MDKtm

Locked safe. This elegant bike locking concept by Lee Sang Hwa,...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 11:07:00 +0100

Locked safe.

This elegant bike locking concept by Lee Sang Hwa, Kim Jin Ho and Yeo Min Gu is one of those rare product design moments when you wonder how a solution so obvious – now you see it – hasn’t been arrived at before. The saddle simply folds back over the rear wheel and a cutout section locks it. Quick. Simple. Done. Problem-solving design thinking of the highest order. MDKtm

For more information see red-dot.sg

Vertigo. For their Beautiful Steps installation series, artists...

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 08:16:00 +0000

Vertigo.

For their Beautiful Steps installation series, artists Lang/Baumann build daring staircases in surreal real-life situations. Certainly beautiful (and sometimes scary), installation #2 on the side of a building in Switzerland definitely leans towards the latter category. Vertigo sufferers look away now. MDKtm

For more information see langbaumann.com

Pop classic. The classic Eames Lounge chair has been given a...

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:12:00 +0000

Pop classic.

The classic Eames Lounge chair has been given a bright new twist with this homage in colour-block plastic. The Mal 1956 can be used indoors and out and comes in a range of statement making colours – or try it in white for a restrained silhouette. MDKtm

Available online from do-shop.com

Beauty and the beat. Instead of listening to your favourite...

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 10:48:00 +0000

Beauty and the beat.

Instead of listening to your favourite track over and over again, wouldn’t it be great if there was software that dynamically created an ever-changing mix that played – well – forever? Infinite Jukebox does just that and was created during Music Hack Day at MIT by Paul Lamere. The software creates a circle out of the track, slices it into distinctive segments and analyses which of these can be seamlessly linked to create a continuously-varied mix. Some tracks work better than others, especially if there is a regular electronic rhythm, and the results can be pretty incredible. All this is coupled with particularly beautiful infographic showing the track being analysed and linked in real-time. Music and visuals for your perfect party. MDKtm

Try it out at labs.echonest.com

‘Artists are good or bad, not fashionable or unfashionable. The tragedy of art today is that...

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 08:29:48 +0000

‘Artists are good or bad, not fashionable or unfashionable. The tragedy of art today is that it is caught up in an empty fashion game that goes against the very nature of creativity, as artists are judged to be in or out, not for their merits, but their supposed buzzy immediacy.’

Jonathan Jones The Guardian

Number one. A logo that is simple yet embodies everything about...

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 15:58:00 +0000

Number one.

A logo that is simple yet embodies everything about the company it represents is a rarity. This logo for the Official Charts Company by Give Up Art is a perfect example. Charts are about the struggle of entries that rise up and then fall down the rankings, each of them after that coveted number one spot. The one is simply created out of the overlap from the up and down arrows. Two repeated elements that make a third and say everything that needs to be said. Great graphic thinking. MDKtm

For more information see officialcharts.com and giveupart.com.

[09.10.12] Saatchi’s The Future Can Wait, London. MDKtm

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:58:00 +0000

[09.10.12] Saatchi’s The Future Can Wait, London. MDKtm

Teenage Engineering. Apple made boxes of microchips and...

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 10:14:00 +0000

Teenage Engineering.

Apple made boxes of microchips and motherboards exciting and desirable using great design and the brilliantly named Teenage Engineering are doing the same for electronic music components. The feel of their products and overall company branding evoke the early 80s glamour and excitement with futuristic style that was born with Synthpop. Their website is a masterclass in how to sell complex tech with cool simplicity. And, behind the style, they are pushing forward with innovative ways to deliver product. With other tech manufacturers, if a part or button or slider breaks you have to try and get a replacement sent from the original factory. Teenage Engineering are the first to allow you to download a CAD file of the part so you can create your own on a 3D printer. MDKtm

For more information see teenageengineering.com

Tableware mash-up. Usually, patterned tableware would have MDKtm...

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:15:00 +0000

Tableware mash-up.

