Graphic designer Drew Tetz has a fascinating gig: Creating animated vinyl records for clients like Disney Music, the Grateful Dead and the rights holders to the Peanuts soundtrack.

"These 'animated records' are a modern form of phenakistoscope," Tetz explains, "an early animation device which creates the illusion of a moving picture when a flicker blurs its rotation."

To view the animations, you do need to view them through a smartphone camera. Alternatively you could download a strobe app to your phone, and view them with the naked eye.

Here are some wicked demos of Tetz's creations:

Plenty more to see here.

Here we see some kitchen drawers where holes have been drilled for the handles, yet no handles have been installed.

Why? Because whoever laid out this kitchen didn't think it through. With the handles installed, there would be no way to open either drawer all the way.

As it turns out, there is a solution:

Which reminds me of this hilarious "Kitchen drawer that has three-factor authentication" (turn your sound on):

I live out in nature, and for the sake of ecological balance I don't want to kill anything, which gets complicated.

Two snakes live outside my house. I don't like snakes, but I leave them alone because they're the reason I don't have rodents. Wasps have built a nest at my hose bib. I leave it undisturbed because the wasps eat the pests that plague the crops in my garden. Just yesterday, I discovered a termite colony is slowly destroying the rafters in one of my outbuildings. I haven't yet figured out a non-genocidal solution for that one.

While I was researching the termite problem, I came across the work of California-based designer Christopher Poehlmann, who designs and builds interactive museum exhibits. (Not to be confused with Philadelphia-based Christopher Poehlmann, a lighting designer.)

Poehlmann has designed something I initially thought was crazy: The Termitat, a desktop habitat for termites.

Made of ¼"-thick acrylic, it safely seals the termites inside, where they spend up to two years munching on the log slice inside. Once they've gone through it all, you can ship it back to Poehlmann, and he can reload it with a new slice (and a new colony, if necessary).

The question, especially from any homeowner that's dealt with termites, might be "Why the heck do you want to display these things?" In an interview with Pest Management Professional, Poehlmann explains the ecological value these bugs bring:

"Often ignored due to their unfortunate misrepresentation as 'just a pest,' these complex and evolved insects are incredibly fascinating to observe and have important lessons to teach us. Termites and humans are both highly social species, but unlike us, termites have remained in balance with the Earth's complex ecosystems."Besides being just fascinating to watch, they have many lessons to pass on. As scientists, architects and even robotics engineers study these amazing creatures, they are discovering how sophisticated termite adaptations are and the instrumental part these insects play in Earth's ecology. Termites are the 200-million-year-old master recyclers of the Earth's carbon who also share a social behavior system similar to ours."

By breaking down dead trees, the termites return carbon and nutrients to the soil, enhancing soil fertility and creating favorable conditions for both plants and beneficial microbes. I love that they do this—I just don't want them doing it to my structures. But ultimately, I am the invasive species on this land, not the termites. They were here before me and will be here after I'm gone. I've contacted a holistic pest control service and I'll see what I can learn.

And for those of you who think it'd be crazy to bring a pest habitat into your house, Poehlmann points out:

"The Termitat's tightly fitting case design uses 0.25-inch-thick acrylic, a plastic injection molded ring and security screws. It has yet to be broken open in normal use. Anyway, a small colony group released--most likely traumatically--in a non-forest location would not be able to establish themselves individually or as a group. Any individual termites on their own and away from their colony would perish."Plus, if your house has the same conditions as a damp, decaying forest log, you have other more serious problems to deal with."

--thanks emily!

As designers, we understand that a square is two dimensions.

And that if we push it into three dimensions, we get a cube.

What's a little harder to grasp is what happens when we push the cube into a fourth dimension, one that we can't perceive. This notion of a fourth dimension was put forth, in the 19th and 20th century, by British mathematician Charles Howard Hinton. In this dimension a cube would become a hypercube, or tesseract, according to Hinton.

So what does this tesseract look like? In his 1904 book "The Fourth Dimension," Hinton provided diagrams.

In the century-plus following Hinton's work, creatives ranging from Salvador Dali to Marvel Studios attempted depicting one.

