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Posts Tagged ‘Designs’

Steps to Saving Space: 15 Compact Stair Designs for Lofts

22 Jul

[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

Compact Loft Stairs Main
Alternating treads, ultra-narrow ladders, built-in storage and other tricks enable these 15 smart space-saving designs to fit into the smallest of apartments. Offering access to sleeping lofts, second stories or just elevated storage, these ultra-compact staircases avoid a large footprint through furniture integration, tight spirals, or – at times – clever solutions that wouldn’t really pass safety inspections in most places.

Stairs Integrated in Entertainment System

Compact Loft Stairs Entertainment System 1
Compact Loft Stairs Entertainment System 2

The steps to access a small glass-walled loft are barely noticeable in this contemporary renovation to a 1930s traditional English cottage-style home by Mark Frazerhurst Architect. They’re built right into the entertainment center, with alternating treads sticking out from a functional shelf.

Loft Bed/Ladder Combo

Compact Loft Stairs Bed Ladder Combo

An all-in-one kit from Sweden’s Compact-Living adds a loft with a wall-mounted ladder to any room with a high enough ceiling to accommodate it.

Minimalist Steel Rod Staircase

Compact Loft Stairs Minimalist Rod

Designer Francesco Librizzi added this contemporary metal rod staircase to an original house in France built in 1900, saying “the only possible intervention was an almost 2D-frame, able to double the space in height and create new possibilities on other layers.”

Simple Staircase in Belgium Mini House

Compact Loft Stairs Belgium

These stairs take up very little space thanks to a pivoting design with a (very) small platform at the bend. Too bad staircases like this – lacking handrails – don’t typically pass code inspections in the United States.

Bookcase Stairs by WORKSTEAD

Compact Loft Stairs Bookcase Workstead

A bookshelf ladder by Brooklyn designers WORKSTEAD attaches a narrow metal ladder to a built-in bookcase, leading to a skylight and the rooftop above.

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Steps To Saving Space 15 Compact Stair Designs For Lofts

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Cute, Kitschy, Cool: 12 Clever Chinese Desk Fan Designs

21 Jul

[ By Steve in Design & Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

Chinese USB mini fan designs
Intended for low-cost mass production but displaying a wide variety of clever conceptual designs, these 12 Chinese desk fans may blow but they sure don’t suck.

Funny and Playful USB Airplane Clip Fan

Chinese airplane clip-on USB desk fan(images via: PCK)

That’s exactly what the box reads, “Funny and Playful USB Airplane Clip Fan”, though whether this fan is actually funny and/or playful depends on both the sensibilities of the purchaser and how they’re going to use the fan. Most regular folks will simply clip it on their monitor screens and flip the ON switch mounted on the bottom… it may not get you hot but funny, playful or not it will definitely keep you cool.

Chinese pink USB airplane clip-on desk fan(image via: PCK)

The Funny and Playful USB Airplane Clip Fan comes in any one of three pastel tints: mint green, pale pink or ivory white. Just plug the USB cable into the plane’s faux exhaust pipe – nice touch there – and you’re good to go on one more chilling mission!

eDON USB “Bi-Cycle” Fan

eDON Bi-Cycle dog paw USB desk fan(images via: Creative Coaching)

Wee paws for stationary cool-ification! The eDON USB “Bi-Cycle” fan is a delight for dog-lovers or simply those sweltering through the dog days of summer. Just press the leftmost toe pad to get the breeze flowing, and never mind the fact that the wind caressing your face emanates from a foot just a foot away. Available in golden brown, pastel pink, lime green or sky blue, the design of this USB-powered fan demands applause… though unfortunately the “with applause” copy at the seller’s website promises the same in vain.

NBC Microphone-Shaped USB Desktop Fan

Chinese USB NBC microphone desk fan(images via: Phone People)

That’s W ENNN B C!… less the W. The NBC Microphone-Shaped USB Desktop Fan is one of a series of four similar fans bearing the (owner applied) decal logos of NBC, China’s CCTV, Hello Kitty, and Doraemon. Are these popular logos officially licensed by the copyright holders? We’re guessing they aren’t but you won’t catch us, er, broadcasting our suspicions.

Chinese NBC USB microphone desk fan(image via: Nine Cylinder Housing)

Legal niceties aside, the fan’s design is rather ingenious: users hold the fan’s body as if it were a microphone, then remove the protective fan blade cap and flip the switch to ON. Lest any late night talk show host wannabees feel the need to bend it like Fallon, be advised you’re just spittin’ in the wind.

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Cute Kitschy Cool 12 Clever Chinese Desk Fan Designs

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Ding Dong! A Dozen Delightfully Daffy Doorbell Designs

02 Jun

[ By Steve in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

bizarre geeky doorbells
Ring the bell or knock on the door? It’s one of life’s conundrums to be sure, but these dozen delightfully daffy doorbell designs can help button it down.

