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Posted by hipstomp / Rain Noe  |  19 Aug 2013  |  Comments (0)

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With 200 extras behind me, I had to stride out of a crowded Broadway theater and deliver two lines to my "date," a blonde woman nearly a foot taller than me. (I was clearly a last-minute casting decision.) As I opened the theater doors, the movie camera was right there in my face; as we walked away from the theater, the camera pulled back—then up, up and away, until it was fifty feet above the sidewalk, pointing down at us. The camera was mounted on a crane so long that the base and operators of it were all the way across the street.

Setting up and operating the huge, presumably expensive crane required a swath of Times Square to be shut down. The scene required thirteen takes, and each time the crane had to be reset—not a quick process. The sun was setting and the frantic Assistant Director kept yelling "We are losing the light! We are losing the light!" into a walkie-talkie. Each reset probably cost four or five figures. As my first on-set experience of a Hollywood production, I found the whole thing grossly inefficient.

Folks, if you have any doubt that expensive, hassle-filled camera crane shots will go away, take a look at filmmaker Nicolas Doldinger's "First Flight of the Phantom," a short that he shot by attaching a GoPro Hero 3 to a DJI Phantom quadrotor and a Zenmuse gimbal. We've seen quadrotor footage before, but never like this—and by "like this" I mean in Manhattan. Doldinger's rig comes absurdly close to tree branches and appears to be so unobtrusive that nearly no one notices it. More importantly, he seamlessly goes from street level to treetop and beyond, providing footage of New York that you simply cannot see any other way:

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Posted by core jr  |  19 Aug 2013  |  Comments (0)

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Today Core77 is excited to launch Afterschool, a design-centric podcast. Hosted by Don Lehman, this podcast is designed for all those times you're sketching, working in the shop, or just looking for inspiration from inspiring people. We'll have conversations with interesting creatives and regular guests. The viewpoint of Afterschool will come from industrial design, but the focus will be on all types of creativity: Graphic design, storytelling, architecture, cooking, illustration, branding, materials, business, research... anything that could enrich your thought process, we'll talk about.

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Our first guests are Theo Richardson, Charles Brill and Alexander Williams—the dynamic trio behind Rich Brilliant Willing, a lighting and furniture manufacturer based in Brooklyn. Although they have been on the scene for only a few years, RBW has already carved out a reputation for creating some of the most inventive and inviting work being created right now.

In our conversation we talk about founding RBW, how they have gone about building their line, and how they have grown as both designers and businessmen. Check it out!

Posted by hipstomp / Rain Noe  |  19 Aug 2013  |  Comments (0)

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It freaks me out that tiny atoms and huge solar systems consist of things rotating around each other in a similar way. It's also weird to see time-lapse footage of human beings building things (like that super-fast hotel build in China) and realize how insectoid our activities look when sped up. And above you see the latest strange big/small connection: The planet Earth resembling a beating heart or a breathing being.

A guy named John Nelson runs the UX Blog, which covers user experience, mapping and data visualization for parent software company IDV Solutions. Nelson pulled twelve rare, unobscured-by-clouds images of our planet off of NASA's Visible Earth catalog taken at different times of the year. Stitching them together into an animation, he made the visually stunning discovery you see here: As the seasons change, the ebb and flow of snow and greenery makes our little rock look like it's breathing.

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Posted by Core77 Design Awards  |  19 Aug 2013  |  Comments (0)

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Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year's Core77 Design Awards 2013. We will be featuring these projects by category, so stay tuned for your favorite categories of design! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com.


Professional Runner-Up

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  • Project Name: ORDU III
  • Designer: Ronan Bariou

Ordu III is the Orbea Triathlon bike, focused on IronMan's users. We analyzed 120 people in 5 countries to know exactly what was user/consumer's needs. Users will use Ordu for 111mi race, after 2,7 mile swim, and before 26 mile run. The perfect bike has to be Ergonomic and Aerodynamic. Our Orbea leitmotiv was called "Ergodynamic."

- How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?

I discover the email, Friday afternoon while I was cleaning my spam box in Hotmail... It was real, and that was the end of the week, only a half an hour before we go home. In those moments the office area was quiet, I just got up of my chair and say "Putain, j'ai eu un award!" Better not translating in english those words... and eye's colleague looking to me, Just say you than we don't work after the  spam news!

- What's the latest news or development with your project?

Engineers have done an aero investigation with a school program, about Ordu tubing profile, with cad simulation. The objective was to draw the utopic profile for having the best aerodynamic result. After 8 month job, the school presented us the result, and our tube profile have a tiny percent to be improved!

