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Call for Entries: 2019 Sappi Ideas that Matter Grant

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Sappi North America's Ideas that Matter program supports designers partnering with nonprofit organizations to bring social impact design campaigns to life. Sappi, a maker of high quality printing papers, packaging, release papers and dissolving wood pulp, has offered this program to the design community for 20 years and has funded more than 500 projects with grants totaling over $13 million worldwide. Annually selected projects receive funding from $5,000 to $50,000 to produce communications campaigns to raise awareness of important social issues such as healthcare, education, sustainability, nutrition and more.

The 2019 deadline to apply for an Ideas that Matter grant is July 19. The jury for this 20th anniversary year includes Sam Aquillano, Founder and Executive Director of Design Museum Foundation; Ashleigh Axios, Creative Director, Obama White House and Executive Board Member of AIGA; George Aye, Co-Founder and Director of Innovation at Greater Good Studio; Antionette Carroll, M.A., President and CEO, Founder of Creative Reaction Lab, and; Christine Taylor, Licensing Creative Manager at Hallmark Cards and Creative Director of PopMinded by Hallmark.

If you’d like to submit a project you care about, you can do so until July 19. To learn more about the program and process, visit sappi.com/ideas-that-matter.

Below are a few of our favorite winning projects from the past.

826 LA

With an Ideas That Matter grant in 2015, 826LA was able to conduct its most successful holiday giving campaign in its then eleven-year history. Design elements included a holiday mailer as well as life-size versions of the characters featured in the mailer. These were displayed in 826LA's storefront windows, facing busy Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. By bringing the story out of the mailer and into real life, the campaign generated interest and conversation, and ultimately more donations, than it otherwise would have.

Adopt Ugly

Julia Radke received a grant in 2014 for The Bella Foundation SPCA. The campaign, called AdoptUgly, promoted an adoption event in Oklahoma City with a fun and lighthearted design approach. The event included over 250 adoptable dogs, food trucks, and a photo booth for attendees. Adopters received receive an "Ugly Little Kit", which included shampoo, a toy, a brush, and vet information for their new pup.

Project Dose

A winning 2012 Ideas that Matter project, Project Dose is a program which addresses the issue of improper medication delivery affecting millions of sick children in developing countries. Developed by Bao Design Lab in collaboration with Ugandan partner Technology for Tomorrow, the project uses a prototype-based system to enable nurses, pharmacists and parents to safely and reliably divide and re-package adult tablets into smaller doses for children. As a result, this program is providing children with the dosage they need to stay protected from life-threatening diseases such as malaria and HIV infection.

You can see all winners at the Ideas That Matter web site.






Design Job: Bark is Sniffin' For a Director of Pet Toy Design in New York, NY

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The toy business within the growing pet industry makes up about $2 billion in annual revenue. Bark wants grow their own brand within this space and bring their ideas to market in a smart and impactful way. To start, Bark is looking for an experienced leader in toy design and product development with 7+ years of experience who can help drive their growth.

See the full job details or check out all design jobs at Coroflot.

"Believe It Yourself" Kits Turn Common Superstitions Into Code

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100 years ago Sigmund Freud developed the concept of the uncanny. He wasn't thinking about it in these terms then, but modern life has given us a particular form of the uncanny to grapple with: Artificial Intelligence.

As we continue to make sense of AI and how it will increasingly become a part of our lives, a new exhibition at MAK (The Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna) asked 18 creatives to interpret "what it means to be human, to power and control, and to find our bearings in the uncanny valley of AI."

MAK commissioned automato.farm—a Shanghai-based, interdisciplinary design collective including Simone Rebaudengo, Matthieu Cherubini, Saurabh Datta, and Lorenzo Romagnoli—to create a response for the show and they approached the topic through the lens of superstition.

"We can train a tool or a 'machine' to recognize or quantify pretty much anything we want: 'Beauty', 'Hotdog-ness' or the more problematic 'Criminal-ness' and 'Sexual orientation' can be now measured within a few frames, based on a model, a probability, determined by a set of arbitrarily collected data," they explain. "But what if we would train machines to measure even more unmeasurable, personal, and culturally-driven things? If we gather enough samples could we detect signs that prove and detect our superstitions? And can we use that to build tools and devices that reflect our own beliefs?"

The result is a series of cheeky BIY™ (Believe it Yourself) kits for Raspberry PI-enabled tools that "translate cold and objective facts into your own true and subjective beliefs." Inspired by different superstitions and cultural traditions, they created a compass that points you in the direction of harmony, a camera that can see luck, and a microphone that interprets your destiny.

Up first, the BIY.MOVE uses the principles of Feng Shui and Chinese Geomancy to create a board with a distance sensor and GPS that can act as a "harmonious compass" translating these forms of ancient knowledge "into directions and paths for people and robots."

The BIY.SEE lets you "see good and bad luck in everything around you," with a camera that interprets what it sees based on the logic of the Neopolitan Smorfia, a book that details an old Italian tradition of analyzing dreams and converting them into numbers. The camera can also inform users of "very unlucky configurations" around them (say, if you accidentally opened your umbrella indoors) and is also trained to look out for "jettatore," an Italian term for someone who possesses an evil eye, typically a person with high-arched brows and stark, black eyes.

Then there's the BIY.HEAR kit, which is equipped with a microphone to listen for names of people or other significant details and uses lessons learned from Numerology and Astrology to calculate prophecies for your future.

"As we tend to believe what machines say without often questioning them, now we can at least make machines that believe what we might believe in," the designers suggest.

UNCANNY VALUES: AI and You will be on view at MAK - The Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna through October 6, 2019.

Reader Submitted: 'Wacky Pack' Pushes the Simple Act of Tying Shoes Into New Territory

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Parents teaching you how to tie your shoe is a vivid image in everyone's memory. What does it mean to tie a shoe? Why does it need to be tied? What does a shoe need to do to function as a shoe? If all a shoe needs to do is to enclose your foot, how differently can a shoe perform this task?

