posted by Lee
Thursday, August 19th, 2010
In the spirit of raising awareness and having a nice chat about things, preferably over a pint or a cuppa, we’re looking at running a Designers Accord Town Hall Meeting for London. However, before we launch into that we thought it would be good to start some online discussion and get a feel for what will get people talking… I’ve started a post on Core77 about this, so if you’ve got an opinion please head over there and let us know about it!
posted by Lee
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Could it be that we’re finally waking up to bicycles in London? It certainly feels like there has been a growing movement and increase in the cycling fraternity over the last few years, but now with the Cycle Hire Scheme hopefully cycling around the city will really take off.
There are many reasons why this is a great thing; people will be getting more excersise, the roads will be getting less wear, there will be less pollution… and hopefully car, bus, taxi and other road users will become more aware and better at taking care of all us peddlers out there (and visa versa…). Who knows, we might even get some more dedicated cycle lanes to keep us out of harms way.
Being a bit of a cycle nut I own no less that four different bikes; a Dahon Speed P7 folding bike, which is a fantastic city commuter, a Cannondale Sm700 that I bought when I was fifteen and mainly use to shred the trails in Brechfa Forest, a Gazelle dutch style bike that I rescued from abandonment, and, my most lavish purchase, a Titanium hand built Merlin road bike. But then, I have been riding around town for 20 odd years now, so one bike every five years isn’t too bad…
If you’re in the market for a new bike, or maybe you’re first bike, then you might want to try Lunar Cycles . They take used or abandoned bikes from London streets and fix them up to your specifications, making each one different and personal to the owner. Alternatively MyVelo offers an online service where you can customise the colour and style of your new bike to give it that personal touch. Groovy.
posted by Adrian
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
posted by factoryNoise
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
We’ve been busy on the Remington account of late and these are the latest products to come out out of all that hard work! These straighteners make up the higher end of the Remington straightener portfolio, with the Style Professional S9500 Pearl straightener being the absolute crème de la crème, while the S5500 Sleek and Smooth straightener is a mid range product with ceramic hot plates.
posted by Matthew
Friday, July 16th, 2010
In the UK, many of us attach huge importance on the car we drive. It reflects our wealth, taste and status. We cherish them like pets – making sure they’re clean, well fed and have a safe place to sleep.
The fact that they’re purpose is to take us from A to B is often clouded by our desire for immaculate alloy wheels, too many seats (seven – just in case!), precious leather upholstery, too much horsepower and flawless paintwork.
The Italians’ attitude to car ownership is different. Certainly in Rome. Amid the ancient landmarks a very modern car culture has emerged. The city is awash with affordable city cars rather than enormous German luxo-barges. Their cars are transportation tools. It simply carries them to and from work and when they arrive they cram it into the nearest ‘parking space’ – even if it’s smaller than the car.
They don’t waste time polishing out paintwork scuffs, or even reattaching bumpers for that matter. They don’t need to drive around searching for spaces large enough to park a 5 metre SUV and they certainly don’t lose any sleep worrying if someone’s going to open a door into their bodywork.
This gives them much more time to get on with their lives, romancing their girlfriends, buying fashionable clothes and generally looking good.
I can’t help but think they’ve got their priorities straight.
posted by Adrian
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Interesting day looking at some of the output and work by Dr Hua Dong and team at Brunel HCDI ( Human Centred Design Institute) and their inspirational work as part of their ESPRC ( Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council !!) Project on inclusive design ‘tools’. Tools – as in the best and most usable way that sensible and relevant data can be disseminated to busy designers, and those with less knowledge of this highly user focused approach to design, to help create better products for everybody.
Good designers always have the user at the focus – but the tools provide great additional methods and means to help solve design issues and importantly sell concepts into industry with the appropriate back up data and material.
A good day
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