Make Your Own Clock

This is the most interesting, customizable way to tell time. It supplies the mechanism to keep time, you supply the hour and minute hands. You can use just about anything as long as it fits through the holes! Design by Bomi Kim.

Freshness Bar Code

Designers Sisi Yuan, Yiwu Qiu, Lei Zhao, Qiulei Huang, Lijun Zhang, and Weihang Shu have come up with a clever way to determine the freshness of veggies in your supermarket. When loads of vegetables are dropped off in the produce section of a market, most of the time, there are so many to keep track of, the priority of the freshness of the produce may drop as the amount of produce increases. The idea behind this barcode is to easily determine the freshness of the product by the amount of barcode left.

Braille Rubik's Cube

Konstantin Datz's design for a Rubik's Cube written completely in Braille is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. On each side is written the corresponding color (green, blue, red, yellow, white, and pink) so visually challenged individuals can attempt to solve this long-time classic of a 3D puzzle.

Another interesting Rubik's Cube design is the textural Rubik's Cube by Zhiliang Chen, another design for the visually challenged. With six different textures (metal, wood, textile, rubber, plastic, and stone), even people with 20/20 vision can challenge themselves.

Things To Know (Photoshop Project)

In a photo, eyes look for -
1) Face (familiarity).
2) Text (leading = space between lines, kerning = space between letters).

Reptilian mind = "fight or flight", instinctual.
Rational mind = think/talk it out.

Diagonal lines = sabertooth tiger? (Keep us interested.) \

Blur background to make foreground image more pronounced.

* Screenshot with director's name and movie title.
* Important word from clip (big).

Spiral Eye Needle

Minnesotan mom Pam Turner has come up with the most life-altering invention: a sewing needle that is easy to thread. I love to sew, but it's such a pain in the butt to thread the needle! Even with one of those little threader gadgets, it still takes a lot of cutting, squinting, and wetting the end of the thread to try and get it through that microscopic hole at the end of the needle. Now, with the new innovative design, it's so simple! It's available for order now on the Spiral Eye Needle website.

Bookcase Bed

Small living quarters? No problem. This interesting bookcase/mattress design by Karen Babel
saves valuable floor space by fitting the puzzle piece-like bed onto strategically placed shelves on the wall.

"A mattress stands upright in four bits and forms the bulk of the bookcase. These surround five storage shelves which are suspended in mid-air by a wall mounted frame. The mattress sections are placed on the floor and slot together to form the bed – with two parts for a single, or all four to make a double."

Cook-In Table

The cook-in table by Young-Chan Choo is one of the most versatile, functional tabletop/cooking surfaces I have seen. The top contains a heating surface that only turns on when a metal object is touching it. Pieces of the table can be removed for extra serving places and there are a plethora of drawers to store utensils, etc.

"The CookIn Table encourages family time by engaging everyone to join in ala hot pot style. The cooktop only heats up when a metallic surface touches it. Beneath the glass top are retractable shelves for additional service stations and beneath that is storage for utensils."

Got Soggy Shoes?

I love jumping in and running through puddles. It's the greatest. What's not-so-great is how soaking wet my shoes happen to get, afterwards. Then, they might smell, etc. Sometimes newspaper, paper towel, and sitting there with a hairdryer for twenty years isn't the best way to end a nice session of puddling-jumping. Olga Kalugina has a crafted a design for a dryer for your shoes. Or, anything else, for that matter. It's perfect for people who happen to live in rainy or snowy areas.

"It’s a Universal Drying Apparatus, and it’s made to heat! It’s called the “AIR” and its made to be able to dry anything from clothing, accessories, umbrellas, to seeds and berries! On this sphere of warming, three extenders are situated, each of them able to clamp on, move around, and support basically any configuration."

Steel Case For iPhone

I don't own an iPhone, or any other smartphone for that matter, but my main issue with the newer phones is the fact that they're all touchscreen. I'm always worried that I'd end up cracking the screen, or scratching the surface, or somehow rendering the entire phone utterly useless from some stupid, klutzy move. But, with the new steel case design by Ryan Glasgow for LtdTools, your precious iPhone would be safe and sound, snug in it's own sheet metal steel case.

"Sleek Steel on the outside is combined with silicon padding for the innards and clever cutouts tackle wireless signals and heat emission."

This product is available for purchase at the LtdTools website.

Things To Know

• Photoshop is raster-based program; creates a grid of assigned values (color code, light/dark code, etc.)
• Use layout program (Ps) with a vector program (Ai).

Roly Poly Iron

For all of the people who've ever experienced a burned shirt from forgetting about your iron after a phone call or other distraction, this is the iron for you. The weighted handle requires the pressure of your hand actually holding the iron to keep it down, so when you walk away, it'll pop back up into the upright position, thanks to the back weights.

"What the added weight to the handle does, is that it rocks the iron back to a standing position, when not pressed down. Gripping the handle triggers off the surface sensors to roll the weight within, forward. And when you release your grip from the handle, the weight gently rolls back, moving the iron to a standing position."

Know This

• Kerning - spacing between words/letters.
  
• Leading - spacing between lines.
  
• Body text - serif allowed.
• Title text - must be sans serif!
  

Food Printer?

Imagine being able to change your food into any consistency, shape, color, etc. that you wanted? Well, with more research in the field of molecular gastronomy, which is the study of the physical and chemical processes that occur while cooking, Phillips Design is working on the Food Creation Concept, which allows you to do exactly that.