Ren & Stimpy “Space Madness” Doorbell

Ren & Stimpy Space Madness red button doorbell(images via: Ian Brooks/Viacom and Dave’s Geeky Ideas)

We’re not exactly sure if the simply Stimpy-licious “Space Madness” doorbell above actually exists or if it’s merely a figment of Dave’s (of Dave’s Geeky Ideas) incredibly twisted imagination. Imagine the hilarity that’s sure to ensure should you install this doorbell at your own front door. How can any visitor possibly resist the maddening urge to announce their presence via the mere push of a single button? The beautiful, shiny button? The jolly, candy-like button? Will they hold out, folks? Can they hold out? Of course they can’t. NOBODY can, and you’ll wisely disconnect the doorbell before it drives YOU mad.

Deer Butt Doorbell

Deer Butt doorbell(images via: mmarano, Reepicheep and The Discriminating Explorer)

Flickr user Michael Marano posted the now-iconic photo of a Deer Butt Doorbell shown above on April 1st, 2009… no foolin’! We’re not sure who’d want one of these butt, er, but a market definitely exists for re-purposed deer butts such as those converted into wall-mounted beer-bottle openers. Suddenly a Deer Butt Doorbell doesn’t sound so bad.

Redneck Deer Butt Doe-Bell doorbell(image via: Rampant Techpress)

Behold the Redneck Deer Butt “Doe Bell”™, depicted against the backdrop of a Confederate Army battle flag (or towel, whatever). According to the site featuring this masterpiece of folk craftsmanship, the $ 379.95 device is a “working doorbell, available with male or female orifices.” Splendid! It gets better: “Southern redneck art is one of the fastest growing areas within the art world and prices are skyrocketing for some of the finest deer butt works by renowned butt artists.”

Gross Squishy Eyeball Doorbell

gross squishy eyeball DIY doorbell(images via: MODD3D)

If your Deer Butt Doorbell isn’t preventing persistent subpoena servers, cookie-flogging Girl Scouts, obsequious Mormons and menacing newsboys (“two dollars!!”) from disturbing your domain of domestic bliss, it’s time to break out the heavy artillery: the creepy DIY Gross Squishy Eyeball Doorbell. They’re not sold in stores, mind you, so set aside an hour or so and follow the helpful detailed instructions provided by the madcap modders at MODD3D. Moe of The Three Stooges would approve.

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Ding Dong A Dozen Delightfully Daffy Doorbell Designs

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High Tech to High Fashion: Upscale 3D-Printed Designs

01 May

[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

3D Printed Fashion main

Pioneers in 3D-printed fashion are showing off the capabilities of rapid-prototyping technology with dresses, hats, shoes, swimwear and jewelry. Machines layer buildable materials like nylon or steel according to computer-generated blueprints, eliminating the need for fabric and conventional soles and fasteners. The results are delicate and architectural, but surprisingly strong. Designs are custom-printed to the wearer’s exact dimensions for a perfect fit.

N12 Bikini by Continuum Fashion

3D Printed Fashion N12 Bikini
While 3D-printed fashions have been showing up on runways for a few years now, the N12 bikini was among the first to actually be available for purchase. Every single piece of this bikini is 3D-printed including closures, and snap together without any sewing. Order through the Continuum Fashion shop.

Exoskeleton 3D Printed Shoes by Janina Alleyne

3D Printed Fashion Exoskeleton Shoes 1

3D Printed Fashion Exoskeleton Shoes

The Exoskeleton collection by Janina Alleyne is a futuristic, vaguely alien-looking series of footwear inspired by the structure and silhouettes of marine invertebrates and insects. With 3D printing, shoes and garments can be printed to the exact size of the wearer, making uncomfortable-looking designs fit like a glove.

Parasol Hat by Heidi Lee

3D Printed Fashion Cocktail Hat

Artist and milliner Heidi Lee created this parasol-inspired cocktail hat, modeled by Andrej Pejic for WILD Magazine’s Woman issue.

Invisible Shoe by Andreia Chaves

3D Printed Fashion Invisible Shoe 1

3D Printed Fashion Invisible Shoe 2

Created in collaboration with rapid prototyping studio Freedom of Creation, fashion designer Andreia Chaves’ Invisible Shoe features a 3D-printed base that is then covered in a mirrored shell. This produces an optical illusion effect, making the wearer’s feet seem to blend in with their surroundings.

Jointed Jewels by Alissia Melka-Teichroew

3D Printed Fashion Jointed JEwels

3D Printed Fashion Jointed Jewels 2

A ‘selective laser sintering process’ enables jeweler Alissia Melka-Teichroew to create a range of unusual jewelry from plastic powder, which is fused into solid form using a computer-controlled laser.