If, "to tie a shoe" can mean more than its literal phrase, can this mundane action be turned into something more meaningful, versatile or entertaining Can "tying a shoe" dictate how a shoe works, or become a shoe itself? Furthermore, can it alter the user's experience and behavior? Vice versa, can a user alter a shoe through this channel?

View the full project here

WantedDesign School Workshop 2019 Asked Students to Create Design Interventions Around Brooklyn

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Every May, WantedDesign presents a unique program, bringing a group of students from international design schools together to participate in the Design Schools Workshop. Conceived as a collaborative activity rather than a competition, teams are composed of students from different schools and backgrounds.

This year, the workshop was led by Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw faculty members Tomek Rygalik and Jerzy Porebski, and gathered a record of 10 schools—with 45 students participating coming from 7 different countries.

The proposed 2019 theme explored the Open Form theory of Polish architect, theorist and educator Oskar Hansen. The exploration and observation of a 1 mile radius around and including Industry City and the Sunset Park area in Brooklyn was the starting point for the team to elaborate their project.

Participating Schools

Participants included students from Aalto University (Finland), Appalachian University (USA), Art Center, (USA) Centro (Mexico), Ecole Boulle (France), Escuela de Comunicación Monica Herrerra (El Salvador), Pratt Institute (USA), Strate School of Design (France), Tongji University (China), Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts (Poland).

Jury

Allan Chochinov, Partner, Core77; Chair, SVA MFA Products of Design; Jean-Jacques L'Henaff, Vice President Design, Lixil Water Technology Americas , Todd Bracher, Designer and founder Todd Bracher studio, and Ece Calguner Erzan, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP associate director.

Sponsors and Mentors

The event took place with the support of Industry City, French Airline XL Airways, Visual Magnetics, OFS, and FilzFelt. Extra support from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and its partner FACE (in conjunction with Oui Design ) as well as the Polish Cultural Institute in New York.undefined


THIS IS STAIRS

TEAM: Denisse Carcamo, Escuela de Comunicacion; Monica Herrera, El Salvador; Duncan Bonar, ArtCenter College of Design; Olson van der Vorst, Appalachian State University; Stiina Ruusuvuori, Aalto University; Tianlan Deng, Pratt Institute

"This Is Stairs isn't actually about stairs at all. It's about a shift in perspective, for the spaces we pass along day after day. Our team was allotted a double wide sidewalk that lived beneath an obtuse state owned transit building. An entire city block of wall and sidewalk, or, as we found, 'a desert to traverse as quickly as possible.' There were two geographic features that stood out to us: the sidewalk itself in its scale, and a brutalist covered staircase that appeared to live on the side of the building.

This space, as empty canvas, provided endless opportunities for design intervention. Yet, what the space was really about was traversing across it. We wanted to provide a choice to play. A distilled maze was our offering, but only articulating the transition points where we would change direction. At no point is the traveler locked in to a maze, but constantly choosing where to go within the constructed transition points—each adhered to the ground itself. The reactions were wonderful, especially from kids—scootering between the lines, walking along the lines, and jumping from space to space, the implementation of play was a great success."

Island under Construction

TEAM: Lin Elkins, Appalachian State University; Virgile Leclercq, Strate School of Design; Fatima Lopez, Escuela de Comunicación Mónica Herrera; Charlotte Lourme, École Boulle; Carlo Raymann, Aalto University

"It is estimated that in the early 1600's, New York waters contained half of the world's oyster population. As the city expanded, many of the buildings depended on the burning of oyster shells for lime. But by 1910, oyster bed populations were declining rapidly due to increased overfishing and water pollution. Oysters are not only important to maintain a balance within the ocean's ecosystem, but they also absorb up to 93% of incoming storm surge power during hurricanes.

Our intervention takes place near an oyster rehabilitation project area, and aims to raise awareness on the ongoing project and the importance of preserving biodiversity. We noticed numerous people and especially children throwing rocks in the water, so we created floating targets attached to a sinking net that collects rocks. This installation has two key positive effects on the site's environment: First, inviting people to throw rocks inside the target avoids damaging the growing oysters around it. Second, once the rock stack is high enough, it creates a welcoming home for oysters to grow on. This allows visitors and members of the community to give back to the environment their predecessors destroyed, and as a result, regrow the oyster reef that protects the land."



Sighthub

TEAM: Wiktor Szulfer, Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts; Diego Ciudad-Real, Escuela de Comunicación Mónica Herrera; Will Sossou, École Boulle; Irina Chou, ArtCenter College of Design; Andrea Justo, Centro

"The streets of New York are full of signs, people, traffic, shops, and more. Due to this form of visual pollution, inhabitants often pass by without perceiving the environment that surrounds them—leaving many things unseen.This is true for the inhabitants of Sunset Park in Brooklyn, especially for young students of Sunset Park High School. After school, they walk through this area, perhaps unaware of their community surroundings. The area we chose was an island on 4th Ave and between 35th and 36th streets. This area is only used as a pedestrian crossing—leaving the center unused—as people only walk across the ends.

Our team wanted to make people stop for a while, observe, and for just a moment in their busy day, appreciate their surroundings. When we talked to residents, local vendors, and students, they told us that, in fact, the space was only used to go to the other side of the street. With Sighthub, our goal is to bring a sense of discovery into the place, pulling people from their phones and taking a closer, more focused look at their surroundings. In order to create a playful,discoverable interaction platform, we envisioned our island to be filled with colorful "lenses," inviting each of the pedestrians to find their own unexpected focus of detail in their busy neighborhood. Each of these lenses allows viewers to see from different heights, making it an inclusive space to playfully explore the nearby area."


SVAP

TEAM: Alexa Pérez, Centro Méxio; Anna Jurgielewicz, Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts; Hanna Niskanen, Aalto University; María Luisa Cañas, Escuela de Comunicación Mónica Herrera; Sky Coppenrath, Art Center

"Our project was located at a Laundromat in Industry City. According to one employee, the average time a person takes to do their laundry is one-and-a-half hours. During that time, most people are on their phones, or leave and return to pick up their clothes. Often clients bring their children—specially on weekends—which are the busiest days of the wee. Employees and most clients around this area are members of the Latin community. After talking to one of the clients, she told us that her children play along with other kids in the gap of time while clothes are being washed. We also learned that in Latin cultures, parents exchange or give away their kid's clothes to younger siblings, cousins or friends' children. Since the Laundromat is surrounded by Latin customers and it is common for them to bring their kids in, the idea of using design to facilitate clothes swapping between families made a lot of sense to us.

