mightaswell: August 2004

The Hidden Persuader :an adblog

Adrants Advertising links

Adrants Advertisinglinks

Ad blog

( click on image to see the commercial)

Served up with a bit of attitude and suggestive snark, adrants provides coverage of unique, non-traditional and offbeat advertising that has separated itself from standard fare. Reporting on the brilliance and idiocy of the media and advertising industry, Adrants offers subversive comment on the questionable, the absurd, the new and the noteworthy. Everything from new campaign launches to useful facts and figures to odd little items from the fringe are delivered with wit, humor and sarcasm.

{link tru boingboing }

Flushh....

Most toilets nowadays are fairly low flow, some as low as 1/2 gallon per flush. A few incorporate a 'foam flush' system, which uses a soap-infused bubbly slurry to wash away waste with as little as 3 ounces of water. But these toilets can be difficult to maintain, and may not be convenient for a consumer's home use. A system which used greywater for the flush would essentially be getting that water for free, since it had already been used once.

read the entire article from IDfuel

Beyond Brilliance, Beyond Stupidity

Beyond Brilliance, Beyond Stupidity is a double weblog maintained by Nick Aster ( info@646industries.com ) It's primary focus is urban and environmental issues, with a particular emphasis on transportation and occasional wanderings into other areas.

IDFuel, the Industrial Design Weblog

IDFuel, the Industrial Design Weblog: "Most toilets nowadays are fairly low flow, some as low as 1/2 gallon per flush. A few incorporate a 'foam flush' system, which uses a soap-infused bubbly slurry to wash away waste with as little as 3 ounces of water. But these toilets can be difficult to maintain, and may not be convenient for a consumer's home use. A system which used greywater for the flush would essentially be getting that water for free, since it had already been used once."

The Disney Blog

The Disney Blog is not affiliated with The Walt Disney Company in any way. All Disney parks, attractions, lands, shows, event names, etc. are registered trademarks of The Walt Disney Company. The Disney Blog is affiliated with LaughingPlace.com, the number one Disney Fan site on the internet. All content on The Disney Blog is copyright 2004 John Frost. All Rights Reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.

New Materials from inventibles

New materials from Inventibles at core77. DOnt forget to read the applications of these materials.
{link via core77}

WORDCOUNT : Tracking the Way We Use Language

WordCount™ is an artistic experiment in the way we use language. It presents the 86,800 most frequently used English words, ranked in order of commonality. Each word is scaled to reflect its frequency relative to the words that precede and follow it, giving a visual barometer of relevance. The larger the word, the more we use it. The smaller the word, the more uncommon it is.

Animation Blog

I found this animation blog cartoonbrew today! QUiet interesting blog with lots of news and images from the films. enjoy !

Check out the links on the right

{ link trhu boingboing }

Anish Kapoor

So here's the explaination of the "mercury drop sculpture" which was given as a clue in the last mightaswell Chunauti. Even Ross Lovegrove says Anish Kapoor's work has been a major influence on him. So who's this Desi artist-sculptur-architect?
Anish Kapoor is one of the most influential sculptors of his generation. Born in Bombay, he has lived and worked in London since the early 70's. His work has been exhibited worldwide and is held in numerous private and public collections, including the Tate Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Reina Sofia in Madrid and Stedlijk Museum in Amsterdam

wanna know more about this Desi artist?

read more from>
> Lisson gallery in London.
> id fuel has also featured him recently.
> The millenium park at Chicago has his Cloud gate sculture which you can see in the above picture.
> see some more pictures of the Cloud Gate

{ thanx idfuel}

Kumar, Damini

Damini Kumar 26, is a product design engineer. Most recently Damini has creatively solved a problem that has irritated designers, engineers, and nations of tea-lovers for centuries. She has invented the world's first solution to universal dripping spout and disproved years of scientific research into the ubiquitous problem of the dripping teapot. The great thing is that her innovative spout design can be mass-manufactured from any material including ceramics and can be used to stop dripping with any pouring technology, from petrol pumps to watering cans. "

{ link via ideas21}

ideas21

ideas21: "ideas21 is the UK's fastest growing network devoted to invention and innovation. Supported by government, industry and private organisations to inform and educate its members on all areas relating to the successful progression from idea to commercialisation"

{link via gizmodo}

Treehugger

Treehugger and sensoryimpact are two more design portals i found recently.

