The Design blog

Creating a simple and stylish solution for modular shelving, designer Dan Matarazzo has popped up with an innovative wall art/storage unit that bends to the needs and likings of the users. Simple to install, the shelf is 22″x4″, with a depth of 9″ and a shelf thickness of 1.5″. Although the shelves look like solid wood, they are actually hollow core, constructed with thin plywood to reduce weight and then veneered over to appear solid. Once one shelf is in the rest will fall into place. The simplicity of the bracket design allows for quick and easy wall art/storage. Using the three types of brackets, i. e. the standard interlocking bracket, the right angle bracket, and the end bracket, you can really make any shape according to your storage needs. Once installed you can slide on a small hook that can be used to hold a purse or anything that needs to be hung. The simplicity of the shelf speaks for itself, which at the same time presents a loud and clear visual language.

With modern trends in MP3 technology, hundreds of MP3 players hit the market every day and fade away as fast as they come, but there are exceptions that not just rule the stores but hearts, by adding meaning to your musical melodies as well. The brainchild of designer Tamer Koseli, a student of Fashion Design and Industrial Design at Anadolu University, Turkey, the “Feecho” is an identical MP3 player that makes listening to the music more enjoyable by making the listeners an integral part of the music. Presenting compact dimensions (Height: 8mm and Diameter: 80mm), the portable player is finished with rubber at the bottom. Generating power from battery charger or computer, the Feecho is partially green as it can also be powered by scratching the turquoise circle, on the surface, when you are away from your place. The turquoise circle becomes red to indicate the low battery. Now, no matter whether you are close to the charging unit, with Feecho you may enjoy nonstop music anywhere, anytime.

As desktops get smaller and smaller, manufacturers are trying to find ways of making them more appealing for any stylish pad. It’s a fact that computers don’t really fit into stylish living rooms. In fact, they tend to stick out like sore thumbs. To overcome with this problem Taiwanese manufacturer ECS has come up with an innovative PC-in-a-vase. It’s actually an interesting glimpse into the future, when we will want to hide the PC and have it mesh more with our environment.

Exploring the relationship between two contrasting pieces of material intertwining to sculpt into usable aesthetically pleasing furniture, British designer Matthew Bradbury has designed an anonymous though unique chair, which presenting a great flexibility can be finish with a variety of materials according to the need and liking of the users. Constructed with one sculptural piece of bamboo attached to four pieces of high quality perspex plastic, the trendy chair looks as if there are two separate pieces of material connecting together, thanks to the perspex bolted onto the bamboo. Defying physics, the solid part of the chair look like it’s balancing, while the translucent perspex also acts as support but visually makes it look as thought the bamboo is the main part of the design.

Born out of the desire to make the most out of the least available space, the modular furniture unit by Olivier Mérillon can be arranged in a number of patterns to meet the users’ diverse needs. In France, most of the requests for housing are for the apartments, with very few options for young students. In an apartment, there are intimate spaces and other spaces that are often required to change: to study, to rest or to invite friends. Olivier Mérillon’s “Furniture for Roommates” addresses these ever-changing requirements as the person can use the unit as a bed, a table, a side table or simply as a seating unit. With 3 modules, the furniture unit offers 10 possibilities. The modular unit maintains the style as well comfort of modern era, and will certainly help in adding some extra space to your small living area.

Power and luxury vehicles may have overpowered the conventional modes of transportation in this fast moving era, but a bike making its way through cramped city roads still is an important vehicle of the masses. For bikes, other than offering an easy way of transportation in crowded urban environments, also keep the riders fit and helps in sustaining the environment with zero carbon footprints. Responding to the environmental, fitness and transportation needs of the city commuters, Polish designer Piotr Górski is out there with a trendy bicycle hailed as the “I GO” that allows easy movement and parking in crowded cities with ability to move briskly in longer rides. Generating power from electric battery, charged by propelling the paddles, courtesy of its built-in mechanical system of charging, the sustainable bike featuring swivels system and small electrical engines transforms its structure to give a better view to the riders. The bike also includes a windshield to protect the rider from strong winds, while the flexible seat and handle bar of the bike adjusts to accommodate riders of different age and height.

Coastal areas may present pleasant weather throughout the year for the natives as well as visitors, but marine life also brings various hardships, like transportation of heavy goods and vehicles from one coast to another. Addressing the issue, designer James Owen has come up with an innovative ship-rack that lets sailors move their heavy goods and vehicles across the streams, rivers and seas, thanks to the new concept in boat-mounted gear management systems. Hailed as the “Yakima ShipRacker,” the heavy-duty ship allows fitment of current Yakima bike racks and boat products to the personal yachts as well as public watercraft. Devised in collaboration with MasterCraft, the ShipRacker features deck tiers on each side of the rack, allowing the user to unload gear either on the go or the dockside. Moreover, the ShipRacker includes a ski rope anchor in the rear of the rack, letting the users enjoy the thrills of board surfing.

With increasing demand, followed by production, of mobile phones and gadgets, the touchscreens have been a common phenomenon in modern gadgets. However, it has a number of significant disadvantages, the chief being the lack of tactile interfaces. Providing a solution to the problem, designer Ilya Tkach has designed an innovative phone called the “Ku! Phone,” which presents a revolutionary yet rational approach to solve the problem of touchscreens. The basis of the approach is the long studied physics electrostriction effect, i.e. change of the material size when a moderate electric current is passed through. Using transparent gels with these properties, the new phone lets you shape the terrain on the surface of the phone specifically for each application (buttons, switches, sliders, etc.).

Mirrors will now no more remain as bathroom essentials and no longer will you require an iPod or an MP3 player in your bathroom, as the “Maitre,” a touchscreen mirror from Stocco, will solve both the purposes. This sleek touchscreen mirror comprises features that will transform your bath into your own private lap of luxury. At its lower right corner, a touchscreen console offers an easy programming and operation of a radio, date and barometer. To sing your heart out in the shower you have an MP3 player as well. This stylish bathroom collection comes in sizes from 90 cm to 2 m featuring a mirror demister with a sensor and with the choice of an integrated or exterior lamp. This mirror is polished and mounted on an aluminum frame that complements any existing style and gives a grace to your spa-inspired space and a reflection of modern luxury.

The winning entry at the future competition 2008 held by Australian Green, the “Eco House” by Lara Calder Architecture is a temporary shelter for suburban development in Western metropolitan Sydney that other than offering an instant refuge also helps in sustaining the environment by offering an alternative to resource-hungry low-cost project homes. Finished with a high-tech fabric “fly” over six timber portals with pre-fabricated units suspended and configured to produce a flexible interior living environment, the Eco House also comes with PVC weatherproof roof, walls and floors, making the house more safe as well as durable. Generating power from a grid-connected electrical supply (using photovoltaic cells on the roof) and gas supply, the shelter will get hot water from a gas-boosted solar hot water storage cylinder placed on the roof, while a precise setting of windows ensures cross ventilation and the necessary “relief valve” to combat over-heating in summer.