Inside the laundromat there's not much space available to start a clothes swap. So we utilized the railing outside the business as an extension of space for swapping to happen. Here, we designed a product that acts as an extension of the railing, creating available space outside the business so customers can swap comfortably. Graphically, the product can symbolize or represent theactof swapping clothes, inviting people to start an interaction, and encouraging a sustainable behavior from the surrounding community.



EYE LINE

TEAM: Elsa Lagunas, Strate Ecole de Design; Morgane Liger, Ecole Boulle; GiGi Nieson, Pratt Institute; Robert Brown, Appalachian State; Balloon, Tongi University

"The space we were assigned was a courtyard within Industry City. The space was already fairly well-designed, and consisted of four major sections: the entrance, the lawn, the garden, and the end of the courtyard. When looking at the area, we decided to focus on the lawn because it was the most open part of the space and had the most room for improvement. The courtyard was designed in a way that kept the viewer focused on the space at eye level, but the first thing that our team noticed was that the buildings surrounding the courtyard framed the sky in a very beautiful way.

We wanted to create something that would cause the user to pause in the space, and to focus on the beauty in nature. Our project, Eye Line, consists of a lounge that rests up against the edge of the lawn, and "sky puddle" that reflects the sky onto the ground. We kept the design simple so that users could move and stack the lounges to get them out of the way, or to spread them out on a nice day to enjoy the outdoors. The sky puddles would attract users into the space, helping them to relax and gazing up/down to the sky!


LINK TRACE

TEAM: Arlene Zhang, Tongji University; Dohyun Kim, ArtCenter; Etienne Lemiere, Boulle School; Léopoldine Garnier, Strate School of Design; Roxanne Yeroham Anav, Universidad Centro

"Our team noticed the huge amount of scaffolding in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is developing quickly, where many of the buildings and environments of the past are being destroyed. Our long-term goal was to preserve the past. Tomek had remarked that "public space is a cultural space recording the past and creating the future," and as a team we thought that scaffolding perfectly represented "work in progress." It also upholds the meaning of past, present and future.

Our project, LINKTRACE, consists of a white cubical portal with a hashtag: #LINKTRACE embed into the scaffolding. Here, people take photos of themselves in the spot over time—creating a digital archive, the traces—through the Instagram platform. The portal links the past, the present, and the future, painted white to represent a blank piece of paper not yet touched. Our group was excited about the idea of creating an archive that would be live on forever—despite development and the changes to the city."


STRING-ERS

TEAM: Valeria Dueñes, Centro ; Erin Loffer, Pratt; Rebeca García, Centro; Julien Pichot, École Boulle; Wu Ningxin, Tongj

"Our group wondered why people often care more about the final destination, rather than the path they take to get there. Our space was a long, abandoned walk towards the pier—only used on sunny days, or by runners and cyclists. As a team, we saw an opportunity to create 'a romantic introduction' for the community, helping them to create a place that promotes physical and mental well being.

The design intervention takes place on the fences along both sides of the road. It uses only two elements: strings and plants. the strings draw out abstract forms, referencing the graphic vernacular of Brooklyn's graffiti and street art. For the vegetation, we chose native species, intending to plant them at the edge of the road, near to the string, so that the vines would grow along the drawn lines. For this project, we saw two important variables: community and time. The community would be able to add strings during certain events, such as "I love my park day"—promoting cooperation and creativity between residents. The other variable is time of course, as plants have seasons for blooming and growing. We were excited about this intervention as a beautiful incentive for people to walk this five-minute road—every time becoming a different space, a different introduction of color through the seasons.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVKPMHGGxIo&feature=youtu.be" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2YhfRkyprXk" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Restful Play

TEAM: Emma Wingerd, Appalachian State University; Quin Boucher, Pratt Institute; Vanessa Durán, Escuela de Comunicación Mónica Herrera; Tzu-Jung Lee, Tongji University; Szymon Zakrzewski, Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts

"While observing the pick-up routine at Primary School 24 in Brooklyn, our group noticed distinct opportunities to foster how parents and kids interact with each other and their environment. A key feature of the school was a fence that surrounded the building, play area, and courtyard. We saw this underutilized element as the perfect starting point for building meaningful connection points for rest, play, and conversation.

Our final product combined three connection points: a counter, a bench, and an interactive toy. The L-shaped counter around a low corner of the fence used principles of proxemics—human space dynamics—that encourage parents to engage in conversation. Meanwhile, a bench improved the pre-existing location where parents would attempt to sit on a small concrete ledge to rest their legs. By establishing a sitting place, we were able to open more opportunities for community connection. Finally, we encourage children to interact with their environment by incorporating a kinetic toy in the negative space of the fence. These three connection points are tied together through consistency of form and color, as well as the invitation to interact with each other and the surroundings in a novel way."


The Origin Tree

TEAM: Valentina Galindo, Appalachian State University; Candice Mouterde, Strate School of Design; Judyta Baczkowska, Pratt Institute; Ola Jankowska, Academy of Fine Arts; Sara Urbanski, Aalto University

"The assigned space for the project was a little side extension of a sidewalk with a tree in the middle located in Industry City. Around the space there is a playground, an elementary school, a church, and an expressway. Overall, the space has a lot of movement, yet is largely ignored. According to an employee of the school, parents wait around in this space for their kids to get out of school. After observation, we noticed that the area was very separated, and could be used as a meeting point to create a larger community.

The inspiration of the design was based on community and how to create simple interaction for all people of all ages. Knowing that most people living in this community are of Latino culture, most of the data would be collected from Central and South America. Our design was based around where people came from. Using the tree, that adds life and organic shape to the space, and the fence that really encloses the space, we created the "Origin Tree" to collect data. We added different color, size, and length rope to the tree and added the continents of the world on the fence. People would come to the tree intrigued and take some rope and tie it to the section of the fence of where they are from, while this is happening people can ask others of where they are from. Even if it's just asking a question, having a full conversation, or actually becoming friends, this gives people some security that they are not alone and can come together to create a new community or add to their community."