Fascinatingly, German artists and designers Julius von Bismarck & Benjamin Maus created a kinetic representation of a tesseract, called "Round About Four Dimensions:"

"We naturally conceive of three spatial dimensions, yet envisioning more becomes a challenge to our imagination. To understand these complexities, even physical theories rely on specific tricks. Just as three-dimensional objects cast two-dimensional shadows, four-dimensional entities translate into three-dimensional forms. When a four-dimensional body rotates, its three-dimensional shadow seems to invert. Here, that abstract notion is made a visible reality." --Julius von Bismarck & Benjamin Maus

The sculpture is on permanent display at the CERN Science Gateway in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization commissioned it in hopes of inspiring curiosity and creativity in viewers. CERN, thankfully, understands the link between art and science.

This vintage lounge chair might be the strangest piece of Midcentury Modern furniture I've seen.

Produced by Dutch manufacturer De Ster Gelderland in the 1950s or '60s—and probably designed in-house, as there's no famous designer's name attached to the piece—it is an odd mishmash of styles.

First off, the spindle back. During the Midcentury period, this would have been seen (at least in America) as a folksy throwback. Spindle-back chairs were associated with English and Welsh furniture from earlier centuries.

The woven rush seat also speaks of folk craft; no modern upholstered fabrics here.

However, this is offset by the striking padding on the backrest, a circle on a piece otherwise devoid of perfect geometric shapes, made of bouclé (yarn loops). This was a then-modern touch; it was just a few years earlier, in the late '40s, when Eero Saarinen popularized bouclé by using it on his iconic Womb Chair, designed for Florence Knoll.

Then there are the through-tenons. This was a nod not to the Arts & Crafts movement, as an American or Brit might guess, but Scandinavia's own past. Through-tenons were a feature of vernacular Scandinavian furniture dating back to the 16th century—as were spindle backs, hence their inclusion.

These nods to the past aside, the low-slung chair's rakish stance, the angles of the armrest support, and the splay of the short, stubby legs are hallmark Midcentury Modern.

All in all, I've never seen a chair that blended such rustic, vernacular elements with Midcentury Modern design cues in what I feel was a successful way. Perhaps because it's so evocative. I read one description of the design that called it "timeless," and I disagree; this is multiple time periods woven together, in a way that works in my opinion, while it rides right on the line of being a camel (i.e. a horse designed by committee). Wonderful piece and I can't take my eyes off of it.

Here's a simple invention designed to save landscapers and lawncare businesses money:

Those pieces of welded steel tubing were developed by Long-Island-based D'ttach. It's simply a hitch receiver supported by a telescopic bar that can be attached to the front arms of any zero-turn, whether sit-down or stand-on. This allows the user to attach a number of D'ttach accessories to the front of the machine, instantly transforming what was only a grass-cutting machine into something with far more utility. Commercial zero-turns are expensive, often running into five figures, and the D'ttach add-ons save the operators the expense of needing to haul a second dedicated machine to the jobsite.

The company makes a dethatcher:

An aerator:

A barrel carrier:

A jack, for changing the blades and cleaning the deck underside:

A leaf plow:

And even a snowplow:

The latter two attachments are particularly clever, allowing the operator to generate income during autumn and winter months, when there's no grass to be cut.

Once upon a time, a portable TV was this:

Now it's this:

That's LG's StanbyME 2, a portable 27" screen that can easily be popped off of its stand. It receives content wirelessly through LG's webOS TV platform, allowing you to stream Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, et cetera, navigating by the device's touchscreen interface.

You can also use it as an external monitor for your computer, connecting it via HDMI.

You can also use it to wirelessly mirror your computer's screen, which might make it handy in a design studio situation, where you can literally haul it over to a colleague's desk for presentations and the like.

It weighs 9.5 pounds (4.3kg), and the battery provides four hours of runtime.

The device runs $1,600.

Pocket knives are a dime a dozen, and all do the same thing. But Miami-based knife brand Peak Spec has designed an innovative feature that we believe is a first: A clip that retracts flush into the handle when not in use.

The thinking is that a protruding clip makes the handle uncomfortable, and that some users may occasionally prefer to keep the knife free-floating in a pocket, depending on wardrobe.

