Years ago we showed you this concept for an elevated, tunnel-like bus that would not interfere with ordinary road traffic:

Conceived of in China by engineer Song Youzhou, the concept was unveiled in 2010 and scuttled thereafter for being unworkable. But now Song is attempting to resuscitate the project, and the blogosphere has been gamely playing along, circulating this video from 2012:

As rendered, what you're seeing in the video is physically impossible. The issue is one of turning radius. If you've ever seen a limousine, a city bus or a tractor trailer try to get around a corner on your average city block, the problem becomes obvious. 

You have what's known as the actual radius versus the effective radius, which is to say, when a long-wheelbased vehicle makes a turn, there comes a point at which the midpoint of the wheelbase is cutting a radius different from the arc that the wheels are describing. This presents a problem if there are vehicles, or guardrails, alongside the vehicle.

In short, it would be impossible for Song's vehicle to navigate the impossibly-tight radii depicted in the video. Take a look, for instance, at these stills:

In those shots, you can clearly see he's got the vehicle bending, as if it's made of rubber rather than steel.

This physics problem means that the vehicle either needs to be articulated every few feet along its length, or have articulating points with an extreme differential where the carriages meet. That will be tricky to execute given the vehicle's width--at seven meters it is nearly three times as wide as your average 2.5-meter-wide articulating bus--but not impossible to accomplish. Indeed, at the Beijing International High-Tech Expo, where Song presented a working scale model earlier this month, he has opted for the latter approach:

In those final frames you can see the extremely sweeping radius--far wider than what's depicted in the first video--required to get the concept to work. If roads are built to accommodate in a wide-avenue city like Beijing, the concept ought to be workable. But it's unlikely to be suited for anything other than straight-line travel in a city riddled with your average right-angle intersections.

When you think of cuckoo clocks, if you think of them at all, you probably don't think of minimalism and style. But London-based industrial designer Pedro Mealha does, and produces some rather modernist variants like his model B83:

The bird makes its appearance via the small hole at top right:

Other designs range from natural finishes to eye-popping colors:

Mealha embeds his creations with light sensors, so that the bird won't pop out and wake you up if it's dark. Check 'em all out on his Etsy shop.

Bad news is blowing for bike builders and us who love them: True Temper is discontinuing its line of steel tubing designed for bikes. The True Temper name might recall some less racy products, but it has also been a stamp of quality on some of the fastest, coolest, and sexiest bikes of the last 30+ years. 

Photo via Radavist

True Temper is one of very few steel manufacturers producing the thin, variable-walled and precision balanced tubing that nice bikes require. But despite its oversized share of this steadily growing niche market, the Memphis, TN, company recently went public with the decision that bicycle products no longer fit into its greater business strategy... which instead appears to be increasingly aimed at golfers. 

Like in all small industries, opinions on bike frame materials can vary widely and passionately, but True Temper has long been seen as an industry-leader for quality, variety and strength. Supported in enormous part by frame builder-slash-supplier Henry James' adoption and promotion of the line in the 1970s, True Temper tubes are found on bikes that have ground up the Alps, through Giros d'several countries, and pounded over the Paris-Roubaix. 

They also show up on world touring rigs, light but tough cyclocross bikes, and heavily abused mountain bikes. Their tubes have been used in large brands' production runs, and on the absurdly intricate hand brazed and lugged bikes of Henry James and other pioneering designers. 

True Temper tubes and insane lugwork by Love Baum

Photo via Radavist

Though steel isn't the primary choice for racers these days, it's a beloved favorite for riders and custom builders thanks to its plasticity, reparability, and variety of ride characteristics. The current True Temper offerings are hardly old school - their range of 120 tube types shows up on contemporary favorites from cult brands like Rock Lobster, Ahearne, Indy Fab, Waterford, Vanilla/Speedvagen, Rodriguez, and Yamaguchi, all of whom have used TT tubing for decades. 

This decision will sting just as much if not more for the innumerable tiny independent builders around the world, who are required to buy tube stock in smaller quantities and will be less able to stockpile for a TT-free future. It's no hyperbole to note that the works on display at shows like NAHBS would be pretty different without True Temper in the picture.

In the company's official statement senior vice president Jeremy Erspamer provided a few vague points of reason. 

"Based on a thorough review of all aspects within this business unit, it has become evident that bicycle products no longer fit into our core strategy," and elsewhere, "Expensive manufacturing process upgrades [are] required to address several concerns." 

This tepid release appears to be saying that the other lines within the company's Performance Products division are more easy and profitable to pursue. Golf equipment, it would seem, pays better. This move makes sense from a simple bottom line perspective, given that high quality domestic bike production is incredibly time-intensive, and that wealthy people are more likely to collect nice golf clubs than join a cycling club. 

