Porcupine Chair

I'm a big fan of furniture design, so this chair caught my eye. Always on the verge of falling, this felt creation, reinforced by fiberglass on the inside, seems to be magically standing up at all times. Question is, is it art, or is it furniture? Surely this is better than just a regular old couch, right?




source

DIY Office

The only time that I've ever worked in an office, I was put to work all day transferring information from paper to computer to create a customer database for my boss. But I'm certain that not all office jobs constantly put you to work. That's why I found this post on core77.com very interesting. Hell, these projects are even interesting for when you're NOT at work.

Would you ever take time to do this at work, or would you just spend your time waiting around for work?


A particular project that I've always wanted to try.

Design For Everyday

This post on core77.com made me think. We're influenced by design everyday. I certainly can't speak for everyone, but I tend to notice design quite a lot in my day today life. Sometimes I find myself staring at a particular piece of furniture for much longer than I would an ordinary one. Normally I find myself intrigued by creative simplicity, something you wouldn't normally think of, but that's so simple it boggles your mind.

Desensitizing the iPhone

The first thought that popped into my mind as I read this post on core77.com was, "Why?"



The iTwinge is one of the most pointless inventions I have ever encountered. What's the point? Why not just get a Blackberry? The whole point of the iPhone is the touch screen! And personally, I love it! I'm sort of confused as to why anyone has difficulty typing on the iPhone to begin with. It is specially designed to be EASY.

Difficult Clients & How To Please Them

I thought that Michael Bierut has come up with a very interesting (although demeaning) way to please clients. The typical situation, the client wants the logo to be bigger. Bierut suggests that you appease your client by slightly changing the size of the logo at least 5 times and bringing it back to them so that they may choose their particular favorite. People who argue about size just love all the options. By doing this, you please your client by changing the size, but not by very much. Of course, Bierut suggests using this trick in only the most desperate of situations.

source

The Dunk Mug

This idea, brought to us by Dominic Skinner, is a creative idea to be sure. How useful it really is, I don't know. This mug can hold both your drink and your cookies or biscuits as well. A clever way of combining both food and drink, it comes in two varieties, lefty and righty. This is of course to insure that no matter how you drink your coffee (or tea) you'll be safe from having your snack on your lap.



source

Video Nano

I honestly don't understand Apple's most recent announcements. Why add a video camera to the iPod Nano, and not the iPod Touch, or even the Classic? It is the second smallest iPod incarnation that exists, and they decide to put a video camera on it? Surely it would make more sense to put it on a model where there is more storage and therefore people don't have to pick and choose what music they do or do not want on their iPod, just in case they decide to take a video. And furthermore, why just video? Wouldn't it make sense to enable it to take pictures as well? Normally I approve of just about anything Apple, but this decision just baffles me.

source

Lady Gaga's Heartbeats

Now I know that nowadays you can stick rhinestones on just about anything and sell it for more money. And celebrity endorsements just seem to increase the price. Sure, the new line of headphones designed by popstar Lady Gaga look cool, but why not save your money and get a product that is equally as good (if not better) for less money? Are celebrity endorsements really worth the extra cash?



source

Coco Chanel

Gabrielle (more commonly known as Coco) Chanel was an innovator of women’s fashion and somewhat of a legend. Born to a poor French family, Coco Chanel lost her parents early on in life and found herself drawn away from her dismal past and toward the appeal of the upper class, couture fashion in particular. Chanel did many things for the fashion world in her time, the most iconic movement being the ability to wear black. Before the arrival of her “Little Black Dress”, or LBD as it is known more informally in the fashion world, black was only to be worn in times of mourning the loss of loved ones. But Chanel turned this taboo color into the most flattering an popular trend of all time. Nowadays it is near impossible to find a woman that does not own a single simple black dress. Of course these dressed had to vary from time to time, but the simplicity that Chanel instilled in the style kept flashy details and additional colors to a minimum.

Yet another one of Coco Chanel’s timeless creations is the Chanel suit. Although these suits were not the first of their kind, Chanel was the first to create them for the means of fashion and comfort at the same time. Coco wanted her suits to allow “freedom of the body.” All useless features were eliminated and every change insured functionality and elegance. Created to perfection every time, Chanel actually fitted the suits onto her models for every single shoot. Everything down to the tiniest details, such as the gold chains sewn into the hems to allow the fabric to hang exactly right. The design remains as ageless as ever, being reinvented by Karl Lagerfeld but never really straying from Coco’s original vision of comfort and practicality. In fact, when Chanel disappeared to Switzerland in 1938 and then returned to the fashion world in 1954, she picked up right where she left off, using the same basic designs for her world famous Chanel day suit.

Although fashion was her first foray, Coco Chanel also ventured into the business of beauty products, as well as fragrances. In fact, to this day, Chanel N°5 is still the best selling perfume in the world. Quite a complicated fragrance, with over 80 ingredients, which was bizarre of it’s time, the bottle itself contrasted the scent with it’s simplicity. Coco wanted the focus to be only on the perfume itself, and so it was. Chanel was obsessed with the quality of the ingredients that made up the fragrance and while creating it, she insisted on taking the most expensive ingredient, jasmine, and adding even more of it to not only intensify the scent, but also to add value to it. Coco wanted the smell to remain etched into our minds forever, unlike anything else we would ever smell, and she did.


Bott, Daniele. Chanel: Collections and Creations, London: Thames & Hudson, 2007

http://www.time.com/time/time100/artists/profile/chanel.html

Redbox DVD rental

To me, DVDs are ridiculously expensive. The only ones that I buy are TV seasons that I watch over and over again. Movies seem to be one time things with me. The Redbox machines caught my eye though. The New York Times posted an article about the booming success of Redbox, but that damage that it’s doing to the movie business. I for one, think it’s a great idea for me, it offers me a chance to see movies I normally wouldn’t choose to watch, because they are so cheap.

Carbon Fiber iPhone Case

I pretty much love everything that Apple does. The iPhone is my dream phone. But the device is, to me, such a very delicate piece of machinery that any slight bump or drop could break it beyond repair. Sure, there are covers, but they take away from the design of the phone and make it quite ugly and big to me. But in this post on Core77.com, I found pretty much the perfect solution. A Carbon Fiber iPhone Case, by monCarbone. It’s light, it’s strong, and it’s thin. Now all I have to do is buy the iPhone to put it in.

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

Hybrid cars are a great advancement in transportation. But the idea of using them to their fullest potential is important. Bruce Nussbaum posted on IDEO and Smart Design, who teamed up with Ford to give the driver enough feedback through the dash on the new 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid to help them know how to drive the car in a more effective way.

Review of 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

Instant Table

This idea is great. Core77.com posted about designer Ryan Sorrell’s clamping legs, which turn almost any piece of plywood into an awesome table. You don’t even see the clamp and the vibrant colors really pop against the wood used. Of course there are probably many other versions of this design, such as these by Cohda, but I find this one to be more pleasing to the eye and also quite useful.