I do wonder how robust the retracting mechanism is. If it stands the test of time, I could see it being adapted for other objects, like power tools. For now, it exists only in the company's $90 GhostClip knife, which has been successfully Kickstarted, with 28 days left to pledge at press time.

In 1974, Italian industrial designers Roberto Lucci and Paolo Orlandini designed this Scaleo, a folding ladder, for manufacturer Velca.

Note that "Cycolac" is a name brand for ABS, which is what the front of the ladder is made from. The supports are aluminum.

Here it is in action:

The Scaleo is part of the MoMA's collection.

Today Adidas releases their 3D-printed Climacool Laced sneakers. Last year they released a similar shoe that was a slip-on, but this time they've gone with eyelets.

The polymer kicks are printed as one piece, except for the laces and the conventional mesh tongue, which are both added afterwards. (The tongue is presumably bonded to the inside of the shoe, rathern than sewn; the company doesn't say.)

"Inspired by the sensation of transformative structures, these shoes adjust and conform to your environment. With a lightweight, multidimensional lattice configuration, they're built for airflow and movement. A foot-hugging design provides a 360 degree airflow for all-day comfort. CLIMACOOL wicks and disperses sweat for cool, dry and distraction-free performance."

The novel production method doesn't bring any time savings: The company says that between the "spinning, baking, and compression" required for the polymer blend—the specifics of which have not been revealed—each pair takes 24 hours to produce.

The shoes are only available in one colorway, the one you see in the photos. They run $160.

We've all seen fancy chessboards before, so perhaps it was just a matter of time before "luxury" bled over into other board games. If you've run out of things to spend money on, L'OBJET and Fortuny are two luxury brands that have collaborated on the following object sets with murky material descriptions.

This $850 Deco Tic Tac Toe set is made out of "natural shells" (they don't mention what kind) and brass.

This $1,600 Matis Backgammon Set is made out of "inlaid natural wood"—which means what, veneer?—and suede.

Then there's this $4,200 Haas Chess Set, made of "black and white stone"—again, that's as specific as they get—with, if you can believe it, "individually sculpted brass pieces."

If all these are a bit out of your tax bracket, don't worry—they also sell plain ol' playing cards. In a porcelain box rimmed with 24-karat gold and wrapped in crocodile skin that may or may not be real. Just $295, but hey, it does come with two decks.

When you think of hot springs, you probably picture Iceland or Japan. What you may not know is that hot springs resorts also exist in America, from Arkansas to Colorado to Virginia. Now there's a new one, with a killer location: Zion Canyon Hot Springs, located just 20 minutes outside of the famous park.

Designed by Arkansas-based architecture firm HFA Architecture + Engineering, the facility boasts over 50 bodies of water: In addition to freshwater pools and multiple cold plunges, it has 32 natural geothermal hot springs, and a further 16 "globally inspired" mineral pools whose mineral content has been tinkered with to replicate the conditions of famous hot springs: Iceland's Blue Lagoon, the salt-rich Dead Sea, a Hokkaido onsen, et cetera.

All of the water is drawn from natural underground hot springs located along the nearby Virgin River. Naturally heated, this water contains magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium, iron, sulfate, chloride and silica. In addition to the relaxation and pain relief effects provided by the mere temperature of the water—which ranges from 80°F to 104°F—the minerals are said to improve circulation, organ health, nerve and muscle function, and even the quality of your skin, hair and nails.

In addition to the pools, there are firepit rest areas, a café, and barrel-shaped saunas.

The facility opens today, and entry prices start at $29. (Locals—residents of Washington County—will be pleased to see they get a 20% discount.)

Aside from the eye candy factor, there's not much to glean from concept cars by high-end luxury manufacturers. However, Bentley's new EXP 15 concept stands out. Not because it's attractive—in fact, I think it's hideous—but because the designers have addressed something few auto design teams have: The fact that climbing in and out of a car is actually very ergonomically awkward.

First off, the car's overall looks. It looks unobjectionable from the top, which is an angle you'd never see it from in real life.

Looking at the car from a real-world angle, however, reveals a regrettable form. It's as if the designers tried to beautify a brick.

They were undoubtedly not helped by their mandate. The concept was inspired by the 1930 Bentley Blue Train which, like most luxury cars of that era, had an extremely high beltline and a train-like form. But the beltline for the EXP 15 can't maintain the same height, and drops it into no man's land, where it's too low to evoke the Blue Train and too high to yield pleasing proportions between top and bottom.

Matters get worse when the car is viewed head-on. Despite being an EV, the EXP 15 pointlessly retains an elaborate grille. This is nonsensical and speaks of a what-do-we-do-about-the-front-end conversation that was never resolved.

The back end isn't much better, resembling a smiling clown, hardly the image Bentley wants to put forth.

Where it does get innovative is with the interior. Most cars of this caliber feature two doors and four seats, or four doors and four seats. Bentley's designers have opted for three doors and three seats instead.

The driver's side features the driver's seat and a single rear passenger seat behind it. The passenger side, in contrast, has a single seat that can slide back and forth on a track.

Special attention has been given to the ingress/egress of this seat—and this seat only. It can not only slide back and rotate 45 degrees, but a section of the roof over it also opens, easing entry and exit. (I have no idea why the marketing imagery instead draws attention to a pampered CG dog.)

Overall it's a very strange concept, and I can't think of any other designers who've been brave enough to go assymetrical with the interior layout. I'd like to see a little more experimentation in this area in the future (though hopefully wrapped within a more pleasing form).

This is a concept car only; there are no production plans.

Here's an unexpected solution to a military problem.

The U.S. military is keen to keep birds away from their airfields, as errant birds can unwittingly down a multimillion-dollar airplane, not to mention endanger the lives of its crew, by flying into an air intake. It fell to the Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) to come up with a solution.

Take One was robot dogs, using a Boston Dynamics model. The idea was that the dog 'bot could tirelessly patrol runways, scaring birds off.

It didn't work. "What we found out quickly was, because [the robot dog] had such a slow approach speed," explains Dr. Jacob Jung, an ERDC research wildlife biologist, "that it did more of just pushing animals out of the way once it finally got close enough to them, than it did really scaring them off."

They then struck upon the idea of using a chassis from Traxxas X-Maxx, a manufacturer of off-road RC cars.

These can zip around at up to 20 mph.

But birds don't necessarily recognize a miniature monster truck as a predator, so the researchers purchased a plastic coyote figurine from a forestry supplier.

As it turns out, these are two great tastes that taste great together. The resultant "Coyote Rovers" did the trick.

These are categorized as UGVs, for Unmanned Ground Vehicles. The ERDC says the demo system cost was "between $2,500 and $3,000," though it's not clear how many Coyote Rovers that yielded. In any case, they've given demonstrations at airfields in Tennessee and Florida, and say the cost is worth it. The conventional way to reduce bird presence at airfields is to keep the surrounding grass short, so that birds don't have a place to hide. "Even at a small number of airfields, if you can give them one more week between mowing, that ends up being a huge [cost savings]," says Shea Hammond, an ERDC research biologist.

I imagine the next step will be placing the coyote figurines on top of lawn-mowing robots.

In younger years I drove an ambulance. The driving part was straightforward; the tricky part was when you arrived on-site, and had to enter a building to transport the patient, via stretcher, to the ambulance. The worst, as you'd expect, was when the patient lived in a non-elevator building.

This GEM Ambulance may not be able to help with walkup buildings, but it should save precious minutes in specific types of indoor spaces.

Produced by California-based Global Electric Motors, this indoor/outdoor ambulance is designed for campuses, stadiums, outdoor events, airports, warehouses, industrial facilities, resorts and military facilities.

The smaller footprint allows it to navigate through crowds, and being an EV, it won't leave bystanders coughing.

It offers three different options for skids, depending on what type of equipment you want to carry, by emergency equipment manufacturer QTAC.

It is street-legal, though it tops out at 25 mph, so you won't be making it all the way to the hospital in this thing. And there will still be a transfer step between this and the real ambulance. But in an emergency, seconds count, and being able to zip in and out of a large building faster than a rolling stretcher could make the difference.

