Jeeyun Chung - Tea To Go

Another find on Jeeyun Chung's website - Tea To Go Sticks and Tablets. A re-branding of the traditional teabag, and loose tea leaves that can be carried around for a nice cup of tea, whenever's convenient.

Alex Ostrowski - The Happiest Book

I love this book by Alex Ostrowski - The Happiest Book, my favorite part being that only one copy exists. From Alex:

In one way or another we are all looking for happiness. Some people even say that man's sole purpose for existence is to hunt down and capture this intangible and elusive treasure. In 2006 researchers at The University of Leicester concluded that Denmark is the happiest country in the world - this was good enough for me. In March 2008 I made the decision to visit happiness, and embarked upon a pilgrimage to find it. My experiences are presented in this book.

Only one copy exists.

Via Swissmiss.

Anger Release Machine

Yarisal Kublitz made a vending machine that helps you vent your anger - the Anger Release Machine - put some coins in and a statuette is released, shattering upon its fall. Sounds good in theory, but in reality I'd rather smash it myself...

The Chinese Dream - A Society Under Construction

Neville Mars sent over images of his new book (with Adrian Hornsby), The Chinese Dream - A Society Under Construction, and it looks super interesting. The book examines China's stated goal of building "400 new cities of 1 million inhabitants each by 2020, or 20 new cities a year for 20 years" and explores the hopes and hazards of dreaming on such a scale. From the website:

China is in the midst of breakneck transformation. The last 30 years of astonishing economic growth and political and cultural reform have been driven by the world’s biggest ever urban boom. The new China is now halfway built: within the next 30 years the world’s most populous nation will most likely take centre-stage as a global superpower, with hundreds of millions of new urbanites flooding into the rapidly swelling cities. But this process — presenting no less than the construction of a new society — is taking place almost without time to think. The present is so all-consuming that fast realities threaten to eclipse the slow dream of tomorrow.

Assembled over a four year continuous presence in China, the book lays aside over-exposed starchitect projects, and looks instead at the enormous wave of anonymous buildings currently reshaping the landscape and fabric of China itself. Bold texts, self-critical design proposals, exploratory photoessays, a unique glossary, and an innovative survey of China’s young middle class, reveal China in all its astonishing diversity: from the glitziest megamalls to the gloomiest slums, and from the rural fringe to the mushrooming village. Featuring thousands of photographs, drawings and computer graphics, this is space as you have never seen it before: brash, outlandish, and very Chinese.

You can pre-order it here.

Tsai Design Studio

Tsai Design Studio created this interesting bunk bed as the winning entry to the 2006 36sqm Challenge, a design competition that asked for solutions for large families living in small spaces (36 sq. meters, to be exact). The Nested Bunk Beds were inspired by traditional Russian Matriochka dolls, with five nested beds that can be pulled out for sleeping. The design went from concept to reality after being installed at an AIDS orphanage in Wellington, South Africa.

Via Designboom.

Urban Tailor

Jay contacted me about his new company, Urban Tailor, which brings custom tailored casual clothing to the the rest of us. You can choose between three patterns - the hoodie, the bandana jacket, and the asian track jacket. From there you get to design everything else - the fabrics for the interior lining, rib, jacket body, sleeve, and hood, and the details - the thickness of the garment, style of hood, rib length, buttons, zipper, and pocket locations. The only flaw in the process as I see it is not being able to see your design in some form of a rendering as it comes together, but considering the number of design choices you are given, the whole process is remarkably intuitive and straightforward. Urban Tailor also carries a selection of ready to wear hoodies and jackets.

Echochrome: between 2D and 3D

Echochrome is a new PSP game focused on navigating worlds of mind and dimension-bending axonometric drawings. It includes a world builder so you can create your own wonky constructs too! See how it works in the videos and check out more information at PSPFanboy.

Sarah Van Gameren

I've seen Sarah Van Gameren's work quite a bit over the past few months without knowing that it was hers. I finally came across her Family Tree necklace on Pan-Dan and had to check her website out, which is when I made the connection between Sarah and all these other great projects I've been admiring around the web. Her Family Tree project seeks to represent the lineage of a young client named Runa, and draws its inspiration from 'name-jewel' necklaces.

