The Design blog

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• Ion Workstation makes the office space more cubicle free and worker friendly
• iTree is a massive iPod stand made from an entire bark
• Food preparation is simplified by employing both board and bin together
• Recycled pulp used to fashion doughnut shaped Pulpop MP3 speaker
• PIAFF is a reinterpretation of traditional bird house for modern outdoor ambiance
• A hint of precociousness turns your iPhone into the Channel of Mindfulness.. Let’s iMeditate..
• Guinness Dead Sea Bar built inside a submarine
• Orbit brings about a revolution in cabin crew's life
• PENSA'S new concept provides the much needed battery charging points to commuters
• Reignite the splendor of fireplace in the warmth of your living room

Ion Workstation makes the office space more cubicle free and worker friendly Posted: 21 May 2012 05:52 AM PDT Asmita Prasad: Anybody who has ever worked in an office would tell you how cumbersome it can be to sit in a cubicle all day surrounded by bulky computers, phones, a ton of files, folder and other stuff that leaves little room on the desk when you actually need to use the space. Moreover, for every staff meeting, group discussion, coffee or lunch break or even a process like copying and scanning documents, office employees have to leave their desks and move to yet another part of the floor (or building) to get this work done. The Ion Workstation by designer Chris Goodenbour is an alternative solution to the traditional cubical system used in offices to provide an interactive and employee-friendly space for workers. Ion Workstation Fitted with a bunch of touchscreen surfaces, the Ion Workstation is designed to make the office layout more ergonomic and productive with walls that go up and down on demand. It allow workers to retract walls when they need to have a meeting over an open desk so that they do not need to move themselves and their files to a meeting room to exchange ideas and paperwork. All the work surfaces in the Ion Workstation feature touch-enabled technology like the Microsoft Surface that form the three walls of the cubicle, the desks as well as the actual work surfaces. This allows employees to sync their portable devices like tablet computers or smartphones and even data storage devices to instantly sync with the touchscreen surface to simplify the process of data sharing and transfer in an office. Since all the surfaces are composed of touchscreens, the need for equipping an office with computer monitors, keyboards, scanners and projectors becomes redundant and frees a lot of space in the otherwise cluttered offices. Created keeping in mind the needs of the design-intensive offices like fashion houses, advertising agencies, print publications and even financial institutions that rely heavily on data presentation, the Ion Workstation features a Wacom Cintiq-like drawing tablet technology that is coupled with a "Drag and Drop" function which allows workers to digitally "pin" notes, "post its", reminders, memos and even drawings and sketches on the walls of their cubicles which can later be shared with others when needed. The retraction function of the walls of the Ion Workstation cubicle works just like a car window. With all the cubicle walls down, an entire office floor can be turned into a conference room or groups of cubicles can lower their shared walls to interact with each other and pass notes digitally. The wire-free Ion Workstation is also designed to be Bluetooth ready to make data exchange even easier and helps offices save electricity as well as office space. [Cheers Chris]

iTree is a massive iPod stand made from an entire bark Posted: 21 May 2012 05:47 AM PDT Radhicka S Saxena: iPod and iPhone accessories are all game for the going green mantra. Here is another design that makes Apple knick knacks toxin free and eco friendly. The enormous iTree speaker system will have you staring mouth agape. Made from the trunk of an entire tree, this one makes it a point to flash across its clean and green design. The dock was designed by Portugal based KMKG studio in collaboration with speaker manufacturer Trenner & Friedl. iTree is an iPod Docking Station.2 The design is jaw dropping and exquisite. The acoustics from this one will tear down the roof. The tree trunk has been hollowed and the mounted with hi-end speakers. The sound deflecting from the speakers which are mounted at the back is resonating and thundering. The expansive and spatial sound experience mimics the working of a piano or violin. You can choose the design in poplar, spruce or cherry and even bring a tree that was chopped down in your backyard. The piece is hand crafted by carpenters in southern Austria. Although showy and pompous, really wondering if despite being eco friendly, this design is sustainable. So much wood used for making just one stand does stand for excessive consumption. But if parading trappings and gloating over belongings is your style, then you can take a look at it. The design and layout are worthy of the bold and loud statement the piece makes. Also, you might want to take measurement inside your house before you stash this piece. Because even if you live in a king sized mansion, you have to think about niceties like movement and traffic flow before you station a full sized piece like this one. Which definitely means that modest and unassuming proletariats can forget about buying it. As it is, a price of €11000 or $14982 is out of their humble reach. Via: Inhabitat