Design Job: Don't Flip-Flop on This Opportunity: Reef is Seeking a Sr. Men's Sandal Designer in California

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If you need a little extra summer in your life, Reef is searching for a Sr. Designer to design and create footwear under their Men’s Sandals category. Your goal would be to partner with the Women's Sandals Design team, under the direction of the footwear Design Director, to implement key strategies, concepts and projects. You would also work closely with the Development and Product Management teams to resolve seasonal color stories, graphics, tech packages and merchandising stories. So quit flip

See the full job details or check out all design jobs at Coroflot.

Join Us at the 2019 Core77 Conference: The Third Wave!

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What future do you want to see? Are we ready to move past innovation for innovation's sake into a new, more conscious era of design? How can you as a designer prepare for this next wave to hit your industry? Clear your calendar for October 4th and join us at New Lab in the Brooklyn Navy Yard for the 2019 Core77 Conference: The Third Wave to explore these questions and more.

What is The Third Wave?

The days of easily disrupting markets with iterations of existing technology are waning. Creating value through planned obsolescence and optimized supply chains is no longer interesting or acceptable to a marketplace with high expectations in performance, functionality and quality. Moving beyond our current commercial and financial understanding of 'innovation' will require transformative ideas and approaching challenges with an experimental mind frame, compelling insights and a focus on the human element.

The future will be a tech-oriented world, but we have a chance to design one with an optimistic view, emphasizing the notions of inclusion, sustainability, and cooperation as we transition into an economy more mindful of our own impact on the planet and the people who live here. The 2019 Core77 Conference: The Third Wave will aim to create an open dialogue around the larger topics at hand, while also taking time to narrow in on ideas that affect day-to-day operations within design firms and independent studios.

Speakers

The Third Wave speakers will lead attendees on a journey towards a better future, addressing topics such as the designer's role in a data-driven world, how empathy should be re-evaluated to include a wide range of voices in the design process, the future of food, transportation, and more.

Confirmed presenters include:

Paola Antonelli - Senior Curator at The Museum of Modern Art in the Department of Architecture & Design

John Maeda - Global Head of Computational Design + Inclusion at Automattic

François Nguyen - Creative Director at frog

Liz Jackson - Founder, The Disabled List

Joe Meersman - Director of Design Strategy at IBM

Dean Malmgren - Executive Portfolio Director at IDEO Chicago

Marijke Jorritsma - Senior User Experience Designer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Archie Lee Coates IV - Co-Founder and Partner at PLAYLAB, INC.

More presenters will be announced soon.

Tickets

Seating at this one-day event is limited to 200 attendees, and our first ticket drop went faster than you can say 'The Third Wave'. To receive advance access to our next ticket release, follow the below link to sign up for notification. Act fast to avoid future FOMO:

I want a ticket.

Discounts are available for groups and students. Email us for details if you are interested in either of these options.

Reader Submitted: A Giant Inflatable Structure Inspired by Knit Fabrics

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Pnit takes the form of a macro-scaled knit fabric swatch in honor of Providence's rich history in the textile industry. Designed for PVD Fest, it draws that history vibrantly into the heart of the present city and brings a fresh dynamism to a familiar downtown thoroughfare. Installed on the outward face of a concrete slab parking lot, its intricate swooping patterns and curves offer a soft and playful contrast to the surrounding stone buildings.
View the full project here

A Watch that Tells Time...Twice?

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Hong Kong-based watch brand Anicorn has recently been working on their Trio of Time series, where they visit different cities around the world to partner with local designers by exploring their various perceptions of the vaguest of all familiar concepts: time.

The first two watches in the Trio of Time series include the Hidden Time watch by Seoul-based designer Jiwoong Jung and the Order watch by NYC-based designers Hamish Smyth and Jesse Reed. Today, Anicorn just announced the third watch in the series and second one from NYC, the Redundant watch by NYC-based Ji Lee, a Communication Designer at Facebook and former creative director at the Google Creative Lab.

While the Hidden Time and Order watches both push the meaning of a traditional watch into abstract, artistic territory, you'll notice that the Redundant watch takes an extremely literal approach to telling time instead. And by literal we mean, it tells time in two ways at once.

At first glance, the watch face looks like a total headache, but when you break it down, it actually makes sense:

So, there are no hour numbers. Instead, the watch face is formed entirely by clock hands. The still clock hands around the outer circle of the face indicate the hour of the day (in terms of o’clock), and the running hands in the center tell the minutes and hour. Since the outer hands don't move at all, setting the time is no different than any other Anicorn watch:

If you thought kids these days were terrible at telling time on analog watches, try giving them a Redundant watch. Their head just might explode like that one emoji.

Anicorn is known for their material quality and inventiveness when it comes to concept and collaborations, so if you're a watch collector looking to add something a bit different to your collection, you can't go wrong here.

Learn more about the Redundant watch and pledge on Kickstarter here.

NewDealDesign Creates an AI-based "Tool for Children's Discovery"

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Gadi Amit was inspired by one of his favorite childhood memories—looking for and following bugs—when he set out to create Spot, the latest design from his San Francisco-based design company NewDealDesign. Designed to inspire real-world curiosity and break screen addiction, the handheld device is described as an "AI companion" that functions like a smart magnifying glass. It encourages kids to explore and ask questions about the world around them, then uses those experiences to create customized stories.

Spot's head contains a camera and pico projector, integrated into the top of the handle are small perforations for the microphone and speaker, while the bottom part of the handle houses the haptic engine and processor.

To use the device, a child simply has to point the head toward an object of interest and Spot will respond by blinking and vibrating to confirm it has "locked on" to its subject. After identifying what it is, Spot's voice will speak to the child as though the subject itself was saying hello. At the end of the day, back at home, Spot can transform everything encountered throughout the day into a customized story with the child as the protagonist and project the narrative via a built-in projector. Intended for ages 5 to 11, the complexity of the stories can grow and change as the child does.

