Have you heard of NeoCon yet? Well, contrary to what the name might make you think, it is not a convention for the next wave of Conservatives. (No fun.) NeoCon is an annual exposition of the latest design for interiors: furniture, flooring, tile, wall papers, fun, etc. Yours truly will be tearing up the floor every day of the expo with an eye out for products related to mass-customization, laser-cutting inspiration, and of course, rapid manufacturing.

While at NeoCon, I will be part of a twitter campaign initiative between the Merchandise Mart and Designer Pages. Designer Pages was created to provide a virtual platform and resource for design; they currently have over 50,000 member submitted products. (Register and submit your designs here.) You can browse and buy, save to your favorites, or check out staff picks and curated collections like Inhabitat’s Green Design Collection.

In efforts to raise awareness of the NeoCon event, the social media loving team behind Designer Pages has implemented a pretty impressive twitter bombing campaign—a good kind of bombing,  like glitter bombing—which includes raffling off two ipod nanos every day. Every tweet you send is another chance to win, just be sure to include the hashtag #Neocon09.  For three days, myself and several other twitterers will be walking the floor an introducing exhibitors and attendees at the show to twitter. You can follow all of the action here. And if you’re at the show, Designer Pages will help you start a twitter account from their beautiful 7th floor booth 3094. Plus, you can follow the communal buzz with a glance at any of the five giant screens installed at the Merchandise Mart.

Once the show closes for the evening, I’ll be back to post the highlights of my favorite Ponoko-pertaining products.

Winners of the 2009 Ample Sample competition have been announced. Taking top prize was the ‘Shoe-Keeper’ designed by Wuthichai Leelavoravong.

Finalist Jake Tompkins re-envisioned carpet scraps as an eco-friendly hammock with ‘Magic Carpet Ride’.

Finalist Sean Miller designed ‘Mailbox’ from a single carpet tile.

Heather Wright and Christina Jih developed the Plush Petal Pendant which uses two carpet tiles cut into 32 strips.

All of the Ample Sample winners will be featured next week at Chicago’s NeoCon, and yours truly will be there for On Site reporting. Projects from the portfolio of industrial designer and winner Wuthichai Leelavoravong after the jump!

(more…)

The Gowanus Studio Space is a Brooklyn based workshop for designers equipped with woodworking and printmaking facilities, gallery space, and resources for financial assistance. This month the studio is holding a competition to create a Jell-o mold. The contest is at the actual studio in Brooklyn and takes place 20 June 2009 from 6–10 p.m.

If you’re in the New York area and would like to compete, be sure to register by THIS FRIDAY 12 June. There will aslo be a vacuum forming workshop sometime before the event. Get all the details here.

On a similar note, if you know of any local (USA) design events coming up in your area, please e-mail me to let me know. ( turner[dot]kleigh[at]gmail ) Ponoko has a little something to encourage designers to participate. ; )

Taiwan International Design Competition — 10 June 2009 for registration; 18 June 2009 for submissions
Calling for designs that explore the theme of ‘Restore’. “Restore is used to reconstruct and renew; it is the expectation of returning to a prosperous life.” The ‘Gold winner’ collects $15,000.
via Dexigner

Slanted #9 Stencil — 28 June 2009
Typography magazine from Germany is looking for images of stencil applications. “We’re looking for new fonts, including stencil-fonts, as well as stencil applications in industry, the public realm, art, textile manufacturing, and so on. We are looking for projects (and essays) from students and professionals interested in stenciling and its possible applications. These projects do not necessarily have to be (typo-)graphic. If you would like to suggest other aspects of design, feel free.”

Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Competition — 30 June 2009
Innovative puzzle designs will be juried at the International Puzzle Party in Prague.

30 Minute Necklace — deadlines 3 August 2009
Lark Books is looking for jewelry submissions of necklace designs that can be completed in 30 minutes flat. Materials are open, and winners’ work will be featured in a beautifully printed publication.

Congratulations Daniel Reetz

Epilog Laser, Instructables and Ponoko are pleased to announce Daniel Reetz, Fargo, N.D., is the grand-prize winner in the Epilog Challenge. Reetz will receive a new Zing 16 Laser engraving/cutting system for his innovative and eco-friendly DIY High-Speed Book Scanner from Trash and Cheap Cameras. Reetz’s winning instructable was one of 478 entries in the Epilog Challenge.
(more…)

Enter Now Deadline: May 15

Competitions are a great way to set yourself challenges, get your skills recognized by your peers, and look great on your resume.

