Planetaki Planet Design

Core-Toon: The StyroPhone

2010-03-10T10:38:29+00:00

Artist: lunchbreath
More: View all cartoons

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Design Letters

2010-03-09T22:37:57+00:00

Condensed letters for your kids room? YES! Makes me happy.

Confetti System designs parties

2010-03-09T18:37:35+00:00

More fun for spring: Sight Unseen has published their visit to Confetti System's studios in New York CIty, where Julie Ho and Nicholas Andersen design, yes, party decorations. It doesn't get much more fun than this: shimmering, geometric piñatas stuffed with their own special mixes of confetti, giant swaths of crepe garlands with lushly oversized tassels, gold-fringed birthday hats, and handmade leis.

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Florence Design Academy's free lighting tutorial

2010-03-09T18:37:35+00:00

Nothing beats a good design school education, but for the cash-strapped there is also an impressive amount of free educational materials online. A good case in point: Instructor Mario Malagrino of the Florence Design Academy has posted a free Studio Max illumination tutorial, intended for his students but available to all, on how to simulate photo studio lighting techniques for product design renders. (We discovered it while rooting around on their site in search of more of Sekhar Roy's work.)

Even cooler, FDA's got several galleries up showing the tutorial's results in actual student projects. (Samples shown below by students Nenad Kostinov, W. Slob and E.R. Ortiz.)

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Sekhar Roy's seating pods concept

2010-03-09T18:37:35+00:00

I'm lovvving these Terrace Bar Seating pods by Sekhar Roy, a student at the Florence Design Academy.

The swooping arm holds interchangeable light fixtures, and while there's a chance someone sitting near the center might bump their head on the arm, I'd be willing to watch my guests do that time and again just so I could have this thing in my house.

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Learning innovative product design via...stand-up comedy?

2010-03-09T18:37:35+00:00

[image credit: John Sherman]

We've seen creatives generate inspiration from all manner of strangeness over the years, but this has to be a first: Professor Peter Robbie's Design Thinking class at Dartmouth incorporates improv sessions. According to an article in Dartmouth Engineer, "I've always thought that the quickest and smartest folks at the brainstorming phase of design have been those who do standup and improv," says the professor. "They never say no. They never miss a beat. Improv requires players to accept what they are given, build on the ideas of others, and encourage wild ideas."

Robbie demystifies design by breaking it into systematic steps. "I believe it's important to create classroom experiences that will increase students' confidence in their own creative design abilities," he says.
Using improv to get students comfortable with brainstorming is a case in point. "Everyone thinks that they know how to brainstorm, but in fact, brainstorming is usually plagued by problems like self-censoring, competitiveness, and ridicule," says Robbie. "Improv is a great way for students to learn to defer judgment."

Read more about Robbie's process, philosophy and methodologies here.

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Donna Wilson's latest: costumed egg cups and hand painted pooches

2010-03-09T18:37:35+00:00

Spring really is in sight, and here's hoping this sunny, 50 degree day in Ann Arbor is no false testament. UK designer Donna Wilson must be feeling the same—today, she released her new Spring 2010 collection. Particularly great is the new line of friendly ceramics, a move away from her usual work with artisanal wool. For instance: character egg cups, to be dressed up in costume this easter, pictured above.

Or Meg, who shows up in both plate and pillow form:

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The Rec-Rac bike rack: Ex-ID student still has the knack

2010-03-09T18:37:35+00:00

Brent Price works as a financial planner, but he went to school for industrial design. So when the Colorado-based family man recently ran into a problem, he dusted off the old ID training to solve it--and wound up opening up another line of income for himself, by mass-marketing the resultant product.

Price and his family enjoy biking in the Colorado Rockies with their two dogs, but even with a big-ass pickup truck they found themselves unable to fit all of the bodies and gear for the trip. As anyone who's ever fully loaded a pickup truck bed can tell you, careful planning (vs. just throwing everything in the back) can double or even triple your storage space, but disassembling and reassembling the bicycles on each trip would be inconvenient.

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Carnegie Mellon is seeking a Program Director in Pittsburgh, PA

2010-03-09T18:37:35+00:00

Program Director: Master's in Product Development
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon University is seeking candidates for the position of Program Director of the Master's in Product Development (MPD) program. The MPD program was established in 2003 and is a leading, highly ranked international program in new product development practice and management. The program is jointly run between the College of Engineering through the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the College of Fine Arts through the School of Design.

