These projects are the culmination of a course I've been teaching in conjunction with Sandrine Lebas, Chair of CCA-ID, building on a 'research' semester last fall, which I co-taught with Raffi Minasian. Per the syllabus:
This studio will investigate the role, mechanisms, history, and potentials of the concept of comfort. We will leverage this foundation into a particular project in which the students will use the mechanisms and conceptual paradigms of comfort to challenge, lead, or disrupt a chosen facet of human life. We will use comfort to alter behavior through the practice of Industrial Design.
The application of comfort as a theme for the studio was to explicitly address the emotional component of product design. Comfort is a deliberately slippery theme—highly variable from client to client and context to context. Students immediately grappled with the 'goal' of the products, the various means by which that goal may be physically manifested, and the mechanisms which lead and reinforce feelings and behaviors. It allowed the group to ask the deeper questions, not just "What's a better version of device X?" but "What's a better solution for problem Y?" The theme also lent clear guidance to decisions of detail, material, and brand aspirations—how does this engender that?
The students really ran with the theme. Each applied their own interests and career aims to the effort. Responses range from hyper-ergonomic cutlery, open-ended construction toys—ahem. the world's best blanket-fort kit—new notions in play and childhood fear, furniture that encourages the new habit of working from bed, novel snowboard bindings and a superior chemotherapy sling.
CCA's Industrial Design class of 2013 is excited to share its thesis work: Comfort Objects, the culmination of eight months of design and research covering a wide array of expertise, including soft goods, furniture, sports products, and homewares. Come hang out, eat some good food, and don't miss the opportunity to see 24 unique projects in the field of Industrial Design.
Clockwork from top right: Matt Shaw, Tiffany Lambert, Brigette Brown, Cecilia Fagel, Bryn Smith
Each year the SVA MFA Design Criticism department hosts a conference, where the students present their research, as well as choosing the theme and format. This year's theme is "counter/point" and each student will present their work in counterpoint with that of a speaker whose views may differ from their own. We asked the D-Crit Class of 2013 to explain how they selected their speakers and what discussions they think will ensue at the conference.
Can you explain why you invited your speaker and why their areas of research or design practice relate to your thesis topic? What can the audience expect from your pair of presentations and the discussion to follow?
Matt Shaw: I think that Mark Foster Gage provides a good counter/point for my topic because at first glance we appear to have very different agendas. In my thesis, I advocate for the communicative possibility of what is called "roadside vernacular," or buildings shaped like giant objects. His advanced digital aesthetic is very different, communicating more viscerally and less directly, which he writes about in his book Aesthetic Theory. However, we both place an emphasis on the visual, and we agree that this could be the key to making architecture which re-engages broader publics. I think we agree about what needs to happen, but disagree about how to best accomplish it. These similarities and differences are nuanced and should make for a stimulating discussion in many ways.
* * *
Tiffany Lambert: You can anticipate a glimpse into a future universe—one with mountain-shaped trains and cars grown from organic materials—and hear about how design mediates broader cultural and social experiences that go well beyond aesthetics alone. My research project interrogates the way design citizens (or end users) have become more engaged in processes of design. This participatory culture manifests itself in a variety of ways, shifts the roles of both citizens and expert designers, and raises important questions for the field and its surrounding discourse.
While my work aims to expose the implications of participation in order to establish a critical framework, Fiona Raby's most recent experiment with Anthony Dunne—now on view at the Design Museum in London—explores cultural and ethical impacts through speculative (and spectacular!) design solutions. Their project uses the design proposal as a participatory tool, involving the larger public and designers alike.
And we're live! Our annual guide to New York Design Week is now online at http://www.core77.com/NYDW. With the second edition of Frieze Art Fair and the triumphant return of BKLYN Designs to St. Ann's Workhouse in DUMBO kicking off on May 10, the first ever NYCxDesign Festival will launch this weekend and runs until the end of ICFF.
Our handy web app is also optimized for mobile browsing—just pull up http://www.core77.com/NYDW and add it to your home screen. (Note: We're flattered if you still happen to have last year's guide on your smartphone, but you'll need to re-add this year's guide to your home screen in order to stay on top of this year's festivities.)
If you didn't get around to filling out our handy event submission form in the past couple weeks, don't fret: we'll be accepting submissions through the end of the week or so...
