For more than a year the use of illustrations in order to ideate and visualize innovation both in products and services has been part of my Design Management seminars. While preparing for the international version of this seminar in Lucerne/CH in November this year together with my colleague Erik over from http://www.zilverinnovation.com I've been happily stumbling across Google's announcement to release a new G-branded browser built from scratch. However it wouldn't be Google if they would have chosen the ordinary road of explaining innovation with plain fact sheets. Instead they've chosen the format of a 'Comic' in order to illustrate the new approach and rich features of the web browser. Thanks to Scott McCloud I do now have a new (and better) example of great use of illustrations for business purposes.

I recently returned from a vacation wandering around the Ozark Mountains in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas, and was amazed to see so many stone houses. This style of building has obviously been a vernacular art for at least two centuries, since many of the buildings were quite old. I would estimate that something on the order of 5% of the residential construction in that region is done with stone walls. I don't know if these houses are insulated on the inside (I hope so, given the seasonal heat and cold they must endure.)

alissa and carly at coe and waito have launched a beautiful new series of ceramics. their existing collections have been smash hits and i have a feeling these pieces will be welcomed with the same enthusiasm. i love their coral vase (above) and the sweet scalloped bowls below. they would both be perfect for holiday gifts and they’re all between $56- $200 so there’s something for everyone. click here to check out their new collection and place and order.

Modern farmhouse sounds like an oxymoron, but I've seen more than a few great looking modernist takes on the American homestead. One of my favorites is Farmhouse One, by the architecture firm of Durkee, Brown, Viveiros and Werenfels. It's a simple, traditionally inspired Rhode Island farmhouse with modern twists. Take a look.




And if you're in to modern farmhouses you'll also be pleased to know there's a great blog dedicated to the genre - the appropriately named Farmhouse Modern. It's definitely worth a look (I found it on the LiveModern Blog Directory, where Future House Now is also listed).

If you want to completely overdose on cool modern farmhouses, pick up the book Farm Houses: The New Style by Neill Heath. It features the houses I mentioned above, and many more, in 185 full color pages. Great book.



Image credits - Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels site, Amazon.com Listing

Well, we all need to tweak our presentations from time to time, right? ;-) Anyway even though most hints are not rocket science at all it's good to have them written down in order to be remembered; take me at my word!

I was checking back in on some of my favorite architects' sites and noticed that Building Studio has done a major update since my last visit. There are several projects on the new site that I don't remember seeing before. Here's a sampler of four different projects:







The works cover the full spectrum of residential building, from private homes to vacation cabins to urban infill. All of them have a serious sustainable bent. Click over to the Building Studio site for lots more images and full details on all their projects.

Image credits - Building Studio site

Dr. Owen Geiger and I have collaborated on a new article posted at earthbagbuilding.com that describes how to use earthbags filled with various natural insulating materials to insulate ceilings or roofs.
There seems to be a general lack of interesting ceiling options using sustainable building materials. For instance, when touring otherwise beautiful straw bale homes one often sees sheetrock covering conventional industrial insulation. Instead of using fiberglass batts or even manufactured cotton batts to insulate a roof, it is possible to use earthbags that are filled with a variety of insulating materials. These materials include rice hulls, crushed volcanic rock (such as scoria), vermiculite and perlite.

The insulating value of these ranges from about R-2 to R-3, so they are quite effective, and can also be quite inexpensive to install.

This article also describes how one might use mats made of natural fibers to cover and finish these earthbag ceilings.

Suspended ceilings, as described in this article, have a number of benefits. They conceal the roof structure, plumbing, venting and electrical wiring, as well as improve acoustics and insulation. And they can also greatly enhance the ambiance or hominess of a room.

MTV or Music Television built its brand celebrating the new art form of the early 80s, the music video. It gave the music industry just what it needed, the eyeballs of a young generation to promote its product which it made a buck a disc for.

Fast forward several decades to the emergence of MySpace as THE music brand and you see a radically different notion of the role of music. Music is given away and streamed, the value of this is to provide exposure and shared advertising revenue for bands and record companies. The money is not made in the music, but in the merchandise and concert ticket revenue.

