Those of you enrolled in transportation design programs probably dream of designing swoopy cars. It's a select few of you that are interested in trucks, even though it is trucks that have brought everything—your Wacom tablet, the bag you carry to school, the clothes on your back—to the store where you bought it. The importance of trucks in our product-driven society cannot be understated, yet we rarely hear about their design, or the design teams behind them.
Thankfully, rectifying that is this video from Volvo, where Design Director Rikard Orell and his team tell you about the design thinking—style vs. functionality, heart vs. brain—that went into their new FH cab-over:
Anyone from carpenters to designers to architects—basically anyone who deals with creating lines for a living—ought give it a go. Warning: A subset of you are going to find it extremely addictive and/or become hellbent on improving your score. (I thought I was pretty good, but I'm consistently getting in the 4.- range. I also discovered that I rock at determining a dead-accurate right angle and suck at parallelograms, as I keep subconsciously trying to turn them into planes with accurate two-point perspective.)
I hate the imperial measurement system, and can confidently say that anyone who doesn't recognize the superiority of metric is a freaking idiot. How nice it must be for you Aussies, Germans and Koreans to drill an 8mm hole, realize you need it a smidgen bigger, and yell down the ladder for a 9mm bit. Versus us Yankees drilling a 7/32 hole, then having to do an equation in your head to calculate if you need a 3/16 or a 1/4.
For the non-mathematically-gifted like me, dividing things with fractions is the worst. For example, when doing DIY projects you often have to calculate the midpoint of a particular piece—whether it's wood, fabric or metal—and I'd be constantly scrawling equations onto the piece of wood I was working and having to sand the marks off afterwards. That is, until I learned this simple tip to easily find the exact midpoint without having to divide fractions.
Let's say I want to find the midpoint of the board above. We take a tape measure to it...
...and see it's 17-something. That's all you're looking for, ignore the finer gradations.
Then we take note of the nearest even number, whether higher or lower than the actual measurement. In this case the nearest even number is 18.
We've all seen our share of TED Talks, and when the camera pans over the audience, most people are paying attention; maybe one or two have their heads down and are presumably texting something. But how do you ensure every pair of eyes in the house is totally riveted on your project? What object, technology or idea could designer Markus Fischer possibly demonstrate such mastery of that the audience is roused into a standing ovation at just three minutes into his talk?
While it doesn't appear to be an outright Apple-Chevrolet partnership, Chevy has announced that their new Sonic and Spark models will offer integration with Apple's Siri. Called "Eyes Free Integration," Chevy's system will enable iPhone-toting drivers to initiate and answer phone calls, interact with their calendars, play music, hear transcriptions of incoming text messages, and compose outgoing text messages all by voice.
As per the context in which it's meant to be used, one of the system's touches purposely violates a cardinal rule of user interface design: Visual feedback. With Eyes Free, the phone avoids lighting up when interacted with, instead remaining dark to prevent your tendency to look at things that suddenly illuminate, so that you'll keep your peepers on the road.
Two Eyes-Free-compatible apps/hacks we'd like to see:
1. The KITT voice mod, which continually refers to you as "Michael" no matter what your name is.
2. An app that enables you to call out the license plate of the car in front of you that just cut you off. It automatically dials that driver's phone, and you can tell them exactly what you think of them without needing to roll the window down and yell it.
As of today, there are only four weeks left to enter the Core77 Design Awards—we've even integrated a handy countdown clock into the Core77 homepage so you don't forget that time is winding down...
Of course, that's still plenty of time for you to put together a kickass entry, and we've got awesome news for those of you who are entering the Consumer Products and/or Equipment categories: We're pleased to announce the final two jury captains for the 2013 Core77 Design Awards program, and we think you'll share our excitement in welcoming these two design luminaries, as well as the 15 others we've already announced—all in one place!
» Oliver Grabes, Jury Captain
Head of Design at Braun
Since September 2009, Professor Oliver Grabes is the new Head of Braun Design and is spearheading Braun's new design approach: "the strength of pure." His approach is to translate heritage into the future; taking Braun's values and world famous design heritage and combining it with modern technologies. His approach creates coherent products that are easy to use, useful and well designed. High quality is paramount to ensure a long-lasting product that creates a positive product experience over years. In addition to being Head of Braun Design, he is the chairman of the jury for the BraunPrize 2012 with the theme of "Genius Design for a better everyday."
Image via DMI
» Duncan Trevor-Wilson, Jury Captain
Design Manager at GE Healthcare
Duncan Trevor-Wilson is the global design manager for emerging markets at GE Healthcare based in Shanghai. Responsible for driving Strategic design solutions to developing nations healthcare challenges. Formerly he was a design manager at Motorola consumer experience division Beijing and ResMed Australia. In addition he has been awarded multiple design awards and patents for his innovative creations.