We've been proud to partner with the School of Visual Arts' Design Criticism department over the past several years, and 2013 is no exception. The curriculum for the two-year MFA program culminates with an afternoon-long conference in which the graduating class presents their thesis research alongside the likes of faculty members Paola Antonelli and Adam Harrison Levy, as well as guest speakers such as Michael Bierut, Julie Lasky and Rob Walker to name a few.
counter/point: The 2013 D-Crit Conference, moderated by NPR's "The Takeaway" host John Hockenberry, and featuring graduating students of the SVA MFA in Design Criticism, will take place on Saturday, May 11, 2013 at the SVA Theatre in New York City.
Paola Antonelli, senior curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art, will deliver the keynote lecture, launching an afternoon of rich, polyphonic exchange between the D-Crit Class of 2013 and a headlining roster of design curators, practitioners, theorists, critics, educators, and planners. D-Crit students will be presenting their thesis research in counterpoint with: Walker Arts Center curator of Architecture and Design Andrew Blauvelt; British interaction design firm Dunne & Raby co-founder Fiona Raby; architect and theorist Mark Foster Gage; director of the J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City Toni Griffin; and architect and activist Michael Sorkin.
Topics to be addressed include: the persistence of segregation in today's built environment; the problems inherent in exhibiting graphic design; the spectacular framing of nature in the urban environment; product design's social and participatory dimension; and how some emerging architects are using literal representation in new ways.
As always, the D-Crit Conference features an all-star lineup of speakers, but the students themselves have remarkably diverse backgrounds and each is a sure to make their voice heard within the design criticism community. Thus, Counter/Point is the perfect opportunity to see these rising stars present their latest work as they look forward to their next endeavors.
SVA D-Crit presents Counter/Point Visual Arts Theatre 333 W 23rd St (between 8th & 9th Ave) New York, NY 10011 Saturday, May 11, 2013 12:30–7:00pm http://dcrit.sva.edu/conference2013/
Heineken is pleased to announce the next challenge in their ongoing Ideas Brewery innovation platform: they're inviting designers to come up with new ways to reach and reinvent the beer-drinking experience for the 60–70 year old demographic, based on crowdsourced observations from earlier this year.
An often over-looked demographic, Heineken is using its crowdsourcing platform, IdeasBrewery.com, to gather ideas on how to cater for this 'liberated' generation of consumers who enjoy more freedom from jobs, children, stress and strive more for quality of life, well-being and self-development.
HEINEKEN invites creative people from around the world to submit fresh ideas that will enhance the drinking experience for 60–70 years olds, taking into consideration the beer, the packaging and serving method. The challenge is to cater these new propositions to the unique lifestyle, attitudes and needs of this group. This is the second stage of the Ideas Brewery campaign which was launched at the beginning of the year, where Heineken challenged the public to submit their observations on the lifestyles for 60+.
These insights, gathered from consumers across five continents via IdeasBrewery.com, fell under three main categories and should guide the thinking for the 60+ Ideas challenge responses:
- Quality experiences: The 60+ demographic is becoming increasingly more quality focused. The quality of a meal or beverage far outweighs the quantity for these consumers. - Learning and re-discovery: This generation is committed to continued learning, new perspectives and self-development. They want to stay relevant and vital. - More time for social activities: The 60+ generation of today has more time, space and liberty to enjoy hobbies, sports and traveling. They have a strong attraction to new or more frequent activity-related social occasions
Entrants have until June 27 to submit their best ideas on IdeasBrewery.com for a chance to win a share of the $10,000 total cash prizes. Following the entry period, Heineken will select six finalists to a two-day workshop in Amsterdam; an expert jury—Dominic Wilcox, Alex Goh (Design Taxi), Daniel Quinn (Happen.com) and two senior HEINEKEN innovation experts—will select the top three winners, who will receive $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000.
Longtime authority on color and professional color standards Pantone announced the launch of PANTONEVIEW.COM, an online resource for everything color. "Catering to all color-conscious industries, PANTONEVIEW.com provides visual inspiration, direction and a global perspective on color from the world's leading color experts so you can make more informed color decisions and perfect your color strategy."
The platform offers analysis and reporting across six verticals, as well as news and live webcasted events with the experts.
COLOUR VIEW This is where we apply our policy of colour orientation and analysis product sector by product sector—apparel, homewares, interior design, graphic design, branding, gardening, industrial design, automotives and food to name a few. Here is where we want to build the common language of colour that will take our community of subscribers beyond their own areas of expertise by linking them to what's happening in parallel areas of design.
