KIBARDIN DESIGN presents E-Blister Clock, a digital wall/desk E-ink Paper Clock in a transparent blister case.

View the full project here

Industrial designer Eric Strebel has already filled the sketchbook he previously hacked, so it's time for a new one. This time around, he's got a different idea: To "build a special sketchbook that contains my iPad," he writes. "I have long wanted to be able to combine the analog of sketching and digital content world that we all live in into a convenient package."

During the build, he reveals a nifty detail about the kinds of sketchbooks that soldiers carry, then shows sketchbook carriers how to "take my iPad anywhere and keep it charged while it's hidden, and as a bonus, [use it] as a stand for watching movies on those plane rides!"

If you're a first-year student at RISD, you've got a variety of traditional-style dorm options. But the bulk of first-year students at the Savannah College of Art and Design are sited at the Hive, a co-ed, ultra-modern complex of four-person suites that feature a fit-and-finish more in line with a boutique hotel than a college dorm.

The Hive consists of eight identical four-story buildings with bee-themed names: Apiary, Bumble, Colony, Dance, Everest, Flower, Garden and Honey. (Colony's for upperclassmen and Dance is for those weirdo incoming transfer students, but the rest are for freshmen.) All of the rooms are identical four-person suites. Here's the floorplan of the rooms:

I'm happy to see that, this being a design school, some actual design attention (sorely missing in most dorm rooms I've seen) was paid to the layout of the room. For instance you can see that the shower, toilet and bathroom sink have all wisely been placed in separate rooms, eliminating the situation where one person ties up the entire bathroom. Also, college students being college students, someone could brush their teeth at the (admittedly tiny) kitchen sink next to the bathroom in a pinch.

Every building in the Hive is ADA-compliant, and the complex features a dining hall, coffee shop and a freaking pool. The Hive is also, conveniently, an Amazon Locker location. The rooms have wireless internet and, this being Georgia, the rooms come with A/C.

Here's the complete list of amenities:

Room features* Suites with two double-occupancy rooms for four students
* Community cabinets with sink
* Living room with couch, end tables, coffee table and wall-mounted shelf for flat-screen TV
* Air conditioning
* Separate shower, toilet and sink facilities in each suite
* Extra-long, twin-size beds (36" x 80")
* Desk and chair for each resident
* Wardrobe with drawers for each resident
* Cable television service
* Wireless internet access for each residentResidence features* Elevator service
* On-site fitness center
* Pool
* SCAD Card- or coin-operated laundry
* Drink and snack vending machines
* Dining hall and coffee shop located at The Hive
* On-site security
* ADA accessibility

And here's a video tour of the Hive, which also provides dimensions:

Current SCAD students: If you have anything dorm-related to add--factoids, experiences, photos, videos--please let us know in the comments!

The TickZapper® provides ‘No-Touch Tick Removal’ that’s quick, easy, and pain-free for your pet! There’s no need for batteries as TickZapper® is self-energizing and always ready. And, there’s no need for chemicals, making it very safe for your pet. Only one ounce, so easy to carry! 'Patent Pending' /US'

View the full content here

Like many European palaces of the day, the Palace of Versailles originally had marble floors. But at some point in the 1680s, they began swapping the floors out with a funky new interior design element known as parquet. According to British flooring company Ecora, "These wood floors were used to replace grand marble or stone floors that were quarry cut and expensive to install and maintain and that also caused long term damage to joists and timber frames." While wooden floors existed at the time in structures as humble as farmhouses, a palace for Louis XIV obviously required something with more visual appeal, and thus parquet was chosen.

Prior to watching the video below, I had a vague idea of how parquet was constructed. I knew that a bunch of small pieces of wood had to be assembled in a sort of puzzle.

I figured that the wood would have to be tongue-and-grooved…

…as well as mortised-and-tenoned.

I didn't know that the pieces were traditionally attached by square pegs driven into round holes.

Nor did I think about some of the funky tools modern-day craftsmen would use to fabricate them, like this sander with a wooden block attached, and this power bristle brush. Not to mention a conventional sandblaster.

This video shows you how parquet panels are made using these tools and techniques and is well worth a watch:

You might remember back in 2016 when we all enjoyed a good oggle at the innards of everyday objects in the cutaway videos created by jet-cutter fanatic Mike Warren on his YouTube channel 'Cut in Half'.