Ample Sample is again challenging designers to rethink and repurpose carpet samples after their usefulness to a design project, to make a design product. The best ideas will be showcased at NeoCon 2009 and featured on the website, complete with blueprints and instructions for their designs.

More than 700,000 carpet samples will ship this year, helping architects and interior designers move closer to choosing the perfect carpet for installation into their projects.

And while Tryk® sustainable samples have greatly reduced this number; far too many samples still make the short trip from the resource library to the landfill. Ample Sample gives designers the chance to take what is destined for the trash and upcycle them into other purposeful goods… or just something cool.

Ample Sample 2009 challenges you to “Rethink. Reuse. Upcycle”, and repurpose these samples, after their usefulness to a design project, to make a design product. Winning designs will be judged upon criteria of aesthetics, purpose, ease of creation, creativity, durability, number/volume of carpet samples or Tryks used.

I imagine Designmake Prime users could get some great laser cut carpet designs produced and it would be great to see a Ponoko design get up and win this year..

Like Dave, my favorites from previous winners are the Carpet Shoe

and Carpet Pet House by Helder L. Santos

and the Rug Dish by Tanja Meyle

via Core77

The International Corrugated Packaging Foundation has announced the first jury selections for the 2009 Corrugated Board Chair Design Competition. Six designs will be considered in the final judging; in the running is Corcoran faculty member Oscar Fitzgerald, Gensler principal William Hooper, Quinn Evans architect Don Pruitt, and University of Maryland professor Isaac Williams. First prize will receive $1,500.

via architectural blog Bustler

Check out the latest reasons to design something.

Going with the Grain — deadline 2 June 2009
“The challenge is to design an original and compelling object that can be made from a single sheet of FSC-certified plywood measuring 4-feet x 8-feet x 1-inch.” This looks like an awesome competition and perfect for Ponoko lovers. Be sure to check out all of the details here; must be flat-pack, must be one sheet, no glue, etc. Two prototypes of the winning design will be manufactured with one going to the designer and the other auctioned to benefit The Nature Conservancy’s sustainable forestry program. (via Design 21)

It’s Apertivo Time — deadline 8 June 2009
“Aperitivo is an authentic Italian tradition that combines delicious small plate of food with refreshing alcoholic drinks during the early evening hours as a relaxing prelude to dinner.” Submit product designs that enhance the experience of enjoying food and friends. Two winners will get a delicious €5000, exhibition at the Design Museum in London, and possible production by Alessi. (via Design Boom)

In-flight Catering Innovation for Air France — deadline 15 May 2009
Open to students in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Switzerland and Italy. Redesign the service of in-flight meals and win two roundtrip tickets plus an extra €3000. (via Dexigner)

Oh, and don’t forget about the Epilog Laser-Cutter Challenge. Ten Days Left to Enter!

(view March Competitions Listing)

Roy Sablosky’s Bamboo Fruit Bowl is made of 20 layers of laser-cut bamboo tied together with copper wire.

The design is an entry for the “Epilog Challenge“. It is a “green” product in that the design makes minimal use of materials.

The finished bowl is about 33 cm (13 inches) across and 10 cm (4 inches) high. It is made of 20 layers of bamboo, each 5.5 mm (0.22 inches) thick. Each ring has four 1 mm holes through it. I use the holes to tie the rings together with 20-gauge copper wire.

The bowl is not for sale in the Ponoko Showroom but you can see how to make your own on the Instructables website.

Oh yeah, don’t forget the Instructables Epilog Challenge, where you can WIN A LASER CUTTER, also sponsored by Ponoko….

Good Luck Roy.

There’s been some decent buzz about the Yudu Screen Printer lately. With last year’s discontinuation of the Japanese print Gocco, the Yudu screen printing system is rising to meet the demand for affordable screen printing capabilities. Priced at $299.99, about the same as a Gocco, this printer made by Provo Craft has a larger printing area, uses an outlet instead of batteries, doesn’t require one-time use flash bulbs, and can be used to print on various materials including cloth, paper, wood, felt, etc.

Above are some examples from the Yudu site of what you can do with their printer. Handmade Detroit has a great video tutorial that gives you a realistc look at how simple it is to use and also what results to expect.

The Yudu Screen Printer could be used to add surface graphics to most of your Ponoko-cut designs. You can get one at Joanne craft stores or Michael’s. But if you want to save your cash and do a little craft, CraftStylish is running the Crafty by Nature competition until 22 April. Entries can be anything—fashion, accessories, home goods, etc—but must be made from natural or recycled materials and incorporate the theme of a natural element: air, earth, fire, or water. Grand prize is a Yudu screen printer! Details here.