But it's still surprising, given the continued growth of the domestic bike manufacturing industry. Commenting on the original Bicycle Retailer announcement, Paul Skilbeck, Founder at Handbuilt Bicycle Guide, had this to say: 

While this will undoubtedly be a challenge to the custom handbuilt sector of the [industry] in particular, Henry James Bicycles, who did much work in creating the True Temper brand in terms of tubing specification as well as distribution channels, is working hard to find a manufacturer to replace True Temper, and despite potential existential questions is seeing a potential silver lining. The handbuilt custom sector, as we have seen in the past 15 years, is very resilient!

Orders can be placed for some more months, production won't end until March 2017, and other options will remain, but the announcement is frankly a sad one. American-made materials are increasingly hard to come by, and it's always bittersweet to see a champion go after generations in the game. 

Despite the beautiful bikes they leave us with, True Temper is moving on. By golf cart, I assume.

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.

Now Booking

Incorporating the terrain of the surrounding landscape and creating apertures to take in the sky and the sea, the radical architect Antti Lovag introduced the world to his concrete Bubble House concept in the 1970s. Now, Lovag's first residential project, Maison Bernard completed in 1971 in the South of France, is open to the public after a five year renovation overseen by the architect Odile Decq.

—Linyee Yuan, managing editor

David Hockney Paints Yosemite—on an iPad

Hockney's at it again. This time the 78-year-old painter, printmaker and photographer takes on Yosemite, depicting glorious landscapes using an iPad screen as his canvas. I enjoyed this coverage of his latest series, "The Yosemite Suite," currently on view at Pace Gallery, by Erica Bellman for the New York Times Style Magazine.

—Carly Ayres, columnist, In the Details

Naked Lunch

In a stroke of branding genius, a Burger King in Helsinki has opened an in-store sauna for your dining pleasure. Designed by Teuvo Loman, the sauna has room for 15 patrons who can order their Whoppers in the most traditional of Finnish settings.

—Rebecca Veit, columnist, Designing Women

The Most Expensive Home Listing in Every State 2016

Today I'm reading—and drooling over the photos in—Forbes'roundup of the best residences from each of the 50 states plus Washington, D.C. It's amazing to see what you get for your money in each region. I instinctively scrolled down first to the New York listing, which I found both obscenely priced and stylistically unappealing. Out of all of the listings, my absolute favorite was Colorado. I only need to come up with $80 million and that property could be mine.

—Rain Noe, senior editor

Brag to the Future

An entertaining piece scanning the incredibly long history of time capsules and their inevitable awkwardness, also showing how the ephemeral objects within reveal some fascinating human tendencies that transcend fleeting cultural moments. This hilarious passage about sums it up: "'One of the functions of time capsules is glorified advertisement or boasting,' says [librarian William] Jarvis. To ensure their brag sheets' longevity, the Assyrian kings ended messages by asking future finders to hype up their accomplishments, like an old-school reblog request. Many courted populist cred: In what Jarvis describes as an early PR move, Mesopotamian time capsules found hidden in walls specifically mention the high wages of the wall-builders."

—Allison Fonder, community manager

The Questions Each State Googles More Than Any Other State

Sometimes weird, sometimes sad, but consistently hilarious, this map documents the questions each state googles more often than any other state (scroll down to see the list of runners-up). 

—Alexandra Alexa, editorial assistant

Glitchy Rugs

Could you use some more color today? Or more fun texture? Or a reminder that if you'd gone into law you could be filling your house with sumptuous international art by now? Might be time for a refresher on Faig Ahmed's beautiful, twisted take on traditional Azerbaijani rugs.

—Kat Bauman, contributing writer

A Clever Clamp Hack

Here Izzy Swan demonstrates something the rest of us are idiots for not realizing: You can use an inexpensive caulking gun to replace an expensive clamp.

Build a Better Mousetrap

Matthias Wandel has created more detailed plans for his gravity-based mousetrap, and here shows you how he built it. He's also got suggestions for lethal vs. non-lethal options. "If you'd like to make the mouse someone else's problem…."

Wooden Ellipse

Bit of a geometry problem here for Frank Howarth, who has to figure out how to make a wooden ellipse from a segmented glue-up:

Sanding Basics

Here Steve Ramsey runs down all of your basic sanding options, from manual to power tool to benchtop machine. He also touches on the three grits he finds best for his projects, and while not all will agree that you can only get away with three, it's certainly good enough to get you started:

Backlit LED Sign

April Wilkerson creates a backlit sign, etching into plastic with a rotary tool in order to create a light-catching surface. Since things often go wrong with DIY projects and require on-the-fly solutions, we dig the part where she shows how she improvised her way out of the Sharpie problem:

Mobile Air Cleaner Cart

This week Jay Bates tackles building an air cleaner for his shop. He explains why he's opted for a floor-borne rolling cart rather than the typical ceiling-mounted approach, and as per his usual efficiency, uses the new cart to also support his planer, which allows him to get rid of an older cart and maintain the same amount of space in his shop:

Ulu Knife and Dished Cutting Board

The end of this video will make you hungry! This week David Picciuto produce an Ulu knife, and cutting board with a corresponding radius, for an Austria-based cooking show. At the end we get to see the knife in action, preparing what look to be delicious dishes.