For anyone still checking in on Mike's tool and toy torturings over on YouTube, you might have noticed there hasn't been much object mutilation going on over the last year. The reason for this cease-slicing has now become apparent—it turns out Mike has been hard at work compiling a new collection of cutaways into a hardback book—launching this month in bookstores and on Amazon.

A new video posted on the Cut in Half channel gives a glimpse into the contents of the book as well as the process behind the object dissections:

nter a caption (optional)

We've yet to get our hands on a copy, and the glimpses inside the book are understandably sparring. The book's blurb, however, gives a little more of an insight into what cutaway voyeurs might hope to set eyes on in the book:

"What exactly is inside a laptop, a golf ball, a vacuum cleaner, or a novelty singing fish toy? The insides of these and dozens of other objects are revealed in this photographic exploration of the stuff all around us, exposed and explained. With the help of a high-pressure waterjet cutter able to slice through 4 inches of steel plate, designer and fabricator Mike Warren (creator of the popular Cut in Half YouTube channel) cuts into everything from boom boxes to boxing gloves, oil filters to seashells, describing and demystifying the inner workings and materials of each. With a cleverly die-cut case and gorgeously detailed photography, Cut in Half is a fascinating and accessible popular science look at the extraordinary in the everyday."Somebody had to shut that damn thing upSo that's what's inside an oil filter...huhOne man and his machineGory cutting in action

Do you want to work in a fun and energetic environment that is laid back and non-corporate? Lifestyledesign offers all this in one of the most beautiful places is the world. Exciting projects and great clients await you here at Lifestyledesign in sunny Santa Barbara, CA.

View the full design job here

This interview is part of a series featuring the presenters participating in this year's Core77 Conference, "Now What? Launching & Growing Your Creative Business" , a one-day event aimed to equip attendees with tangible skills and toolkits to help produce and promote their products or services.

Within the first few minutes of talking with self-proclaimed 'brutally honest' design consultant Emily Cohen, it becomes clear she means business. Emily's knack for giving productive, actionable feedback, paired with her natural writing abilities, previous design experience and writing skills has made her an invaluable resource for creative businesses looking to figure out their next steps. Through the launch of her new book, aptly titled Brutally Honest: No Bullshit Strategies To Evolve Your Creative Business, Emily aims to make getting a look inside her brain more accessible to design entrepreneurs everywhere.

Emily will be bringing some of the knowledge from Brutally Honest to the 2018 Core77 Conference, where she'll be leading a workshop called "Best Practices Any Design Firm Should Know". Ahead of her workshop, we sat down with Emily to learn more about her career path, from designer to consultant, and to better understand how her clients' needs have shifted over the years:

You started out working as a designer. Was there any particular moment that made you decide you wanted to become a design business consultant instead?

When I was working as a designer at a pretty well-known design firm right out of college, I realized pretty quickly that there were these amazing people who were much more talented than me. I thought to myself, "Wait, that's a problem. I don't think I have the passion that other people have." I realized I just didn't have it in me to be a designer, so I had a crisis. It was a really big moment in my life. I went to design school and I loved design, but this wasn't going to be the career path I wanted. 

So, I asked everybody I knew—my clients, the people that I was working with, my friends and teachers, everybody. "What should I do? What do you think I'm good at?" Everybody consistently said that I'm good at kicking people's asses. "You're good at organizing, managing, writing, and you're a good people person. You should do something like that." 

I didn't know what that meant at the time, but soon after, I realized there was the possibility to apply those skills to design and be something like a Studio Manager at a design studio. I'm older than most people (I'm in my fifties), and when I started my career, there really wasn't anybody doing the business of design within a design studio. There wasn't a studio manager or project manager at the time. There was just the account manager in the agencies. In design firms, it was pretty much designers and artists just doing what they could. There were very few, if any, people with the title Project Manager. So, I sort of invented that idea. I contacted about seven studios that I admired within a week. Pretty much all of them offered me a job.

