Design News N. 027

Design News is your tiny dose of design, technology and other important news, curated monthly by Interwoven Design.  In this series we share the latest on our favorite topics, including sustainable design, design events in NYC, adaptive design, and women in design. In this issue: read about innovations in biomaterials and biotech, appreciate classic industrial design in the Eames pop-up at Herman Miller, and witness the power of color at Vitra’s new color-coded exhibit.

Studio MOM’s eco-friendly bicycle helmet

A hand holds the MyHelmet above a white table
Studio MOM’s eco-friendly MyHelmet is made with mycelium and hemp fibers. MyHelmet by studioMOM. Photo courtesy of Studio MOM.

Dutch design office Studio MOM has developed MyHelmet, a bike helmet that is manufactured with a combination of mycelium and a hemp textile, creating a composite that can be produced sustainably and composted after use. Most bike helmets on the market are made with non-biodegradable expanded polystyrene and are difficult or impossible to disassemble at the end of life. Studio MOM wanted to use innovative biomaterials to create an offering that would reflect the principles of a circular economy. They explained to Dezeen, “MyHelmet fits in with principles of the circular economy. There are minimal CO2 emissions, it does not require any fossil raw materials and the end result is 100 per cent biodegradable.”

via Dezeen

Biofabricate, where design meets biology

Designers congregate at Newlab
Designers congregate at Newlab.

Designed and facilitated by visionaries in the field, the Biofabricate Summit invites creators to integrate biotech into their future projects. The 2022 event is a 2-day conference showcasing the next wave of bio-innovators, with featured sectors including fashion, sport, wellness, mobility and construction. Join innovators and learn from biotech pioneers June 6-7 at Newlab in Brooklyn, NY.

via Newlab

Bye-bye to the iPod!

5 colorful iPod shuffles sit in a pile on a white background.
The iPod revolutionized the electronics market. Photo courtesy of sucelloleiloes.

Almost 22 years after its historic, record-breaking launch, Apple is stopping production of the iPod. The initial design concept was a music product that would encourage people to buy Apple’s computers. They weren’t the first to the market but they edged out the competition with their smart and intuitive user interfaces (that trackwheel!) and 99 cent tracks that prioritized selling hardware over software. The design far exceeded expectations, selling millions, revolutionizing the market, serving as a model for success for decades, and eventually inspiring the iPhone.

via The New York Times

Eames Institute at Herman Miller NYC

A red and black poster by Don Ervin for Herman Miller.
A poster by Don Ervin for Herman Miller. Photo courtesy of MidCentArc.

As part of NYCxDesign, the Eames Institute is holding its first pop-up exhibition at the Herman Miller Flagship. Herman Miller still manufactures all Eames furniture in the US, making the location of the pop-up especially fitting. Visitors can expect to see thousands of artifacts designed and collected by Ray and Charles Eames, including iterative ‘sketches’ of furniture pieces, notes, polaroids, and toys. This will be a preview of a massive display of small objects that The Eames Institute is organizing for later exhibition. On view until May 22nd.

via Designboom

New adaptive computer accessories 

A hand hovers above an adaptive mouse
Microsoft is launching a range of computer accessories designed for those with limited mobility. Photo credit: Microsoft.

Microsoft has launched a set of accessories that allow those with limited mobility or visual impairments to more easily and comfortably use a computer or laptop. The collection can be customized to suit different bodies, requirements, and preferences. The collection was developed by Microsoft’s inclusive Tech Lab, which specializes in adaptive design.

via Dezeen

Color Rush! by Sabine Marcelis at Vitra

"Vitra Design Museum by Frank Gehry" by o palsson
Vitra’s Color Rush! installation features hundreds of objects in their extensive design archive sorted by color. Photo courtesy of o palsson.

Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis’ Color Rush! exhibit sorts 400 of Vitra’s 7,000 object archive by color, resulting in a rainbow arrangement of products that juxtaposes radically different periods and styles while providing a vibrant, immersive experience. The objects are sorted by color gradients and displayed against a translucent background. The monochromatic presentation reveals the power of texture and material in design while creating a tour of design history via Vitra’s iconic furniture archive. On display from May 2022 to May 2023.

via Vitra

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Design News N. 026

Design News is your tiny dose of design, technology and other important news, curated weekly by Interwoven Design. In this series we share the latest on our favorite topics, including adaptive design, innovative technology, and sustainable design. In this issue: The VITURE One smart glasses create a panoramic virtual reality, the Pixy drone is the ultimate selfie sidekick, and Nike’s new glue-free shoe promotes a circular economy as an admirable example of design for disassembly.

Stream immersive video anywhere

A product shot of Layer's Viture One smart glasses
Layer’s VITURE One smart glasses create an immersive virtual reality for the user. Photo courtesy of Layer Design.

Benjamin Hubert’s studio Layer has designed a pair of smart glasses for tech company VITURE that displays a virtual screen for the lucky wearer. The wearer is able to play games and stream media on a virtual, cinematic 120-inch screen without the aid of any other devices. The style of the design was led by fashion trends to appeal to the lifestyle market rather than to get lost in sea of tech devices. “We see one of the biggest use cases being streaming media and communicating with friends, colleagues and family nomadically,” Hubert shared with Dezeen.

via Dezeen

Mini friendly-flying camera

The Pixy hovers against an unfocused background.
The Snap Pixy drone is a camera that tags along with the user to document their activities. Photo credit: Snap.

Snap (the owners of Snapchat) has announced the launch of its flying camera. Called Pixy, the bright yellow block is like a selfie-enabled drone. The device takes off right from your palm to follow you around and capture footage that can be sent directly to the Snapchat app. Once you have the footage you want, you place your hand below the device to have it land again.

via Designboom

Shower-proof prosthetic leg

An amputee rests his knee on the Lytra prosthetic.
Lytra’s shower standing aid was developed for lower-limb amputees. Photo courtesy of Harry Teng.

The Lytra lower-limb prosthesis uses an interchangeable modular system to avoid the expense of custom building that pervades the prosthesis market. Creator Harry Teng wanted to produce a safe, inexpensive standing aid to help amputees shower. An adjustable height pole features a hand grip for added stability and a customizable socket gives amputees options for the best size and fit. This is the kind of thoughtful, user-centric design we really love to see; design that has not only thought about the immediate functionality of the device but about the entire system.

via Dezeen

Nike glueless ISPA Link trainers

Three components of the ISPA trainer are laid out on a white background
Interlocking parts eliminate the need for glue in Nike’s new ISPA trainers. Photo courtesy of Nike.

Nike has unveiled ISPA Link, a collection of modular trainers that can be easily disassembled, as part of the brand’s move towards a circular design economy. The line comes from Nike’s ISPA (Improvise Scavenge Protect Adapt) design division, which works to create sustainable solutions to design. Standard shoes need to be shredded to be recycled, which is an energy intensive process that ultimately creates a recycled material with significantly limited applications. Once the shoe can be disassembled, individual materials can be recycled or reused to prevent waste and feed future manufacturing.

via Nike News

NYCxDESIGN 10th anniversary

NYCxDesign 10 year anniversary logo
NYCxDesign celebrates its 10 year anniversary this year. Image courtesy of NYCxDesign.

NYCxDESIGN returns to New York for its tenth anniversary edition to showcase the city’s design talent. Hundreds of events are spread over the five boroughs in a celebration of local design. The festival will take place online and at various locations around New York City, May 10th – 20th, 2022.

via NYCxDESIGN

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