Dual Desks That Fold Into One Dining Table

This is a pretty darned creative solution. Faced with very limited space and a pesky wheel well in the way, Ana White had to figure out how to get two desks and a dining table into her mobile tiny house trailer. Here's what she came up with, and she's also kindly provided free plans for the design on her website:

How to Make a Silicone Rubber Mold for Casting Epoxy Resin

Need to duplicate something? Here Bob Clagett, using climbing-wall handholds as an example, shows you how to create silicone rubber molds which you can then use to repeatedly cast objects out of epoxy resin:

Integrating a T-Track Table in a Crowded Shop

Laura Kampf recently received one of Rockler's T-Track Tables, meaning holddown will now be a snap for her. But with limited shop space, first she's got to figure out where she can possibly fit it. Here we see the benefit of careful forethought, as she makes a couple of smart decisions to ensure the tabletop will not interfere with her future workflow. She ends the video with some Q&A and a music recommendation:

Here's a strong statement: One of the chairs that made its debut at Clerkenwell Design Week in London might actually change lives.

Among abstract panel discussions and amorphous pavilions, experience design agency Layer announced the world's first 3D-printed consumer wheelchair. The GO wheelchair was presented as a prototype—the first project under Layer's new research division, LayerLAB, spearheaded by agency founder Benjamin Hubert.

"I think what excited me is the potential to really solve a problem, arriving at a solution that users want and need," Hubert says. "Then it was the opportunity to use 3D-printing appropriately. It's not new; we've been using it as a studio for years, but as an emerging technology, it's still not being used fully to its potential." Created in collaboration with Materialise, a leader in 3D-printed software and solutions, the GO wheelchair features several customizable components, elements that can be printed to users' measurements for a unique fit and feel. With new developments in 3D printing, Hubert cites its recent accessibility as a huge game changer and a major reason why this product can exist. "As more of the technology becomes open-sourced, it's becoming a much more feasible option. It's less cost-prohibitive, and lowers labor costs in a lot of ways. That's also why we're using this technology now."

Hubert began the project nearly two years ago back in 2014. "It started just by looking generally at the wheelchair category and, trust me, I've been thinking about that category for a while," Hubert says. "It's quite overlooked. So, I saw a big opportunity to talk to some people about it and create a new product offering for that space."

Although preliminary research took about 6 months, Hubert says it continued throughout the entire process. "Of course it doesn't stop," Hubert says. "You continue talking to people throughout the project, getting feedback and incorporating that back into the design." Layer met with dozens of wheelchair users and medical professionals during those 6 months. "There was a lot of intensive work into finding who our target market was and just talking to a lot of people, transcribing that information and using it to pinpoint this new product offering," Hubert says. "We did a lot of one-on-one interviews, group interviews, talking to both wheelchair users and healthcare professionals, so that we could really understand their hopes and wishes and then the challenges and drawbacks of that. Their feedback was integral to give us a sense of that category."

Throughout that process, the studio looked into all aspects of wheelchair use, including how to remove the stigma associated with the product as a medical device, and instead re-position the product as a "human-centered vehicle to improve the everyday lives of users."

"A lot [of the existing pain points] had to do with comfort and lack of customization," Hubert says. "A lot of the wheelchairs were not really fit for specific purposes, needs or disabilities, and their shape limited the type of activity or didn't work for a particular landscape or environment. What really fell out of that conversation was that wheelchairs shouldn't be one-size-fits-all solutions." Huber and his team found that users were modifying and adapting their wheelchairs to fit their unique needs due to a lot of moving around and general discomfort, which would often lead to secondary injuries.

Those insights led the team to GO, a wheelchair comprised of 3D-printed made-to-measure pieces and standard components brought together to create something lightweight and highly functional. "Most of our design is focused around expressing their point of view, their sense of style, their youthfulness and the features that they wanted," Hubert says. "...And just being able to [let the user] be active in that design process and have some ownership because, ultimately, it becomes an extension of their body."

Beginning with a 3D body scan, each user's biometric information is mapped and turned into 3D digital data to create the custom components—a seat and foot-bay. Those two main touch-points control the primary form and allow the GO wheelchair to adapt to individuals' body shapes, weight and disability. From there, users can consult with a healthcare professional to determine any other necessary tweaks to the design.

