Age-old Material Meets Modern Design

After self-producing two pneumatic extruders to push soft clay through die, designer Max Cheprack put them to use, gently manipulating the material with great precision and complexity. This Clay Stool design is just one result of the process and represents not only a culturally historic material of the designer’s homeland, but also new possibilities in ceramic design and production.
Designer: Max Cheprack
Extruding Clay from max cheprack on Vimeo.

Heat Pad Pencil by Chihiro Konno and Kenjo Ohashi

Talk about being resourceful! Crafted from bamboo, this pencil comes with a small recycled sachet designed to receive its shavings, after it has been sharpened. When the sachet is sealed, it becomes a heat pad thanks to the composting process of the bamboo.
Professor Hirakazu Seki of Kanazawa University has shown that bamboo shavings generate temperatures of up to 50°C (JP) during fermentation. Based on his findings, two young Japanese designers - Tokyo-based Kenjo Ohashi and London-based Chihiro Konno (previously) – have collaborated to create the Heat Pad Pencil. Simply place the shavings in the sachet and seal to initiate the fermentation process. Not only does it serve is a source of warmth but once the heat has dissipated the shavings have been converted to fully biodegradable compost.

The Heat Pad Pencil was a finalist in the Prix Emile Hermes award. Now in it’s second year, the award is offered primarily to young, up-and-coming designers. Sponsored by the Hermes Foundation, each year a specific theme is provided as a starting point. This year it’s “Heat, Me-Heat, Re-Heat.”

source: @masakawa

Dice For Change

DiceForChange is a boxed set of three dice designed to help kids playfully engage the world in a positive way. The WellnessDice encourages you to take better care of yourself, the KindnessDice to be more kind, and the EcoDice to take care of the world.

Elegant Trash Bin?

It seems like those words just don’t belong together. When can anything that holds trash be elegant? Well, when Li Jianye designs one it can. Let me introduce you to my new friend Flexibin. This little Flexibin was designed for someone like me, who has a pile of plastic grocery store bags piled up in a box in the Laundry room. Now, those pesky little plastic bags can be put to good use with Flexibin. With its flexible wire frame, the bin can hold any size plastic bag, thus transforming itself into and elegant and very functional waste bin. Ok Li Jianye, let me know when they are available – I need one for each room in my house.
Designer: Li Jianye

Trash to Treasure

The Lace Vase by Milk Design Limited provides a super easy way of turning plastic bottles, glass jars, or any other unused container into a simple and elegant vase. The stretchable sleeve is made of silicon rubber and can fit snugly around containers of many different sizes.
Designer: Milk Design Limited

Foolscap Sketchbooks

A sketchbook designed by Foolscap...
Check out their other cool stuff here

Rocking Horse Raises Awareness

As we begin to see more products focus on renewable energy and sustainable design it becomes apparent that we can also expect to see a cultivation of this newfound awareness in children starting at a very young age. The Calidu rocking horse is one design that aims to reinforce this idea by producing just enough power to light it’s OLED lights simply by rocking or collecting sunlight. The sturdy, tip-resistant horse is made of stainless steel, solid oak, an herbal oil finish, and leather fringe tail.
Designer: Günther Schunn

Biodegradable Footwear

For those looking to put a little eco-friendliness in their step, the OneMoment shoe by Figtree Factory Studios offers comfort and modern style in this 100% biodegradable unisex slipper. Utilizing a bio-polymer injection process, the biodegradable plastic sole is only 2 mm thick (at least 3 mm less than traditional shoes) and the top portion is only 1mm thick. It only takes 6 months in the ground before 01M is 80% composted, so if they ever wear out you can guiltlessly leave them behind. Did I mention they’re only 5 euros per pair?
Designer: Figtree Factory Studios

Setsudener

Setsudener is an app that converts your twitter icon to a dimmer version only during peak electricity consumption hours, said to be between 5:00 AM – 8:00 PM. It’s a subtle reminder that there are small changes and adjustments we can make in our day-to-day lives that, collectively, can have a significant impact on electricity usage.

Setsuden (節電) in Japanese means “conserve electricity.” Therefore, setsudener can be translated as, one who conserves electricity. The app was developed by interactive director Qanta Shimizu.
(Take note that some users initially reported that their icons don’t return to normal. Per the developer, this bug has been fixed. It’s also worth noting that the app functions in Japan’s time zone.)

OLIVE project | improvise with design

In the wake of the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami, Japanese designer nosigner has launched OLIVE, a wiki-style website that anyone can edit, which provides tips and tutorials on how disaster-stricken areas can use design to help improve their everyday life. After all, one of the most important things in times like these is trying to feel and live normally.
What’s impressive about the site is that, despite being launched just a few hours ago, it already has an English interface with many tutorials being accompanied by an English translation.
The website, at its core, is about how design can be used to improvise with materials and objects around us that otherwise might be considered garbage. It’s a refreshing take on design, which often falls victim to criticisms that it is all about consumption and selling products. Here are a few of the user-submitted ideas that range from the slightly mundane to the life-altering  significant:
How to make a dish from a plastic bottle

Puzzle Chair

The Pallares chair by designer Carlos Cordoba is the result of a research to develop new materials from natural fibers. Each chair is composed of 3 identical parts cast from a natural fiber tetera and polyester resin composite. The interchangeable parts can snapped together like puzzle pieces for easy assembly, disassembly, and storage.
Designer: Carlos Cordoba

Hangtags Save Trees, Cleans Clothes

To reduce the volume of paper waste with hang tags, take a look at the MELT TAG. New clothes are actually coated in chemicals to preserve the texture and quality. Any fashionista knows to wash before wearing them and to facilitate that, the MELT TAG goes in the wash too. It cleans your new clothes and there’s no tag to throw away. LOVE IT!

Melt Tag is a 2010 Red Dot Concept Design winning entry.
Designer: Sangbyum Kim

h220430 design studio: rubber stool

'rubber stool'


a demand for natural rubber continues to expand wince it is better than synthetic rubber in terms of its
physicality and cost. this in turn sees an increase in rubber tree planting, in turn causing environmental destruction, resulting in more deforestation for the production of the material - this is specifically prominent in southeast asia. although recycled rubber has been proposed as one of the solutions to improving the environmental circumstances, not much has been made in terms of progress.

taking this into consideration, japanese design studio h220430 has developed a stool made from recycled rubber, the framework of this stool is simple. by just bending one piece of therubber plate and holding the legs together with bolts, the seat forms, cushioned by the elasticity of the rubber. it can be stored in small spaces by being rolled up when not in use.







detail



the rubber stool in its open form



bending the rubber and holding parts in place with bolts to form the stool



testing out the rubber stool

Grand Crus Cup Parade by Dottings

Vienna Design Week: Vienna designers Dottings presented a series of coffee cups made of recycled aluminium coffee capsules for coffee brand Nespresso in Vienna last week.

Called Grand Crus Cup Parade, the pieces are each made of recycled aluminium and styled to resemble Nespresso’s range of capsules in sixteen colours.

The designers propose a system where customers return their used capsules for recycling in order to collect points, which they can exchange for the set.

The design was one of three winning entires in a competition entitled SUSTAIN.ABILITY.DESIGN, sponsored by Vienna Design Week organisers Neigungsgruppe Design and Nespresso Austria.

See all our stories about Vienna Design Week »
Here’s some more information from the designers:

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dottings was invited to present their idea concerning the theme Nespresso & Sustainability for a Vienna Design Week Exhibition.
What was developed is a Vision – from the used Nespresso capsule to a designed Recyclingproduct.

“Grand Crus Cup Parade” is produced from 100% recycled Aluminium Capsules that Nespresso followers return to Recycling Stations. For returning capsules they collect “Eco-Points” – the only currency to buy “Grand Crus Cup Parade” with.

Recycling Aluminium requires just 10% of the energy compared to extraction of new aluminium.

The shape of “Grand Crus Cup Parade” is dedicated to the capsule. In Small, Medium & Large Size, in 16 Nespresso Blend Colours, the cups define perfect size of each coffee. It´s a klind of “guidance system” for Nespresso Coffees Selection.