanciful future-use development plans. Well, now it's actually happening, under the name "The Hypothetical Development Organization...dedicated to the recognition and extension of a new form of urban storytelling." Here's the pitch:

Members of this organization begin the narrative process by examining city neighborhoods and commercial districts for compelling structures that appear to have fallen into disuse--"hidden gems" of the built environment. In varying states of repair, these buildings suggest only stories about the past, not the future.

As a public service, H.D.O. invents a hypothetical future for each selected structure. Unlike a traditional, reality-based developer, however, our organization is not bound by rules relating to commercial potential, practical materials, or physics. In our view, plausibility is a creative dead end. That is to say: We are not trying to fool anybody.

H.D.O. creates convincing renderings of these imagined future uses. These renderings are, in the tradition of the form, printed onto large signs, and shared with the public in general. Each structure selected by H.D.O. will, for a time, present to the world the fascinating potential future we have invented.

Help fund the project on Kickstarter here, and check out the site for ongoing progress.

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The Hypothetical Development Organization gets real.

September 21, 2010, 10:46 am

≫ Next: London Design Festival 2010 On-The-Go: Established & Sons want to catch you for a pint at their local

≪ Previous: The Hypothtical Development Organization gets real.

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Last November, we told you about one of Rob Walker's concepts for some collective street art: Signs advertising fanciful future-use development plans. Well, now it's actually happening, under the name "The Hypothetical Development Organization...dedicated to the recognition and extension of a new form of urban storytelling." Here's the pitch:

Members of this organization begin the narrative process by examining city neighborhoods and commercial districts for compelling structures that appear to have fallen into disuse--"hidden gems" of the built environment. In varying states of repair, these buildings suggest only stories about the past, not the future.

As a public service, H.D.O. invents a hypothetical future for each selected structure. Unlike a traditional, reality-based developer, however, our organization is not bound by rules relating to commercial potential, practical materials, or physics. In our view, plausibility is a creative dead end. That is to say: We are not trying to fool anybody.

H.D.O. creates convincing renderings of these imagined future uses. These renderings are, in the tradition of the form, printed onto large signs, and shared with the public in general. Each structure selected by H.D.O. will, for a time, present to the world the fascinating potential future we have invented.

Help fund the project on Kickstarter here, and check out the site for ongoing progress.

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London Design Festival 2010 On-The-Go: Established & Sons want to catch you for a pint at their local

September 21, 2010, 11:16 am

≫ Next: London Design Festival 2010 On-The-Go: Norwegian Prototypes

≪ Previous: The Hypothetical Development Organization gets real.

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Everyday from 6-8, it's happy hour at the Wenlock Arms, courtesy of Established & Sons, whose offices are opposite the East End pub. Anyone and everyone is welcome—as long as you like the ale on offer! You'll be given a token to swap for pint to enjoy while sitting on furniture in specially commissioned colours. Cheers! Wenlock Arms, Wenlock Street, N1.

London Design Festival On-The-Go posts are sent to Core77 via MMS by Shai Akram. For more, follow us on twitter.

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London Design Festival 2010 On-The-Go: Norwegian Prototypes

September 21, 2010, 12:47 pm

≫ Next: IDEO's Future of the Book

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Norwegian Prototypes 2010 showcases new work based on hand luggage dimensions. Opening party tonight from 7-9pm, happening now! Leonard street, ec2a.

London Design Festival On-The-Go posts are sent to Core77 via MMS by Shai Akram. For more, follow us on twitter.

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IDEO's Future of the Book

September 21, 2010, 1:25 pm

≫ Next: BMW is seeking a Senior Visual Interaction Designer in Newbury Park, CA

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Today IDEO released a five-minute video exploring the future of digital books. Their illustrated concepts highlight some interesting opportunity areas in the publishing industry through three distinct reading experiences:

Nelson reinforces books as critical thinking tools, providing multiple perspectives, references, and current conversations on a single subject. The layers of information beyond the book itself provide greater context and encourages a deeper dive into the book throughout history and into the future.

Coupland addresses the challenge to stay on top of the thinking and writing in our world and professional field that so many of us feel. Readers can easily keep up with "must-reads" by following what colleagues are reading and interact with them through "book clubs" and other social layers (discussions, suggestions, lists, purchases) to help each other share and learn.

Alice explores new ways for users to interact and affect written narratives by introducing non-linear and game mechanics to reading. By introducing the reader's active participation, this concept "blurs the lines between reality and fiction." Certain interactions allow the reader to transcend traditional media by utilizing geographic location, communication with characters, and user contribution to storyline and plot.

The Future of the Book from IDEO on Vimeo.

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