Some of the other projects I've been admiring: Burn Burn Burn, where Sarah has created a type of paint that can be burned to create a permanent mark on a surface, and the Big Dipper - wax chandeliers that will create an ephemeral, changing light fixture.

PS. Thanks to Desire to Inspire and MSNBC's Clicked for the blog mentions - and hi to all of you who are coming from there!

Ideas and Sponsors...

So! New month, new ideas column...Sorry for the shameful delay in leaving up the valentine's chocolates - it's sort of like leaving your Christmas decorations up until June, huh? Anyway, springtime = shoe time, so if you know of any shoes that would fit our Ideas column, send them on over to us!



We are also very happy to welcome Nervous System and Artstream as sponsors this month. I've posted about Nervous System's gorgeous jewelry before and am a huge fan.



As for Artstream, they are a fantastic gallery up in Rochester, New Hampshire (we were lucky enough to have an exhibit there in Nov-Dec of last year). Artstream has a great show called Stories and Tales going on right now, exhibiting the work of Abby Glassenberg, Darryl Berger, Alena Hennessy, and Tara Hogan.

Burton Premium Sleeper Hoodie

A very cool idea for the weary traveller from the Burton catalog: The Sleeper Hoodie. Available for sleepy men and women. It includes a built-in inflatable neck rest in the hood, snap-in/out light shield and eye mask for catching up on sleep between stops. Or, use it in the back row of your math class...

FLOWmarket

FLOWmarket is a brand created by Mads Hagstroem that is designed "to inspire consumers to think, live, and consume more holistic[ally]". FLOWmarket looks at the imbalances in the world and has created packaged products (empty, in case you were wondering) that allow you to buy a "feeling of safety" or a little bit of "empathy". It's an interesting idea but I'm not sure that it does what it desires by encouraging further consumption of products that don't offer any solution to the imbalances of our world. Looking at it purely from a ideas perspective, though, I love it!

Katharina Ludwig

More artist than artisan, Katharina Ludwig conceptualizes jewelry by incorporating ice into her work. I love the idea that each piece is ephemeral and unique, evolving slowly over time, with the ability to be reborn in yet another form.

Via Mocoloco.

Sangmin Bae

Hola...Sorry for the late posting - I'm home sick with a cold, so I'm going to leave you with the ClothTag by Sangmin Bae. A conceptual project designed to incorporate RFID technology, your clothing is able to "communicate" with other RFID-enabled washing machines, dryers, irons, etc., to adjust the machine's settings so as to take the best care of your clothes.

Via Rueben Miller.

Ed Vince - Etiquette Set

I love this Etiquette Set by Ed Vince - a pre-packaged dining kit that "allows the user to enjoy an à la Russe dining experience in any context, regardless of class or wealth." Subversive in its mass-production implications and model-kit construction, the Etiquette Set is ornately detailed to recall traditional silver cutlery and a refined dining experience.

Via Girl in the Green Dress.

Alfredo Häberli

You might know Alfredo Häberli for his Nemea Sideboard which made the blog rounds earlier last year and which we posted about here, but I was browsing through his website again and came across some great older projects. Eine neue Art Schuh was a shoe with interchangeable parts - a front and a back that you could mix and match with other fronts and backs to create different shoes. I'm not crazy about the styles (it was the '90s, after all), but I love the idea.

The other project that I liked a lot won an award from Wallpaper for the Best Shelving System of 2006. I'm not sure how functional it would actually be as a shelving system, but I think it makes for an attractive screen or room divider.

Wieki Somers

I remember seeing Wieki Somers' High Tea Pot make the rounds on various blogs and thinking that the tea pot was on the gruesome side - which it is, but that's the point. Made of bone china and modeled after a fox skull with a water rat fur cozy, Wieki describes the project as "tasty and unsavoury, harm and delight aren't discerned any longer. Nothing is more decadent than to satisfy the human need for status and extravagance through the harm of animals."