Layer also designed an app to let users specify additional features, patterns, color and other finishes to really make something all their own in what Hubert describes as the "NIKEiD model." From wheel guards to transfer bars to push bars, there are a range of specifications and features that can be added to the chair. "These are things that are very personal to each individual," Hubert says. "Some people like or need them, some people don't." Once measurements are taken and any additional elements selected, users will be able to place their final order through the app, receiving their custom wheelchair in 2 weeks (compared to the typical 6-8 week lead time associated with current customized wheelchairs).

The final chair seat is 3D-printed in a semi-transparent resin with an integrated matrix of TPU that provides shock-absorption, working as a living hinge suspension system to provide comfort for the user. That, in combination with a custom seat with a center of gravity calculated to respond to the user's weight, helps reduce other injuries typically due to pressure points.

The foot-bay is printed in titanium with an integrated anti-slip surface texture and a geometry that takes into account the user's leg length, foot shape, and sitting position—all determined by the body-mapping process. The frame has a reduced number of struts, which reduces visual weight while still maintaining functionality. The final touches are wheels with lightweight carbon fiber spokes and over-molded high-grip push rims that—used in combination with Layer's custom designed GO gloves—deliver a higher power-to-push ratio, particularly in inclement weather conditions.

While the Layer Design team has thought through how this could potentially work from a systems-perspective, the GO wheelchair isn't about to hit market anytime soon. Hubert hopes that by sharing the design and development at this stage, he'll be able to solicit interest to help bring this prototype closer to market. "We have various partners that are set up for this, but it's still a prototype," Hubert says. "We have Materialise as our digital partner to provide the hardware and software solution for the parts that you specify and now we're looking for another partner to help us manufacture the standard components."

Next on the agenda for Hubert is finding those perfect partners for some of the more conventional pieces, manufacturing of the frame and wheel assemblies (producing some of the simpler elements of the design that can be pulled from existing physiological precedents associated with age, height, weight, et cetera), as well as distribution and route to market.

The concept at the heart of the project is the fact that the tabletop is a part of the table set. By combining the table set with the tabletop a new situation appears - the table offers the people to eat directly from it. The table is divided to individual dishes, side dishes and a center dish for the main course. The ceramic design quotes some elements from the conventional tablecloth and uses them to make the lifting elements in the dishes. At the end of the meal, you simply put the table in the dish washer. The wooden construction is made of white maple and plays the part of the supporting actor to the ceramic dishes as a platform for more designs to different needs such as desserts or soups. The time we live in is characterized in massive technological breakthroughs, because or maybe despite of that we can recognize the comeback towards the craftsmanship and basic materials and methods, which give us a more intimate and calmer feeling in the household environment.

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

Muriel Cooper is best known as a pioneer of computer-based graphic design and digital interfaces through her work as founder and codirector of the Visible Language Workshop at the MIT Media Lab. In the small exhibition Information Landscapes we get a chance to see her work—recently acquired by MoMA—in a museum for the first time. 

New York, NY. On view through June 12, 2016. 

Tuesday

If It's a Chair, currently on view at Patrick Parrish Gallery, is a group show of contemporary Danish design exploring what happens when art/design pieces "strive towards the freedom that allows the object rather than the definition to be the center of attention."

New York, NY. On view through June 6, 2016.

Wednesday

We first encountered Jenny Sabin's work at this year's Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial, Beauty, and were instantly inspired by her inter-disciplinary, experimental approach to architecture. Combining architecture with theories from biology and mathematics, she's hit her stride making installations with high-tech, high-performance composite fabrics. In this conversation with Cooper Hewitt curator Ellen Lupton, Sabin will discuss her work and process. 

New York, NY. June 1, 2016 at 7 PM. 

Thursday

Opening this week inside the historic Kraftwerk Berlin, this year's DMY Berlin Design Expo will turn the former industrial power plant into a wide-ranging investigation of the current state of design. Under the festival's theme of "Odyssey," particular attention will be paid to designers who are blurring the lines between distinct disciplines, investigating how design will become a bridge to our future. 

Berlin, Germany. On view through June 5, 2016. 

Friday

If you're in or around Zürich, don't miss your last chance to catch Jasper Morrison's retrospective show, Thingness. Combining finished products with documentation of the beloved designer's process as well as some of his favorite historic design objects, the show aims to show that "good design is 'super normal.'"

Zürich, Switzerland. On view through June 5, 2016.

Saturday/Sunday

Recently open at the Guggenheim in New York, Moholy-Nagy: Future Present is the first US retrospective of the artist's work in 50 years. Beyond the 300 works on view, highlights include the Room of the Present, a mockup of an exhibition space conceived by Moholy-Nagy in 1930, and a replica of his kinetic Light Prop for an Electric Stage, originally designed in the same year. 

