New Playable Cities schemes reimagine the future city
The Playable Cities Award has announced the shortlisted designs competing for £30,000 of investment to create a new way to make cities more fun and engaging.
Product
The latest product design news, views, inspiration and opinion.
Snapchat launches sunglasses which shoot video
Snapchat has unveiled its first physical product – a pair of sunglasses which can shoot short video clips – alongside a name change to Snap Inc.
First look – Design Junction 2016
Design Junction moves to King’s Cross and overhauls format to build show around more divisible spaces and a new emphasis on interaction.
5 important things that happened in design this week
From a shortlist of logos for the Mozilla rebrand, to the launch of Oculus Rift in the UK, we round up the important design news from the last seven days.
Design Council Spark Awards reveals winning concepts
The four winning teams will receive up to £50,000 each to take their product design concepts to market.
Oculus Rift virtual reality headset launches in the UK
Designers can now buy the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset for £549 at stores such as John Lewis, Harrods and Curry’s PC World.
How these new train seat designs could make public transport more comfortable
PriestmanGoode has created two new train seat concepts which aim to provide more carriage space for passengers.
London Design Festival 2016 – 8 things to catch at the V&A museum
The Victoria and Albert museum is host to exhibitions, talks, installations and design-led products for this year’s LDF – we sum up the things to catch.
Heatherwick designs perfume bottles for Christian Louboutin Beauté
The bottle was designed to be a collectable “object d’art” and is the result of a rigorous prototyping and testing phase.
5 important things that happened in design this week
From the new plastic £5 note to Just Eat and Addison Lee rebrands, we round up the important design news from the last seven days.
Designers prepped on Crossrail 2 project
TfL and Network Rail met this week to address designers and engineers about the development of Crossrail 2 so that interested parties can be brought up to speed before any future tendering processes.
New Plumen 003 light bulb makes people “look more beautiful”
The new energy efficient LED light bulb has a central gold element which illuminates people’s faces with a “soft, ambient light”.
Product Inspiration
Trellick range, by Tom Dixon
Design studio and teaching platform Goldfinger Factory has produced a new Tom Dixon range of products, Trellick. The range includes a tray, a stool, small and large plant pots, a bench and a table, alongside t-shirts and prints. The range is part of a crowdfunding campaign from Goldfinger Factory to raise £20,000, in order to […]
Solo, by Uniform
Uniform has designed an “emotional radio” which uses artificial intelligence principals to recognise a listener’s emotions and play mood-influenced radio. A facial recognition feature can recognise the nuances of people’s expressions and react accordingly, says Uniform. It links up with Spotify algorithms and can broadly categorise happiness, sadness and anger. It’s being demonstrated around London […]
Horizon lamp, by Humanscale
Design company Humanscale has unveiled a new selection of products, which will be on sale at the Designjunction trade show at the London Design Festival. This includes the Horizon lamp, which is now available in a wider range of colours. Designjunction runs from 22-25 September, at 1 Granary Square, King’s Cross, London N1C 4AA.
Michael Marriott product launch, by Hato
Design studio and shop Hato has teamed up with furniture designer Michael Marriott to launch a new range of book stands, limited edition shelves and prints. The book shelves are all handcrafted making each individual one unique, and measure 62cm x 22cm x 35cm. They are priced at £120. More information can be found here.
Vallila X Underground collection, by Vallila and TfL
Finnish design brand Vallila has teamed up with Transport for London to create prints and a product selection depicting scenes from the capital city. Illustrations include double-decker buses, interpretations of Baker Street tube station, and a graphic design inspired by the London tube map. The collection is part of TfL’s Transported by Design programme, and […]
003 light bulb, by Plumen
Plumen has released a new version of its LED light bulb series. The 003 light bulb follows on from models 001 and 002, and features a gold element with a faceted surface pattern. The 003 launches this month, and will go on sale at Harrods from October, retailing at £150.
TfL Roundel Twitter Machine, by Florian Dussopt
A tweet-printing machine shaped like the Transport for London roundel has been designed by Florian Dussopt to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Johnston typeface. The piece will be on show as part of Designjunction at this year’s London Design Festival, and will be printing out Twitter messages in the Johnston typeface throughout the […]
PaperAwards 2016 shortlist, by various
Top Drawer has announced the shortlist for the PaperAwards 2016, a new award set up to recognise the creativity of greetings and stationery exhibitors at this year’s exhibit. The shortlist was selected by a panel of judges including Clare Sprigings, stationery buyer for Selfridges and Audrey Woollen, owner and creative director of Urbanic Paper Boutique. […]
Materialism Collection candles, by Tom Dixon
Tom Dixon has launched a new range of candles ahead of Maison & Objet Paris next month. The Materialism Collection comprises four different ranges, each referencing a different material: glass, stone, metal and marble. Each range has its own scent and finish, and the designs are the result of “adventures in materials,” according to Dixon. Each […]
RZR MKR pop-up store, by various
Gillette has teamed up with MakersCafe, the UK’s first 3D-printing café, and 3D Hubs to give the public a chance to design and create their own razor handles. The event, which is at Boxpark in Shoreditch, is challenging visitors to redesign, reinvent and reprint a razor handle, while encouraging them to come up with new […]
Mercedes-Benz hopes to transform home delivery with drone-equipped van
The all-electric Vision Van features a launch pad for drones and is designed to make home deliveries more efficient.
UK James Dyson Award winner scoops prize for vaccine device
William Broadway’s design has been inspired by Einstein and is a response to the 19 million children who are unable to receive the vaccines they need every year.
The London Design Biennale: 5 things to see
The inaugural London Design Biennale takes place at Somerset House this month – we round up the must-see exhibits.
5 important things that happened in design this week
From Deliveroo’s controversial new logo to the launch of the first ever London Design Biennale, we round up the important design news from the last seven days.