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Isamu Noguchi's Rare Ceramic Works Bridge Art and Design

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As a sculptor and designer, Isamu Noguchi was incredibly versatile and well-versed in many materials. Within his considerable body of work, ceramics don't appear frequently, yet they represent surprisingly prolific and adventurous moments in his career. He only worked in the medium during three immersive trips to Japan, first while on a Guggenheim fellowship in 1931, a shorter stay in 1950 and again in 1952, after which he never used clay again. These works—many of which are currently exhibited in Isamu Noguchi: Functional Ceramics at The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum—represent a melding of Western modes of thinking about art and Japan's significant ceramic tradition.  

"Should anyone ask what is characteristic of my development now I think it is my rediscovery of this intimate nature which I had almost forgotten since childhood. It is anybody's childhood, I suppose, to know nature this way. Yet to know nature again as an adult, to exhaust one's hands in the earth...one has to be a potter or a sculptor, and that also in Japan." 
Isamu Noguchi with The Queen, 1931 [Image courtesy of MONDOBLOGO]

When Noguchi came to Japan in 1950, he was offered the opportunity to exhibit in the country for the first time at the Mitsukoshi Department Store in Tokyo. During an intense month-long period, Noguchi created an entire body of work (he hadn't brought any work with him from New York) much of which was developed in the city of Seto, an area known for its ceramic tradition.

Installation view of Noguchi's solo exhibition at Mitsukoshi Department Store, Tokyo, 1950 [Image courtesy of MONDOBLOGO]

Though Noguchi was eager to learn all he could about traditional techniques from master potters and sculptors in the area, formally his works are decidedly non-traditional and reflect his interest in abstraction and surrealism. "There is a purposeful, playful ambiguity about the functionality of Noguchi's eccentric ceramics," explains curator Dakin Hart. Irregular apertures in tables become vases, while the knobby legs they stand on impart an anthropomorphic quality to the pieces—seen together they feel like a whimsical cast of characters with distinct personalities. 

Vase, 1950 [Image courtesy of MONDOBLOGO]
Three-Legged Vase, 1952 [Image courtesy of MONDOBLOGO]
"Whatever quality my work now has is I hope that of nature—that is to say the result of our communion. Where there is humor it is that of nature. The subject is nature, its pathos or grandeur. There has I trust been a minimum of the imposition of will and thought. The medium which is the earth itself has its own way—and the fires of the kiln burn away my petty prides."
Isamu Noguchi working on ceramics at Kamakura Studio, 1952. Courtesy The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
Kamakura Studio, 1952. [Courtesy The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.]
Sand Model for Sculpture to be Seen From Mars, 1947

In 1952, Noguchi returned to Japan and stayed in Kamakura, a rural village outside of Tokyo. He set up a studio on the estate of potter and restaurateur Kitaoji Rosanjin and remained there for a year. Influenced by the tableware in Rosanjin's restaurants, he created a series of playful dishes which he would later refer to as "sculptures that lie down." "Topography is hinted at throughout Noguchi's tableware, with areas differentiated and partitioned through inscribed patterns or glazes," notes Hart. "Face Dish, with its articulated dome eyes, pyramidal nose, curving mound lips, suggests a tentative relationship to his most imaginative (unbuilt) earth work, Sculpture to be Seen From Mars (1947)—a basic depiction of man's features broadcast into space—here scaled down to a personal and potentially comical encounter."

Atsumi-san, 1952. Shigaraki stoneware, iron oxide glaze. [Photo: Kevin Noble. Courtesy The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.]
Face Dish (Boku), 1952. [Photo: Kevin Noble. Courtesy The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.]
Lonely Tower, 1952. Shigaraki stoneware, ash glaze. [Photo: Kevin Noble. Courtesy The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.]
Dish, 1952. Shigaraki stoneware, Shino glaze. [Photo: Kevin Noble. Courtesy The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.]
"When all the possibilities of modern technologies are lost, one returns once more to basic things, basic materials, to basic thoughts...An innocent synthesis must arise from the embers of the past."

By combining a traditional medium with a modern sensibility for formal exploration, the unconventional works Noguchi worked on in Japan sparked a conversation about the role of tradition in Japan's culture. As Hart notes: "Notions of tradition had grown problematic in Japanese culture after the period of intense nationalism that led to its involvement in the Second World War. In its aftermath, members of the Japanese avant-garde debated the growing influence of Western modes that had arisen in that vacuum. Noguchi was uniquely positioned to draw from traditions of Japan's past...and to mediate what he understood to be of value on both sides." Toeing the line between art and design, East and West, tradition and modernity—these hybrid works build upon enduring themes.

"Isamu Noguchi Exhibition," Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, September 23 - October 19, 1952. [Photo by Isamu Noguchi. Courtesy The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.]

"Isamu Noguchi: Functional Ceramics" is on view at The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum through July 24, 2016. 



Are These Two Designs Illegally Similar? The UK's Supreme Court Says No

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Design infringement IS serious business: in this case a primary question decided by the UK courts was whether or not the Kiddee, an animal-shaped suitcase on wheels, makes a "different overall impression" than the Trunki and I think, from a designer's perspective at least, that it is pretty clear. The creator of Trunki, Rob Law, as quoted by the BBC in their story on the verdict, says he was "bewildered by this judgment, not just for ourselves but for the huge wave of uncertainty it brings to designers in Britain”.