It wasn't because I was amazing and cool, though I like to think I am. It was more because nobody was doing that at the time, and I had the skills as a designer. I took the highest paid salary, because I'm very ambitious, and managed a studio. When I joined, there was about five people, and when I left after seven years there were about 40 people. I basically created the job for them. They initially thought I was going to be a receptionist, but then I created the job, and I became Executive Vice President within two weeks. The reason why I got that title was pretty funny. It's because the clients weren't respecting me. There was a lot of sexism back then—a tremendous amount, more than now. So, I just changed my title. I told my boss, "I'm just going to call myself this. You don't have to give me a raise." Sometimes you can't change people's perceptions until you give them that comfort level.

Did entrepreneurship come naturally to you?

My father was a bookseller in Manhattan. He owned two bookstores on Wall Street. So I came from entrepreneurial parents, and I learned everything about being an entrepreneur from my dad.

My consulting business actually happened very naturally. Pretty quickly, within a few weeks of working as the Executive Vice President at the design firm, the word spread among the AIGA folks that there's this woman who likes writing proposals. It was mostly through this woman who was the editorial director at Milton Glaser studio. She was really well connected and would recommend me to all these Milton Glaser friends who were big name designers at the time. I ended up having this freelance business, writing proposals and advising about business on the side.

Then my husband's told me, "You know, you're working 60 hour weeks, 40 hours at a full-time job and another 20 hours doing consulting. That's a business—you should do that." I agreed, so I quit my job and started my consulting business. It grew like crazy. I started off with pretty well-known designers as clients, which gave me some more credibility in the industry. So it just sort of blossomed from there. Now, I have about 30 or 40 clients on retainer. I also have a lot of one-time clients that hire me for business retreats, and most of them turn into retainer clients after that. And I also travel and do a lot of speaking. 

Brutally Honest by Emily Ruth Cohen from Emily Cohen on Vimeo.You went to design school, which notoriously doesn't really teach you that many business or writing skills. So for you, where did all of this knowledge come from?

I've always been a great writer, because I grew up with my father teaching me how to talk to people and handle customer service. I instinctively had those skills and had no fear. I'm a risk taker—I have no problem quickly leaping into something new without any experience. So I had writing, I had organizational skills, and I had people skills. That's really all you need.

Then I just did it, and the more I did it, the more I got better at it. I also learned from all the people I was working with. I was very nosy. When I was a designer—this was before most things were digital—I would dig through the garbage or look at proposals. I'd always try to be in client meetings. I tried to push myself to learn those kinds of things. I learned on the job, essentially. But I had some basic core skills already. I don't think you could be doing what I do without those writing, organizational and people skills. 

Since you were on the forefront of design consultants, how did you frame your new business to other people so that it was appealing to them?

It was a pretty easy sell to be honest because I think designers naturally understood the position. All I had to say was, "I understand design, I like to talk to clients, I like pricing, and I like negotiating." Once I told them all those silly things I liked, that they hated, it was a pretty easy sell. Millennials are so smart and so business savvy that they have different needs, but back then, people just wanted to be doing cool design. They didn't have a lot of business skills, so once I said I could do all of these logistical things for them like teach them how to manage projects, clients and problem solving, it was usually a yes.

I was also working with some big names, and big names did and still do carry weight. It doesn't mean I'm great, it just means I happen to have Louise Fili as a client. Then just having that understanding of design was very helpful. The fact that I used to be a designer is what makes me very different than any other consultant. I value design. I can talk about their process with them because I've done the work.

What topics do most people come to you for now?

Most of what I do now is big picture planning. I usually do what I call "strategic business planning retreats" where I spend a whole day with my clients. They come to me to help them look at their current state and think about where they want to go and the steps and actions that will take them there. When I first started my business, it was a lot of tactical work—write a proposal, help negotiate pricing. I still do that, but most of what I do now is strategic planning.

What do you think sparked this change in needs from you over the years, and how did you manage to adapt to this shift?

It's very clear to me: Millennials are smart, and designers have gotten smarter. Now, most designers understand and value design business, and they even have project managers. They have skills now that they didn't have back then, or they make sure to have staff capable of taking that stuff on. It was a very clear shift almost seven years ago that happened almost overnight. People started saying, "I can write my own proposals now," or, "I can write contracts, that's easy." 

