Something interesting

Here are some of the most interesting designs that I've come across.

Prosthetic Limb Research Could Lead To Bionic Athletes, Gadgets Controlled by the Brain

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh recently succeeded in implanting sensors in the brain of a monkey, allowing it to move a mechanical arm with his thoughts. This is the latest breakthrough in the field of Neuroprosthetics, where implanted chips carry signals to the remaining limbs of an amputee, guiding movement.

Senior Screen Saver

The elderly often get things wrong, from parking a car to Murder She Wrote. However, we do love them so and want to keep them around for as long as possible

Cocobello Modular Cabin With Various Purposes

Building a new house in the old fashioned way, doesn’t allow change and takes not only a lot of time but a lot of personal effort.

Changing Building Facade acts Like Pixels formed by Natural Light

When you are looking at these pictures this might look like a modern piece of architecture, but after you’ll see the video attached below you’ll see that Flare is more than that.

IDEO

Each year, the best in design is honored with the Industrial Design Excellence Awards, sponsored by Business Week and presented by the Industrial Designers Society of America.

In 2008, IDEO won seven awards and had a total of 25 finalists.

Inside Beijing's National Swimming Center

A multidisciplinary design team employed an innovative digital process to produce a surprising, highly integrated envelope-and-structure combination.

Green car concept

Royal College of Art unveils their sleek sustainable concept list of cars. Made entirely of aerodynamic glass, these cars are envisioned to answer the emission and energy efficiency issues that we have at the moment.

Think like a designer

Dan Buchner drives business results through design. But design, says Buchner, isn't just about good-looking, functional products or attractive graphics. It's about putting the designer's mindset to work throughout the organization.

The Best, Weirdest, and Most Wonderful Gadget Designs of 2008

The 2008 International Design Excellence Awards are in. These are like the Oscars of the industrial design world, taking the pulse of what's going on, highlighting tons of weird and wonderful gadgets.

Facebook puts on a new face

Applications still play a big part in Facebook's experience, but the company has done a good job of taming them with this redesign.

When is a phone not a phone?

When it's the OpenMoko, that's when. In fact, its own creators are hesitant to call it a phone, but that's been one of the easiest ways to get it into the public eye. Their plan isn't to compete with juggernauts like the iPhone, but to take a much earlier cue from Apple's playbook: the Apple I.

Cryptex Phone Concept Makes Calls a Puzzling Experience

Sometimes I pick up my phone and say to myself “Gee, this communication device just isn't cryptic enough. It's too user friendly and not enough like a puzzle out of the Da Vinci Code.” Apparently designer Marc Schömann was listening in, because he's now created a baton style mobile that forces you to twist sections of it to make calls.

When you design, think different

Design site of the week

With almost 20 years of experience in information design, information architecture, and user-centered design, Peter J. Bogaards, is a recognized leader in the international information design community. Prior to founding BogieLand, he worked for the InfoDesign & Usability Group of Razorfish Europe and was information and user interface designer of Informaat.

Like Peace Corp for designers

Many of us pursue design partly because we wanted a life of creativity, and partly because we had our dreams of being a doctor crushed out of us by the first chemistry class in college. That nagging desire to do good in the world doesn’t have to go unfulfilled just because we chose to push around pixels and prototypes for our professional career. These organizations do a good job of helping designers find out how to do the right thing, by connecting them to causes and people in desperate need of a little design. Check them out, then use your creative powers for good.

http://www.designcanchange.org
http://www.design21sdn.com
http://www.themightyodo.com

Thoughts on design thinking

A powerful methodology for marrying creative right-brain thinking and analytical left-brain thinking, design thinking doesn’t prefer one method of thinking over another but rather, it blends the positive aspects of both.

Oriens Glider

This stunning energy-efficient glider recently took top prize in the Lucky Strike Junior Designer Competition for its innovative re-envisioning the life-cycle of the airplane. Designed by Roland Cernat, the Oriens Glider is constructed entirely of recyclable materials, runs on clean energy, and boasts a sleek translucent shell finished with glossy organic contours. Read more.

Mowercycle!

Behold the mowercycle! Is this an awesome DIY design or what? This ingenious bicycle-lawnmower fashioned by an unknown suburban lawn owner out of an old bicycle and a broken lawnmower, is a testament to the creativity of the human spirit.

inhabitat

Inhabitat.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.

Japan's New Green Car Push

Detroit will have to work hard to catch Japanese automakers in the race to produce hybrids, electric cars, cleaner diesels, and fuel-cell vehicles.

Swedish ski helmets and body armor rock.

With the spread of global information networks that tie everyone together over time and space, it is amazing what small companies in distant parts of the world can create and sell. POC is a tiny, new Swedish company that is designing protective gear for racing in X games at skiercross, advanced freeskiing or any other type of extreme alpine skiing. 

Dan Buchner on Impacting Global Issues By Design

Some of the world’s most significant problems can’t be solved with products alone, no matter how well designed they may be.

Richard Sapper: Fifty Years at the Drawing Board

At 75, design pioneer Richard Sapper continues to push his craft in new directions.

Selling P&G

P&G's chief marketing officer talks about the power of the Pampers brand--how strategic design moved the brand from "just" a product to an emotional experience between an infant and parent.

Design Collaborative: Back to Basics

Too many people can unfortunately relate to the following experience: You go to sit in a chair but you can't easily find or operate the controls to adjust how you like to sit. If you've experienced this scenario—or your customers have—then Allsteel's new Acuity chair should definitely be considered for your future projects.

Web 2.0 and the new role of Information Architects

In the world of Web 2.0, the role of Information Architects are getting more important and complex than ever.

Table of Contents: Creative and Beautiful Examples

Table of contents is often considered to be one of the most unspectacular design elements ever invented. Because of its simple, usual form, table of contents is often not given the attention it may deserve — after all, it is just a list of the parts of a book or document organized in the order in which the parts appear.

Future by Design

Future by Design presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. There are many people today who are concerned with the serious problems that face our modern society: unemployment, violent crime, replacement of humans by technology, over-population and a decline in the Earth's ecosystems. As you will see, Future by Design is dedicated to confronting all of these problems by actively engaging in the research, development, and application of workable solutions.

Segway CTO is riding away to Apple

Segway, the manufacturer of the scooter-like device that was supposed to change the world, is losing an early employee. Doug Field, the company's chief technology officer, is leaving the company to become a vice president of product design at Apple.

17 Cool Speakers Designs that Look Better than They Sound

Home audio speakers are designed to sound great, but many designers take it to the next level and create something so sexy that people can’t help but stare.

10 Gonzo Machines From Rogue Inventor Buckminster Fuller

The late, great architect and inventor brought us the geodesic dome, but Buckminster Fuller’s often twisted, often brilliant vision extended far beyond air-conditioned sporting arenas.

Innovation Doesn't Need Best Practices. It Needs Weird Practices!

Today innovation is no question the hottest topic but executives are generally disappointed in their ability to make innovation work or making tangible outputs or results.

Designing for mobile people not mobile devices

We must focus on mobile people, not mobile devices. In other words, we are not merely shrinking in size a Web experience, but creating an entirely new platform for communication and interaction.

Link Child Locator

Link is a product that a parent would use to help locate or keep track of a child in a crowded environment such as an airport, mall, or busy street. > More

IDEO Method cards

IDEO helps companies innovate. Key to their success as a design and innovation firm is the skill from understanding people and their experiences.