“Tear Off” Wallpaper by ZNAK Applying wallpaper to walls has never been so fun. With this perforated “tear off” wallpaper from ZNAK, you can customize the appearance of your space by tearing off the pieces as you please. The wallpaper is created out of non-woven material and the shapes are inspired by the the transformation process of snakes. Transition Shoes by Nicholas Couch Transition is a “back to basics” sustainably made running shoe that follows the barefoot style principle. Traditional running shoes are made of 52 components. This shoe is only made of 5. Transition Shoes is a 2011 IDEA Awards Winner! Designer: Nicholas Couch
A Pylon for the Future Finalists A competition to find a new design for the British electricity pylon, launched by RIBA, DECC and National Grid, has been short listed to just six concepts, which are now on show at an exhibition. Launched to coincide with the London Design Festival, the energy secretary opened the "A Pylon for the Future" display at the V&A in London. Judges chose the finalists from 250 entries, who have been working with the National Grid to build scale models of their designs. "Britain will see the equivalent of 20 new power stations constructed by 2020, and we need to transport this new, low carbon energy to our televisions and toasters, dishwashers and DVD players," Mr Huhne said. "We must make sure that we take into account the visual impact on the landscape and also the view of the public, and this is what the Pylon Design Competition is all about. The winning team will be given a prize of £10,000 and their design could be picked up by the National Grid.
4 Glasses in 1: From Water to Wine, Champagne or Cognac Does it ever strike you as strange that we have so many objects dedicated to drinking? Unlike food, which comes in many consistencies, liquid is relatively uniform. This all-purpose beverage glass plays to different kinds of Connoisseur without compromising its essential shape or requiring that you store glassware for every occasion. Simply want water? No stem or attachment is required for this most basic, day-to-day function. For cognac drinkers, an angled base tilts the tableware to let it breath better – turning it into an effective side-tilted snifter. Sven Milcent &?
Ride The Alien A worker checks the finishing on a motorcycle made from recycled materials of spare parts from cars and bicycles at a workshop owned by Roongrojna Sangwongprisarn in Bangkok July 27, 2011. Roongrojna, 54, creates his artworks from recycled spare parts from used cars, motorcycles as well as bicycles. With four shops in Bangkok named “Ko Art Shop”, Roongrojna also exports his artworks to clients all over the world. (REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang) Artist Roongrojna Sangwongprisarn inflates air into the rear tire of a motorcycle made from recycled materials of spare parts from cars and bicycles at a workshop in Bangkok on Wednesday, July 27. Spread your love!
A Rollercoaster Designed to Kill Humanely It’s a ride definitely not for the faint-hearted—a PhD candidate in Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art has designed a hypothetical rollercoaster meant to kill. Julijonas Urbonas created his coaster as a hypothetical euthanasia machine; it will, he claims, take lives as humanely and euphorically as possible. “Riding the coaster’s track, the rider is subjected to a series of intensive motion elements that induce various unique experiences: from euphoria to thrill, and from tunnel vision to loss of consciousness and, eventually, death,” he wrote on his website. The 500-meter structure is designed to kill its rider from cerebral hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen supply to the brain. Urbonas said he was inspired to create the rollercoaster by a quote from John Allen, former president of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company: “The ultimate rollercoaster is built when you send out 24 people and they all come back dead. [via Boing Boing] Receive interesting stories like this one in your inbox
Emergent Patterns: Game Wallpapers Beat Dull Wall Decor Repeating patterns are at the heart of most wallpapers, as they are part of the core of many simple, old-school, paper-and-pen games. While elementary in design (and execution), these basic black-and-white wallpaper designs feature an element of creative, unique and ultimately unpredictable emergent design that makes them grow more complex with tiime. The first layer – the original printed design – is as simple as it gets: a series of mazes, tic-tac-toe boards and crossword puzzles that naturally lend themselves to virtually infinite extension in any direction. Created by CinqCinq, these have been placed as the backdrops of art installations and waiting room interiors- perfect places to encourage spontaneous interaction. By setting out specific colors of pencil, pen, crayon or marker, the designer (or space owner) gets to exert another level of control but ultimately leaves the finished product in the hands of people who pass through a given space.
10 Bizarre Green Ideas! « Epic Swag If you waste too much water, you might end up killing your pet! The water level restores to normal when the tap is off. Even though designer Yan Lu received a letter from PETA saying “environmental education does not require cruelty to animals”, yet an emotional way to persuade consumers to think about saving water will always work. (Link) When this concept of printer by Hoyoung Lee becomes a reality, you’ll never need to buy an ink cartridge or join those pencil stubs to make a longer pencil. The Crown Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark, is offering a free meal to any guest who is able to produce electricity for the hotel on an exercise bike attached to a generator. Here is a shower by designer Tommaso Colia that kicks you out for wasting water. It is very important to conserve energy and is even more important to make kids learn the good habits to conserve energy. White Goat as it has been named is a machine that turns waste office paper into toilet paper.
Patchwork Orange: Art of Fixing Buildings with LEGO Blocks A missing brick here and chipped stone there show the normal marks of wear and tear on the structures and streets of a city, but filling them in with multi-colored LEGO bricks makes them stand out in sharp relief with their surroundings – especially in a place like Berlin. Titled ‘Dispatchwork’ (a linguistic play on ‘dispatching’ and ‘patching’ the holes), this is part urban art installation, part historical highlighting (since many of the gaps date back to World War II) and part method of calling attention to buildings that could use some help. Jan Vormann has been toying with LEGO pieces for a long time in various artistic capacities – as well as infilling structural holes with mirrors and other attention-getting materials. It may look haphazard at first, but there is an art to the process: identifying gaps is naturally subjective, and filling them in is both a creative and crafty act that can involve turning corners and working with existing structural details.
Amazing cube gears [Video] UPDATE: Thanks to the kinds words from Dan Herkimer I have found out that the video for this post has been switch to private and is no longer available. My apologies for this turn of events and I will update further if the video turns up again. Looking at that image above and the last thing you would think is that it can actually act like interlocking gears after all there isn’t a completely round gear to be seen anywhere on that cube. Well prepare for Thingiverse user dougc314 to blow your mind with this screwless cube gears that does what would seem to be the impossible. And people wonder why I love technology and people’s incredible ability to move beyond the common place and accepted norms to bring us the incredible. via Geeks are Sexy and MAKE
Space Saving Tiny Apartment, New York This tiny but highly sophisticated studio apartment in the East Village of NYC has made us very proud, thanks to JPDA. Not only was it built as a super efficient multi-functional unit but with the use of detailed mill work, the storage capacity was very cleverly executed and resulted in a super stylish studio with a decent amount of floor space. Shouldn’t all NYC dwellers aim to live like this? You decide… A schematic rendering demonstrates a realistic plan for this tiny apartment. Although we’re not too sure how realistic that cubbyhole at the crown of the loft is in a NYC apartment building, the rest of the space makes perfect sense. This tiny living/work space is beautifully masked with natural light and looks so inviting! This mezzanine bedroom is constructed with beautiful teak wood that houses hidden storage compartments… What great use of typically neglected storage space…. Well lit and highly efficient modern kitchen has beautiful appliances and plenty of counter space.