Usually, patterned tableware would have MDKtm reaching for a hammer but these crockery clashes from Italian firm Seletti are high on our Objects of Desire list. Designed by CTRLZAK, these pieces juxtapose scenes of English and Chinese cultural imagery to symbolise a complex historical past when East clashed with West. Beautiful in their visual excess and made contemporary by the hard, graphic slash they would live just as easily on a gallery wall as your dining table. MDKtm

Hybrid tableware by Seletti, handcrafted bone china, madeindesign.co.uk

‘Art prices are determined by the meeting of real or induced scarcity with pure, irrational...

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 20:39:00 +0100

‘Art prices are determined by the meeting of real or induced scarcity with pure, irrational desire and nothing is more manipulable than desire… A fair price is the highest one a collector can be induced to pay.’

Robert Hughes Art critic

Light and line. For a temporary structure, the Barcelona...

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:49:00 +0100

Light and line.

For a temporary structure, the Barcelona Pavilion caused a permanent shift in architectural thinking. From the moment it existed, style and architecture would never be the same again.

Created by Mies van der Rohe to promote a new and modern Germany at the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, the Pavilion was a revelation of clean linear forms. Architecture at that time was still dominated by classical shapes with grandiose embellishments. The Pavilion gave a glimpse of a new aesthetic. One where space and light and the rigour of geometry were the focus. Quietly ignored at the time – dismissed as an abstract exhibition piece – it stood for only seven months before being torn down.

In the decades after it was destroyed, both van der Rohe’s reputation and that of the lost Pavilion grew in stature. In its absence, the building took on a mythical status, promoted by a new, exciting art form. Photography.

Thirteen photographic master prints existed of the Pavilion – the Berliner Bild-Bericht prints – and, apart from a few drawings, were the only visual record of the structure. The prints themselves became iconic and were widely reproduced, keeping the idea of the building in the forefront of modern architectural thinking.

Although the prints and architectural ideals were beautiful, the building itself didn’t exist anymore to experience physically – and the memories of those who had actually walked around it were fading. The Pavilion was in danger of only ever remaining an abstract idea.

In 1980 a push to reconstruct it began with work starting in 1983. Parts of the original site foundations were uncovered and building materials were sourced with the provenance of the originals – quite a task as they included ancient Greek marble and onyx from the Atlas mountains. Drawings were researched, the Berliner Bild-Bericht prints themselves were used as reference and work was finally finished in 1986.

To experience the Pavilion as a building rather than a photograph is essential for anyone with an interest in design and architecture. The long lines and sharp shadows from the Barcelona sun are hard and graphic, softened with light from the shallow pebble pool bouncing on the hot surfaces. The form may be stark and geometric but, inside, the beautiful materials reflect each other, complex but calm and ever changing as the sun shifts. Light and line, beautiful in three dimentions as well as two. MDKtm

For more information see miesbcn.com. The Barcelona Pavilion is an MDKtm2 Essential Location.

Time machine. It may look like a watch with an exposed...

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 09:47:00 +0100

Time machine.

It may look like a watch with an exposed hard-drive but it’s actually a mini power station. Ventura are on the avant-garde of Swiss watch making and invented the automatic digital watch in 2000. Their Sparcs MGS beautifully reveals the rotary mass that converts movements of the wrist into power to run the display. Digital and analogue working together in perfect harmony. MDKtm

For more information see ventura.ch

iPhone 5 schematics. A new iPhone means new dimensions and, of...

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 13:15:00 +0100

iPhone 5 schematics.

A new iPhone means new dimensions and, of course, that means third-party accessories need to be created to fit. Apple have just released the official schematics of the new iPhone 5 on their developer portal. Whether you are an accessories manufacturer or not, it’s fascinating to see a design that was recently so confidential being revealed in such exacting detail. MDKtm

Download the full (279k) blueprint pdf here

A room with a view. This coastal house by Belgian architects...

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 10:43:00 +0100

A room with a view.

This coastal house by Belgian architects Atelier d’Architecture Bruno Erpicum & Partners has the perfect location if sea views are your thing. AABE have created a building with clean, calm lines that counters the jagged drama of the Spanish site beautifully. And where better to sit and read E.M. Forster’s A Room With a View than in that classic Eames Lounge Chair? MDKtm

For more information see erpicum.org. Photographs by Jean-Luc Laloux, laloux.be. A Room With A View by E.M. Forster is available at amazon.co.uk

LDF 2012. The London Design Festival is celebrating its 10th...

