Good old Etsy is a massive market place for all things ‘hand made’. Now the concept of the hand can be stretched to the hand that operates the mouse, that designs the product, that clicks send, that, well, uses Ponoko..

Anyway, Soop is a London based design studio headed by top chef Wai-Lian Scannell. She’s forever rustling up new recipes in the Soop kitchen (literally). You can sample a few flavours in Soop’s Etsy shop. In this instance the result is super cute jewellery that can be combined (see customized) to make your very own farmyard scene on your finger.

And while at Etsy check out this, Object

What_
A geometric entity to occupy a desk, a shelf or any space in your life. Balances on several faces.
So the outer casing is made out of recycled cardboard coated in beeswax. The beeswax adds strength as well as a pleasant smell. The underside has two wells, both filled with a swatch of moss.
Why_
A stress reliever, something nice to look at and touch, or a little bit of the outside when you are stuck inside.

ok

Soop Found via Josh Spear

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New Zealand based designer Rachel Young, has produced a simple polypropylene bowl based on her research into origami, released under her banner of Fold.

After many hours of experimentation with paper, Young has patented the Fold dish, a delightful serving, fruit or display plate made from recycled plastic and available in black, white, red and yellow at Eon Design Centre.

The dish’s intended use is for storing fruit, although it can be used as a special serving dish for cakes, salads, bread or display of decorative objects and flower arrangements. It can also be used simply as a stand alone display object. Each dish is hand folded individually and can be stacked upon other Fold Dishes.

Also in the Fold range is a hand folded lamp using similar principles, there is a waiting list so place your orders now…
For more information, see www.fold.co.nz

While researching this post I also found an Origami Blog with loads of interesting origami based projects from hats to tea bag floats through furniture and window treatments by Dutch designer Hannah Allijn.

A bit sloppy on photoshop though.

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Nutre Arayavanish is a jeweller whose jewellery is informed by her interest in owner involvement.

She recently won the numbers of prestigious awards such as New Designer of the Year 2007 from the Business Design Center and Jewellery Designer of The Year 2007 (Student Category) from British Jewellers’ Assiciation (BJA). She explores the relationship between two-dimensional pattern and three-dimensional object, also the relationship between maker, jewellery and wearer in order to encourage the wearer to engage more with the piece apart from wearing them. The public perception or reaction to the jewellery when presented to them in different states of existence and brings new experience to wearers and viewers, and a new level of dimension to jewellery wearing.

Postable Jewellery is the spacial way of communication. It is a jewellery that can be send through mailbox, like a postcard. It is a flat-pack ring, assemble by slotting each components together. Presenting itself as a card and a gift, it can be a perfect present for any occasions.

available at magma books
What a perfect way to use Ponoko. By combining flat pack jewellery like this and laser etching you could design a business card that assembled into a piece of jewellery, what a great way to woo a potential client…..
Found via our buddy Josh Spear

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The final part of the interview ends with Michael rejecting technology in favor of dirtying his hands, and ends with his latest projects, including a 3D puzzle, how convenient.

Q3. What technologies do you intend to use in the future?

for the moment, i’m taking a short break from technology. i want to spend some time getting hands on with materials for a while so that when i employ technological processes again it will be in a way that is messier and where the technology is perhaps not even noticeable. for me, i prefer it when the technology is not so prominent in the work, otherwise it becomes about the technology alone. i am also exploring aspects of decay and entropy in my work at the moment and have yet to find a tech process that fits this direction. more than likely it will be a combination of processes which allow for aspects of growth followed by acts of erosion and breakdown.

Q4. Are there any artists, designers or scientists using emerging technology that you find inspirational or sickening cause they did it first??

hmm, mostly i find architecture inspiring. zaha hadid’s designs often do it for me (the abu dhabi plan for example).
greg lynn’s blob wall got me because he did it first, and roxy paine’s automated sculpture and painting machines from a few years back still get me.

Q5. What are you currently working on?