The fight has made its way up through successive levels of the courts since 2013 and has also played out publicly with both sides issuing statements and publicity photos of their lines. It ultimately lead to humorously similar images of the parties brandishing judgements made in their favor: 

In 2003 the Trunki was registered as six CAD images and although the Supreme Court Justice that ruled on the case said, "it appears clear" the Kiddee Case had been conceived "as a result of seeing a Trunki and discovering that a discount model was not available."

So does Kiddee deserve to win this one? Read the judgement here and let us know...

What sayeth you, Lord CAD Monkey?

New Documentary Showcases the Laborious History of Graphic Design

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It's easy for us to take for granted the relative ease of working as a designer nowadays. Got an idea for a poster? No problem; mock it up in InDesign. Want to envision a brand new product collection? Just start tinkering away in Solidworks. Plenty of us may not have a grasp on design hardships prior to the digital age, but don't include graphic designers working professionally prior to the 80s and 90s in that mix—designing for print in the first half of the century was hard work

An ad for a wax coater used in the 80s for "paste-ups" prior to computer desktop publishing. Paste-up is a phototypesetting process that required a professional paste-up artist to cut type into sections and arrange it across columns on paper. 

In a trailer for a new documentaryGraphic Means, set to release Spring 2017, not only does it illustrates the painstaking processes of typesetting and paste up prior to the mainstream use of computer software, it also sheds light on just how rapidly the landscape of graphic design changed particularly from the '70s to the '90s—in the blink of an eye, established and complex manual processes were quickly thrown out to make way for desktop publishing. 

The documentary includes interviews with heavy-hitters like Steve Heller and Tobias Frere-Jones and seems like a truly comprehensive look into an industry with a rich cultural and technical history. In many ways, a documentary like this also bridges the worlds of industrial design and graphic design in that it demonstrates how both fields continue to be affected by the burgeoning world of new technologies.

Read more about the upcoming film 'Graphic Means' here

11 Ways to Control Desktop Cables

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My desktop right now has six cables: power cords for my laptop, monitor, printer and scanner, and cables to attach the scanner and the monitor to the computer. (My new printer, thank goodness, is wireless—eliminating one cable.) And then there are the cords for my smartphone and tablet, which need nightly charging. I'm far from alone; many people I know and work with struggle with their many cords.

Fortunately, designers have developed a number of products to help control the mess. I've mentioned some before, but I keep seeing more interesting options.

The Guide from Griffin Technology tackles one common problem: cords (like my laptop power cord) that fall on the floor when not in use. Guide includes a set of three bases and three magnetic cable anchors that sit on those bases. 

There's no worry about whether or not the anchor opening is the right size for the cables, because with three choices there's going to be something that fits whatever cords the end user has. And the nonskid weighted bases can be moved around as needed.

The one possible drawback: If all three bases are used on the desktop, that will take up a bit of space. If all three are not needed (on the desktop or elsewhere in the home), the end user now has some more clutter to deal with. 

Those end users who need to save space would appreciate a design like the 2+3 Cable Organizer from J&E Amosson; it's a Kickstarter that will be funded on March 16. This organizer provides a compact way to hold up to five cables. It's made from thermoplastic rubber and attaches with a 3M adhesive; when removed, it leaves no residue behind. With an adhesive backing, these organizers can also be attached to the side of a desk, rather than the top, if that works better. However, the adhesive is not reusable, so end users will need to be careful about the placement.

The stainless steel Pinza comes in two sizes: the small one can hold two cords while the large one holds three or four cords. (Purchasers say the large can hold even more.) Purchasers note that the rubber O-rings, along with the Pinza's heft, keep it in place—and also keep it from scratching the desk. The one concern: A purchaser noted that the "new, smaller Apple connectors slip through."

For end users who just need to keep a single cord in place, there's the OXO Good Grips Cord Catch. The heavy die cast body and the non-slip base keep it in place pretty well, according to purchasers. It couldn't be easier to use, and (like other OXO products) would probably be good for end users with arthritis. But the Cord Catch is another design that just won't work with the new Apple cables with lightning connectors; they slip out, as many disappointed purchasers have noted

The Cord Buddy comes in two pieces that are held together by magnets. The Glow version has a motion-activated night light, which could be useful beside the bed. However, the Cord Buddy is made of plastic and a few purchasers say it's just not heavy enough to stay in place, even with the batteries installed. Others have had problems with the night light being too motion sensitive.

Most cable organizers reply on adhesives and/or their weight to stay in place. But the Bobino Desk Cable Clip goes another route; it will clip to desks up to 6 cm thick. 

The other problem end users often encounter is the unruly mess caused by long cords. I know many people who happily use the old reliable Velcro ties to solve this problem, but there are other options. 

Above the Fray has its Cableband, sold in packages of three; these elastic bands stretch to fit a wide range of small- to medium-size cables. My concern: When I watched the video, I thought that anyone with dexterity issues would probably find this harder to use than a Velcro tie.

On the other hand, the magnetic Speedy Wraps from UT Wire looked extremely easy to use. They come in 10-inch and 20-inch lengths.

The other way to handle long cables is to wrap them around something. The Bspun cable wrap is 3D printed in nylon; the slots will fit cables up to 3 mm thick. Since it only weights .3 oz, the Bspun could be a portable cable control device, moving from a desktop to a laptop bag without making the bag unnecessarily heavy.


Sometimes end users may want to hide long cables under their desks—and that's what the Sombrero from Doug Mockett & Company, designed by Andrea Ruggiero, is intended for. This does require a desktop surface that can take a mounting screw, though. 

