Living Large in a 130-Square-Foot Apartment | Wired Design. With dense urban centers and housing that was built hundreds of years ago, Europeans have long known how to make their tiny spaces feel triumphant. But this apartment in the Montparnasse neighborhood of Paris is an above-and-beyond exemplar of hyper-efficient, micro-urban living. Architects Marc Baillargeon and Julie Nabucet carved a 130-square-foot space out of a Hausmann-style building to create a flexible yet utterly comfortable pied-à-terre. “Our approach to architecture is that the house is not so much a machine for living, but a tool for living well,” says Baillargeon. The apartment was once the master bedroom of a larger apartment, which should give you a pretty good idea of its postage-stamp size. The idea was to separate the room to create a small studio that could create rental income. Thibaut Ménard, a student and the son of the apartment’s owner, lives there now. He says he notices new architectural details in the space every single day.
“I learned to be tidier,” he says. Chinese Graphic Design from the 1920's and 1930's. Nowadays it’s hard to imagine a time when graphic design didn’t involve sitting in front of a computer screen. Perhaps that’s why it is so intriguing to look through this collection of vintage Chinese graphic designs from the 1920′s and 1930′s. The illustrations come from the book Chinese Graphic Design in the Twentieth Century by Scott Minick and Jiao Ping. Lu Xun, who introduced modern woodblock techniques to China, influenced many of the design artists at the time.
See Also IN THE HEIGHT OF THE DEPRESSION: VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE According to 50 Watts, “Lu Xun taught many Western techniques [and] he always encouraged designers to seek inspiration in Chinese design history.” You can check out more of the awesome designs on 50Watts.com. Via: 50Watts. 100 Ideas That Changed Graphic Design. By Maria Popova From visual puns to the grid, or what Edward Tufte has to do with the invention of the fine print.
Design history books abound, but they tend to be organized by chronology and focused on concrete -isms. From publisher Laurence King, who brought us the epic Saul Bass monograph, and the prolific design writer Steven Heller with design critic Veronique Vienne comes 100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design — a thoughtfully curated inventory of abstract concepts that defined and shaped the art and craft of graphic design, each illustrated with exemplary images and historical context. Idea # 16: METAPHORIC LETTERING Trying to Look Good Limits My Life (2004), part of Stefan Sagmeister’s typographic project '20 Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far.' Idea # 83: PSYCHEDELIA Gebrauchsgraphik (1968).
Idea # 31: RED WITH BLACK Heller and Vienne write in the introduction: Idea # 19: VISUAL PUNS Idea # 17: PASTICHE Idea # 80: TEEN MAGAZINES Idea # 35: EXPRESSION OF SPEED Idea # 25: MANIFESTOS. The Graff Ametis rain shower system is sleek, filled with LED lights, and sure to impress. Flash Dock — helpful photographic accessory or not-so-useful smartphone holder? IKEA introduces a clutter-free entertainment system: HDTV, media player included. You’d think that in the second decade of the 21st century, cords, wires, and antennas would be rendered obsolete. While we’re still on our way to a completely wireless lifestyle, IKEA has come up with an immediate solution to our hatred for cables with the UPPLEVA entertainment system that can discreetly hide your wires so you can enjoy a sleek and clutter-free room. The UPPLEVA system contains a smart TV that has all the outlets, USB, and HDMI slots along the sides, so it maintains a thin exterior.
All the cable wires can be stored in the back of the television stand to keep them out of sight. And a universal remote control will be able to access all of these devices, sending sensor through the doors so you can keep everything looking minimal. The smart TV that comes with the set boasts full high definition display, LED technology, Wi-Fi integration, and 2.1 surround sound system. The built-in media player is capable of running Blu-ray, DVD, and CD. Here’s how one designer reimagined the Pringles chips packaging. Pringles are pretty delicious.
Where I used to work, the HR person will often restock the kitchen’s snack table with various goodies and Pringles were always the first to run out. But the tall, narrow tube design is difficult for sharing, and the more you munch into the chips, the deeper you have to reach into the tube. That’s awkward design. In comes the redesigned packaging for Pringles by young interior designer Dohyuk Kwon who created a way for the chips to be more shareable. This Bloom Chips concept design initially seems like an ordinary tall tube we’re used to seeing, but a quick unpackaging reveals that the tube expands into a bowl. “Its mechanism is more complex than it looks,” Kwon tells Fast Company Design. The Bloom Chips design recently won a Red Dot Award under its Interior Accessories category. “I didn’t know Jiffy Pop until a few minutes ago,” Kwon replies. What do you think of this Bloom Chips packaging? Editors' Recommendations. Dyson DC39 is a Topple-Free Vacuum From the Future.
