Tag: design

Vanity Tidy Bowl

July 3rd, 2009

I find this creation by Laurent Massaloux to be rather enchanting.

The ‘Vanity Tidy’ bowl [was designed] on the theme of the vanities of life: time, wealth and ownership. The form was captured from the web, digitally manipulated, and then transmitted to a rapid prototyping program where it was formed three dimensionally by laser fusion in polyamide powder. ‘Vanity Tidy’ is composed of seven human skull structures placed in a circular mode.

The lotus design that appears when viewing the piece from above is my absolute favorite part of the bowl. I have a particular appreciation for lotus flowers due to their rich symbolism. Fusing a lotus image with human skulls is a statement I could probably spend way too long happily and poetically pondering.

Artist site

Source
Switches and Guages Poster

June 9th, 2009

This piece of wall decor from Wannekes brings new meaning to the term “control freak.”

This gigantic switchboard can be displayed as-is, or cut into pieces.

It would be far too dizzying in my house, but I think this would make a lovely gift for someone with plenty of wall space.

Source
Louvre Abu Dhabi

June 7th, 2009

Freshome recently posted about a lighting concept for the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

The museum design incorporates light, water and a very unconventional layout.

[There] are thousands of little breaks, edges and holes that allow for a flurry of warm and charming sun light to slice in through the ceiling like the canopy of a rain forest.

As you walk down the pavilions, plazas, alleyways and canals that seemingly float as sea level, the sunlight will hit the interior of the gallery space in completely new and exciting ways.

I would love to visit a place with this lighting scheme and be showered in tiny beams of light.
Culinary Compendium

April 3rd, 2009

Trader Joe’s has uploaded the only grocery flyer I’ve ever seen that features a bespectacled cephalopod on the cover, and contains pages that evoke turn of the century print materials.

If you think about it, and octopus could actually be quite handy in the kitchen.

See the rest of the PDF file here.
Wall Decal Roundup

April 3rd, 2009

As I’ve mentioned before, I collect too many things to have adequate wall space. But here are a few decals for the discriminating artsy geek.

I like these portholes by Winston Graphics:

Or, you can add a dash of paranoia to any room or appliance with these Scared Eyes:

For an even more “Big Brother” feeling, you can use a Bar Code:

These gears would go nicely in a workshop:

The irony of the next two is that they would be great in a child’s room, yet the children of today do not know the majesty of the original Atari and Nintendo systems.

Space Invaders:

Mario Bros:

And of course…My favorite not-so-subtle hint:
Pork Chop Piggy Bank

March 30th, 2009

Most of us have a mental image of the culturally archetypal piggy bank.

The Swiss Miss has debuted a delightful variation: The Pork Chop Piggy Bank.

Like an anatomical cross section of your favorite childhood coin storage piece.

Side note: it has occurred to me that I I’ve neglected to use a “meat” tag on my entries. For a blog containing as much meat as this one, it must be remedied.
Get Excited and Make Things

March 30th, 2009

I want to frame this in every room of my house…not that I need a reminder.

The laser cut notebook version is amazing:

And I’d love to see the logo on a rubber stamp.

Inspired by this 1939 propaganda poster:

You can get a t-shirt too. Creator Matt Jones generously encourages the spreading of this image (but give him proper credit!).
Emotional Toast: A Megapost

March 29th, 2009

I’m fascinated by random cultural explosions that take place around arbitrary objects. Bacon has become a veritable phenomenon over the past two years, and I’m noticing steady growth of the toast trend.

I’ll refrain from posting images of pictures burned into toast…it’s been done ad nauseum. I will, however, show you this meta-toast mosaic:

It’s not just an emergence of toast products I’ve noticed (such as Tic Tac Toast, toast bandages or the toast clock). Toast is gaining a personality.

Now let’s enjoy some brief nostalgia.

In 1989, After Dark introduced the Flying Toast Screensaver (first for Mac, later for Windows):

Later, Sims Carnival allowed for more intergalactic toast possibilities.

Who can forget the 1990’s pioneer of these crumbly, starchy heroes, POWDERED TOAST MAN?

High-velocity raisins, corrosive croutons, acidic marmalade, flying butter pats…and of course, flight. He had it all.

Years later, we meet Mr. Toast and his mini empire.
There are countless variations of Mr. Toast images and products. Personally, I’m a fan of Vampire Toast:

(Love the shiny cape…very classy)

Slightly more menacing is this toast from one of my favorite web comics.

Never thought toast could be sad? Well, My Paper Crane proves that it can be, if aware of its ominous scorching fate.

If you prefer your toast enraged and screaming, you can now purchase a Mini Toast Pocket Friend:

In fact, angry toast does seem to be all the rage (pun intended).

There was even a design contest based on the concept.

But wait! Not all toast is tragic!

Look at Senor Happy Toast, gleefully self-buttering:

And my own soft toast creations, circa 2006 (and part of a complete plush breakfast) were pretty happy too:

Yummy Pancake’s Mr Toastee flickr set runs the whole gamut.

Happy…

Dressed up…

Drunk…

Whole wheat, original and rye (together in perfect harmony)…

Some modern toast creations include bizarre, counter-intuitive designs like this Soft Toaster Cell Phone Holder, complete with bear face and ears:

(The toast, also with a face, is supposed to “wipe off” the phone…wonder if it’s large enough for touch screen phones)

Are you…

(Image source link now dead)

What are your feelings about the growing Cult of Toast?
Sebastian Brajkovic

February 21st, 2009

Sebastian Brajkovic created a wonderful furniture series called Lathe, comprised of furniture pieces that appear to have been stretched or extruded.

“This extruding idea came from a Photoshop function where you can pick a row of pixels and extend them as long as you want,” explains Brajkovic.

It’s lovely to see classic Victorian styling and modern graphic design merged in a physical object.

See more photos here.
Aimee Wilder

February 16th, 2009

I’ve just been happily perusing Aimee Wilder’s designs.

If ever a wallpaper alone could make me long for the pitter-patter of little SheWalksSoftlys in the house, it would be this robot wallpaper:

(Okay, so it’s not enough to make me want kids anywhere in the near future…but I love it)

I also love her analognights design. Looking at it gets me nostalgic for the days of my youth, with boom boxes and mix tapes.

And Sumo makes me chuckle…

See more here.