The rest of Wieki's work is as thoughtful - the Bathboat looks at the form and function of a small boat and inverts it by turning it into a bath. The bathtub legs make reference to the wooden frame that boats typically rest on when docked.



Some more projects (left to right): Come Clean (soap in the image of the traditional Dutch farmer, which when used disappears to reveal the form of the modern business man who has replaced the farmer), Mattress Stone Bottle, and Blossoms (a vase which takes on the shape of its contents).

All projects were done in close collaboration with Dylan van den Berg.

5.5 Designers

5.5 Designers is a French design firm with a conceptual design bent. I love the chair made from sandwiched broken/discarded chair ends. It doesn't look very comfortable, but it would be cool to have around.

Now, the Style IV chandelier I wouldn't actually put in my house, but I like the idea behind it - four chandeliers in one, depending on your vantage point. It's simply made - two sheets of mirror form the axis, and allow each quartered lamp to be completed.



I'm also very taken with 5.5 Designers' wallpaper - inviting user participation, the wallpaper slowly evolves over time, becoming richer and more interesting as it is intervened on. 5.5 Designers recommend using the wallpaper in spaces where we find ourselves bored or with some extra time on our hands - the bathroom, waiting rooms, etc.

Sheep Market

This might be old news, but I thought it was interesting enough to warrant a mention here. The Sheep Market was an experiment in public art - over a period of 40 days participants in Amazon's Mechanical Turk (Artificial Artificial Intelligence) could draw their interpretation of a "sheep facing left". I love the number of sheep facing right! I wonder how many were intentional? Anyway, The result is a very cool digital mural of sheep drawings. I love the flash interface which shows you line for line how each person drew their sheep. Each worker was paid $0.02 per sheep.

Some stats:
Average time spent drawing each sheep: 105 seconds
Average wage: $0.69/hour
Rejected sheep: 662
Collection period: 40 days
Collection Rate: about 11 sheep/hour
Unique IP addresses: 7599

You can still buy a one-of-a-kind plate block of lickable adhesive stamps complete with a certificate of authenticity for $20.

Inside Out

I saw these inverted candle sticks on Moco Loco and love them. Designed by Alberto Mantilla and Anthony Baxter for Mint, the Abra Candelabra is made from hand-blown glass. It seems like this "inside-out" idea is cropping up all over the place. I first remember seeing Emiko Oki's Pint Glass Series back in February of this year, and not so long ago Alissia MT's Inside Out Glasses. I like the trend, but I'm glad to see it moving beyond drink ware. Anyone who can point us toward other "inside-out" products, please feel free to leave a comment!

Bertjan Pot

I saw Bertjan Pot's Non-Random Light over at Style Files and had to post it here. I'm sure you're familiar with his Random Light, which he designed in 2002 for MOOOI. Both are made from epoxy drained fiberglass. Check out his website for other smart products, such as the lights made from halved fruits and vegetables. I'm not sure how the fruit was preserved (maybe resin?), but it sure looks cool!

Eames Hack

I saw this over at Core77 and Notcot and had to repost it here - six University of the Arts students (Jared Delorenzo, Tim Peet, Alexandra Temple Powell, Tom Reynolds, Alie Thomer, and Andrew McCandlish) re-purposed two classic Eames' chairs, turning the Molded Side Chair into a toilet seat and the Molded Plywood Dining Chair into seating for a child. In the students' own words:

"These two pieces, the Eames toilet chair and the Eames child seat, are about breaking the status surrounding high design objects. Through physically invasive alterations, these once iconic, elite, forms are liberated from their old, restrained image. The project is not a critique of the Eames, but rather a fulfillment of their original ideals."

Boiler

Design firm Boiler has created some beautiful light fixtures that are inspired by plant-life, in both form and function. The fixture to the left (untitled) casts beautiful shadows through its flower-like symmetry. The Protea (right) mimics thermo tropic plants - the individual pieces of the lamp shade move away from the bulb when it's hot, and close in on the bulb as it cools down. The result is a very dynamic light fixture.

