Sustainability + Creativity

Chicago based Skyline Design exhibited their Greenplay Furniture line of eco-friendly living and learning environments for kids. Designer Joe Fiacchino’s twenty-eight years in exhibition design comes across in Greenplay’s unique approach to creating a stimulating and playful world with their furniture. In addition to the recycled components, FSC-certified woods, and low-VOC coatings, Skyline offers a take-back program for the repurposing or donating of Greenplay products, similar to the services offered by previously mentioned furniture refurbishing company Davies.

Jonti-Craft serves the primary school and daycare markets with sturdy, kid-friendly furnishings. The Minnesota based manufacturer rounds all edges, reinforces material thickness, and installs piano hinges to minimize pinching little fingers. I would love to have that locker shelf.

Check out these recent posts for more kid-focused design.
• Kids have Arduino Fun Using Ponoko
• ontwerpduo—fun studio
• DIY Decorating for Kids from Elia

Tineke Beunders and Nathan Wierink are ontwerpduo. Former students of the Design Academy Eindhoven, they’re part of the Dutch domination of design right now. Their work is intentionally playful: making a toy out of table, turning a pillow into a game, and having fun with joinery.

Room 222 was conceived as a hotel room just for children, designed with built in invitations for creative interaction. The CNC milled Marbelous table has spiraled supports and a simple maze carved into the legs. There is even a little shelf at the base for the marble box.

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Prepare for the Kingdom of Animalia

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There is a great post on ArdunioFun.com showing a couple of kids using Ponoko cut parts and Arduino to make a cool little robot walker based on a design posted on Instructables. I have to admit I was a little blown away to see the age of the kids constructing the robot in the photos as at that age I was probably melting burger rings packets in the oven to make a keyring or something just as inane.

Imagine how empowered they must feel to be able to have access to electronics, laser cutters and a community sharing ideas freely online. Imagine what they will be doing with these tools in ten years time with their shared experiences and comfort with these tools of design and production..

Rock on Rachel and Drew.

Thinking Outside the Box

I have been following the research and application of Augmented Reality for a while now and been excited by the potential but not yet sen it applied in a way that might relate directly to Ponoko Users. Finally LEGO has come to the party with an in-store augmented reality mirror so that “kids” can see a 3D model of what their assembled LEGO construction ‘could’ look like projected on the box.

The same process could theoretically be developed so potential customers could print off a tag and see a 3D model of a proposed Ponoko Design. Sure you could look at a 3D animation on the screen just as easily but there is something so cool when you see it for the first time.

If you want to try it out for yourself with an existing AR tag try Boffswana’s cute little demo or if you are ready to take on your own design check out the Designers Augmented Reality Toolkit…

Thanks to David Rees at the Gadgeteer.

Mass customization and rapid manufacturing are still considered to be in the early stages of popular usage, but there’s at least one hobby that has embraced both from the beginning. Think Victorian architecture, painted lady grilles, miniature side chairs, and tiny four poster beds. For years dollhouses have been literal play grounds for laser-cut design and customization.

After the jump are five companies keeping the dollhouse tradition alive with current manufacturing technologies.

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“Make fun” is the tag line of children’s cardboard furniture company Elia. Their tot-sized table and chair are not only fun for kids to help assemble, the reversible cardboard surfaces are three dimensional canvases for kids to decorate.

The Elia mini-chair kit includes a flat-pack, cardboard chair, two 12×12 sheets of stickers, and four colorful 12×12 sheets to cut your own sticker shapes or cover large surfaces of the chair. The kit costs $34.99.

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The Texans that came up with Roast My Weenie certainly know their target market:

It would definitely make the perfect novelty gift for just the right person and if you had a few of them all lined up on the grill at tailgating parties it would just be hilarious.

These not-so-family friendly grilling accessories are laser-cut water jet cut from stainless steel. There’s a hot dog cooking man, “Marsha Mello” the marshmallow-breast roasting lady, and any dog breed you want.

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Previously we posted on the weirdness that is My Twin, for all those lonely, only children looking for an exact replica.

Now the Mini Me has once again reared it’s ugly (in the eye of the beholder) head with Mini Me personalized dolls.

ModelWorks offers figures that can be customized to look like whoever a buyer chooses. In just 10 days, you can have a 3-D Mini-Me action figure with a face created from a photo that you upload.

According to Graeme Warring, president of ModelWorks and creator of the Mini-Me, ModelWorks sets itself apart from other companies by attending to the details. “We don’t just sculpt a face, we capture an expression,” he says.

ModelWorks, is the Phoenix-based company behind the ‘Base-Me-Bernie’ mini-Madoff and other celebrity figures for sale on its site.

A wonderful gift which will be treasured forever! A Mini-Me® figure from ModelWorks® captures the detail of the “Big-Me” and translates it into a cute-pint sized character. Choose from a range of our action bodies, executive bodies, sporting bodies or Big-Buddies real body.

Approximately 24 business days later your hand-sculptured, hand-painted Mini-Me® will be winging its way to your house (or your friend’s house). Your very own Mini-Me® from ModelWorks® is cheaper than you may think, considering the blood, sweat and tears that go into making them.

order your Phelps, sans bong.

weird, wrong and cool, all at the same time…..

via trendhunter

A new law scheduled to go in effect February 10th in the U.S. may limit or prohibit many hand crafted toy makers to continue selling their products. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act will mandate intensive testing procedures for toys and clothing designed for children under the age of 12. The law is designed to look detect lead and other harmful substances in childrens items, but the expense of this testing may be too much for small scale operations to bear.

Its reported that such third party tests can run as high $50,000 which puts it out of reach for all but the biggest companies. Crafters and small businesses are up in arms trying to modify this law, which many say was rushed through congress.
For more information, and to get involved, go to Etsy and The Handmade Toy Alliance and sign the petition.

Great items like Mosey’s upcycled elf hat and Woodmouse’s Tweet Birdie Duet Wood Toy Set could be in danger of not meeting the new guidelines…

Thanks to Dan at PSFK