By swapping highly stimulating screen-based interfaces for sound and haptic feedback, Spot seeks to develop a new approach to tech for kids, one that helps them "develop capabilities to navigate the world in a way suitable to the pace and context of their own lives." Digital natives will still get a dose of the interactivity they crave, but in a way that makes it easier for them to stay present and engaged in the moment.

With continued use, the team says the device would be able to learn more about the child's interests, allowing the system to "encourage new paths, generate new age-appropriate story archetypes" and develop interactive treasure hunts that can be completed with other family members.

For now, Spot remains at the concept phase. In an interview with Fast Company, Amit stressed that the technology is already out there and the biggest factor to nail down would be the scope of subjects Spot would need to recognize. "We are skewing it toward natural exploration because we feel kids get too little of that today," Amit said, noting that the device should be able to distinguish among species of birds and bugs, but would not be able to recognize cars. With the right investor, Amit thinks the project could be fleshed out within a year.



Design Job: Ready for Your Career to Takeoff? Qatar Airways is Seeking a Lead Digital Designer in Qatar

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In this exciting role, you would get to contribute to the planning and execution of Qatar Airways' brand strategy through the creation and development of visual design and UX across all digital touch points. You would be responsible for the development of art concepts in the production of websites, digital assets and digital touch points, while working within the creative development team to maximize the efficacy of the UX/UI experience for all Qatar Airways customers engaging with the airline i

See the full job details or check out all design jobs at Coroflot.

Reader Submitted: Relive Flying Over Your Favorite City with These Detailed Map Lamps

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NiteLanding Lamp by ZERO DEGREE is a hybrid decorative display that features a famous city map from around the world in detail 3 Dimensional. At the same time, users may transform it into a decorative lamp simulating vibrant building lights and street lamps, giving them the view of the city at night from 10,000 feet in the air. Offering two unique experiences in one decorative piece.
View the full project here

Solutions for Dealing With Designer's Guilt

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This world has a lot of objects, many of them unnecessary. Since industrial designers play a key role in bringing objects into the world, it's natural for the conscientious among us to feel bad about it.

"I have to admit, I often feel guilty while designing," writes G.L., a product designer based in Sweden, on the Core77 Boards.

"There's no other reason why my design should exist in the sea of products other than [because] people would still buy it and the company makes more money, which goes to my salary. I know that people need products, but there's a difference between need and want another Yeezy. Especially when I go to the landfill, I felt disgusted with myself and our consumptive behavior.

"[A typical design brief from my company] says 'Make it look cool.' In other words, make consumers impulse-buy it. Toxic CMF, unrepairable, new model every year, et cetera.
"I'm thinking that in the future our [grandchildren] will think about how stupid their grandfather's generation was.

"Do you ever feel the same? Opinion? Advice?"

First off, G.L., congratulations: At the very least, you're not a psychopath. Psychopaths feel neither guilt nor remorse. They blame others for their own harmful actions, rationalize them, or deny them outright. So the fact that you feel guilt is a positive thing and demonstrates that you have empathy, an important quality for a designer.

Now the question is, what to do about this guilt? As someone who spent at least a dozen years of his ID career helping to create countless plastic objects and suffered guilt similar to yours, I wanted to share some thoughts on a plan of action--as well as organize the thoughtful, excellent advice of the many working designers who sounded off to answer G.L's query.

A Plan of Attack for Dealing With Designer's Guilt

1. Get Information.

Wipe the guilt away for a moment, and go into cold analytical mode. Look the ugliness in the face. What is the actual damage you're doing? What are the known environmental consequences of the products you help create? How long does the typical consumer hang on to those products? How easy or difficult is it to recycle those products?

A good designer is an informed designer, and you really need to do your own research--the deeper the better--to guide any future changes you'd like to make. For instance, you might encounter the fact that the U.S. only recycles 9% of its plastic. Further digging might lead you to discover that some types of plastic get recycled more than others; PET bottles and jars had a recycling rate of 29.9% in 2015, while HDPE bottles were at 30.3%. Why is this? What changes could be made? Assuming you work with plastics, would you like to equalize the percentages of the less-recycled plastics, or focus on further increasing the ones with the higher rates? Where do you stand the best chance of making a difference?


2. Identify Your Limitations

That plastics example above assumes that you are a designer with some influence in what your company makes. But what if you're a junior designer with little ability to enact change? Can you propose new initiatives to your boss? Do you have the patience to climb the ladder to reach a position where you can make changes?

Take stock of your overall situation. Are you a single student about to graduate, who can move and take a job anywhere that they like? Are you an established designer with mouths to feed? Are you tied to a particular geographical region?

Most design projects start with limitations that you must create within. Your life, which is essentially a design project, is no different. Your limitations must be clearly defined, so that you can figure out where you can and can't make changes.

3. Understand Your Powers

A percentage of designers bring shitty, wasteful products into the world. Is this any worse than the programmers of reality TV? Fracking? Predatory lending? Producing weed killers that contain known carcinogens?

No. Design, as a profession, is benevolent. Corporate interests are not. Industrial design is by definition tied to mass manufacturing, which requires deep-pocketed corporations for funding, and that's where things can get shitty. But as a designer you will ultimately be attached to the part of that corporation where you have at least some say over what gets made, how it gets made or what goes into it.

If you decide the organization you're working for is untenable, or that you will never reach a position of influence within it, then you have some tough choices to make. But you're in a better position than most to make them. Your design training is to research, then use creativity to solve problems. If your problem is your employer, then you can design your way into a different situation.

4. Working Your Way Towards Guilt-Free (or Reduced-Guilt) Design

This is obviously going to vary wildly depending on what you've answered to some of the questions above, and where you're at in life. I'll break this down into some of the basic situations any given designer might find themselves in.

A. Get Any Job You Can

This is for the fresh-out-of-school industrial designer, particularly if you're under intense financial pressure to start clocking paychecks immediately. Let's say you want to work for an environmentally-conscious company designing your dream category of objects, but you can't get that job. And the only job you can get is for a soul-less corporation making disposable plastic junk.