"Food Creation consists of a food printer that would accept various edible ingredients and then combine and ‘print’ them in the desired shape and consistency, in much the same way as stereo lithographic printers create 3-D representations of product concepts. For example carrot could be served as foam or parmesan cheese as a strand of spaghetti! So if the kids don’t want to eat broccoli or brussels sprouts, how about shaping them as candy or ice-cream?"

Oddly enough, the printer allows to you adjust the nutritional value of your meals based on input from the diagnostic kitchen’s nutrition monitor, assuring you'll always be eating a balanced meal.

Diagnostic Kitchen

With all of the buzz about better personal health, exercise, and eating better, Phillips Design has just the device that everyone wants in their kitchens. This tabletop reader enables consumers to be more knowledgeable about what they're eating. This product comes with a tabletop, scanning wand, and swallowable sensor.

"The wand is an interactive device that gives you real time data about what’s going on inside your body, everything from salt to water ratio, hydration, fats, proteins, etc… By docking the wand and placing a food item you might eat on the tabletop, the wand updates to show how this item will affect your body."

Pencil Printer

You know what when your pencil gets just short enough where it's uncomfortable to use? Hoyoung Lee found an innovative way to recycle pencil stubs! The printer grinds down the pencil stub and uses the powder from your pencil (instead of ink powder) to print documents. The printer also comes equipped with an eraser, so paper can be reused and recycled. The sleek, curved shape of the printer helps keep the eraser shavings from getting caught inside of the mechanism.

Panpaati

Spanish industrial designer Enoc Armengol has designed a set of chairs and a side table... made from bread.

"Panpaati. Every piece forms a living, organic, natural structure, which suffers the alterations on having interacted with the environment, humans, animals...This is food! It creates a vital cycle, which it's born, lives, and dies without leaving rest. 100% alive matter. 100% biodegradable.
The work is formed by a set of common furniture, composed by two chairs and one table, these turn automatically into the core of a synergy of shared actions, both internal and external, that modify the initial form constantly. Somehow this installation can be a clear reflect from the actual society and production process. Fast, and the short-time life of the current, almost ephemeral furniture. Nevertheless, these pieces can also be eaten becoming part of the living process."

The dough is rolled and formed into chair and table shapes, then baked into bread. It doesn't seem like it'd be able to support any weight, but it's food, not furniture. Who'd want to sit on their lunch? Although, it's not 100% ridiculous, as it does remind many of reminds us in some ways of Injera, the Ethiopian tablecloth-sized pancake bread used for both serving and eating.

25¢ Jewelry

Back in the day, people would stick their quarters on train tracks to produce a flat, shiny disk that could be used in necklaces or any other assortment of jewelry or accessory. But, another cool thing that you can do with a quarter is make rings! You'll need a drill, a Dremel, and quarter from 1964 or earlier, when they still used silver (or you'll get a funky chemical reaction that'll turn your finger funky colors), but it comes out pretty awesome. Matthew B. Vigor posted a little do-it-yourself for any adventerous people who are willing to give it a try. Coin dealers usually sell them for about $3, which is great for a ring.

First-Class... Hospital?

Britain's Design Council has asked Priestmangoode to design hospital wards. PG released a "healthcare manifesto" stating that most design issues faced by hospitals have already been solved in the first-class seating areas of airliners.

"Nurses need to be able to visit patients easily and efficiently. So do airline stewards. Hospitals, meanwhile, need to maximize their square footage utilization, while giving patients privacy and ideally a comfortable, homey environment. Which actually happens to be exactly what airlines do, in their first-class cabin."

These would be far cheaper to manufacture, more flexible, and far more space efficient. The arrangement would allow nurses to easily monitor dozens of patients, while offering each one privacy, although this wouldn't be a replacement for private rooms.

Justin Van Genderen

Justin Van Genderen is a digital design artist. He was more vastly known for his Star Wars planet minimalist posters, but a deeper look into his collection reveals a wealth of talent and skill. Although Photoshop often gets a bad rap amongst photography purists, Van Genderen takes his photos to another level, morphing them into a completely new and distinct genre.

Sneaker Soles Support Sporting Surfaces

Nike recycles old sneakers! They separate the shoe into three separate parts—the fabric upper, the foam in the midsole, and the rubber from the outsoles—and morph it into something called the "Nike Grind".

"Nike Grind Rubber, made from the shoe's outsole, is used in track surfaces, interlocking gym flooring tiles, playground surfacing and even new Nike products.... It's also used in trim items like buttons and zipper pulls.
Nike Grind Foam, made from the shoe's midsole, is used as a cushion for outdoor basketball and tennis courts, as well as futsal (indoor soccer) fields.
Nike Grind Fiber, made from the shoe's fabric upper, is used in the creation of cushioning pads for facilities like indoor synthetic courts and wood courts."

DfD

"Will a product need to be repaired? Which parts will need replacement? Who will repair it? How can the experience be simple and intuitive? Can the product be reclaimed, refurbished, and resold? If it must be discarded, how can we facilitate its disassembly into easily recyclable components?"

Design for Disassembly is a movement considers the need to disassemble a product for repair, refurbish, or replacement, and seeks to increase the effectiveness of a product during and after its life. Some key goals of DfD include reduction of labor costs, reduction of materal costs, and the opening of new markets. A great example of a large company taking the DfD initiative is Hewlett Packard's Notebook Division.

"Foam blocks were replaced with paper pulp shells, with formed compartments to separate the different components and eliminate additional boxes. The user manuals were replaced by a two-gigabyte SD card, which could be re-used with any SD compatible device. Another notebook design produced for Walmart replaced box packaging with a messenger bag-style computer case."