At its core, a scooter is this:

Honda Ruckus

The form can be stylistically dressed up to offer a more classic Italian look…

Honda Metropolitan

…or even to ape a Japanese superbike aesthetic:

Honda ADV160

Those three are Hondas, chosen for presentation here because they're the global leading producer of scooters. They've got roughly 40% of the two-wheeled market (which includes motorcycles) worldwide.

Competitors exist, of course—Suzuki, Yamaha, Piaggio to name a few—and much of their offerings are often an ungainly mashup of aesthetics.

As far as we're concerned, it was BMW Motorrad who pushed scooter design into a new generation with their CE 04 in 2020. While all scooters have a deconstructed element to them, visually speaking, BMW's designers made it look purposeful and aesthetically pleasing, with lines and angles that actually relate to one another. The overall look is anime-esque and cyberpunky.

Honda may not have noticed—with 20 million units in sales in the last year, they're not exactly looking in the rearview mirror—but another company has. Chinese startup Omoway, formed by ex-employees of EV manufacturer Xpeng, have rolled out this sharp-looking OMO X. In my opinion it takes what the CE 04's designers did and refines it further.

Honda dominates in India, the world's largest scooter market. However, there's another large scooter market in the region: Indonesia, where scooter sales are projected to hit $6.2 billion this year. Thus Omoway has set up shop there, unveiling the OMO X in Jakarta, where they're setting up an Indonesian-government-backed production facility.

The OMO X's design is modular, with riders being able to click various storage units into the bike. The rearmost unit slides backwards to accommodate a passenger.

The OMO X doesn't just look hi-tech: The vehicle is self-balancing and autonomous. Meaning you can hop off of the vehicle, and ask it to go park itself. The company demonstrated the self-driving feature at the vehicle's recent launch event:

In addition to having it park itself, you can also summon it via smartphone app.

Production is scheduled to begin later this year. I'll be interested to see whether Honda's design team finds the new aesthetic worth addressing.

Here's what we looked at this week:

In France, a stunning pedestrian and bicycle bridge added to a railway viaduct.

Urbanisto: An e-bike that quick-changes into a cargo bike.

A modular platform system, by architecture firm Atienza Maure, to make warehouses livable.

Playworld's playground equipment for teenagers to senior citizens.

Ferrari's Amalfi, an "entry-level" model with new, friendlier design language.

James Dyson is revolutionizing sustainable agriculture.

Design criticism: The Nothing Headphone (1), a bold effort that misses for us.

Hugo Suíssas, a photographer who sees everyday objects in architecture.

FusionFlight's jet-powered Axion is closer to the flying car we all imagined. (And it runs on "gas-station diesel!")

The FRAMA Shelf Library System, a modular open-shelf storage alternative to cabinetry.

An aluminum and steel tariff update, 7/8/25.

The Polaris is a future-proof wall outlet with easily swappable ports.

Industrial designers Shawna and Matt Heide: The Eameses of concrete.

A look at cat bridges.

Highly successful public transportation: Mexico City's Mexicable system.

Cool repurposed material: Graffitied steel railcar panels.

The perfect non-invasive mold detector for homes: A specially trained dog.

These cool-looking 22 System flush-mounted power outlets must be a nightmare to install.

UX design case study: Designworks improves urban mobility in Los Angeles.

This Friday we've got something special: A UX design case study, of which we don't get many. This one comes to us from BMW Group's Designworks, who recently helped improve the experience of bus passengers in Los Angeles.

The Sidewalk Transit Amenities ProgramTransforming Urban Mobility

With nearly 4 million residents, Los Angeles is not only one of the most populous cities in the United States, it's also one of largest—with its sprawling and dynamic landscape reaching from the Pacific Ocean into the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys.Today, 900,000 of the city's residents rely on Public Transportation to traverse the vast landscape of the city—supported in large part by a fleet of over 2,300 Buses traveling to over 1,000 Bus Stops scattered across the city.