As Techcrunch told us in October.

"But today the labels have all but given up on DRM, and users can now play virtually any song ever recorded on demand for free. MySpace has created the first ecosystem that has a shot of producing sustainable revenue streams for artists based on advertising, merchandise and concert sales.

If it works, the next step is the fall of per-stream fees and download fees. Instead labels will see music consumption for what it really is - free marketing. Labels will compete to encourage song downloads and streams to move those songs up the charts, attracting premium advertisers, merchandise sales and sold out concerts."

What's interesting to see here is the role music has played as a glue to generate revenue for media companies, but the context of that revenue generation has changed over time.

It seems that MTV has lost its way as a brand with television no longer being the dominant media of the youth generation, music video dying as a form and the network shifting focus away from music to regular television shows.

Apple became the next brand to exploit and dominate the music channel with iTunes and the iPod, but the software was always just there to sell the high margin hardware. iTunes has now being panned by the critics for not keeping up with the times and Apple has a few other heavyweight players including Nokia trying to take a big share of the hardware business.

Another player is MySpace, who came out of the gate in October with a relaunched music service that achieved incredible traction. Just a few DAYS after launch, the brand streamed one billion songs.

At the recent Web 2.0 conference there was all kinds of speculation about the potential for an MP3 player to be launched by MySpace.

However, this isn't really the game anymore.MySpace's core competence is all about community and from day one its community has been focused on music. This is something that can't easily be copied and Apple, Nokia and Sony will struggle to make this happen. The story here is not about an iPod rival from MySpace, but instead the arrival of MySpace as a formidable media player in the new world of music.

Posted by Ed Cotton

Here is an animation of the proposal for Slussen in Stockholm by BIG Architects of Copenhagen, Denmark, and NOD Landscape Architects of Stockholm, Sweden. By moving the public program towards the most attractive place, and integrating the heavy traffic under the cover of a public square, it is possible to regain the waterfront, and at the same time connect the city parts around Slussen. The edge towards the water is terraced to provide day light to the public and commercial spaces behind.

See the original post about the Slussen project.

Andra bloggar om: arkitektur, stockholm, slussen, stadsplanering, bjarke ingels

London textile designer Kathy Schicker's light-reactive woven textiles appear to be beautiful white jacquard fabrics, but when they are exposed to sunlight, the light brings out colour and pattern. At the same time, the sunlight charges the fabric, causing it to glow in the dark. The effect is usually quite subtle, but will vary depending on the time of day and season.

+ kathyschicker.com

There has been a lot of reaction in the blogoshpere concerning our latest report called “5 Key Design Trends“. That’s fun, we like the discussion to continue and evolve. Below I’m posting a few of them. Check them out, they are all an interesting read.

Apartment therapy, Psfk, Home rejuvenation, Dexigner, Hi-id, Design Milk, Designophy, Mocoloco, Martin Koser, Trendbites, Desire to inspire, Live modern, Trendbird, Gems Sty, bwl zwei null, Frizzifrizzi, A ghost of daisies, Will it brand, Das Kulturmanagement blog, Addidea, Daidesignblog, Moneyfoxs, Foxerus, Yourtail, Daymoon design, Heyho, polymerclay daily, Docstoc, Design Latvia, Change the thought, Ffffound, Designcentre, Fav.or.it.

Andra bloggar om: design, trender, inspiration, kultur, framtid

The video above shows some of the work from the ongoing Helmut Lang exhibition called “Alles gleich schwer”. You can experience it both in real life at renowned kestnergesellschaft in Hanover and online at the collaboration partner Absolut.

Andra bloggar om: konst, mode, helmut lang, absolut, utställning

Outside of Rio de Janeiro, on a beautiful little beach with amazing blue water, sits a little house with a flowering roof that shades and protects like a big tropical banana leaf. Designed by Mareines + Patalano, the open air abode is meant to encourage interaction and connection between man and nature. With verandas and open spaces in between rooms and no corridors, the tropical beach house is an ideal place for social gatherings and parties. The open layout also takes advantage of trade winds that blow in from the sea, providing natural ventilation and passive cooling.

(more…)

Nokia demonstrates how it's leveraging insights gleaned from the developing world into products. The mobile phone is made to work a lot hard in developing countries; it becomes the mobile office and primary computer for many of its users. In response, Nokia is launching Life Tools; software included in its phones that can help those involved in agriculture better understand market and weather conditions.


Posted by Ed Cotton

It finally feels like the New Mexico EcoSteel House has crossed the line to being more finished than not. The latest round of photos show the painting almost done, finishing touches going in, light fixtures too.



Look below the fold for a photo browser with more interior shots.

Technorati Tags: 6030 House, 6040 House, ecosteel, modern design, modern house, prefab house

This is one of the designs that originated from the design phase of the suburban house project.



I have to confess that I find the space really interesting, but no doubt it won't be for everybody.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house

Awhile ago I was driving down one of our main local roads and noticed a house in the middle of it. I didn't remember a house being there and thought that I was seeing a strange mirage. The closer I got, the more real it appeared, until I was forced to slow down and drive around the thing, at which point there was no doubt about its authenticity.

A big truck tractor was towing this entire 1200 square foot house balanced on two huge steel I-beams and a bunch of wheeled dollies. Progress was slow but steady as it inexorably moved toward its next incarnation. Just that morning it had departed its original home where it had been seasonal housing for migrant workers.

The owners of this seeming mirage had searched for just the right orphaned house to adopt as their own, lovingly place it on a new foundation, and refurbish it. Many houses would not be suitable for such a trip; generally only well-built wooden structures can withstand the stress of such a move. This house had all the qualities they were looking for: charm, integrity, and affordability. The entire cost of the house and having it moved was $10,000.

By the time they have it completely fixed up with new plumbing and electric service, an insulated stucco exterior, new energy-efficient windows, a metal roof, a completely rebuilt front porch, all of the interior walls resurfaced, and miscellaneous repairs, they estimate that the total cost of the project will be about $50,000, including the land. Not bad for what in most regards will be as good as new!

Of course new is not what they wanted; they bought this early twentieth century house (it's actual date of construction is unknown) precisely because of its special vintage quality. It reminds one of the owners of the house his grandmother lived in, with 9 foot ceilings, three smallish bedrooms, tongue and grooved fir flooring, cast-iron radiators, built-in cabinets, drawers and even ironing board, and the intangible quality of a by-gone era. They plan to retain the original floor plan intact, only altering a walk-in closet to become the mechanical room and turning a room off the kitchen into a dining space.

The house made the entire trip with just a few places where the plaster cracked in one corner, which is easily repaired. This is one very solidly-built house, made from the sort of fir that no longer can be bought. There was only one place under the kitchen sink that had suffered leak-induced rot over many years; everything else is as straight and true as any carpenter would want.

Another late twentieth century vintage home of about 800 square feet came from property leased from the Federal government and the house needed to be moved. With local help, the buyer of this little home added an additional room onto the original to comply with the homeowners' association square foot minimum. She has thoroughly enjoyed the process of remaking this simple cabin into her charming home, imbued with the wonderful quirky qualities that spring from her fanciful mind.

Once a house is moved it must comply with current plumbing and electrical codes, so these elements were completely redone. Most of the windows were replaced with second hand units that gave her just the views that she wanted. The exterior was resurfaced with rough-sawn lap siding and a new metal roof was installed. The original interior plastic paneling was replaced with sheetrock, and decorated with lots of natural wood trim. The whole feeling of the place is one of lovingly crafted touches wherever the eye lands. The new owner says, “I would much rather live in something recycled than buying something brand new which has no character. I let this house come together…it just evolved!”

Creating new life for old or abandoned houses has got be one of the most sustainable ways of making habitation. This is the ultimate form of recycling, where most of the basic components of a house are utilized intact instead of being tossed into a landfill or burned. There is a tremendous savings in the embodied energy of the house (in both materials and labor), so that all that needs to be done is to repair and polish the original dwelling to create a whole new life for it. Hoorah for these people who have the vision and willingness to take on these projects!

as part of the second nature exhibition held at 21, 21 the campana brothers created 'cristalina'.
curated by tokujin yoshioka the exhibition focusses on fusing nature with technology.


'cristalina'
image © designboom

for 'cristaliana' the brothers used the idea of nests of birds to create a seat with branches interwoven.
craftsmen worked for hours using various wood structures to create this unusual design.


sketch of 'cristalina'


the making process


craftspeople weaving the seat


image © designboom


image © designboom


branches woven into the seat
image © designboom

more:
http://www.campanas.com.br

designboom interview with campana brothers

A combination of factors underpins rapid growth in the Chinese mobile commerce sector.

Trend Description

China is rapidly emerging as the global capital of m-commerce applications, driven by an increasingly high-tech digital environment, the world’s largest mobile phone subscriber base (nearly 600 million), and the recent launch of the country’s own 3G standard (TD-SCDMA).

Although China currently lacks the advanced mobile applications of Europe, North America, Japan and Korea, many cellular players are now launching sophisticated mobile applications, and analysts predict the country may leapfrog more traditional m-commerce markets in the near future.

Penetration of new markets, including retail, ticket purchases and person-to-person transactions, is predicted to result in increasingly high volumes of small payments to Chinese m-commerce service providers. Because this type of transaction costs businesses far less than retail or other forms of transaction, the demand for m-commerce solutions is expected to grow and result in tremendous opportunities for these SPs.

Cases

UFIDA’s hapigo

The “hapigo” platform developed by UFIDA Mobile is China’s first large-scale, multi-functional m-commerce platform. With a strong focus on mobile internet technology, hapigo provides retailers and consumers with an efficient and effective  one-stop m-commerce shop. Last year hapigo became “the first brand of mobile e-commerce in China”, serving 200,000 retailers over 1 million mobile consumers.

UFIDA Mobile is a recently created US$13.42 million joint venture between the Beijing-based Ufida Software Company and Japan-based wireless heavyweight NTT DoCoMo.

Taobao’s WAP Site

Alibaba’s Taobao, the Chinese version of eBay, has recently launched a WAP version of the site at wap.taobao.com., in an effort to expand its reach to China’s huge mobile phone subscriber base, many of whom do not have net access of their own.

More interesting still is the way in which the site is served by a mobile interface for Alipay. Payment for most m-commerce in China so far has been processed by mobile service providers as part of the consumers’ bill. Although China Mobile may not be too happy with Alibaba’s move to cut them out of the loop with its “m-Alipay” service, its hard to imagine they can stop it in the long term.

Trend Impact

While the future for m-commerce in China looks rosy, there are still many obstacles to overcome. China is still largely a cash-based economy, with m-payment support structures only recently being developed. The rate of mobile phone uptake is also very  biased toward urban areas, especially when it comes to smartphones / PDAs.

Since voice is still the dominant application, decades-old mobile technologies are still some of the most profitable, and many mobile operators will need to upgrade large parts of their networks to the 2.5G and 3G technologies needed for most m-commerce applications. Still, with m-commerce proving increasingly popular and profitable, the financial incentives will surely continue to drive investment in both infrastructure and applications.

Find the original blog at CScout China blog.

• Egonomics and the 'Recognition Economy' | Conference Documentation
  In general I find the conferences organized by Trendbüro Hambug quite corporate and too often the same players (aka speakers) show off. However Tim Leberecht from frog design pointed me to a slideshare summary on the key findings of the German Trend Day 2008 conference. Have a mind on your own and browse the slides:

  "In May this year, frog design founder Hartmut Esslinger spoke at the German Trend Day in Hamburg. The Trend Day is an influential annual forum that gathers thought leaders from business, media, and academia to discuss emerging social and cultural trends. This year's theme was "Identity Management," and other speakers besides Hartmut included Richard Florida, Danny Choo, and David Bosshart."

  (tags: conference trends slides frogdesign)

The first of a new collection of house plans on the lamidesign.com/plans site. The new collection is to be modest in size, large on livability, family friendly, eminently build-able, with a contemporary modern presence and a bit of retro mid-century dash as well. The first in a series, introducing the Hus 1.



The result of my year long study of the Swedish housing industry, and my love of mid-century modernism, the Hus1 puts these influences together with practicality and livability of the many small 50s and 60s homes in my own neighborhood. The basic two bedroom house will start out at modest 1,350 sqft, or the larger 1,750 sqft 3 bedroom plan shown below. Both have the option of an additional 500 sqft master bedroom upstairs which in the larger plan allows the downstairs master to serve as a family room.



A very livable home, the L shape creates privacy for its rear terrace where family life can flow out from the living areas. Conventional construction makes this house easy to build, and the iconic traditional form won't scare the average home builder.



Look for Design Prints to come available on the site soon. Well, you will hear about it here when it happens! And yes, this is the house for which we have been experimenting with new drawing styles. Not quite sorted out yet, but when its done the new collection will have a distinct graphic look apart from the original collection of designs.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Hus1

Hookaboo is a discreet wall hanger that you can have in the hallway, bathroom, bedroom or anywhere you wish. This wall hanger has 4 pieces of metal hanger that fold up when are not used. Designed by Matt Carr, this wall hook is made from bamboo and is 34 cm wide, 8,5 cm hight and about 2 cm deep. For those of you interested in this product, you can purchase it from Bluebox ( Sweedish shop ).

a

Hookaboo Wall Hanger by Matt Carr

in the tradition of friday’s on d*s i decided to add a recipe to the mix for today’s DIY project. i love goat cheese. i could eat so much of it’s sick. last fall i spent some time researching different tart recipes after i got these cute little “mini-tins” as a gift. i finally settled on trying goat cheese with pear and loved them. these are so easy + they have the advantage of looking like they’re not. they satisfy the sweet & savory thing that i tend to crave. bring them with you to holiday parties and blow those chip & dippers out of the water.

what you will need: (makes 20)

mini baking tins (a mini muffin pan or the like will work)
2 pears
10 oz. goat cheese @ room temperature
1/2 tbsp sugar
dash of cinnamon
1 package puff pastry sheets (in the frozen foods aisle @ the grocery store)

1) preheat oven to 400.

2) roll out 1 puff pastry to a 20 x 20 inch square with a rolling pin,
and cut into 2 x 2 inch squares. grease your tins so the pastry does
not stick. press squares into tins and trim off the excess.

3) chop the pears finely with the skins on. (this adds a little color
to the tarts). stir pears, sugar & cinnamon up. you will probably have
a bit of the pear mixture leftover.

4) spoon and press down 1/2 tbsp of goat cheese onto the bottom of the
pastry and add 1 tbsp of pear mixture on top.

5) bake at 400 for 25 minutes. the edges should be golden brown.

6) take out of oven and let cool for 10 minutes. you will be able to
pop them out if you properly greased your tins. enjoy. i like to serve
them with a nice glass of white wine. yum.

kristy at two if by see sent over these beautiful photographs by impactist. the collection is called “paper” and everything you see in the photos is hand cut and assembled to create patterns. such a beautiful idea. click here for more information. [thanks, kristy!]

I think this would have done the rounds in the design blogosphere by this time. Sorry, it is a little late as I completely forgot to post it. But here it is, and all I can say is I WANT THIS! ILoveSketch from Seok-Hyung Bae on Vimeo. ILOVESketch is a 3D curve sketching system that [...]

Hey, DMI seems to slightly open up towards the social web! Something I’ve tried to convince them on a while ago ;-)

Therefore under the lead of Scott Lerman they’ve set up a Ning where you can socialize and get in touch with other Design Management professionals across the globe that like to hang out at DMI conferences once in a while. Well done, DMI!

So in case you’re planning to attend the annual DMI conference in early October 2008 you should definitively join. Otherwise for lurking and networking join as well at: JoIN the REMIX >>>