Designed to Win

Beyond the double glass doors, out past the marble fountain burbling near the Tiger Woods building, a billion perfect blades of grass stood at attention. Songbirds twittered....

Five points about the aesthetics of interaction design

In interaction design, we are not doing visual art. The user's aesthetic experience lies in the interaction, the way in which the system behaves and responds over time in interplay with the user. To put it simply, when we talk about aesthetics we need to talk about look and feel, not merely about look." (Jonas Löwgren)

Designing better services

Read this great summary about Service Design and how it can help address some key challenges facing organizations today. Down the load the PDF.

CNET's new, improved design

After more than a dozen years of bringing you content surrounded by yellow and green, CNET is getting a new look. As you'll see below, the carnival of colors is being replaced by a cleaner look that pivots off their updated, red CNET logo and our content.

Plug-In Hybrid Leads Toyota's Drive Beyond Oil

Toyota, rightly or wrongly, is widely considered the greenest automaker, and the company hopes to solidify its hold on the title and move beyond oil through a sweeping plan to produce cleaner, more efficient cars -- beginning with a plug-in hybrid it will produce by 2010.

Indie video game designers break through

In the second grade, James Silva didn't just play "Mario" and "Zelda" on his Nintendo but drew pictures of new levels and cooked up ideas for future games.

Coffee Carrier Bag

If you're stepping out to grab a coffee, decency requires you ask your co-workers if anyone else wants one. But on the way back to the office, you curse your own decency as you juggle multiple hot cups and the phone rings or you need to pull out your keys.

Here's a smart solution: A nifty solution is this carry-bag for coffees!

An elegant way to carry coffee and the carrier could be reused over and over again. Definitely a hit for coffee addicts and maybe our environmentalists as well!

Masters of Collaboration

The 21st century design environment trades individual stars for teamwork uniting designers, engineers, anthropologists, and others.

Herman Miller's Clinical Trials

Herman Miller took the office by storm with an ergonomically correct chair. Now it's trying to build up its hospital business.

Inventors

Inventors are a breed apart, a special kind of people who imagine what does not yet exist. Here are some great ones: Segway inventor Dean Kamen, Forrest Bird who invented the respirator, and Woody Norris, creator of the Air Scooter, amongst others.

Re-Thinking Digital Design: How To Feel Your Way To Innovation

Innovation can be defined simply as “introducing something new for the first time”, according to The Myths of Innovation author, Scott Berkun. Innovation is something that companies struggle to foster because it is seen as a key to differentiation, market leadership and therefore more customers and larger revenues. Read article here.

How To Deliver A Great Plan

Thinking like a designer can transform the way you develop products, services, processes - and even strategy.

ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar, Costs as Much as Maserati

Loaded with features like folding wings (so you can keep it in your garage) and seat belt-like parachutes (so you can ease the whole thing down to the ground), ICON Aircraft’s new light sport airplane (LSA), dubbed the A5, might just be the ultimate joyride.

Crowded House

A firm based in Rotterdam solves the problem of too many people on too small a planet by tunneling down, packing tight and making pigs fly.

The '$100 laptop' may be a glimpse of the future

You've no doubt heard of the "$100 laptop" project. The idea is to help poor kids around the world by providing them with simple, durable, usable and wireless laptops for downloading and using textbooks and educational software, playing games and communicating.

Web Design Inspiration

Here are some web design sites that lend themselves towards great design.

BMW Builds a Shape-Shifting Car Out of Cloth

A concept car that stirs the imaginations of car enthusiasts and vandals alike. Pictures are abundant, but be sure to check the video to see how cool this really is.

Something new

You may have noticed that Google has a new favicon, the small icon you see in your browser next to the URL or in your bookmarks list.

From Mind-Blowing to Mockery — The iPhone 2 Mocked Up

The creative types that make up Apple's fan base have been busy dreaming up the ideal iPhone, Version 2. (Steve Jobs is expected to introduce the real thing on Monday.)

T-Shaped People

Interactive Marketing needs a holistic approach to creativity that blends big ideas with simplicity....

You’ve probably heard of the term “T-Shaped People.” Not sure who exactly coined the phrase, but the first time I heard it was from IDEO’s Tim Brown.

The notion is simple—cultivate people on your team that have a core competency, but can easily branch out (like the shape of a T). They ideally possess traits such as curiosity, empathy and aren’t afraid to ask why. And there is a distinction between this type of individual vs. a “jack-of-all trades.” The core competency and branches are complimentary, with the branches being secondary strengths. It represents breadth and depth of skills.

Design Companyof the week: Continuum

Continuum is a design and innovation consultancy. We are a group of design strategy, brand experience and product innovation experts.

Heat Sensitive Wallpaper

As the temperature rises, flowers bloom on the vines.

Extravagant Designs by Luigi Colani

Luigi Colani is a legend among industrial designers (see both his sites 1 and 2). His radical-looking Colani trucks, and his streamlined piano, but now - thanks to the photo material provided by Roger Todd, exclusively for DRB - you have a glimpse of his other designs.

State of the plumbing art: 10 examples of cutting-edge bathroom design

Check these radical designs in bathroom fixtures.

Rebuilding America

The country's infrastructure is crumbling, but PM examines promising solutions with a year-long investigation, plus video, audio, animations and podcasts.

100 miles per gallon or bust!

Carmakers are already charging batteries, tuning engines, and inflating tires to get ready for the Progressive Automotive X Prize contest, which will deliver $10 million to the winner whose car can exceed 100 miles per gallon.

Touch Screen Turntables

The ATTIGO TT was created by Scott Hobbs, a student at Dundee University studying innovative product design.

Evironmental Headquarters

What does one of the largest independently owned oil and gas companies do to turn over a more sustainable leaf? Well, in this case, EnCana hired green-tech architecture firm du jour Foster + Partners to design their new, environmentally sustainable headquarters in Calgary, Canada.

Industrial Robot

Robot trained to dance, paint, and...write the bible!

Beautiful And Original Product Designs

An overview of some beautiful and original product designs which will hopefully make the cut and will be available in the next years. Some of them are already available today.