Helmut Smits

I read about Helmut Smits on Core77 and checked out the rest of his portfolio. I like how his ideas are simple tweaks on everyday life, often blending two very familiar things. His work has a very intimate, human touch. Check out these plant lamps - haha!

Nixon watches

So beautiful! I rarely like watches, but this braceletty version seems like something fun for a change. Way to go, Nixon!

Classy? Well, not really...but they'd go well with these:

or these things, which seem to be sold everywhere:


But it all begs the question: is this design? I know it's supposed to be cheeky and referential, a meme of sorts...but those original plastic objects were DESIGNED with elements that made them stackable, sturdy, easy to hold and lightweight. I am still in awe of the original designs because they met their purposes to the highest degree. For once, I'm in favor of the plastic versions.

Square

Square is a plug in device that allows you to complete credit card transactions on iPhones, iPads and other smartphones. WOAH. After dealing with two clunky web-based merchants, I am totally dazzled with this new option. Not that I currently have an iPad or a business that sells things, but I'm keeping this one in the files anyways.

The interface looks really clean and simple, and it helps you keep all of your transactions in one place. Check out the video... don't be too alarmed by the guy's creepy tone. SQUARE WILL BE EVERYWHERE but it's an okay thing.

Cuckoo Clocks

Grandma and Grandpa gave me an old cuckoo clock they picked up at a garage sale ("one of many"), and I've been searching online for info on assembling it. Along the way I found this picture:

You guys win. Mine is smaller. Are those guns at the top? Creepy.

I read an article about the history of cuckoo clocks here, and it said that Bavarians started making them because they were snowed in every winter. The whole town would come together, making metal cogs in one shop and wooden boxes in another, all in an effort to make clocks. It seems so surreal - would that happen in our times in America? Maybe that's a feeling of community that I've been missing.

Anyways, the gigantic clock people also have these sweet little birdcages. We saw some at the Alameda Antique Fair and they're really beautiful. Feast your eyes on this:

and these:
and my favorite:

The Door To My Heart

I recently moved into a 1920s era apartment with all of the charm you could hope for - the Bay window, hardwood floors, heavy bathtub, telephone nook, and - best of all - a Murphy bed closet. The bed fixture had been removed many years ago, but Dad and I figured we could make our own contraption. In our usual stroke of good luck, he found an old Murphy bed frame on craigslist. This apartment will know the glory of its youth!

via the Murphy Bed Company's website

Murphy beds were introduced in the early 1900s and peaked in popularity around the late '20s when a lot of apartments were being constructed. I guess suburban/single family residence homes have changed our ideas about space and functionality, but I feel like this idea is a timeless gem for urban life.

Kenichi Okada and Chris Woebken

The Royal College of Art recently showed work in progress, and this was by far my favorite. A collaboration between Kenichi Okada and Chris Woebken, these toys are collectively called "Animal Superpowers." I think they're so sweet and innocent - the type of things grown-ups want to play with too.

Here is the rundown from Kenichi's website:

Experimental series of toys as sensory enhancements for kids to experience animal superpowers. Those 5 devices are special tools allowing kids to feel how like an animal or experience special extra qualities how they perceive the environment.

• Bird - sense of direction with a head mounted solenoid compass
• Ant - feeling like an ant seeing 50x through microscope antennas on your hands
• Giraffe - a child to adult concerter changing your voice & perspective
• Elephant - shoes picking up transmitting vibrations from fellows
• Electric Eel - enhanced spatial vision through head mounted Theremin

Rather than creating a series of toys and super-heros with weapons, we are interested in experimenting with the qualities of changing the perception as well as sensory enhancements changing your perspective or creating empathy with animals.

We believe curiosity and exploration is one of the major desires of children and our goal is not just to create a series of devices for exploration and curiosity that might be just fun for one afternoon. Much more we are interested in providing tools seeing the world through a different lens and to learn more about ourselves. We believe those devices could possibly create empathy with animals, experiencing what they experience as well as providing an interface to communicate with them.

This is just a start of the experiment and we believe it is possible to create also tools for play with deeper layers, learning levels and more layered interactivity that could even become an extension of your body rather than just an traditional play-object.

Simple Design: Traps

I saw this article on Roger Arquer's simple and effective mousetraps. Not only are they easy to construct with a few household objects, but they are also humane. If you're the kind of person who escorts spiders out on magazines, you might give these traps a try. I am currently in a mouse-free environment...but I really like this idea.

Baggage Claim

Yes, I'll take them all.

Valextra.

My sister is in town for a few weeks, and she's on the hunt for luggage. I started snooping around on the internet for timeless, durable pieces, but was quickly discouraged. I guess I like the trunks in the Samsonite Black collection, but on the whole, the market is geared towards someone else. I like the Valextra brand, but it's a little (okay, waaaaay) out of my price range. The briefcase above brings out this weird, covetous side of me...possibly similar to people who dream of fancy cars or fur coats. But dude - it's a briefcase. What's my problem?

Maybe the problem is my frustration with a market that has veered away from aesthetics in favor of perceived durability. I understand that we travel more frequently and that there is more machine assistance in the airports, but I feel like there must be a more handsome solution to our changing needs...ideally, one that looks more like a clever accessory than an oversized piece of coal with zippers.

Look at these handsome leather cases! I got this photo from the Arts and Crafts home, which features a nice history of the suitcase.

I know, I know - they don't have wheels...but I'm in the process of making a prototype solution. It may end up looking like those old-time rollerskates that you strap onto shoes, though hopefully more tasteful.

And yeah, I 'm aware they smell like mothballs inside. It's a problem. But look at the way the leather ages! It may get a little scuffed over time, but that can all be teased out with a little shoe polish.

So industrial designers and students, I beg you: reinvent the handsome travel case. Make it durable but simple, because in the end, it's just a box with wheels. It shouldn't cost a grand.

Gunvor Olin

I scanned these images of Gunvor Olin's work from an old design annual at the library. I looked Gunvor up online, but found a lot of heavy 1970s clayware instead of these charming animal dishes. Kind of disappointing. They seem like characters from a storybook - some forest animals searching for a lost friend, or a missing berry pie. I'm fairly sure the pig is a police chief and the fox plays the wry P.I.