MATERIAL VIEW To really understand colour, you have to understand the science of colour. We take you into the world of colour technology - the machines, the dyestuffs, the R&D that will change the way we choose and look at colour in the future.
WORLD VIEW Regional and geographical color and trend reports. We look at this locally but we also try and put all our information together so that we can provide you with some global conclusions.
EXPERT VIEW Strategic information and a long term look at the influences that will affect colour in tomorrow's world. Everyone knows what is happening today and maybe in six months time, but how about in five years, ten years and even forty years time.
FUTURE VIEW Strategic information and a long term look at the influences that will affect colour in tomorrow's world. Everyone knows what is happening today and maybe in six months time, but how about in five years, ten years and even forty years time.
The subscription service "zeros in on the color zeitgeist and features comprehensive color direction, market validation and the psychology behind color trends." For $24.95/mo. or $169.95/yr., "PANTONEVIEW.com includes forecasting and orientation where key color direction is mapped out six to 12 months ahead of the season, in addition to reporting and analysis as the season progresses, in order to provide color confirmation and any new color updates."
It's 8:00am and you are wide awake from a speed boat ride that took you across the sapphire-colored waters surrounding Central America. When the boat stops, you are staring at an island so untouched by mankind that you wonder if this is a movie set. Your instructor tells you to put on your goggles because there a few thousand fish she would like you to meet. You dive in, expecting to be jarred by the cold, but are greeted instead with bathtub-warm water and underwater creatures you have never seen in your life. Class has just begun.
Next Friday, April 26, marks the last day to apply for the Biomimicry Professional Certification Program. The globally renowned program is a part-time, two-year, master's-level course designed to empower change-agents who are passionate about a world mentored by life's genius. Biomimicry 3.8 is doing what no other design, engineering, business, or sustainability program is offering: delivering a deeply immersive experience while learning from some of the most spectacular biomes across the planet. We are thrilled to share with you more information about the dramatic ecosystems you will visit as part of the Biomimicry Professional Certification Program. ("BProfessional"). It was designed for people like you, designers who are serious about learning and applying biomimicry to new products and services.
Over the two years you will travel from the mountains of North Carolina to African plains of Botswana to the bioluminescent waters of Vancouver, Canada, and three other locations (like Costa Rica). We hope to see your name among the applicants, and, more importantly, to meet you in Montana in the heart of the Rocky Mountains for our kick-off session this September.
To read about the program in full, see our website.
Back in October of last year, we stopped by BUNDSHOP's Shanghai HQ, a month prior to the launch of their e-commerce platform. In my conversation with Diana, Stephany, Michael and Donnie, they mentioned that they were considering a 24-hour flash sale model, but ultimately went with a traditional online storefront for their holiday season debut.
Now, just five months later, BUNDSHOP is pleased to announce that they're relaunching with the more exclusive approach, featuring a new design from China every day. Billed as "the first and only E2 (Experience + E-Commerce) platform to bring the emerging independent designers of Asia to the world," the international upstarts are poised to become the definitive online portal for "not only products, but also news, interviews and industry opinions to keep our global community informed about a rapidly accelerating design revolution." Hence the tagline, "Made in China is dead—Designed in China killed it."
Wine Bottle Lamp by John Meng
Although the site is currently invite-only, Diana and Stephany are pleased to offer our readers a VIP hookup: Head over to BUNDSHOP.com, click "Get Immediate Access" at the bottom of the center column, and enter "Core" as the first name and "77" as the last name (and your personal e-mail as well, of course).
Our sister portfolio site Coroflot is pleased to announce a unique opportunity for footwear designers to develop their portfolios and get their foot in the door, so to speak. Once again, we are sponsoring five scholarships for PENSOLE's annual Future of Footwear Awards and Master Class, held in partnership with FN Platform at MAGIC and Zappos.com.
To hear PENSOLE founder D'Wayne Edwards tell it, "Our mission is to provide aspiring footwear designers a platform to create their own brand and become the future of the footwear industry. This year we are welcoming Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and Coroflot as scholarship partners to reach an even larger base of emerging talent."