Scott Amron - Dry Vase

I love Scott Amron's Dry Vase. I don't usually press flowers, but I think I would if I had one of these...The vase is made of rubber-coated earthenware. The soft black makes it pretty sexy...Though I wish it was just made of rubber like this vase, so that it could start out functioning as a "live" vase, but would lose its shape when you pressed your flowers.

Via Core77.

Roger Arquer

Fish Bowls by Roger Arquer is an exploration in reprogramming and redesigning the fish bowl. From left to right: Do Not Piss Me Off, Pure Life, and Private Matters. You can see all fifteen projects at Dezeen. Fish Bowls will be part of the Conversational Spanish 02 exhibition this September, curated by Hector Serrano and running in conjunction with the 2007 London Design Festival.

Robert Stadler +336+ SMS Mirror

Mirror, mirror on the wall...Danielle over at Style Files posted about the +336+ SMS Mirror by Robert Stadler, a mirror that can receive text messages, and I couldn't resist posting about it here. As one gets closer to the mirror, luminous text appears. If you are like me, you can forget about buying one - only twenty have been made and they cost $10,000 each! If not, you can purchase one here.

Greetje van Helmond

Greetje van Helmond is a student at the Royal College of Art, where, for the RCA summer show, she exhibited a line of jewelry called Unsustainable. The pieces in Unsustainable are made from sugar crystals that are "grown" in a solution right onto the cord.

Greetje's interest is in taking banal, everyday products and turning them into beautiful, seemingly valuable objects.

From the artist:

In present day life we can say that we consume a lot. Durable materials are often used for the production of goods that are typically replaced or thrown away quickly. Contrary to this I use everyday, basic materials to create products that appear valuable and sustainable. Because of the materials I use, the products won’t last long, but long enough to stay "new".

Via Dezeen.

Atypyk

Patches to relieve the symptoms of romantic breakups.

I just thought this was funny. Of all the various emails we get, Atypyk's are branded the best, in my opinion. The style is always consistent, the text is limited to descriptive one liners, and the content is usually clever and tongue-in-cheek. I don't always love the product itself, but the emails are always enjoyable.

Tejo Remy - Playground Fence

The Playground Fence by Tejo Remy is a translation of what is normally a mundane object - by manipulating the fence he reprograms it, creating seats and play areas. What is normally built as a barrier or a separator becomes an area for connecting and hanging out. Beautiful idea!

Via Inhabitat.

Sub-Studio Ideas

Hello! Sean and I are starting a new feature - Sub-Studio Ideas (see the right-most column). With mother's day and father's day just around the corner, we decided to pull a few of our favorite gift ideas from around the web. We will update the Ideas column with items that follow a common theme, centered on a typology, color, seasonal event, holiday, pattern etc. If you have an idea you would like us to explore, just drop us a line at blog (at) sub-studio (dot) com.

Studio Libertiny

Check out this "Bee Vase" by Studio Libertiny. The vase was actually made by 40,000 honey bees. Studio Libertiny created a mold in the shape of a vase that the bees then colonized. A quotation by Studio Libertiny via Dezeen:

I have been interested in contradicting the current consumer society (which is interested in slick design) by choosing to work with a seemingly very vulnerable and ephemeral material - beeswax. To give a form to this natural product it has occurred more than logical to choose a form of a vase as a cultural artifact. Beeswax comes from flowers and in the form of a vase ends up serving flowers on their last journey.

I like that Studio Libertiny calls the process "slow prototyping", which is a reference to the mechanized rapid prototyping technique in which (with the help of a computer) a physical product is created through a succession of layered cross-sections. The material used in rapid prototyping is often a waxy, plastic substance.

Via Designklub via Dezeen.

Fontana Hunziker

I don't remember where I first saw this, so I apologize for not giving proper credit where it is due...This is a clever, DIY project by Fontana Hunziker for your next party. Make a mold with two bowls, fill it up with water, stick it in the freezer and voila! Pretty ice bowl!

Filipe Zanardi

Thanks to Filipe Zanardi for sending us an email about his Carpet-Lounge. This has gotten a lot of press already, but I thought it was worth mentioning here. I love the innovation on the traditional carpet as a gathering space. So often when lounging around my living room on my rug - after my elbow or butt has fallen asleep - have I wished for something to lean up against, and voila! Here you go! Instant chair! I wonder how comfortable the Carpet-Lounge is, though...

