Smart Pants Kanavos!

According to designer Alexandros Stasinopoulos, Kanavos is a study on smartphone design and it explores the visual interaction between hardware and software. It features a number of vertical and horizontal contrast color stripes and relies on the strong windows interface design. Basically the hardware, the OS and the interface blend and complete each other.
Kanavos removes the “windows” button from the front-lower-centre part of the device and places it to its left and right sides. This is to facilitate the easier access to this function while holding the device.
Designer: Alexandros Stasinopoulos

The best cat video on the Internet

That is a high claim, I know. But over Labor Day weekend, a combination of dedicated curation and popular vote resulted in Henri 2, Paw de Deux being named the best Internet cat video.

The Internet Cat Film Festival, sponsored by Minneapolis' Walker Museum of Art, drew a live audience of more than 10,000 people last Thursday night. Videos were curated from a massive collection submitted online, and were grouped into thematic categories— foreign films, for instance, or comedies. Henri 2 took home the Golden Kitty, a People's Choice award.

Bonus: If arguing about the merits of Henri 2 weren't enough of a gift to your procrastination tendencies, you can also check out a full list of all the films screened at the festival, including links.

D.I.Wild!

Now your desk can take a walk on the wild side with this cutesy, novel twist on a few familiar items that are not only DIY, but flat-pack-ready and eco-friendly! Cut from recycled cardboard sheets, the ECO DIY Collection includes a lamp, clock, speakers, pen holder and bookmark. Each takes the form of a wild animal favorite and can be assembled simply by folding. No glue or cutting required. Hit the jump to check em’ out!
Designer: Eduardo Alessi

Speechless!

Blue Experience Part 2

Tolga Tuncer’s first version for the Facebook Phone was radical enough, simply based on its design. He takes his passion with the social networking site a step forward with this new iteration. It features a compact aluminum casing and a slider phone. A highly centralized user interface with a real physical aluminum wheel embedded with a Like-Button makes the phone ideal for FB fans.
The wheel makes it easy to scroll within the Facebook timeline, News list ,Friend list and Photos without touching the screen. The wheel is also central point of Instagram’s filter selection and adjusting filter settings.
Designer: Tolga Tuncer

Transforming Decor Reveals Secrets via Spills, Wear & Tear

Kristine Bjaadal creates objects with hidden stories to tell – everyday objects with secret tales shown only under strange circumstances, such as tabletop spills or time-worn seating.

A small change making a big impact on the future is known as the butterfly effect. In this case, the accidental tipping of a glass reveals a flock of butterflies lying invisible but in wait right on your tablecloth, titled Underfull.

Or consider the inevitability of fabric wearing thin on your favorite upholstered chair – what if that almost-invariably negative process were turned into something positive, via, say, a pattern that emerges as the surface material layer gets slowly stripped away, named Underskog.

Along similar lines, but requiring less time (but perhaps some until you or your guest notices it), are these so-called Undertone dishes with out-of-sight rings of color below their raised edges. It is only when picked up – or better yet: spotted in reflection on the top of a table – that these tones become clearly visible.

Microsonic Landscapes: What Music Looks Like in 3D

What would your favorite album look like in three dimensions? Mexico City-based research and experimentation studio Realität proposes “a new spatial and unique journey” by transforming the sounds of five albums into physical matter. ‘Microsonic Landscapes’ translate sound waves into 3D-printed visualizations that resemble circular cityscapes, mountain ranges or volcanic craters.

Realität chose ‘Arvo Part’ by Für Alina, ‘Third’ by Portishead, ‘Another World’ by Antony & The Johnsons, ‘Pink Moon’ by Nick Drake and ‘Jewels’ by Einstürzende Neubaten, quite a broad range of musical varieties ranging from gentle classical tunes on the piano to pounding German industrial music.


This array of albums has produced dramatic variations in physical representations. While ‘Arvo Part’ is gently inverted like a colosseum, Portishead’s ‘Third’ is spiky, like a series of towers. ‘Another World’ looks like a spiraling staircase. Nick Drake’s ‘Pink Moon’ starts out slanting upward and then falls down steadily in a series of concentric circles. ‘Jewels’ is the most dramatic of all, with its pinnacle calling to mind a dark tower from a fantasy novel.



According to Creative Applications, ‘Microsonic Landscapes’ was created using the open-source three-dimensional data visualization programming language Processing, and printed with MakerBot, a machine that can be programmed to print out anything you want in plastic.