How We Started…In 2023, Designworks' Los Angeles studio partnered with Tranzito on a project for the City of Los Angeles to help improve the experience for transit riders, enhance residents' access to real-time public transit information, and reimagine the city's bus stops to better serve local communities."In partnership with Tranzito, the STAP Program (Sidewalk Transit Amenities Program) was designed to address these needs—specifically seeking to provide shelter, shade, safety, comfort and utilize emerging technologies to bring connectivity to Los Angeles bus riders.As experts in mobility, and the use of emerging technology to enhance the experience for users, and with a team comprised of many LA natives, Designworks was uniquely positioned to successfully take on this ambitious program.Of course, you can't solve the problems of tomorrow alone. Designworks and Tranzito teamed up with a number of experts with local expertise to ensure the solutions we designed together addressed the unique needs of the communities they needed to serve.Ultimately, the efforts consisted of eight partners in total: each tasked with their own area of ownership, including community outreach, site planning, manufacturing, infrastructure support and technology services.

From Static to DynamicThe centerpiece of the STAP program was the opportunity to reimagine the bus shelter. The Designworks team saw an opportunity to transform these shelters, something that has traditionally been merely static artifacts, into a platform that could evolve and change over time to meet the changing needs of LA residents.With over 1,000 Bus Shelters in Los Angeles, the design of this core piece of the STAP infrastructure needed to satisfy varying community needs, address a diverse set of infrastructural challenges and be usable for riders as diverse as the city itself.Ultimately, we designed a modular solution that could be constructed to meet the unique specifications of the location where it would be placed. Additionally, we prioritized the ability to offer shade as a core aspect of the design; understanding that while climate change is making temperatures in LA hotter, many areas of the city (particularly low-income communities) lack adequate shade through which to escape the heat.

Understanding LA RidershipAs part of our efforts to design the most effective solutions, our team needed to understand the riders these solutions would be serving. Our team worked to identify the different types of public transit users, ultimately identifying seven unique rider types.Our strategists then examined the typical public transportation customer journey from end-to-end and stress-tested the current experience against these different personas to understand the unique context, needs, challenges and opportunities to better serve each of them. By looking at user context, potential pain points and opportunities to assist in discovering the city beyond the bus stop, Designworks was able to identify a number of opportunities that will make a near-term impact as well as guide our clients in future endeavors.

Real-Time Transit InformationOne of the most challenging aspects of the program was determining how to make real time transit information more widely accessible to bus riders. Static bus schedules can present a number of challenges, as transit data is not represented in real time—however the ability to bring high quality screens into the 1000+ bus shelters across the city presents challenges both financially as well as logistically.The solution was found in the E-Ink display screen. These low-power, durable screens were used to serve dual purposes: displaying real-time information for riders and acting as flexible signage that can quickly reflect city-wide events, weather, route changes and other factors that will impact LA riders and their mobility journeys.

Self-Sustaining SolutionsWhile the primary purpose of the program was to bring value to the LA Bus Riders and the larger LA community, strategic use of the high visibility offered by the LA Bus Stop assets to generate revenue would reduce maintenance costs to the city and help contribute to better products and services for the community at large.Designworks designed several solutions for how to generate revenue, from traditional advertising placement that could be easily implemented within the city's existing content management systems, to more multi-dimensional experiences that represented new and more profitable revenue streams for the future.A focus on both the design opportunity, as well as the business realities, ensures our solutions meet the full needs of the business.

Accessible Brand DesignWith the components designed, our team took a step back to view the ecosystem as a whole—to see from the riders' perspective, how the individual components came together as a system.Through this lens, it was clear that an overarching look and feel would greatly improve the usability of the solutions and help riders orient themselves as they navigated what are often very cluttered sidewalks and right of ways.Designworks' intimate understanding of how great brands (such as BMW) are built and maintained over decades was excited to apply its expertise to building a new brand.The LA BUS STOP brand provided a simple and intuitive name, while the logo drew inspiration from the distinctive shape of a bus shelter, elegantly incorporating the brand name within its design.The distinct font was selected for its ability to be welcoming while maintaining a sense of cleanliness, legibility, and striking contrast. While the brand colors prioritize simplicity and clarity through high contrast.

