i have one new rule for design: things that teach are better than things that don’t. this jigger has a rotating handle that reveals directions for mixing common drinks via george nickolopoulos
Category Archives: fabrication
meticulous models
for years computer modeling has been a technical pursuit, much like drafting once was, without the artistic merit of its tangible counterparts. that’s why i find frederick wessler‘s work interesting: he carefully crafts computer models of objects that have a particular significance to him, such as his father’s wrench or this medical kit (above) and […]
Also posted in 3d, futurecraft, product design, visualization
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fearless learning
last week i needed to find out how to install an undermount sink, and i found a video at moen.com: today i heard about tufts medical center’s live webcasts of common surgeries: and i virtually assisted the inimitable don sadoway‘s introductory course on materials science (3.091) via mit’s open course ware: these videos are much […]
Also posted in blogogracy, conviviality, open objects, visualization
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smokeless stove
philips is field-testing a healthier and more efficient wood-burning stove for the developing world. it works by forcing air into the combustion chamber with an electric fan, making it burn hotter and a third more efficiently while producing less of the toxic smoke responsible for as many as 1.6 million deaths a year (one tenth […]
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waste more!
just when i thought that the computer industry would follow google’s proposal to adopt a standard power supply to reduce inefficiency and waste, a new apple patent is revealed that actually keeps a device from turning on with a third-party adapter. along with their refusal to allow people to remove their own batteries, why does […]
Also posted in marketing, possessed products
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war weave
while reading enlisting madison avenue: the marketing approach to earning popular support in theaters of operation (a handbook for ‘shaping’ the opinion of ‘indigenous’ populations in US-occupied countries) via chris c, i came across many failures and few successes. one of the biggest problems in US propaganda efforts is that many ‘shaping’ attempts find their […]
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upcycled architecture
when i wrote about the WOBO, the bottle’s designer john habraken wrote me to tell of another up-cycling project he did in the seventies, this time using discarded industrial materials like oil drums and car parts to build buildings (see his image above). i drummed up some images of the proposed designs: which reminds me […]
Also posted in architecture, materials, open objects, upcycling
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sew local
the 100-mile suit is an attempt to build some of our simplest products – clothes – with only local resources. it was a 92% successful undertaking, with only the thread and soles of the shoes imported from elsewhere. it’s an impressively difficult task, if you think about it, and what is the point? well, the […]
Also posted in conviviality, possessed products, product design, soft/glowing
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