While the 751 D.Park (D is for Design) abides by the tried-and-true quasi-industrial gallery crawl and Caochangdi is a purpose-built artist village, Dashilar is arguably the heart and soul of Beijing Design Week, and this year's program sees the launch of an exciting new initiative to examine the future of the neighborhood, which is historically significent to the extent that it simply has not been demolished or developed. I won't pretend to know enough about the Chinese real estate boom to speak to the broader sociopolitical context of what Dashilar represents as a swath of Old Beijing, adjacent to the recklessly reinvented Qianmen area—itself a part of Tiananmen Square—but as a pocket (in shape and relative size) of an ever-expanding city, the largely residential neighborhood has become a case study for an emergent hybrid of preservation and modernization.

Which is a long way of saying that this year's exhibitors include a series of architectural proposals alongside the local makers, plus an infusion of Dutch design, courtesy of guest city Amsterdam—each contingent represented roughly equally amongst the 40+ total exhibitors. True to the spirit of Old Beijing, the topography of the streets resembles a maze drawn by a child, and Kenya Hara's quasi-3D depiction looks something like a cross between the architectural version of "Where's Waldo" and some kind of biological scan.

wants a Sr. Footwear Designer
in Canton, Massachusetts

Reebok was the first company to transcend the lines between fitness and fashion. Today, this core spirit of Reebok is celebrated in the global range of unparalleled footwear, apparel and accessories they create.

If you want in on the passion and heritage that drives this brand, they are looking for a Senior Footwear Designer for their Reebok Classics line. This person will ensure that each product meets the category's product brief and the seasonal design direction, and be responsible for researching trends, ideation of new concepts and creating compelling footwear product to meet the Classics brand aesthetic.

So is Reebok a fit for you? Apply Now to find out.

Tim Zaman is doing a PhD in "photothermal tomography" (hi-tech imaging, to nutshell it) at Delft, presumably because his background in biorobotics and mechanical engineering was not challenging enough. And his work is insane. Not only has he X-rayed a Rembrandt to discover ghost figures that were painted over and altered for the "final cut..."

...but he's worked out an extraordinarily detailed 3D scanning technique. Using two Nikons, a projector, and his proprietary blend of herbs and spices, Zaman is able to scan paintings with such detail that he can accurately map brushstrokes down to the micron level.

As if that wasn't enough, he is then able to render the resultant scan--and use an Oce printer that combines graphics and 3D printing to duplicate the painting precisely:

Can you guess what this is?

Okay, classic American car lovers, time for a little quiz. We've purposely blurred the photos below, now tell us what you see:

Easy one, right? '69 Mustang Fastback?

Clearly a Dodge Challenger, with something stuck in the center of the grill?

You'd recognize those Dodge Charger taillights anywhere, no?

That's obviously a Firebird, with some kind of special front end?

The answers are nope, nope, nope and nope:

When you think about digitally fabricating metal, you probably picture steel powder or something unusual like Alumide, which is nylon laced with aluminum dust. But now Shapeways has added a simultaneously new and old-school flavor to their mix: Brass.

They're offering the stuff in three finishes: Gold-Plated, for when bling is the thing; Polished, which has a slightly more-subdued-than-gold yellowish tint; and Raw, for that classy, rustic look. While Shapeways will actually have your Gold-Plated and Polished finishes hand-rubbed for smoothness, the Raw will be left alone, providing a rough-surfaced matte finish for those looking to create antique effects.

Unsurprisingly, this stuff doesn't come out of the machine in one go:

[Our] Brass models are fabricated using a complex five-step process. First, the model is printed in wax using a specialized high-resolution 3D Printer. It is then put in a container where liquid plaster is poured in around it. Once the plaster sets, the wax is melted out in a furnace, and the remaining plaster becomes the mold. Molten brass is poured into this mold and set to harden. The plaster is broken away, revealing your new product. Raw Brass is briefly tumbled. Polished and Gold Plated Brass are carefully cleaned and hand polished. Gold Plated Brass goes through a final electroplating process for an outside coat of 22k gold. Please be aware that polishing and plating can wear down or fill in very fine details and edges.

