For years, the Minnepolis College of Art & Design (MCAD) has been a leader in the United States for learning green design online. This past semester, a new class debuted there, with a new way of practicing design for sustainability—the Whole Systems and Life-Cycle method. This method was created for the Autodesk Sustainability Workshop in 2010, the same team who brought Core77 the Design For (Your) Product Lifetime showcase. While tens of thousands have viewed the Autodesk whole systems video, I wanted to give the design method a rigorous in-depth test in my classroom and in industry at the same time, by having students practice it on real products for real companies in ten-week projects. I'm happy to say it was a success—Panasonic's liaison to the class, Deanna Wilkes-Gibbs, said they were surprised and delighted how the students' ideas were not just improvements for sustainability, but were innovations for the functionality and aesthetics of the product as well. We couldn't ask for higher praise, since our goal is to change sustainability from a limitation or burden into a valuable engine for creativity.

The class, "Collaborative Product Design," is part of MCAD's sustainable design certificate program, which was just recently accredited to become an online Master of Arts in Sustainable Design. The curriculum was basically a virtualization of my earlier in-person Stanford class, "Green Design Strategies & Metrics," reframed and expanded with the new Autodesk design method. MCAD likes to be careful with pilot classes, so we had a very small group of hard-working students—just enough to do two projects for two companies, Panasonic and Steelcase.

The design method emphasizes both the creative processes for coming up with new ideas, and the analytical processes for measuring the ideas' successes—how well it meets sustainability and business goals. It weaves these systems together in a four-step process: First, define the product within the whole system. Second, use simplified LCA to find the biggest environmental impacts in the system and combine with business concerns to set priorities for redesign. Third, ideate new solutions targeting those priorities. Fourth, estimate the new solutions' simplified LCAs and business factors, to find the most successful new ideas. Autodesk's video and other materials give more details.

In the creative parts of the process, the students were constantly ideating from new points of view: energy-effectiveness, longevity and service-systems, laws and labels, good materials, biomimicry and persuasive design. In one exercise on design for reuse/remanufacturing, the students did a scavenger hunt of how to build their product using nothing but components from other products the company sells. They came up with some fun and novel solutions, as well as practical and sensible solutions. Below is a sampling of their ideas:

What with all this Occupy _______ going on, it's easy to forget the many other messages and demonstrations we pass by on our daily routines.

If you're familiar with the Brooklyn Navy Yards, you've likely seen a funny blue fish head adhered to a tree embedded in the fence. Take a spin around New York City's Financial District and you're enthusiastically implored to "Post Mad Bills" or more forcefully reminded of the dubious fact that "Dolphins Rape People." (Who comes up with these?)

And have you ever noticed cryptic chalk or coal markings on the sides of buildings and other areas frequented by those defined as "migratory workers" or "homeless vagabonds"? You may be observing what's developed into a hobo code used to provide directions, information and warnings to other hobos.

If you've ever looked down, then you're probably well acquainted with Stikman (those cute little robots stuck on the road and crosswalks). If you tend to look up, a Neck Face tag or two has certainly creeped into frame. And let's be honest, if you have eyes, then by now, you know to "Obey."

Mix in an endless variety of murals, tags, stickers, cover-up paint, pop-art posters, 3D installations, ads, movie billboards, road signs, street signs, park signs, mosaics, digital media (and everything in between), and you've got quite the overwhelming pile of visual static!

Bottom line: albeit counter-culture or mainstream, subversive or subservient, overt or obscure, arranged or ad-hoc—whatever your thoughts may be or if you even have any on street art, it's undeniable that messaging and imagery abound.

Refocus on Brooklyn lately, and you may be noticing some curious installations going up in the Brooklyn community. Yes street art is just about everywhere in Williamsburg and Greenpoint—but they were never framed, and certainly never "curated" in a way to help filter the noise.

Here and there, sporadic picture frames have been appearing on building walls. Some big, some small, some tacky and others bourgeois. There's no one style of frame, nor any one theme that seems obvious—but they do seem to have at least two elements in common:

• They each frame a pre-existing piece of street art, and


• They all have the logo "Who arted?"

And that's the puzzle. What's motivating this small undertaking to curate Brooklyn's visual landscape? Is there some connection between the alien spaceship on Newel, the male spider webbed face on Wythe, and the I Love NY stencil near Meserole that has a spray paint can in place of the heart and even sports a fake art lamp?

Spanish designer José Hurtado started out as an architect before shifting his focus to industrial design. Among the projects in his newly-launched portfolio, one project in particular jumped out: the "Twist" bicycle concept.

Twist [is] not just a bike, [it] is a union between people. Sometimes a change of direction in your life helps you to find yourself. With Twist, the change of direction will lead you to meet and enjoy the people, like you, who love cycling, mobility and [a healthy lifestyle].

The bike is designed to be reversible; hence, the unusual shape of the frame and positioning of the handlebars and saddle.

The bike frame has a single arm that holds the wheel on two points, thus preventing movement and anchoring it securely. The frame is crossed by the pedal system rotating inside for the bearings. The turning circle of cycling is the same as conventional bicycles.

Thus, the hubless wheels aren't just for show: they serve as a point of attachment for a second frame, such that the tandem bike becomes a mirror image of itself when viewed in profile:

A number of arms representatives mentioned a recent increased demand for smaller handguns for "protection." To appeal to this market, Ruger, Colt, Kimber and others introduced smaller handguns at this year's SHOT Show. Makers of concealed carry holsters also marketed to this growing niche. Maybe it's because I was living in Texas when it became easy to get a concealed carry license or because I now live in New York where it isn't—but I am continually fascinated by the ways one can wear a gun without looking like it.

Robert Gould of the holster makers Gould & Goodman told me that there are three main things to assess when looking for a concealed carry holster: your body type, the clothes you wear, and the gun you use. "Holsters are such a personal thing that you really need to put thought into it," Gould said over a table of rubber guns and leather holders.

It isn't a surprise that someone with a larger build, loose-fitting clothes, and a tiny handgun will have an easier time concealing it than a petite-framed, cat-suit-clad individual packing a Smith & Wesson Governor (I'm not sure why one would need to carry around a revolver that shoots shotgun shells but anything is possible).

I examined several varieties of concealed carry undershirts like the Packin' Tee and UnderTech that store the firearm on one side of the body under the arm, but the best option for under-arm placement might be the Deep Conceal CCW Shoulder Holster. Like other under-arm holsters, it affords access whether the wearer is sitting or standing but unlike many options, it is highly adjustable and accommodates a range of body types. Its holsters can hold firearms ranging in size from the smallest Colt Mustang to the enormous Desert Eagle. The latter gun is what Deep Conceal inventor Steve Morrow wore when he demonstrated the holster for core77. Beneath a velcro-fastened dress shirt, the gun was hidden and easily accessible.

Steve Morrow demonstrating the Deep Conceal

Over the past year and a half, Ohio-based 2nd Shift studio has quietly designed, developed and produced half a dozen products. The company takes its name from the fact that the seven like-minded creatives—all under 26 years of age—all have dayjobs, ranging from design to accounting. According to partner Eric Parker:

Four members are graduates of the Cleveland Institute of Art from both the Product Design and Graphic Design departments. All of 2nd Shift calls Cleveland home. Our design process likes to take us to many different parts of the city. We use Amish furniture builders to mass produce our wood components. Our prototypes—and some of our products—are made from reclaimed wood bought from a defunct amusement park called Geauga Lake. There is a growing community of small manufacturing shops in the city, and we like to collaborate and build relationships with these local tradesman to produce parts for our various projects. Our studio is located on the near west side of Cleveland in a warehouse owned by Go Meedia, a graphic design studio (on the top floor).

A brief intro video captures both their youthful optimism and entrepreneurial spirit:

As for their portfolio itself? The work is good as anything we've seen lately:

Earlier this week it was announced that Diller Scofidio + Renfro's proposal for Scotland's Aberdeen City Garden had been chosen over an impressive group of entries that included leading architecture and landscape architecture firms West 8, Foster + Partners, Snohetta & Hoskins, Mecanoo and Gustafson Porter. Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) have been commissioned for a slew of impressive projects in recent years, including The Berkeley Art Museum, The Broad Art Museum in Los Angeles, The Museum of Image and Sound in Rio de Janeiro, a new convention center in Bogota, the Hypar Pavilion at Lincoln Center in New York, and of course, the many phases of the High Line.

Charles Renfro, the Principal-in-Charge of The Aberdeen City Garden project calls his proposal, the Granite Web, a "true hybrid of building and landscape...Some of the other proposals simply placed pavilions in a park. We created a layered three-dimensional matrix where the building is woven under and into the park." The elevated areas in the 3D renderings look like raised butterfly wings, gigantic canopies under which visitors can go for a respite from the sun or to see a rock concert at night. The raised sections accommodate the 65-foot grade change in the park and the "webbed" passageways feed out into surrounding streets and transportation hubs. "One of the reasons we threaded the cross-paths was to create different parcels where you could have independent experiences," Renfro said.

There's eight slot cars pictured on the track in the first shot above, but they're moving so freaking fast they're captured on-screen only as blurs. It's a screen-cap from an international championship held by a Finnish slot car enthusiast club. While it's not quite mag-lev—the much older slot-car technology uses a pin on the underside of each car extending into its lane-specific slot—the speeds attained are staggering, as you can see in the video below. (Action starts around 0:53, and you needn't sit through all five minutes of the vid to get the idea.)

Aside from the coolness of the sheer speed, another thing that caught my eye in this video was in the first minute, where they show the contestants all tinkering with their self-built vehicles. You'll notice they all have cases on their desk holding their tools and gear:

This video could've done with some sound (and less distracting editing), but it provides an interesting look at how a carbon-fiber bicycle comes together. France's Time Bicycles uses a manufacturing process called Resin Transfer Molding, which involves drawing the resin into the fibers at the mold, and claims to be "the only cycling designer that has perfectly mastered this fabrication process." The way the video is shot admittedly renders parts of the production quite dull, but at least check out the trippy machines in the beginning that weave the carbon strands together:

via product by process

Sr. Industrial Design, Principal
Steelcase, Inc. - Coalesse
San Francisco, California

Coalesse is a division of Steelcase, the world's leader in office environments, that provides premium furnishings suitable for corporate, hospitality and residential settings. They are looking for a Senior Industrial Design Professional to help evolve a new furniture offering that is focused on the intersection of work life and lifestyle. This role requires a thorough understanding of market trends, user needs, the manufacturing process, and overall design excellence to help design a highly differentiated portfolio for Coalesse, a new premium brand from Steelcase Inc.

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Image from the Mayan ruin site Palenque: Templo de la Calavera ( Temple of the skull ), by Peter Andersen

Every couple of years a crackpot comes along and prophesizes the end of the world. Fortunately for us, the outcome of the Mayan calendar looks a lot more favorable than reviews for Roland Emmerich's film, 2012. So far, no end of the world cult has gotten it right and as a populace, we remain unsurprised. At the same time, on a very different calendar, an entirely different set of crackpots make promises on a much shorter timeline. This group tends to achieve their predictions, at least in the short term, but their shortsightedness might be just as dangerous as the Mayan's prophecy from so long ago.

Unfortunately, the second group has far more sway on the global economy. Each quarter CEOs give "guidance" to stock market analysts, which is basically a prediction of the earnings that they expect to achieve in the next quarter. Using an enormous bag of accounting tricks and choosing when to buy or sell assets, they often get their earnings per share estimates correct. When they exceed those estimates, they are rewarded by seeing their share price jump or punished when they miss it. For investors, that "pop" is a nice thing to see in their personal account, but the suits that own their stock aren't necessarily their customers.

Peter Drucker observed in 1973 that the only valid purpose of a firm is to create a customer, and the recently eulogized Steve Jobs fully understood that insight. Because Apple made an effort to focus on user experience rather than shareholder wealth, the people who invested in Apple shared in the same customer driven joy when it made its way to their pockets in earnings. Jobs, however, retook control of the reins of Apple in 1997 and the full extent of his influence is still being felt today. Jobs was CEO for around 60 quarters, while a design engagement usually takes less than a year. Apple succeeded in part because he understood that business is an ongoing design engagement, not an exercise in hitting quarterly earnings.

Steven Jennings wrote a thoughtful review of Roger Martin's new book Fixing the Game in Forbes called The Dumbest Idea in the World: Maximizing Shareholder VALUE. Maximizing shareholder value isn't necessarily the dumbest idea in the world if we view companies as players in a short-term betting game. For product designers, employees and customers, however, product development and corporate survival is not a short-term game of beating expectations, but instead represents creating actual value in the real world.

By the time New York celebrates its 400th anniversary in 2025, one million more people will be nestled amongst its already cramped streets. Other cities around the world are dealing with density in creative ways; Hamburg is expanding into its waterways with the first of a series of planned houseboat communities. Now New York may be making more of its own waterways with a new proposal developed by a group of Columbia architecture and real estate grad students. Called "The Present Future of New York City," the plan seeks to grow land from Governor's Island, eventually connecting it to Manhattan's southernmost point.

How do you grow land, you may be asking? The students researching the idea found that the Army Corps of Engineers currently pays to ship out tons of dredged muck from the waterways around New York City. So the students thought, why not reuse all that waste to create a sixth borough instead? Yeah, it sounds like a stretch, not only of the imagination but of engineering. How can you turn a bunch of sludge into a livable area, a place where you can actually build? The first step, apparently, is to take out of commission subway cars, drop them into the river and cover them with landfill. If this sounds crazy you should know that New York regularly dumps outdated subway cars into the Atlantic Ocean, simply because they have nowhere else to dispose of them. But instead of trashing the cars, we might very well be able to use them to our benefit, recycling them into the slow expansion of an 88-100 million square foot land mass, a borough they're tentatively calling Lo-Lo Ma.

Design diversification: BMW DesignworksUSA, Porsche Design and Mercedes have all expanded their initially auto-based design talents into other sectors, and now Nissan is taking steps in this direction. The number two Japanese automaker has developed a self-healing material for their 370Z, Murano and X-Trail vehicles that they feel would lend itself well to a certain popular consumer product.

Nissan's Scratch Shield iPhone Case is made from a proprietary blend of ABS plastic and polyrotaxane paint that heals itself, depending on the severity of the scratch, in hours or days:

The Nissan Scratch Shield iPhone case has been designed using several automotive engineering innovations to deliver a more durable and long-lasting paint coat, and closely fitting, tight case. The case has three key benefits: the highly flexible and elastic properties of Scratch Shield paint technology allows fine scratches to quickly mend themselves*; its tactile gel-like rather than glossy surface is more scratch-resistant than conventional paint and provides a better grip; and the case itself is made of ABS plastic - a high grade substance widely used in the automotive industry which is more rigid and robust than other plastics. The outer 'paint' is made from polyrotaxane, which means that when damage occurs to the coating in the form of a fine scratch, the chemical structure is able to react to change back to its original shape and fill the gap - 'healing' the blemish.

*Scratch Shield can heal small scratches in as little as an hour, but more severe cases can take up to a week's time to heal.

If beta-testing of the currently-being-prototyped case works out well, Nissan expects to begin selling the product later this year.

In anticipation of the upcoming IxDA Interaction12 Conference taking place in Dublin, Ireland February 1–4, Core77 will be bringing you a preview of this year's event. Follow us as we chat with keynote speakers, presenters and workshop leaders to give you a sneak peek at some of the ideas and issues to be addressed at this year's conference. Come by and say hello to us at the Coroflot Connects recruiting event and don't miss out on our live coverage as we report from the ground in Dublin!

* * *

Interaction Design (IxD) is reaching a critical point in its history. We have spent the better part of the last half century converging. We have built our entire identity by bringing in other disciplines and practices into our fold. We are often decried as "land grabbers," but I say it is more about shoring up our knowledge base and practice so that we can be ready for the ever-increasing complexity of the tasks set before us through our acknowledged focus on human behavior as it relates broadly to the interaction of systems.

But it seems that in order to do this Borg-like assimilation of so many different sources (see this great video about Information Architects (IA) doing the same thing) we did not account for the long-term effect this might have on our community of practice, mostly due to our lack of solid foundation.

So it is with sadness that I announce that in the last year IxD, as a community of practice, has faced its strongest challenge to date. We have shifted from converging and assimilating to a community that is ever rapidly diverging.

The divergence is happening along the lines of the gravitational interests from where interaction design was born or where the slippery slope of our primary interest takes us. The divergence is also because the level of complexity of our problem sets have grown so vast that no single group can or should keep track of all of it. We have split basically along our primary lines of interest: Engineering, Individuals (psychology), Culture (anthropology) and Art.

While this year sees the greatest fracturing, I have been tracking the creation of these fault lines since I first helped to start the IxDA. Not unlike the early days of information architecture (IA) where talk of East Coast vs. West Coast IA filled the community's discourse, today the rifts we see in IxD are quite similar. People much like myself have forged interests and communities around the lines of engineering, psychology, culture and art, and each communities have forged practices that further set them apart from others. Rhetorical frameworks have been formed as well, further galvanizing differentiation and making it harder for disparate communities to share knowledge or more importantly, share in the creation of new knowledge.

For me, the image below best expresses how I see the current gravitational pulls facing the interaction designer today.

This grid represents the extremes of people's gravitational pulls. Few people practice at the edges (though there are some).

Let's review the axis and how they translate to the quadrants they create.

image via Nick's Teardrop Trailer

Here's an item from America's past I would not have imagined would make a comeback: The teardrop trailer. First produced during the Great Depression and designed in the Streamline Moderne style, the towable campers were lightweight, economical alternatives to full-sized trailers. They typically offered sleeping/lounging space, storage, and a makeshift cooking/food prep surface. Gas prices being what they are these days, teardrop trailers are back in vogue; some models are so light they can be towed by microcars and even motorcycles.

images via Little Guy Trailers

Ohio-based Little Guy Trailers employs Amish craftsman to produce seven different models, ranging from diminutive 4-foot-wide models to larger 6-footers:

images via Little Guy Trailers

From "Powers of Ten"

Charles and Ray Eames were two of the most multi-talented artists of the 20th-century, but since they eschewed the term "artist," considering it pompous, let's instead call them creators. As creators, their creative vision wasn't limited to the furniture for which they're perhaps best known for, but it extended to architecture, landscape, sculpture, painting, ceramics, books, toys, exhibitions, graphics, industrial design and film. "Charles and Ray Eames wanted to bring the most magnificent experience that you could have with your eyes to the largest number of people," said art critic Jed Perl. "I don't think there's anything more important for an artist to want to do."

Perl was one of several critics who appeared in Eames: The Architect and the Painter, a documentary narrated by James Franco that just ended its run in New York. It profiled the Eames as a couple, focusing more on "affection than investigation" and providing a nice counterbalance to PBS' "dutifully dull American Masters series," which aired last month.

Since so much of film has recently focused on telling the Eames' story, I thought I'd take a moment and look at the films the Eames themselves made, especially since so little attention was paid to them in the documentary. We get a little mention from Paul Schrader, who wrote Taxi Driver, a film that was snubbed by the same critics who looked down their noses at the films the Eames were making, but even Schrader isn't all compliments, calling their films a mix of "self-expression and vanity."

The Eames made over one hundred films, yet little is known about them. There's a very logical reason for that. First, they're exceedingly hard to come by; the majority aren't available to the public, though I was happy to see that The Films of Charles and Ray Eames, a 6-disc set with 32 films including "Powers of Ten," is available through Netflix (not Watch Instantly, of course, but I'll take what I can get).

This egg-shaped device is the Tamaggo, a "360-imager" (basically a digital camera with a wraparound lens) due to hit store shelves later this year. The Montreal-based company of the same name is betting that the simplicity of "Tammagraphy"—users can capture navigable panoramas with just one click—will adequately trump the current method of shoot, spin and software-stitch so that consumers will want to shell out the roughly $200 to own one. I'm not sold on the bulky form factor, but I also underestimated, pre-Facebook, how badly people want to share photos with each other.

Young Italian designer Giovanni Tomasini is pleased to present his latest project, the "Mino" garden gnome, a traditional lawn ornament made of compost:

The garden dwarf tradition is older than what is commonly believed. Originating in XVII century Germany, garden dwarfs were exported by an English nobleman to decorate his garden, and they have now become the globally widespread kitsch ornaments that we all know. Despite its jazzy colours, the modern dwarf is a melancholic figure, condemned to a purely decorative function within a domesticated and artificial environment. Mino, on the other hand, lives in a garden full of life, destined to survive for one season only to then die with pride by feeding the surrounding vegetation.

The designer notes on Inhabitat that he's currently seeking a company to invest in his design...

Nike's latest piece of wearable technology is the FuelBand, which resembles a futuristic, minimalist watch. The device contains an accelerometer that tracks your motion and calculates calories burned. Sound boring? It could have been—but like Apple, Nike has designed the product to be part of an ecosystem in order to ensure the sum exceeds the parts, and to provide the user with a new, novel experience.

In this case the ecosystem consists of the FuelBand and your smartphone or your laptop. Through either of the latter two devices, you program in your daily targets for the energy you'd like to expend.

Good Things to People (gt2P) is a Chilean "parametric design and digital fabrication" studio that recently presented the three new projects that comprise their Digital Crafting Collection at the IMM Cologne 2012.

[The concept is] based on the implementation of digital design methodologies and the experience and the know-how of Chilean artisans, who feed and contribute to qualify each "generative algorithms" or DNA. Through this concept gt2P has succeeded in communicating its ability to investigate, explore and experiment with new materials and processes, and integrate technologies CAD/CAM with traditional techniques and knowledge.

This isn't the first time we've seen nature-inspired or otherwise organic applications of 3D modeling and fabrication techniques used to created organic forms: Marc Fornes & THEVERYMANY's "nonLin/Lin Pavilion" comes to mind, as do Nervous Systems' "Hyphae" lamp and Neri Oxman's sculptures. However, the Santiago-based studio sets itself apart by incorporating local materials and traditional techniques in these three disparate "digital crafting" exercises, each of which is characterized by gt2P's highly formal approach.

The "Suple" series is a vaguely biomimetic furniture construction system, centered (literally and figuratively) on a single connector piece that is fabricated with a combination of digital and traditional techniques:

From these molds a cast of silicone is shaped (negatives). Then, the 3D printing is removed from the inside and filled with wax (positives). When removing the silicone mold, the wax is covered with a ceramic shell made of a kind of glue and sand. A casting cone is made to bring the metal into the shell, melting the wax at the same time.

The legs of the occasional table were turned by hand, taking as reference the 3D printing pieces, and its cover was cut by laser. Finally, the wood was treated with varnish effect of "not painted", so that it retains its natural color, look and texture. This integration of digital and traditional processes made it possible to move from the 3D printing to the craftsmanship, to obtain unique pieces.

The side table itself is "made of steel and wood," with locally-sourced legs: "Suple is the first Chilean design that uses Raulí with dual FSC and Fairtrade certification in its manufacturing process."

Senior Designer
MTV Networks
New York, New York

As part of the Creative Department, the senior designers are responsible for the conceptual development and execution of all print design created in support of VH1 programming and promotional product. That includes advertising for VH1 shows and the visual design, packaging and branding of VH1 franchises. Senior designers are expected to take on some of the higher profile and more difficult challenges in the department, developing their work in line with the overall VH1 channel strategy as well as the strategic imperatives of the specific project.

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