children grow so fast that it’s a challenge to fit their bodies and their interests for more than a few months at a time. as a result a lot of toys and furniture are cheaply made and readily disposed of – all because of bad design. charlotte friis design studio conceived of this easel with […]
Category Archives: customization
virtual fit
louise guay, president and founder of my virtual model, presented her company’s avatar-based fashion shopping and social networking system tuesday at the moda+tecnologia gathering at the ICA. on-line shopping for clothes is notoriously unsatisfying, especially if you care about fit and detail. americans only buy 8% of their clothes on-line, as compared to 41% of […]
Also posted in blogogracy, conviviality, fashion, futurecraft, marketing, open objects, product design, retail, soft/glowing
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interknit
netGranny is a revolutionary service where consumers directly commission grandmothers in switzerland to custom-knit socks for them. it has the spirit of transparency of programs like dole’s organic labels, with the mass customization you would expect from local experts, all the while supporting elderly people to make an independent income. this is something i’d like […]
Also posted in conviviality, fabrication, futurecraft, marketing, open objects, product design, soft/glowing
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paper laptops
these drawings are actually prototype laptops designed by seven-to-nine-year-old children as part of the “laptop club.” the use of paper prototyping for designing laptops and learning about what children use computers for is brilliant, it also makes me wish to do the same in the class i teach. on the other hand limiting the idea […]
Also posted in 2d, art, children, marketing, visualization
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lego electronics
bug labs did it! they are making electronic blocks that you can plug together to make any device you want. yesterday they finally released images of their products, which include a docking base, GPS unit, touch LCD screen, camera/webcam and motion detector – all tied together with an open SDK. although not yet available for […]
Also posted in futurecraft, open objects, product design, tangible
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user-generated art
rudolf stingel makes installations out by covering the walls of a gallery with panels of celotex tuff-R, an insulated foil-covered foam that invited visitors to scratch, gouge, rip and insert objects like a giant graffiti wall. it’s a very moving experience because there is a chaotic overlay of multi-scaled art unique and predictable. these installations […]
Also posted in art, blogogracy, guerilla, materials, open objects, soft/glowing
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stop&chop
i’ve been posting for a long time about open design, or the free dissemination of design knowledge. ponoko is a site that allows you to share designs for furniture cut out of sheet material like the plywood pepe baby’s chair (above). on the one hand, paying $120 for a tiny plywood chair seems expensive, on […]
Also posted in fabrication, futurecraft, open objects, possessed products, product design
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improvisation
open-source design promises a lot of invention but has trouble motivating a lot of people to contribute design work. but one kind of distributed design is flourishing: improvised explosive devices, which are the most effective tool against the american military in iraq. () one video demonstrates the user experience:
Also posted in futurecraft, guerilla, open objects, possessed products
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