Food preparation is simplified by employing both board and bin together Posted: 21 May 2012 05:32 AM PDT Shallu Sharma: Love to cook and eat? Here comes an innovative creation by Nicole Dolan in form of a chopping board and a compost bin. The combination has been designed to aid domestic food preparation. First let's talk about the chopping board. The chopping board is raised with 3 compartments beneath with two of them to catch vegetables and one to catch the peel. The vegetable holding compartments also act as a colander that can be used by the user to drain the water out. You just have to tip it to one side and then tip it back to stop it dripping. On the other hand, bin has got to lids with smaller one for quick disposals and the full lid when whole bin is to be emptied. The bin also fits the chopping board compartment that holds the peel. Board and Bin The Braun logo has been used to unify the design of the Board and Bin. Complementary colors like white and orange color have been used because they suit most kitchens. The middle tray is shorter and is used to catch the unwanted vegetable parts and also helps in removing the lid easily. Trays 1 and 3 have got holes on one side for draining water. All the trays stack inside together to make storage as compact as possible. Its usage is very simple, you just have to unpack the chopping board and set it up. Peel and chop the desired vegetables or even meat or fish products. Now simply push the peel in the middle compartment and food to the left or right tray. Remove the lid and wash the food with water and now tip the tray to drain the water out. Now food is ready to be placed into the saucepan. Now go back to the table to collect the middle tray and open the small lid on the compost bin and tip the peel in. Now you can place the empty trays and the main board in the sink and rinse with water. Small handles have been provided on either side of the bin for easy grip while in the kitchen and emptying it in the bigger bin. Via: Nicole Dolan Design

Recycled pulp used to fashion doughnut shaped Pulpop MP3 speaker Posted: 21 May 2012 05:29 AM PDT Asmita Prasad: High power consuming audio speakers aren't your best bet if you're trying to take the green turn and introduce more eco friendly elements into your home. Fortunately, there are a few innovations like this mp3 speaker made from recycled paper pulp called the Pulpop MP3 speaker. Shaped like a doughnut, the speaker is the brainchild of Balance Wu Design that uses the space inside its hollowed out ring and the surface on which it sits to boost the audio from a source using flat vibration speaker technology. Doughnut-shaped Pulpop MP3 speaker While the unusual shape of the Pulpop MP3 speaker may be amusing for most music lovers and the recycled paper pulp body may sound appealing to anyone who wants to go green. The fact that the design studio used high pressure and high temperature to mold the hollow loop doughnut shape does make us wonder how much carbon emissions took place during the manufacturing of one of these and since paper has never been known to be a great conductor of sound, whether the paper pulp paste used to fashion the hollow ring of the supposedly eco friendly Pulpop MP3 speaker can deliver the kind of output that its bamboo and sustainably-harvested wood counterparts can. And since the internal wiring and other circuitry of the Pulpop MP3 speaker would need to be stripped out before you can leave your speaker out to turn into fertilizer in the compost pit in your backyard, it also makes us wonder whether the speaker is as biodegradable as one would ideally want their consumer products to be. Measuring 259 x 294 x 60 mm, the Pulpop MP3 speaker can be charged via a USB charging port and the power is stored inside a rechargeable battery good for 3.7V/600mA of power. With a 5-watts RMS output, the Pulpop MP3 speaker can be mated to any digital music player via a 3.5mm input jack. The Pulpop MP3 speaker is priced at $56. Via: Gizmag

