We’d like to send a big congratulations to Dean Beanstead who this year took out the Victorian and Tasmanian Graduate of the Year Award. In addition to winning the Industrial Design category, Dean’s O2 Pursuit project helped him claim the top prize. The O2 powered concept bike was a show stopper at the recent Sydney Motorcycle Show. We’ve had the pleasure of working with Dean over a number of years and excited to see him grow as a young designer. We wish Dean all the best and look forward to seeing much more of his adventures and designs in the future.

Image: Michael Chijoff (Joneschijoff), Dean Benstead and Simon Marriot of 3D systems

Last Thursday Industrial designers from around Victoria got together thanks to the DIA. The Industrial Design Practice Group Night saw  a fantastic atmosphere of discussion about design and non-design.

We were very pleased to hear that JonesChijoff took out a Silver place at the recent Spark: Pro awards in the US. It was great to see one of our intitiaves receive industry recognition on an international level.

Every one wants a jet pack right? and in 2012 they should be as common as motorcycles. So why arent they? The jet packed image series will illustrate the history, development and research behind the detailed design and engineering of one of sci-fi’s biggest promises. Please enjoy these fantastic machines with the promise of the weekend that comes with fridays lunch.

Every one wants a jet pack right? and in 2012 they should be as common as motorcycles. So why arent they? The jet packed image series will illustrate the history, development and research behind the detailed design and engineering of one of sci-fi’s biggest promises. Please enjoy these fantastic machines with the promise of the weekend that comes with fridays lunch.

Every one wants a jet pack right? and in 2012 they should be as common as motorcycles. So why arent they? The jet packed image series will illustrate the history, development and research behind the detailed design and engineering of one of sci-fi’s biggest promises. Please enjoy these fantastic machines with the promise of the weekend that comes with fridays lunch.

This series hopes to lighten your heart with some lovable robots. These anthropomophized bits and pieces manage to pull on the heart strings with thier cute faces abd gestures. While they may not be functioning robots, these detailed designs are wonderful works of art.

At the end of January, a group of students from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design got together to direct the second edition of 120 HOURS, a competition for architecture students, run by students, which challenged entrants to create a design for residential space in a dense urban area. The jury (made up of four architects and one student) received 59 proposals, and of those picked those that displayed the most innovative uses of city space. Here are some pics of the entrants various concepts.

Via: http://www.treehugger.com/urban-design/120-hours-architectural-competition.html

Every one wants a jet pack right? and in 2012 they should be as common as motorcycles. So why arent they? The jet packed image series will illustrate the history, development and research behind the detailed design and engineering of one of sci-fi’s biggest promises. Please enjoy these fantastic machines with the promise of the weekend that comes with fridays lunch.

Todd Mclellan is an artist who has produced these awesome works by deconstructing old products. The works show (perhaps unintentinally) attention to detailed design that is addidictive to anyone that grew up taking things apart.

Genius just took a big step forward for computer peripherals by launching the world’s first wireless battery-free mouse. The mighty mouse eschews wasteful AAAs and heavier lithium-ion batteries in favor of an electric double-layer ultracapacitor that requires just a quick 3 minute charge each day. The Genius DX-Eco runs on a 2.4 Ghz connection, is rated to last for 100,000 charges, and is expected to hit store shelves soon at a price point of $39.99. This battery free detailed design could hopefully soon be traveling through diffrent concepts and prototypes for a handy new peripheral age.

Via Tech2

Aidan Dwyer took a hike through the trees last winter and took notice of patterns in the mangle of branches. His studies into how they branch in very specific ways lead him to a central guiding formula, the Fibonacci sequence. Take a number, add it to the number before it in a sequence like 1+1=2 then 2+1=3 then 3+2=5, 8, 13, 21 and so on a very specific pattern emerges. Turns out the pattern and its corresponding ratios are reflected in nature all the time, and Aidan’s keen observation of how trees branch according to the formula lead him to test the theory. First he measured tree branches by how often they branch and at what degree from each other . . .

While most 13-year-olds spend their free time playing video games or cruising Facebook, one 7th grader was trekking through the woods uncovering a mystery of science. After studying how trees branch in a very specific way, Aidan Dwyer designed a solar cell tree prototype that produces 20-50% more power than a uniform array of photovoltaic panels. His impressive research results show that using a specific formula for distributing solar cells can drastically improve energy generation. The study earned Aidan a provisional U.S patent – it’s a rare find in the field of technology and a fantastic example of how biomimicry can drastically improve design.

To see why they branch this way he built a small solar array using the Fibonacci formula, stepping cells at specific intervals and heights. He then compared the energy output with identical cells set in a row. Aidan reports the results: “The Fibonacci tree design performed better than the flat-panel model. The tree design made 20% more electricity and collected 2 1/2 more hours of sunlight during the day. But the most interesting results were in December, when the Sun was at its lowest point in the sky. The tree design made 50% more electricity, and the collection time of sunlight was up to 50% longer!”

His results did turn out to be incorrect though. Voltage (what he measured) is not an accurate measure of energy from a solar cell– he measured higher voltage simply because he swept a larger portion of sky. Solar cells in series are as only as good as the weakest one, so the tree design is only as good as the worst positioned cell for amperage, which multiplied by voltage creates usable energy.

This story is very inspiring and I think that Aiden’s passion to unravel a mystery shows how exciting the path of scientific discovery is. Impressively he is demonstrating the power of biomimicry — a concept that many see as the pinnacle of good design, but one that thus far has been exceptionally difficult to achieve. Way to go!

Liquipel has developed a brand new nanocoating for electronis devices. The coating is hydrophobic and thus helps repel water from vital electronics (and other parts) of devices. The coating paves the way for many design possibilities and development.

This series hopes to lighten your heart with some lovable robots. These anthropomophized bits and pieces manage to pull on the heart strings with thier cute faces abd gestures. While they may not be functioning robots, these detailed designs are wonderful works of art.

Derek Sivers shows qualities of leadership aswell as the qualities of followship in this exciting talk. Watch as Sivers documents the rise of a movement in 3 minutes.

Eythor Bender demonstartes an exoskelton prototype that has the power to change lives.

1. Chuck Norris can speak braille.
2. Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
3. Chuck Norris once won a game of Connect Four in 3 moves.
4. Chuck Norris can delete the Recycling Bin.
5. Death once had a near-Chuck-Norris experience.

Gever Tulley was inspired by the a conversation he overheard between mother and son, “put down that stick, you know the rule about playing with sticks”. Gever Tully shows the amazing concepts and prototypes created by children at his Tinkering school.

This series hopes to lighten your heart with some lovable robots. These anthropomophized bits and pieces manage to pull on the heart strings with thier cute faces abd gestures. While they may not be functioning robots, these detailed designs are wonderful works of art.

Dale Dougherty suggests we are all makers. Hi-Lighting the hardware hackers movement as well as Maker Fair, Dale shows how we actively shape our world and demonstartes the joy of tinkering for tinkerings sake. Check out the concepts and prototypes coming out of garages around the world.