Hit the jump to see all of the previously-announced jury captains!
A social media savvy, fun loving, swiss army knife type of digital designer is going to have a blast in this job.
Just like the Michael Kors brand, this job is anything but average. They're looking for someone who not only owns their design, UI and usability skills like a boss, they can navigate, design for and create content for all the major social media platforms out there. Success in this role requires a broad range of skills and knowledge that all add up to a complete and thoughtfully produced high-quality web experience.
If you are up for the challenge, throw your hat in the ring today.
While not all of our readers can relate to the American tradition of tailgating, where we gather in stadium parking lots prior to sporting events and hold barbecues out of the back of our trucks, most of you can relate to loading up a car with a lot of gear, as when you're moving. Anything square and boxy is easy to stack and pack; weirdly-shaped things with rounded tops, like barbecue grills, are a nightmare.
Industrial designer Eddie Licitra's Traverse concept solves the tailgating issue handily. It's a flat-fold propane-fired grill with a slim breakdown shape that makes it easy to tuck into a trunk.
That would've been good enough for us, but Licitra's gone a step further and also turned the Traverse into a handy way to get all that BBQ paraphernalia out of the house and into the car: It doubles as a handtruck.
There's no consensus on whether it's better to have more, or less, cushioning in a running shoe; this article crystallizes some of the larger theories being debated, enlisting the opinions of an evolutionary biologist who's conducted biomechanical analyses of how the human foot operates during running. But while consensus will have to wait, Adidas isn't. Yesterday they announced their new Boost foam material, "a revolutionary cushioning technology which provides the highest energy return in the running industry."
The foundation of the BOOST innovation is centred on its cushioning material. Based on a groundbreaking development process created by adidas partner BASF, the world's leading chemical company, solid granular material (TPU) is literally blown up and turned into thousands of small energy capsules which make up the footwear's distinctive midsole. With their unique cell structure, these capsules store and unleash energy more efficiently in every stride. Tests conducted by the adidas Innovation Team show that the highly durable material found only in Energy Boost products provides the highest energy return in the running industry.
Here's a quick vid demonstrating the base difference between Boost foam, the industry-standard EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) stuff, and concrete:
We're counting down to this year's International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, taking place at McCormick Place March 2-5th. Stay tuned as we bring you the newest designs in cleaning, cooking, dining, appliances and personal healthcare with in-depth coverage and video interviews about our favorite products. With over 2,100 exhibitors from around the world including 400 new companies exhibiting at the Home + Housewares Show for the first time, we are looking forward to chatting with independent designers, industry leaders, chefs and the winners of this year's Student Design Competition about the coming year in homeware design.
If you'll be in attendance at the show this year, be sure to download the app to help you plan your time and navigate the show. And don't forget to say hello when you see us on the floor!
For a taste of what to look forward to from this year, check out our full coverage of the International Home + Housewares Show from 2012 (with news from Dyson, Alessio Alessi, Prepara, Lodge, Marna and a full photogallery) and 2011 (our coverage of AMAC, Cat Cora, Joseph Joseph, Kikkerland, Replenish, Bodum and more!)
CRAFTING ANALOG DREAMS
DESIGN HOUSE
Tokyo Designers Week / DesignTide Tokyo 2012
Beijing Design Week 2012
Eero Saarinen: A Reputation for Innovation
Beam Project: Call for Proposals
Stripes: Design Between the Lines, Edited by Linda O'Keeffe
Hidden Forms by Franco Clivio, Hans Hansen and Pierre Mendell
Design Process Kills Creativity / Design Process Creates Creativity
"If I Knew Then What I Know Now..."
Industrial Design and Crime
If you are a leader, make sure you give props
Core77 Design Awards 
SHIFTBoston 2012 Glow Competition 
» Oliver Grabes, Jury Captain
Image via 
Biomimicry 3.8: What Would You Ask Nature
Changing the Face of Motocross
20 Years of Kikkerland
Discovering Chinese Design
TOKYO DESIGN WEEK 2012
BEIJING DESIGN WEEK 2012
VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2012
LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2012
After the Mayan Calendar, Fernando Romero's You Are The Context
"Why Shrink-wrap a Cucumber? The Complete Guide to Environmental Packaging"
"Stripes: Design Between The Lines"
Hidden Forms by Franco Clivio, Hans Hansen and Pierre Mendell
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HarvardxDesign 2013: Event Recap
The Crafting of Analog Dreams: An Interview with SWBK
Poetry in Motion: A Four-Part History of the Mercedes 300SL Gullwing
All Chips On the Table: The Bicycle Art & Design of Garrett Chow
The Future of 3D Printing: Mere Misnomer or Something More?