Most of my clients are so much smarter than they used to be. And because of that, they mainly want somebody else, kind of like a virtual partner, to bounce ideas off of, to tell them about best practices based on what other people are doing, and to push them to think about other ways of thinking. Now project managers at small to midsize studios have somebody in that project manager-producer role, but they still need advice on how to better manage their team, how to negotiate with clients, how to troubleshoot with clients and all that. So I still do a tremendous amount of that as well.

Can you talk about how this will tie in with the workshop you'll be hosting at the 2018 Core77 Conference next month? 

The workshop I'll be leading is called "Best Practices Any Design Firm Should Know". I'm not a big inspirational speaker, nor do I personally like inspirational speakers. That's just not my kind of style. I really like tactical and actionable, so this talk covers topics like: What's the best way to do pricing? What's the best way to manage your clients? It lets you get inside my brain in one hour. It's actually my most popular speaking topic because it's super rapid fire, but you get so much out of it. It doesn't go too deep, but you get so much more in an hour than you do with most other talks.

This workshop, in particular, is a good fit for both people who are looking to start their own business and people who already have a business. I tried to make it so that there are nuggets for everybody. There are nuggets for the one-person firm, nuggets for people who have a large team, and there are ones for people just starting out. I try to cover as much as I can in an hour for a range of audiences, even for people that work in-house. 

What you hope people will take away from your workshop?

If you can leave with three crazy new ideas, that will make me happy. That's what this workshop is designed to to—give you three great ideas out of the 50 that you just heard.

___________________________________________________________________________________

You want to start a creative business. Now What? Come to our 2018 Core77 Conference to learn more about launching & growing a product line or design studio of your own on October 25th in Brooklyn!

Buy "Now What? Launching & Growing Your Creative Business" Tickets here.

Learn more about Emily's book, Brutally Honest: No Bullshit Strategies To Evolve Your Creative Business, here.

In June we told you about the WantedDesign's Design School Workshop results from this past year's NYCxDesign, and now we're introducing you to the members of the winning team!

LINDA XIN

Tell us a bit about yourself. As a second-generation Chinese-American, born in a small town in Idaho, I was constantly asking myself why I didn't look like everyone else. While it was a struggle as a child, it helped me understand that differences can bridge us just as much as they can separate us.

What is your school experience like, and what did it mean to be a part of the Wanted workshop? At Pratt, the emphasis on both the craft of an object—as well as the impact it can create beyond the individual experience—has helped me think more broadly about the possibilities of what design can do. This understanding that systems and services can deepen how products touch our lives was also a priority in our group, where it wasn't just about the object itself but also about a series of interactions embedded within it. The brief of the "future heirloom" really got me thinking about what the future of product design could look like, where digital interactions can be used to create more meaningful experiences of objects.

Air Sleep Monitor by Linda Xin

What unique cultural perspectives did you bring to the work around "future heirloom"? When my mom and dad moved to the United States, the bulk of my family stayed in Shanghai, which meant that my relationship to my extended family was always distant and somewhat fragmented. I knew them more from the photographs and objects we had lying around the house, so the idea of our "future heirloom" as a way to connect family through the "soul" of an object is very familiar to me.

Why do you think your solution resonated so well with the jury? "Imprint" was about capturing a simple yet powerful emotional embrace between two people, and passing that on in an object that could echo this connection to the next generation. We as people naturally assign meaning to the objects around us, and when those objects are able to speak back to us in a deep and emotional way, that is when they become really powerful.

What is your vision of the future? The 60s and 70s were periods where people collectively looked towards a bright and fulfilling future, ripe with the possibilities of technological, political, and social advancement. We now find ourselves in a period of skepticism and divisiveness, where we constantly doubt the news we hear and the political & economic systems that seem beyond our control. At the same time, this new age of the Internet has also cultivated an increasingly globalized world, where our generation and the next become more socially-minded and critically aware of life beyond our borders. I look forward to the expansion of this optimism, into an era where we are united as a planet rather than a planet of independent countries.

What is your vision for YOUR future? Where do you see yourself in the world of design after you graduate? I'd like to take a multi-disciplinary approach to design, addressing problems without preconceived notions of what an appropriate solution is. Sometimes what is needed may be a system or a service rather than a physical product. The range of design that can bridge the digital and physical worlds (particularly within the health/tech industries) is something I hope to bring to all of my work moving forward, where understanding how and when they can impact people in fundamentally different ways will be key.