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 11:48:00 +0100

LDF 2012.

The London Design Festival is celebrating its 10th birthday this September by holding nearly as many events as this summer’s Olympic games. Thankfully, there’s a smartphone app to help you navigate the mass of city-wide shows and ‘interventions’. We’re particularly looking forward to exploring the V&A to find the ten ghost-like Mimicry chair installations and the BE OPEN Sound Portal in Trafalgar Square. MDKtm

London Design Festival 2012, 14 – 23 September, londondesignfestival.com

Zoom. It’s very rare for a brand to have a logo so famous...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:17:00 +0100

Zoom.

It’s very rare for a brand to have a logo so famous it can be used in abstraction and still be recognisable. Diet Coke are one of those brands. Their limited edition packaging created by Turner Duckworth featuring a cropped and zoomed portion of the logo has proven so successful that Coke have decided to retain it permanently. MDKtm

For more information see m.dietcoke.com

Power generation. Behind the Olympian displays of human energy...

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 19:58:00 +0100

Power generation.

Behind the Olympian displays of human energy at the London 2012 venues, how much electrical energy are the buildings themselves consuming? EDF are the official power suppliers to the games and they have created a website that displays power usage across all the iconic architecture in real-time. You can even rewind to see how much power was needed while the new stadiums were being built. Queue puns about the atmosphere being electric etc. MDKtm

Check out the power consumption at edfpowerthegameslive.com

Smashing. It’s not unusual to see abandoned buildings with...

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:51:00 +0100

Smashing.

It’s not unusual to see abandoned buildings with smashed windows in run down parts of a city. But it is unusual to see every window – all 312 of them – cracked and smashed in exactly the same way. This warehouse in Hackney, London is just a – erm – stone’s throw away from the Olympic Stadium and has been reborn as an art piece by Alex Chinneck. He painstakingly replaced all the windows with 1,248 identically broken pieces of glass, brilliantly regenerating the forgotten building by – ironically – destroying it even further. Sadly, the destruction becomes final in November when the warehouse is due for demolition. MDKtm

Telling the Truth Through False Teeth by Alex Chinneck is on the corner of Mare Street and Tudor Road in Hackney, London E9 7SN. Until November 2012. See alexchinneck.com

Stealth. What initially seem like low-polygon CG renders of a...

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 20:22:00 +0100

Stealth.

What initially seem like low-polygon CG renders of a bike are genuine photos of an experimental frame designed by Brano Meres Engineering & Design. At MDKtm we love anything that borrows from the angular aesthetic of the stealth bomber and – while this two-wheeler may not be able to skim the sound barrier – it‘s still impressively hi-tech. The BME X-9 Nighthawk is constructed from water-jet cut honeycomb skinned in carbon fibre, has a belt drive and an internally-routed brake cable. All that tech-spec sounds nearly as smart as the way it looks. We want to order two. One to get muddy and one to hang on the wall. MDKtm

For more information see bmeres.com

The con of concepts. The blend of bleeding-edge design and...

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:43:00 +0100

Pininfarina 75th Birdcage Concept, 2005

Pininfarina 75th Birdcage Concept, 2005

The con of concepts.

The blend of bleeding-edge design and technology in concept cars has always pumped me full of excitement and optimism. For decades they have given me dilated pupils – from the airbrushed illustrations of my teens to the photo-realistic CGI depictions of now. Millions are spent by automotive designers, technologists and engineers to show off and create these glimpses of the future. Yet it’s a future that never seems to arrive. Where are they?

Now, even I am not so unrealistic as to think that every family with children could use this Pininfarina concept. But look at the roads. This Pininfarina was created in 2005 and still there’s nothing like it on the streets. Surely, after decades of promise, the percentage of street cars that even hint at these optimistic visions should be higher. One Lamborghini per million utilitarian boxes is not enough.

Concept cars still drive me wild. But now they are starting to drive me wild with disappointment. I am realising they are just automotive porn and feel foolish being so optimistic as to believe the future could be so full of excitement and great design. But my disappointment with the makers of these concepts is the strongest. If they are so passionate as to be involved in creating these deceptions, why keep them only as deceptions? If they can’t actually realise their dreams then ours will never be realised either. MDKtm