Have you ever wondered why cars are painted? Is it to attract scratches? To stimulate the car wax industry? In addition to begging for a fender bender, painted panels are expensive to make, nearly impossible to repair or reuse, and they are toxic to people and the environment. The Think City car is purposely designed […]
Category Archives: energy
dinner globe
The Dinner Table Game by Luckybite was one of the nominees at this year’s British Insurance Design Awards. The maquette I photographed (below) represents a full-sized dinner table at the London Science Museum (above) projected with virtual food on white place settings. A globular lazy susan allows visitors to understand where food comes from and […]
Also posted in augmented reality, environment, food, visualization
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carbon fiber kitchen
Move over stainless steel: I spotted this carbon-fiber kitchen island in the Tokyokitchen gallery at the Axis building in Roppongi. When I used to work with kitchen manufacturers I learned that most people only buy new cabinets every twenty or thirty years. Considering the weight and size of most kitchen cabinetry, there is a major […]
Also posted in environment, fabrication, furniture, materials
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money pollutes
Last Fall Grant Kristofek (“sustainability champion” at Continuum, the industrial design powerhouse responsible for the Reebok Pump and the OLPC) co-authored a report entitled Colorblind: How Consumers See Green. A team of designers, ethnographers and engineers visited households all over the US to document the attitudes that govern how we think and act with regard […]
Also posted in environment, product design
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cereal craft
Mass Customization is generally thought of as a technological triumph combining the quality of the made-to-order with the efficiency of the mass-produced. Recently, it has been proposed that mass customization could also be desirable in terms of sustainability. Custom goods are always made on-demand, reducing inventory and waste. They may also warrant higher prices and […]
Also posted in customization, environment, fabrication, food
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cast local
Thinking about bamboo? Think again: most flooring made of the eco-friendly material is imported from China – meaning it travels at least 500 miles by truck, over 7,000 miles by container ship and another thousand or so miles by train to make it to the US. This means that even pouring a concrete floor is […]
Also posted in environment
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ecographics
While struggling to illustrate complex environmental phenomena this weekend I stumbled upon this great life-cycle diagram by Mats Ottdal – a cover graphic for a Vector Pollution Library (something I would love to buy).
Also posted in 2d, environment, visualization
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food life
Halfby’s latest animation takes their bird’s eye view to a national level: this public service announcement illustrates the impact of a shifting food culture. Japan’s diet has shifted away from rice, fish and locally farmed vegetables to include more meat, oils and fats largely imported from other countries. As a result, people are becoming unhealthy, […]
Also posted in environment, food, futurecraft, supply chain, visualization
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