Fire Tubs

A new Dutch design has come out for a self-sufficient hot tub, no electricity needed. You first fill the hot tub with water. Then, in a small container attached to it, you start a wood fire. The heat from the fire goes directly toward heating the water.
Why have we never seen this? While you do have to plan ahead with something like this (because it can take up to two and a half hours to heat up), I think this would be a very sought after item. Once you make the initial purchase, you never have to pay for electricity. I would love to have one and I think it’s so clever. http://3rings.designerpages.com/2008/02/26/dutchtub/

Going up

Yesterday I read an article on Core77 about this new “X-series Dellegno” TV design. It is a projection screen that is hidden. You can make it rise up when you want to use it and hide it away when you are not using it. The idea of this is interesting and very clever. We already have projection screens that can come down (such as in classrooms), but I have never seen them go up. While this is a clever idea, new flatscreen 50” TVs are still the big hipe. TVs are generally placed in many rooms as the center of attention. I like this new concept though. 

http://www.beamax.com/x-series-dellegno

There is a new bottled water company in New York these days. The company is called “Tap’d NY”. They made a sleek design of a water bottle, filled it with tap water, and marked it to New Yorkers (who supposedly think their water is the best anyway). On the bottle, they are very honest about the whole thing. It states that “no glaciers were harmed making this water”.
I found this article pretty interesting. In terms of bottled water, nobody really knows the truth anyway. We wonder if our water was really shipped in from another part of the world and if bottle water is really better, cleaner, or somehow healthier for us.
Personally, I like tap water and have no problem with drinking it. I don’t buy water because I like one kind over the other… I buy or drink water because I’m thirsty. I will say though, the design of the bottle, webpage, etc is very modern and would make people want to buy it without thinking. 

http://tapdny.com/

I read an article today on about a project that a Spanish designer named Cristina Ferraz Rigo did at the Royal College of Art. Her project was called “(DE)light”.  For this project, she created liquids that would glow- illuminating objects that they were in.
I enjoyed reading about the future implications of the idea. At first it reminded me of those glow sticks that we all play with when we are little. They have a similar idea, using light as a liquid. However, reading Rigo’s ideas, she said that she “was curious about the fact that domestic lighting has not changed…since Edison’s invention”. She was speaking about the fact that you always need a power source and a physical device.
This also reminded me of some MIT projects in which they incorporated pieces of the background into our everyday lives. They looked at new ways to modify objects.

http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/as_literal_as_liquid_light_gets_11075.asp#more

Marketing to the third world

I read an article in the archives of core77.com about designing for what they call the BoP (bottom of the pyramid). They also refer to this targeted audience as the “next billion consumers”. They are speaking of many of the developing countries that are untouched by some of the marketing ploys that are targeted to the rest of the world.
I found an interesting article because it goes into the fact that people in other countries make decisions based on other sets of values. Thus, global marketing is scaled down to specific regions and their influences. The part that I found most interesting was the fact that designers have to look at practical products for a country like Africa. The people may only have a small amount of expendable money so the items that they buy outside of their basic needs will have to be ones that will last or be functional for them on a daily basis.
They gave an example outlining how Nokia is a large provider in such countries. One item that they offer is a cell phone that is a “shared phone”.
This also made me think of an article that I read a few months ago about a water pump in Africa called the “Elephant pump”.

http://www.core77.com/blog/featured_items/design_for_the_next_billion_customers_by_niti_bhan_and_dave_tait_9368.asp

Military Use

Humans will be replaceable, or at least their limbs will be. This article talks about the military’s effort to use stem cell research to reconstruct limbs, skin, etc… that are lost. Would this mean that injuries could no longer get people out of going to war? The concept of stem cell research is not completely new to me, as it has been in the media for quite some time. The fact that the military would use this to their advandage is pretty wild though.


http://www.pantopicon.be/blog/2007/07/28/regenerative-medicine/
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49610

Review

I read about designer Jake Loniak’s concept for a “Wearable Motorcycle” today. The basic idea is crazy and yet very smart. Firstly, I’m sure it would get great gas mileage, which is something that is always on the minds of automobile companies as the price of gas increases constantly. Secondly, there has been an on going trend with cars. It seems that people are either looking for the smallest or biggest car they can get their hands on. The size makes me think of Smart Cars, Vespas, etc.; however, I have yet to see some kind of vehicle that is compact. A vehicle such as the “wearable motorcycle” is one that (once the passenger is out) can fold up. I found it very interesting.

youtube.com/watch?v=tmHkj6nD-DU

Research Project 1

I have chosen to aim my podcast at people known as "neo-hippies". I am currently still debating about the name for the group. One possible name is "Woodstock Notion".

I'd like to stick to the ages of 18-28

“The tribal connection that led musical gypsies to roam from festival to festival back then is alive and well today. There's a fresh generation of idealistic, neo-hippies flocking to a new round of regional music festivals. The tie-dye-clad, dread-locked, Frisbee-tossing, barefoot masses camp en masse, dance all night and share the love at such mega-fests as Coachella in California and Bonnaroo in Tennessee.”

Here are a few of my research sites describing the targeted audience:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?defid=49251&term=Neo-Hippie

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080822/ENT/808220313/1005/ent

This design is pretty clever. It is such a simple design and yet it is something that most people wouldn’t think to make. Once you see it, you have an epiphany… an “aha” moment, like “why would I never think about that?” I guess that’s what design always is.
I do not own an iphone. However, if I did own one, then I would consider a home solution like this in order to help store everything in an organized manner.

I absolutely LOVE these Solar Trees. Firstly, I think the look of the design is very chic and modern. I love the colors. I love the organic, sophisticated feel of the design. Also, I like the idea of having solar powered lights. This is an idea that’s been growing. While these solar trees are on a much smaller scale, the concept makes me think of the “First Zero Energy Media Wall” known as “Greenpix”. It is an enlarged wall of led lights in China, created by Simone Giostra and Partners, that soaks up solar energy during the day and projects images at night.

http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/interview_with_the_greenpix_zero_energy_media_wall_10959.asp