{ thanx to joost(reluct) }

icon design magazine.

Here's a challenge for the mightaswell readers,
Can you identify the above people ??
(ok fine, click on the image to get a slightly enlarged view)
ummm.. ok, here are a few clues if you are design literate:

apple
umbra
mercury drop sculpture
iraqi architect
braun

icon is a new design magazine. Unfortunately i found it after a year of its start. nyways, der aye durust aye!

acoording to the publishers > "...icon is a new monthly magazine focusing on the best, most inspiring buildings, interiors, furnishings and fittings. It also celebrates the design process and the talented designers behind the most innovative work. icon can be enjoyed equally by architecture and design professionals, and the design-literate public..."

enjoy the read!

{ link via reluct }

Campana brothers.

It seems, there is a new trend in the design world these days. If you happen to be a male with a male sibling, and are involved in design, (preferably furniture / lighting) then you might as well try your luck to become popular by starting a design firm together!
Few days back, we have posted the link to Bouroullec brothers' site. This time we have brought you an interview with the Campana brothers.

“Our relationship is based on one trying to convince the other that they are right,” laughs Fernando. “But usually when we fight it’s over a project, when we’re developing something. Sometimes he insists on something, a colour or a material and I insist on another one …”

here are a few more links for the campana fans>
> link from designboom
> link from mocoloco
> buy the Favela chair by the duo at moss online shop.

check out other interesting stories/interviews at icon magazine's latest issue.
> Tord Boontje

Rocket science !

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This ones is for all the geeks who wanna be "into" rocket science !
Trailer trash aerospace is a group of high-power and experimental rocket enthusiasts in the desert southwest, building magnificent things with the thinnest of resources. read more

{ link via core77 }

Self Chilling I.C.Can

..

Well, you can't buy this one yet -- and when you do, it'll be housing your drink -- but it's a pretty cool bit of technology to look forward to. The I.C. Can is a self-chilling beverage container that will soon be wrapped around a lot of the sodas we buy everyday. When this hits production, you won't need the fridge or cooler to chill your drink. You'll just twist the can. The self-cooling mechanism drops the temperature of the drink by 30 degrees Fahrenheit (16.7 degrees Celsius), instantly. read more

{ thanks gizmodo }

Jot a Dot : a pockect Brailler

Until now, the choice has been either a slate and stylus or a standard Braille Writer (such as the Perkins Brailler). Jot a Dot gives you the best of both worlds, combining portability with functionality. read more

Bandbaja

bandbaja is a monthly publication that uses music as an excuse to write about anything and everything. Almost never do we publish on time and for some strange odd reason that doesn't bother us at all. Our focus seems to be more on Pakistani music but that doesn't mean we'll let other wonderful countries off the hook so easily - everyone's just got to wait their turn and all will be well.

Watch out !

"wristfashion is a Web Magazine that publishes the latest news trends and products from the Wristwatch Industry in bite size morsels."

some more blogs dedicated to time pieces> wristwatchreview

{ link through gizmodo }

"Design is an over-abused word..."

Dear readers of mightaswell, dont miss the interview in today's (24th Aug 04) Times Of India. In his interview, Dashrath Patel, one of the founding members of National Institute of Design,India, says,
"...Consumerism is destroying our aesthetic....In our country environment was a way of life. And we are not using this in our march to becoming modern. We are taking things from the West which the West is rejecting. We should be partners in development rather than just being a market for the West. We need to re-examine our traditions and make it relevant to us..."

read the completer interview here

Ross Lovegroove's Interview

I loved the image above! not because of the 'obvious' reasons, but because it appropriately represents the characteristic sensuous quality, its creator achieves in his designs -sculptures.
For those who dont know him, Ross Lovegrove is a British Industrial designer, known for his sculptural organic forms with sensual appeal, had worked as a designer for frog design in west germany in the early 80's.