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

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.

In many ways, artist Jessi Reaves is not your typical furniture maker: "some people are in search of the pastoral or the meditative material experiment," says Reaves, "I think my approach is kind of brutal. I hate sanding. When I get to that stage in making something I always get really angry, wearing the dust mask etc., so I just power through it as much as I can, unlike some craftsmen who might really find pleasure in that and find sanding meditative."

Quick-To-Sew Jester's Hat (Noguchi Knockoff #1), 2016. Cedar chips, sawdust, glass, pewter paint (All photos courtesy of Bridget Donahue Gallery)

The brutality she speaks of manifests transparently as you experience her furniture pieces in person, a good number of which are currently on display at Bridget Donahue Gallery in New York. 

In the corner of the gallery stands a knock-off Noguchi table, one of the first pieces she made that sparked her interest in creating this semi-functionalist series, which dons a base made of gunked-up sawdust and wood chips grotesquely reminiscent of its original inspiration. A shelf at the entrance is dressed in an embryonic spider web-like cocoon—it's all like a mad woodworker's reinterpretation of classic modern design.

A RISD painting graduate who spent years working as an upholsterer, Reaves's origins in the realm of furniture are rooted in a knowledge of the infrastructure and skeletons of furnishings, which translates visually within her work (many pieces might make you imagine someone taking refined pieces of furniture and somehow turning them inside out to show their guts). 

Foam Couch with Straps, 2016. Upholstery foam, fiberglass, wood, webbing

Reaves's process reveals the artist's freedom from a typical designer's perfectionist point of view and her desire to express an idea as opposed to something wholly and purely functional. Many of the objects are reported to be done extemporaneously, which ultimately leads to a form familiar to the worlds of architecture and design, while also carrying an imperfect human spirit, an unspoken history. Reaves tells Bridget Donahue this is not only something she embraces but fully appreciates: 

"Ideally I want people to embrace the kind of patina or whatever you call it… the stuff that attaches to any object existing in the world. I just feel like the longer that I've lived with certain pieces, or ones that I've had in the studio, that have survived parties, I love those pieces more. Even the stains changes over time, spreading out and they kind of have their own life."

Candy Rain Chair (Leather Butterfly), 2016. Plywood, leather, foam, webbing, linen

Muscle Chair (Laying down to talk), 2016. Suede leather, steel, sawdust, bun feet, resin, foam

Cabinet for Rotten Log, 2016. Plywood, driftwood

So yes, technically you can sit and interact with these forms, but as for labelling them as either art or furniture it's simply impossible to make the distinction—each lie comfortably in between, individually asking different questions about process, material, and purpose. Lastly and arguably most importantly, the objects bring into question what constitutes value: should the quality of an object be determined by the time taken to make something structurally pure and perfect, or is it ultimately about the particular spirit behind the maker? 

Jessi Reave's solo show will be on display until Sunday, June 5th at Bridget Donahue Gallery, 99 Bowery, 2nd Floor in New York. 

Some of you are architects or designers who know this feeling: It's your initial visit to the jobsite, and as it's still under construction, you're given a hardhat to wear for the very first time. And you feel a perverse little thrill, like "Ooh, I've got a hardhat on!"

But what about the folks who wear them all day long? Minnesota-based Carpentry Contractors Co. has released a humorous video showing you their side of the story:

"That laugh people do when they almost die…." Gold!

We want to be the fastest sports brand in the world. Thinking fast. Acting fast. But nevertheless sustainable. This mission statement is mirrored not only by our new brand promise, “Forever Faster,” but also by our guiding principle for the entire company. To achieve our objectives, we require individuals that

I think we all know the feeeling of being in a public place where someone is yammering away on a cell phone, and all you can think is WOULD YOU SHADDUP. Dennis Nicholl, a 63-year-old accountant in Chicago, certainly felt this way—and resolved to do something about it. Nicholl got his hands on a Chinese-made cell phone jammer and began carrying it on his commute on the Red Line.

What's surprising is how blatant he was about using it. When people would start using their cell phones near him, he'd pull out the device—which is bristling with antennas—and turn it on in plain view, effectively blacking out the entire car. Calls were dropped and no one could send texts. But the jammer obviously doesn't disable cell phone cameras, so observant fellow riders began snapping pictures of Nicholl holding his device.

The photos circulated on social media, and when police got wind of Nicholl, they sent an undercover cop onto his train to make a phone call near Nicholl. As Nicholl turned the device on and the cop observed his call was dropped, he slapped a pair of cuffs on Nicholl. Cell phone jammers are illegal, and for good reason; imagine if terrorists used such devices after an attack, hampering critical emergency communications.

