A well-executed infographic will not only clearly communicate an intricate process, concept or body of data, but also look really good doing it. As in the vintage nuclear reactor cutaways we spotlighted a few #TBTs back, we can't help but appreciate when every last infinitesimal detail is drafted the old-fashioned way: by hand. Not only does John Philipps Emslie's artwork originates from several eras before Photoshop. This series of beautiful diagrams predates the storied milestones of the Space Race by upwards of a century, dating back to the mid-1800's.

Without the concrete data or advanced imaging that we take for granted today, Emslie sticks to natural phenomena like mountain formations, atmospheric transitions and the moon's geography. As such, these infographics are perhaps better suited for a living room or bedroom than a reference book.

I've got clients who love their breads—which is totally understandable, since bakers are now making some great loaves. But these clients face the question of how to store any bread that's not getting eaten right away. Long-term storage requires the freezer, but a good bread box will often keep crusty breads fresh for around three days. (This will vary depending on the type of bread and the climate.) The goal is to keep the humidity in the bread box just right; the vent holes in the box allow some of the moisture from the bread to escape. The Novo bread bin from Typhoon places those vent holes on the sides.

These bread boxes from My Kilos don't have vent holes; they just have a space where the wooden lid rests on the box. That lid can be used as a cutting board, too.

This bread drum has a cutting board that rests on the top. When the cutting board is removed, the bread drums can be stacked—a clever space-saving device. The rectangular shape of the prior bread bin vs. the circular shape of this one is a reminder that breads come in various shapes and sizes, and the end-users will need to select bread boxes that fit the breads they prefer.

This Joseph Joseph bread bin, designed by Morph, is another one with a cutting-board top. Two interesting design touches: It has an easy-to-grip handle on top, and it has grooves on the cutting side to help collect crumbs.

PING is a family-owned company founded in 1959 in the garage of Karsten Solhem, who was inspired by his frustration when putting to design a putter than made a "pinging" sound when it struck a golf ball. Today, PING is synomymous with innovation, quality and service in the world of golf and golf apparel. If you love the game of golf as much as they do, AND you have experience designing softgoods, they want to hear from you.

The right person for the role of Softgoods Product Developer at PING will manage multiple product development projects, participate in problem solving and root cause analysis activities and work closely with the Design Team to promote a solid understanding of product design and process requirements for each project. This is a great opportunity to work on a variety of product categories including golf bags, headwear, and accessories. Apply Now.

Ed Note: We learned after press time that the exhibit was extended through July 31.

I wasn't a typography person until I paid a visit to the Century: 100 Years of Type Design exhibition, presented by AIGA and Monotype. Sure, I shared my peers' disdain for Comic Sans and admired a nice headline style from time to time, but for the most part I simply didn't appreciate the details. I guarantee that you, too, will walk out of the AIGA National Design Center with at least a few font facts on your mind, if not a full-fledged fixation. Century presents the history and conception of typeface from the very first fonts to the ones we use today through a well-curated selection of artifacts, including typeface production drawings, packaging, advertisements and publications by prominent designers of the last 100 years, among other ephemera.

Check out the exhibit trailer for a look at the space and a few details on the work on display:

I made my way to the exhibit on a night that was hosted by the AIGA Women Leadership Initiative—a new project working to bring women in the design industry together through networking events, exhibits and salons—that included a guided tour highlighting women designers. Monotype's Dan Rhatigan did an excellent job leading the tour, highlighting the importance women played in the typeface evolution, introducing lesser-known gems and walking us through how some of the artifacts came to be in Monotype and AIGA's collection. One look at his typeface-tattooed arms and you know he's the perfect guy for the job.

Earlier this week, we released the complete schedule of live announcements for this year's Core77 Design Awards. It's been a long time coming, but considering the breadth and depth of the entries this year, we wanted to ensure that the jury teams have had enough time to review each and every last submission. Now that each of the 17 teams is ready to share its selections and the announcement schedule is nailed down, we want to make sure that you tune in to the broadcasts next week, when they announce the winners!

No matter where you live, there are going to be some early announcement times. Don't let that scare you off—while catching the live winner announcements should be a no-brainer, we came up with five additional reasons why you've gotta watch:

• You'll be the first to know. It's like the Oscars (kind of). Hear about the ground-breaking projects our juries chose as the best of the best before anyone else.
• We've got a real set made by real professionals. We're stepping it up a notch this year. You'll be guided through the various categories and live winner announcements from our esteemed jurors from behind a thoughtfully curated desk.
• Because it's way more exciting to set your alarm for an award than work. Enough said. With an opportunity to drink your coffee in your pajamas and possibly hear someone from Sweden accolade your work, how could you not?
• You might be a winner. With over 17 categories, there's a good chance you might hear your name in the corral of honorees if you submitted your work. There's nothing like the sweet sound of design success to get your day (or night... or afternoon) off to the right start.
• You can see people live from 15 different cities all over the world. Because haven't we all wondered how the other hemisphere lives?