PIAFF is a reinterpretation of traditional bird house for modern outdoor ambiance Posted: 21 May 2012 05:26 AM PDT Jaspreet Kaur Walia: If you have ever been to the woods, then the chirping of birds must have definitely caught your fancy. The sweet chirps have a magical effect and can enliven anyone in no time at all. City space lacks this charm and even spotting a bird house in such modern packed spaces is nothing less than a dream. Bending the charm of the striking design of a conventional German bird house and lightweight material cork is industrial designer Vitor De Castro Lopes with PIAFF. PIAFF The design of this speaker is an all new aspect of a bird house and the aura of chirping, which will blend seamlessly in this modern era where such simple pleasures have long been forgotten due to a busy life that people lead. The design of PIAFF has been crafted out of carefully picked materials, which include cork, plywood, speaker and painting of its outer skin. The best part being, all these materials used have been sources out of nautical engineering applications, which resulted in a design that is not only technically functional but also eye catching. PIAFF has been made as a part of the collective TIVD proposal, which saw designers from various countries come up with designs that are a reinterpretation of some traditional designs and have been fashioned out of various materials. This high definition speaker will add magic to an outside space and will rev up the mood with its simple yet captivating design. [Cheers Vitor]

A hint of precociousness turns your iPhone into the Channel of Mindfulness.. Let’s iMeditate.. Posted: 21 May 2012 02:06 AM PDT Shallu Sharma: A cellphone is undoubtedly a convenience and a boon in critical situations but the last thing that a cell phone is, is a source of peace! Yup, A mobile phone makes you accessible when you least want to be, wakes you up when you would like to just submit to the throes of relaxation, push you closer to events and chores you'd like to avoid. The list is just ceaseless, affirming that there are always two sides to a coin. But what if it was said that your phone could become your medium to achieve the highest state of personal peace and joy, where you revel in soothing contemplation and nothingness? Well, the genius of Dutch designer Yufan wang has morphed your average iPhone into a transformational meditation device. Check it out. wheel for iPhone “Channel of mindfulness” is the name of this “device of contemplation” which in essence is a dock combined with an app. Together, the app and the dock are akin to the Tibetan prayer wheel. The materials employed in its built are wood, leather, plastic and metal. As alluded to earlier, the design and utility of the dock are centered around the prayer wheel in which the user has to remain focused in spinning the accessory bearing arm in a constant circular fashion, at a steady pace. The steady motion produces sounds that assist in better focus and meditative practice. If the user loses the steady tempo, the sounds lose their actual resonance encouraging the user to stay focused. The tuning knob integrated with the iPhone from the side of the case. The users also have the option to choose from a range of meditative sounds. Due to the inherent property of the iPhone to detect user location, it is also possible to choose sounds related to nearby locales. For instance, being close to a water body, one can choose the sounds of waves or being close to a church, the sounds of the tower bell can be played in the device. A frequency track of one of the six solfeggio frequencies overplays the natural sounds. These frequencies are supposed to boost meditative faculties in humans leading to an assisted and easier arrival of the all peaceful and transcendental state. Via: Designboom

Guinness Dead Sea Bar built inside a submarine Posted: 21 May 2012 02:03 AM PDT Radhicka S Saxena: Guinness surely knows how to celebrate and the world famous beer label did go all the way to mark its 250th anniversary. The idea of a submarine turned bar does sound like quite a stretch. But the company took to it and commissioned a $125000 bar to be built inside a submarine. The liner, dubbed as Guinness Dead Sea Bar, will be created by London based Jump Studios. submersible bar This undoubtedly is a good way to commemorate the episode of brewer Arthur Guinness contracting lease for the St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin for an astounding 9000 years. The submarine bar will be launched in waters of the Baltic off Stockholm in Sweden. It has been designed to reflect the brands trademark slogan- 'Alive Inside.' The harp logo of the company along with a sign that reads 250 in rivets has been stamped outside the vessel. The submarine's shell was constructed using six different modular components. Surface pressure will be maintained inside as the vessel will retain contact with the surface of the water all the time. In fact, the concept is a lot like the numerous liners that ferry passengers on short underwater trips. The interiors are pretty submarine like with the porthole windows and all that. The seating and tables are kind of camouflaged and merge into the walls of the cruiser. The glass reinforced plastic interior has fluid lines and looks quite runny. The whole layout with the bubble like design imprinted inside is a stark representation of the jaunt you're about to embark on in this liner. Also, the LEDs and glass holders entrenched into the surface of tables add immensely to the look of the interiors. Via: Dvice