Train-based cell phone usage can be annoying, but on the roads it can lead to distracted driving accidents. In Florida, where it's not illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving, this worry so consumed a Florida man that he took matters into his own hands. After observing lots of folks driving and chatting during his commute on Interstate 4, Jason R. Humphreys installed a powerful jammer hidden behind the seat of his Toyota Highlander.

So effective was Humphreys' device that service provider Metro PCS reached out to the FCC. They reported that cell phone towers along Interstate 4 were experiencing problems--always during the morning and evening commutes. The pattern pointed to someone operating a mobile jammer, and FCC investigators were able to pinpoint the source of the jamming signals: A blue Toyota Highlander. Humphreys was pulled over and arrested. He admitted to police that he had been operating the jammer for roughly two years.

Last week the FCC put out a press release stating that they're fining Humphreys $48,000. It's not clear how much Nicholl will be fined; Humphreys was arrested back in 2014, so I guess it takes the FCC a bit of time to get their prosecuting ducks in a row. And apparently they've been trying to contact Humphreys for quite some time, but are having no luck. As the press release states,

Enforcement Bureau staff attempted on three occasions to reach Mr. Humphreys by phone – once in June of 2014, and twice in late 2015. Staff spoke to Mr. Humphreys once but was disconnected, and he did not answer staff's call to him immediately thereafter.

Perhaps he's being jammed.

The FCC has also issued a fine of $34.9 million—their largest ever—to Chinese manufacturer C.T.S. Technology Co., which reportedly sells and markets 285 different types of jamming devices. We'll see if they can collect.

At last week's industry preview night of the Automotive and Transport Degree show at Coventry University, several themes emerged from the projects tackled by this year's international cohort. Here we look at concepts ranging from how racing might evolve to the future of luxury. 

Tomas Omasta developed the Jaguar Volanti helicopter as the ultimate in autonomous luxury mobility...

Yutong Wu's form study reimagines the timeless Jaguar E-Type

Moving Citroen's DS brand into the Luxury segment, by Sean Bull

Yudi Bu tackled the subject of audience participation in a future where autonomous cars race one another...

...As did Kevin Griffith with his Targa-Floria inspired Aston Martin autonomous racing-car:

Igor Sidorik's Porsche LeMans concept...

Michael Mills' downhill hydrogen racer develops power that can be fed back into the grid, and feeds from power generated by racing fans...

Racing on and off-road, and across water, Dichuan Pang's morphing vehicle used the scenario of a future Beijing-Paris race to create an extreme go-anywhere racing series.

Playstation's GranTurismo GT-vision series inspired two designers to create their own concepts for existing brands; Jason Furtado takes LandRover into unchartered territory...

...while Tom Strong's MG used elements of the classic MG Sebring from the 1960's to create a recognizable but fresh design.

Companies are increasingly willing to look for new product ideas beyond their four walls. And why wouldn't they? Embracing open innovation is fiscally sound, not to mention rational: Creative people want to work for themselves. In the U.S. alone, contingent workers are predicted to exceed 40 percent of the workplace by 2020. When companies invite the brightest minds to submit their concepts to them, they simultaneously reduce their research and development costs. In that way — as well as countless others — the licensing model dovetails ever more neatly with current trends.

But what are companies that embrace open innovation really looking for? What kinds of ideas are they willing to take a chance on? Broadly speaking, companies are risk-averse. So your objective is to make it as easy as possible for a potential licensee to say yes. In practice, that means focusing on designing simple improvements to existing products — ideally, their own. Simple ideas win. Put another way: You don't have to reinvent the wheel to license an idea. Products that are too new are painful to bring to market. They require storytelling, and having to educate consumers is expensive and tedious.

In Makers Who Made It: 100 Stories of Starting a Business — the nearly 800-page e-book published last year by product launch platform The Grommet — cofounder Joanne Domeniconi writes, "The more innovative a product, the less likely it is to succeed. Why? Because most people can't imagine or relate to ideas that they don't expect or they don't understand." That's exactly it, and especially true of licensing. Category-creating product ideas are risky, and therefore much more difficult to license. That's not to say they're never licensed, but certainly not often nor reliably.

When you focus on refining and enhancing products that are already on the market, you set yourself up for success. Potential licensees know demand for these products exists. They can count on it. There's also the fact that there's a better chance they'll be able to manufacture what you present them without having to invest in new technology. Inventions that cannot be brought to market at a competitive price point do not see the light of day.

When you focus on refining and enhancing products that are already on the market, you set yourself up for success.

Most inventors encounter a problem, try to solve it, and then go looking for interest. That is not the best way of coming up with marketable new product ideas. Start out by familiarizing yourself with an industry, then categories that interest you within it, and finally, specific product lines themselves instead. If you're an industrial designer, this research should come easily to you. What conclusions can you draw? Look for holes, for missed opportunities, for products that haven't changed in many years. (What I like to call 'sleeping dinosaurs.') Amazon product reviews offer a veritable treasure trove of insight. What do consumers wish were different? What do existing products lack? How could the category be reinvigorated? What could be altered?