Prints, Poppies and Patterns: Touring the Marimekko Factory

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Sometimes the marriage of old and new pairs seamlessly and nowhere is that more obvious than at Marimekko, the iconic Finnish textile company based in Helsinki. The company began in 1949 as Printex, a textile and oilcloth printing company led by Armi Ratia and her husband Viljo, and has evolved over the years to become a hallmark of Scandinavian design. Marimekko continues to develop new, innovative offerings while updating and printing fabric designs from their extensive archive which has amassed no less than 3500 designs. 

Lobby of the Marimekko Factory and Office in Helsinki, Finland

Initially the colorful, striking textiles were so unique that no one could quite figure out what to do with them. That all changed dramatically in 1953 when the company hired fashion designer Riita Immonen to create a clothing line using their fabric. The collection sold out practically on the spot and days later Marimekko (which translates to "Mary's dress") officially registered as a company—the rest, as they say, is history. Core77 recently toured Marimekko's factory in Helsinki to learn more about their process and how they create a mash-up of old and new fabric designs for use throughout their line of products.

Unikko print

At Marimekko, everything is created in-house by a team that is composed 90% of women working under the guidance of Creative Director Anna Teurnell. In fact, the company's culture has always encouraged a sense of empowerment for women. The Unikko poppy design, for example, was created in 1964 by then chief designer Maija Isola in a moment of artistic protest. Ratia had declared that the company would never produce any floral patterns because she didn't think it was possible to replicate the beauty of actual flowers. Because there's no better way to prove someone wrong than by example, Isola created the distinctive, upbeat design which not only won Ratia over but is still, decades later, one of Marimekko's most popular and iconic prints. 

Array of printing rolls for different fabrics
Fabric being offset printed
Silk screens for different patterns
Fabrics being screen printed

The actual printing of fabric takes a couple of forms, using a combination of screen printing and offset printing with machine finishing and human checking to ensure the quality of each fabric roll. Fabrics are first printed, then steamed at 100 degrees celsius to "set" the dyes, this is followed by a washing and a separate drying process. Finally, fabrics head to the rewinder where they are checked for flaws and sent for finishing—either to be sold as fabric swaths or to be made into a Marimekko product. Printers working on the factory floor wear "even stripe" T-shirts (a Marimekko design)—a unisex print that also works well with jeans.

Scraps in the orange bin are used for smaller Marimekko products
An inside view of the fabric washer
Fabric rolls awaiting rewinding
Bulk fabric awaiting the finishing step, where it is checked by eye for any imperfections

Teurnell has researched the 3500 print archive for inspiration, tweaking colors to update fabric designs while at the same time commissioning new prints from other designers. Their Spring/Summer 2016 homewares collection features the work of designers Carina Seth Andersson, Aino-Maija Metsola, Maija Louekari and Erja Hirvi. Marimekko has just finished showing Fall 2016 at Paris Fashion Week and announced an exciting pop-up partnership with Target launching on April 17th in the United States.

An Introduction to Wood Species, Part 12: Sapele

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Sapele 

Entandrophragma Cylindricum 

Sapele is in the same family as Mahogany and the same genus as Utile, and it, therefore, shares many of the same qualities with these woods. 

Hailing from Africa, Sapele contains an interlocking grain that produces light and dark ribbon stripes throughout the boards. Sapele is commonly quartersawn to enhance these attractive ribbons, and it is often used as a veneer for plywood in this application. As a solid wood, it is relatively stable once dry, and it is frequently used in the construction of doors. Sapele is a fine exterior wood, although it is often painted in window and door applications because of its fine grain. 

Here you can see the difference in appearance between flat sawn (left) and quartersawn (right) Sapele lumber

Sapele takes a moulded edge very well, and the flat sawn cut is best used for moulding applications due to its consistent appearance. Quartersawn Sapele's ribbon texture does not produce as consistent a coloration as flat sawn, but quartersawn Sapele does boast increased stability. 

Sapele is actually somewhat soft for a hardwood (although it is still harder than Mahogany), and it is therefore very gentle on tools. A word of caution to contractors and carpenters, however: Be sure to take care while machining this wood. Sapele is a dusty lumber, and this fine dust can cause respiratory problems and skin irritation. 

Despite the wood's many positive attributes, the cost for Sapele lumber is usually around half of that of Genuine Mahogany. Sapele also tends to cost less than Utile. These factors help make Sapele a very popular lumber species for use in a wide variety of interior and exterior applications. 

Sapele Sources 

We import our Sapele from West Africa and pay particular attention to only buy from specific regions to obtain the best colors and consistencies. We import an even amount of flat sawn and quartersawn lumber but find that careful consideration must be taken with drying and re-drying to ensure stability. These drying schedules can even vary depending on where in West Africa we buy our Sapele.

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This continuation of the Wood Species series is written by Shannon Rogers, a/k/a The Renaissance Woodworker and founder of The Hand Tool School. It has been provided courtesy of the J. Gibson McIlvain Lumber Company, where Rogers works as Director of Marketing.

_________________________________________________________

More Wood Reference:

Species:

» An Introduction To Wood Species, Part 1: Properties & Terminology
» An Introduction To Wood Species, Part 2: Pine
» An Introduction To Wood Species, Part 3: Oak
» An Introduction To Wood Species, Part 4: Maple
» An Introduction To Wood Species, Part 5: Walnut
» An Introduction To Wood Species, Part 6: Cherry
» An Introduction To Wood Species, Part 7: Mahogany
» An Introduction To Wood Species, Part 8: Rosewood
» An Introduction To Wood Species, Part 9: Ebony
» An Introduction To Wood Species, Part 10: Teak

» An Introduction To Wood Species, Part 11: Utile/Sipo

How Boards are Made:

» How Logs Are Turned Into Boards, Part 1: Plainsawn
» How Logs Are Turned Into Boards, Part 2: Quartersawn
» How Logs Are Turned Into Boards, Part 3: Riftsawn

Wood Movement:

» Wood Movement: Why Does Wood Move? 

