Posted on March 8th, 2010 by Mark

Dutch artist, Ebére Groenouwe has created a sculptural hanging lamp made from the waste paper of recycled juice cartons. Ebére drew inspiration from Origami and Biomorphism in designing this lamp.
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Tags: dutch design, Ebére Groenouwe
Posted in Design, Eco, Materials
Posted on March 8th, 2010 by Mark

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon and Microsoft have joined forces to create Skinput, a bio-acoustic sensing device that allows your skin to be used as a touch-screen interface. An armband is equipped with a projector to display a menu or phone keys, as well as an acoustic sensor that analyzes distinct sounds made on the surface of skin related to specific bone density, joints and tissue. That information is delivered through a Bluetooth device back to the phone to determine what button has been pressed.
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Tags: Skinput, Touch-Sensitive Skin
Posted in Design, Materials
Posted on March 8th, 2010 by Mark

The move away from homogenised, global products to ones that embrace local crafts and vernacular design is gathering pace. Referencing the growth of the idea of authenticity and hand-crafted objects is Spirit, one of our trends for Spring/Summer 2011. This trend story is also featured in the current issue of Mix magazine and Mix Trends Irish design studio Superfolk perfectly captures this ethos with its economical collection of low-key but beautifully executed furniture that uses locally sourced materials and techniques including basket weaving and craft.
Website:www.superfolk.com/
Tags: Mix magazine, Superfolk, Tamsin
Posted in Design, Editor of the Month, Materials
Posted on March 5th, 2010 by Mark

Spotted at Design Indaba Expo 2010 a beautiful collection of suspension lighting by designers Dani Le Roy and Laura Summs. Produced under the label Moonbasket, the duo combine their passion for knitting with a desire to aid impoverished communities in surrounding townships.
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Tags: african design, Dani Le Roy, Design Indaba Expo, Laura Summs, Moonbasket Lighting
Posted in Design, Eco, Materials
Posted on March 3rd, 2010 by Mark

We’ve been following the progress of the Plastiki for over a year now. In case you’ve forgotten, it’s the pet project of eco-adventurer David de Rothschild and it’s a huge boat made from recycled plastic bottles. The vessel has been under construction and late last week, the crew finally unveiled it in the San Francisco Bay. This is the start point for what will be an 11,000 mile trek to Sydney, highlighting the problem of plastic as both a pollutant and design issue.
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Tags: David De Rothschild, Plastiki
Posted in Design, Eco, Materials
Posted on March 1st, 2010 by Mark

Discover the versatility of a basic material: wood. Take, as a starting point, one block of wood. Cut it into pieces, and you can transform it into some great-looking items to grace your home.
In One Block of Wood Nina Tolstrup presents 15 stylish, straight-forward projects that can be made with a minimum of fuss, even if you are new to woodworking.
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Tags: Nina Tolstrup
Posted in Books, Design, Eco, Materials
Posted on February 27th, 2010 by Mark

This glow-in-the-dark toilet paper charges up during the day with natural light or ambient artificial light.
In a world where scientific discovery and exploration is slowly but surely unravelling the myriad mysteries of the universe, it’s gratifying to know that some idiot can still find time to come up with such a ludicrous invention as Glow In The Dark Loo Roll.
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Posted in Eco, Materials
Posted on February 26th, 2010 by Mark

German artist Markus Linnenbrink recently crafted a set of vases from recyclables, reinventing their surfaces using colorful resins.
The Dortmund-based sculptor calls his latest work Gestaltkunstwerk; roughly translated, it means “formed artwork” and is a play-on-words of Gesamtkunstwerk “consummate art.”.
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Tags: Gestaltkunstwerk, Markus Linnenbrink, recyclables
Posted in Design, Eco, Materials