Defining Design: Going Beyond Disciplines
How has design, which many still associate largely with style and consumerism, come to be something one might look to for solutions to the most complex and challenging problems facing humanity today; problems requiring not just local fixes using clever design objects, but solutions that reimagine systems themselves? Are we, at this point, even still talking about the same discipline?
DesignBytes
All-In-One Digital Table
A team of students have created a concept kitchen table for Ikea, which acts as an integrated cooking hob and dining table and can suggest recipes based on ingredients you put on it. The interactive table was developed by students at Lund University and Eindhoven University of Technology together with design consultancy IDEO.
DesignBytes
The Bladeless Wind Turbine
While they may be great for the environment, traditional wind turbines are constantly coming under fire for a number of reasons—including noise and causing the deaths of birds—so a Spanish startup has come up with a unique new design, nicknamed "Wobblers," which takes up significantly less space and makes barely at noise at all.
DesignBytes
The Hoverboard of Today
Riding Onewheel, the new electric board from snowboarder-turned-IDEO-designer Kyle Doerksen, gets one pretty close to the feeling of flying on a board. Doerksen hired a couple of engineers and came up with a single-tire, skateboard-sized electric vehicle that turns like a snowboard and handles like, well, a hoverboard.
DesignBytes
Remembering a Heyday in Hi-Fi ID
An ever-expanding buffet of knobs, switches and buttons, were supported by the mesmerizing glow of dials and readouts that made the state of one’s listening situation known with just a glance. The combination of tactile and visual feedback was a thing of beauty then, and still is today—especially in the context of the Jony Ive era, where aesthetic restraint has become marching orders for all.
DesignBytes
There Is No Good Design If There Are No Good Constraints
BMW's Benoit Jacob explains that after nearly a century of development cars have evolved into an almost "perfect" form, which has made it more difficult for manufacturers to push the boundaries and create distinct models. In no small part hybrid and electric technologies are changing the way cars are designed after decades of stagnation.