I'll always love the clean lines of a 1980s BMW. But the company's design direction in recent years has confused me; I just don't understand how the brand that brought us this……also came up with this: However, the dark days may be over. BMW has just unveiled their neue-new design … | Continue reading
In our previous look at wearable exoskeletons, one of them had a design feature that I overlooked, or misunderstood. The model in question is German Bionics' Apogee exoskeleton. See the yellow-rimmed cutouts in the photo below:The company's description read:"The Apogee exoskeleto … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:ID student Jakob Kohnle designed this impressive TetherLock tool system for industrial climbers. An architecture firm solved a tricky display problem for a tiny Tokyo store with clever design.What's worse: The fact that Oscar Mayer created a dr … | Continue reading
These Oakley Radar Pace sunglasses were created in collaboration between Oakley, Intel, and Austin-based Mixer Design Group. They feature Bluetooth headphones and are intended for extreme athletes to receive real-time coaching and feedback while running or cycling.Mixer Design Gr … | Continue reading
It wasn't long ago that car companies tended to keep their renderings, and designers, under wraps. Nowadays it's de rigueur to show the public both, which I think is good for public design awareness.Earlier we looked at Ford Europe's design renderings for their EV Explorer. Now t … | Continue reading
This beautifully-proportioned, stunning roadster is the latest from Rolls-Royce's Coachbuild division. The Amethyst Droptail, as the one-off car is called, was commissioned by a jeweler collector. It's a pity that a car this good-looking will never be available to the masses. I f … | Continue reading
"I was extremely curious about how to solve various common problems using standard materials," writes Industrial designer Manuel Golub, who's based in Argentina. "I used to collect discarded materials to reuse, which allowed me to make mistakes and gain experience without having … | Continue reading
Engineers at Rice University are developing methods for incorporating haptics into clothing. "Of the technologies that have incorporated haptics, wearable devices often still require bulky external hardware to provide complex cues, limiting their use in day-to-day activities," sa … | Continue reading
In the 1930s, Czech-Brazilian industrialist Jan Antonín Bata was head of the Bata Corporation. He commissioned the design of the company's headquarters in Zlín, Czechia (then Czechoslovakia), and the 18-story building had a pretty unique feature: Bata's corner office was actually … | Continue reading
The seemingly-odd proportions of this Naya chair, by Greenlandic designer Anders Zeeb, make sense once you read his design statement."My design is based on the Greenlandic Inuit culture and not least the Greenlandic nature. The NAYA dining chair is inspired by Inuit`s oldest tool … | Continue reading
This October, Ferrari will be auctioning off a one-of-a-kind vehicle: The Tailor Made 812 Competizione. The 812 Competizione is already a limited edition vehicle (999 units), but this one looks like it's had a giant Sharpie taken to it by Chief Design Officer Flavio Manzoni."On t … | Continue reading
Furniture pieces that we'd call Mid-Century Modern classics today, were just sitting in regular families' houses 70 years ago. There's a Peanuts cartoon strip from the '50s that drives this point home. Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty—quintessential middle-class American childr … | Continue reading
The Pato chair, by industrial designers Hee Welling (Denmark) and Gudmundur Ludvik (Iceland), has a one-piece injection-molded polypropylene seat.It's a small detail, but the beveled edge really makes the chair pop for me:As you can see, the chair comes in a variety of base style … | Continue reading
So much for roughing it in the great outdoors.The Magic Fort is a gargantuan tent large enough to park a vehicle in. In fact, you're supposed to; a suggested application from the manufacturer is that "you can use an electric car's air conditioning to control the temperature in th … | Continue reading
Brash Product Development is a one-stop shop for startups bringing new products to market, primarily based in Ottawa and Chicago. The company distinguishes itself by providing a wide range of services in-house, including product design, mechanical engineering, industrial design, … | Continue reading
Concrete is a good choice for park and street furniture; the wind won't move it, and thieves are unlikely to hoist it off. But woe to the civic workers who must install or move the stuff. Thus Schemata Architects designed this line of street furniture for Tokyo Torch Park to be e … | Continue reading
Whether at sidewalk cafes or residential patios, outdoor tables never seem to sit right. It's why you don't put a full cup of coffee right next to a laptop. This handy Pro Leveler invention was designed to take the wobble out:Simple interlocking shims made out of TPE, and just fi … | Continue reading
This Galileo lamp series is by Florence-based designer Edoardo Lietti. (As I find is often the case with designers these days, there's virtually no information offered about the design or the thinking behind it.) "Adjust the shadow simply by rotating the 'planet.'"The two pivot p … | Continue reading
Tokyo-based Play Design Lab is a "children's play research organization," meaning they design playground equipment. The company's stated approach is to combine pedagogical research with design refinement; to my surprise, I see that one of the designers in their stable is Naoto Fu … | Continue reading
This Vesuvio public ashtray might not have many buyers in America, but there's plenty of cities overseas where smoking cigarettes is still a thing. The Vesuvio was designed with some thought towards the poor bastard who's gotta empty the thing out:Product design/manufacturing fir … | Continue reading
I feel queasy writing this, but: A year ago this video went viral. If you've not seen it, it's a guy at a Mets game methodically using a drinking straw to hollow out a hot dog. He then uses the hot dog itself as a straw to drink his beer. As I'm typing this bile is coming up the … | Continue reading
Architecture firm Kamitopen devised a clever design solution for Majimaya, a confectionary tool shop in Tokyo. The Majimaya brand is best known for their cookie cutters—of which they have a lot. On top of which, being in Tokyo, the multi-floor store has a narrow footprint. Archit … | Continue reading
While pursuing his MFA in Advanced Product Design at Sweden's Umeå Institute of Design, Jakob Kohnle did some "high-level" research. "[I] had the amazing opportunity to follow a pair of cell [tower] technicians very closely for an entire week," he writes, "during which they const … | Continue reading
This One-Line Chair was done by Shira Gandelman while studying Industrial Design at Israel's Holon Institute of Technology."The concept behind this chair is to evoke a captivating sense of asymmetry that is visually appealing. Its design aims to convey a feeling of weightlessness … | Continue reading
Cool new humanoid robot design! This one is by startup Apptronik, which was once part of UT Austin's Human Centered Robotics Lab, so this one might not kill us.It's called Apollo, and it's meant to steal jobs from assist warehouse and factory workers, "eventually extending into c … | Continue reading
It seems wildly improbable, but 50-year-old videogame pioneer Atari has not only survived, but are re-releasing the Atari 2600 as the 2600+.The original 2600, released in 1977, cost $190 (about $920 today); the new 2600+ runs $130. And it's not only backwards-compatible with orig … | Continue reading
It's impressive enough that this chair is made from a single piece of plywood. It's outright astonishing to learn it was designed and made in the 1930s. According to the UK's Victoria & Albert Museum:"Designed in 1934 by Gerald Summers and manufactured by his London company, The … | Continue reading
Problem: "Long lines and waiting times at festival beer stands."Solution: German company One Two Beer's robo-pouring beer system, which uses CNC precision to guide a vertically moving nozzle."During the busy festival season, concertgoers often face annoyance from long beer lines … | Continue reading
Industrial design consultancy Whipsaw is the go-to designer for Aristocrat, a manufacturer of gaming machines. As the firm explains:Each year, several new machine designs are introduced to the market. Featured here are Helix, Arc, Flame, and Edge X. Each product fills a market ni … | Continue reading
"Everyday Carry" was once the idea that you carried a few useful objects around to help you tackle unexpected challenges. However, the movement has completely hijacked the "gatherer" instinct in hunter/gatherer-minded folks, leading them to amass gigantic collections of pocket-si … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:An ID student invented what would become the "Operation" board game in 1962. He got $500. The game made $40 million.Steady-hand game design evolution: From "Operation" to "Jenga," now "Tiny Laser Heist."Humanoid robot design evolution: The lates … | Continue reading
Here's an interesting concept by CLAIRE + LÉA, a Paris/Zurich-based design studio. Their Hard Drive is mounted to a spring-loaded slider, allowing it to clamp to your desktop.This frees up space, while providing access to just the crucial bits: The power switch, the LED that lets … | Continue reading
Aimed at campers and travelers, the Scrubba Wash Bag lets you do laundry on-the-go, with a little elbow grease. The TPU bag is lined with nodules on the inside. Fill the bag with water, soap and your dirty clothes, then knead it or shake it for three minutes. The bag folds down t … | Continue reading
This Traditional Heritage line of furniture is by Gerlach & Heilig, a/k/a designers Kyra Heilig and Lenn Gerlach. Though based in Amsterdam, the duo originally hail from Germany's Black Forest, where they drew inspiration for the line."Designed as display furniture for an exhibit … | Continue reading
Inspired by Harry Bertoia's wire Side Chair, designed in 1952……veteran British industrial designer Michael Young developed a 21st-century take:"This updated take on a classic piece is crafted from the same industrial material — steel wire, but in a matte finish — bent into organi … | Continue reading
There's a market for iPads, and there's a market for Kindles—the latter being dedicated devices for people who only want to read.What Kindles are to iPads, the Freewrite Traveler is to laptops. The Freewrite Traveler is a "dedicated drafting device" that allows writers to do just … | Continue reading
My hat's off to the designers of the Flagship, a combination of a skillet and a Dutch oven.The cleverly-designed "Yoga Lid," which can be sealed to the pan with a twist, has holes for straining or steam escape; it also has a handle that allows it to stand vertically, serving as a … | Continue reading
This 650-lb. Zero Gravity Workstation is by ErqoQuest, a Michigan-based furniture manufacturer.The design reminds me of dental set-ups. It's centered around a motorized chair and a steel mast that supports the multiple-monitor arm, the keyboard-table arm and a side table that can … | Continue reading
These robots are scary in a different way from the humanoid kind.A company called Somatic has developed a commercial bathroom cleaning robot. Watch how it operates in various bathroom environments, and it's hard not to be impressed:It's worth noting that it doesn't appear to actu … | Continue reading
We all know humanoid robots are here to end us. With little we can do about it, we've been remarking on their physical designs: What will be the last thing we see, as they squeeze the life out of us?Here are the designs we've seen previously:Tesla Optimus Sanctuary AI Phoenix Fig … | Continue reading
The original 20th-century steady-hand game was "Operation," designed by ID student John Spinello in 1962.In 1983, British game designer Leslie Scott invented "Jenga." Jenga didn't require batteries, and arguably took the crown for steady-hand games throughout the '90s and 2000s.N … | Continue reading
In 1962, John Spinello was an Industrial Design student at the University of Illinois. One class assignment was to design a game that incorporated electronics, a pretty new-fangled task at the time.Spinello came up with a game called "Death Valley," and got an A. According to the … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:RTIC Outdoors' Halftime Water Cooler corrects the design flaws of the incumbent design.This design for a space-saving, folding treadmill seems cool, but apparently there are reliability issues.A startup says they've developed this wearable mouse … | Continue reading
It's not a full-blown marker rack, but this would've come in handy at ID school, when going back and forth from dorm to studio. This Detecool Mobile marker/pencil case features a tilt-out stand, adding that little UX touch that you'd expect from a Japanese stationery company (Ray … | Continue reading
The Women's World Cup finals are this weekend, and England vs. Spain will be playing with a different ball than we've seen for most of the tournament. This week Adidas unveiled their OCEAUNZ Final Pro Official Match Ball:While this is a normal cash grab for tournaments—The OCEAUN … | Continue reading
This Fan Man shelving unit, designed in 1977, can still be ordered from Swiss furniture manufacturer Röthlisberger today. (They're made to order.)Designed by the Swiss design duo of Ueli Berger and Susi Berger-Wyss, Fan Man was, like much of their work, a repudiation of modernism … | Continue reading
Keypad, designed by Belgian architect/designer Alain Berteau, is "the ultimate versatile seating solution: benches effortlessly turning into comfortable sofas.""KEYPAD is a distinctively elegant and a smart convertible seat with multiple purposes. This comfortable sofa is ideally … | Continue reading
This Fan Man shelving unit, designed in 1977, can still be ordered from Swiss furniture manufacturer Röthlisberger today. (They're made to order.)Designed by the Swiss design duo of Ueli Berger and Susi Berger-Wyss, Fan Man was, like much of their work, a repudiation of modernism … | Continue reading