Seed of Life Corset by ThreeForm

3D Printed Fashion Seed of Life Corset

This piece of wearable sculpture features a segmented design with movable joints and hinges, and it’s made to fit your body perfectly. The Seed of Life Corset from ThreeForm is available at Shapeways for $ 2,500.

Escapism Dresses by Daniel Widrig, Iris van Herpen and .MGX by Materialise

3D Printed Fashion Escapism Dress

This incredibly complex series of dresses from Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen was produced in collaboration with London architect Daniel Widrig and digital manufacturers .MGX by Materialise. The digitally-printed dresses are lightweight and flexible, amazingly detailed and yet easy to produce.

Biomimicry Shoe by Marieka Ratsma and Kostika Spaho

3D Printing Biomimicry Shoe

Look closely at the heel of the biomimicry shoe by Dutch fashioned designer Marieka Ratsma and American architect Kostika Spaho. It’s modeled on a bird skull. The hollow structure of the skull creates a high platform sole that is nevertheless lightweight, using less material than a solid structure.

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High Tech To High Fashion Upscale 3d Printed Designs

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Panasonic adds ten unique designs to their budget-friendly Lumix XS1

27 Apr

DMC-XS1PZK05-trans.png

Panasonic is now offering its Lumix DMC-XS1 compact camera – which was first introduced at CES in January – with ten custom ‘skins’. The themes for these skins include pop art, gift wrapping, floral nature, digital, texture, and Japanese traditional. The XS1 features a 16 megapixel CCD, 5X (24-120 mm) optical zoom with image stabilization, a 2.7″ LCD, and 720p video recording. Pricing for the new ‘skinned’ models isn’t available quite yet, though the traditional red, silver, and black XS1 sells for $ 129. We don’t know yet if these designs will be available outside of the US in the future.

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Rendering the Digital Physical: 10 Bitcoin Designs & Ideas

12 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

bitcoin digital physical designs

The crypto-currency Bitcoin is all over social media, blogs and news sites. But beyond the volatility, speculation and noise there is a fascinating question being asked and answered: from coins to wallets, how does the world’s first widespread digital currency manifest in visual or physical form? (top image by cybrbeast)

bitcoin 3d currency variants

The Bitcoin logo is a rather simple affair, borrowing much from traditional currencies (a partial strike-through) and clearly, most of all, the United States dollar. For some, though, seeing is not enough – for emotional and practical reasons alike, many want a physical analogue to their virtual wealth.

bitcoin physical round design

That baseline design, however, has spawned not only 3D renderings approximating solid coins, but actual physical coins themselves for fans of hand-held collectibles. The Casascius series have solid brass, electroplated gold and pure silver variants that ‘contain’ real Bitcoins (an address with a private key hidden below a removable hologram). Like Gold Eagles, the value of these on the secondary market has consistently stayed above the ‘spot’ price for the currency they contain.

bitcoin paper currency notes

And it does not end there. For security purposes, many people prefer to keep copies (in some cases: their only copies) of their virtual Bitcoin ‘wallet’ in offline form. For better or worse, this translates computer-centric risks (hacking and data corruption) back into more familiar ones (physical theft or loss). Designers on that front  have come up with a number of interesting options, from plasticized and paper ‘notes’ to self-printed wallets. In the decentralized, open-source spirit of Bitcoin, many designers (like Doctor 75R) give these designs out freely as well.

bitcoin printable folding wallet

Canton Becker lists off the advantages of his variant, shown above: “(1)Private key is hidden behind folds, so your wallet content is still safe if left out in the open or photographed. (2) Tamper-proof tape indicates when you (or someone else!) has revealed the private key. (3) Folding design obfuscates private keys so they’re hidden even when holding wallet up to a bright light. (4)Reverse side has basic wallet operation instructions and a register for writing down deposits / balance. (5) Private and public keys are replicated (and rotated) in triplicate to maximize chances of recovering keys if paper is damaged / crumpled.”

bitcoin physical ring designs

There is even a movement toward making Bitcoin secret (de)coder rings – like gold or silver ones, they can be stolen, but they also allow you to wear and keep your wealth (literally) close at hand. By engraving the private key on the inside of the band, there is no way to see it unless you (or someone) takes it off.

bitcoin wallpaper digital designs

And, of course, anything with sufficient fans warrants making wallpapers – here are a series of six available at full size on Flickr.

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A+ Architecture: The World’s Most Dazzling Designs

21 Mar

[ By Steph in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

Architizer Architecture Awards 1

Can modern architecture be accessible – and even alluring – to everyone in the world? Architizer believes that it already is, and the 87 winners of its first annual A+ Awards prove that assertion with a dazzling array of designs ranging from dramatic mountain overlooks to bright, graphic pop-up stores. Chosen by a jury and 150,000 public voters, the A+ Award winners accomplish the blog’s goal of “breaking architecture out of the echo chamber.”

Architizer Architecture Awards 2

The point of the contest is not only to honor the world’s most incredible modern structures, but destroy the idea that architecture is only for a small group of elites. “The mission of the Architizer A+ Awards is to remind everyone in the world that they are fans of architecture, even if they don’t realize it,” says Architizer CEO Marc Kushner. “This year’s winners make our job easy. They are projects where noble ambitions match their formal sophistication – they represent the best architecture from across the globe – and more than one project I had never seen before!”

Architizer Architecture Awards 3

Winners include the Isbjerget apartment complex by JDS Architects, a tapered set of white buildings designed to resemble icebergs in the harbor of Denmark, and the National Tourist Route Trollstigen by Reiulf Ramstad Architects, a plateau between deep fjords in Norway that holds the title of most awards won by a single project.

Architizer Architecture Awards 4

Architizer Architecture Awards 5

Architizer Architecture Awards 6

Among other notable winners are Yayoi Kusama’s pop up store for Louis Vuitton, Dolomitenblick by Plasma Studio, and the Wuxi Grand Theatre by PES-Architects. See them all at Architizer.

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Custom Redress: 7 DIY Clothing Designs, Ideas & Reuses

27 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

diy design ideas

From color-your-own and converted-umbrella dresses to hoodies-turned-tote-bags and color-scanning sewing machines, a simple, clever and clearly-executed design concept can be as brilliant as the most fashion forward runway piece. See some cool and colorful prototypes first, or skip ahead to learn simple tricks and tips to turn your most ordinary, disused and abused clothes into one-of-a-kind wonders.

Inside the Lines: Self-Colored Convertible Outfits

diy self colored dress

Consider Berber Soepboer, who started with the most obvious of blank slates: a black-and-white base made to be filled in by the wearer with colored markers.

diy convertible color outfits

From that baseline, she has gone on to  incorporate buttons, snaps and folds that allow each outfit to convert on the fly.

Wash, Rinse, Recolor: Color-Changing Dresses

diy color changing dress

For those afraid they might color outside of the lines, Fernando Brizio has an even simpler alternative. A series of simple pockets in these modest white outfits provide the basis for custom color schemes.

You can choose how to arrange the results by deciding which colors to slot in where, and watching them bleed outward to form patterns … then wash them out and start again.

Upcycled Apparel: Old Shirts to New Tops & Skirts

diy upcycled top skirt

But what about your existing wardrobe? It turns out there is lot to be done on that front as well, like this series of old baggy shirts turned into stellar new tops and dresses by Mari Santos.

diy upcycled clothing ideas

Step by step, she takes clothing items that would normally be destined for the dumpster (or at best: the thrift store) and makes dynamic new outfits from them.

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5 Room-in-a-Box Designs Form 100% Modular Home Interior

20 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

modular interior collection

For the space-saving fanatic who hates to leave even one square inch unused, or the minimalist who wants everything to work smoothly and simply, this collection may be the ultimate(albeit ambitious and not-inexpensive) all-in-one solution.

modular space furniture collection

Rolands Landsbergs designed the Boxetti Collection to address every major type of living space, “driven by three basic design principles – functionality, advanced technologies and contemporary aesthetics of minimalism. Each of Boxetti modules is designed to achieve maximum efficiency of particular demands for functionality and suitability.”

modular bedroom bed closet

modular kitchen office units

Five boxes form the basis of the system: a bedroom box with a bed, closet and more; a living room box with couch and tables; a media center with television, music player and stereo speakers; an office with seating and work surfaces and a kitchen with storage, cooking and food preparation surfaces and spaces. Each one uses the same language of angular geometries, glossy white exteriors and warm orange interiors.

modular media center prototype

From the designer: “The capability of the modules to be transformed into compactly solid blocks is essential for the design concept in order to obtain an unobstructed and comfortable space – free of uselessness. The Boxetti Collection is a handmade product – the quality of materials as well as structural and technological solutions endues the collection to the extent of exclusiveness.”

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Pentax announces flash and body cap lens reference designs at CP Plus

30 Jan

AF360FGZII--tentative-name.png

CP+ 2013: Pentax has shown two prototype products at the CP+ 2013 trade show in Japan: a bounce flash and a body cap lens for the Q-system. The flash is tentatively named the AF360FGZ II and has a guide number of 36, vertical and horizontal bounce capability, and is expected to ship this Summer. The ‘Mount Cap Lens’ is limited to the Q-mount camera line, and includes what appears to be a small hyper-focal lens which Pentax says will produce a ‘toy-camera-like visual effect,’ and is also expected this Summer 2013.

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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