In case you missed it in our first reminder, here's the full schedule of next week's live announcements:

Yes, "All Our Patent Are Belong To You" is the actual title of a Tesla press release, which went live yesterday and is causing a tremendous media stir. "Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters," Elon Musk himself wrote. "That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology."

In a nutshell, he's announcing that anyone who wants to get into the electric car game can, and in fact should, start knocking off Tesla's technologies, and they won't unleash the lawyers. We suggest you read the entire press release, but here are the relevant points:

- ...I [once] thought patents were a good thing and worked hard to obtain them. And maybe they were good long ago, but too often these days they serve merely to stifle progress, entrench the positions of giant corporations and enrich those in the legal profession, rather than the actual inventors.

- ...Electric car programs...at the major manufacturers are small to non-existent, constituting an average of far less than 1% of their total vehicle sales.

- ...It is impossible for Tesla to build electric cars fast enough to address the carbon crisis.

- We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric cars, and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform.

It's pretty fascinating to see altruism, business self-interest and environmentalism all intersect in this way. Now the question is, who will pick up the gauntlet? Are the big automakers really in bed with the petroleum companies, and is it just a lack of access to technology that's prevented them from investing big in electric?

From August 13–16, designers and design industry professionals from all over the globe will gather in Austin, TX, to participate in the 2014 IDSA International Conference. This year's theme is "The Exchange," which is something all designers can appreciate—between ideas and actions, designers and developers, educators and students, researchers and users and people and products, various exchanges create the dynamic space in which designers operate and thrive. The presentations and content will allow attendees to create meaningful exchanges in six main areas: context, community, value, culture, interpersonal and education. Sounds great, right?

This is why the time to get your ticket for this event is now. Regular registration, and ticket prices, lasts until July 13th, at which point the price goes up. Just take a look at the speaker lineup and schedule and you'll see plenty of reasons to register sooner than later. One of which is the Core77 Party on Friday, August 15. We'll be tearing it up at the historic Scoot Inn starting at 9pm. We look forward to seeing you all there!

While you're in Austin, don't forget to do some exploring. The city has more art, music, culture and drool-worthy food for every type of personality and palate than you could possible discover in one trip. For example, Iron Works BBQ is just a few steps away from the Austin Convention Center where the conference is being held.

But that's just our opinion. We encourage you to experience Austin for yourself, and what better excuse than the 2014 IDSA International Conference? Get your tickets today and we'll see you at the Core77 party!

Quick and easy molecular analysis is, by most accounts, still a long way off. Many a project claiming the ability to scan an object and report its make-up have been scoffed at for idealistic and impractical leaps in logic. With that in mind, the guys behind the Vessyl are confident enough in their liquid-identifying smart cup's skills to start taking preorders. The project is headed by Mark One, and has been in development for seven years. Given its 2015 ship date and the fact that I ain't no scientist, it's tough to evaluate the veracity of their claims... but that's never stopped us before.

They promise the sleek Bluetooth equipped mug can identify the volume and type of beverage, down to the specific brand, and break out the according caloric value, alcohol content, caffeine content, and so on, in a tasteful display on the side of the cup. Additionally, the cup will weigh this information against your daily intake to help you make good choices about your hydration and diet based on projected goals or needs.

It can do yogurt, it can do coffee, and beer and god knows what else. You can tell it to tell you to cut down or ramp up, and it'll network with your workout devices of choice. It can tell how quickly you're drinking, and will judge you accordingly. Charge it wirelessly on a cool looking contact base every few days. All of the is managed via your handy app.

The form seems pretty dialed, and on-screen appears lightweight enough for practical use, though I might not personally stroll along the wharf with my pricey gadget-mug (preorder for $99, later $199). The outside of the mug is smooth, except for a lightly faceted section used for the display, giving you an easy tactile and visual cues for where to look. Activate the display by tipping the cup slightly.

The company is predictably tightlipped about their methods and tech. All we know is that the interior has a glass coating, and it looks nice. For the details that do exist check out their FAQ. Canned answers not enough? Perhaps you'd be better swayed by some high profile butt-kissing:

When George Lucas first spun his neo-mythical space yarn back in the '70s, he probably had no idea how deeply it would weave itself into the marketplace. It was of course the toy rights that made him a rich man, and since those first action figures hit store shelves in the '70s, a merchandising industry has sprung up around it to inject Star Wars into many facets of everyday life.

