Designverb

Category: green

Ideablob finals!

May 26, 2009

If you’re not familiar with Ideablob, it’s a pretty simple, but brilliant, concept. Participants (or blobbers, as they’re called) post an idea, and the ideablob community votes for what they think is the best. Winners receive, in addition to the prestige of being a champion blobber, 10,000 seed capital towards the development of their idea, and there’s a new winner every month. Simple, but brilliant.

This month, we’re proud to announce our friend Sami Nerenberg is a finalist with her idea, Room by Room! Room by Room is an eco-home redecorating reality show for low-income housing where ten inner-city high school students will participate in six weeks of eco-design bootcamp for a chance to win a health home make-over. Sami is brilliantly talented and incredibly motivated, serving as the youngest adjunct faculty at RISD (where she’s also an alumn), a member of Grain Design, a Timberland Earthkeeper Hero, and an all around awesome person. She’s got tough competition (including Paul Polak, who we also love), but with the Brown University’s Community Environmental College behind them, the Majora Carter Group as their media consultant, Timberland as their publicity outlet, RISD as their cohorts,we think they’re in good shape.

You can vote for Sami and see the Room by Room preview here!

1 Sheet Desk + Chair

May 23, 2009

A classic foundation project that occurs at RISD during one’s freshmen year is making a chair with no glue or cuts with only folds using 1 large sheet of corrugated cardboard, and bonus points for including a table of some sort.

The above video is a result of Danny Kim’s quick exploration on this project. There are a few more online if you dig around, but I’ve always wondered why such great projects like his never make it to market even if using a different material? Cost, manufacturing, longevity, uniqueness, business, too creative, market.  Maybe I’ll just make a few for my house.

VerTerra: Dinnerware from Fallen Leaves

May 4, 2009


I was introduced to VerTerra’s intriguing dinnerware products during this years GEL conference. At first sight these unique plates seemed like raw sheets of veneer pressed into structural shapes, but then the founder gave a quick overview of the project. Simply put:

“Our environmentally-friendly plates, bowls and serving dishes are made only from two products: fallen leaves and water. They’re non-toxic, biodegradable, compostable, durable, lightweight, convenient and downright stylish.”

I love it! Collect fallen leaves, steam press them to shape,  then deliver it. The plates will run you about a dollar for a pair, but once they get into Wholefoods later this month, I’m hoping Verterra will be affordable enough to be a abundant in everyday gatherings.

I wished I grabbed a few samples when I had the chance, but I’ll just have to wait for the next gathering to get some…unles someone from Verterra can send me some for my next party 😉
If your seeking an alternative, check out Wasura paper plates, which will cost you a bit more, but just as cool looking.

Some pictures from VerTerra’s website after the jump.

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The 99% Percent Conference 2009

April 9, 2009


Behance and Coolhunting bring to us their very first conference “99%” which “focuses less on inspiration, and more on how idea generation and organization come together to make ideas happen.” It all takes place next week at the The Times Center building  NYC, April 16-17, 2009… I’ll be there, so get your tickets here while they last!

A few of the speakers:
– Michael Bierut of Pentagram
– Cheryl Dorsey at Echoing Green
– Seth Godin of  Squidoo, and several Books (purple cow, tribes, marketers are liars)
– Ji Lee of Google and Bubble Project
– Jeffrey Kalmikoff and Jake Nickell at Threadless
– Scott Thomas of Obama for America
– full list here.

Color Changing Mini Cooper!

April 5, 2009

“BMW’s MINI division will debut its first color-morphing car in Singapore in June. Called the MINI Chameleon, the car changes color according to weather conditions.

For example, on a rainy day, the car’s paint brightens to improve visibility while on a sunny day, it lightens to reflect heat and cool down the vehicle.

The color-morphing technology was made possible due to a special treatment called FeintPaint by Spanish company Payola Forlids.

Cars treated with FeintPaint comprises tiny magnetic iron oxide particles which can interact with a low grade magnetic field to change the spacing of the particles, and hence its ability to reflect light and change color.

The color changes take effect in seconds, and should be quite a sight to behold! Unless of course, you’re the owner, and you’ve no idea where you last parked your car in a multi-story car park. ”

It’s about time someone did this! Wished this color technology could be applied to the interior leather as well…nothing like black leather during the winter, but oh my is it toasty to the touch in the summer! Would also be cool if the cars color changed as you sped up on the highway, from a cool blue to a hot red the faster you went.

via luxury insider

Dan Barber: Humane Foie Gras

March 14, 2009

“At the Taste3 conference, chef Dan Barber(Blue Hill Farm) tells the story of a small farm in Spain that has found a humane way to produce foie gras. Raising his geese in a natural environment, farmer Eduardo Sousa embodies the kind of food production Barber believes in.”

Pretty awesome story. Makes me think about sustainability, agriculture, quality, and just doing things naturally, how things are meant to be.

Kreol Music

March 10, 2009

Kreol – play music by typing from Kreol Music on Vimeo.

My long time buddy Mike Block (cellist guru) sent his latest side project Kreol, which turns any laptop keyboard into a musical instrument. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen keyboard instruments, but there are a few unique elements that set him apart using the mouse and collaborative group jams. Check the Kreol video above.

Reverte Biodegradable PET

March 3, 2009

In an ideal world, all materials would be recyclable and everybody would recycle. The harsh reality, though, is that over 75% of water bottles, perhaps the most readily recyclable product in the world, end up in oceans or landfills. So, while it’s critically important to design for recyclability, only in the best-case scenario are the products we design actually recycled.

Enter Planet Green Bottle, with their innovative plastic additive, Reverte. Combined with PET, Reverte offers a time-delayed biodegradability that breaks down plastic even in landfill conditions. By severing the bonds of a carbon chain into pieces that are small enough to be used as food for microbes, Reverte leaves nothing but CO2 and water behind. And, most impressively, the reaction can be delayed for anywhere from 2 or 5 years, so products can live a normal shelf life without fear of spoiling, leaking, dissolving, etc., and is still fully recyclable.

While recycling will always be the Cradle-to-Cradle ideal, Reverte factors in actual, albeit unfortunate, consumer behavior by offering biodegradabilty when recyclability fails. Makes it easier to design with a conscience, offering a good temporary fix until the system encourages 100% recyclability.

photo via flickr

Nick Demarco: Reuse, Garbage Chair

May 29, 2008
Nick Demarco XS garbage chair

Call it what you want, but I think this is a great idea by student Nick Demarco! Buy this plastic bag/mesh shaped chair, stuff it with dry items you’d be throwing away anyways or what you have too much of, and you have a comfy chair. Take those old shirts, magazines, bottles, stuffed bears, newspapers, etc.

This is a great “Reuse” project. I’ve got a huge pile of old shirts and magazines that would work great for making a snazzy couch! Reminds me a bit of the very expensive yet cool Campana teddy chairs!

via treehugger!
video interview