Take the job. Show up, do the work, and learn every single goddamn thing you can about design. Yes, you are part of the problem now, but the idea is that you're playing the long game, quietly gaining design experience, learning how corporate cogs fit together, building up your portfolio and connections. And when you're ready, you're going to look for a new job, or create your own, where you can put your skills into service for something you believe in.

B. Stay at Your Job and Change What's Within Your Power

For the designer who can't switch jobs due to circumstance, or who must occasionally design things they'd rather not. Maryland-based designer Scott Snider hasn't indicated that he's in that position, but he does offer good advice on what you can do, within any design organization, that jives with good juju. Here's his response to G.L.'s guilt-driven query:

"Hang in there, I've struggled with that guilt as well (I consider it remorse, not guilt) but like you, I live in this same consumer-driven, materialistic, cost-abundant society so we don't turn down many projects. Because that's the case, I strive to accomplish the following every time I design something:

"1. I research the user extensively. If I can make sure the product fulfills the users' wants and needs and solves their frustrations, they will be more likely to use and keep it longer. If we can delay that dump into the landfill by even a year, we've done something good.

"2. I make every attempt to minimize waste, both in the packaging, the instructions, any accessories, etc. I designed a zero-waste package for a series of products that launched way back in 2005, they're still on the shelves today! Imagine how many pounds of waste we've saved.

"3. I make every attempt to insist on recycling icon communication for every part of a product. We know it doesn't take much: A simple piece of artwork, 20 minutes of CAD time and identification of contrasting part texture to make it stand out. I'm one of the few people who still disassemble products to recycle any part possible. I'm sure there are at least a few others like me out there, so every part that gets recycled is a small step in the right direction.

"We're not helpless in this cause to do better, and there are plenty of small steps we can take to instill a culture of responsibility in the companies we run or are employed within."

Netherlands-based designer Ralph Zoontjens has similar thoughts: "I do cut down on impacting the environment by researching new materials, processes and constructions, and taking note of what I buy and consume personally," he writes. "But mostly I like to focus on creating value for people and developing business."

C. Switch to a Different Design Job/Field

One option is to "switch to working for a company that makes durable goods," writes veteran industrial designer Michael DiTullo. "A co-worker of mine at frog [who is a] crazy talented designer took a job at a renewable resource company. The physical devices he is working are not sexy at all, but I bet he sleeps well."

Another option: "Get out of [physical] design," DiTullo continues. "I've heard a few digital designers say they went into app work and UX because they didn't want to make physical waste." However, DiTullo points out that this isn't guilt-free either: "As an app designer, your job is to keep people using their device as long as possible, which still wastes energy."

California-based industrial designer Francisco Hernandez acknowledges the choice a lot of conflicted designers have to make: "Which feels 'better' in terms of contributing to society? Easy, if I design a prosthetic or something that prevents somebody from getting hurt or sick, it would make me feel much better than designing a shiny black box. However, I definitely enjoy designing black boxes and those get the most clicks.

"I remember seeing a video of deaf patients being able to hear for the first time or kids getting their first prosthetic. Now that would be worthwhile and gratifying."

D. Focus on a Field with More Influence Than Design

"I think the [designer's guilt question] has kept most of us up at least a few nights," DiTullo writes. "In those moments I think about quitting design all together and working as a policy aide to a political candidate or something. If you want to change the world that seems like a more direct route."

Along those lines, the ballsiest example I've found is that of Austrian designer Bernhard Lenger. On a visit to the International Criminal Court--the worldwide body that prosecutes for genocide, war crimes, threats of aggression and crimes against humanity--Lenger asked if they prosecute environmental crimes. Their answer was "No."

"That's very strange," Lenger recounted during 2017 Dutch Design Week. "One of the biggest courts in the world doesn't deal with [something that] can kill a lot of people but just takes a longer time." Lenger then researched the history of the ICC, and discovered that ecocide--the extreme destruction of the environment--was actually one of the crimes listed on the ICC's original charter. However, it was removed due to lobbying from four countries (thanks U.S.A, Great Britain, France and Holland! Assholes).

Lenger subsequently tracked down Polly Higgins, the lawyer who drafted the ecocide rules, and partnered with her to create This is Ecocide, "a public awareness campaign about introducing ecocide as the fifth crime against peace." (Sadly, Higgins died earlier this year, age 50, of terminal cancer. She did not live to see ecocide being taken up by the ICC.)

Lenger's thinking in attacking the problem from a legal angle is smart. If the CEO of a company making environmentally-harmful products had any fear of being prosecuted by the same body that prosecutes for war crimes, it's safe to say shit would change pretty fast.

E. Start Your Own Business

Call your own shots. Starting your own firm can take years and isn't easy, but we have ample stories of people who pulled it off. Michael DiTullo's story of how he built up to his own design firm will probably be the example closest to the average Core77 reader's heart. Dan Hellman and Eric Chang took a crazy long journey to get their furniture design/build firm off of the ground. Tom Sullivan started a bamboo products company by undergoing one of the most tumultuous career paths we've ever heard. Austin Roberts couldn't find a job, so designed a useful new tool and launched a new company to manufacture it exactly the way he wanted it.

All of their stories and backgrounds are very different, but the common thread among all of them is hard work, patience, smart decisions--and, of course, the freedom to make things the way you want, or not make them at all.

F. Volunteer for Design That Matters

If none of the options above are currently possible for you, there's still another way to use your design skills to better the planet. It's sort of an industrial design version of volunteering at a soup kitchen, with far more impact than doling out single meals.

Tim Prestero is the CEO and founder of Design That Matters, an NGO with an unassailable cause: Designing and producing medical devices that save babies' lives in developing nations. To conduct their work, Prestero relies on ID-savvy volunteers--so far 850 and counting--to help them complete various design tasks from afar. The impact of your work here would literally affect millions.


"We are setting the standard for best practice in design for poor communities in the developing world," DTM writes. "We are pushing the limits of technology in rapid prototyping and low-volume manufacturing to bring great design to communities currently missed by commercial markets. Our goal is to deliver a better quality of service, and a better quality of life, to millions of beneficiaries through products designed for our partner social enterprises."

