Gems Sty

Matsushita has filed a patent on this idea of “printing” make-up onto faces. Imagine having downloadable templates of make-up that has exactly the right colors at the right place. Or simply just the idea that make-up is done within seconds instead of minutes or hours (as perceived by the guys anyway).

Battery-powered, hand-held and armed with a liquid cosmetic cartridge:

The device ionises the liquid allowing an electric field to accelerate it through a nozzle to form a jet. The result is a make-up spray that can be turned on and off at the flick of a switch. But if that doesn’t do the trick, the device has a drip mode which can dribble liquid onto the skin instead. Perhaps it could be upgraded to print family snapshots onto your eyelids too…

[via New Scientist Invention]

Business Week has a very interesting article on Kensington’s design approach to designing a new collection of computer mice. Kensington, being the number 3 computer peripheral maker was likened to Nintendo – both companies are trailing behind market leaders and behemoths (Microsoft and Sony for Nintendo; Microsoft and Logitech for Kensington). The peripherals market is indeed very tough: on the low end, you’re flooded with anonymous but cheap offerings, while on the high-tech end, it’s like David vs Goliath taking on the big companies with deep financial resources.

But, like in the case of David vs Goliath, there is still hope. For Kensington, the leverage was in a strategic, design-led thinking: the technological race in peripherals are ruthless and yet the consumers appreciate very little of it – they don’t see what’s under the shell. So why not define a new turf? For them, they engaged the design consultancy One & Co.

Having product designers instead of dedicated researchers conduct the study gave the designers a head start in thinking about the creative problems they’d be facing—and strengthened the research because designers asked questions and noticed details that might have gone overlooked by someone else. “There’s an emotional connection that people have to products,” Becker told me. As a product designer observing users firsthand, “you’re just more in tune to how people interact with the product. You notice how someone holds it, notice all these different subtle interactions,” Becker said.

I’d probably have to copy-and-paste the entire article to depict how they engaged in the design process – so you might as well head on and read the entire BW article – for me it’s a great case study in strategic-design-led venture. Designers have, or are trained, with a sharpened sense of intuition, observation and connection with users, which are a markedly different view from marketers who may be more quantitative and “big picture” inclined. In Kensington’s case, it was about the emotion and product experience.

As markets become more saturated and products more undifferentiated, you’d need more than a “we need a new collection of mice for Spring 2008 that is better than our competitors” kind of attitude. What is the X-factor that would set your product line apart, and perhaps as (if not more) importantly, how do you get to the “X-factor”? And do it consistently?

This is the ulo chair by Ian Walton. I liked it for its refined simplicity – striking a balance of clarity, elegance and modernity. Another good design execution – this isn’t that uncommon – or so I thought. Until I saw this video, which left me absolutely floored in awe:

Wow, the way it converts is just so organic, simple and elegant: if there was a user-interface award in furniture, this would definitely win my vote. And it’s not just a blind show-off of mechanical solutions either:

The chair has two configurations; an “Upright” configuration for more demanding applications such as working, studying or eating, and a “Lounge” configuration for leisure based activities and general relaxed postures.

The ulo chair was designed in response to the growing movement towards compact living spaces for sustainability. Prefabricated compact homes such as Alchemy Architects “WeeHouse”, Andy Thompsons “MiniHome” and Michelle Kaufmanns “Glidehouse” are all inherently sustainable due to both their size and the methods used in their construction.

Extremely thoughtful architecture and space design is being applied to such homes in order to make them feel less diminutive and consequently more sustainable. However I felt that this thoughtful approach was not reflected by the products within.

The changeover between each configuration involves one swift movement in which the rear legs “bend” and the seat shell pivots about its front connection point. This simplistic movement was designed in response to the plethora of poor multifunctional products which currently exist. These products are always difficult to reconfigure, and often perform poorly in one/more position.

The rear legs are locked straight internally via 8mm PTFE coated, hardened steel shafts. In order to unlock the flexible sections in these legs the user presses down on the horizontal bar at the rear of the chair with their foot.

Head on to Ian’s portfolio site (many other great works there too)!