Dyson, the company that makes all those expensive and attractive vacuums and fans, has done it again. That is, it's rolled out another vacuum cleaner you might not buy but sucks up dirt in novel ways. The Dyson DC39, unveiled today, looks similar to the company's previous compact cylinder vacuums, but it's actually quite different. The DC39 reinvents the Dyson Ball design that's in some of Dyson's stand-up models and modifies it for the small form factor of a canister vacuum. Dyson says its engineers spent three years creating the design, a good chunk of which was spent modifying and miniaturizing components of the Ball. The result of those labors is a cylinder vacuum that Dyson says is its most maneuverable yet. SEE ALSO: Dyson’s New Space Heater Is Stylish, but Expensive [VIDEO] The whole vacuum mechanism is contained in a sphere-shaped canister that measures about a foot in diameter. How does Dyson build such a powerful vacuum in such a small space?
How do you like Dyson's new vacuum? Charles Eames on Design: Rare Q&A from 1972. By Maria Popova A lucid reflection on the role and culture of design by one of the most iconic and influential designers of all time. Legendary design duo Charles and Ray Eames shaped the mid-century modern aesthetic and influenced the voice of design for decades to come. They were also prolific filmmakers, perhaps best known for the iconic Powers of Ten film. In this fantastic Q&A from 1972, found on the excellent compilation The Films of Charles & Ray Eames and reproduced here in House Industries’ typography journal, Madame L’Amic of the Musee des Art s Decoratifs in Paris asks Charles Eames 29 questions about design, covering everything from the balance between form and function to the role of computers in creativity to the impact of influences. I’m particularly taken with this bit affirming remix culture and combinatorial creativity: [Is design] a creation of an individual?
You can also listen to the full audio of the interview in this Japanese video of questionable legality: Paul Rand on The Role of the Imagination. Dyson DC39 is a Topple-Free Vacuum From the Future. If contemporary standards of beauty and the beauty. Dorothy | Song Map Signed Limited Edition. Every Designer Should Start With Paper, Not Photoshop. Designers come from every background imaginable. They teach themselves, go to art school, or even begin as developers, business owners, etc. But no matter how a designer gets started, somehow the lure catches their eye and ropes them in permanently. If you’re hooked, there’s typically no going back. You’ll begin absorbing everything you possibly can, reading books, watching tutorials, attending classes or browsing inspiration online. There are so many different ways to build your skill, because design spans across all industries, from automobiles to websites and editorials to hardware. Like I said, everyone is taught differently and there really isn’t a right or wrong way to learn.
It’s genuinely tempting to begin all of your projects with a computer if you’re going to finish there in the end, but the results will be so quickly polished that you’ll settle too early. Drawing is at the heart of every design, and the best way to do it is with a pen or pencil and a sheet of paper. Advice to Sink in Slowly: Designers Share Wisdom with First-Year Students in Poster Series. By Maria Popova Unpacking the secrets of happiness and creativity one poster at a time. What better way to kick off the new year than with words of wisdom from those who have threaded before us?
That’s precisely the premise of advice to sink in slowly, a wonderful project enlisting design graduates in passing on advice and inspiration to first-year students through an ongoing series of posters — part Live Now, part Everything Is Going To Be OK, part Wisdom, part something completely refreshing, based on the idea that we all have subjective wisdom we wish we’d known earlier, but often don’t get a chance to pass it on to those who can benefit from it in a way that makes them pay heed. Advice is subjective. But, by passing on advice in a creative way, it is possible to create something that lasts, that people will want to live with and which can let the advice sink in slowly and help out later on.” 'to create ideas is a gift, but to choose wisely is a skill' by Ryan Morgan 'Be free!
' A Giant Statue of Confucius by Zhang Huan. Arab Art in the Age of Revolution. For many Arabs, 2011 has been spent peacefully resisting police brutality, or watching events unfold through Twitter streams and grainy YouTube footage. As the Arab Spring enters its second year, the initial shock has begun to die down, and Arab artists have begun to reflect on the incidents of the past year. Memories will perhaps consist of YouTube clips of shaky mobile phone footage, strung together over the nostalgic music. From the jubilant panoramic view of millions of people in Tahrir Square in early February to more recent images of brutality in Egypt, Yemen and Syria, scenes that have been burnt into our minds over the past year will undoubtedly feed into the cultural and artistic expressions of the new generation of Arab artists.