Where can people learn more about your work?

www.lindaxin.com

https://www.lindaxin.com/design-strategy https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindaxin/

ALIETTE PLATIAU

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Tell us a bit about yourself. My name is Aliette Platiau, and I'm a 22-year old student entering my 5th and final year at Strate School of Design in Paris, France, where I will major in Interaction Design. I come from the north of France, Lille (design capital in 2020!), where I like to spend as much time as possible with my family and friends near the sea.

What is your school experience like, and what did it mean to be a part of the Wanted workshop? This was the first participation of my School, Strate, to the WD workshop, and I had never heard of it before. To be honest, I left Paris without really knowing what to expect, and it allowed me to be carried away by the incredible energy that existed on the spot, in the context of NYCxDesign. This week of workshop with my group was very challenging, yet rewarding: We call came from different horizons, but I had the impression that we discovered and collectively realized a project that we had all in mind.

Presentation device for the CEA [Link]

What unique cultural perspectives did you bring to the work around "future heirloom"? As our project was about the cultural ways of showing affection to a person, we exchanged a lot about our different manners from around the world. Some were the same, and some were different, (like "la bise"—to kiss on the cheeks) in France. We wanted our project to be able to adapt to all these different modes of expression.

Why do you think your solution resonated so well with the jury? I think it was thanks to the essence of our project; transmitting affection is something that anyone can relate to, regardless of age or culture. Further, we really tried to use technology, but without showing it directly, creating an object that seems "non-connected" but that transmits data in a very subtle way (warmth). This was appreciated by the jury.

What is your vision of the future? We have a lot of materials in our hands to make the future rosier than we have predicted: we have technology, we have innovation, we have science, knowledge, and above all we have the will. It's up to us to make all this better oriented, because for now, there are many changes to be made!

What is your vision for YOUR future? Where do you see yourself in the world of design after you graduate? Because of my specialty in interaction, I am very interested to what concerns technology and how it links humans to each other and to machines. I would love to continue in the research field—to work with people with different backgrounds on the future of these technologies—technologies that can offer us a fairer future if we use them properly.

Where can people learn more about your work?

alietteplatiau.com

https://www.behance.net/alietteplaf080

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliette-platiau-7033a4136/

https://www.instagram.com/alibabaplt/

MASON HAWKINS

Tell us a bit about yourself. My name is Mason Hawkins and I'm a Colorado native. I come from a family full of people who are creative problem solvers, whether they be machinists, artists, engineers, or chemist. I have always loved building and creating as a way to solve problems for myself and the people around me.

What is your school experience like, and what did it mean to be a part of the Wanted workshop? School has always been very challenging for me because of its rigid structure being incompatible with my dyslexia. The Wanted Design Workshop was quite the opposite: Its format was open, so I was free to openly work through the prompt with the goal of creating a powerful solution—regardless of the form it took.

Foot Drop Brace by Mason Hawkins

What unique cultural perspectives did you bring to the work around "future heirloom"? Coming from a family that never had much money, there aren't precious jewels or watches laying around. That's simply not our kind of heirloom. In my life, valued heirlooms are tools my ancestors used in their trade, or objects they used for recreation. When I hold them, I have an immediate tactile connection to their life.

Why do you think your solution resonated so well with the jury? In my opinion it was received so well because we proposed that the most important part of an heirloom is the emotional connection. Imprint engages one's senses in a way that other heirlooms don't. Our solution used technology to embody that experience of emotional connection in ways that we haven't seen before.

What is your vision of the future? My hope that there is a expansion of deep-rooted, emotional connections that are enhanced through products that employ technology.

What is your vision for YOUR future? Where do you see yourself in the world of design after you graduate? I hope to enhance how people experience their lives through product design in either medical or outdoors fields.

7. Where can people learn more about your work?

https://hawkinsmd.myportfolio.com

Instagram: @justifiedhoopla

BARBARA RESZKA

Tell us a bit about yourself. I am a student of Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts in Lódz, Poland. For five years I have been working on how to use design, tech, and art in creating useful and inspiring products.

