Fabric Remote Control

In this video from a Core77 post, Hannah Perner-Wilson, a University of Art and Industrial Design Linz student, demonstrates his "Time-Sensing Bracelet."
Maybe I'm a sucker for videos demonstrating new technology (case in point, previous Holographic post), but this is so cool!
You can even make one for yourself with these instructions. I know what I'm doing next week...

Pets on Furniture Contest

A new contest from Modernica (as described from the Core77 post) is all about photographing your pet on furniture. The winner at the end of the month gets a new Modernica Rocker Arm Chair.
I'm sure many people do not allow their pets on the furniture - but this contest may change that. Well, for the minute it takes to snap the picture.
Check out this cat picture submission.
I love the face. :)

Vodka Packaging

Check out this sleek bottle from Samurai Vodka. The design is by Arthur Schreiber. I love how it looks like it is cut in the middle - by a samurai!

Museum of Bad Taste

Check out this album on Core77. Some samples are below.

The Museum of Things in Berlin has opened an exhibit of bad taste. It is based on Gustav E. Pazaurek's "Cabinet of Bad Taste" that was used to categorize all kinds of design mistakes.

And anyone can contribute to the exhibit, thereby gaining free entrance to the museum.

New Luggage Scale

This is ingenious. A simple device that will help you weigh your luggage before you get charged the extra cash for being over 50 pounds.

It's called the "gravity ruler" and was designed by Politecnico di Milano students Marcella Maltese and Lin Wei. They are still looking for a manufacturer - but I would love to buy one. And they sold out their first 35 in under an hour at the Travel Trading Fair in Milan. What a great idea!

Class Notes 1.13.10

Our new project involves creating a digital video file that evokes one of Shakespeare's plays. Basically, we need to create within the audience a "suspension of disbelief" by melding three photographs that connote the theme of the play and combining it with music.

One thing to keep in mind is that the three objects/photos we choose need to have similar shapes so that we can easily meld them together. Professor gave us an example of an earth that becomes a face.

Also, most of the action should take place in the center of the screen. On professional cameras they even have crop marks that show where the action should take place and where you should not be filming.

Squashed Car

The Detroit Auto Show is going on this week - and showcasing a lot of new cars. Because electrical cars can have their engines and other parts configured differently, this has opened up a whole new world for designers, according to guest poster John Cantwell. Above is just one of the new designs, called the Tango. It looks like it's squashed - and allows the driver to dodge between gridlocked cars, as a motorcyclist does. George Clooney has one - and you should too. Even if it costs $150,000.