Mobile ConnectivityWith the vast majority of LA Bus Riders actively using mobile devices to navigate the sprawling city, designing a mobile companion app to complement the physical shelter's digital experiences was critical to ensuring the program met its goals.The LA Bus Stop app was designed to be accessible through web to ensure functionality was not dependent upon downloading an app, and allowed
riders to plan routes, view journeys in advance, and receive important alerts related to their trips.While the robustness of the functionality offered was limited by the technical constraints of the city's supporting infrastructure, the app was designed to act as a platform for future service development, such as maintenance requests, Wi-Fi access, and personalized digital content in the shelter."For us, this was truly a passion project—the opportunity to work with an incredible line-up of partners to accomplish positive change in our own city—improving the lives of our fellow LA locals and making strides towards a more mobile and more accessible city—makes us very proud." --Charles Drueco, Creative Director, Interaction Design, LA StudioOur work with Tranzito and the City of Los Angeles is a true reflection of our mission—to help to shape a better future for mobility in one of the most dynamic cities in the world.

You can see more Designworks projects here.

Check out these crazy flush-mounted outlets:

Those are 22 System outlets by Canadian manufacturer Bocci. My first thought was "Those look cool as hell," and my second thought was "Those have to be a nightmare for contractors to install."

I think I'm right on both counts. Here's the installation procedure if you're putting them in drywall:

Here's how you'd do it behind stone, glass, tile or millwork:

And behind concrete:

It's interesting to see the designers also had to come up with the special tool to remove the outlets for maintenance.

As someone who works with contractors, I can tell you that by spec'ing these, you are partially responsible for their hair going grey faster. But, as Don Draper once said, "That's what the money is for!"

It's an increasingly common story: An otherwise healthy person moves into a new home, and strange health issues suddenly kick in--skin rashes, eye irritation, chronic cough, headaches, "brain fog," persistent fatigue. Doctors are baffled and the problems go unsolved. Eventually, the person learns that they've been breathing in spores, released from unseen mold within their home.

By some estimates, nearly half of American houses have mold issues. Once thought to cause only respiratory problems, we now know mold can actually have negative neurological and cognitive effects, can cause immune system issues and is potentially carcinogenic.

Part of the problem is design-related, with homes not being able to properly dry out; moisture can get behind exterior cladding or gather in humid spaces like bathrooms and stay there, providing the ideal conditions for mold to thrive. Another problem is that mold is really difficult to detect. You can't always smell it, and mold colonies tend to form in unseen spaces.

When a house is suspected of having mold, the investigative procedures are destructive and imprecise, requiring the tearing out of drywall in random places until the mold is detected. And the only way to tell if a house is completely mold-free is to tear out all of the drywall.

What would be ideal is if someone invented a mold detector that could see through walls, operating completely non-invasively and with pinpoint precision. As it turns out, such a thing exists.

Zaneta Kuzel, a Florida resident who purchased a new house and was in good health at the time, found herself in the ER just two weeks after moving in. Diagnosed with pneumonia, which laid her up for a month, she subsequently learned her new house had a mold infestation; the full home inspection Kuzel had arranged prior to the purchase did not detect it.

After doing research, Kuzel learned that in Europe they use specially trained dogs to detect mold. The practice isn't common in America—for no good reason Kuzel could see—and so she located a one-year-old black Labrador Retriever that would be ideal to train.

"Black labs are notorious for their keen sense of smell and calm temperament, and that's exactly how we found Indy - full of potential and waiting for his right purpose and home," said Kuzel, who subsequently founded Mold Hunt, LLC. "Indy is energetic and focused about his work, passionate around people and always eager to earn treats for a job well done."

Kuzel contacted specialist trainers and enrolled Indy in a rigorous training course. Now certified, Indy can detect the presence of mold behind walls just by sniffing, no wrecking bar required. During house inspections, if he detects mold, he sits down and taps the exact spot with his nose. (He then gets a treat, of course.) He can cover an entire house in about an hour, and his accuracy rate is "more than 90%."

It's worth noting that Indy is not exposed to mold for extended periods, the way someone living in a mold-infested house is, and thus the job does not provide a significant risk to his health. (Dogs living in a mold-infested house have similar risks to their health as their human companions.)

The business has been a hit, and Indy and Kuzel currently conduct four home inspections a day. "We're planning to expand our detection team with additional trained dogs and handlers to offer service throughout the entire state," Kuzel says, "and eventually create educational workshops to help homeowners truly understand the health risks associated with mold."

Here's Indy doing his thing:

Good dog!