If you've studied product design, you've been taught to focus on the details. From observing how consumers interact with a product, to prototyping, market analysis, and even pitching — that it's all about the details. At this, classically trained product developers do a truly fantastic job.

To become successful at licensing, you need to think differently.

Details? Those take time and money, and licensing is a numbers game. For many reasons, the more designs you submit, the more likely you are to license one. Remember, you're not on salary, nor being paid on commission. You can't afford to devote your energy to a project that ultimately goes nowhere. You need to test your ideas quickly, to get feedback before moving forward. Is your idea marketable? Is it worth developing further? It sounds crude, but why waste your time if not. 

Submitting an idea for licensing consideration is actually a way of testing the market in and of itself — an incredibly, wonderfully low risk one. (Especially if you rely on the tools I'm going to detail later on, like a one-page sell sheet.) If you continue submitting your ideas for new products to the same companies, you'll end up developing a rapport. They'll tell you what they're looking for. In time, you'll get better at identifying meaningful benefits, not to mention opportunities for innovation.

When it comes to licensing, you need to focus first and foremost on identifying and presenting the big benefit of your design instead. Most often the benefit is to the end-user. Benefits are compelling. They answer the question, "What's it do for me?" They are not synonymous with nor the same as features. Features change; benefits don't. The more straightforward and easily understood a benefit is, the easier it is to license. I know a lot of product developers are confused about what they're actually selling, because they do things like show me their patent or drawings when I ask, "What's your idea?" Those are important, but they don't tell me why I should care.

If the big benefit of your design isn't very clear, relevant, or engaging to a potential licensee, the company is not going to ask you for more information. It's that simple. Stay tuned for what to do after studying a market.

Colt Bowden's been a painter and hand letterer since kindergarten. He officially started painting signs in 1999 and he earned a BFA in Illustration in 2012. Now he operates Mac Sign Painting with his buddy Mitch Horning, publishes little books on the history of his craft, and if you've spent any time in Portland, you've come across his letters (whether you know it or not).

He's joining us for Curiosity Club on Tuesday, May 31 at 6 PM Pacific Standard Time to take a close look at Portland sign painting history and surely talk a bit about his own work. 

Colt's long been a friend of the store, and we're excited to have him in to talk about what he loves. And I have it on good authority (hint, hint), that a collaboration between Hand-Eye and Mr. Bowden will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Come by for some Ft. George beer and some talk sure to inspire nostalgia and some hope that we'll hold onto this beautiful tradition. If you can't make it, go to the Curiosity Club homepage at 6 PM PST for a live stream.

This week we bring you our pressing topic of the moment straight from our reader-driven discussion boards! There are plenty of discussions taking place surrounding 3D printing and its role in our lives in the future—will digital fabrication be implemented universally for more sustainable, localized manufacturing? Will people actually be 3d printing objects they need straight from their home?

To start things off, Core77-er ralphzoontjens brings up some solid observations:

The web search interest in ID is steadily declining. On the other hand and not surprisingly, the interest in 3D printing has steeply climbed in recent years.

Industrial Design vs 3D Printing Google Search Trends 2005-2015

Together with the fact that job prospects for industrial designers do not look very good at least here in the Netherlands, I wonder if this chart reflects only the search interest or if there is an actual shift where most products of the future will be 3d printed - with customizable shape and details rather than a static form to be mass produced in molds - and therefore will require a different type of product designer. I am leaning towards 3D printing being and staying suitable only for a few niches. But I am wondering, are we really all going to customize everything we buy and have it 3D printed?

This sort of question brings up hot debate, and rightly so. Mr-914 points out interestingly enough that as "Industrial Design" Google searches go down, the interest in "UX Design" goes up, saying, "If you consider UX design, it doesn't look as bad. I think that design is changing. Here in Montreal, I've seen a small rise in salaries and I can only assume it is because some designers are shifting to UX, which is much better paid." 

Then there's the question of how consumers will actually utilize 3D printing in the future. Will people really want to customize every single object they order online or make? And in what areas will 3D printing become particularly useful? Ralphzoontjens postulates,

I feel that for many consumer products, we will see a shift towards mass customization enabled by digital fabrication technologies, and that this is only the tip of the iceberg. 3D printers will always remain slow relative to mass production, on the other hand everything is made to order so supply meets the demand, no mold storage and maintenance is needed, multiple parts can be integrated, and I feel that if the cost can be kept down enough, even though it is only an additional 'layer' in the product experience, customization is what people want. The success of NikeID proved this - even though you can't try on your shoes in an actual store and the price is higher, people are going to want to co-design their own products. And there are plenty of opportunities...