If you've got time and design skills to spare, contact Design That Matters here.

G. Stop Trying to be Famous

I don't want to call people out by name, but I think we've all seen a lot of young designers on Instagram trying to make a name for themselves--and to me, they seem more interested in seeking fame than in producing good or useful design.

To them I would say: Stop designing bottle openers, bookends, paperweights, salt-and-pepper shakers and goofy chairs. The world has enough of that shit. If you want to get famous on Instagram, get abs and learn to play the violin while riding a unicycle and spouting extreme political beliefs--I guarantee you'll get your 15 minutes.

Designers should realize that good design is often invisible, its heroes unsung. "We were acquired three years ago by a Fortune 300 company," writes Core77-er IAB, who goes on to explain:

"The other business units make treatment devices. We make prevention devices. Their videos typically highlight a single person whose life was saved by the device. If we do our job right, the patient never becomes a patient. Our video shows nothing."

___________

Thanks, as always, to the many Core77 Discussion Boards contributors who made this post possible!

A New Biennale Puts the Spotlight on Innovative, Bike-Friendly Urban Designs

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Just when we thought we'd heard enough about new biennials, we caught wind of Amsterdam's recent Bicycle Architecture Biennale and we have to admit, it sounds more necessary than most. Comprised of curated projects and selections from a global open call, the show brought together 15 projects from nine countries to question how cities can become more bike-friendly, and what they might gain in the process. The selected projects explore "how design solutions can go beyond the functional, and also lead to healthier lifestyles, more inclusive communities, a cleaner environment, and a more sustainable economy."

It's not surprising that four of the projects are from the Netherlands, a country that still leads the charge with roughly 43% of its residents cycling every day. Others come from cities with less robust cycling infrastructures, which are just starting to embrace bikes as a key transportation strategy.

"Cycling is much more than a transportation solution for cities, it is also a powerful force for transformation," said event co-founder Maud de Vries. "Every city or neighborhood has the potential to become a success story through cycling and with this biennale, we want to offer the inspiration to make that happen."

The exhibition was on view in Amsterdam this past weekend but has announced plans to go on a global tour later this year. Cities like Oslo, Rome, and Ghent have been confirmed with others still in the planning stages. Stay tuned for more updates and in the meantime, check out some of the highlights from the show below.

Belgian firm Lens°Ass Architecten created this unique path in Limburg which gives riders the sensation that they are "cycling through water." The picturesque and surprising route draws 700 riders a day and was named one of TIME's 100 Greatest Places in 2018.

Another Belgian design via BuroLandschap, this double circle path stretches over 2300 feet and gives riders the sensation of riding ever closer to the treetops.

Working with the city of Xiamen, Dissing+Weitling developed this 5-mile long bicycle "skyway" underneath the city's existing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane. The intention of the design is to inspire people to prioritize the green alternative—the bicycle—instead of the car and the result is China's first suspended bicycle path and the world's longest aerial bicycle lane.

COBE and Gottlieb Paludan Architects designed Nørreport Station in Copenhagen, the busiest station in Denmark. Composed of a series of rounded roofs mounted on glass pavilions, the central public space was designed to accommodate cyclists and includes parking spaces for 2,500 bikes.

The nearly 2000-foot long Nelson Street Cycleway is part of Auckland's inner city cycle loop and immediately stands out due to its bright pink hue. Along one side of the route, 300 individual LED light poles are arranged as an interactive light sculpture that transforms the new urban space.

This project by Paper Planes E.V. converts the neglected space under Berlin's elevated metro line U1 into a 6-mile covered, bike path. The path's surface is made of recycled plastic and the project includes a signaling system for cyclists, and landscaping along the sides to shield cyclists from traffic. The project also includes plans for beer gardens and charging stations for electric bikes along the way.

The groundbreaking bike parking at Utrecht Central Station is the largest in the world, with space for 13,500 bikes. Users can cycle all the way through the three-level garage, while electronic indicators lead them to available slots. The facility also includes a repair shop and rental service.

This proposal by Nooyoon for an abandoned rail line in Queens, New York is for an "upside down bridge" with a community center at the base, a "floating forest" at each end, spaces for urban farming, and bike paths along the side.




Design Job: Herman Miller is Seeking a Graphic Designer in New York, NY

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You can make a salary. Or you can make a difference. Or you can work as a Graphic Designer at Herman Miller and make both. Herman Miller's Brand Design Team is seeking an experienced, system-oriented Graphic Designer. The ideal Graphic Designer will have an affinity to the Herman Miller brand, be organized in nature, and exhibit a high level of craft and attention to detail. You'll need a demonstrated ability to create excellent brand standards, typography, and hierarchy for expressions at all t

See the full job details or check out all design jobs at Coroflot.


Reader Submitted: Niu Niu Tableware Aims to Express Hong Kong's Community Eating Culture

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Food is a language that expresses culture.

It symbolizes how we define ourselves in terms of religion, ethnicity, social class and so on. it offers insights into place history, community and memories. This project takes the conjunction of food and objects from earlier design experience and further builds upon for it. In particular, I focused on the cultural heritage of Hong Kong and the rich cuisine it has. It uses a local perspective to respond to the aesthetic and sensibility of Hong Kong and, in a way, create a new imaginative form of connection with others in the world.

Therefore, this Niu Niu project explores the relationship in society, lifestyle and history through Hong Kong food culture and further investigates the eating habits, food serving and food choice to reveal the characteristic of this city. Furthermore, it concentrates on Hong Kong traditional food, Yum Cha, in which dumplings act as the provocation to explore the idea of food, material and experience. The dumpling acts as the portal through which questions of making, material, performance and experience are explored.

Hence, the objective of this project is to utilize the quintessence of Hong Kong cuisine as design narrative, integrate into object design as a way to authentically design for Hong Kong food culture.