In a photo-essay for the National Portrait Gallery, Malu Halasa reflects on the 2011 Arab revolutions and what it means for contemporary Arab photography, documentary and art. Making of Streamschool. A little girl has an adventure with water as she travels from a small brook to the sea. A tale of growing up based on a Hungarian poem. Streamschool was my graduation film in BA Animation at Moholy- Nagy University of Arts and Design. I chose the poem from a Hungarian contemporary poet called Zsolt Miklya to make a short film for children. The production was only two months long because at the same time I was attending an animation course called ASF (Animation Sans Frontieres) and the rest of that term was really short. When I had the final idea in mind I asked my friend Kati Egely to do the backgrounds for my film (she makes beautiful pictures and puppets using different textiles). THE 2 MONTH PRODUCTION with DRAGONFRAME After the tests the production has started. My aim was to make all the effects in stop motion instead of using computer generated ones.
LATER ON... From Frida Kahlo to Freud, Finger Puppets of Cultural Icons. By Maria Popova Unibrows for fingers, or what Einstein’s ‘do has to do with silent film and the Cuban Revolution. A little over a year ago, I came across a line of literary action figures that quickly became a reader favorite. (Let’s face it, the Brontë Sisters power dolls render one powerless to resist.) Now comes a series of finger-puppets-slash-magnets from the folks at Philosophers Guild, depicting cultural icons across the arts (Warhol, Van Gogh), science (Einstein, Freud), politics (Gandhi, Che Guevara) and beyond. Ranging from the delightful (Come on, it’s Frida Kahlo. As a finger puppet.) to the borderline inappropriate (The Buddha, really?) To the comically charming (How adorable is fuzzy-haired Einstein?) Andy Warhol Vincent Van Gogh Sigmund Freud The Buddha Charlie Chaplin Mahatma Gandhi Che Guevara Sherlock Holmes Shakespeare Albert Einstein Frida Kahlo Donating = Loving Bringing you (ad-free) Brain Pickings takes hundreds of hours each month.
Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter. Asia Today: Chinese Fashion Designers Enter Online Luxury Market; Take Prada and Gucci to Task. This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate. ... the ... Chinese designers are coming into the spotlight in China's fast growing fashion world and every time you watching Asia today ... I'm joined by a light and style editor here in Asia and to buy ... Andrea so what's the golden opportunity here so ... as we've known for Wilder's huge appetite in China for one tree products ... the conventional thinking and so pretty recently is that that was can be limits to Western brands Gucci Burberry ...
Prada that's real thing ... but now the thinking is that ... China has this homegrown talent their designers working they're starting to get noticed and so maybe it's time for them to gets more attention ... as if they're in Ally Nouvelle China recently picked a handful of them tell me about that right so ... on ... Design Lessons From India's Poorest Neighborhoods. "Jugaad" is a Hindi term referring to the ingenuity of citizens living in resource-constrained environments, a concept from which New Yorkers might derive some enlightenment.
Enter Jugaad Urbanism: Resourceful Strategies for Indian Cities, an exhibition created with the help of curator Kanu Agrawal that opens at New York's Center for Architecture next week. The exhibition is "design by the people, for the people, of Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Pune," says Agrawal, and showcases everyday innovations of slum-dwelling residents and the designers and architects who work around them.
Agrawal, a Delhi native, studied at New Delhi's School of Planning and Architecture and worked with the acclaimed Achyut P. Kanvinde, and later completed his Master's in Environmental Design from the Yale School of Architecture. Kanvinde was one of the first to bring modern design to India. But the jugaad exhibit presents a different take on modern urbanism in India--that of the everyman. 3.5 Inches - Dustin Curtis. I’ve been wondering why Apple chose to make the iPhone 4’s screen 3.5-inches when other comparable phones with Android and Windows Phone 7 have larger, more inviting screens. When you first see a phone with a 4-inch or larger screen, it seems like a much better experience.
I thought it was a technical decision, and it could be, but since switching to an Android phone – a Samsung Galaxy S II, the “best Android phone you can buy, anywhere” – 15 days ago, I have realized another huge downside of larger screens: when holding the phone with one hand, I can’t reach the other side of the screen with my thumb. Touching the upper right corner of the screen on the Galaxy S II using one hand, with its 4.27-inch screen, while you’re walking down the street looking at Google Maps, is extremely difficult and frustrating. This is an example of one of those design decisions that you don’t usually notice until you see someone doing it wrong.