Ecodesign Tools: Tips and Tools for Environmentally friendly product design

1. Do not design products, but life cycles 2. Natural materials are not always better 3. Energy consumption underestimated 4. Increase product life time 5. Do not design products, but services 6. Use minimum of material 7. Use recycled mat...

Wiser Earth

WiserEarth is a community directory and networking forum for not for profit and non-governmental organizations addressing the central issues of our day: climate change, poverty, the environment, peace, water, hunger, social justice, conservation, human rights, and more. Content is created by people like you from around the world.

Branch

As a social activity, shopping gets us out into the various neighborhoods in our city, allowing us to connect with other people along the way. As a cultural excursion, it gives us a chance to discover what’s new and interesting in the world. And, of course, we derive some joy from finding just the right gift for someone, or for ourselves.

Yahoo! Messenger

Yahoo! wanted to create a next-generation version of its instant messaging client that would capitalize on the visual depth of Microsoft Vista. With the advent of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Yahoo! saw the potential to create a more dynamic interface for its messaging program than ever before, one that would offer its users an extensive array of beautiful, engaging features.

Designer unveils Raven three-wheel car

Mike and Tom Corbin have another dream. Well, it's a new version of their old hope to create a three-wheel, one-person, high-mileage car.

Houses of the future

So what if they don’t include your own personal “Rosie”—the Jetsons’ good-natured, frilly-aproned robot housekeeper. These six futuristic houses are light years ahead of their time in their innovative use of environmentally sustainable materials, rainwater recycling, solar panels, and overall coolness.
Meet George Jetson...

Thinking Outside the Design Box

Check out the work of 10 professionals working at the very edges of their disciplines in order to redefine their industries.

IAC Building

Designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry and completed in 2007, our world headquarters is located in the vibrant Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. Click here to learn more.

Other great designs by expressionist postmodern architect, Frank Gehry

Design21

DESIGN 21: Social Design Network’s mission is to inspire social consciousness through design. They connect people who want to explore ways that design can positively impact our communities – ways that are thoughtful, informed, creative and responsible.

Six Design Lessons From the Apple Store

Jesse James Garrett, takes a very detailed look at how the San Francisco Apple Store achieves this experience -- from the layout of the space to the grating over the heating ducts.

Photos of Apple Store in New York

Hypergreen by Jacques Ferrier

Recently, Paris-based architect Jacques Ferrier unleashed his "Hypergreen" mixed-use skyscraper concept, which was submitted for a project competition in Paris. Hypergreen incorporates a curving lattice facade made of ultra-high-performance concrete that acts as the building's primary structural system. It has the look of steel, almost resembling some of Foster's designs such as Hearst Tower or 30 St Mary Axe. Measuring 246 meters in height, Hypergreen has the following green features: geothermal heat pumps, photovoltaic panels, integrated wind turbines, earth cooling tubes, vegetated sky lobbies, a roof garden, rainwater recovery system, and flexible and adaptable floor plates. The exoskeleton reduces the number of columns that make for odd floor plates.

Jacques Ferrier Architecture [Official Website]

Nottingham-Spirk

Chances are you’ve never heard of Nottingham-Spirk, the industrial-design firm whose creations include the Crest SpinBrush, the Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner and the ever-popular Sherwin-Williams twist-and-pour paint can, reports Anne Fischer in Fortune (6/11/07). In fact, over the past 30 years, Nottingham-Spirk has “patented 464 products, with combined sales of more than $30 billion.” What’s their secret? Craig Saunders, who has been with the firm for 24 years, “says he’s gotten the most useful insights from focus groups by asking them what makes them mad.” That’s how Nottingham-Spirk came up with the SwifferVac, for instance. People said they “loved the Swiffer mop” but were frustrated by its inability to clean up anything other than dust.

World Premiere June10 Atlanta Film Festival

Future by Design shares the life and far-reaching vision of Jacque Fresco, considered by many to be a modern day Da Vinci. Peer to Einstein and Buckminster Fuller, Jacque is a self-taught futurist who describes himself most often as a "generalist" or multi-disciplinarian -- a student of many inter-related fields. He is a prolific inventor, having spent his entire life (he is now 90 years old) conceiving of and devising inventions on various scales which entail the use of innovative technology. As a futurist, Jacque is not only a conceptualist and a theoretician, but he is also an engineer and a designer.

Adobe - InDesign CS3

Explore trends in digital design and motion graphics. Browse work by leading artists and develop your skills with in-depth tutorials.

Green City Cars

Battery-powered CityCars could cut traffic and smog by getting more commuters to leave their autos at home