» Controlling Wood Movement: The Drying Process 

» Dealing with Wood Movement: Design and Understanding

Fast Work: Italian Boss on Motorized Contraption Sprays Road Markings With Blazing Speed and Accuracy

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At school there was always one person in the studio who was faster than everyone else. They blazed through projects with a marker, a Dremel or a coping saw so quickly that it was fun to watch, and you were in awe of their muscle memory.

And that's the key: Muscle memory. Put in the hours, do something enough times and you can get fast at just about anything. It's even more impressive when you're wielding a tool most people have no experience with, like a motorized road line marker. Watch this road worker in Italy lay down lines and edges, including curved ones, with Ferrari-like speed:

I've seen self-propelled road marking machines, and riding-mower-style models with a seat, but I'd never seen this chariot variety before. I wonder if the operator hacked it together and/or modified it; you reckon it came out of the factory that fast?

The operator's name, by the way, is Indrit Mema. He owns his own road-marking company, Segnalgrafica, in Cosio Valtellino in northern Italy. To give you a sense of how fast he's moving in the video above, take a look at one of Segnalgrafica's videos showing what looks to be a member of their JV squad:

I did manage to get a better look at Mema's rig in this video. The chariot doesn't look like a stock piece of equipment:

I freeze-framed it to get a look at the logo on the machine, but whomever graphic-designed this thing ought to be fired. What the hell does this look like it says to you?

"Somo?" "Spamc?" "Sscmo?" I was not able to find the company that produces this machine. The orange color of it is the same as that used by German manufacturer Hoffman's road marking machines, but I couldn't find a model like this anywhere on their site.

Whether he purchased the machine as-is or hacked it up himself, Mema apparently has fun doing his job. As he told Italian periodical Corriere Della Sera, "Quando traccio le strisce bianche mi sento come quando ero un bimbo sui go kart." ("When I paint the white stripes, I feel like when I was a kid on a go kart.")

Farewell to Sir Ken Adam, the First 007 Designer

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The iconic and award-winning production designer and art director Ken Adam has passed away at the age of 95. Though his work spanned many genres, he is most fondly remembered for his contributions to engaging futurism, badass bad guys' lairs, and dark science fiction environments. His creativity and elegant touch produced some of the most striking sets of the '60s and '70s.

Ken Adam (née Klaus Hugo Adam) was born to a well-off Jewish family in 1921 Berlin. His early life was a tumultuous mix of elite education and a very troubled political climate, which eventually forced his family to relocate to England. As soon as he was legally able, he applied to join the Royal Air Force in the war against Hitler and served with double distinction, as a German national found assisting the British would have caught an automatic death sentence. 

Adam began his career in film auspiciously if humbly, working behind the scenes on projects like Around the World In 80 Days and Ben Hur within a few years of starting out. Adam's first major credit as a production designer was on the 1956 British noir Soho Incident, and in 1962 he signed on with Dr. No, the first ever Bond film. Despite his relative rookie status and the film's small budget (and that no one imagined 007 would be a decades-long franchise), Adam worked magic with the studio sets and Dr. No's futuristic lair. 

His vision in Dr. No is credited with setting the distinctive style of the whole Bond franchise and spy movies at large, and it paved the way for his own wild work in future Bond capers. One of the most prolific production designers to work within the franchise, he continued to contribute grand environments, hyper-modern flair, and fun elements of science fiction from Goldfinger though his work on Moonraker

Many quintessential pieces of the secret agents' technology and prop engineering were drawn from Adam's own experiences as a pilot. Other dastardly devices (like the high powered laser famously aimed at Sean Connery's groin in Goldfinger) were based on technology so new or nascent at the time that Adam's cinematic illustrations of them steered subsequent development. 

Other cinema-shifting highlights from his bonkers Bond work include ejecting seats and rocket shoes, the introduction of the Aston Martin, a fantastic fictionalized Fort Knox, the volcano lair in You Only Live Twice, and a mind-bogglingly large soundstage for the tanker in The Spy Who Loved Me. But really, anywhere you look in a Bond film you'll find traces of Adam's innovation, drama, and fun.

If you don't want a volcano base of your own I don't know what to tell you.

Shortly after the release of Goldfinger, he was approached to work on another visual and cultural groundbreaker: Stanley Kubrick's 1964 cult classic Doctor Strangelove. Adam's version of the War Room in the film has influenced generations of audiences, artists and directors, and impacted the way the Cold War was seen around the world. There's even a story that Ronald Reagan (Cold War noteworthy and cinephile that he was) wondered aloud where the War Room was located during his first elected tour of the White House.

In a gesture that illustrates both his ability and clear vision, Adams turned down the chance to take on 2001: A Space Odyssey. After learning how closely Kubrick had been working with NASA scientists to understand space travel, he doubted his ability to balance Kubrick's critical technical mind with his own interest in creative and immersive environments. While realism was something he appreciated, he preferred to work with less technical stricture and more invention.

Looking through his numerous projects, it's clear that his style was influenced by an appreciation for early German expressionism and the morally ambiguous possibility of technology. His use of these themes is visible in projects as different as the design of the car in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the storyboards and set design for the never-realized Star Trek movie Planet of the Titans

In a year already studded with sad and famous passings, this one feels a little less bitter and a little more sweet. Sir Adam's art and film legacy has been a boon for decades of set designers, practical effects lovers, interior designers and more, and it's given us very high standards for our supervillians.