here is a excerpt from the design magazine design Indaba about the interview of Mr. Lovegrove:
"...Ross Lovegrove is sculptor of ordinary things. He is an artisan with a knack for infusing everyday objects with an alluring poetry. Ross Lovegrove is also simply an industrial designer. While the cynic's view is unfailingly factual, it is somewhat bereft. Yes, Ross Lovegrove is an influential designer of functional everyday objects, but he is also a forward-thinking creator of objects possessed with an utterly unexpected beauty...."

read the interview here

mightaswell has found out his website rosslovegrove.com, but sorry lovegrove fans, its not up yet! keep a check and tell us if you find anything 'clickable' there !

read more about Lovegrove from the archives of designboom

{ link via reluct }

Edvard Munch's "Screem" & "Madonna" are stolen !

Two masked robbers ran into the Munch Museum, threatened staff with a gun and forced people to lie down before taking The Scream, an icon of existentialist angst showing a waif-like figure against a blood-red sky, and Madonna. They escaped in a black Audi A6 driven by a third man. The pictures, worth millions of dollars and among Munch's best-known works, were later cut from their frames which were found in another part of the city.

read news from Reuters
read news from ACC

{Link via boingboing }

Snap Fit Design

Snap fits are commonly used as an assembly method for injection molded parts. Although they have been around for many years, they have recently become more important in an attempt to simplify assembly and its associated costs. Snap fits are very useful because they eliminate screws, clips, adhesives, or other joining methods. The snaps are molded into the product, so additional parts are not needed to join them together.
read the article

{ link via dexigner }

Sarama, a film by Shailja Jain.

Sarama is a Film by Shailja Jain, an Animation and Films Design student from National Institute of Design,(NID), India. This Indian piece, based on the Hindu phrase honoring the virtue of the dog, applies the schemes of race, gender and class to animals. Amongst the ‘pure-bloods’ bred by Western bourgeois males and the ‘Jindo Dog’ that has become the Korean icon of nationalism, can ‘mom’-lacking both a good master and time-make herself up and handle the burden of taking care of her puppies? Can she survive?

read more about the film and the director. The director is currently based in Delhi, India.

you can link to Shailja via mail > gotoshailja@yahoo.com

Smartwrap : headphone wire management

..

Smartwrap, winner of, ID magazine's Design Distinction award is a cord manager for headphone cables. It is designed and developed by Sumajin, an industrial design firm in Singapore. Smartwrap is easy to use and it serves the purpose. All that is required is to snap the cord into place at one of two places, then wrap and snap into place again.
Colors available are white, translucent, black, orange, blue, green, purple ,red and pink.

Learn more about the scene of Induatrial Design in Singapore here

[link via Gizmodo]

Dilbert on Product Design

All Dilbert fans who also happen to be on the verge of deciding whether to be a product designer or not,This one's especially for you !

Visit Dilbert's official website for more strips.

[ Link via core77 ]

2004 Olympic Games Torch

“...The Torch, even though it is an object with small dimensions, is de facto charged with many meanings which primarily relate to world culture. Moreover, it had..." Andreas Varotsos ( Designer of the Olympics 2004 torch.

Here are the official Olympic Torch from the 1936 Games (Berlin)

{ link thru RELUCT }

Temperature indicating crayons!!

All OMEGAMARKER® crayons are easy to use. Simply mark with the appropriate crayon the surface to be heated. When the desired temperature has been reached, the mark will liquefy. The crayons are suitable for testing most surfaces. Typical applications include lab use, forging, heat treating and fabrication of metals, molding of rubber and plastics, and general purpose use on any accessible heated surface.

Rotating-Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display

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NIST Braille Display:NIST has developed a unique refreshable Braille technology that can reduce cost by a factor of 10 or more. It will make possible high performance Braille displays for $1000 or less, and enable high speed reading devices about the size of a portable CD player. While existing displays put Braille on a linear array of dots, this design puts the Braille on the rim of a rotating wheel, which moves the text past the user's fingers. Users can adjust wheel speed, or can pause the wheel for stationary reading.