Thanks to this tip from 3Ders.org, would-be brass orderers can enter the code "oc3mv" on Shapeways' site to get a 10% discount on the Polished and Raw stuff. But hurry—the offer expires at 9pm (EST) on October 2nd.

Get it here: Core77 '80s Reissue Shark Poster - Only $11.00! Limited Edition, Limited Time!

The word "epic" has never been more epitomized than in Core77's brand new reissue of this '80s poster for Dutch poster company Verkerke by Fernando Agudelo. Airbrush illustration suitable for the side of a teardrop window custom van? Check! Cosmic rings? Check! Ferocious great white, teeth and gums awash in the blood of a fresh kill? Check! Fiery haired muscle bound surfer dude riding said shark with bolts of gleaming lightning crackling at his fingertips? CHECK! This illustration has it all!

The only question that remains is if you're epic enough to hang it on your wall. Also epically cheap! ONLY at Hand-Eye Supply!

In order to fully exploit the design's potential to boost innovation, growth and job creation, the European Commission presented this week an action plan to promote the use of design in innovation.

Design is of particular importance to the Commission and is recognized as a key discipline and activity to bring ideas to market, transforming them into user-friendly and appealing products. Although some European countries are world leaders in design, others lack a robust design infrastructure and design capability. The action plan aims to tackle this systematic gap and to promote design driven innovation in industries and the public sector across Europe.

Image via evernote.com.

At first glance, it seems natural: when designing notepad software, why not design it to look like a notepad? A voice recorder app should look like a microphone, right? Skeuomorphism—which we've, er, skewered before—has influenced so much of software design. And yet I think many of us will attest that it's good to see that the trend, like iOS 7's "flat" icons (though I'm not a total fan), is to keep the digital digital.

But to be generous, I do think the popularity of skeuomorphism reflects less an unwillingness to accept digital experiences as digital experiences, but more a desire to retain some of the joys of physical objects. There is something nice about scribbling into a paper notebook and to see human handwriting, but there's also something nice about searchable archives and having all our notes tucked away in our pockets and available at a moment's notice.

From the app-based Nickster to the electronic building blocks of Littlebits, toys are making leaps and bounds in cool factor. Launched this morning on Kickstarter, Toymail is the latest and greatest new digitally-enhanced plaything. In short, they're walkie talkie-like characters with the ability to relay messages from parents/grandparents/friends to the child who owns the toy. How it works: Anyone who downloads Toymail's free app can leave a message on one of the toys. Users dial in a toy/child to send a message to, talk into the phone (just like leaving a voicemail) and push send. The receiver is alerted by an animal noise—if their Toymail is a pig, it oinks when a message is received—and can respond directly to the message by pressing a button. The video below shows the toy in action:

Cofounders Gauri Nanda and mother-of-three Audry Hill were looking to create a toy that brought kids and loved ones together. "I started asking myself, 'Could toys be made to evolve every day and what would that look like?'" says Nanda. "I felt that it was time for toys to feel more like they do in Toy Story and Pee Wee's Playhouse, so that they never become boring or obsolete. So that they would grow as the child does."

Sketches from character development and prototyping the toys.

Have we reached Peak Design? Plotted on Gartner's hype cycle, the design industry's ascendance from relative obscurity to C-suite sweetheart may be said to have slipped over a peak of inflated expectations some years ago. Should we be wary, we might wonder, of a dip into disillusionment? Certainly, the days of business and political leaders pontificating on the virtues of its practice and processes from up high are over. But the trend towards inaugurations of talismanic 'CDOs' in a handful of enlightened organisations might suggest otherwise.

The perils of becoming just another boardroom 'fad that failed' have been foretold [PDF]; in recent years, the grand promises of foolproof processes and silver-bullet problem-solving have distracted from more balanced debate on the role design can play within business. Whilst design sits higher than ever on the business agenda, has a legacy of overblown promises—ultimately impossible to live up to—been left behind?