A small scale sculpture for a multiple work. still in the idea stage but i am thinking of a sculpture that acts a bit like a 3d puzzle, with 10-15 interlocking geometric parts. it will probably end up being made from moulded resin and concrete parts. as this stage it is more a sense of the thing i have, the scale of it, it’s materiality, how one should interact with it etc. the final form will take a bit of experimentation.
i’m also working on a collaborative proposal with an architect (wulf walter boettger) for a series of installation works form wallpaper patterns using plotted vinyl, to architectonic sculptural elements using perspex and expanding foam.

So there we have the final installment of Michael Kutschbach’s interview. Perhaps we will see some of his latest work as part of the Ponoko Games & Puzzles, 10 day challenge?

Oh Yeah, Michael is represented by Greenaway Art Gallery

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Continuing an interview with artist Michael Kutschbach, I ask him about the concepts of digital rights management and copywrite issues raised on Ponoko

Q2. Would you be interested, as an artist in selling the right to use a 3D/2D CAD file instead of selling the physical artifact?
sure. i already do this in fact. in the past i have made a number of wallpaper works using plotted vinyl. these works are sold as an edition of three and the buyer buys the copyright to the work, not the physical work itself. there are strict instructions on placement and colour etc, and i recommend signwriters that i have worked with previously, but the owner can install the pattern as big as they want.


Q2a. Would you be concerned if a buyer modified the file to say, turn it into jewellery, a USB flash drive or a rug?

yeah, that would be wrong. i’ve nothing against commissions from galleries or collectors for specific projects but any alteration of an existing artwork outside of the rules or conditions i have placed on it would be a little offensive.
i like working on the border between art and design, i’m influenced a lot by what’s happening in the design and architecture worlds, but the context i show in is always a fine art context.
the idea of producing a modifiable artwork, ie something that asks the owner to complete the work in some way is in itself very interesting.
a year ago i made some sculptures out of felt that were in the shape of mobius strips. as they were soft ribbon-like forms, i left it up to the viewer or owner of the work to decide on how the form should be arranged, whether that be stretched out lengthways, rolled up tight, or whatever. but this thing always stays sculpture and didn’t work as anything else.

Part 3 coming soon

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Michael Kutshbach is an Australian born, Berlin based artist who has consistently used emerging technologies and processes in his art practice. His work crosses over from abstract painting, to interior and graphic design, animation and sculpture.

For years Michael Kutschbach has explored an extensive array of diverse techniques, mediums and artistic approaches: from his beginning as an abstract painter to the ever-developing, pop-esque, self-sticking vinyl plots that cover walls, furniture and windows or, in a similar form but different materiality, appear on wallpaper or are applied to textiles, to the blobs that are formed from plaster. Over a longer period these appear in various sizes and groupings- – mono- chrome, colored or chromed, and their formal language is repeated contemporaneously in his digital animations.

Dorothea Jendricke, Berlin 2007

Having worked with Michael on a number of projects I am always inspired by his curiosity in approaching new technologies, materials and processes, and thought he would provide some great insights for Ponokosters.

Q1. Why did you switch from painting and traditional sculpture to using laser cutting and 3d modeling tools to realize your projects?

It was more the work that took me there than an interest in using the technology or a conscious shift. close to ten years ago now i was painting abstract pictures using the palm of my hand. pretty simple stuff, but it felt deeply connected to the history of modernist painting as i understood it.

I never really know what i am doing in my work. it is often very intuitive. So one of the strategies i employ is to flip the method (not the intent or subject matter) in order to get a better understanding of what i was doing at that time. in this case i wanted to go from a very direct and tactile way of working to a method that had some distance to it. keeping with the idea of the hand made gestural mark, i used a wacom tablet to draw lines and shapes that came to resemble the painted marks in some way. the tablet drawings were made as vector drawings and were later sent to a signwriting company to be plotted from adhesive vinyl and were then applied directly to the gallery wall.

this was my first step toward using new technologies in my practice. since then i’ve played around with laser cutting, rapid prototyping (although always too expensive for what i wanted to do), 3d animation and so on.
in the end i like to think of technology as a tool and not the subject. this way i have the freedom to keep flipping or negating the methods i employ and the format of the work.