Creative Cutlery by Maarten Baas and Koichi Futasumata

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The first sets of creative cutlery commissioned by Antwerp's Valerie Objects have arrived from Maarten Baas and Koichi Futatsumata. The design label's Cutlery Project series invited seven designers to interpret and prototype eating tools with the intent to "surprise and delight" the user's different senses. 

The first to launch past the prototyping stage, Baas and Futatsumata each brought signature moves to the table. 

The sleek, weighty-looking Futatsumata series features brushed brass and stainless, with striking flattened ends and soft squared edges. The noteworthy octagonal stems are based on the designer's favorite architectural pencil. The collection includes incredibly sharp chopsticks. With prior work in furniture, interior and architectural design, Futatsumata's precision and regularity shows up strong in these pieces.

Image via Dezeen

Maarten Baas went a characteristically wiggly route with his interpretation. The designer has lamented that much of a designed object's intrigue and beauty is lost in production, noting, "There is often a great deal of beauty in a rapid sketch, but those spontaneous lines often get lost in an industrial process." These pieces thumb their noses at that idea entirely, and capture the designer's playfulness.

The profile of each piece carries an organic imperfect outline, that feels lifted from a sketchbook. The tines of the fork squiggle, the spoon bowls are gently off-round, and the knife is impressively serrated in an uneven line. This is, as Valerie Objects puts it, "an ostensibly simple intervention, which is precisely the most difficult part of production."

Baas: Stainless Edition

First presented at January's Maison & Objet, they'll be available soon. As different as they are, the two are a wonderful start to a series bound to bring "surprises and delights" of all kinds.

VO co-founder Veerle Wenes explained, "When I approached the designers and design teams to create a set of cutlery for Valerie Objects, I knew that they would each use their expertise, background and knowledge to come up with a completely divergent range of results. Some of them had already experimented with cutlery, others had been fascinated by the design for years, while for yet others it was their first foray into designing this modest eating tool. But whatever stage they were at, they all succeeded in delivering a surprise" 

Jinhyun Jeon, Muller Van Severen, Studio Simple, and Studio Wieki Somers have all weighed in with prototypes, and we're looking forward to where they take them.

Baas: Prototype Edition


An Interesting UX Design Departure for Mechanical Wristwatches

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We like seeing designers experimenting with the gradations between two extremes. Take wristwatches, for instance. There are the tried-and-true mechanical ones, which are like wearing little machines on your wrist. Then there are smartwatches, which are like wearing little computers on your wrist. The former does its one job well, while the latter does many complicated tasks well, but requires considerable futzing to set up and maintain.

Recognizing that there are folks who will fall between these two extremes, an international team of designers led by Igor Basargin have designed the What? Watch, which provides the simplicity of a mechanical model with a little something extra in the UX realm. Check this out:

Sure, it's still up to the user to remember what tasks those greyed-out sections of time represent, but I like the idea that you have a simple and quick way to see the broad strokes of your schedule. I also like that it is represented purely graphically, in a no-nonsense way. And apparently more than 500 Kickstarter backers feel the same way; at press time, the What? Watch had garnered $150,000-plus on a $104,924 goal, and there were still 15 days left to pledge.

The $177 Early Birds are all gone, and buy-in now starts at $265. Surprisingly, turnaround time seems pretty quick; the developers expect it to ship by September of this year.

P.S. I hate when there's punctuation in the middle of a product name or title. I think a better name would've been the Whatch.

Who Knew? The Waterbed Was Invented by an Industrial Design Student Doing a Class Assignment

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How awesome would it be to design, while still a student, the product that would set your entire future up?

In 1968 Charles Hall was an ID student at San Francisco State University. For his master's project he was tasked with improving human comfort, and while he set out to create furniture, he didn't start with beds. Here's what happened:

A couple of key points here. One is the importance of research; had Hall not talked to all of those physical therapists and doctors, he might not have struck upon the water idea. 

The second thing to note is that Hall wisely patented the design relatively quickly.

Judging by the waterfront house seen in the video, Hall's done pretty well for himself in the past 48 years. The "Alumni & Friends" section of SF State Magazine fills in some of the blanks:

His invention — [originally called] the "pleasure pit" — was an immediate hit with friends. After pitching the product to the nation's big mattress manufacturers without luck, he began manufacturing them himself. "We made 'em and sold 'em and delivered 'em," he says. His company, Innerspace Environments, eventually operated 32 retail stores in California.
Waterbeds, though popular, proved a tough way to make money, with patent infringements and competition from cheap imitators. Says Hall, "The public didn't know what to look for. A $29 bag of water is not the same thing as a $500 bed with a frame, a safety liner and a heater." Hall eventually won a $6 million lawsuit for patent infringement. But by then his patent had expired. The waterbed wave had peaked (in 1987 with 22 percent of the mattress market) and receded.

Hall subsequently launched a company that produces outdoor products, Basic Designs, and eventually sold it. Today he and business partner Clay Haller run Advanced Elements, a company that designs, manufactures and wholesales watersport products, like the inflatable kayak you saw in the video, to companies like REI and West Marine.

All in all, not a shabby way to start a career. ID students, choose your final projects wisely!

The Digitally-Fabricated Version of a Map With Red Pins In It

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What is it with maps and design entrepreneurship? Two weeks ago we spotted a firm making their bones with digitally fabricated bathymetric maps, and last week we looked at a woman creating objects emblazoned with maps related to the end users' personal experiences. Now we've come across a firm doing a little of both.