Future of Footwear entrants are required to "submit an original shoe design drawn by hand and rendered in color, using a marker" on the Mesh01 platform by May 26. PENSOLE will announce the 20 winners live on Google+ the following week, each of whom will receive scholarships to experience PENSOLE's rigorous "learn by doing" curriculum, in which students are assigned projects in the following categories:
1. Athletic - Footwear designed to help perform a sport or activity better
2. Dress - Footwear designed to wear at formal events
3. Kids - Footwear designed for kids of all ages
4. Made in USA - Footwear designed for manufacture in the USA
5. Sustainable - Footwear designed with recyclable materials and more efficient manufacturing processes
Coroflot will award one scholarship in each of the five categories, as will our friends at IDSA; the last ten will be selected by PENSOLE. All students will have an additional merit-based opportunity to present samples of their work at a major tradeshow:
At the end of the third week of class, a panel of industry judges and the PENSOLE Google+ community will vote to select 10 semi-finalists who will have samples of their designs made and be awarded a trip to Las Vegas to have their designs on display at the PENSOLE booth at FN PLATFORM, August 19-21, 2013.
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The people behind the upcoming Interaction14 conference invite you to attend a panel discussion in Milan on the "Long View of Interaction Design."
On Monday 8 April at 6 p.m. (on the eve of the Salone del Mobile), Claudio Moderini, Fabio Sergio, Jan-Christoph Zoels and Todd S. Harple will debate with Alok Nandi on how to design for those interaction design challenges that go beyond the immediate consumer product/service launch cycle.
What if your interaction design has to be integrated in a hospital or a building or a city? How do you design if your creation has to last 10, 20 or even more years into the future? What tools can you use as an interaction designer? How do you make it adaptive and resilient? How to avoid obsolescence?
Speakers
Anna Meroni, Assistant professor of service and strategic design, Polytechnic University of Milan (IT)
Live streaming: Yes! The event will be available in streaming live (and recorded for viewing afterwards). Join us on Monday at 6pm Italy time by clicking here.
Hashtag: #ixda
Sponsor in kind: Domus Academy (thank you!)
Disclosure: I am the behind the scenes organizer of it all.
Just in time for spring, the previously-announcedMakerhaus has opened its doors to the Seattle maker community. The 10,000 square foot facility for makers offers a comprehensive selection of essential fabricating tools including rapid prototyping equipment such as a CNC Router, 3D Printer and laser cutter, wellstocked wood working and metal shops, industrial sewing machines and the requisite workspaces and computer labs. While the doors opened on January 1st, the official opening party was February 28th, and it was rocking! Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn even stopped by to check out the facility.
The occasion also marked the debut of the Hand-Eye Supply merchandise counter at Makerhaus, a selection of supplies from our Portland store's cornucopia of tools for makers and designers alike.
We spotted Jeff Skierka's "Mixtape Table," as seen on Core77!
You owe it to your colleagues, your clients and yourself to garner accolades and attention for your past year's work. Take half an hour right now and enter your best project into the Core77 Design Awards and put yourself in the running for just that—with only hours to go the field is still wide open and yours to take!
Core77 is very pleased to present an exclusive look at an IDEO creative ideation exercise, "Brand New IDEO," centered on a 24-hour global Make-a-Thon that will take place next Monday in their 11 offices around the world, starting in Tokyo and ending at their San Francisco headquarters. In anticipation of this unique event, IDEO offers a bit of background on the history of their brand identity and how the project came about. Be sure to tune in on Monday, March 25, when Core77 will host an (almost) live blog of the process as it unfolds.
When Paul Rand designed the IDEO logo in 1991, he didn't anticipate the complex challenges IDEO designers would take on 20 years later. Who could have? It's crazy how many changes the world has undergone during the past two decades—34 new countries, tablet computing, Netflix, the Euro, and the Prius, just to name a few.
Like the world around us, IDEO has evolved too. Where we were once a handful of specialties, today we are dozens. Doctors, biologists, filmmakers, and storytellers rub elbows with industrial designers and engineers—all in the service of creating positive impact through design. And why not? If you listen to futurists, the next 20 years will be a combination of Mad Max and Xanadu. Ferns will become hard drives. Space tourism will be a thing. Thousands of new cities will emerge. We need all the bright, creative minds we can get!
Given these heady challenges, how might we evolve our identity to become even more dynamic in a complex and diverse world? To answer this question for ourselves, we've designed a maker experiment that explores extremes and helps us create a brief for the future. We call it "Brand New IDEO."
Years ago, we needed Paul Rand to design our own brand identity. Today, with communications designers and brand experts in every IDEO studio, we're looking inward to evolve our identity—and we're doing it in public.
Brand New IDEO is a "maker experiment" for everyone inside IDEO's four walls. For many of our designers it means rolling up their sleeves and making something new. For other IDEOers, it means sharing inspiration that explores one of six themes.
