Category: Industrial design

Climate Station

As part of the New Simplicity Exhibition in London, ‘Climate Station‘ – designed by Denmark-based Thomas Wagner – is a product line composed of a minimalistic fan and radiator.

The interesting aspect about Climate Station is that it uses no wires. It plugs directly into a special extension cable, and can be stored alongside books when not in use. The designer, aware of the seasonal usage of fans and radiators, wanted to design objects that would be attractive anywhere, anytime.

Made of plastic and aluminum, the fan and radiator measure 297mm in height and 210mm in width. Unobtrusive and aesthetically pleasing, Climate Station serves to comfort the user while looking real fine.

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Hug

Fruit bowl Hug must be one of the most minimalist concepts I have seen in a while. It has reduced the fruit bowl to its most basic fuction: holding the fruit in its place.

The bottomless Hug was designed by Elizabeth Cordes when she worked as a product designer at DESU Design. Cordes left DESU a while back and is currently self-employed.

There is just one problem though: how should I move my fruit?

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Spock

Spock, designed by Couvreur & Devos, is a light that is stylishly minimalistic yet highly versatile. Lighting designers always seem to push the limits of technology, and this beautiful LED is no different.

The LED disc contained within Spock is only 12mm thin, which is impressive, but not nearly as captivating as its specialized hinging system. The disc is allowed to rotate within its enclosure practically 360 degrees without the presence of any wires or cables sticking out. The light can also be attached to a railing system, which means you can pretty much shine light in any direction you please.

I don’t know what I like more about Spock: its clean aesthetic, or its diverse functionality; either way, this light truly stands out from the norm.

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Greenman

Practical, minimalist and with substance for its uses, say hello to the environmentally pleasant table mood lamp, Greenman.

Italy based designer duo Valentina Del Ciotto & Simone Spalvieri desgined a lamp that combines several sustainable products such as energy saving LED bulb, storage batteries charged by a mini solar panel and a bio-plastic corn trimmed off with a bamboo – that makes Greenman’s design eco-friendly.

This little lamp is cordless, waterproof and energy saving. What more to ask? I can almost see its nomad uses both indoor and outdoor back home!

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Plain Air

Plain Air is a simple air purifying system, giving our homes and offices a fresh touch.

The Photo Catalysis Oxidation system is minimal also in operation, with plug and play feature, as well as minimal in mercury rate and minimal spare parts.

Plain Air is launched by TLV, and designed by Patrick Norguet (loving the minimalist website as well), in collaboration also with Alhstrom and Philips.

Less is more, especially when it comes to the air we breathe; less junk in the air means more oxygen to breathe. Minimalism in everyday breathing.

Photography by Felipe Ribon.

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USB Clip

The USB clip, designed by Germany based industrial design agency Emamidesign, was recently awarded with a Red Dot award for product design 2010.

The way of reinterpreting the functional principle of a steel paper clip and translated it into the design of a storage medium to make data transfers and archiving easier was highly praised. The clip can be attached easily onto paper documents and can deliver additional information, like for example a multi-media presentation. The slim shaped and light in weight clip comes in several appealing colors.

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Calder laptop case

If you’re a fan of A.G. Fronzoni’s famous Valextra Premier cases, you’ll probably think this laptop case by Calder is mighty sweet – I know I do!

It takes over 35 hours of skilled hand work to create to build and fit out each case. Talk about craftsmanship!

Devon, U.K.-based Nick Comer-Calder made it his life’s work to create the perfect case. It took him over three years to finalise the design, choose the materials, and find the right craftsmen and women to work with.

The result: leather on carbon fibre cases, showing nothing but dedication to quality and a love for detail. Truly an inspiration.

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Una

Table lamp Una - designed in Italy by Carlotta de Bevilacqua for Danese –  utilizes the bare minimum requirements needed to produce a high-quality lamp. In fact, the Una lamp is so thin, I’m pretty sure I can even see the slight extrusion of where the wire runs from the base to its head.

The flatness of this light is both impressive and mind-boggling. Clean lines, can’t even begin to describe the detailed composition of this aluminum genius.

In my opinion, the best minimalist designs are those that disguise the inner complexities of an object. The fact that this paperthin lamp can house intricate circuits to power an LED is beyond me.

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Domenica Sport

The start of the Tour de France tomorrow in Rotterdam – The Netherlands is a good occasion to talk about bicycles again.

Based in New York City designer Francesco Bertelli makes wonderful pure, clean, old-fashion bicycles (track bikes and fixed gear only). Every single part is assembled by hand, finished and fine-tuned by Bertelli himself.

“I combine brand new parts with “new old stock” and vintage parts found at flea markets, old bikeshops, collectors and from my trustworthy suppliers.” The result of each project is a unique bicycle you won’t find anywhere else.

I would like to highlight the Domenica Sport. Cool Nitto dropbars on a Belgium made Titan stem, a black Alien track frame, chrome straight fork and silver wheelset. The slick Gran Compe SS White tires and England made swallow Wrights W3SW saddle make this masterpiece complete.

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Holga D

In the old days of analog photography, waiting for results was an integral part of the experience. First you wait until you finished the entire roll of film, and then you had to wait even longer for the film to be developed.

However, this delayed gratification did make seeing your photos for the first time a lot sweeter than it is today.

India-born designer Saikat Biswas tries to bring back some of those qualities with this concept for a digital camera, the Holga D.

Whilst large displays are all the rage nowadays, the Holga D doesn’t have a display at all. Your photographs remain mysterious until you download the images.

Its other functionalities are also kept to an absolute minimum – almost rudimentary. Very few controls, a 2 speed shutter, 2 apertures and a very basic focusing ring – just enough functionality to make it useful.

And don’t you just love the old school design?!

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