Meanwhile, last week's (long overdue?) must-read Design Council report on design-led business [PDF], underscores the sticky and at times paradoxical reality of attempting to prove design's value, alongside compelling anecdotal advocacy from influential business leaders. More strong leadership of this sort will be required in the long run, if design is to convert those still loyal to the short-term bottom line. The breadth and depth of any cynical sinkhole (at a macro or individual case level) will be determined by the ability of design leaders to debunk their practise of tired myths, share compelling success stories—beyond the obvious and omnipotent Apple and tech startups—and build new strategic skillsets [PDF] around existing strengths.

Enter the provocatively named Design Authority, a new collaboration between international design leaders practicing within the corporate realm.

Hand-Eye Supply is excited to announce that we've partnered with Instructables to create a contest encouraging open source inclined makers to create a workshop-based DIY tutorial. As if the joy of sharing your projects and process with your peers wasn't enough, we've put together some bitchin' prize packages (totaling over $2,500) to make this contest especially enticing!

Entries will be judged by Instructables members (including you, if you if you join Instructables). We've created a special judges' prize that will be chosen by the staff of Hand-Eye Supply and our special guest judge: workshop wizard Kurt Mottweiler, known for his intricate and meticulously crafted pinhole cameras that are partially made with tools he has designed and built himself. To be eligible for this prize your Instructable must instruct participants to build a tool.

To check out current entries and submit your own, visit the Instructables Workshop Contest Page. The contest ends January 20, 2014, so you can vote and submit until then!

Photos by Yusuke Tatsumi

It's not every day that bubble wrap's noise-begging bubbles take center stage in design—you'd more likely see it protecting another design in a box. But Fukusada good Yu's pieces—titled Chameleon Ceramics—for the "Experimental Creations" exhibit at the Light Box Studio Aoyama in Tokyo turns heads with everyday surfaces and textures.

Testing a new product's intrigue is tough. As a designer, every one of your products is a masterpiece for one reason or another and it's hard to get a true take on whether or not it will sell. Upwell Design, a San Francisco based design studio, found the perfect way to test and market their new product, Walhub—by hacking IKEA. We've covered stunts similar to this before where people have used IKEA products to create more elaborate (and sometimes better) tools and pieces of furniture.

But Upwell decided to test the market's interest for their new switch cover/storage space by actually passing their design as an IKEA product. By dressing one of their own as an IKEA employee and adding all of the makings of an IKEA product (price tags, UPC barcodes) to Walhub, they placed the product in its natural environment among IKEA's designs and let shoppers do the rest. The video below shows the hack in action:

I'd say it was a complete success—even if solely for the confusion in that poor IKEA employee's voice as he (kind of) realized he wasn't speaking to a fellow rep.

From Netherlands-based designers Jules Vreeswijk and Joost Waltjen come the wonderfully bizarre TOOaPICNIC series of furniture pieces, which seem like the three-way love child of diner booths, picnic tables and sofas. Comprised of a quartet of pieces, the series reads like four successive stages of development:

The TOOaPICNIC Share is the basic model, with a floating backrest.

The Chill model moves the backrest down to meet the seat, presumably for longer-haul sitting.

Playhut is committed to producing innovative toys, allowing kids to play in an imaginative and educational way. With a variety of branded twist and fold tents and tunnels for boys and girls, Playhut has grown into one of the largest toy producers in the United States with products sold in North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

As a proactive, imaginative, and well rounded Packaging/Graphic Designer, you'll be a valuable addition to the Playhut team with your strong sense of details and keen awareness of what the current and upcoming trends in all mediums of consumer production. If you have a desire to make great toys even better, Apply Now.

Reporting by Chris Beatty; photography by Jessica Miller unless otherwise noted

Last Friday at Parsons the New School for Design, Derek Porter, Director of the School's Lighting Design Program, and Matthew Cobham of Philips brought together a diverse group of researchers, architects, and lighting designers to discuss the nuanced juncture between natural and man-made lighting.

"Luminous Talks: Nature and Man-Made" kicked off with a look at research into the fundamentals of light perception, presented by Dr. Raymond Van Ee, a professor of neurology and a research fellow at Philips whose work examines the importance of light in creating the optimal conditions for maintaining attention.