The value of 3D printing is now definitely mostly in the medical field, as well as in lightweight multifunctional metal parts with intricate geometries, parts for small batches and in the near future multimaterial graded parts.

3D Printed cast concept by Evill Design

What are your thoughts about the rapidly evolving world of industrial design and the role of designers in the next coming years? How do you see 3D printing being implemented in the consumer market in the future? 

Share your thoughts and design insights in the comment feed below!

(Also feel free to check out the original post and contribute on our discussion board!)

Cell phone jammers are illegal in the U.S.. So here's something that can bring you local peace and quiet but won't get you a $48,000 fine: The absolutely wonderful Bose Shhh.

Of course it's a gag (brought to you by the folks at DadDudes) but oh, what we wouldn't give....

You all know the George Nelson clock designed for Herman Miller. (If you don't, look at the photo below, then get out of my classroom.)

Nelson's 1949 design has become so iconic that if we were playing Industrial Design Pictionary, and you had to make your partner say "Herman Miller clock," this is what you'd draw.

But there is another, even more striking design from sixteen years earlier that doesn't seem to get the same love. In fact I don't even recall even seeing this in History of Industrial Design 101. ID'er Gilbert Rohde—one of the IDSA's co-founders—designed this beaut' in 1933:

Made of chrome-plated metal and glass, Rohde's design was not a sales hit, hardly a surprise when you consider the year of its release. By '33 the Great Depression was in full swing, and it's safe to say few folks were looking for an avant-garde desk clock that we assume wasn't cheap. If there was a store called Design Definitely Not Within Reach So Please Stay Your Dusty Ass Outside and Don't Come In this would've been in the front window. As the Metropolitan Museum of Art puts it,

The [clock's] color scheme of black, red, and silver and the use of sleek materials such as chrome and glass typify the kind of furnishings that complemented luxury interiors of the 1930s. Although most people were struggling to make ends meet during the decade-long Great Depression, the elegant penthouse atop a skyscraper apartment building represented a privileged fantasy world that dominated Hollywood movie sets as well as designs for luxury city dwellings created by the most contemporary architects and designers.

As the world of design has moved toward customization, sustainability and self-assembly, maker culture has become an increasingly prominent force in the field. The maker movement has led the vanguard in a new era of design, an era with a renewed focus on sharing, self-sufficiency and reducing wastefulness. The Open Design category is one of the most mutable in our Design Awards program, as exponential improvements and breakthroughs in technology continue to broaden possibilities. This year, we asked for "projects whose final form is 'open', liable to change (physically or digitally,) and whose underlying purpose is creation or recreation by the end-user, either through production (ex. 3D Printing), assembly (ex. DIY), or personal customization."

Our Open Design Team this year was led by Bethany Koby, CEO & Co-Founder of Technology Will Save Us. Joining her on the team were Dominic Wilcox, Founder of Dominic Wilcox Studio, J Milligan, Executive Producer at Toca Boca and Kelly Nyland, Director of Marketing at Snapchat.

Jury Captain Bethany Koby clearly outlines four criteria she and the team considered when reviewing the Open Design work:

1. Is it clear what problem the project is trying to solve, do we get it from what they've showed us?
2. The process that informed the project, do we feel it has sufficient research, subject matters, do we know who the audience is, etc.
3. What stakeholder interests did they consider? Did they really consider the different parts of the process that they're solving.
4. How does the project actually affect the world in terms of value or impact, what is it actually changing that it's intended to change.

Core77 would like to express our deepest gratitude to the entire Open Design Jury Team for recognizing the following projects:

While the rules and principles that guide and bind the physical world have, for the most part, been firmly established, the restrictions of digital environments are considerably more nebulous. Due to the evolving nature of the category, interaction design is consistently fascinating—each year we see new ideas and concepts that were previously not thought possible. This year was no different, as we received creative and innovative designs that met our Interaction category standard of "interactive content and user interface design for websites, mobile devices and experiential installations".

Leading the Interaction category as Jury Captain was Alexis Lloyd, Creative Director of the New York Times Research & Design Lab. Joining her on the Interaction Jury Team were Alex Rainert, VP of Product at Nucleus, and Donna Lichaw, a Digital Product Strategist, Speaker, and Author.

Jury Captain Alexis Lloyd detailed what she and the Interaction team were looking for in the projects, highlighting the following criteria: "Whether the project was doing something new or innovative, the quality of the execution, how compelling the purpose of the project was, how memorable the work was, if [they] thought the idea had longevity beyond current trends and the clarity of the project documentation."

Core77 would like to express our deepest gratitude to the entire Interaction Jury Team for recognizing the following projects: