Oops

ugliest and silliestCourtesy of Andrej Statskij design studio in Latvia come the Oops Awards for bad product design.

In the search for new and original design ideas and executions, there have to be many misses.

Though many are relegated to design-showroom-only status, and never make it past prototyping, it’s fun to take a look at what we hope doesn’t appear in stores or homes.

The anonymous Oops Design Award Foundation began giving awards in 2008 for Ugliest, Silliest and Most Useless Product Design.

They have selected nominees for 2009.

One of the interesting concepts this award highlights is that bad and good design can be very subjective.

For example, as Core 77 notes, one of the chairs nominated for the 2009 Ugliest category has already won the Cicely & Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award, which is totally serious and comes with a $30,000 prize.

Somewhat related, and definitely in my Oops category, is this house which is currently on the market for $4 million (recently slashed from $5.5 mil).

Comments on the hideous “live-in” scuplture ranged from “That just made my eyes throw up” to “Dr. Seuss on acid.”

But someone is bound to buy it, because it’s different.

Much like the apparel that shows up on the catwalk during fashion weeks around the world, these designs are pushing the edge of what we recognize as attractive, in the name of innovation.

I suppose looking at what’s bad helps us define what’s good.

Without rainy days, who would as much appreciate the sunny ones?

Social Interaction

phila sketch clubI previously mentioned the Philadelphia Sketch Club, founded in 1860 by some famous Philadelphia artists on Camac Avenue (that of the wooden cobblestones).

Don’t think I ever read the historical sign that is currently posted in the Avenue, though. These signs, erected by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission since 1946, are studies in idea condensation.

Way before Twitter, the designers for these signs did a pretty great job compressing history, philosophy, biography and more into signs that measure approximately 1ft x 2ft and hold less than 250 characters.

This one holds a gem of a sentence. One that deserves more publicity than it’s small alleyway allows.

Artists found that social interaction enhanced the creation and appreciation of art.

Still does. Still does. Still going strong.

Give Me Liberty, Or…

ladylibertyThe marketers for the Residences at Two Liberty Place must really know their target demographic.

Why else would this call-girl-esque model be the main feature of their advertising, both in print and on their website.

When I first viewed their outdoor ad, I didn’t even get the connection between the name of their building — Liberty II — and the Statue of Liberty, from whence they derived this Lady Liberty character.

Really thought it might be an ad for a high end sex club, or one of those hotels that rents by the hour.

Even the copy suggests that the “private tour” might be more than just a look ’round an empty apartment.

Guess these people are sure they won’t offend the women/wives choosing to pay ridiculous prices to live in their highrise.

Philebrity puts it well: “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful. Hate me because I’m the exact kind of asshole who’d pay $2M for an apartment with no opening windows.”

Yup, that’s the demographic. If they really wanted to go all out, they’d do another ad with Cole Hamels — a building resident — in the same kind of seductive pose.

Then they could really give the Parker Hotel some competition.

The Poet of Plastic

Karim Rashid - Ring Door for AlbedKarim Rashid is an incredible industrial designer.

I’ve run into and admired many of his designs without even knowing they were Rashids.

Such as the Method bath & body products. And Morimoto restaurant in Philadelphia.

What’s most cool is his statement on design philosophy, his “Karimanifesto.”

How to define design, today and what is its role?
Karim Rashid - Slice Precision Cutter

Design has been the cultural shaper of our world from the start. We have designed systems, cities, and commodities.

We have addressed the world’s problems. Now design is not about solving problems, but about a rigorous beautification of our built environments. Design is about the betterment of our lives poetically, aesthetically, experientially, sensorially, and emotionally.

…

My real desire is to see people live in the modus of our time,to participate in the contemporary world, and to release themselves from nostalgia, antiquated traditions, old rituals, kitsch and the meaningless. We should be conscious and attune with this world in this moment.

Karim Rashid - K-8 Dogbowl for Acme

This is a general philosphy for the advancement of society, and parallels the insta-, all the time, everywhere connectivity we are beginning to take advantage of as a species.

“We should be conscious and attune with this world in this moment.”

[Post inspired by idsgn]

Idea of a Tree

idea_tree11The Viennese design firm mischer’traxler has developed recorder one, a completely solar-powered machine that makes furniture.

This furniture (benches, lampshades, stools) is unique. Each individual piece is unique, in fact, because its height, shape and color are determined by the natural surroundings of the machine — specifically, by the amount of sunlight falling on the solar panels.