Clockwise from top left: Matthew Cobham; Raymond Van Ee; Davidson Norris; George Craford

Next, we heard from George Craford, an early pioneer of LED lighting technology who worked with Nick Holonyak to bring LED's from industrial switchboards to car headlights, a feat once described as impossible by the Wall Street Journal. Craford explained that while 'a photon is still a photon' no matter where it comes from, there are a couple of key ways to quantify the quality of light. The main system in use today is the Color Rendering Index (CRI) which measures the reflection of a light source as it bounces off 15 unique color chips. The CRI of an incandescent light bulb is a shown by broad curve which reaches its peak with the reflection of yellow light. The CRI of fluorescent lighting is spiked with multiple peaks, its phosphors were actually engineered maximize its results on this score.

Photos via NOTCOT

It's not like tea-drinkers choose tea for its immediacy or anything, but to push the "right here, right now" agenda even further, there's now a tea you can inhale instead of sip. London-based Camellia's Tea House debuted this new-age teatime experience at the 2013 Experimental Food Society Spectacular. The team set up a room full of vaporized teas and "sippers" tasted them with straws. Check out the video below to get a better visual for the presentation:

Japan was once colloquially known as the Land of the Rising Sun, and it can't be only environmentalists hoping that a country with such a moniker would take solar power to heart. Following the Fukushima disaster of 2011, safe and renewable sources of energy have been under study, and at least one corporate giant has done something about it--rather swiftly, by Japanese standards.

This month Japanese electronics manufacturer Kyocera pulled the wraps off of the Kagoshima Nanatsujima Mega Solar Power Plant, a project constructed at a backbreaking pace from September 2012 to October 2013. Some 290,000 solar panels are arrayed on 1.27 million square meters on the coast of Kagoshima Prefecture, making it the largest solar power plant in Japan.

The juice started flowing on November 1st, and the KNMSPP is expected to generate 70 megawatts of power, enough to power 22,000 homes in the region. As promising as that sounds, the stark math is actually a bit dismal compared to Fukushima: The latter facility generated 4.7 gigawatts, or enough to power nearly 1.5 million homes.

As an industrial designer, which would you rather do: Design brand new objects and interfaces that have never existed before, or design improvements into existing objects? Both have their challenges, but I for one love seeing folks tweak longstanding, everyday designs to improve their functionality.

The latest Kickstarter smash success falls into this latter category. Portland-based Mike Whitehead is a product designer who loves to cook, but after years of using a common cast-iron skillet, he realized it was "long overdue" for a re-design.

First off, the handle of a cast-iron skillet is essentially a design fail that people are willing to live with. The standard handle is tiny and loop-like, the faster to dissipate heat, yet you still need an oven mitt to handle the thing, so you get the worst of both worlds: An uncomfortable, unergonomic handle that can burn you.

Secondly, the finish of a cast-iron skillet's cooking surface wears its production method on its sleeve: The rough texture screams sand casting. This makes it tough to clean.

Thirdly, a skillet's circular shape distributes heat evenly, but does not lend itself well to pouring out the sauces you've been simmering.

Let's take a look at how Whitehead, with the help of industrial designer David Lewin and 3D modeler Kip Buck, solved these problems with their Finex design:

At press time the Finex had blown way past its $25,000 target with over $150,000 in funding. There are still three days left to get in on it and the first units will ship on December 15th, just in time for the holidays.

By the bye, the Finex logo was designed by Aaron Draplin of Field Notes fame.

Hit the jump for some bonus manufacturing footage: How they prototyped the handle, and a look at the sweet 5-axis CNC mill cutting the mold.

Those of you who've seen The Wolverine, remember that crazy self-adjusting gurney thing that Master Yashida was lying on? That might not be as far off a piece of technology as you'd think. A team of researchers at MIT Media Lab's Tangible Media Group have created this mind-blowing Dynamic Shape Display with a similar vertical-pixel-grid set-up:

Called inFORM, the system provides a fascinating way for one party to physically manipulate objects at the other's location. It has to be seen in action to be believed: