It's an increasingly common story: An otherwise healthy person moves into a new home, and strange health issues suddenly kick in--skin rashes, eye irritation, chronic cough, headaches, "brain fog," persistent fatigue. Doctors are baffled and the problems go unsolved. Eventually, … | Continue reading
Check out these crazy flush-mounted outlets: Those are 22 System outlets by Canadian manufacturer Bocci. My first thought was "Those look cool as hell," and my second thought was "Those have to be a nightmare for contractors to install." I think I'm right on both counts. Here's t … | Continue reading
This Friday we've got something special: A UX design case study, of which we don't get many. This one comes to us from BMW Group's Designworks, who was asked by the city of L.A. to help improve the experience of their bus passengers.The Sidewalk Transit Amenities ProgramTransform … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:In France, a stunning pedestrian and bicycle bridge added to a railway viaduct.Urbanisto: An e-bike that quick-changes into a cargo bike.A modular platform system, by architecture firm Atienza Maure, to make warehouses livable. Playworld's p … | Continue reading
Urbanisto is an e-bike with a nifty feature: You can quickly change it from a standard bike to a cargo bike, tool-free. Flipping a latch releases the front fork, which you can then remove to plug in the longer cargo-hauling module, or vice versa. The bike was invented by Belgian … | Continue reading
Albi, a charming medieval city in the south of France, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Located on the banks of the Tarn River, it features an iconic railway viaduct built in the 1800s out of locally-produced brick. While the viaduct is still in use by modern-day rail services, t … | Continue reading
This reminds me of ad hoc NYC loft spaces in the '90s, where we built interior structures and partitions to make industrial spaces livable. Spain-based architecture firm Atienza Maure was tasked with renovating an old warehouse in Sant Adrià de Besòs, a municipality outside of Ba … | Continue reading
Playgrounds have traditionally been the domain of elementary schools. But Pennsylvania-based playground equipment manufacturer Playworld reckons that folks of all ages would benefit from using them. They've thus designed two systems, ENERGI and LifeTrail, aimed at older users.Ea … | Continue reading
In 2019, Ferrari did something unusual for the company: They released an "entry-level" model in the Roma. It wasn't a track-smoker like their 488 or Superfast, but a GT car (Gran Turismo or Grand Touring, i.e. designed for cruising).The $219,000 base price isn't what most of us t … | Continue reading
While some billionaires are dumping their fortunes into space travel, it's nice to see others are still working to solve problems on Earth—namely, the production of food. Bill Gates has invested billions of dollars in agricultural development in Africa and South Asia, seeking mor … | Continue reading
Kudos to upstart tech brand Nothing for trying something different with their Nothing Headphone (1). That said, the aesthetic may appeal to some, but I see it as a big miss. To me, the design is trying to do too much. While that is probably the point—in today's oversaturated worl … | Continue reading
If you're an industrial designer working on aluminum or steel products manufactured in the U.S., we know the recent Section 232 tariffs on those metals have been a nightmare for you. And while we don't have great news, we do have some decent news. Fictiv, the California-based glo … | Continue reading
Think award season is over? Not quite.The Design Intelligence Award (DIA) is still accepting entries — and here's your chance to jump in with zero entry fee. The final deadline is September 20th, so there's still time to throw your hat in the ring and win serious cash prizes.Why … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:No, airlines are not installing these stand-up saddle-style seats. A design exercise has been turned into misinformation.Obsessive UX design detail: Sugatsune's Slide Hook is a bag hook that retracts. The Great Fredini figures out how to centrif … | Continue reading
The G7 Summit is a big deal, and needed a big deal of a conference table. The Canadian government, this year's host, turned to Toronto-based furniture brand Teknion to create the flagship table for the conference's primary Outreach room.Initial Table ConceptCommissioned by the Ca … | Continue reading
Of all freestanding power tools, perhaps the jigsaw or scrollsaw would be the most fun for kids to use, as they allow freeform cuts. They're also pretty darn dangerous, with the jigsaw being powerful enough to remove fingers.A much safer way to introduce kids to power tools is th … | Continue reading
Greenhouses are an excellent way to grow food in a controlled environment. By regulating environmental factors and blocking out pests, vegetable yields are increased significantly. But traditional greenhouses, made with rigid materials and glass, are expensive. You can expect to … | Continue reading
This Spinamic is a scoliosis correction device by South Korean industrial design firm Intenxiv. Designed for client VNTC, a South Korean medical technology company, Spinamic is soft rather than rigid, which brings several benefits. First off, it's adjustable. This allows doctors … | Continue reading
Designed in Austria, this stainless steel device is the Nuki Smart Lock. Since the company's formation a decade ago, they've shipped over 800,000 units—in Europe. Today the company is finally entering the U.S. market. The company says it can be easily retrofitted without needing … | Continue reading
In the '90s I visited a younger cousin in South Korea. Military service is mandatory there, and he was enlisted in the Navy. He had the craziest haircut I'd ever seen—completely shaved around the side, but with absurdly long bangs, like a front-mounted topknot. I asked him what t … | Continue reading
Recently an Instagram post featuring these images went viral. The post falsely claimed that budget airlines would begin installing these saddle-style seats, which more or less place the passenger in a standing position, in an effort to cram more passengers in.An online backlash f … | Continue reading
Here's an example of solving a complex problem by synthesizing existing technologies in a novel way.A Chinese inventor known only as Mr. Feng wanted to create a robot that could persistently return tennis volleys, allowing him to practice his sport without needing to line up a hu … | Continue reading
Most EDC stuff looks and feels like it was designed by an engineer or machinist. In contrast these objects by the James Brand, which was notably founded by an industrial designer (Ryan Coulter), were clearly created by folks with ID backgrounds.The anodized aluminum Warrick as a … | Continue reading
As we saw earlier this month, Samsung has developed flat robots used to park cars.This same month, China's Shanghai Construction No 2, an engineering and construction firm, also used small robots to move something larger overhead. Considerably larger: An entire city block.Tasked … | Continue reading
During this year's ICFF in New York, over 30 students from seven international design schools came together for the 2025 WantedDesign Schools Workshop, a collaborative, high-energy design sprint centered on one of today's most universal and urgent issues: food systems. The worksh … | Continue reading
Shopping cart cleaning protocols vary by supermarket, and even by location within the same brand. At my local Walmart they use hot water and steam—you can feel both the temperature of the cart and the dampness when they've come fresh out of the sanitization station. Other superma … | Continue reading
If there's one material you're never going to rotomold, it's glass. But glass artisan Frederick G. Kahl, a/k/a the Great Fredini, has come close. Kahl designed this clever system for molding glass inside of a CNC-milled graphite mold using centrifugal force: Kahl recently demonst … | Continue reading
From addressing malnutrition with a sustainable and scalable solution, to turning one of the planet's largest sources of agricultural waste into a biodegradable plastic alternative, to using synthetic biology to prevent antibiotics from contaminating our water— the innovations un … | Continue reading
The first time I saw an undermount bag hook was at a café in Japan in the '90s. More recently they've spread to America, becoming popular at restaurants, cafes and bars. It's a small and relatively inexpensive feature proprietors can retrofit to existing furniture, improving th … | Continue reading
British architect Matt Gilbert, founder of design studio Animaro, first released his Solstice clock in 2018. The kinetic clock expands and contracts with the time, reaching full expansion at noon and midnight, and contracting fully at 6am and 6pm. Now he's back with a 2.0 version … | Continue reading
Our world is increasingly splintering into wildly differing realities. While many countries are struggling with a housing crunch and soaring energy costs, this Saudi Arabian resort houses guests in luxurious stainless steel pods powered by a 110,000-square-meter solar farm. Equip … | Continue reading
The 2025 Professional winner in the Design for Social Innovation is The Lotus Ring from Julia Lemle at Lotus. With this ring you can control anything—lights, fans, appliances, even TVs. With this product you can convert any space into an accessible space in seconds—and you can ta … | Continue reading
The 2025 Professional winner in the Sustainability is the FREITAG Mono[PA6]: Circular Backpack from FRIETAG lab ag and the team comprised of Jeffrey Siu, Tu Van Giang, Ilke Tokdede, Inge Hettich, Silvio Trionfini, and Denise Eugster. The new Mono[PA6] Backpack is circular—from th … | Continue reading
The 2025 Professional winner in the Speculative category is Plant Futures created by Annelie Berner in collaboration with Monika Seyfried and Variable Studio. This project imagines how the Circaea Alpina flower would response to climate change between 2023 through 2100. By rootin … | Continue reading
The 2025 Professional winner in Home & Living is Loka Chai Maker by Jon Marshall in collaboration with Chifen Cheng, Shing Lo, Amelia Kociolkowska, Vincent Fan, Harc Lee, Andrew Aitken, Nikhil Shah, and Anish Shonpal at Pentagram London. Their goal was to develop a device that ma … | Continue reading
The 2025 Professional winner in Furniture & Lighting was AGNI from Jose Cabrita at Contexte. This collection is based on a single element that can be used in different ways allowing that element to become a bench, a stool, a side table, or a shelf. The use of molded plywood allow … | Continue reading
The 2025 Professional winner in Lifestyle Accessories is Aer1 System by Mark Wiggins in collaboration with Nathaniel Berman, JonPaul Turner, Scott Kingston, John Thorpe at Aerflo. The Aer1 system is a portable carbonation device consisting of three components: the Aer1 Carbonatio … | Continue reading
Winning the Professional Branding & Identity category is We & I from Dentsu, led by Taichi Tamaki, Ryota Sugahara, and Miki Taguchi. When rock band RADWIMPS, represented by Universal Music, decided to write a graduation song- a choral performance that is a part of high school gra … | Continue reading
The 2025 Professional winner in the Toys & Play is The Handheld Patternmaking Loom from Lauren Puchowski at Boomloom. Our patented design re-imagines the pattern-making loom completely with just two pieces and a fast set-up it uses an intuitive fingertip motion. A rotating bar sn … | Continue reading
The 2025 Professional winner in the Tools category is Pella Steady Set Interior Installation System from the Pella Corporation. Created by the Pella Innovation Team the Steady Set interior installation is the first and only INTERIOR install system. It directly addresses the obsta … | Continue reading
The 2025 Professional winner in the Sports & Outdoors category is IXI Autonomous Golf Trolley created by the Future Wave team of Joachim Froment, Quentin Desclee, Thoma Velghe, and engineers at Botorincs. The iXi Golf Trolley offers a fully autonomous, self-driving solution that … | Continue reading
The 2025 Professional winner in the Visual Communication is Wayfinding Way Better: Metro's Wayfinding Improvements by the WMATA Team and including Jacobs Engineering, Entro, Order NYC, Joseph Chan, Ray Yau, Daron Showalter, Tom Proctor, Nick Palastro, and Brian Anderson. Metro re … | Continue reading
Winning the Professional category is the XBOX Adaptive Joystick from the Design Team at Microsoft which addresses the need for an affordable, singular joystick to use alongside the XBOX Adaptive Controller specifically for players with limited mobility. It can be controlled with … | Continue reading
Winning the Professional Built Environment category is the WERKSVIERTEL MUNICH project designed by Johannes Ernst at Steidle Architekten. WERKSVIERTEL was previously an industrial site which has been transformed into an independent quarter for residential, commercial, social, and … | Continue reading
Winning the Professional category is an innovative packaging plan Google Plastic-Free Packaging, by Roman Ley at Google. Google's packaging for all hardware products, including Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit, is now 100% plastic-free, fully recyclable, and features innovative materials … | Continue reading
The Professional winner in the Interaction category was Vega Connect: A Dual Interface Robot from Dexmate. Led by Xiaomeng Tang, the team of Xueyun Tang, Xi Pang, Yuzhe Qin and Tao Chen collaborated on the final product - an innovative robotic interaction system designed to bring … | Continue reading
Winning the Professional Apps & Platforms category is the WE: Wellness Support for Non-Native Speaking Women project from QIMU Design. WE is an innovative platform designed to empower immigrant women by breaking down barriers in healthcare access. WE addresses the challenges usin … | Continue reading
The winning Transportation & Mobility Professional entry is Strollee Kids, a modular and versatile stroller system taking one stroller from bassinet to one-seat, two-seat, urban (4 wheels), jogger (3 wheels) and even a wagon when the kids outgrow the stroller. The winning Student … | Continue reading