The "Lecorbusier law" about how ergonomic and aesthetic apply on aerodynamic proportion was the best way to develop! Engineering 0 - Design 1

- What is one quick anecdote about your project?

The colors tones of the B&W; graphics has been done with the "Gernika", one of Picasso painting master piece. Gernika is a little village of basque country, where I'm working.

- What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?

When I discovered marketing the fantastic idea to present Ordu in a 1000 liter water tank in Eurobike bikeshow, the bike did not touch tank's bottom, it floated in 1000 liters of water, and it was very difficult to weigh the bike. There was 4 persons trying to weigh a super Aerobike in a big glass cube, I have photos of the scene, with a great situation between Engineers laws and marketing needs... ha ha ha.

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Posted by Ray  |  19 Aug 2013  |  Comments (0)

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We've devoted a fair number of pages and pixels to that singular design object known as the bicycle, and whether you're a leisure rider or all-weather commuter, weekend warrior or retrogrouch, there's no denying the functional elegance of the human-powered conveyance. Thus, when Harry Schwartzman reached out to us about lending our support to the inaugural Bike Cult Show, a celebration of the beautiful machine and a local-ish community of individuals dedicated to building them, we were happy to support the cause.

Bike Cult Show: Save the Date · Ezra Caldwell · Johnny Coast · Thomas Callahan


Last we heard from Thomas Callahan of Horse Cycles, the Brooklyn-based bicycle builder had turned to Kickstarter to launch an ambitious project to bring his craft to a wider audience. He surpassed his funding goal for the Urban Tour by 50%, allowing him to invest in several new machines and tools for his shop... and true to his promise to "create more jobs and more opportunities for the framebuilding community," he's brought a few hired hands on board to help out.

However, even with a full-time assistant and a couple part-timers, Callahan has been putting in long hours himself, and he's relates that his crowdfunding efforts have been a learning experience as he looks up to scale-up his operation. As of a couple weeks ago, when I stopped by his shop to catch up with him, Thomas had shipped a handful of bikes and was planning a quick jaunt up to Maine to personally deliver bicycles to a few lucky customers along the way. He has in mind to refine the existing all-purpose flagship model—the 2014, which will be on view at the Bike Cult Show, will feature a 1 1/8” headtube to accommodate an optional carbon fork—as well as expanding the lineup. "We'd like to do a porteur bike, a track bike and a road bike... potentially, we're going to be able to drop the price..."

ThomasCallahan-HorseCycles-Cole.jpgCole is studying at Parsons

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Posted by Coroflot  |  19 Aug 2013

Work for Dell!




wants an Industrial Designer
in Austin, Texas

Can you develop and implement world-class distinctive solutions in a ferociously competitive industry? Can you envision future experiences within a multi-disciplinary team focused on the next generation?

Dell wants you to join their Experience Design Group as an Industrial Designer to take the reigns on defining and developing brands such as Alienware, XPS, Latitude and Precision. If you're ready to join a fast paced environment that demands that every design aspect contributes value to customers, this is the job for you.

Apply Now

 
Posted by Shaun Fynn  |  19 Aug 2013  |  Comments (0)

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Modernism is a broad and complex subject to define especially in the context of design and architectural movements and trends. A basic form or definition of modernism can imply some degree of celebration of our times and the processes through which we build and define our environments, habitats and products. The industrial revolution triggered the development of objects and environments created by the machine, heralding the era of mass production. This in turn redefined the fabric and structure of society, often with unforeseen consequences.

Literature is full of voices that did not share the initial altruistic sentiments of the early pioneers and supporters of 'advancement.' Karl Marx observed in great detail
how the shift from craft-based economies to the industrial sector created alienation in the worker as they became "separated from the product of their labour. 20th-century writers such as Orwell and Huxley both projected their views of future dystopias based very much on the path we have taken and the forces unleashed by industrialization and its respective social change.

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The 20th century was certainly the era of formalized schools of thought especially in the field of architecture and design. These '-isms' ranged from the ideological to the reactionary, but they collectively redefined our landscape at a pace not seen before. Today we live a rapidly changing world where most of the change is happening in the emerging markets. A new industrial revolution is happening before us and change is occurring at an unprecedented pace. This new 'industrial revolution' defines the future in a new way, from the endless skyline, the brand ladened shopping malls, the high-speed rail networks to the theatrically emphasized illuminations.