Nicetrails is the name of the company, and their target market is outdoorsfolk who tackle their hikes with GPS trackers. After completing your journey, you upload the resultant GPX file that logged your progress onto Nicetrails' website. 

Then they 3D print, in color, the precise area that you climbed, adding a red line that represents your footsteps. Two weeks later you've got a cool little "trophy" of your trip.

I have no idea how profitable it is, but it's a pretty brilliant use of 3D printing, emphasis on the "3D." Indeed, it was frustration with 2D that led to the idea. Writes Bernat Cuní, the designer who conceived of it,

One day, back from climbing the Mt.Rainier I was re-visiting the trail with my phone and while I was so proud and happy of the hike, I felt that that line on a flat map didn't quite represented the awesomeness of the day spent conquering the top.
I really wanted to view my track in 3D, to see the crests and valleys that I crossed. So, back on my laptop, I searched around the web to find a way to upload the track to a trails sharing site, and export it as a filetype readable in Google Earth.
Great! Now I was seeing my route in 3D. Then, using some open source map data, and CAD modelling skills I managed to build a digital mountain and 3D printed it, and it looked amazing.

Cuní then launched Nicetrails along with Oscar Ardaiz, who's going for a PhD in Computer Science, so I'm guessing he's the Wozniak of the outfit.

You can check out a demo of how the uploading process works here.

How Fake Food in Japan Is Made

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Have you ever wondered why American restaurants don't have those adorable Japanese food displays of meals that look ridiculously realistic? As it turns out, it may be for a multitude of cultural and economical reasons.

In this recently released video by Great Big Story, we get an intimate tour into the factory that makes over half of the food craft displays found in Japan.

I always assumed that these had to be made by machine, but apparently fake food products made by machines aren't likely to pass as the real deal, so these factories hire highly proficient Japanese artists with years of training (one man in this video has worked at this factory for 36 years!). Another thing I never realized was the high value of these pieces, which becomes much more clear after a look into the painstaking process of making them—individual pieces sometimes take up to 3 hours or more and can cost as much as $1000 a pop.

In the spirit of Friday, I've decided to attach a few more detailed looks into the faux food manufacturing process. Like this plastic magically being formed into lettuce: 

Also, an artfully detailed tour of one of the factories that's actually from Wim Wenders' 1985 documentary Tokyo-Ga:


The End of China's "Weird" Architecture, the Strange History of Scent and Why Creatives May Never be Able to Retire

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Core77's editors spend time combing through the news so you don't have to. Here's a weekly roundup of our favorite stories from the World Wide Web.

Why Isn't the Sky Blue?

In this episode of Radiolab, researchers, historians, scientists and anthropologists complicate something we take for granted in the world of design—color. We safely assume that the sky is blue but until recent history, there was not a word for the color. In "The Odyssey," Homer describes the "wine-dark sea," but as Radiolab asks, why wine-dark and not deep blue or green? Listen to find out.

—Linyee Yuan, managing editor

Our Pungent History: Sweat, Perfume, and the Scent of Death

This recent article about man's relationship over time with odors and perfumes is all-consuming. I have to admit I've been interested in the topic for a while and this essay is a great introduction—it's packed with fun facts as well as products created over the centuries to help combat all kinds of odors (like this 17th century Rosemary's Baby-esque spherical fragrance compartment meant to be worn around the neck).

—Allison Fonder, community manager

Where Swedish and Japanese Design Intersect

Have you ever been struck by the similarities between Scandinavian and Japanese design? Found MUJI has you covered. The Japanese retailer's globe-trotting line of quotidian products has added Sweden to its roster, highlighting product designs like melamine dishware and wire baskets that fit neatly into the Japanese design aesthetic. 

—Rebecca Veit, columnist, Designing Women

Why Does America Hate Roundabouts?

OK, we don't hate them, but they are unfamiliar. They're pretty simple, though after a recent 7 hour road trip it's easy to believe that roundabouts have "flourished in Britain because it requires the British virtues of compromise and cooperation," as journalist Stephen Beard proclaims (who, no surprise, lives in Britain). "The U.S.'s more aggressive, confrontational culture may explain why the roundabout has not been more widely adopted by Americans." Get educated on roundabouts at the IIHS site, then join us in advocating for them and proving *#@^ jerks like this wrong!

—Eric Ludlum, editorial director

Google Creative Lab 5 Interactive Application

This one is a bit of a shameless plug for a project I worked on with some good folks (Andrew, Pedro, Simone, Enle, Nicky) at Google Creative Lab. The site is an interactive application for the Five, a one year, paid program in the lab. While you can't read it, you can write on it — or design, code, move, and (with any luck) break it.
—Carly Ayres, columnist, In the Details

The Rise of the Creative Class is the End of Retirement

This article in The Kernel is a fairly terrifying read: It points out that those of us who have tried to dodge the rat-race by working in creative fields will, essentially, never be able to retire. (Gulp.)

—Rain Noe, senior editor

China's Ban on "Weird" Architecture is a Global Power Play

A few weeks ago China announced that "oversized, xenocentric and weird" architecture—the kind of bizarre structures that have become synonymous with the country's skyline—would be banned from here on out in favor of architecture that is "suitable, economical, green and pleasing to the eye." This article discusses what this adamant shift means for the country and its goals for the future. 

—Alexandra Alexa, editorial assistant

Top 5 Instagram Videos of the Week

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Here's your weekly roundup of our favorite videos featured on Core77's Instagram feed!

5. Dribble Droid

Steph Curry may not be on top for long.

4. DIY Coca-Cola Dremel Blade

I'm not sure if this video for a do-it-yourself dremel tool made out of a Coke bottle top should excite me or scare the crap out of me. 

3. Making String Out of Plastic Bottles

Still not totally sure what you could use this bottle cutting device for? Read more about it here!

2. Paper Making Magic

It's crazy that a process as trippy and mesmerizing as paper marbling could also be so ancient.

1. BMW's Monster Concept Car

The clear winner of this week's roundup is BMW's new Next 100 Car Concept, which is simultaneously futuristic and freakishly reptilian... 

Want more awesome videos? Find and follow us on Instagram (@core77) !


Top Five Hand Tools, Fixing Vintage Power Tools, DIY Desk Lamps and More

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Penny + Soda Can = Popcorn Stove

Here's a short, fun one from La Fabrique DIY. They turn a soda can, a penny, some cotton balls and lighter fluid into a popcorn stove:

LED Desk Lamp

Darbin Orvar's Linn uses her well-rounded skillset to create a dimmable, remote-controlled LED desk lamp. This one is designed not only to cast task lighting, but also to illuminate and highlight the wood of the lamp:

Samurai Carpenter's Top Five Hand Tools (Actually Six)

This week Jesse de Geest runs down his Top Five Hand Tools. The impatient among you should skip ahead to the 6-minute mark, when the rundown actually starts; prior to that he explains his publishing schedule, and shows off two new tools that are the fruits of his recent Makita sponsorship. I ordinarily blaze past the sponsored talk, but his new Makita toys happen to be really freakin' cool!

Dropping Wood Knowledge

In this second video from de Geest, he runs down some natural science basics that will be of value for those of you who work with wood. What's the difference between heartwood and sapwood, and what are those little holes in your timbers?

Plywood 4-Jaw Lathe Chuck

For someone who didn't want to make a DIY lathe in the first place, Matthias Wandel is certainly going whole hog with it. This week he figures out how to add a freaking 4-jaw chuck made out of plywood!

Adding a Hinged Bed to the CNC Mill

In earlier episodes we saw Frank Howarth build his CNC mill. Now he adds an innovative, useful component: A hinged section of the bed that can tilt 90 degrees, or anywhere in between, allowing him to work on the edges of boards.

Fixing Up a Vintage Radial Arm Saw

The other Howarth video from this week combines two of our favorite things: Vintage tools and problem solving. Frank scoops up an old, monstrous DeWalt GE radial arm saw at an auction, and after getting it into his shop, discovers it's got some serious issues. He then demonstrates that research, the internet, persistence, and keeping an open mind--being willing to abandon one solution in exchange for another--can all pay off.

Quiet, Next-Door Dust Collection

A utilitarian build from April Wilkerson this week, as she installs a dust collector in her shop. Or more accurately, next door to her shop. Wilkerson has opted for a through-the-wall system, and her choice seems awful smart when she fires it up for the first time--listen to how quiet it is!

Optimizing the Charging Station

Ron Paulk has begun a series of videos detailing the process of optimizing his Awesome Rolling Toolbox, the most recent box trailer that he's converted into a mobile shop. Here we see Paulk's signature organizational thinking as he takes stock of his charging station and what can be done to make it more efficient.

How Pixar Designs Stories, an Issey Miyake Retrospective and Design Days Dubai 

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Jumpstart your week with our insider's guide to events in the design world. From must-see exhibitions to insightful lectures and the competitions you need to know about—here's the best of what's going on, right now.

Monday

Vincent Dubourg's Bhanga Alu cabinet for Carpenter's Workshop Gallery, exhibited during Design Dubai 2015

Design Days Dubai, the annual fair showcasing collectible and limited edition pieces from a regional and international roster of designers opens this week. A specially commissioned installation inspired by the desert landscape and a curated section focused on modern uses of marble will be highlights this year. 

Dubai. On view through March 18, 2016. 

Tuesday

As director of research at the Van Alen Institute, Anne Guiney is dedicated to finding new ways of connecting design to civic engagement. During The City as Research Project, Guiney will trace the research focuses that have run throughout her career and demonstrate how research can become a powerful stimulus for action. 

New York, NY. March 15, 2016 at 6:30 PM. 

Wednesday

A retrospective of Issey Miyake's 45-year career opens at the National Art Center in Tokyo. It will be divided into three themed sections, the first will focus on the designer's process and approach to making clothes, the second will highlight the his clothes' relationship with the human body and the third will delve further into the five signature forms he has focused on, including his famous pleats and geometric constructions.

Tokyo, Japan. On view through June 13, 2016. 

Thursday

Throughout his career, Andy Warhol worked on over 80 book projects, bringing to the medium his signature sense of playful experimentation. A rare opportunity to see his work in this genre, Warhol by the Book gathers 130 book artifacts, including drawings, screen prints, photographs, self-published books, children's books, photography books, text-based books, unique books, archival material; and his much-sought-after dust jacket designs.

New York, NY. On view through May 15, 2016. 

Friday

Paul Macgregor's I/O is a "browser plugin that is visible each time a user opens a new tab. Borrowing from nudge theory, there are no constraints, or limitations on the user - but instead simply a visual cue, alerting them to the time they have spent online that day and whether it is within their chosen limits."

After gathering research and input from the public, creative agency Six:Thirty asked a group of multidisciplinary designers to engage with the responses gathered and create works responding to a question that concerns us all: How can we improve our mental well-being by changing our relationship with technology? The resulting works are gathered in Unread Messages, an exhibition of digital, physical and interactive products designed to lead us towards a healthier relationship with devices and digital applications.

