Jan 14
This system of burners, pipes, flasks and gauges looks like it came straight out of a laboratory. In fact, though, it’s a prototype coffee machine—and it could satisfy the technical desires of even the biggest coffee nerd. More »
Jan 13
Nope, this isn’t a UFO, it’s a functional modern art installation that was installed in the atrium of the Level Shoe District, a 96,000 sq. ft. footwear emporium, situated within the Dubai Mall. Of course, something this extravagant would only be in a shoe store in Dubai.
The sculpture, called “Fragment” is a 25-foot-high structure composed of 421 octahedron frames. It was developed by United Visual Artists, and the entire framework was designed to channel light downwards from the glass ceiling above to illuminate the interior during the daytime. When it’s dark, the structure also casts light from hundreds of integrated fluorescent tubes.
It’s definitely an impressive lighting fixture, if you can call it that, though I wouldn’t want to have to change a bulb in it when it burns out.
[via designboom]
Jan 13
Personally, I prefer speakers that are heard and not seen, but if you’re from the opposite school of thought – and you have deep pockets – you might want some of these ginormous glass speakers for your media room.
Let’s get this out of the way first – Perfect8′s Point MKII Evolution Speaker System retails for $115,000(USD). Yep, that’s a condo or a small house in some cities. But at PERFECT8 technologies, it buys you a pair of speakers and subwoofers.
The Point MKII Evolution speaker system comes packaged in a a thick glass enclosure, carefully engineered to eliminate any rattle or unwanted noise. Highs are powered by a air-motion transformer with powerful neodymium magnets, while the midrange is provided by a pair of 7″ Mg-Cones, and the low range is powered by a pair of long-stroke 10″ subwoofers with 22 pound magnets, located in the base of the cabinet. Frequency response for the system is rated at 16Hz to 26KHz, with a THD of less than 0.2% at 96dB SPL. Maximum long-term power output for the speakers is 200 watts, with a peak handling capacity of 1000 watts.
While I have no doubt that these sound incredible, if you just like them because they’re transparent, then you might want to just go for People People’s Transparent Speaker, which you can get for as little as $360(USD) – and you can still put your kids through college.
[via Home Crux via Design You Trust]
Jan 13
There’s something to be said about taking care of your computer monitors, especially about the ones that come included in all-in-one computers. You can’t really change those easily when there’s something wrong with them, so it makes sense to be very careful, just in case.
Apart from being spelled somewhat annoyingly, Radtech’s ScreenSavrz is a good way to protect your screen from physical damage. It’s an ultra-light, stretchy cloth cover for your iMac screen, designed to protect the display from dust and dirt when it’s not in use. It also doubles as a way to clean and polish fingerprints from your screen.
You can get the ScreenSavrz for iMac for $39.95(USD) for the 21-inch model and $54.95 for the 27-inch model directly from Radtech in a variety of fabric colors. They also make covers for Apple Cinema Displays, laptops, and mobile devices.
[via BlessThisStuff]
Jan 13
Pneumatic Tool Lamps: Nailed It.
Posted in: Today's ChiliAre you handy with tools? Well you could head to your workshop and make yourself a lamp, I suppose, or you could buy one that’s actually made out of a power tool.
These unusual lighting fixtures are made by Aaron Jarry of JEngineering using pneumatic nail guns mounted to an ebony-stained oak base, and come with an appropriately masculine black lampshade to top them off. Aaron cleverly conceals the power cord inside the air hose to complete the look.
I’m guessing that they no longer function for firing nails or staples, but it would be cool if that’s how you attached them to your table. You know – press the trigger and it nails itself in place. That’d be cool.
DIYers and Tool Timers can improve their home with one of these lamps over on JEngineering’s Etsy shop for $180 to $200 (USD).
Jan 13
Hardcore beer drinkers who want to try every beer there is on the planet (or at least, a majority of them) will want to get their hands on a handy reference guide called Beertone. Its name is obviously a play on Pantone, which is behind one of the most widely used color matching systems used by many companies today.
Beertone folds out to provide colors of 202 different Swiss brews that were tested. The lightest beers start the guide, and it ends with the darkest ones. Each Beer will be presented with picture, description and of course its color information in RGB, CMYK, Web, and SRM (that’s the beer color scale).
The booze-guzzling guys behind the guide plan to expand their guide to feature beers from different parts of the world in the months and years to come.
Beertone is currently available for pre-order for $39(USD).
[via Laughing Squid]
Jan 11
We just went to CES and saw a lot of the gadgets we’ll be playing with in the future. But it didn’t make me as excited as seeing all of these old products with vintage packaging. I wish every product could go back to its vintage packaging. More »
Jan 11
I’ve seen a lot of weird shoes in the past few years. Remember the Scary/Beautiful shoes that looked more scary than beautiful, and the pimp shoes with fish tanks in them? But I think none are quite as strange or interesting as Julian Hakes’ Mojito heels.
Hakes’ design went viral back in 2009 when he posted a concept that garnered widespread attention. His design explored the idea of how a shoe would look like if it were thought of as a bridge was certainly strange, but as you very well know, strange is ‘in’ and considered all sorts of awesome these days.
Models wrote asking for his shoes, blogs covered his design, and almost everyone was wondering the same thing: could it be turned into a reality? The answer is yes, and it has been a reality, for a couple of years now.
The design looks extremely uncomfortable, but then again, looks can be deceiving. A variety of colors are available for purchase online, with each pair costing between £125 – £175 (~$201 to $283 USD).
[via OhGizmo!]
Jan 11
It’s a simple trick that serves no other purpose than to impress your friends, but that doesn’t make these sunglasses from Parabellum and Oliver Peoples any less awesome. The shades feature almost no branding, until you breathe on and fog up the lenses—then the company’s logo is conspicuously revealed. More »
Jan 11
I bet that almost everyone wants to send hate mail at some point in their life, but only a few of us actually go ahead and do it. One day, London-based illustrator Mr. Bingo sent a stranger, Jonathan Hopkins, an offensive postcard. It was passed around and enjoyed by quite a few people, so he opened a service where people could request that an abusive message be sent on their behalf.
The rules of Hate Mail mean that each of the postcard art pieces is to be completely random. Specific requests aren’t allowed. Mr. Bingo states that he isn’t responsible or liable for anyone suffering emotional damage as a result of Hate Mail.
And while you might not ever get your hands on an original one of these postcards, Mr. Bingo has produced over 400 illustrations to date, and they are now available as a book for all to enjoy.
The Hate Mail service is still available, but only in the UK. Since it’s been quite popular, it’s only open sporadically. Check out the video below for a profile on Mr. Bingo and the story behind his Hate Mail series (NSFW: Language).
[via designboom]
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