By Mimi Zou - September 26, 2011
The subject of aesthetics is one of changing paradigms and endless intrigue. In objects, just as with subjects, the meaning of “beautiful” has evolved perpetually with time. But one decision spares debate: given two which only differ in aesthetics, the one we consider more beautiful will always remain.
By Mansour Oursanah - September 12, 2011
Since the dawn of civilization tools have been an extension of humanity. Today more than ever humans and their tools are inseparable. I’ve noticed that for the past couple of years I’ve gone to sleep with my laptop and my phone flanking my bed. An observation I’ve taken for granted but that has categorically reshaped my night and morning routines. My two “goddesses— to borrow a meme from Charlie Sheen— are the first things I touch when I wake up-no pun intended: one to check the time and the other to absorb information I missed while I was asleep. Despite this often symbiotic relationship I have with my two favorite tools, I’m never satisfied; I’m always left wanting more. I’m not alone…..almost everyone wants more out of their tools and designers are no exception.
By Kristina Loring - September 12, 2011
We know at frog that good design can improve the experience for life’s problems both large and small. That’s why frog teamed up with Dune Road Design to create a product that alleviates the chaos and frustration of rogue headphone cords. Thus, the Sinch was born: a new, high-design answer to the problem of keeping smart device cords tangle-free.
By Kajsa Westman - August 22, 2011
A lifecycle analysis of a design before it flies is tough task, the specs are likely to not exist prior to the product being on the market. It’s next to impossible to locate the hidden toxic traps, logistic nightmares, and energy thieves without expensive testing of the supply chain form start to finish. It’s also possible to miss out on finding better logistic solutions, material and energy savings as well as consumer benefits.
So how about a middle way, a lifecycle guesstimation?
By Max Burton - August 17, 2011
Google’s purchase of Motorola’s mobile phone division was major news on Monday, but not entirely surprising to industry insiders. Indeed, a fierce battle has been raging in the smart-phone world, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. The ultimate winner will largely control the future trajectory of personal computing.
By Charles Ambler - August 15, 2011
Upon stepping off the plane in Milan, Italy, I was immediately faced with a startling realization: I do not speak Italian.
By Jonathan Rowell - August 8, 2011
The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
-Alan Kay
By Cormac Eubanks - July 25, 2011
I ride a motorcycle, and, it's true, I'm also gearhead ... and a mechanical engineer. So it is no surprise that when my friends go shopping for a new motorbike, I'm typically the first place they come for advice. One of the conversations that happens frequently is that someone will ask me for a café-racer or sport bike recommendation. As their friend, I'm torn between helping them fulfill their motorcycle fantasy, or telling them the cold hard truth: sexy bikes are hard to live with—really hard to live with. But why? Well, if we take a closer look, we will notice that all the things that make a café racer or sport bike look cool aren’t there for aesthetic reasons. Each of them is actually a functional design element born from racing, and racing is focused on performance, not on little things like creature comfort, rideability, and ease of use (all things a first time rider will definitely need to get into riding).
By Anton Ljunggren - July 17, 2011
In 2008, China went through one of the most severe food scandals of recent time. Milk producers had mixed the industrial chemical Melamine, normally used in adhesive, plastic, and fertilizer, into milk. In an attempt to inflate the volume of milk produced it was diluted with water. The Melamine was added to trick the quality tests to perceive the milk water mix as 100% milk since the chemical reads as a protein in certain tests. Instead of providing the expected nutrition children who drank the milk got kidney damage. 300,000 children were sickened and several died.
By Howard Nuk - July 11, 2011
ECOtality began installations of its Blink Level 2 Residential Charging Stations in EV Project regions nationwide in December 2010, and since then has completed more than 1,200 installations. The company recently began installation of Blink Pedestal chargers in commercial and publically accessible locations over the past month, and held celebration events earlier last month in Arizona and Oregon. As part of The EV Project, ECOtality aims to have all public and commercial charging stations installed, including approximately 1,000 units in Washington State, by the end of the year.