Talisman - A memento of the future; a totem capturing our spirit; a talisman bringing fortune to those who encounter it... Let's create objects that represent who we are and who we will become.
Biological - Living, growing, reproducing, aging and dying; perpetuating through offspring; symbiotic with neighbors... Let's create a living identity system that matures and mutates through time.
Powers of 10 - Cellular to spectacular; micro to macro; neutrons, neurons and nebulas... Let's create an identity system that is too large to comprehend, too small to see and every step in between.
Code Junkies - Born in the digital world, forever a resident; viral, logical, & combinatorial; obedient to math- made laws... Let's create an identity that originates from binaries and algorithms.
Writer's Block - High brow and low brow; short stories, poems, lyrics; bumper stickers and billboards... Let's create an identity that lives in the written word- no graphics allowed.
Alternate History - China 1991,* the birthplace of IDEO... Let's create an identity that is unique to its origin, celebrating culture, materiality, craftsmanship and industry. *and/or Munich, Tokyo
L: Michael Hendrix; R: Paul Bennett
Recently, IDEO's Chief Creative Officer, Paul Bennett, sat down with IDEO Boston Creative Director Michael Hendrix for a chat about the experiment. Below is an excerpt of their conversation.
It says "for graphic designers" right on the cover, but don't let that segment you out—this book is a must for any kind of design practitioner. Filled with tons of practical advice and nurturing encouragement, you'll find yourself popping it open randomly for case studies, side bars, posters, illustrations... just plain inspiration. Here's a few paras from Heller:
Designers are routinely called upon to make words about the images and designs they create for clients. Writing and research skills area more necessary than ever before. From the basic business writing to critical writing. Writing about design is not just "trade" writing, but should be accessible to everyone with an interest in design.
Writing and Research for Graphic Designers is an introductory guide to various forms of research and writing—and how they explain visuals and can be visualized. It will address communication on various levels and to all audiences: Designers to Designers; Designers to Clients; Designers to the Design-literate; Designers to the Design-agnostic.
Exemplary excerpts from all these platforms and on all these themes, and parse the examples to show relative merits and demerits. It will be the first substantial handbook for those designers who write and those writers who design. It will include some case studies as well as interviews with writers, editors and researches on the process they go through.
The book features Core77-faves such as Alice Twemlow, Maria Popova, Rick Poynor, Ralph Caplan, Stefan Sagmeister and Stefan Bucher. (Core77's Allan Chochinov is in the mix as well.)
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There's just under TWO WEEKS LEFT to enter the Core77 Design Awards! You have until March 15th to ready your best work from the past year and enter into any of our 17 categories honoring design excellence!
We are proud to announce the full line-up of our jury teams heading up this year's Core77 Design Awards program. Hand-picked by our previously-announced Jury Captains, the jury teams hail from New York City, San Francisco, London, Paris, Milan, Cape Town, Mexico City and Shanghai, to name just a few of the judging locations. This year's jurors represent a broad range of expertise, perspective and experience—these 70+ jurors share our commitment to recognizing superlative work.
In other news, we'd like to congratulate the winners of our second Windows Phone App design competition, App to the Future. We asked designers to change the future by designing an app that would help us create, connect or simply impress our future selves. You answered the call with hundreds of amazing and inspiring submissions from scrapbooks and font managers, trip trackers or convoy road managers, to diaries that don't broadcast your every thought or will even seal them up for the future. Check out the five winners and 50 finalists.
The Core77 Design Awards' mandate is to push the boundaries and reach of the design professions so it is a natural that we are teaming up this Weekend with Internet phenomenon Fab to put the word out to their broad, design-savvy audience. Check it out here!
It's not every day two organizations come together to create something even greater than the sum of their parts. It is with great excitement that we announce a strategic partnership between Core77 and the Industrial Designers Society of America.
Over the coming year Core77 and IDSA will work together to mutually promote programming offered by both sides to our respective audiences. In keeping with tradition, Core77 will host the portfolio review and a social event at the annual IDSA International Conference (taking place this year in Chicago, from August 20-23). Core77 will implement a new job board at the IDSA web site, welcoming IDSA as a partner into the Coroflot Job Network.
IDSA is the voice of the industrial design profession, advancing the quality and positive impact of design, so a partnership with Core77 is a natural fit. "An official collaboration between our organizations makes perfect sense," said Stuart Constantine, cofounder of Core77. "Our motives are well aligned and we are both committed to providing the broader design community with unparalleled professional and creative opportunities."
"While IDSA and Core77 have been cooperating informally for several years, we are happy to have a formal agreement in place to share job board postings and promotion of events that will bring value to designers and the design world," said George McCain, IDSA's chairman of the board. "IDSA has the utmost admiration for the online community that Core77 has built and is honored to become an integral part of it."
Also, if you haven't done so already, there's still time to enter your best work in the 2013 IDEA awards. The final deadline is tonight (Monday Feb 25) so stop procrastinating and get your entry in now!
As of today, there are only four weeks left to enter the Core77 Design Awards—we've even integrated a handy countdown clock into the Core77 homepage so you don't forget that time is winding down...
Of course, that's still plenty of time for you to put together a kickass entry, and we've got awesome news for those of you who are entering the Consumer Products and/or Equipment categories: We're pleased to announce the final two jury captains for the 2013 Core77 Design Awards program, and we think you'll share our excitement in welcoming these two design luminaries, as well as the 15 others we've already announced—all in one place!
Update, March 5: Check out the Jury Team lineups, hand-picked by our Jury Captains.
» Oliver Grabes, Jury Captain Head of Design at Braun
Since September 2009, Professor Oliver Grabes is the new Head of Braun Design and is spearheading Braun's new design approach: "the strength of pure." His approach is to translate heritage into the future; taking Braun's values and world famous design heritage and combining it with modern technologies. His approach creates coherent products that are easy to use, useful and well designed. High quality is paramount to ensure a long-lasting product that creates a positive product experience over years. In addition to being Head of Braun Design, he is the chairman of the jury for the BraunPrize 2012 with the theme of "Genius Design for a better everyday."
Image via DMI » Duncan Trevor-Wilson, Jury Captain Design Manager at GE Healthcare
Duncan Trevor-Wilson is the global design manager for emerging markets at GE Healthcare based in Shanghai. Responsible for driving Strategic design solutions to developing nations healthcare challenges. Formerly he was a design manager at Motorola consumer experience division Beijing and ResMed Australia. In addition he has been awarded multiple design awards and patents for his innovative creations.
Hit the jump to see all of the previously-announced jury captains!
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February is usually a quiet month here at Core77 HQ but it just means that we're ramping up for a busy Spring! This month, we have dispatches from Seoul, Korea and CES 2013 in Las Vegas for two different views on what's happening in the world of product design now.
And while you might be enjoying a quiet month at work, take the opportunity to ready your best work for the Core77 Design Awards! With a little over a month to submit, we are looking forward to seeing your work. So don't delay—we are now accepting projects launched anytime between January 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013. Begin preparing your entry today.
BRIEF: We all love us some Sci-Fi. We all doodle characters and robots based on Star Wars or Blade Runner. Maybe creatures are your thing. A dragon from Game of Thrones or LoTR? What's the character for your next children's book? We know you have more in you than another watch or soccer boot. Show us what you got!
JURY: Discussion forum moderator(s).
CRITERIA: Designs will be judged purely on subjective opinion of the judge(s). Minimum entry will be 1 8.5" x 11" page of thumbnail sketches, and 1 8.5" x 11" rendering of the final character design. The 1HDC is about your rapid visualization skills in conjunction with a fun topic. Good composition, line weight, and rapid concept development will weigh heavily in the final design.
HOW TO ENTER: Participants must execute their design in only 1 hour, based on an honor system. Remember, you're posting to a pile of peers who know what is possible to be done in an hour. To enter, upload your entries to the designated competition forum.
As of this week, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby have been named the Maison & Objet Designers of the Year, an auspicious start to 2013 for the London design duo. In addition to exhibiting several previously-seen projects, they unveiled the new Tobi Ishi table for B&B Italia in Paris last week, shown alongside the Tip Ton chair for Vitra and Ascent collection for Haunch of Venison—which we saw at last year's felicitously-titled Designs of the Year 2012 exhibition—as well as the Western Façade bench for Established & Sons and the Bell Lamp for Louis Vuitton.
Barber & Osgerby are also pleased to announce that the £2 coin that they designed for the Royal Mint—commissioned on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the London Underground this year—has just gone into circulation.
With the EARLYBIRD Deadline only 2 weeks away, we are excited to unveil this year's Core77 Design Awards Jury Captains! Although these individuals need no introduction, we are honored and thrilled to have them lead the charge for this year's design awards program!
Enter your project by JANUARY 31st and receive 20% off for the Earlybird Deadline!
The Core77 Design Awards proudly offers 17 progressive categories honoring the richness of the design profession and its practitioners. From Consumer Products to DIY, Service Design to Writing & Commentary, the Core77 Design Awards provides designers, researchers and writers a unique opportunity to communicate the intent, rigor and passion behind their efforts. We also offer 15 designated student sections within our 17 categories. And with globally distributed jury teams, the individuals who will be considering your work are expert practitioners in the field.
Today we're announcing jury captains from FIVE more of our categories. Stay tuned in the next week as we share our full Jury Captain lineup! Without further ado:
* * *
SOFT GOODS Judging location:New York City, United States
» Jeff "jeffstaple" Ng, Jury Captain Founder and Creative Director at Staple Design
With his hands in just about everything, Jeff Ng, aka jeffstaple, has masterfully created an entire world of communicating through design. Not known solely for his massive sneaker collection, the founder/owner of Staple Design, Staple Clothing and the Reed Space is also a graphic, web and clothing designer, artist, DJ, writer and entrepreneur. He is also responsible for the design work for companies such as Nike, Burton, Converse, UNIQLO, Timberland, New Balance, Versace, Royal Elastics, Triple Five Soul, The Fader Magazine, The Gap, Sony Playstation and Apple Computers.
Perhaps Staple's most famous Staple product were the NYC Pigeon Dunks, a pair of sneakers that produced in collaboration with Nike. There were only around 200 pairs released and they were exclusively released at Reed Space, his retail store and art gallery. They were an immediate success, and Staple Pigeons currently sell for over USD$2000. Ten years later, Staple Design work isn't found just in New York City, but internationally on all forms of media imaginable.
» Lars Wallentin, Jury Captain Packaging designer, Writer and Founder of packagingsense.com
Born in Sweden and educated at the Graphic Institute in Stockholm, Lars Wallentin moved in 1964 to Switzerland to the Nestlé Headquarters where he was responsible, during almost 40 years, for the development of creative design solutions for strategic brands such as Nestlé, Nescafé, Maggi, Buitoni, Nesquik and KitKat. He became a reference for many young marketing people as he taught design, communication and packaging around the world.
Lars Wallentin, a true European as a speaker of several of its languages, is an avid jazz-fan, former table tennis champion and an amateur photographer. He now spends his life writing about design and packaging and consulting various consumer goods companies. Furthermore, he is a well-respected speaker on package design and sits on several design juries. His device, which clearly comes through in his teaching, can be summarized in the three words: simplify, surprise and synergize.
SOCIAL IMPACT Judging location:Cape Town, South Africa
» Ravi Naidoo, Jury Captain Founder of Design Indaba
Ravi Naidoo is the Founder and Managing Director of Interactive Africa, a Cape Town based media and marketing company, which he founded in 1994. His main business interest has always been on media, creativity, marketing and project management. Ravi is possibly best known for establishing the international Design Indaba, which has become recognized as one of the world's leading design institutions through its flagship conference and expo annually held in Cape Town.
SPECULATIVE Judging location:London, United Kingdom
Anthony Dunne is Professor and Head of the Design Interactions programme at the Royal College of Art in London. He is also a Partner in the design studio, Dunne & Raby. His projects with Fiona Raby use design as a medium to stimulate discussion and debate amongst designers, industry and the public about the social, cultural and ethical implications of emerging technologies. Their projects have been exhibited and published internationally and are in the permanent collections of MoMA, the Victoria & Albert Museum, Frac Ile-de-France and Fnac. They have published two books: Design Noir: The Secret Life of Electronic Objects (Princeton Architectural Press, 2001) and Hertzian Tales (MIT Press, 2006).
» Fiona Raby, Jury Co-Captain Professor of Industrial Design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna Partner at Dunne & Raby
Fiona Raby is a Partner in the design partnership Dunne & Raby, established in 1994. She is Professor of Industrial Design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and a Reader in Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art in London. Their work has been exhibited at MOMA, the Pompidou Centre and the Science Museum in London and is in the permanent collections of MOMA, V&A, FRAC and FNAC. They have published two books: Design Noir: The Secret Life of Electronic Objects (Princeton Architectural Press, 2001) and Hertzian Tales (MIT Press, 2006).
Francesca Sarti is an architect with a passion for conviviality. After working in the art world, she founded the food design collective Arabeschi di Latte in 2001. Since college, she has been exploring the food world, its fascination and its power to create situations and relationships, down to its darkest side with the Underkitchen platform. Together with Arabeschi di Latte, she has created many food concepts and pop-up cafés around the world, combining food and design and contributing to shape the actual meaning of this binomial. Besides the activity of food and the creative consultancy, Francesca Sarti gives lectures and runs workshop in many universities, recently the Pasta Power workshop at ECAL, in Lausanne.
Congrats to ClayVon Lowe, our 1HDC December Winner!
Over the last few years we've done a monthly challenge hosted on the discussion forums for a 1-Hour Design Challenge. For December, we asked our talented pool of forum participants to redesign Santa's Sleigh.
Congratulations to this month's winner from "Somewhere Over the Rainbow":
BIG COUNTRY, aka ClayVon Lowe Our first official entry for this 1HDC grabs the prize with some classic rapid viz techniques by allowing the viewer a chance to fully understand the thought process behind his ideas.
The 9 reindeer have been replaced by 4 reindrones...and we've changed a couple of key names...Rudolph...no more...he's Drudolph...Santa Claus changed his name to Santa Draws, and he now has a full staff of industrial designers to help the elves with product development.
Instead of tending to 9 reindeer all year long, Santa can now tweet, facebook, and join in all the human games. That's right. The ReinDrones are now in charge of keeping an eye on who's naughty or nice all year round. They see you when you're sleeping, they see you when you're awake, and they monitor your status updates....lol.
ReinDrone features -electromagnetic ball and sockets all for linking and connection to the sleigh -LED headlamps mounted on front of engine. -Wing mounted skis for water landings (designed with global warming in mind) -All wheels in landing gear snap in (just for old times sake)
Sleigh features -Lead Headlamp Assembly -Automatic sliding doors -Step incorporated in the skis -Navigated by an iPad app.
And our special mentions:
Mike Serafin While the judge believes a Santa sleigh with tank treads could add to the mystique of how Santa delivers all those toys in one night, it is already hard enough for parents to explain flying reindeer. His quick visual skills, however, deserve some mention!
Santa's Arctic Cat with train-like trailer capabilities, candy candy navigation, and peppermint exhaust.
Choto and Petl These two got a little carried away with the amount of time on their entry, but both showed a silhouette technique on their concepts that deserves a second look.
CHOTO - The SANTA MANTA. Long story short Santa is getting sick of NORAD's yearly Santa Tracker
PETL - Anakin sold his pod racer forward turbines to Santa, who wanted to have something with a little more torque & volume than actual Skis+Reindeers.
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As usual, the end of the year marked an opportunity to revisit some of the most popular stories from 2012. We saw fit to identify several trends this time around, with measured predictions about the future of everything from crowdfunding to digital fabrication in the new year.
And at risk of overpromoting the third edition of our Design Awards, we're dedicating the first month of the new year to spreading the word. We'll have more jury announcements and news over the next couple of weeks, but we're encouraging hopefuls to register now to receive a limited edition Core77 Design Awards poster designed by New York City-based firm Zut Alors!, and enter before January 31st to receive a 20% discount!
Vote for your favorite interaction design project and on January 29th, see how your vote stacks up to this year's jury choices. Last year's People's Choice award went to Interaction Cubes by Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/Museu da Vida, from Brazil, who also earned an award for best in category, Engaging.
You don't have to be an IxDA member in order to vote but you will have to register or login through a third-party sign-in (for example Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or LinkedIn). Visit the gallery, cast your vote and stay tuned for the full announcement for this year's Interaction Awards winners!
If you'll be in attendance in Toronto, come say hello to us! We'll be covering the conference and hosting the Coroflot Portfolio Review!
FRIEZE NEW YORK 2013
INTERNATIONAL HOME + HOUSEWARES SHOW 2013
TOKYO DESIGN WEEK 2012
BEIJING DESIGN WEEK 2012
Andrew Cheng - Copper Chair
Candice Lin - Loungi
Nuri Kim - Nu Serveware
Andrew Cheng - Nylon Chairs
Scott Ross - Axiom Knife
Clockwork from top right: Matt Shaw, Tiffany Lambert, Brigette Brown, Cecilia Fagel, Bryn Smith
Wine Bottle Lamp by John Meng
We spotted Jeff Skierka's "Mixtape Table," as 
L: Michael Hendrix; R: Paul Bennett
» Oliver Grabes, Jury Captain
Image via 
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