Beginning at sunrise, the loom dips threads through dye and glue, and winds them around a mold until the sun disappears again. So if the machine is not on the equator, you’ll get shorter pieces in winter, longer in summer.

The passing of clouds or shadows throughout the day determines the saturation of color and the thickness of the weave.

idea_tree3Interesting idea. I would love to see other, more complex shaped objects created this way. And different colors in a single piece — perhaps a gradation between two — could probably be worked out.

[Via DesignBoom and Dezeen]

SoiSong Origami

soisong_octagonal_oragami_cd1SoiSong is the new music outlet for Peter Christopherson, formerly of Coil (which he founded with the now-deceased John Balance).

Brainwashed has an interview from 2008 where “Sleazy” discusses his decision to collaborate on music again, this time with Ivan Pavlov.

Maybe the most exciting thing about SoiSong is the design of their xAj3z album release. 

The die cut octagonal CD (it will only play in horizontal trays, not vertical computer-slot-players) is encased in an oragami-like, biodegradable case, on which is printed imagery and artwork.

Very attractive, and probably worth the € 22 as an objet d’art.

Their landing page for their website is not badly designed, either. (If you’re going for cryptic minimalist, which they are!)

Dis-Patch-Work

dispatch1More on LEGOs: Jan Vormann is a German artist who “patches” holes and decay in buildings with Lego bricks!

This makes for wonderfully interesting juxtapositions of the brightly colored plastic rectangles with the old, graying, non-uniform stones and cement of old structures.

Jan has created this artwork — which, in true German-language style, he calls “dispatchwork” — to several cities, including Tel Aviv, Israel, Bocchignano, Italy and Berlin, Germany.

The work has a very different feel in each of the locales, and all are intriguing.

dispatch2In Berlin, most of the patchwork was done on bullet holes and destruction left-over from World War II. In Italy, near Rome, I imagine the decay was simply from age. In Israel, the artist was specifically invited to “repair” some old walls by the curators of Darom Gallery in Tel Aviv.

It would be fun to revisit the sites in 50 years and see the relative effects of time on the newer plastic vs. the old stone.

UPDATE: Where could we do this in Philly?

[Via Wired and Twittter]

LEGO Architecture

wright lego Legos rule. Let’s get that out of the way straight off. Hours of endless fun, for kids and (if you are so lucky as to be around a kid who has them) for adults.

And in the grown-up vein, just announced: Frank Lloyd Wright Collection® LEGO® Architecture Building Sets.

Released on May 15 at the opening of the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit at the Guggenheim, these are the first sets available from the new LEGO Architecture division (which is so new their website isn’t fleshed out yet).

Playing with legos as a kid, I always felt torn when building from “sets” — those boxes of bricks and special parts that could go together to create a specific structure (castle, helicopter, working tow truck, etc.). I kind of preferred building free-form instead.

But these new Wright sets, and presumably others in the Architecture series, really can teach the user about good architecture! And because of the beautiful way legos are designed — with uniformity in the interlocking parts — nothing says you can’t also use these sets in free-form manner.

A great direction for this iconic toy company.

[Via prairie mod and core 77]

Don’t Crease the Cup

shuttle VABThe design of space travel technology, even the limited space travel we do today, is huge and complicated. 

Here, a rarely photographed but critical part of any shuttle flight, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), where the shuttle body is attached to the fuel tanks and boosters. Photo via Boston.com’s awesome “Big Picture” feature.

From some folks working at the Kennedy Space Center (via email):

The VAB was built for the Apollo program, and never reconfigured for the shuttle, hence the lift over the structure, up, over and down to mate with the tank and boosters). 
 
The certification for the persons operating the crane is awesome; I was lucky enough to be working in the VAB while they were certifying a fellow. In the early days they put a spray can on an upside down wastebasket sitting on VAB floor and the fellow operating the crane is up 467 ft., working blindly. A fellow on the floor with a Walkie Talkie guides him, the last foot or so  just going down in increments of 1/16th of an inch. The operator has to lay the crane on top of the spray can and empty the contents. One day they decided that the can might explode, so they went to an upside down styrofoam cup, the operator can’t crease it. The crane, by the way, weighs 50,000 lbs.

Vascular

Warp Designs Vases
Really unique flower vases from Warp Designs NYC.

Thinking “outside the vase” for sure.

Designed by Kimberly Manne, the owner, and hand-crafted in Brooklyn.

Perfect for modern interiors, be they wood, glass or metal.

[Via]