Bike Storage

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Kim

A while ago, we posted about the design of the Bike Shelf, a new way of incorporating your bike into the design of your home. Since then there have been a number of products based on this idea. These are a few of our favorites, but the Bike Shelf still wins me over. Oh, and if you’re wondering what that first photo is, it’s part of Street Art Utopia. If you haven’t seen their collection of street art, check it out.

It’s About Time

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Kyle

Clock Clock by Humans Since 1982 is made of 24 individual clocks, features 48 electronically-controlled analog clock hands which automatically rotate into the proper positions to tell you times.

The Wheel Clock was made from a recycled aluminum road bike wheel.

Book Clock by Shokoofeh Z.Dezfuli

The Front & Back Clock designed by The Wrong Objects. The Front & Back Clock is powered by 2 AA batteries, and uses the batteries as the hands on the clock face.

The Catena Wall Clock by Andreas Dober for Germany’s Anthologie Quartett. This clock uses copper numbers attached to a bike chain that circles around a single motorized gear.

Redundant Clock by Ji Lee. This is a redundant clock with redundant description.

The Lexon Around Clock design by Anthony Dickens. Anologue clock showing time by the cylinder rotation and use the the red wire to identify time.

Alvin Aronson has designed a beautiful clock that mimics the look of a traditional LED display, D/A Clock with physical segments slowly fading in and out of a white surface.

Gold Record Wall Clock by Karlsson

iVictrola iPad + iPhone Phonographs

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Kim

The iVictrola merges an antique Magnavox phonograph horn with two pieces of American walnut along with your iPad/iPhone to create what’s basically a giant megaphone. Love the contrast of something old and new all in one design. I’m pretty sure these are made by the same guy because both products are named iVictrola. I’m not sure how you’d find and buy either of these gadgets. Both products link to pages where they have been sold or to a website that doesn’t sell either. So let this be a tease or an inspiration :]

Less and More: Dieter Rams at SFMoMA

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Kyle

t3andipod

SFMoMA launches “Less and More,” an exhibition featuring German product design legend, Dieter Rams‘, body of work. For more than 40 years, Rams was the lead designer for the German household appliance company Braun. He has also been the active designer for German furniture company Vitsœ since his start there in 1959.

This exhibition includes more than 200 models and objects by Rams and his team, as well as contemporary designs inﬂuenced by his Ten Principles of Good Design, such as his T3 pocket radio design which inspired the iPod.

Rams’ Ten Principles to Good Design

Good Design:

Is innovative – Rams states that possibilities for innovation in design are unlikely to be exhausted since technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. He also highlights that innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology and can never be an end in and of itself.
Makes a product useful – A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
Is aesthetic – Only well-executed objects can be beautiful. The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products used every day have an effect on people and their well-being.
Makes a product understandable – It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product clearly express its function by making use of the user’s intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory.
Is unobtrusive – Products and their design should be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression. Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools and are neither decorative objects nor works of art.
Is honest – Honest design should not attempt to make a product seem more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It should not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
Is long-lasting – It should avoid being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even when the trend may be in favor for disposable products.
Is thorough down to the last detail – Dieter Rams states that nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance in the design of a product since care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.
Is environmentally friendly – Good design should make an important contribution to the preservation of the environment by conserving resources and minimizing physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
Is as little design as possible – Dieter Rams makes the distinction between the common “Less is more” and his strongly advised “Less, but better” highlighting the fact that this approach focuses on the essential aspects thus, the products are not burdened with non-essentials. The desirable result would then be purer and simpler.