What is your school experience like, and what did it mean to be a part of the Wanted workshop? I had an amazing opportunity to represent my school as the first Polish team in the history of Wanted Design Workshops. It was a big challenge to work on each step of the workshop exercises, and also to meet such an amazing people from all around the world. If you ask me what is the biggest benefit of the workshops, I would say building strong teamwork skills—because the "Imprint" group was the best one I've ever worked in, for sure!

Appe_light by Barbara Reszka

What unique cultural perspectives did you bring to the work around "future heirloom"? It was very collaborative from the start, but despite the fact that we had no time to waste, we always found a few minutes to talk about each other's history, travels, and traditions.

Why do you think your solution resonated so well with the jury? "Imprint" is a special item because it saves what is the most precious and inherent in people—emotions. It is a unique, wearable heirloom that offers so much—the touch with beloved one, impressions of a moment between two people, something very significant but also very ephemeral.

What is your vision of the future? The future is about getting better depending on what one already has achieved. The future is the world constantly improving and becoming a more pleasant place to live for everyone, with no exceptions.

What is your vision for YOUR future? Where do you see yourself in the world of design after you graduate? I am constantly working on opening my own design studio "Projektyp" in Lódz. With two of my friends Marta i Martyna (who were also participating in Wanted Design Workshops) we're trying to create a space dedicated to exchanging ideas and solving interdisciplinary problems. I hope that soon our studio will become one of the most professional and innovative on a worldwide scale.

7. Where can people learn more about your work?

Personal:
linkedin.com/in/barbarareszka

behance.net/barbarareszka

Studio:

behance.net/projektyp

facebook.com/projektyp

instagram.com/projektyp

File this under "cool random stuff on the internet." In Germany there's an outdoor museum called the Glentleiten, a sort of Bavarian cousin to Colonial Williamsburg. It's populated with more than 60 traditional buildings filled with folks performing traditional crafts and agrarian activities. But they're also allowed to use old-school (19th or 20th century, by the looks of it) machines.

Two guys work at a sort of primitive bandsaw mill, and are tasked with turning big-ass logs into boards. Logs of that size would be impossible for two men to lift, so they've got a cool series of trolleys, tracks and contraptions they use to haul, position and mill it.

I don't know how to say "bandsaw mill" in German, but every part of this thing looks so dangerous that it should be called Der Widowmaker.

The sharpening machine in particular is pretty nifty, and note that they've got a single engine that they use to power different machines at different times by slipping the belt onto different pulleys. Take a look at how it all works:

Also: Am I the only one who noticed that every time this dude looks at the other dude, he looks like he wants to murder him?

He should also be called Der Widowmaker.

Marble Homes is marble run game designed to teach kids about how rolling marbles can interact with basic shapes.

Kids can choose which house they want the marble to go home to, and then create a path out of basic shapes to get the marble home. Kids learn about how each shape can uniquely manipulate the path of a marble.

The different house designs expose kids early to the diverse range of homes and environments where people live.

Marble Homes is made from laser cut basswood held together with wood glue.

View the full project here

The Mobike E-bike is a clean-looking, lightweight, comfortable E-bike that uses both hybrid power and full electric drive. The moped-like full electric drive will allow an easy transition for people with moped experience rather than cycling experience. The E-bike offers a 70km range and a top speed of 20km/h. The E-bike addresses rides up to 5km, whereas traditional bikes are commonly used for only 3km.

View the full content here

Like everyone else, industrial designers can gripe about products or concepts. But unlike everyone else, industrial designers can actually do something about it- -at least in rendering form. In this fun-to-watch rendering vid, ID'er Eric Strebel articulates what he doesn't like about the design of Volvo's 360c concept car, then offers his fixes by modifying certain elements:

If you were to imagine the construction site of the future, your vision would likely be filled with robots operating other robots, with almost no humans in sight. However, what if designers instead imagined a construction site where robots and high-tech interconnected tool systems worked together support the efforts of humans, rather than take over their tasks entirely? Western Washington University (in partnership with Anvil Studios and Milwaukee Tool) recently took ten weeks to develop a proposal for a construction site tool ecosystem along these lines. The design of this ecosystem enhances job site communication and facilitates time and cost efficiency.