Orbit brings about a revolution in cabin crew's life Posted: 21 May 2012 02:01 AM PDT Sahil Khurana: Orbit is an ingenious aircraft trolley design by Heather Dunne. Keeping in mind the convenience of the air cabin crew and the passengers on board, the designer has crafted out the ultimate utility trolley. Orbit can be used for delivering food and other condiments to the passengers with utmost ease and comfort. Orbit The trolley's size has been reduced drastically, especially in terms of the width. Further more, the movable contraption has been fitted with in built motors, which propel the tray of food to the top, making distribution all the more easy and convenient. As soon as the top tray is out of stuff, the lower trays which are filled with food move to the top, saving the person from bending again and again. There are separate compartments built for storing cold and hot food items. This is all related to storage. However, what truly sets the trolley apart is the functioning. The exteriors of the device have been made in a very user friendly way, making it all the more ergonomic and economical. The wheels at the base have been fitted into a track like system, preventing the trolley from moving forward or backwards during times of turbulence. This, without any doubt, is an excellent thought which is penned down on paper. What sets it truly apart is the ingenuity which goes into converting the whole idea from a blueprint to reality. Any takers for this brilliant idea? [Cheers Heather]

PENSA'S new concept provides the much needed battery charging points to commuters Posted: 21 May 2012 01:46 AM PDT Jaspreet Kaur Walia: Often, it so happens that you're expecting an urgent call and frantically looking for the nearest plug point to charge your phone. Your battery is on its last hinges and you're holding on to the last spark to just take that one phone call which may change your life. But at the end moment, your luck plays foul and your phone shuts down. Urban Oasis The above mentioned situation can happen to anyone, given the wide variety of fancy phones we all invest in. But, it may not be possible for you to keep looking for a shop to charge your cell phone all the time. More than often, the guilt of using the electrical socket will only bear you down. To get rid of such worrisome consciences, designer studio PENSA has come up with the brilliant idea to charge your phone, right on the street. Now, no need to go into coffee shops and other public places just to charge your cellphone battery. PENSA has titled their idea as the "urban intervention". They have touted their idea in a very clever way, as it requires minimal investment and absolutely no real estate investments. They have fitted charging points right onto the street signs, which have further been fixed up with solar cells to provide the power. Charge your phone free of cost, and no one will ever be wiser. With this power in place, one would not need to keep worrying about losing that precious last bit of battery for checking an important email or listening to your favorite song for one last time. Everything in its place with PENSA's new futuristic concept. Via: Fastcodesign

Reignite the splendor of fireplace in the warmth of your living room Posted: 21 May 2012 01:45 AM PDT Shallu Sharma: We have been reading about the domestication of fire by man since ages and with the advent of the technology, the design of living spaces and fireplaces has showed increasing bend towards concealment to arouse curiosity. The project that we are going to discuss here is based on the same lines and it supports the fact that the fire is and will always remain essential to our lives. The radiant stove has been named on a Latin word "Ignis" which means, "fire". The stove not only produces light and heat but also spreads soothing dreamlike ambiance in the living room. Ignis Fireplace The creative design of the fireplace offers scattered light, which integrates functional and emotional aspects and forms a relaxed meeting place for family and friends. The setup supports front as well as central part configuration and distributes heat gently. It acts as a light filter for light emitted by the fire and the soft mix of shadow and light forms a perfect facade. The flickering, diffused light is transposed with yellowish glow with fire sparks in the air adding to its radiant effect. The fireplace works as a true piece of furniture with clear lines and shapes. The design offers sleekness and it has been crafted keeping in mind various indoor environments. The creation is so beautifully dramatized by light that it does not disturb the reading. The walls have been kept perforated for keeping the mobile device veiled. The walls slide on a rail making interaction with the fire quite easy. It also allows hidden, partially hidden, or fully visible fire view. The right side of the fireplace can serve as a wood reserve and the upper portion offers space for accommodating objects. The use of cast iron feet brings about stability and lightness and the design offers quite a range of colors to suit your interiors. Via: Julienbergignat

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