More in next post

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Animob is a beautifully simple jigsaw puzzle designed by Mobilet.

Produced in laser-cut acrylic featuring a series of interlocking animal shapes, the Animob is a great example of what can be achieved with stylized illustration of 2D forms.

The french-australian team that make up Mobilet are Tanguy Le Moing and Antonia Pesenti. Industrial designer and architect, Tanguy and Antonia were based in Paris until 2003, working for the likes of Jean Nouvel and Philippe Starck. mobilet was established after their arrival in Sydney in 2003.

So why not take up the Ponoko 10 Day Design Challenge, and design your own puzzle,
$5,000 is up for grabs for the hottest games and puzzles.
Enter your designs between May 1st and 10th.
Get details here

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Now it may just be me, but when I see an option to turn kids sketches into a 3D stuffed toy, I think, ‘Do you reckon they would realize if I sent in a drawing of _ _ _ _ _ _ ?”

No, O.K.

Then following on from Indigo’s post on Xoddo

You can buy a Monster Design Kit for $249 (yes, I know) and they will send you the Make-My-Own-Monster Design Kit, that includes colored pencils, paper, and a detailed questionnaire. With this kit you create not only what the monster looks like, but you also create a story about the monster and describe his or her personality.
Once you’ve completed the kit and sent it in, the designers at North American Bear Co. will faithfully reproduce your design as a plush monster, including a descriptive hang-tag that tells the story of your monster as you have described it and identifies you as the creator.

Have you ever noticed that dogs look like their owners?

See any similarities here?

Or there is always Stuff Your Doodles
Stuff Your Doodles makes bespoke soft toys using a doodle as the design. It is recreated with recycled materials, stuffed and sent back to you. Prices start at £50.

Found via Trend Hunter

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We all know that at the grass roots is where the innovation in design often happens. Small agile firms, independent designers and ad hoc collectives are the breeding ground for ingenuity. But if you ever wonder what the academics think of all this and you are not sure of the validity of Wikipedia, check out The International Journal of Design

“The International Journal of Design is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal devoted to publishing research papers in all fields of design, including industrial design, visual communication design, interface design, animation and game design, architectural design, urban design, and other design related fields. It aims to provide an international forum for the exchange of ideas and findings from researchers across different cultures and encourages research on the impact of cultural factors on design theory and practice. It also seeks to promote the transfer of knowledge between professionals in academia and industry by emphasizing research in which results are of interest or applicable to design practices.”

Most other peer reviewed journals require a subscription, or are available on a pay per article status. So make the most of the opportunity of open information. Another option is Google Scholar, but again many of the links to research texts require an ‘account’

The current volume includes: Three-in-One User Study for Focused Collaboration, The Product Ecology: Understanding Social Product Use and Supporting Design Culture and The Nature of Design Practice and Implications for Interaction Design Research

Maybe not the most glamorous aspect of design culture but worth consideration. Also if anyone needs any links to research add a comment and I will see what I have on hand.

Geek out !

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There is a theory that designers, be they industrial, graphic or interior, are artists that act as intermediaries between society and culture(DU GAY ET AL., 1997). They become the agents that both direct, and at the same time limit the style and diversity of products available to consumers.

By producing individualised designs, prosumers (Ponokosters) bypass these limitations and broaden the possibilities of consumer culture.

Like the garage bands and bedroom D.J.s that go on to play clubs and festivals around the globe. They develop (or design) their own sound that makes music dynamic and exciting. Pop stars developed by record labels are usually formulaic and predictable, contributing little to culture, existing only as a commodity to produce revenue for the record label.

Compare this to the state of product design. The more innovative designs are often produced by individuals, or small collectives using personal computers and whatever other resources are available to them. These resources have been greatly expanded by the web and digital manufacturing, where almost any material, process and potential collaborator is only a couple of mouse clicks away.

Lets take the reins away from Starck, Newson and co.

Design It Yourself - Create Culture……..

ATMOSTHEORY COMMAND POSTERS via notcot via Swiss Miss

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