The goal for this project was to develop a connected tool system to improve key aspects of the commercial construction processes. In order to accomplish this mission, thirteen students began working as individuals and later as teams to explore how interconnected tool systems can generate value.

Tools that interact with each other can benefit both the workers who operate them and the managers who keep track of them within the jobsite. Connected security, mobility and communication tools can improve safety, communication and efficiency on commercial construction sites.

To begin exploring the future of interconnected construction tools, the design teams had to first understand end user needs and the goals of organizational stakeholders.

In the commercial construction industry, laborers, inspectors and managers work together to ensure safe, steady progress. This can only be achieved through the effective implementation of comprehensive security protocols, transportation infrastructures and communication systems. 

The designers conducted research in the field and identified key pressure points in commercial construction settings. These insights led to informed design solutions meant to enhance the commercial construction process for laborers and management alike.
__________

From security to movement to visualization, each tool system works to uphold the other while occupying an individual niche within the construction process.

Many job sites remain bright throughout the night. The security team proposed that the integration of a more seamless security lighting system within sites would provide enhanced surveillance opportunities to management. This lighting system works on the perimeter of the site as well as the interior, acting as an egress point for workers in the event of an onsite emergency. To compliment this, laborers can press and hold a hazard tag mounted under the brim of their hardhats to notify management of potential emergencies and, if necessary, request medical help. By providing constant contact between managers and workers, the jobsite can become safer. This hazard tag also provides management with GPS tracking capabilities. Allowing managers to know where their employees are can facilitate improvements to emergency response protocols and just-in-time material deliveries.

In the construction site of the future, workers will be able to catalyze productivity through the use of drone technology, so the movement team worked to realize this vision. Drones can surpass the capabilities of humans in efficient tool delivery, jobsite surveillance, and material tracking. With increasing global interest in autonomous tools, the technology has evolved to streamline processes and enhance connectivity in hazardous environments. The design team developed a construction drone to deliver tools and materials between workers. In addition, the drones can transport other connected Milwaukee tools across the construction site. The device also catalogs progress on the jobsite and relays information to upper management teams. At night, the drone responds to any relevant security alerts produced by the perimeter lighting device.

To ensure close communication between construction project stakeholders, the visualization team conceptualized a jobsite collaboration station intended to streamline interactions between workers and managers. The station provides separate modes for both workers and management, ensuring that only the most pertinent information is available for access by a given worker. Laborers have access to task lists and schedules. They can send and receive messages with management and other workers. For management, the station's features include GPS personnel tracking, along with the capability to interface with security and movement services. Additionally, the system provides management teams with updated progress reports and daily worker feedback. 

Commercial construction work is time intensive and costly. Ultimately, the job is stressful for both day laborers and the managers who organize their work. Providing intuitive user experiences while tools are in operation is vital to the success of the construction program.The connected tools are intended to operate in a way that does not distract from commercial jobsite hazards, allowing those across the construction hierarchy to execute safe, efficient work. When construction is finished, these tool systems will have coordinated to produce a comprehensive history of the entire project. Managers can then use this timeline to improve future processes.
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The full team (including a 2017 Core77 Design Awards poster in the back!)

The designers worked as three teams to craft a family of Milwaukee tools concerning jobsite security, material movement and data visualization services. With the direction of Anvil Studios and Milwaukee Tool, each team explored concepts that provided services to the whole construction site, rather than for one specific function for a single particular user. In addition, the designers analyzed Milwaukee product lines and adhered to the branding andCMF that Milwaukee has successfully implemented for nearly a century.

Each of these tools becomes a service for the other to extend the capabilities of the entire tool ecosystem. Together, they work to improve safety, communication and efficiency of workers and management on commercial job sites. This system can save money and lead to stronger, safer construction progress from start to finish.

According to Vitra, in 1946 Charles and Ray Eames designed a tabletop radio with a housing made of bent plywood, and this "was rejected by the designated manufacturer, who wanted a 'normal design'."

Charles and Ray sent photographs of the prototype to the magazine 'Interiors'; matchbooks were included in the pictures as a scale reference. Their aim was to increase the acceptance of smaller, more modern devices.

