“bedu” temporary disaster relief

Bedu Emergency Response Unit, by designer Toby McInnes, is a survival kit in one well-designed, neatly packaged barrel. From a tent structure to medical kits, the container has all the necessary items for temporary disaster relief – well, everything but food and water.

As a tight, relatively small package these can easily be purchased and stored by the thousands (price notwithstanding) for easy distribution when the time comes; airdropping may even be a possibility.

+ via: Vous Pensez

bbq tray

BBQ Tray by D-vision is designed to collect the often messy pre-cooked and post-grilled juices. You have to hand it to them – it’s quite a mundane problem they’ve cleverly solved. And isn’t that what good product design is all about.

+ via: Play Me Design

the house that tweets

As people are finding more and more inventive ways to use the micro-blogging platform Twitter, the service is becoming not only a means of instant social interaction, but a life-hacking tool. The best example I’ve seen to date is Andy Stanford-Clarks hacked home automation system to tweet updates on water and power usage, telecommunications, indoor temperatures, and the state of lighting and security systems.

Not too long ago I blogged about a nifty device that quantified your homes’ power consumption to help you change your energy consuming habits by giving a form of real-time data. Andy’s idea is similar but much farther reaching. While I think that keeping an Orwellian eye on every little system change in your wired home is a bit over-kill and exhausting, the implications are very intriguing. With further advancement this would be more helpful as an alert system for abnormalities in everyday usage. Combine this with an online automation system and the possibilities begin to get really exciting. Imagine being at work and receiving a tweet that your bedroom and kitchen lights have been left on and then signing-in and shutting them off remotely. Or how about being alerted that you’ve used 20% more water for three days straight indicating a leak well before you get your monthly water bill.   Whatever the application, used correctly, an interacting/intelligent home can help save resources and money. 

Check out Andys house twitter account here.

+via Serial Consign

cmyk

Wow, the geek in me would really love to have these shirts. Find them at Urban Industry.

+ via We Made This

floating bed

For the ultra minimalist: the bed that appears to float.

With the exception of the all glass support structure, it’s not dissimilar to any other platform bed.

+ via The Design Blog

coke and mentos

1,500 students dressed in matching ponchos and drooping Mentos into diet coke in Ladeuzeplein square in Leuven, Belgium. Thus breaking the world record for this fizzy explosion. The photographs are quite amazing. Here are some youtube videos that chronicle other previous attempts.

+via: core77

Like the site?

this weekend @ socrates

This weekend is Socrates Sculpture Park and the Noguchi Museum‘s 6th annual kite making workshop. This year bring your old recycled grocery bags and turn them into high flying beauties. Kite designs are provided by Miwa Kiozumi and Marco Scoffier who will draw inspiration from the parks view of the Manhattan skyline. Participants will have the opportunity to build and decorate their kites, then fly them in the Park.
Like the site?

footprint chronicles

If there’s no doubting we’re in the midst of a truly “greening” revolution of our world, then there’s also no doubting that there are many bandwagon-jumping manufacturers who are slightly less than sincere about their products eco-friendliness. For us consumers, “greenwashing” can be hard to detect but as the product landscape continues to evolve, committed companies are relying on honesty and transparency rather than the typical rhetoric. Patagonia is one such company and their newest project, Footprint Chronicles, uses maps, photo’s, and interviews to document selected products journey from design to manufacturing to final delivery. If only everyone would follow their lead.

If you’re someone who buys eco-friendly products, what are some of the ways you research companies? What most affects your decision to buy or not to buy?

+ via Coolhunting

toy sculptures

Perhaps still a kid at heart, artist Robert Bradford creates fun, colorful sculptures made from plastic toys.

+ via artsblog.it

150 clocks clock

This one clock, designed by Christiaan Postma, is made up of 150 individual clocks perfectly synchronized to spell out the time as it progresses.

The word “three” completely appears when it’s exactly 3 o’clock and will then transform again as time passes. The word “four” begins to appear and at exactly 4 o’clock the word “four” is clearly visible. The word “three” is by then totally vanished and no longer readable. via Pan Dan.

You may also like:
+ atomare design