London, UK. On view through April 9, 2016. 

Saturday/Sunday

On view at the Cooper Hewitt's Process Lab, Pixar: The Design of Story includes rarely seen hand-drawn sketches, paintings, and sculptures from over 25 years of Pixar filmmaking, charting how the visual design process and story development develop in tandem. 

New York, NY. On view through August 7, 2016. 

Upcoming Deadlines

March 25 - Call for Papers: 2016 IDSA/Eastman Innovation Lab Education Symposium

Design educators, submit a paper sharing how you solve problems and make things happen creatively for a chance to be featured in the symposium that will kick off the 2016 IDSA International Conference

March 23 - Charlie Hebdo Portable Pavilion Design Competition

What should a traveling structure intended to spread free speech look like?

Check out the Core77 Calendar for more design world events, competitions and exhibitions, or submit your own to be considered for our next Week in Design.

Ten One Design's Brilliant Aftermarket Modification for Apple Charging Bricks

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This is one of the smartest product modifications we've seen in a while. You know how your shiny white Apple charging brick sticks straight out of the wall when it's plugged in? Basically waiting for you to brush past it and bend the prongs? Ten One Design's brilliant Blockhead simply takes the part with the removable IEC connector and rotates the prongs 90 degrees.

Now the thing sits flat against the wall. This would also be a boon in those airplane seats where the power outlet is beneath and between the seats, and you don't want to pull out the extension cable in an already cramped space. It's also perfect for apartments where you've got furniture right up on the outlets.

This is totally one of those "Jeez, why didn't I think of this" designs. For that matter, why didn't Apple? In any case, it's proof that opportunities for the clever redesign of things are often right under our noses. And desks.

The $20 Blockhead starts shipping in April (and yes, it fits those smaller iPad charging bricks too).

Maarten Baas on Making Tack-Welded Metal Furniture

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Whether it's an armchair charred by a blowtorch or something that looks like it belongs in Pee Wee's playhouse, I can spot the work of Dutch designer Maarten Baas from a mile away. His strange organic forms and material experimentations demand an emotional response and can be off-putting and intriguing. His latest series, Carapace, is no exception. A collection of bulbous, tack-welded metal furniture, it takes inspiration from the hard, protective and often decorative shells found on the backs of beetles and turtles. 

"The series all refers to a turtle shell, or the shell of a beetle," Baas says. "Such a shell is all about hardness—the harder the better—while seating is all about softness. It's nice how those two worlds meet in the chair." While dichotomies and exoskeletons played a large role in defining the collection—the word 'carapace' itself is a scientific term for the dorsal or upper section of a turtle, crustacean or arachnid exoskeleton—the true spark for the project began somewhat unexpectedly around two and a half years ago with a mid-century refrigerator door.

That curvaceous door led Baas to search for curved, organic forms in nature eventually arriving at the hard, exterior shells of these creatures. The final Carapace collection includes bronze and steel armchairs, a cupboard, small cabinet, a wide cabinet and a desk, each made up of a complex patchwork of bronze plating. 

Each surface is made up of several small patches of metal, dot-welded, piece-by-piece — a process Baas took from an earlier project. "Years ago, my production partner Bas den Herder and I developed this kind of patchwork," the designer explained. "That was made of car parts, so it had the color of the cars we used: red, green and blue. Now we have taken it a step further by making it in bronze and steel plates, and using some patina to finish it off."

Baas began by making several bronze samples of varying finishes, hand-bending each sample to build out larger forms and structures. "From there, we started building this shield-shape kind of surface," he says. "It was a big exercise in real craftsmanship." The process for creating each piece is arduous, as tack-welders must meticulously dot-weld small sheets of metal together over a form to create each piece. The high amount of labor required might account for why each piece of furniture is produced in limited editions, ranging from 8 to 20 counts.

"There's not a specific secret, rather than the fact that it takes a long time to make them," Baas says of the pieces. "By dot-welding, the little dots become a kind of decoration, whereas the technique is only meant to be functional. The fact that it takes so long is part of the beauty. You're looking at time that's been invested to make the piece. Even the details are done like that. It's either casted bronze, or otherwise made by hand."

Other details include a secret drawer inside the desk, concealed from anyone who doesn't know its location. "It took quite some engineering to make the drawers work lightly although they're very heavy," Baas says. "[The secret drawer] only can be opened by a hidden button. It's a detail that nobody is supposed to see, but it took two weeks of engineering to develop it. I think generally the real quality of the pieces is experienced when people see those details."

Baas credits Carpenters Workshop Gallery for pushing him along to finish Carapace. "It was very much Carpenters Workshop Gallery who motivated me to take it to the max and get the best out of it," Baas says. "I think it's very nice to have the opportunity to make these kinds of pieces. I didn't need to make any concession, I could go on and on to make them better and better. It's a modern way of using craftsmanship."

The Carapace collection will be on display through the end of April at Carpenters Workshop Gallery in New York (693 Fifth Avenue)

Reader Submitted: Coffee X: How to Make Coffee on the International Space Station

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Coffee is a part of many human beings' daily lives. For most coffee drinkers, the experience of making this drink allows for them to begin their day or to make them feel awake. Americans consume 400 million cups of coffee per day, equivalent to 146 billion cups of coffee per year, making the United States the leading consumer of coffee in the world. Coffee represents 75% of all the caffeine consumed in the United States. This is an experience shared among most people—even astronauts.

View the full project here
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