Following yesterday's popular discussion on Americans and trucks, we got to wondering: Whatever happened to Via Motors? To refresh your memory, back in January we brought you the story of an American company taking fresh-off-the-assembly-line trucks from Detroit and turning them into E-REVs (Extended Range Electric Vehicles): Powerful yet environmentally-friendly 100-m.p.g. beasts of burden. The company estimated delivery of the first models by mid-2013, but that vague date period has decidedly come and gone.

We looked into it mostly afraid to find they'd gone belly-up, but were pleased to find they're alive and well, and still leaping hurdles on their way to production. Vehicles have to be crash-tested to meet American safety regulations, and even though the trucks Via aims to produce are existing models that have already been crash-tested by their original manufacturer (General Motors), re-rigging them with electric motors requires a whole new crash test. So last month they smashed up a bunch of their cargo van models—and passed with flying colors. "The engineering work done to integrate the VIA's electric technology has been exceptional and the vehicles have exceeded our expectations in all tests that were performed," says Alan Perriton, president of VIA Motors. "We are now moving on to complete certification and begin mass production."

To that end, just weeks ago Via brought their factory online in Mexico, near the GM factory that cranks out Silverados, one of the vehicles Via hacks up. Here's a look at the facility:

From far away, 'Moon,' a project by Ai Weiwei and Olafur Eliasson, looks just like you'd expect it to—round and pale with a few craters here and there. Zoom in and you'll quickly find that the craters are individual pieces of art and words working together to create a moon-like landscape from a distance. As in the previously-seen "Epic Exquisite Corpse," the interactive project is an exercise in what we'll call 'crowdsketching.' The experience begins with a word from the artists:

"Turn nothing into something—make a drawing, make a mark. Connect with others through this space of imagination. Look at other people's drawings and share them with the world. Be part of the growing community to celebrate how creative expression transcends external borders and internal constraints. We are in this world together.

Ideas, wind, and air no one can stop."

A semi-zoomed look at 'Moon'

Paper shopping bags are one of those we unintentionally collect in our homes, reuse one or two times to transport lunch to work and toss when the recyclable pile gets in our way. The reminders to recycle the bag after use are helpful, but they aren't as effective as anyone would like them to be (read: they won't spring legs and walk themselves to the recycling bin). But a team of designers from India has designed a kind of paper shopping bag you won't want to toss to the trash.

Hangbags are paper bags that are transformed into hangers with a few twists and folds in an attempt to replace plastic versions. The video below shares some shocking facts: Over 1 billion paper shopping bags are used every year and only 1% end up in the recycle bin where they rightly belong. On the flip side, over 8 billion hangers are left to the landfills each year—with each hanger taking over 100 years to break down. After that guilt trip, how could you not want to take it down a notch on your plastic hanger use?

If this video was just about a guy who makes things using only pre-1949 shop tools, it would be awesome (check out the wicked picket-cutting machine at 1:47). If it was just about a guy who can turn 1,200 cornerblocks by hand with machine-like accuracy, it would be awesome. And if it was just about a guy who teaches kids who have been thrown out of multiple reform schools how to make things, it would also be awesome. But it's all of those things and a fourth, much more important thing. Like inventor Ralph Baer, craftsman Eric Hollenbeck explains with brutal honesty why he continues to do what he's done for so long, and while his reason is wholly different from Baer's, it touches on a truth a portion of us will well recognize. It's no surprise this video is a Vimeo Staff Pick:

The Ox from Ben Proudfoot on Vimeo.

The beautifully-shot video was done by filmmaker Ben Proudfoot (who at 23, is perhaps too tender to immediately grasp why Hollenbeck didn't want to go to town for supplies). As for Hollenbeck, he runs Blue Ox Millworks and Blue Ox Community High School out of Eureka, California. For those of you living in the region, on the 29th and 30th of this month they'll be hosting their biannual Craftsman's Days local showcase event.

