All posts filed under: Things for Learning

Patented: 1000 Design Patents by Thomas Rinaldi

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Product design junkies will be in awe of Patented, a thick tome featuring 1000 design patent documents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The one-of-a-kind field guide includes patents from well-known names such as Louis Comfort Tiffany and Buckminster Fuller, to more surprising entries from celebrities such as Francis Ford Coppola (packaging for beverages – wine perhaps?) and Prince (guitar, obviously.) Author and architectural designer Thomas Rinaldi offers readers and future patent makers more than a century of product and industrial design that’s been organized chronologically from 1900 to 2020. The uniform aesthetic of the patent drawings means all 1,000 designs are illustrated in the same style — from bottle openers to bicycles. If you don’t have a shelf big enough for Patented, don’t worry. You can just go and design a patent for one. $35.95 U.S. Order from your local independent bookstore or at Phaidon All images courtesy of Phaidon.

Pangea 3D Wooden Contour Maps

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Using bathymetric data, Pangea’s 3D maps depict the contours of the ocean floor, revealing the often unseen beauty that lies below the surface. Combining modern surveying techniques and CAD technology with the art of cartography, these handcrafted waterscapes are made from layers of Baltic birch plywood. Carefully considering the scale and composition of each map, the company sources accurate bathymetric data (underwater topography) for each location before laser-cutting the plywood sheets to form the contours of the ocean floor. When finished, each map goes into a hardwood frame and is finished with a layer of glass. Maps arrive within two weeks and ship in a wooden box. In addition to a standard line of maps from Boston to Sydney, Pangea also offers one-of-a-kind custom maps through its online map builder. Pangea Maps donates $50 USD for every referred sale on its website to The Ocean Cleanup, an organization developing advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. The Ocean Cleanup aims to remove up to 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years. …

Little Free Library Design Competition

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A competition to design a new version of the Little Free Library touches on two of my favorite things in the world — product design and books. If you aren’t familiar with Little Free Libraries, they are small containers that are installed in front yards, community centers, and public spaces all over to world to help people exchange books for free. There are nearly 40,000 of these structures worldwide, and Chronicle Books. Little Free Library, and AIA SF are inviting architects and designers to rethink the structure and solve some problems cited by users in the field. Challenges that the new design should try to overcome include keeping the doors shut, making it accessible at night, keeping it water-tight and heatproof, and perhaps my favorite, serving small children and tall adults alike. The jury includes architects, editors, and designers, and the prizes include an architecture library from Chronicle Books and other goodies. If I designed one, I’d love a little solar panel on top that lights it up at night when the door opens and …

Book Review: DesignPOP

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Hitting bookshelves this month, the neon pink, padded vinyl covered DesignPOP is a 216-page tome to contemporary product design written by designer and collector Lisa S. Roberts. Published by Rizzoli, DesignPOP includes 82 works created from 2000-2014 from Frank Gehry, the Campana brothers, Hella Jongerius, Philippe Starck, Ron Arad, Jasper Morrison, James Dyson, and other design icons. It includes 95% original photography, designer biographies, and a “where to shop” guide along with resources for each product. Though I haven’t handled the physical book and its retro-plastic cover (I was sent a PDF to review), the internal layouts with their oversized pull-quotes and high-quality photographs certainly make for a fun read for consumers. Even design-insiders should find enough new products to keep their interest. DESIGNPOP By Lisa S. Roberts HC w/jacket / 9 1⁄2” x 9 1⁄2” / 216 pages / 175 color illustrations US $35.00 / Can $35.00 / UK £25.00 Rizzoli New York All images courtesy Rizzoli.

Disruptus Game

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Disruptus is a new award-winning game from U.S.-based Funnybone Toys that combines function and fun with a minimal design. The game, which includes cards, a die, and a small hourglass timer, asks players to look at objects and ideas and use different approaches to innovate. The game draws inspiration from the practice of ‘disruptive thinking’, a powerful way to innovate that has been used by corporations and designers to create ideas and objects like digital music, camera phones, and car-sharing programs.  It’s a fun gift for designers, students, teachers, or anyone that likes coming up with better ways of doing things. Best of all, it does it while taking you off the electronic grid, even if for just a little while. $24.99. Ages 10 to 99. All images courtesy of Funnybone Toys.

Architects Toybox

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I never promote my own projects on this blog, but I think that I have a good reason to with the launch of my second product design blog Architects Toybox. While designythings will continue to be a curated list of gifts, gadgets, and gear, Architects Toybox will be a resource for architects, designers, and consumers looking for the latest architectural building product news — from lighting fixtures to plumbing fixtures. I plan to update the site a few times a week and will covering the latest products from around the world. Recent posts include a review of a new coffee table book full of inspiring tree house designs, a prototype for a flying cleaning robot, and an LED light from 3M that uses reflective film technology to can stretch the light from a single LED to multiple fixtures. Check it out if you get a moment, and don’t forget to sign up for the email list to keep up with the latest news.