Design Without Reach

I love this project by Thwart Design. Besides being clever, it's so true! I don't know if DWR started out more affordable than it is now, but DWR is certainly out of my reach. Anyway, I would love to hear where you shop for affordable design items!

Hofman Dujardin

Wow! This is an awesome idea...Dutch architect Hofman Dujardin came up with a fold-out balcony...so cool! When it's in its closed position, it becomes part of the exterior wall and acts as a window. Some mechanism (not clear how it works, exactly, nor am I clear on what the whole assembly looks like from the interior) allows the window/partition to fold down into a balcony. So cool. I want one!

Via Swissmiss.

Chris Jordan

Some interesting work from artist Chris Jordan. Chris is working on a series titled "Running the Numbers, An American Self-Portrait" in which he looks at contemporary American culture through a statistical lens. The artist's statement:

Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books...This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from tens-of-thousands of smaller photographs.

The top image is titled "Supermarket Bags", and it depicts 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags, the number consumed in the US every hour. The bottom image is titled "Shipping Containers", which depicts 75,000 shipping containers - the number of containers processed through American ports every day.

ChronArte Canna Wall Clock

Saw this mentioned over at MocoLoco...It's the Canna wall clock from ChronArte. The twelve tubes fill up with colored water as the minutes pass by. When all the tubes are filled, they empty and the cycle starts over. I think it's a very cool idea, but don't love the design of the clock all that much...for starters, it's HUGE! But still worth mentioning!

Biojewellery

This is just beyond wierd...I don't fully understand how this works, but essentially Biojewellery is a company that works with select couples to "grow" rings from their donated bone cells (apprently removed wisdom teeth work best). Being that the website describes it better than I ever could:

"Their cells will be prepared and seeded onto a bioactive scaffold. This pioneering material encourages the cells to divide and grow rapidly in a laboratory environment, so that the scaffold disappears and is replaced by living bone tissue."

The couple ends up with a ring that is made from the other partner's tissue. A little too creepy for me, but it's a very interesting project, and the sample ring is very appealing. The image to the right is the bioactive scaffold.

New York Times - Faces of the Dead

The New York Times created an interesting and touching (and depressing) data collage, titled "Faces of the Dead". A series of squares form the collaged image of a deceased United States service member. Each square within the image represents an individual that has died in Iraq since the war began. Click on any of the squares and the image transforms to depict the picture of the particular person you are looking for. Searchable demographic information is also provided. So sad.

Via Andy Jacobson.

Dasparkhotel

This is craziness...In a public park in Linz, Austria, three drain pipes have been converted into mini hostel/hotel rooms. Called Dasparkhotel, each room comes with a double bed, linens, a side table and a bed light. The guest is asked to pay what they can for the room. As for amenties such as a bathroom, guests at Dasparkhotel use the park's public toilets, and nearby restaurants for food. While I think this is a great idea, and a really awesome rethinking of something as banal as a drain pipe, I would have safety concerns, perhaps because I am imagining something like this in Central Park. Also, I wonder who cleans the rooms? The Parks Department?

Via Designklub.

Simon Hoegsberg

Simon Hoegsberg is a photographer in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has a bunch of interesting work on his website, but I especially love the "Thought Project". The artist's statement:

"Over a period of 3 months I stopped 150 strangers on the street and asked them what they were thinking about the second before I stopped them. Using a mic and a dictaphone I recorded what they told me, then took a picture of them...All quotes state exactly what was said during the interviews. The interviews took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, and New York City."

Google Patent Search

The Google Patent Search is a great tool for viewing patent documents. Even my dear old Dad has a few patents under his belt.

A big part of designing for the masses is protection of your intellectual property in order to preserve your ability to make money from your idea. That means having exclusive rights to produce and sell your 'thing', based on the protection that the patent office provides.

And you can patent ANYTHING. Including movie prop devices like the ones used for Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" video and concert performances.

Thanks to Ironic Sans for the original post about Celebrity Patents.