These photographs reflect a visceral response to Shanghai as one of the world's fastest developing cities. Shanghai sits at a cross roads where modernity is rampant but the vestiges of the old remain. From colonial port city to a thriving center of industry and commerce, a brave new modernism is emerging.

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Posted by hipstomp / Rain Noe  |  16 Aug 2013  |  Comments (1)

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Nope, those aren't 3D-printed; they're handmade. Ex-chemistry teacher Bobby Jaber—the giveaway to his old profession is that he refers to PVC as polyvinyl chloride—"wanted to combine art and science," and now that he's retired, has thrown himself wholeheartedly into clay.

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Buckyballs, icosahedrons, octahedrals and other complex geometrics might not be as lucrative as fictional colleague Walter White's "Blue Sky" product, but they seem to bring a good deal more spiritual peace. Additionally, California-based Jaber has been invited to show (and sell) from as far afield as the Netherlands.

In the following mini-doc, we get to see Jaber doing what I think many of us secretly crave: To create our own things in our own studios, absent market pressures and briefs from higher-ups. (Be sure to stick around until after the credits, when there is an outtake of what appears to be Jaber seeing an iPad for the first time!)

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Posted by hipstomp / Rain Noe  |  16 Aug 2013  |  Comments (0)

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The Slingatron is a "mechanical hypervelocity launcher" proposal for efficiently launching objects from Earth into space. A company called HyperV Technologies Corp. has put a Kickstarter up for it, but with just $23,000 in pledges towards a $250,000 goal and less than a week left, it doesn't look like this one will break gravity.

HyperV's dry, underproduced nine-minute pitch video probably didn't help. But never you mind: Joerg Sprave, the maniac behind The Slingshot Channel—that is where you go on YouTube if you want to see chainsaws launched from slingshots, weaponized toilet brushes or how to separate Oreos using a crossbow—has illustrated the Slingatron concept in a much more entertaining way. Sprave is a man obsessed with DIY projectiles, and by connecting a power drill to his hacked-together wooden representation of a Slingatron, he's created a drill-powered shotgun:

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Posted by Ray  |  16 Aug 2013  |  Comments (0)

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Our Pop-Up Institute for Craft & Ingenuity opens in just a few hours—get a behind-the-scenes look here—but on those rare occasions when we're not inclined to make something ourselves, we turn our discerning eye to a handful of respectable purveyors of well-curated accoutrements. And while it's easy enough to find beautiful things on the Internet these days, the old-fashioned brick-and-mortar can offer a rather more immersive browsing experience.

This summer has seen the debut of a few new design-centric stores from established retailers here in the Lower Manhattan, offering an impressive selection of gift items for residents and visitors alike. Here are our pics/picks:

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We've had our eye on Shinola since they soft-launched earlier this year, so we were pleased to hear that they were planning to set up shop in NYC in addition to their main operation in Detroit. The Tribeca storefront is on the ground floor of a building that also houses offices and a showroom for Steven Alan, which is also owned by mogul-behind-the-curtain Tom Kartsotis. Following the very successful opening of their flagship store in Motor City, the NYC outpost quietly opened about a month ago, featuring a selection of the Made-in-Detroit wristwatches, bicycles, leather goods and more, as well as a few items from likeminded store Hickoree's.

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Shinola-3.jpgThe small leather goods are exclusive to the store

Designed by Rockwell Group, the understated retail space features a small café in the front and a full store in back; the furniture, fixtures and details collectively "harken back to America's manufacturing legacy." The bespoke pieces, such as the multipurpose shelving and bleachers that line opposite walls, nicely complement the reclaimed and vintage pieces, from the brass library lamps to the bronze world map, which originally bedecked "the lobby of an oil company located at Rockefeller Center."

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Bike Cult Show

FEATURED EVENTSSee All Events

Electrolux Design Lab 2013Deadline: Mar. 14

Design for Manufacturing Summit #3March 21
Brooklyn, New York

Cooper UX Boot Camp: Fair Trade USAMarch 25–28
Petaluma, California

Designing the Next EconomyApril 23–25
Madrid, Spain

Braun Product Histories. In recognition of Braun's long history of and dedication to good design, Core77 presents this archive of product histories, photos and more to highlight Braun's success in creating meaningful products that people enjoy using.
Brand New IDEO

"Brand New IDEO" centers on a
24-hour global Make-a-Thon taking place Monday, March 25th in IDEO's eleven offices around the world,
starting in Tokyo and ending in San Francisco.

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