» view

The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.

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Mug and Milk Jug with Chalk Area

2010-03-09T18:38:50+00:00

How cool (and minimal) is this mug and milk jug with a chalk surface to write on?

How to Transform Your Hoodie into a Computer Sleeve.

2010-03-09T18:38:50+00:00

A hoodie is not just a hoodie. In a world full of stuff, smart items should be transformable, editable. They should engage the possibility to be transformed into something else. We do not need a new object, a new thing. Rather we need to get rid of some of them, to reduce the complex network of things around us.

Just undo it is a collection of reversible objects that could be made from a hoodie at no cost, no particular knowledge nor tools. See how to videos here.

Instructions about how to make a computer sleeve were published in the last issue of WIRED Italia.

(Thank you Antonio)

Acca Kappa Toothbrush

2010-03-09T18:38:49+00:00

Made entirely of biodegradable materials, this sleek, zen-looking toothbrush will keep your teeth pearly white.

San Francisco Artist’s Soap Box Derby

2010-03-09T18:38:49+00:00

The Incredible San Fancisco Artists’ Soapbox Derby, 1975. from Mike Haeg on Vimeo.

(via dinosaurs and robots)

REWORK is now in stores

2010-03-09T18:23:03+00:00

Alright, the big day is finally here! REWORK is now available in stores. You can order the US version online from the following booksellers:

International versions are either out already or coming soon. Check with your local retailer. There’s also an audiobook version read by Mike Chamberlain (listen to a sample).

At the book site, you’ll now find a PDF that includes five essays and illustrations from the book:

Download PDF excerpt (1.7 MB)

And here’s the copy from the inside flap of the book, also a good primer on what you’ll find:

Most business books give you the same old advice: Write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you’re looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf.

REWORK shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Read it and you’ll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don’t need outside investors, and why you’re better off ignoring the competition.

The truth is you need less than you think. You don’t need to be a workaholic. You don’t need to staff up. You don’t need to waste time on paperwork or meetings. You don’t even need an office. Those are all just excuses.

What you really need to do is stop talking and start working. This book shows you the way. You’ll learn how to be more productive, how to get exposure without breaking the bank, and tons more counterintuitive ideas that will inspire and provoke you.

With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, REWORK is the perfect playbook for anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs they hate, victims of “downsizing,” and artists who don’t want to starve anymore will all find valuable guidance in these pages.

Press
Reviews are starting to pour in. Inc Magazine’s review of Rework:

Fried and Hansson are the Henry David Thoreaus of entrepreneurship. They preach doing less and embracing constraints…Written with genuine voice — a sometimes cranky and profane voice at that.

800-CEO-READ did a brief Q&A with Jason in advance of the book. Here’s what the site’s Jon Mueller had to say about the book:

This isn’t just a book about changing your business, it’s about changing how you think about business, and is, perhaps, one of the most important books you’ll read this year. Whether you’re admin or CEO, there are many things to learn, and this book offers some great insight into how we all can waste less time, offer people more value, and accomplish things we’ve not yet imagined.

More...

baby cups by isak

2010-03-09T18:38:49+00:00

Two small cups by Isak for your everyday espresso, snacking or dipping. Adorable.

This Just Inbox: Lightweight by Nightshop

2010-03-09T18:37:35+00:00

Nightshop, a new design label from Rotterdam, sent us their very first release: Lightweight, a double lamp inspired by Chinese paper lanterns and shaped like a dumbbell. The lamp is 90cm long by 35 cm high and contains two light bulbs—we're presuming one per side, but, sadly, there are no pictures of the thing lit up. The entire thing is made from PVC: narrow strips are held to the ribbed frame by brightly colored stitching.

The lamp should be available in select shops in the UK and the Netherlands soon, but for now you'll have to get in touch directly.

Nightshop is photographer Adriaan van der Ploeg, artist Jordan van der Ven and designer Ward van Gemert.

More shots after the jump.

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30+ Corporate WordPress Themes

2010-03-09T22:41:09+00:00

We’ve compiled 30+ excellent corporate WordPress themes from ThemeForest for your next corporate client. Either download the themes and customize them to your client’s needs or use these designs as inspiration to create a unique WordPress template from scratch.

Corporate WordPress Themes

Dark n’ Clean

Agivee

idea Business Shop

Creative.Biz

Universal Business

Twicet Business Portfolio

Business Solutions

London Twitter Cloud

2010-03-09T11:00:29+00:00

Regular readers will know we have been logging data in 12 cities via our Tweet-o-Meter, its still early days but the results for a weekend in London are intriguing.

