Jul 20
At the end of a long week, we’ve got lots of lovely things to show off. From a space-inspired lamp to the stairs in a renovated Apple store, these are the most beautiful items of the week.
Jul 20
This human skull leather purse is perfect for goth chicks, anyone in the Addams family and of course women immortals in the Highlander universe. There can be only one! Are you the girlfriend of Connor or Duncan McCloud? After your swordfight and the quickening that follows, just put your trophy head in this thing and return home. No one will question what’s inside.
This hand-formed leather skull clutch bag purse from Griffin Leather has been formed and tempered to keep its shape. It also has fiberglass/resin reinforcement where needed. Plus, it’s been dyed ox blood, of course. How can you pass this one up? Well, sadly it is already sold, but I’m sure that if you asked nicely, they would make one for you.
[Etsy]
Jul 20
If you intend to spend you weekend tweeting while listening songs on the radio, you have to check out Stanley. Stanley is actually an interactive piano player that will be performing live beginning July 20 to 22. Yes, as of this writing, Stanley’s busy backstage preparing for his first show. But before you idolize Stanley, he’s actually a project created by the folks over at Digital Kitchen. Sorry girls, he’s wired to play the piano all day. But you can send your song requests via Twitter. So, how does it work?
Stanley is equipped with a computer that receives song requests via Twitter. The computer then queues the songs and sends a reply each time a song is ready to be played. Since Stanley has tons of songs stored on its MIDI library, it will send data to its hardware controller so that each note will activate a solenoid valve to play the keys on the piano. You can check out Stanley here. While the project is interesting, its creators have no plans of selling the piano player in the future. Instead, Digital Kitchen says that it will be hanging in the office waiting for his next big gig.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Tweet sends Bahrain activist to jail, Twitter for BlackBerry updated,
Jul 20
Defy Bags Aesthetic Leather iPad Sleeve Adds Style and Sophistication to Protection
Posted in: Today's ChiliAre you ready to add a bit of class to your iPad? Then check out this sleeve from Defy Bags, which was handmade in Chicago. It’s a classy way of lugging around your iPad everyday, and it’s made to last for a very long time.
The Aesthetic Leather iPad Sleeve uses leather that was first chromium tanned, which make sit supple and durable. It was then retanned with vegetable tannins. It’s full grain, so it hasn’t been sanded, buffed, or corrected in any way to remove imperfections. Then, the leather was hand-rubbed with several coats of aniline dye and hand-glazed to give it its burnished appearance. All of that means it looks great and is handsome way to carry around your tablet.
This sleeve fits the new iPad or the iPad 2, with or without a Smart Cover, and sells for $150(USD) from Defy Bags.
[via Swissmiss]
Jul 20
I have to say that this electric bike looks pretty awesome. It was designed by San Francisco-based Faraday Bicycles and this is their first production model. The team is looking to fund the production of the Porteur through Kickstarter.
The Faraday Porteur is an electric bike and it’s been designed for commuters. The lithium batteries are hidden inside the frame, allowing the rest of the bike to look pretty elegant and comfortable. The boost mode feature has an active assist that will help users ride up slopes. There are built-in sensors that analyze how much pedaling is being done, and it matches foot strokes with an electric motor. The bike includes a quick-release front rack for storage and high-powered front and rear LED lights. The battery supposedly can be recharged in under an hour(?) and it has a 10-15 mile autonomy. It also has disc brakes, allowing it to stop quicker than other commuters that don’t have these.
The Faraday Porteur has been launched through a Kickstarter project, where it’s selling for the rather extravagant “introductory” price of $3500(USD). At the time of writing, with 21 days of funding left, the project has amassed $73,000 out of a $100,000 goal, so it’s got a very good chance of getting funded.
[via designboom]
Jul 20
In the early days of manned flight, people generally had no clue what they were doing. If two wings could make the contraption fly, more wings must make it soar, right? Our friends at Oobject have assembled 15 of the most grandiose, excessive, and redundant aeroplane wing designs of all time. More »
Jul 20
Banana Chair: Seating with a Peel
Posted in: Today's ChiliMonkeys. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’ll always be the one animal species that’s closest to the human race. So what could be more fitting than sitting in a chair that’s made with the monkey’s favorite food in mind?
It looks all sorts of comfortable, too. The banana meat serves as the cushion to seat your in comfort, while the banana peel lets you rest your weary elbows on them after a long, tiring day.
Designed by WamHouse, the banana-inspired seat is actually called the Zjedzony, which is Polish for ‘eaten.’ Makes sense, considering a huge chunk of the banana (chair) has been eaten away.
Looks awesome, doesn’t it? I’d kill to have one of these for my living room.
[via +MOOD via Chair Blog]
Jul 19
All the Major Sport Competitions Since 1903 Condensed In Beautiful Circular Graphics [Design]
Posted in: Today's Chili
If you like sports and awesome data visualization, you will love these posters, which can be printed to order in beautiful paper. You can choose the final playoffs of every major sport event since 1903—427 brackets from the American MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS to the European Champions League, the UEFA Euro and FIFA’s World Cup. More »
Jul 19
Just a few avenues over from New York’s Penn Station where an old electro-magnetic ticker board displays train arrivals and departures the designers from Breakfast have installed a modern take on the ticker on Harold Square at 6th Avenue and 32nd Street. Watch this video, it’s absolutely hypnotic. More »
Jul 19
This Gorgeous Mercury Spacecraft Lamp Could Orbit Your Dining Table [Design]
Posted in: Today's Chili
The designers at Raumfieber claim their beautiful Mercury orbiter spacecraft lamp was created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of John Glenn being the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth. But it was probably actually created to drive space exploration fans crazy with desire. More »
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