Bimetallic strip makes chepaer Braille Disply

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Braille Display Utilizing bimetallics as the medium to create the Braille characters instead of piezoelectrics greatly reduces the cost of the Braille display. An electric current is sent through a 30 gage wire (spot welded to the bimetallic strip) which causes the bimetal to bend, raising a plastic rod 0.5mm, the height a Braille dot. When the current is turned off, the bimetal quickly cools and the rod will fall back into its hole, allowing a different character to be created.

Photo-Form LLC creates tiles from Photos !!

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Photo-Form LLC is a unique tile studio which provides designers the ability to create bas-relief tiles from photographs. Utilizing a patent pending process called Photo-Cast ™, this can create bas-relief tiles from any type of two dimensional image.

Foundphotos > as in photos found randomly !!

Foundphotos These photos were found by doing a search using p2p file sharing programs. people share their own personal digital photos in their shared folders, i'm thinking they put them there for friends or family to download or just select their whole my documents folder as shared.

Hot Underware !

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The market for 'hot' underwear is heating up!!read more

Biomimicry

.

All you "Nature & Form" students at NID, take a look.
read more

Metal rubber

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Terrible, horrible things can be done to this millimeters-thick patch of shimmering material crafted by chemists at NanoSonic in Blacksburg, Virginia. Twist it, stretch it double, fry it to 200°C, douse it with jet fuel—the stuff survives. After the torment, it snaps like rubber back to its original shape, all the while conducting electricity like solid metal.Read more >>
[ link through Gizmodo ]

Units of Measurement

"All countries have adopted the metric system, and most countries (if not the U.S.) have taken steps to eliminate most uses of traditional measurements. However, in all countries people still use traditional units sometimes, at least in colloquial expressions. Becoming metric is not a one-time event that has either happened or not. It is a process that happens over time. Every country is somewhere in this process of going metric, some much further along than others, but no country should forget its traditional units completely. At least, that's the philosophy of this dictionary!"know more >>:

online Unit Converters

1. digitaldutch
2.onlineconversion
3.thermal unit converter

Sharp's new 3D LCD disply Technology

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SHARP's 3D LCD disply Without the Need For Special Glasses !! Read more>>

Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

All the bouroullec fans can rejoice !! The bouroullec brothers' website is up!with all their projects. I liked the interface. All the projects can be seen together and the text gets expanded there itself without making you feel lost in another window! same with the images. its very intutive and efficient. I think their work has a graphic quality to it.

DESIGN 21> LOVE/WHY? design contest

DESIGN 21

Product Design News 2 | Dexigner Design Portal

.

mightaswell

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

The Hidden Persuader :an adblog

Adrants Advertising links

Ad blog

Flushh....

Beyond Brilliance, Beyond Stupidity

IDFuel, the Industrial Design Weblog

The Disney Blog

New Materials from inventibles

Saturday, August 28, 2004

WORDCOUNT : Tracking the Way We Use Language

Friday, August 27, 2004

Animation Blog

Thursday, August 26, 2004

Anish Kapoor

Kumar, Damini

ideas21

Treehugger

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

icon design magazine.

Campana brothers.

Rocket science !

Self Chilling I.C.Can

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Jot a Dot : a pockect Brailler

Bandbaja

Watch out !

"Design is an over-abused word..."

Monday, August 23, 2004

Ross Lovegroove's Interview

Edvard Munch's "Screem" & "Madonna" are stolen !

Snap Fit Design

Sunday, August 22, 2004

Sarama, a film by Shailja Jain.

Friday, August 20, 2004

Smartwrap : headphone wire management

Dilbert on Product Design

Thursday, August 19, 2004

2004 Olympic Games Torch

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Temperature indicating crayons!!

Rotating-Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display

Bimetallic strip makes chepaer Braille Disply

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Photo-Form LLC creates tiles from Photos !!

Foundphotos > as in photos found randomly !!

Saturday, August 14, 2004

Hot Underware !

Biomimicry

Metal rubber

Units of Measurement

Thursday, August 12, 2004

online Unit Converters

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Sharp's new 3D LCD disply Technology

Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

Monday, August 09, 2004

DESIGN 21> LOVE/WHY? design contest

Product Design News 2 | Dexigner Design Portal

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