The data covers a weekend period from Friday evening to Monday morning containing 380,000 individual tweets. Within these 60,000 were geo-referenced, tweeted by 5,500 individual users.

In terms of density the focus is on central London with local hotspots as the weekend progresses, around Kings Cross and Old Street. There is also a noticable trace along the main transport routes into and out of town, noting that we seem to be tweeting while on the move. The clip below details the visualisation in Google Earth:

Music - 'Social Awkwardness' by Xanthe over on unsigned bands.

The clip reveals a message cloud rising and hovering above London as a time-space aquarium where the time is plotted as the height information. Interestingly Google Earth is becoming the visualiser of choice for such data sets, the combination of location, imagery with the ability to view by time makes it a formidable engine for data visualisation.

Thanks go to urbantick who converted the data via a custom VB script.

Caffeine Print - Society6

2010-03-09T10:41:16+00:00

via http://www.society6.com/studio/chrispiascik/Caffeine_Print

QUOTE: The competitor to be feared is one who never

2010-03-09T07:12:42+00:00

The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time.

—Henry Ford

VIDEO: Our new office, pre-construction. Lease signed

2010-03-09T07:12:42+00:00

Our new office, pre-construction. Lease signed today. Move in scheduled sometime in July. Full story, floor plans, and vision shortly.

I got this picture from Fecal Face and Porous Walker on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2010-03-09T03:10:40+00:00

via http://www.flickr.com/photos/headphonerecord/976988532/

"HOT! New Designs From Spain" kicks off in Baltimore

2010-03-09T03:57:29+00:00

Maryland Institute College of Art celebrates Spanish design with a panel discussion that features graphic artists Ferran Mitjans and Oriol Armengou of Toormix, a graphic design studio based in Barcelona; Nacho Carbonell, a Spanish furniture designer whose furniture is featured here; and Vicente Guallart, a Barcelona-based architect who restores and builds internationally with focuses on nature and new technologies.

The event is sponsored by the Embassy of Spain with the Spain-USA Foundation as part of the program Preview Spain: Arts & Culture '10. The month-long celebration of Spanish design showcases some of Spain's young, award-winning designers and architects. Designer from Toormix will also be holding workshops with MICA's Graphic Design MFA program.

If you cannot make it to tonight's presentation, check on the Society of Spain's website to find out about other events happening in Washington DC through June, 2010.

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Standard Time: A clock rebuilt every minute

2010-03-08T23:02:14+00:00

Standard Time originated as a 24 hour time-telling performance conceived by Mark Formanek and realized by Datenstrudel in Berlin in 2007. After several exhibitions, the performance has now been documented on video, and is newly available as a desktop application or DVD.

In the performance, workers scramble to rearrange wooden planks by the minute to accurately reflect the time. According to Formanek, though the workers are trying hard, they are constantly on the verge of failing. There is evidence of this in the excerpt above, where they barely finish constructing the '20' before they have to change it to '21.' The spectator then not only watches the time, but also the people dutifully constructing the display, despite its futility.

This can't be posted without mentioning Marten Baas' 2009 Real Time project, where street sweepers, office workers, and a figure in a grandfather clock also update a clock by the minute, all excellent examples of approximate time telling.

Watch a 2 minute excerpt of Standard Time above or a quick recap of an earlier performance of this project at the Rotterdam Central Station below, (in Dutch). More videos at the Standard Time website.

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Adam Harrison Levy on Death's Bloom

2010-03-08T23:02:14+00:00

Image via Design Observer: David Maisel, Library of Dust 387, 2005, C-print, 64 x 48 inches, courtesy of Von Lintel Gallery and the artist

Adam Harrison Levy's got an incredible piece up on Design Observer right now. Here's a couple paragraphs, but you gotta read the whole thing.

Standing in front of these large-scale photographs, as I became accustomed to the visual impact of their astonishing color, the meaning of these images grew. Each canister held the remains of a human body, an unknown person who had been labeled mentally ill, who had been locked away in an asylum, and who after death had been left unclaimed for years, stacked on a shelf. These canisters held significance far greater than simply being beautiful objects.
The gallery installation didn't make this clear, and it's a failing. Unknowing visitors, I was told, first think these are images of bullets, paint cans or corroded batteries. When they are told what they really are, most are stunned into silence.

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