Here's lookin' at you, kid

Never actually watched the black and white films everyone claims to love? No sweat. If you've got a mil' to kil' today you can massage your movie cred by buying THE Maltese Falcon. Or the getaway car from Casablanca. Or a gauzy garment from Gone with the Wind... the, ah stuff dreams are made of. Who could question you with that regal raptor on your mantle? Nobody, kiddo.

Winning bidder may or may not be required to reenact this scene.

If you're energetic, spirited and passionate about creating breakthrough product experiences you're the candidate Altitude Inc. is looking for. Altitude is a collective of creative thinkers united in a common purpose: to bring their clients business success.

Altitude has been noted in Forbes, Fast Company and Industry Week, and their client list includes Nike, Morotola, Bose and many more major leading brands. As a sharp, articulate individual who thrives in an engaging, collaborative and team-based environment, you'll be thrown into the mix learning firsthand what it takes to be part of a creative multidisciplinary team.

What are you waiting for? Apply Now.

In this series, Matthew Sullivan (AQQ Design) highlights some designers that you should know, but might not. Previously, he looked at the work of Tobia and Afra Scarpa.

Jacques Adnet (1900–1984): Born in Chatillion-Coligny, France

Jacques Adnet's active career thrived for over five decades, from the 1920s through the 1960s, spanning the Jazz Age, the Machine Age, Functionalism, Art Deco, the International Style and midcentury modernism. His designs negotiated these surges with intelligence and subtlety; Adnet was never content to passively copy. He was inclined toward a pragmatic luxury, a tactile and rich reductivism.

Adnet stands with Jean Royère, André Arbus, Mathieu Matégot and Pierre Guariche as what is probably best called Post-Deco. These men opted to take Art Deco's robust expressions and make them more simple and direct. In addition, they preserved Deco's bespoke/artisanal fabrication, not giving in to the postwar industrial goadings. Adnet's silhouettes are denuded of ancillary details but not dogmatically—that is, they are not reduced simply to make a point. But neither is there a tremendously idiosyncratic stamp; this is well-designed, aesthetically useful and high-quality furniture.

Above: Adnet lounge chairs from 1950. Top: A shelving unit circa 1950s

Left: A sling chair circa 1940s. Right: an armchair circa 1950s

Hacking away at San Francisco's Freespace, a pop-up space for artists, designers, developers and other creatives.

I've been spending a lot of time at hackathons lately. It's not a surprise; here in the Bay Area, hackathons and coding sessions are a way of life, a social scene as common as a cocktail party in New York. The idea is what it sounds like: a bunch of people come together and "hack" on a project. It can be a group project or an individual project, something you've been working on for a while or something you're starting. And it's an idea I've seen come to life in creative communities across the globe, in places like Shanghai, Kampala and Manila.

The "-athon" suffix is appropriate: As in a marathon, simply doing an activity with others is a lot more fun than coding alone, even when you're aiming for your personal best. And having people with different skill sets and energy levels around you provides an additional motivating force. Don't know much about the Natural Language Toolkit? Someone probably knows. And in return, you can share your experience with Wordpress libraries.

One of the many rooms for hacking at the California Academy of Sciences.

I recently spoke with Ariel Waldman, who organized the most recent Science Hack Day at the California Academy of Sciences. Waldman, a designer herself, felt it was important to encourage more people to engage with science. This year's event included skills workshops, a planetarium show, star gazing, access to lots and lots of tools like 3D printers and LEAP detectors, and a chance to sleep over at the museum next to the shark tanks.

"With hackathons in general, the thrill of knowing you can make in such a short amount of time is exciting," noted Waldman when I spoke with her the phone. "I think with Science Hack Day, it's a place where people can play w things they don't normally play with. It adds to the excitement of what you can prototype."

Looks like Art Center will be getting a little SoCal competition. Two hours south of Pasadena is San Diego's NewSchool of Architecture & Design, a.k.a. NSAD, and they're launching a Product Design program in collaboration with non other than Milan's Domus Academy.

Students at the Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD will be able to major in either Product or Interior Design, and both programs will reportedly incorporate "the Italian design approach and Domus tradition." Students will also get to study abroad at the Domus mothership in Italy at no additional tuition cost.

"Italy has become the epicenter of design-driven brands and culture, developing a products industry that exports design all over the world," said Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD Director Elena Pacenti. "We challenge our students to apply this foundation to projects here in San Diego and anywhere in the world."

The Bachelor of Arts in Product Design program will be open for enrollment in 2014, but Domus/NSAD will officially present it next month on December 12th, at a joint exhibition and faculty meet-'n-greet called "Innovation by Design." Here's the official course description, and some encouraging Department of Labor stats:

The product design program incorporates an updated and comprehensive definition of product that includes complex and interactive objects as well as product-service systems and experiences. It emphasizes a humanistic approach to design, sensitive to sustainable and socially responsible development, and provides students with not only the tools for "how to do" but the reasons "why to do."

Career paths and employment for graduates of product and industrial design programs demonstrate a growing need for individuals trained in these fields. Product/Industrial designers held about 40,800 jobs in 2010, and employment of industrial designers is expected to increase by 10 percent by 2020, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics.

Half of the fun of the holidays is ripping into presents from family and friends or watching someone else do it. We might feel just a twinge or two of guilt as we crumple shreds of once-pristine paper waste into a trash bag and toss it to the curb for garbage collection, but what the hell, you're on much-needed vacation and you left all of your cares at the office.

Wrong.

The facts: In 2011, Great Britain alone racked up 227,000 miles of wasted paper after the holiday season. (That's enough paper to wrap the world nine times over around the equator.) And according to a study done by Stanford, if every American wrapped three presents in reused materials, the saved paper would cover 45,000 football fields.

The upshot of the guilt trip is that it leads to solutions like wrapping your gifts in the comics section and recycle it when the present party is done, or, say, reusable packaging. UK-based agency BEAF does the DIYers one better with Eden Paper, wrapping paper for the rest of us that you can plant once you're finished tearing into those gifts.

It's simple: By planting the used paper in some soil and watering it like a regular potted plant, you'll see sprouts in no time. As with Democratech's sprouting pencil and plantable OAT Shoes, the gift wrap is produced with the seeds embedded right into the paper. The brand is currently offering the paper in five flavors—chili peppers, onions, carrots, tomatoes and broccoli—but looks to include various flowers and herbs in the future. The gift wrap looks good, too—as good as it tastes, I'm sure. Design-wise, it's a much-needed upgrade from a lot of the holiday wrap you see around the time of year. There's only so much you can take when it comes to iridescent snowflakes and glittery ornaments.

Free Arts NYC —a non-profit organization fighting the good fight for educational arts funding—has recreated an age-old learning block with help from the creative community. Their undertaking, The A to Z Project, is a designer version of the alphabet that also gives insight into the lives and childhoods of the designers involved in the project.

Forty-five artists, illustrators and designers each picked a letter, number or symbol to redesign. The finished product is the beginning of a branding effort between Free Arts NYC and Red Peak Branding. The groups asked the designers to create free art to help promote their mission and share the way art and design has impacted their own lives as successful creators. The video below tells more about the project and the Free Arts NYC mission:

It went live on Friday, and quite deservedly went viral over the weekend: "Limitless," a brilliantly-shot-and-edited video from filmmaker Selina Miles, decides to have some fun with a warehouse in Brisbane that's on the demolition list. Street artists Sofles, Fintan Magee, Treas and Quench were given what appears to be an unlimited amount of Ironlak paint and set loose on the structure's interior. Despite the painters' talents this could easily have been boring, but under Miles' expert shooting, directing and editing techniques, it's pretty riveting:

You can see more of Adelaide-based Miles' work here.

And for us non-Aussies that have never heard of Ironlak, it's an Australian company started in '02 that produces spraypaint, graphic markers and even nozzles for "writers," i.e. graffiti artists. I'm digging their package design.

Just when you thought artist Nils Völker couldn't expand on his expansive respiratory installations, we're bringing you a new title to the bunch. Like with his last breathing light installation, "Thirty Six," his newest addition "Seventeen" adds just enough new appeal to catch our attention.

This one features the somewhat creepy breathing motion that the artist is known for along with some smart light play. More understated and zen-like than the others, "Seventeen" culminates in an undulating hanging light system made of Tyvek. The lights are brought to life with cooling fans, LED lights and custom-made electronics. Check out the video below to get the full scope of the installment. Make sure to full-screen this one—it's the only way to watch Völker's work in action.

With its expert team of architects, interior designers and product designers, Swarovski draws upon the diverse experience and develops innovative architectural solutions that maximize the expressive, emotional and transformative power of crystal. This iconic brand wants to hire an enthusiastic and motivated talent that will support the design team with 3D modeling, visualization and research.

If you're the right person for this job in Plattsburgh, NY, you'll gain an understanding for customized lighting solutions and crystal, while getting exposed to projects, clients and design firms in the US, Europe, Near Middle East and Asia.

Paid internships like this don't last long, so don't delay, Apply Now.

Civic Service, a new initiative from Parsons DESIS Lab, is about creating a culture in local government that supports innovation and design. Since June, Civic Service has brought civil servants together on a regular basis to have safe, open conversations about how to use service design to transform government and hear from inspiring speakers that include Public Policy Lab, Code for America, and the Center for Court Innovation.

On December 6–7, Civic Service is launching their first, free Civic Service Workshop to teach civil servants about the service design process by working through real, local problems. Each Workshop will feature a different NYC agency and different challenge. Applications for the first workshop close Friday, Nov 29th. Help them spread the word to civil servants working in local NYC government!

This is the latest installment of our Core77 Questionnaire. Previously, we talked to Fred Bould of Bould Design.

Name:Harri Koskinen

Occupation: I'm a designer.

Location: Helsinki, Finland

Current projects: At the moment, we're doing a lot of work with Finnish-based companies. We are doing work in the safety field, creating some locking systems. We're also doing tableware objects, and we have some material-based studies in the works—these are innovations with new materials, and we are doing some trials in our workshop around those. Then I also share my time with Iittala; I'm there two days a week as the design director.

Mission: To do my best. I would like to have a big, big mission, but at the moment I'm doing things a bit more slowly, step by step, just trying to do my best in this design field.

Koskinen's most recent projects include the Cyclebar bike rack for Valpastin (above) and the M Series two-way active speaker for Genelec (below).

When did you decide that you wanted to be a designer? I never actually made a decision that someday I was going to be a designer. It just happened. I didn't have any idea about this profession when I was in high school. But I worked with my uncle over many summers, building things with him as a summer job. I felt quite happy doing this, working with my hands. So I thought that design would be something that connects many different interests and skills. And it has been like that, pretty much.

Education: First I studied at the Lahte Design Institute; that was more like workshop studies. Then I applied and entered the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. There I studied industrial design and more conceptual design.

First design job: Well, I worked as a intern at some advertising agencies. But my first actual job as a designer was in 1996, when I was invited to work for Iittala glassworks. And then I was invited to work as an in-house designer at Iittala in 1998.

Who is your design hero? Maybe Dieter Rams—he was perhaps the most important for me. Also Richard Sapper. And, of course, in Finland we cannot forget Alvar Aalto. He's an obvious choice, but still it's amazing the amount of work that he made at a really high-quality level.

Above and below: Some of Koskinen's designs in his Helsinki studio, including his Genelec speakers and subwoofer (above)

Core77's Hand-Eye Supply Curiosity Club is head over heels for tonight's presentation from Eric Isaacson of Mississippi Records! Tonight's talk starts at 6pm at the Hand-Eye Supply store in Portland, Oregon. Come early and check out our space or check in with us online for the live broadcast!

Eric Isaacson
Mississippi Records: "A Short History of Mississippi Records"
Hand-Eye Supply
23 NW 4th Ave
Portland, Oregon 97209
Tuesday, Nov. 26th, 6pm PST

This is a talk featuring the impossibly bad business model that is Mississippi Records. I'll be speaking about how Mississippi has managed to sustain as a "lo -fi" business for over 10 years. Mississippi Records has run a label and retail store with the only technology at play being a calculator and a notebook and no promotion or advertising of any kind. Despite these limitations, we have managed to release over 172 records and run a modestly successful record store. I will also discuss some of the great artists we have been honored to work with who share our low to the ground approach, our world wide strange as hell distribution system, and other aspects of the business. I'll be using slides to illustrate throughout the talk.

Eric Isaacson is the founder and owner of the Mississippi Records store and one of the founders of the Mississippi Records label. Mississippi Records has released 172 records, 104 cassettes and has existed as a brick and mortar store for over 10 years. Eric has run the store and designed and edited the majority of releases on the Mississippi label. He only recently started talking about the Mississippi project in public, spending the last 10 years under a veil of obscurity and total radio silence to the press. He plans on retreating back into the shadows after the new year.

I love Forstner bits as much as I hate spade bits. Is there anything as satisfying as boring that smooth-sided, flat-bottomed hinge-cup hole in a cabinet-door-to-be? If your application requires you to go all the way through your workpiece, sure, you can get some nasty tear-out; my solution is to use a backer board of wood a different color than your piece. That way, when you see differently-colored shavings start to come up, you know you've gone all the way through.

All Forstner bits are not created equal, of course. I own several makes: Irwin, Freud, and some crappy no-name Made in China and Made in Taiwan bits I bought at the local mom-and-pop hardware store (before I was thrown out and permanently banned after getting into an argument with the owner over a sink aerator. Ah, NYC). The Freud seems to do the best job of evacuating the chips, while the others require more corkscrewing/hula-hooping and/or mid-drilling vacuuming. I know Freud manufactures in Western Europe, and I suspect Irwin manufactures in China, perhaps explaining the quality discrepancy. And now I've caught wind of a kind of super Forstner bit, this one out of Germany.

It's that time again: As November draws to a close, the coming weeks invite a flood of countless clichés, hackneyed phrases and perfunctory platitudes (first four words included) to express all variety of holiday cheer, stress and the other bipolar sentiments of the season. It's not all fluff, though, and in the interest of offering a break from the Black Friday bombardment, we're pleased to present our annual Ultimate Gift Guide, featuring 77 selections from our editors and contributors, old and new.

In contrast to last year’s Ultimate Gift Guide, in which we neatly identified the “Seven Designer Phenotypes,” we’re taking a more introspective approach this time around, featuring selections from 11 members of our esteemed editorial team. From longtime contributors to a few fresh faces, we’re collectively forging ahead with our mission to bringing you the very best of industrial design and beyond, and the Gift Guide is no exception.

More than ever before, the Gift Guide represents a portrait of where Core77 stands today, as much a snapshot of the latest and greatest goodies, gadgets and all variety of beautiful object for the home, office and world around us as a look at the multi-faceted individuals who comprise our diverse editorial team. Yet we are united in our appreciation of quality, attention to detail, and unwillingness to settle for any less than the best.

These items—seven selections from each of 11 Core-tributors—are not your average, disposable products du jour: Each one is an investment in an object that you or your loved ones will be happy not only to receive but actually use.

Check out "Eleven × Seven,' our Ultimate Gift Guide for 2013→(more...)

Nailing down a perfect workspace is a science. For a place that you spend a majority of your time in, it had better fit you and pull the most productivity from your procrastinating fingertips—even if you're a freelancer without a go-to office. David Bruér, an industrial designer from Stockholm, has designed a portable space for the workers who want to bust past flimsy cubical walls—a hampster wheel of creativity, if we may.

We caught a look at the workspace in 2012 at Stockholm Design Week. While the photos do the design justice, it deserves a revisit for a closer look at all the working parts. The design circles around (literally) the functionality of the slats inside the space—custom fitted chairs, benches and lights can be placed within the sphere in any of the available slots. The structure is easily moved and reassembled, making this kind of construction ideal for an open-office layout.