The NottinghamTrent graduate show has produced some great lighting designs. The Curly Sue Spiral Desk Lamp by Wendy Tytherleigh is a distinctive desk lamp designed for the retail decorative market. The lamp features a collapsible spiral shade which allows the user to control the light level without the need for a dimmer switch (Via designzen).

Another really interesting light design is the Opal by Natalie Wilkins. It’s a portable wireless light (I assume it has a battery) made from bone china that can be placed on a table, held in the hand or suspended on the string provided. The translucent ceramic shell emits a warm glow similar to a candle.

The Hula ceiling light shade by Sarah Turner incorporates MIY/self assembly/mass customization. Sarah says that the shade embraces a new MIY (making it yourself) trend. The consumer arranges and assembles the rings in whatever form they wish so that each person can have a light of their own design.

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We have seen flat pack chairs, jewellery, lights, hammers, stools, even kiwis. Now there is small, portable flat pack barbeque. It folds down to a 30cm by 46 cm rectangle and weighs in at a manageable 4 kg. At that weight and size it could even be sent via the post. No longer does the barbeque need to be confined to the backyard you can take this thing with you everywhere. The gadget shop says “now the spirit of summer can join you wherever you are, or even sit permanently in the boot of your car, ready for action whenever the mood takes you”. Barbequing is very popular here in Australia during the summer so I’m sure there’ll be a market for people needing an emergency barbeque.

The good people at Apartment therapy have even dreamed up the advertisement “we can see it now: a TV advertisement spoofing the Apple MacBook Air ad. But instead of pulling out a laptop from a slim envelope, the actor will pull out one of these compact, folding barbecue grills to the tune of some grilling music while the sweet smoke of caramelizing summer fare wafts around…”

Flat pack is now spreading to all products. It’s definitely a good way to open your products up to a larger market if you can post your products around the world cheaply.

Via Apartment Therapy/Cribcandy

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I’ve only recently discovered how much I like lamp/light designs and I have been looking at a lot of them, the fold lamp was one that caught my eye, Alexander Taylor makes reference to the familiar traditional form of the lamp with a bit of a twist. The Fold lamp is part of a series of lights by Established and Sons that also includes a floor lamp and another variation of the table lamp. They are made from a sheet of folded aluminium (hence the name), with a braided fabric cable. We’ve seen a few products made by folding metal lately, like the origami table.

What I find most interesting about this lamp is its bare bones construction. Taylor goes against the normal approach and doesn’t attempt to conceal any of the lamps cabling of fittings. ‘I like work containing honesty with regard to construction process and thought. I think the product should tell its own story and once your thoughts have to be explained then something within the design is not working,’ says Alexander Taylor.

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There is a heap of cool materials and making techniques out there that could be combined with your Ponoko pieces to form your products. Ever thought of using some carpet samples? Well apparently 700, 000 fabric samples are shipped every year to architects and interior designers and once they have served there purpose they are thrown away. Ample sample is a competition that tries to get people thinking about how these squares of carpet can be reused and turned into something useful. Now in its second year the competition has resulted in some great ideas.

One of the winners from last year was the Care-E Purse; it was designed from a single carpet tile and blocks of scrap wood, and provides a convenient way to carry your things and tells the world you’re green.

They are still accepting entries into this year’s competition but there has already been some clever ideas submitted. The carpet pet house and the rug dish are two of my favourites.

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I’ve often wondered what life is like for a designer maker. Luckily most of my questions have just been answered after reading a fascinating post at indie quarter blog. It’s a day in life of designer maker Rachael Lamb of Hannah Zakari online store.

Here’s a taste of what it’s like:

I’m lucky enough to have a big office space, so I have separate areas for different tasks - a table for cutting fabric and sewing, my jewellery area with all my beads, chain and pliers and another bit for packing up orders. Despite this, I always seem to run out of space and no matter how much extra storage I buy, I outgrow it in a matter of weeks. The first thing to get neglected when HZ really took off was my own line so now I try to make time each week to work on my own designs and to look through my favourite internet shops for fabric and supplies for that - I have favourites that I could spend hours on if I let myself and am totally addicted to searching for (and buying) vintage/interesting buttons!

She spends a lot of her day on the net (but don’t we all) checking various websites and ordering stock, and a lot time packing orders and posting them off. She confirms what I’ve heard others say; when you have some success designing and selling your own products you don’t actually get much time to design.