But not all facets. And here to stitch up one of the gaping holes in the market is Instructables user Lando CalrissianRandom_Canadian, who has recognized that even Jedis and Siths occasionally like to take the edge off by knitting.

Scarf Vader

Yes, by following along with the Instructable, you can now make your own lightsaber knitting needles. Expressing your alignment, whether you're on the Light or the Dark Side of the Force, is as simple as choosing either green or red LEDs. You'll have to cannibalize some LED flashlights and chop up a Lucite rod to make them, but it's a small price to pay to restore balance to the knitting galaxy.

These aren't the crochets you're looking for

We first stumbled upon the work of Studio Banana via its 2012 Ostrich Pillow, the pillow-hood combo of Kickstarter fame. Now the studio, which prides itself on making what it describes as "fun, functional objects," is back with another product of a different animal moniker: the Kangaroo Light.

Observing human behavior, the Studio Banana team saw an opportunity for a multifunctional light for the multitasking individual. With its slim profile, flexible form and negligible weight, the Kangaroo Light can be easily squished into any aspect of your life. "Its funky hexagonal shape allows it to fit your lifestyle, whether you roll it up and turn it into a torch or take it camping for some outdoor light," says Shadi Ganjavian-Connor, the Communication Manager for Studio Banana, which has offices in Madrid and Lausanne, Switzerland.

As with the studio's other products, tangibility plays a large role in the Kangaroo Light. The light has a pyramidal, white, high-silicone exterior, giving it flexibility and, as an added bonus, making it splash-proof. "We were after a portable, lightweight and flat device that could be manipulated with one hand and that could fit inside a standard purse, bag or rucksack," says Banana co-founder Key Kawamura. "The triangular tessellation is the result of many tests looking for optimum flexibility and adaptability to the insides of different receptacles." After experimenting with various shapes, the team determined that something closest to a circle was less likely to get caught being pulled in and out of a bag. Merging the triangular tiles with the concept of a somewhat circular form, the team arrived at the final hexagonal shape.

Saitama-based Masanori Oji's interests are as broad as his skillset. The handicrafts designer has experience in architecture and graphics as well as product, and after attending a workshop at a brass foundry to learn about the material, it wasn't long until he proposed a series of product designs to the company behind the foundry.

That company is Futagami, one of the oldest brass foundries in Japan, and one that's produced everything from ship fittings to Buddhist altar equipment. In collaboration with Oji they've released a beautiful line of housewares, like the dope bottle openers you see up top, and these gorgeous sets of chopstick rests below.

They also produce rests for Western cutlery...

...in addition to the cutlery itself, which is primarily brass, but silver-tipped at the business end.

Street artist JR has been plastering city streets with the portraits of strangers for years, including his TEDPrize project from 2011. Now, he's been hired by the French government to put a pretty face on the Panthéon's unsightly construction. JR helped making the space a little more inviting by pasting thousands of different faces on the ceilings, floors and exterior of the building.

What started as an illegal activity back in 2006 with a public "exhibition" of suburban street thug portraits in the "bourgeois districts of Paris," took a turn when the Paris City Hall decided to wrap its walls with his faces. Funny enough, his resume consists of a mix of controversial (and occasionally still illegal) exhibitions and government-funded projects. Collectively, all of JR's work that spurred from the TEDPrize is titled INSIDE OUT. This specific display goes by the name of Au Panthéon!.

We're up bright and early ready to kick off a week of live Core77 Design Awards announcements from around the world. To start us off, we've got self-styled Eating Designer Marije Vogelzang leading her jury from Rotterdam, Netherlands. Joining her are Food-trend Analyst, Food Blogger and Food Columnist Marjan Ippel; Food Rhapsody's Creative Producer and Food Concept Creator Valerie Kuster; and Zestz's Owner and Editor in Chief Ronald De Nijs to announce the winners of this year's Food Design category.

Professional
Notables:
» Omer Polak / Michal Evyatar - Blow Dough
» IDEO - San Francisco Unified School District: A Cafeteria Designed for Me
» Roel Vandebeek - Facing Food

Student
Winner: Katharina Unger - FARM 432: Insect Breeding
Runner-up: The Furious Fika - Food Radiation Scanner
Notables:
» Nikko Van Stolk - Bloom
» Julia Plevin and Lucy Knops - Critter Bitters
» Jeongdae Kim - minuspoon & minusugar
» Inna Alesina - Test Kitchen For Change
» Rahul Agarwal - Polygons Measuring Spoon
» Dan Olken - In The End Nothing: An Edible Menorah
» Maia Rowan - KIDS + FOOD

New Balance has a history of 100 years of enduring performance and is still running strong today. Their commitment to making products that not only provide performance, but also superior fit and comfort, has made them a leading name in athletic footwear and apparel. They seek this type of commitment in those they hire - to keep the company moving forward and their customers happy. If you are ready to move the world, why not apply for their Assistant Designer position in Boston, MA?

As an Assistant Designer, you will help to interpret the NB brand direction into materials, trims, styles, colors, and patterns. You will support the team in the design and development of apparel for men's and women's performance active wear. From sketching to communicating, you'll be in charge of supporting a variety of initiatives that require strong organizational skills and creativity. Apply Now.

In badass science news, they've built an aquatic gundam and they're going to use it to search for a 2,000 year old computer that even Jacques Cousteau couldn't find.

Filling the gap between a submarine and scuba gear, the Exosuit is an articulated rigid suit worn by a diver. It's loaded with cool capabilities [PDF], including intercom, video and data communication links, a rad carbon dioxide scrubbing system, a whopping 50 hour emergency support system and intense pincer-grabber hands. However the primary feature is its ability to maintain surface pressure for up to 1,000 feet below—depths where an unprotected diver would almost certainly suffer decompression sickness. Powered by vertical and horizontal thrusters that are engaged by moving the diver's feet, an umbilical link to a parent ship powers its movement, and voice, video and data links.

The Exosuit was designed by Nuytco Research, a marine robotic firm with a website worth poking around in. Priginally built for diving in "the bowels" of New York City's water treatment plants (good one, New Scientist), the suit recently got a saltwater test at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to further explore its capabilities. By removing the possibility of the Bends, the Exosuit could radically change manned underwater exploration, making deep-sea sites accessible in entirely new ways.

Rigorous sea testing of the suit's flexibility and durability is vital because it is slated for use on one of the world's most exciting shipwrecks as soon as September. Known as the Antikythera Wreck, the site was discovered by sponge divers off the coast of Greek island of Antikythera in 1900. The site is 120m deep and at the time of its discovery, divers could spend a dangerous maximum of five minutes on the floor. Even then, several of the original divers suffered paralysis and one died of complications from decompression. But the discoveries on the ancient Greek wreck might have been worth it. In addition to statues, amphora and precious booty of all varieties, the ship offered up a very odd piece of machinery that went under the radar until the 1950s.

If you're designing a modular bag system, like the cool Mission Workshop Arkiv we looked at a few years ago, you need to figure out how the bags connect to each other. Chances are you'll go with the tried-and-true military route, i.e. the MOLLE system. But the guys over at Bowerbags didn't care for it:

In earlier prototypes we used MOLLE webbing and traditional button snaps to achieve modularity. We found the button snaps were cumbersome to move in and around the webbing. We also found there were no other clasping solutions on the market that made our modularity goal any easier.

We concluded that there was no hardware that was quite right, so we went to work making our own. We designed, prototyped and tested over 1000 different clip variations until landing on the Bowerbuckle you see today.

Their now-perfected Bowerbuckle—essentially a sprung scissors-type clasp that seizes a peg—is now integrated into their Bowerbag, a customizable "5-in-1" bag system that they're trying to get Kickstarted. Check it out:

No matter what your sport is, no one likes referees, least of all the fans. To the fans, when a player makes an error it's bad enough—but when the ref makes an error, it's unforgivable. Which is why sports organizations will continue turning to technology in the quest to provide irrefutable judgments. One day referees will be able to cross dark parking lots and make it to their cars without fear.

During the recent Australia vs. Chile World Cup match, I watched his play happen in real-time, with Australian defender Alex Wilkinson attempting to clear the ball as it rolls towards their goal:

Without the benefit of instant replay, a better camera angle or the freeze-frame techniques used above, it would be easy to assume that the ball crossed the line. But FIFA's newly-incorporated Goal Line Technology meant it wasn't an issue. The ball did not cross the line, and this was confirmed because an array of seven cameras monitoring the goal and hooked up to a computer were able to accurately track the ball's precise position.

Yes, it's old-fashioned 2D-recording cameras, and not sensors embedded within the ball, that have become the emerging goal-sensing technology. It's pretty cool how it works, check it out:

We've got a solid line-up of winners to announce from the Strategy & Research category. Jury Captain Larry Keeley (President and Co-Founder of Doblin, Inc.)—along with his trusty group of jurors—Jeff Semenchuk of Hyatt, Tomoko Ichikawa and Kim Erwin of the IIT Institute of Design and Todd McCullough of McCullough Partners, LLC—are ready to share their favorite designs from this year's Strategy & Design category:

Professional
Winner: POSSIBLE Los Angeles - Pearson Common Core System of Courses
Runners-up:
» Aki Ishida and Lynnette Widder - Making the Giraffe Path
» Yves Behar & fuseproject - Physical Assets for Adolescent Girls
Notables:
» Stryker Medical & Twisthink - Stryker Hospital Support Surfaces Brand Strategy
» Fi Scott / Make Works - Make Works Tour
» SAP | Design and Co-Innovation Center - Patient Data Explorer
» RKS - Hamilton Medical, Portable Ventilator Research

Student
Winner: Sean Jalleh - Redesigning the Air Ambulance
Runners-up:
» Stephanie Bhim - VisPo—Visual Poetry
» Jeongdae Kim - MLKL
Notables:
» Andreas Schuster - The Library Compass—A Strategy for Public Libraries in Times of Digitalization
» Darren Gene Peterson / Hsin-Cheng Lin / Shiyi Li - Tinker.it—a New Platform for Self-Tracking "Experimenters"
» Chris Natt - Blastproof—Visual Mapping and Prototyping Tools (simulation) for Mine Action Research

It's just a few short days away. The inaugural Core77 Conference is this Thursday, June 19! If you're not sure about going, keep in mind there are only a handful of tickets left but there are TONS of reasons to attend. You've probably read about what the day's schedule has to offer, and who will be speaking there (including her, him and them,) but what about the rest of the day and night? Here's the scoop on the fun and food that will compliment some of the most enlightening presentations you'll hear this summer.

When you arrive, you'll receive your conference packet-on-a-lanyard that is stuffed with the following important items:
1.) Your name tag, which makes networking that much easier.
2.) The printed program guide so you know who is speaking when.
3.) Your dinner ticket, which is good for a some delicious chow from the Milk Truck Grilled Cheese food truck later in the evening.
4.) Your complimentary conference token, redeemable for $5 toward the goodies for sale at the conference merchandise table. This includes t-shirts, books, hand screen-printed posters, a notebook and a tile from +POOL.
5.) Your ticket to be redeemed for a mystery gift at the end of the night.

Your packet-on-a-lanyard is an important part of the entire day, so make sure you keep it close. Lunch, on the other hand, is on us, so there's no need to worry about a ticket. We are proud to be serving lunch straight from the Brooklyn Commune kitchen, a Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, community cafe and restaurant that serves local and sustainably-sourced food prepared by Chef Chris Scott. They promote sustainability through sponsoring educational opportunities about healthy choices, and through partnerships with local producers, artists and organizations. Their menu is well-reviewed, too, so everyone wins!

As the presentations conclude and we're all happily sated thanks to the Milk Truck, New Orleans brass-funk-rock band Bonerama will take the stage. If you haven't heard their music yet, check them out on Youtube for a taste of the good tunes and good times they're bringing to the conference. Registering for the conference automatically puts you on the VIP list to enjoy the drinks (on us) and music at the end of the day, but your friends are welcome to join us! Just let them know the fun, music and cash bar get started at around 6pm.

With all these reasons to register for the Core77 Conference beyond the day's content, what are you waiting for? Tickets are almost gone. Get yours today!

The Equipment announcements are coming to you live from Portland, Oregon, USA. Jury Captain Sohrab Vossoughi (founder of Ziba) worked with the University of Oregon's Product Design Program Director & Associate Professor, Kiersten Muenchinger; Nike's Digital Sport Director of Design, Jamian Cobbett; and SoMA's Founder and President, Stevan Wittenbrock. Check out which designs they thought came in at the top:

Professional
Winner: Pensar + Illumagear - Illumagear Halo
Runners-up:
» Motorola Solutions Innovation & Design - DS4800 Series Bar Code Scanner
» Pensa - DIWire
Notables:
» Liquid Agency - Revelar Product Design
» 3D Systems - Bespoke Division - Bespoke Bracing

Student
Winner: Philip Nordmand Andersen - AIRGO
Runners-up:
» Alastair Warren / Dawid Dawod - NeoNook Neonatal Infant Care
» Ilteris Ilbasan - Gerridae: Ground Sensitive Harvester
Notables:
» Gschwandtl & Knutson - WARM: A novel non-invasive pre-hospital hypothermia treatment device
» Gschwandtl & Knutson - MARS 2025 ESSENTIALS
» Mariko Higaki Iwai - HeartRead
» Anton Hoffman - Moment Triage System
» Maxime Dubreucq / Robert Provó Kluit - Trompe: A Companion Elephant That Helps Premature Baby Breathe
» Dupire Diane / Coline Prevost / Léo Marzolf - Companion