Bicycles are all the rage these days; Interbike notwithstanding, we've seen several concepts lately, from the FLIZ to the CERV (and most recently the unacronymous Bicymple), each an attempt to evolve beyond the traditional diamond frame.

Yet the pedal-powered drivetrain is as tried-and-true as they come, and a Guatemalan (via Canada) nonprof has demonstrated its efficiency and versatility time and again. It's not quite as quintessentially lo-fi as Liter of Light, but Maya Pedal's remarkable upcycling project is a veritable post-industrial revolution for rural Guatemalans... and potentially for underdeveloped communities the world over. The San Andrés Itzapa-based NGO accepts donated bicycles from the US and Canada, which are either refurbished and sold or, more interestingly, converted into "Bicimaquinas" (pedal-powered machines).

Pedal power can be harnessed for countless applications which would otherwise require electricity (which may not be available) or hand power (which is far more effort). Bicimaquinas are easy and enjoyable to use. They can be built using locally available materials and can be easily adapted to suit the needs of local people. They free the user from rising energy costs, can be used anywhere, are easy to maintain, produce no pollution and provide healthy exercise.

The Bicimolino pedal-powered mill/grinder

In short, Maya Pedal turns scrap bicycle parts into all variety of human-powered municipal machinery: "water pumps, grinders, threshers, tile makers, nut shellers, blenders (for making soaps and shampoos as well as food products), trikes, trailers and more."

Here's your last chance to register for Design Extravaganza, hosted by the Austin Center for Design on October 5-6. We're looking forward to engaging with the wide range of ideas that speakers like Dave Cronin (GE), Genevieve Bell (Intel), Paola Antonelli (MoMA) and our own Allan Chochinov will be sharing with attendees.

Our friend and conference organizer Jon Kolko wrote a great editorial piece about the increasing role of design in national conversations surrounding education, business, technology and politics. Design Extravaganza will be an opportunity to dialogue around how design can continue to shape our culture.

Design Extravaganza
October 5 - 6, 2012

Austin Scottish Rite Theater
207 West 18th Street
Austin, Texas 78701

Register today for the conference! Tickets are limited!

Last month, we took our show on the road at the IDSA International Conference in Boston. As part of Coroflot's Student Portfolio Review which takes place each year at IDSA, the Design For (Your) Product Lifetime Student Challenge and the good folks at Autodesk hosted a local beer and lobster roll reception for all attendees.

Educators from leading design schools including SCAD, Art Center College of Design and Carnegie Mellon were on hand (not just for the lobster and beer), but to hear all about the challenge and discuss how it could become part of their fall curricula.

"As an educator, I think The Design for Your Product Lifetime Student Challenge offers a great opportunity to engage students and ignite their creativity. Core77 and its collaborators have put together a competition that enables students to use the skills and sustainability knowledge they've acquired to design a smart product that is smarter environmentally. Autodesk and iFixit are also providing resources that will enable the entrants to tackle the challenge effectively." said David Weightman, Professor of Industrial Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. "It's always good that students have design opportunities that speak to them personally, and the benefits to the winners of publicity and cash won't go amiss either !"

The Design for Your Product Lifetime Student Challenge is up and running at www.core77.com/dfypl. Students and student groups can enter now until November 15.

Check out the site for more information about this challenge or feel free to contact us at challenges@core77.com with specific questions about the program.

It is a strange thing to become both immortalized and anonymous, but no one really knows the identities of the eleven construction workers captured in "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper." The iconic photograph shows the men who built 30 Rock—which most Americans know as Liz Lemon's workplace, above—casually taking a break on a girder, legs dangling some 800 feet above Manhattan.

As someone terrified of heights, I've never been able to look at the photograph without feeling queasy. And now when archivists look at the photo, they can't help but feel it's not a candid at all, but one of two carefully staged promotional shots produced by Rockefeller Center's original backers. Here's the second:

To be clear, they're not claiming the photos—which turned 80 years old last week—are airbrushed or cut-and-paste jobs; no one doubts that these men actually shimmied out onto the girder for the camera. Which brings us back to the original point--who were these men? Irish filmmaker Sean O'Cualain's new documentary, Men at Lunch, tries to get to the bottom of just who was up at the top.

You might remember, about this time last year, gawking at the mesmerizing Troika illuminated signage erected in the V&A museum's tunnel entrance.

Well this year, Dutch electronics giant Philips have added to the lighting display with an interactive installation in the same tunnel—and another hidden away in one of the lesser know gallery spaces of the vast Victorian edifice.

"Walk The Light," a collaboration with Domonic Harris and his Cinimod studio, illuminates unwitting V&A visitors with a trail of bright white light and a spectrum of colour that transitions from a cool blue to a intense red as they approach the museums door.

One of my first tasks as an industrial design intern, nearly twenty years ago, was to archive the draftings coming off of a plotter machine the size of two refrigerators. I'd bring the fresh prints to the File Room, which was filled with flat-file drawers holding draftings that traveled back in time; by rifling through the lower right corners of each page, where the title blocks were, I could drill down and get to decades-old, hand-drafted sheets of old product designs scrawled onto mylar and vellum. As a wide-eyed student I found it fascinating that all of these things were saved, and that in theory, I could take one of these older drawers to a current-day modelmaker or tool-cutter and have them reproduce the object.

Carl Hansen & Son is a Danish furniture outfit that's over a century old, and they've recently done their own version of diggin' in the crates. In the section of their file room filled with work by Hans J. Wegner, the Danish Modern designer, they found blueprints for a sofe he designed in the mid-'60s. And now, nearly fifty years later, Wegner's mid-century modern piece is once again rolling off of the assembly line, in two- and three-seat versions named CH162 and CH163.

What's interesting about this particular sofa is what it's stuffed with; Wegner chose, of all things, feathers for the original design.

...In 1965 when the original was introduced, feather filled cushions were revolutionary. "The sofa series was originally known as the 'Down Cushion Sets', because cushions filled with feathers were an innovation at the time. Wegner chose feather cushions to create a soft and inviting look - a style that broke with the standard practice of using cushions of fixed upholstery." says Knud Erik Hansen, CEO of Carl Hansen & Son.

The announcement is so new that the sofas are not yet on Carl Hansen & Son's website, but you can see other Wegner pieces they produce here.

via 3 rings

Eindhoven-based designer Dave Hakkens has been on our radar since we first got wind of his "Break Soap" concept, and it so happens that wind was the inspiration behind the more recent oil pressing machine. So too does his latest project begin with a seemingly straightforward concept—that porcelain shrinks when you bake it—and end with a fascinating, allusive series of objects. Curious about the 'diminishing returns' of the material, Hakkens "made a huge jug from all kinds of materials to see the shrinking process on different textures."

From this jug I made a mold and poured porcelain in. Then baked it at 1260 degrees, and it shrank... With this porcelain model I made another mold and baked it, it shrank again. Made a mold from this model and so on... Every time the porcelain deforms a little bit and slowley the textures loses its detail.

After 13 rounds of casting and baking, he arrived at a collection of 14 jugs, each of which comes in at roughly 60% of the volume of its progenitor. Thus, the original jug is a healthy, pitcher-sized 5000mL, while the last one holds a mere 10mL, or a whopping two teaspoons.

Meanwhile, minor deformations emerge in more subtle fashion, as details fade and the vessel develops a slight crook in its back. Although molds are intended to mass produce exact replicas from a single template, Hakkens' "Shrinking Jug" series clearly illustrates the variations that characterize handmade objects.

2D Photoshop Artist
RTT AG
Munich, Germany

RTT is a leader in high-end 3D visualization and developing revolutionary process technology for clients such as Audi, BMW, Volkswagen, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Adidas, AEG and Electrolux. They're seeking a 2D Artist - Photoshop will be involved in the compositing and retouching of still images as well as the development of creative concepts for our customers in the automobile industry.

Photography by Jessica Charlesworth for Core77

Jessica Charlesworth joined nomadic design studio Unknown Fields Division (UFD) on their trip to the Burning Man Festival in a modified school bus built to survive off-the-grid with solar panels and deep cell batteries. Follow her journey into the Black Rock Desert in our latest photo gallery and check out some of the elaborate camps, insane vehicles, sculptures and installations seen this year—our favorite of course—the torching of a life-sized Wall St replica that cost $100K to make with buildings labeled "Bank of Un-America," "Merrill Lynched," "Goldman Sucks," and "Chaos Manhattan."

» View Gallery

Unknown Fields Division Does Burning Man 2012
» Prepping the Solar Bus
» Survival Gear
» Walking Pod, Mechanical Beest Vehicle
» Building the Off-Grid Solar Bus

It's official: NYC's Taxi & Limousine Commission has voted Nissan's NV200 the "Taxi of Tomorrow," meaning hack fleets will be required by law to replace outgoing taxis with the chosen model.

The first NV200 cabs are expected to hit NYC streets in a year's time, at which point passengers will experience the roomier back seat, taller doors, higher head clearance and easier-to-load trunk featured in the boxy vehicle. The interior also boasts USB charging ports, passenger-activated climate controls, a tappable credit card reader and the de rigueur annoying flatscreen that I have to shut off to avoid getting carsick.

In the oddly silent video below, notice the vehicle uses sliding doors rather than swinging. At first I thought this would reduce the amount of bike accidents; I've seen it happen more than once where a careless passenger throws the door open without looking, causing a bicyclist to crash into it. But what I think will happen now is cyclists will crash directly into passengers exiting the cab. (I don't fault the design for this, I fault ignoramus passengers who don't look first.)

Kickstarter made some interesting changes to the rules Project Creators must follow last week. What's really interesting about these rules, is that they mainly affect only Product Design and Hardware projects.

Let me take you through each rule change, tell you how I think they will effect Product Design projects, and then finish up with something I think Kickstarter should consider.

Change #1: Risks and Challenges section

Located at the bottom of a project's home page, this is a Creator written overview of the risks and challenges a project will/could face. It's now in effect for all Kickstarter projects.

This is a great idea. Backers should know upfront what needs to happen to make a project a reality and it reinforces the idea that Kickstarter is not a traditional store.

Ultimately, this rule will be more beneficial to Creators than Backers. The more you think through potential pitfalls, the better prepared you will be. Many of the Creators I see doing product design projects on Kickstarter are novices and don't think about this until it is way too late (crying to themselves at 2AM, ten months past their estimated delivery date).

I actually think Kickstarter should take this a couple steps further, with Backers receiving more background information on the Creators. Things such as the number of people on the project team, how far along in development they are, what their professional/educational background is, and how much manufacturing experience they have, should all be made available for Backers.

One thing I want to note: The projects I've seen use this new Risks & Challeneges section don't seem to have put enough thought into it. On one project I saw, the Creator wrote a three sentence description that boiled down to, "There are many steps to complete," with no explaination of those steps. Perhaps Kickstarter could give a basic outline that would help Creators fill this form out and make sure they answer important questions?

Verdict on Change #1: A good change that should go further.

Change #2: Product simulations and photorealistic renderings are prohibited. Pictures of prototypes in their current state, technical drawings, CAD designs, sketches, and other parts of the design process are allowed. This only effects Product Design and Hardware projects.

The problem Kickstarter is trying to address is the right one, but the way they're trying to solve it is wrong.

Here is what's currently happening: When Backers see a hot looking computer rendering, they (understandably) think what they are looking at already exists and support the project believing that the project will ship with no problem. This is bad.

The problem isn't renderings, it's that Backers don't know how to interpret renderings. Most of them probably don't even realize they're not photographs. However, you don't solve this communication problem by eliminating renderings, you just create new problems.

Kickstarter's solution is to only allow pictures of prototypes as they exist at the time of the project launch.

Prototypes are really important and should be required for all Product Design and Hardware Kickstarter projects. You learn more about how your design works and will be produced from making a physical mockup than you would from 100 renderings.

But here's the thing, prototypes can be just as misleading as renderings. It's easy to make a single prototype, just like it's easy to make a photorealistic rendering. The trick is actually mass producing that thing. I can't tell you the number of projects I've been on where we get what looks like a finished prototype back in a month but then it takes another year to get it through production.

Eliminating renderings does not make manufacturing easier, it just makes it harder to describe to Backers what you are trying to do.

Here's how I would solve the problem. Make prototypes required, but also allow renderings. The difference will be when Backers see images of those things, they need to be clearly labeled as to what they are with Kickstarter provided explanations of what a rendering is and what a prototype is. That way, Creators would still have the tools they need to tell their story and Backers would have an explanation of what they're looking at and a better understanding of the level of development that has gone into the project so far.

Verdict on Change #2: This rule doesn't solve the real issue: Backers need to be educated on what they are looking at.

My recommendation: Kickstarter should start requiring prototypes, but renderings and simulations should still be allowed. In either case, both must be clearly labeled as to help Backers understand what they are looking at.

Change #3: Offering multiple quantities of a reward is prohibited. This only effects Product Design and Hardware projects.

In the past, Creators were able to offer different quantities of a single product. Say my project is to develop a "widget". I could offer a reward tier that would allow you to purchase one "widget" and another reward tier where you could purchase five "widgets".

Kickstarter's hypothesis is that by limiting the quantity of "widgets" that are produced, it will help make life easier for Creators. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of how to streamline manufacturing.

Producing large quantities of a single item actually helps Creators. It allows them to make larger purchases with their vendors, giving them more clout with that vendor, which keeps Vendors motivated to help the Creators. Smaller orders always get less priority, leading to delays. Larger orders can also mean more efficient use of a Vendor's equipment. Once a production line is up and running, the difference between producing 500 and 5,000 can be minimal.

For Creators, large quantities of a single item can lead to bulk discounts. If 1,000 "widgets" costs $1.00/unit to produce, 5,000 "widgets" might cost $0.50/unit to produce. This is hugely beneficial to Creators, especially when the unexpected happens. It's common on Kickstarter for shipping to end up costing more than estimated or a project turns out to need more development than anticipated. We shouldn't punish Creators for things that happen all of the time in even normal product development.

Image courtesy Schon Magazine

Though Swarovski may first call to mind bedazzling rather than design, their sponsorship of and collaboration with artists and designers over the past decade have allowed people like Maarten Baas and Paul Cocksedge to work with materials and resources that have "served as an experimental platform for leading figures in design to conceptualize, develop and share their most radical ideas." This year Swarovski partnered with Design Museum London on "Digital Crystal," a new exhibition for which they asked 13 artists, designers and design studios to use cut crystal in projects and installations that "explore the meaning of memory in the digital age," specifically how our intangible digital database of images and video have replaced more permanent methods of memory-saving like diaries, printed photographs and scrap books, and how that shift might impact that way we remember our past.

Image courtesy Mocoloco

You can Tweet a fleeting moment to "Lolita," Ron Arad's spiral chandelier (#DigitalCrystal or text +44 (0) 78 6002 1492) and watch your message swirl around and down its form, lasting only for seconds, or the lifespan of a typical Tweet. Yves Behar lights a black room with "Amplify," a cluster of faceted paper shades lit from within by a single crystal. The lanterns create a darker and moodier space than Arad's more ebullient crowd sourced installation. Nearby, Anton Alvarez made a high-speed spinning machine that wraps Swarovski crystal yarn at random around its clunky wooden body.

One the smallest yet strongest pieces comes from Hye-Yeon Park, whose "Unfamiliar Mass" takes an unintelligible circular swirl of solid crystal and slices through it to reveal the hidden silhouette of a polar bear.

Travis Feldman's Molecule Synth was one of those Kickstarter projects that I discovered just a little too late in the game: the Portland, OR-based tinkerer reached his funding goal within two weeks and I bookmarked the 'buzzy' project for future coverage. Still, the charmingly lo-fi video made me feel guilty that I'd neglected my trusty Microkorg for years, piqued by the modular synthesizer kit that offers a hands-on experience for electronic musicians of all skill levels.

Lo and behold, Feldman's taking the show on the road to upcoming Maker Faire New York and I'm eager to see the it in person at the New York Hall of Science this weekend. Feldman will be in Zone B, and he's given us some exclusive insight into his design process and the future of the Molecule Synth in anticipation of the Faire.

Core77: I understand you are a scholar of Comparative Literature and Classics; how did the Molecule Synth come about? Conversely, does your background in humanities inform your approach to design?

Travis Feldman: My approach to design comes less from my background in humanities and more from being a geeky kid, making 'zines and comics, playing Dungeons & Dragons, skateboarding, hacker culture and Arduino tinkering. I've kept various art, programming and electronics going on almost nonstop since I can remember. My interest in music always seemed especially impractical, even when compared to something like translating ancient Greek texts, but they initially inspired me to pick up the soldering iron and begin making my own modified microphones, altered effects pedals, and, finally, my own homemade modular synth gear.

The Internet is teaching us all how to research and learn in new ways, and my understanding of electronics and my abilities to find out about everything that has gone into the Molecule Synth has depended a lot more upon the Internet than upon any traditional resources or formalized ways of learning. I might add that my attention to detail, patience to figure out unfamiliar things, interest in seeing the big picture in relation to "minute particulars," and intuition about what looks, feels and sounds "right" have been important for bringing the Molecule into existence, and those traits served me well in academic research projects. It's fair to say that the last few months have been busier than any other time of my life and challenged me to work harder than ever, but rather than think about how this could connect to academia, I keep coming back to the thrill of realizing that I am doing exactly what I want to do right now.

You note the "Lego-like interchangeability" of the Molecule Synth, but I also see some affinity to Sifteo cubes, with each element representing part of an analog synth patch bay. In other words, it appeals to novices and experts alike. What was the development process like?

Those Sifteo cubes are super cool! I can't afford them though and I've never actually played with them... I like the gaming component to them, too—I want the Molecule Synth to feel like a game of sorts. One important distinction between the concept behind the Molecule Synth and those cubes is my interest in hardware. Sifteos are software-based. I am reminded too of the design sensibility of the Reactable Synthesizer, have you seen that? It's also a software-based synth, with a brilliantly conceived set of cubes used to trigger and control it. I got to meet some of the designers and play with one recently while in Barcelona. But Legos are worth bringing back into comparison here, since the Molecule Synth is entirely hardware-based, snap-together circuitry, except for the Arduino-powered MIDI input.

My idea for the Molecule Synth came from experiences prototyping and experimenting. I spend a lot of time breadboarding synth circuits and then just listening to the results of swapping out one capacitor for another, or one type of controller for another. I thought I might be able to capture that in some device, and that idea led me to the Molecule Synth. I also like circuit bending, when you bring home a toy instrument from the thrift store, open up the back, and begin prodding and poking around the circuit board, seeking out that 555 timer circuit by rubbing a little slobber onto the resistors—that's tons of fun!—and I wanted to have some of that experimental chaos and closeness to the actual, physical circuits built into the Molecule Synth's design.

We can't believe there's less than one week left before this year's Interaction Awards entry period closes! And as you IxDA members busily ready your entries, we are proud to announce that Adobe Typkit has joined in on the fun as a sponsor. Their involvement will help support the costs of this year's Interaction Awards jury session in New York City, as well as the subsequent documentaries highlighting this year's Interaction Awards winning work.

Check out the Interaction Awards website for some great pointers from last year's winners on how to create an award-winning entry. We like the tip from Michal Pasternak of Huge to "Just Do It!" and Best in Show 2012 winner Stimulant (Loop Loop for Sifteo Cubes) shares why awards are like weight loss to help inspire and motivate you to get your entries in!

And if you want a taste of what the jury members Marc Rettig, Founder & Principal at Fit Associates (USA), Steve Baty (Australia), Matt Cottam (The Netherlands), Liz Danzico (USA), Matias Duarte (USA), Dan Hill (Finland) and Anab Jain (UK) might have to contend with, see the below short film covering last year's jury deliberations.

Remember, the last day to enter the IxDA's Interaction Awards is on Monday, October 1st. We'll be live at the Interaction Awards celebrations at the IxDA Conference in Toronto this coming January and we look forward to seeing you all there!

"In our modern society, it's next to impossible to find long-haul products," writes Scott Hofert. And he should know; his job in the non-profit sector required him to travel the world from 1989 to the 2000s, and during off-hours he sought out new specimens for his collection of leather bags while traipsing through 40-odd countries. But what he found was that most of these so-called durable goods were not up to snuff. "[They] were flimsy, cheesy or had so many pockets and compartments when all [I] wanted was something simple, rugged and durable."

North-Carolina-based Hofert then embarked on the path that will get you written up in Core77: He scanned the product landscape, could not find what he wanted, and decided to learn how to make what he wanted by himself, using his own hands.

What sparked Hofert's journey is interesting. In April of 2010 the first iPad came out, and Hofert bought one. The iPad had of course been a top-secret project at Apple, and upon its release there weren't a lot of cases available for it. Hofert got himself a scrap of leather hide and decided to make one of his own. He asked questions at a local leather shop and scoured YouTube for videos on how to work leather. After some trial and error, he had successfully produced the simple iPad case you see here:

"It was real simple," Hofert told Core77. "Square edges, clean lines." Now that he knew how to make it, he thought other iPad owners might want one, so he started a website to sell them online. He also shrewdly took out an ad in a magazine for Mac users. The risk was low: If someone wanted one, he'd run out and buy the leather, then make it and ship it. Hofert's instincts proved correct, and orders started coming in.

Having caught the leather-crafting bug, Hofert then turned his efforts towards making a leather wallet. More trial and error, and after he got it right, that went up on the website too. Orders started coming in for that as well. He followed that up with a belt and then finally, the thing that had drawn him to leather in the first place, a leather bag.

We all have our product fetishes, and I asked Hofert what it was that drew him to leather bags in the first place. "I'd travel through all these airports," Hofert says, "and you'd see some guy on an escalator with this beat-up leather bag. You'd just know, by looking at that bag, that that guy'd been everywhere with it. Something about that drew me to them. I love the idea that you can have a product that gets better with age, like a wine."

Debate and implications about Kickstarter's recent policy changes aside, it's still the de facto platform for crowdfunding projects of all stripes, and the FORM 1 3D Printer is the latest launch to receive the sort of viral fanfare typically reserved for a certain Cupertino-based computing concern. Since the Technology project went live this morning, it's surpassed its $100,000 goal by nearly 100% as of press time (and possibly record time).

Hot on the heels of MakerBot's hot new Replicator 2—having seen it in person at their new retail space in Lower Manhattan, I must say it's a handsome piece of hardware—Formlabs have most definitely taken the personal 3D printing game to the next level. In contrast to MakerBot's less-expensive, less open or otherwise dubious competitors, the team of MIT grads and current grad students sought to lower the cost of a higher resolution—and traditionally, higher-priced—process.

For most designers, the extruded plastic (i.e. FDM) of low-end printers is simply not capable of the high resolution and quality surface finish necessary for professional work. So, we decided to go straight for the real deal: a stereolithography printer we call the Form 1.

Stereolithography (SL) is the gold standard for accuracy and resolution in the 3D printing world, reaching layer thicknesses and feature sizes that are worlds ahead of what is possible with FDM. The process is pretty straightforward - a laser is used to draw on the surface of a liquid plastic resin that hardens when exposed to a certain wavelength of light. The laser draws and hardens a layer at a time until the entire model is built. It's simple, reliable, and quiet.

Unfortunately, SL is traditionally one of the most expensive 3D printing processes. With pricey lasers and high-precision optical components, SL 3D printers can easily cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Until now.

The BraunPrize wrapped up a record year, honoring 39 designs from around the world in their 2012 program. Over 100 design professionals (including former Heads of Braun Design Dieter Rams and Peter Schneider) making up this year's Design Forum gathered at Braun's Frankfurt headquarters today to hear final presentations from 3 Student and 3 Professional/Design Enthusiast finalists to award the winners for 2012's BraunPrize.

Olivier Grabes and Dieter Rams

The jury, consisting of Oliver Grabes (Head of Braun Design) Naoto Fukasawa (Naoto Fukasawa Design), Jane Fulton Suri (Managing Partner IDEO), Dr. Dirk Freund (Director of R&D Braun) and Anne Bergner (Former BraunPrize Winner and Professor of Integrated Product Design at University of Applied Sciences Coburg) had done most of the heavy lifting over 3 days in June. They combed through over 10 kilometers of paperwork (almost 2,400 entries) representing 73 countries from around the world and emerged with 3 finalists for the Student, Professional and Sustainability categories, as well as 15 notable entries from both student and professional entries representing National Winners.

Naoto Fukasawa and Jane Fulton Suri

The Global Gold Winner for the Student category was awarded to Sebastian Reichel for Agil, a flexible walking aid. Using innovative materials and construction, Reichel started with the notion that a walking stick could be an extension of one's arm to provide stability and support. Through careful design research and engineering considerations he found that creating hollow chambers within an "S"-shaped handle allowed for a dynamic and natural motion from the user.

The audience got a special surprise when Dieter Rams raised his hand and approached the podium to do some user testing. Unfortunately, the product on display was just a design display, not a functional prototype. Congratulations to Sebastian on his win! His work sheds light on the importance of designing for the aging population as well as those with disability.

Silver for the Student category was awarded to former boyscout Jussi Koskimäki for his First Aid Cover, an emergency blanket that can provide basic CPR and aid guide to timid bystanders in an emergency situation. The Cover could be distributed through first aid kits and emergency locations in public places. Bronze went to Dirk Hessenbruch for Mo, a flexible bike share and urban mobility system (as seen on Core77).

Dirk Hessenbruch's Mo System

The Global Gold Winner for the Professional/Enthusiast category went to Känguru, designed by Berlin-based designer Oliver Klein. The father of two designed a baby carrier and bicycle seat in one as a "mobility concept for the urban context with Infant." While presenting his concept to the Design Forum, Klein shared his 6 driving design considerations: Ergonomic transition between baby carrier and bike seat, a lightweight frame design that was inspired by the hollow bone structure of birds, a quick and easy bike mount, tool-free disassembly for easy cleaning and care, and an option for custom-made frames through rapid prototyping. I particularly liked the adjustable sling for the baby that can accomodate children as they grow from 6-24 months.

Textile/Materials Research Associate
Mountain Hardwear
San Francisco, California

Mountain Hardwear—a leader in innovative premium outdoor apparel, equipment and accessories—is seeking a Textile/Materials Research Associate to provide technical support for the Materials Research Analyst team in the Materials Research department. He or she will be responsible for the organization, maintenance, and retention of materials in the Corporate Fabric Library.

For the second year running, the V&A museum and its supporters have used London Design Festival (and perhaps the inevitable few too many glasses of bubbly that surrounds it) to gather some funds for the innovatively named 'Design Fund to Benefit the V&A'.

The little extra dosh is set aside to enable the museum to purchase stand out examples of contemporary design—or, in other words, some very attractive, if obscenely expensive, bits of furniture— acquiring the design icons of the future, if you will. Amongst their haul this year was this worryingly delicate 'SOFA_XXXX' by Yuya Ushida that is, in fact, an expandable and contractable seating solution for cramped living conditions. Also on display was the organic form of Dutch designer Joris Laaumann's 'Bone Chaise' complete with the (almost more interesting) wooden cast for the chair.

Four years ago La Boite Concept, the French sound product designer and manufacturer, introduced La Premiere, a hi-fi laptop dock in a tall, standing unit with an overall appearance that can best be compared with an arcade game. Its retro body yet superior acoustics wowed analog fans, but not everyone has space or the budget for what's essentially a modern day jukebox. With that in mind, La Boite Concept develop a new line of sleeker and more functional laptop docks called the LD series, which they debuted at the 100% France exhibition at 100% Design during London Design Festival.

The LD series, available in 100, 120 or 130 watts, is still the first and only high end docking station dedicated to the laptop, as opposed to the iPhone. The USB DAC Hi-Fi sound card is integrated inside the speaker to improve the sound quality of your laptop independently from its sound output, which is projected from six speakers - two medium woofers (13cm), two tweeters with domes (silk 25mm) and two full range rear drivers for the unit's patented Wide Stereo Sound, a system developed by La Boite Concept that improves the range of the surround sound so that a listener positioned at any point in the room gets the full surround sound effect. And whether you want to use the desk to work on or DJ from, the desktop is made from silicon in a range of colors to prevent the speakers' vibrations from shaking the laptop.

Full specs are available on La Boite Concept's website.