The device never saw manufacture. But Vitra apparently owns the design as they're now, some 70 years later, rolling it out--albeit with some design modifications:

As you can see it's got four extra buttons, presumably to manage the Bluetooth features Vitra's added, and of course there's an LCD.

A couple of things bug me about this. One, they've placed the Eames signature on the face of the radio. Firstly I think Charles and Ray would've found this tacky, and secondly, they didn't actually sign off on this modified design, so the signature is kind of a lie.

Second thing that bugs me: Limited-Edition-ness. They're only producing an arbitrary-sounding 999 of these, for $999 each. As always I find it ironic that the Eameses set out to produce good design for the masses, yet the modern-day rights holders to their designs seem to keep them frustratingly out of reach.

We are looking for a team player with a strong sense of responsibility, openness to feedback and willingness to make changes to a design. You will be responsible for conceptualizing, designing, and building ideas of your own and of the team. You can individually inspire the team, lead projects and

View the full design job here

For its third annual, the MFA in Products of Design program at SVA has announced their Open House Design Challenge—a quick-'n-dirty design competition open to people interested in learning about the program and attending their Open House and info session in New York City on November 14th.

"Lots of people are keen on learning about grad school and about the unique aspects of our program, but it can be expensive to come to New York City," comments Products of Design chair Allan Chochinov. "Since there's nothing like actually hanging out in the department, meeting current students in person, and really getting a sense of the place, we wanted to make it a little bit easier to attend. So this is a fun way to help out with the airfare. "

The requirements for entering couldn't be simpler—pick a question, and answer it by creating one sketch and a two-paragraph description of the idea. This year's topics are awesome:

Pick one of the following questions:
A. If Nike and Slack launched a new initiative together, what would it be?
B. Design a piece of luggage for people who are afraid of flying.
C. Sketch an app to increase political activism.

The top 3 winning entrants receive expert portfolio reviews from faculty and experts, and the overall winner will receive travel reimbursement up to $750 to come to the department's open house in New York City.

"This isn't just a skills competition ," adds Chochinov. "We're looking for ingenious ideas that are brave, and design concepts that are of the moment. Mostly we want people to really run with their ideas and have a lot of fun!"

The deadline for submitting your idea is Friday, October 26th. Find all the details at the Products of Design site.

Imagine for a moment that your dog were a designer in its mid to late 20s. What would they wear? How would they choose to accessorize? What would their apartment look like? Open your eyes and feast them on products from the new dog essentials brand Wild One:

Leash and Collar in TanPoop Bags and Poop Bag Carrier in RedHarness and Leash in Tan

The new brand knows just how to win the hearts of design conscious dog parents—through a careful color palette and by offering stripped-back essential items only. While Wild One's dog collars, harnesses and poop bag dispensers are all noteworthy design updates to most existing products, I'm particularly intrigued by their version of the all-weather dog carrier: 

Carrier in Black

After NYC banned dogs from the subway unless they can fit in "a bag", scenes like the ones below became all too common:

Dog in bag photos: courtesy of Sad and Useless"Help."

The design of Wild One's dog carrier, for small dogs at least, offers a more streamlined solution than schlepping your pupper in a duffel bag—with the added bonus of not suffocating them. There isn't anything holding the dog's face in the bag while zipped—not even a mesh layer of fabric—but the dog is still secure thanks to the placement of the cutout:

Carrier in Tan

The dog can easily exit the bag once it is unzipped and placed on the ground. To prevent them from escaping, just leave the top zipped up. Unless you have a super tiny dog on your hands, they won't be going anywhere. 

Carrier in NavyCarrier in Tan Carrier in Tan Carrier in Navy

Next, I hope to see a version for bigger dogs so these poor huskies can stop commuting in duffel bags, but for now, props to Wild One for setting the pet carrier design bar higher than this: 

"Enough, Diane."

Here's a nifty project: Bob Clagett takes a piece of otherwise dead space in his Land Cruiser--the inside of the tailgate--and cuts into it to create some custom storage compartments. "Yes, to do this project, you have to cut into your car," Clagett writes. "I know that sounds scary, and it can be." But with some thoughtful analysis and the judicious use of tools, it can be done well. Here he shows you how: