September 30, 2005
My Bread Bin is Armored
I hail from the great (not so great these days) state of Texas. Armadillos are of state pride. Although I now live in California, I love almost anything armadillo ("armadilla" is how texans say it) like.
Armadillos are known for their hard armored plating. Now your bread bin can do the same by "channeling armadillo", complete with a little tail. I thought bread bins were supposed to be inviting. This says DO NOT TOUCH. I would imagine a cookie bin would serve better with armadillo design but hey, its still freakin cute and it's $110. Somebody buy for me!
Posted by tranism at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Illuminair
Get more light with . . . air.
No, it's not powered by air, but the amount of light you choose to have is controlled by how much air is err...um, passed?
Ok, lemme explain this better. Basically the current method to control how much light is emitted from a bulb is done thru circuity. Although not necessarily complex, there is a better more efficient way. Start off with a bright bulb but instead of manipulating how much current reaches the bulb, you have a secondary system that reveals the bulb. Get it? No? Okay, lemme explain some more.
The Illuminair lamp plays with a person's notions of the action required to turn on a lamp. Rather than flipping a switch, air is pumped into the lamp. As more air fills the lamp - more of the bulb is revealed. Releasing a valve allows the air to escape and lowers the bulb back into the tube. Now do you get it? Good!
Posted by tranism at 1:52 PM | Permalink
September 29, 2005
iPod my Baby
Yes now even your children can participate in iPod-mani. Dress your infant newborn up to look like the Apple iPod nano. Only $15 so go get them while supplies last. Baby not included.
Posted by tranism at 4:31 PM | Permalink
Reader Art part DEUX
Thanks once again to our "breeder" buddy Todders for making these vibrant electro^plankton pictures. HOLLA!
click for a larger view
Posted by tranism at 3:13 AM | Permalink
September 28, 2005
Reader Made Art
One of our "breeder" friends made us something really cool. Thanks Todd!
click on it for a larger view
Posted by tranism at 12:26 PM | Permalink
September 25, 2005
The Tree From Where Apple's Grow
Not too long ago, Apple was in it's dark age. It seemed to have lost what had once been a very clear sense of identity and purpose. Apple started trying to compete to an agenda set by an industry that had never shared it's core values. It was rotating CEO's faster than a merry-go-round and it's product line had become watered down - commodities in an increasingly hostile environment in the tech industry. The height of the dot com era was on and while small start ups were pushing millions in their portfolios, Apple was in debt, losing market share and had become technologically outdated.
When Apple's original founder Steve Jobs returned to the board room, it slowly began a shift back towards what made it famous and successful in the 80's. Apple once again pursued a direction different from any of company. Its belief that in order to be innovative, you have to not only perfect the standard but also stray away from it. With time as internal changes to Apple took shape, they eventually manifested themselves into Apple's product line and thats where Apple's leap in evolution began.
more after the jump
The man responsible for Apple's product facelift is Jonathan Ive. Born in London in 1967, Ive studied art design at Newcastle Polytechnic before co-founding Tangerine, a design consultancy where he developed everything from power tools to televisions. In 1992, one of his clients - Apple - offered him a job at it's headquarters in Cupertino, California. Working closely with Steve Jobs, I've developed the iMac. Selling more than 2 million units in it's first year, the iMac transformed product design by introducing color, light and accessibility to a drab computing world. Everything Ive touches has won international design awards, from the original iMac to the Powerbooks to the iPod. With Ive's design aesthetic for functionality and beauty, he has helped catapult Apple past a computer name into a household brand. Everybody knows what Apple is. Although when you ask people to describe Apple, they are hard pressed to come up with the right words. However put them in an electronics store and it's easy for people to point out, "oh, that looks Apple."
"In the 1970's, Apple talked about being at the intersection of technology and the arts. I think that the product qualities are really consequent to the bigger goals that were established when the company was founded. The defining qualities are about use: easy and simplicity. Caring beyond the functional imperative, we also acknowledge that products have a significant way beyond traditional views of function."
One of the things that sets Apple apart is it's fanatical care beyond the obvious stuff. The obsessive attention to details that are overlooked like cables and power adapters. The iMac was a study on how to make it less exclusive and more accessible. For example, a handle was added and although it's primary function is to allow easy movement, a compelling part of it's function is the immediate connection it makes with the user by unambiguously referencing the hand. When you add a handle to something, it says to the person, "you can touch it, move me, I'm not that precious, I'm here for you."
I consider Jonathan Ive to be one of the most important industrial and product designers in the last decade. From his push to merge aesthetics with function, we've seen a new class of electronics that have spawned from the same design cores that he helped established at Apple. The best products not only serve us functionally but also elicit a visceral reaction. That's the kind of stuff that marks memories when we look back. Even if Apple is destined to go somewhere else, there's no doubt that Jonathan Ive was one of the men responsible for the phoenix rising in Cupertino, California.
Posted by tranism at 3:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
September 23, 2005
Pop My Bubbles PS2
The giant electronic beast known as Sony is sometimes viewed as a lumbering giant - a sleeping dragon desperate to recapture it's glory days. As with most large corporations, as you grow, you become more fragmented and no matter how large you are, eventually all those micro cracks will get to you.
However, there is still one bright spot in Sony; it's advertising, especially for it's Playstation division. Exhibit A, the bus stop terminal. It looks normal enough. A giant blue awning with the Sony and PS2 brand names emblazoned each corner. So what makes this special? Check this shit out.
The whole wall is covered in bubble wrap. A large wallpaper of the 4 geometric shapes found on Sony controllers. I think it's brilliant. Who can RESIST popping bubble wrap? There's something relaxing and addicting about the activity. I wouldn't be surprised if a few people missed their ride while preoccupied with popping each and every bubble. It's maddening I tell ya, impossible to resist! MUST POP THE BUBBLES!
Posted by tranism at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Cutting Guard
Just some little trinket I thought was way cool; the cutting guard from William Sonoma. When cutting ingredients with a knife, slip the stainless steel guard low on your middle finger and slice without fear of accidental encounters with a sharp blade. The edge of the curved shield holds food in place leaving your fingers free and clean. The ring is adjustable and fits all hands.
I know I know, real chefs don't need a cutting guard but I probably cook only once a week. There is no shame in my game. I'm proud to use the cutting guard.
Posted by tranism at 9:56 PM | Permalink
September 20, 2005
Giant Pink Bunny
An enormous pink bunny has been erected on an italian moutainside where it will stay for the next 20 years. The 200 foot long rabbit lies on the side of the 5,000 foot high Colletto Fava mountain in northern Italy's Piedmont region. Viennese art group Gelatin designed the giant soft toy and say it was "knitted by dozens of grannies out of pink wool".
Group member Wolfgang Gantner said: "It's supposed to make you feel small, like Gulliver. You walk around it and you can't help but smile." And Gelatin members say the bunny is not just for walking around - they are expecting hikers to climb it's 20 foot sides and relax on it's belly, provided it doesn't get absolutely filthy as the weather beats on it. It's staying there until 2025 so get there while the get'n is good!
via ananova
Posted by tranism at 9:10 PM | Permalink
September 11, 2005
Magnetize That Bar Soap
Such a simple idea, an invention that solves a problem for EVERYONE. What am I talking about? Haven't you ever had a brand new bar soap, displayed on your sink. Sure it looks great for the first couple of days. However, slowly but surely, it starts to look like an ill-fated attempted at pottery; morphed and deformed.
Why not just stick a metal piece into the center of the soap and suspend it from a magnetized arm? That's exactly what Noveletti sells. Beautiful magnetized holders add elegance to your bathroom while providing a much needed function. No more nasty deformed bar soaps and mushy soap scrapings half melted all over the rim of your sink. Somebody buy me one. I want the model pictured above. It's called the "humm". :)
More pictures after the jump
Posted by tranism at 6:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Disappointed With Motorola ROKR
Apple industrial design has dominated much of the pc landscape for over 10 years. Each time Steve Jobs announces a new product, the whole industry turns into Siskel and Ebert, tearing about every nook and cranny, defining what works and what doesn't. If other PC manufacturers were forced to subscribe to the same level of scrutiny, they would have their asses chewed out. No other PC manufacturer with the exception of Sony, comes anywhere close to the might of Apple industrial design. This is where the brand spanking new Motorola ROKR confuses me.
Why oh why, with all of Apple's know how in easy of use, simplicity in design, grade of materials, quality of build and branding - allow the ROKR to be the first iTunes branded phone? With the simultaneous announcement of the iPod nano, it's clear that Apple still knows how to design drool worthy products. In fact, Apple is about the ONLY home grown consumer electronics company that can make the Japanese and Koreans envious. This only adds to my confusion as to why Apple would let Motorola design (re-brand an existing phone) the ROKR themselves. Wasn't it clear to both Motorola and Apple execs that an Apple designed phone would have sent shockwaves thru the cellular industry? Wasn't it clear to them that an Apple designed phone would have sent the mobile carriers into a frenzy trying to carry the phone exclusively?
After some thought, I can think of one reason why; money. I suspect Apple won't be making much money off of the phone. Almost all profits will probably be going to Motorola and Cingular. Motorola because they designed the phone; Cingular because they are the exclusive carrier. How does Apple fit in? Simply integrating their iTunes client into a phone isn't going to make them money. I suspect they are charging a small licensing fee but without a cellular version of the iTunes store, I don't see how else they could be turning a profit. So it must be a stepping stone for Apple. They are testing the waters in a new market without heavily investing themselves. They are taking the safer route. Go with an established handset maker and the largest cellular provider. If those two ingredients aren't enough to sky rocket Apple to success in the mobile market, then they can easily exit with a minimum of loss. What's the flip side to this scenario? Well, lets say the Motorola ROKR becomes a raging success. Where other companies like Samsung and Sony Ericsson fail to successfully integrate music into their phones, Apple and Motorola have somehow forced the industry to it's kneews and expanded the digital music market. Apple now has experience and they go back to the drawing board to truly design an Apple iPhone. How will this affect their relationship with Motorola? Not by much at all. Despite Apple's expertise, they still don't manufacturer any of the internal components to their hardware. This will also ring true for an Apple designed iPhone. It's internal components will come from Motorola, but it's outer shell, interface and UI will be all Apple. It's seamless syncing ability and customization to both Macs and PC's will teach other companies how to do it right. It would be a high end phone, powerful enough for professionals, easy enough for your mom and dad. It's the kind of device that will do what the iPod did for the music industry. it will become and iconic figure and go down in history as a true evolution in the doggy dog world of cell phones.
Posted by tranism at 2:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
September 5, 2005
Thats a Tire?
Why yes it is. Can you believe that? Man, kids today have got it made. It's one thing when they have all the electronic entertainment in the world but when people go back to the drawing board to reinvent those old school toys . . . toys older than both electro (me) and plankton (Daniel); thats when you know kids have really got it made.
Take these for example. Yes they are cute - neat looking, but come to find out, they're made from old discarded tires. My neighbor down the street still has a dirty old tire suspended from his tree for the kids to play in. How we would LOVE to get us one of these and show those kids who has the better "swing".
The material is reshaped, cleaned so you don't get black scuffs, all seams are folded in, buttons covered so everything is completely smooth. They support up to a maximum weight of 200 lbs. (assuming whatever you suspend it from can also support that much).
Somebody buy us one. We wanna suspend it in the living room as a nice conversational piece. What ya think?
Posted by tranism at 2:17 PM | Permalink
September 4, 2005
RECYCL'art
One person's junk really is another person's treasure . . . or in this case art. Over at the RECYCL'art Gallery, they've posted some pretty cool images of people taking tossed out goods - remaking them into "art" worthy pieces. Here are my favorites from the gallery. Be sure to check out this link to see more.
Posted by tranism at 5:05 PM | Permalink
Homeless But Chic
The Urban Nomad Shelter is both a humanitarian act and a social provocation. It is a cushion from the ground that also serves as a census taker for an itinerant population that is hard to count and even harder to countenance.
It uses a self-conscious design aesthetic (think Ikea or Target) to re-brand the homeless and re-map urban real estate. The neon-colored cocoons work like soft pushpins on a city plan, making it impossible not to notice the homeless and not to see them as human.
The larva-like shelter subtly makes the point that this is transitional housing - so transitional that it doesn't allow for any kind of personalization. These walls would collapse if you tried to pin anything on them.
The homeless have obviously been forgotten as most of us are content with pushing them aside, ignoring their existence. We often fight with ourselves not to read their cardboard signs as we sit at the stoplight in our cars. We avoid eye contact and we perceive them as failures of society. We totally remove their civil and human right and thus they become nonexistent and invisible. I've seen these cocoons spread out for a photo shoot in downtown Los Angeles by the gorgeous Disney Concert Hall and I must say, perhaps the idea of vividly displaying the homeless will jolt us into seeing just how many homeless there are. The juxtaposition of homeless scattered alongside an area known for culture and class is surreal. After all, how many bright colored cocoons would show up in your city if every homeless person had one? Would it make an epidemic problem more visible, and perhaps inspire people to take a stand and finally do something?
Posted by tranism at 1:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)