Read the full article here

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This beautiful lamp called Nautilus is from designer maker Rebecca Asquith. The lamp has a unique sea shell appearance and a unique way of collapsing; it folds like a Chinese fan so that it can go from flat pack to the stunning shell form in seconds with no real assembly required. The hanging lamp is made from sustainably grown hoop pine ply and is manufactured using a minimum of energy and resources.

The lamp is available from Unless; a couple of designers linked by their environmental concern. It is directed by New Zealand based designers Rebecca Asquith and Tim Wigmore. They’re website also features work from New Zealand designer David Trubridge. Their aim is “to promote high quality design works that are produced with conscious effort to mitigate harm to the environment. Unless selects works that demonstrate that the designer has engaged with issues of sustainability”. It’s always good to see objects that embrace sustainable design and also look great.

Via Inhabitat/Keetsa

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Mio who I’ve written about here before, have some great puzzle products. I like the Haute Surface Houndstooth Set because it’s fun and functional. It’s a collection of interlocking pieces of cork in two contrasting colours; tan and chocolate. The pieces when assembled can perform a variety of functions. “The trivets can be arranged into stunning table runners, table protective arrangements, place mats or even mouse pads”. The designer Jaime Salm was inspired by hounds tooth patterns in textile design but then I guess you knew that from the name. The concept was to use a pattern as a means to decorate and protect tables, while encouraging creative table presentation. This would be a perfect desk item for anyone looking for something to entertain them while procrastinating from work.

It’s got a few ticks in the environmental column too. Being modular it extends the life of the product as individual pieces can be replaced. I guess the idea is that it would also extend the life of the table it is protecting and it’s also made from reconstituted cork. Their other designs are the Haute Surface ZigZag Set and the ModuTiles.

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As manufacturing becomes easier who will be designing the products of the future? Jason Morris writes that there are to schools of thought about what rapid manufacturing means for the future of professional industrial designers. One thought is that industrial designers will become unnecessary as individuals will be able to manufacture their own products like they can here at Ponoko and therefore professional designer will no longer be required. The other possibility is that designers will actually get more work because instead of one design being mass produced by the thousands their will be many more designs available to the user.

I’m not sure what I think, for my own selfish reasons (because I am an Industrial Designer) I hope designers will not become obsolete, but part of me thinks that this might happen. I like to design my own stuff and always have. If I could cheaply manufacture individual products, I think that when I see something I like I would be more likely to want to try to design one even better rather than want to buy that design. Is it the same for non-designers? If you can purchase a product for a reasonable price and it has a good design would you bother to spend the time designing your own when a perfectly good version is already available. An interesting example to think about is wedding invitations. Most people have a printer in their own home and could therefore produce their own wedding invitation but when it comes to a big occasion like a wedding they prefer to purchase a nicely designed professional invitation.

So I’m interested in what the non-designers think, do you have a desire to create your own products or would you still prefer to buy a professionally designed product?

There’s some more info about rapid manufacturing at industrial design sandbox and future of objects blog.

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The Sitscape is the longest couch I’ve ever seen. It’s a six metre long concept by Hackenbroich and Mühr that is made up of various sections, the sections are connected by aluminium spacers. The design uses digital manufacturing to realise the large and complex from quickly and easily. The concept was to incorporate six different sitting positions into the one piece of furniture with smooth transitions between each section, thus creating the perfect fit for any position. “The transitional areas between these positions are undetermined in their use. They provide new and unexpected possibilities, which have to be discovered by the clients”. The couch is upholstered with round white leather cushions.

It’s nice how they used the individually simple 2d shapes to create such a complex looking 3d form. It not the most practical solution by it’s definitely and interesting sculptural piece, that I’m sure would be a great conversation starter.

Via, Iaac blog and design boom

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In keeping with the theme for the design challenge let’s have a look at some puzzles designs. Diabolical is a small design firm from New Orleans, USA. Diabolical designs and makes puzzles using laser cutting along with a few other fabrication methods to produce their beautiful an unique pieces that double as both a piece of art and a puzzle. Its art you can play with. The puzzles are apparently very challenging to complete.

The ‘Synaptic Overload’ puzzle is made from solid steel with a highly polished finish. Each piece is polished in a different direction to create that textured visual effect and make the puzzle more difficult.

Teotihuacan is one of Diabolical’s acrylic puzzles. It uses some really interesting tetris like pieces.

Design/artist/owner Scott Fredrickson said it took him years to develop the puzzles from the original prototypes because he had a lot of trouble finding manufacturers who were willing to make them for him and didn’t charge an arm and a leg. I’m sure he would’ve appreciated the convenience of making with Ponoko.

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