View the full project here

Join Our Final Sketching Challenge: Pool Toy

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This is it! Your last chance to get in on the sketching portion of our Core77 Design-Athlon, a summer-long race where designers get to flex their three core skills of Sketching, Prototyping and Rendering. To make it a bit more interesting, we are adding a $200 USD cash prize for the overall winner of the sketching leg of the Design-Athlon!Get your Pool Toy sketch in by Noon EDT July 4th!

On top of the chance to win the ca$h - you will be on your way to earning a free t-shirt. Participate in at least one challenge in each skill (this is the final sketching challenge!) and we'll send you something along the lines of this t-shirt (final design TBD) ...

Again we have lined-up special guest-star judge Reid Schlegel, sketching guru, educator and Senior Industrial Designer at Aruliden, to help us choose the winning entries. We are excited to see what you can cook-up...

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The Brief

Everybody into the pool! Bring your waterproof markers and get sketching on this theme: Pool Toy. Is there more to say? Not really. It is a toy for a pool :) Wow us hanging out poolside with your unique flair and technique.

Pool Toy C77Sketching Deadline is Thursday, July 4th at Noon Eastern!

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How To Enter

1. Follow us on Instagram

2. Explore the concept of "Pool Toy" via sketching and take a picture or screenshot of your best work

3. Post your picture to Instagram, posting must tag us, @core77, and include the hashtags #c77sketching, #c77challenge

Good luck!

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Rules

• The contest ends Thursday, July 4th at Noon – 12:00PM – EDT . Winner and runner-ups will be announced within 7 days of close.

• Multiple entries are permitted but a participant can not have more than one winning entry per challenge.

• Winning entries will be selected by a panel of design professional(s) and Core77 staff based on skill, presentation and ideas.

• The contest is hosted by Core77 and there are no eligibility restrictions.

• This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.

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To learn more about our entire Summer-long design skill series, check out our announcement of the Core77 Design-Athlon.

**Dad Shoe and Flying Rideshare Vehicle contest participants: this is a reminder that winners will be chosen at the end of the month along with the other sketching challenges!

Pool pic by Etienne Girardet


Currently Crowdfunding: Wake Up With Mark Zuckerberg's Sleep Box, Make Pour Over Coffee on the Go, and More

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Brought to you by MAKO Design + Invent, North America's leading design firm for taking your product idea from a sketch on a napkin to store shelves. Download Mako's Invention Guide for free here.

Navigating the world of crowdfunding can be overwhelming, to put it lightly. Which projects are worth backing? Where's the filter to weed out the hundreds of useless smart devices? To make the process less frustrating, we scour the various online crowdfunding platforms to put together a weekly roundup of our favorite campaigns for your viewing (and spending!) pleasure. Go ahead, free your disposable income:

The Cubo AI baby monitor stands out from the crowd with a unique set of features: it uses face detection technology to alert you if your baby's face is covered and also includes security camera technologies that let you set up "danger zones" around the house and let you know whenever your baby is getting too close. Vigilant parents will most likely be impressed by the 1080p HD Sony Night Vision Lens which offers unprecedented clarity. The camera comes with automatic photo capture capabilities so you won't miss any adorable moments.

If pour over is your go-to coffee method, you no longer have to settle for less when you're traveling. The Pakt Coffee Kit has everything you need for your ritual (including an electric tea kettle!) in a sleek, black carrying case that weighs less than four pounds and takes up about as much room as a pair of shoes in your suitcase.

Remember Mark Zuckerberg's sleep box and the eager commenter who jumped at the opportunity to take his idea into production? Well, in less than two months, he crafted a campaign for the Zucklight Sleep Box, which was fully funded in mere hours. You can opt for the Lite version, which is a faithful rendition of Zuckerberg's design, or upgraded options with wireless charging and environmental sensors.

The Mikme Pocket audio recorder & clip-on microphone is designed so that anyone can capture professional-quality sound—without the need for a ton of bulky equipment.

Laptop users in need of more screen real estate should check out the TRIO monitor system. The add-on screens can rotate up to 270 degrees, which will come in handy for taking your work presentations to the next level.

Do you need help designing, developing, patenting, manufacturing, and/or selling YOUR product idea? MAKO Design + Invent is a one-stop-shop specifically for inventors / startups / small businesses. Click HERE for a free confidential product consultation.




Design Job: Looking for a New Job? fuseproject is Seeking a Senior Project and Portfolio Strategy Lead in San Francisco, CA

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fustproject is currently seeking a creative, design-minded Senior Product & Portfolio Strategy Lead to help them answer the "what and why" of design. Senior Strategy Leads help fuseproject clients and internal teams solve critical business and design challenges—framed by customer insights, competitive advantage, product and brand positioning, and creative thinking. You will be expected to lead a range of design projects, from brand and product strategy and design, to the development of future bu

See the full job details or check out all design jobs at Coroflot.

The Weekly Design Roast, #5

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"This piece of furniture addresses my two passions: Entertaining, and assembling weird wicker obelisks after my guests leave."

"My MAC-11 submachine gun isn't heavy enough, so I had it plated with the heaviest metal on Earth."

"I work as a set designer for one of those soap operas where arguing housewives regularly fall down the stairs. The stuntpeople started complaining that the falls were getting boring. My new design makes the process much more exciting."

"I'm like, a pretty good-looking guy, and plenty of chicks swipe right on me on Tinder. But every time I get them back to my place, they start making excuses to not have sex with me. I can't figure it out."


"I wanted to design a room divider that doesn't provide any visual or acoustic privacy, but just uses up materials instead."

"Look, dude, what do you want me to tell you? If you want an illuminated saber with an included hilt, go talk to somebody else. I'm hanging up now."

"Our firm's research shows that people like balconies that don't admit light, have weird triangular footprints that you can't fit anything into, and feature a drainage pipe running through the already useless corner."

"These table legs can conveniently store any uncooked pieces of spaghetti that are 32 inches or longer."

"The design brief was to create a spiral staircase that incorporates an element you will hit your head on at least 75% of the time."

"This desk is awesome because you can place things on it, like a framed photograph, your laptop, books, and a pencil holder. Then, when you want to access anything inside the desk, you simply unplug your laptop, take all of the objects off of your desk, and place everything on the floor so that you can open the desk."

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