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Product Design


11.21.11: Phil Patton

Audi Urban Future Summit 2011
Report on one of the latest conferences to take on the global theme of the city
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10.12.11: Julie Lasky

Faraday Utility Bike
IDEO and Rock Lobster Cycles win people's choice award for utility bike prototype
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10.12.11: Julie Lasky

Media Design Matters
Art Center offers a new graduate track in social design that combines communications and technologies strategies with field work.
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09.02.11: The Editors

Yves Béhar Wins Second INDEX Award
Yves Béhar Wins Second INDEX Award for VerBien (See Better to Learn Better).
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08.30.11: Phil Patton

The Green Dashboard
The design of instrument panels reflects the new technologies of hybrid and electric vehicles
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06.06.11: William Underhill

Transensing: Glassware for the Blind
Award-winning glassware for the visually impaired.
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06.01.11: Julie Lasky

Ringing in the New Air
Nendo's Bell-Orgel collection for Tokyo's Isetan department store.
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05.27.11: By Alexia

My Studio H Experience
Adventures in design crits: A high school junior recounts her Studio H year working with onerous classmates and power tools.
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05.05.11: Phil Patton

Another Wrong Turn for Chris Paine
Review of the documentary film Revenge of the Electric Car.

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04.25.11: Phil Patton

Sustainable Gold
Phil Patton on the conference “Gold: Substance, Symbol and Significance."
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04.04.11: Phil Patton

On the Shoulders of Rebels
On the rocket-propelled grenade: one of the most successful designs on the planet.
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03.28.11: Julie Lasky

Chandigarh on the Block
Furnishings designed for Corbusier's urban masterpiece are being sold at auction. How outraged should we be?
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03.08.11: Julie Lasky

Design Indaba 2011
Review of Design Indaba 2011 conference in Cape Town, South Africa
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03.07.11: Chaz Maviyane-Davies

Déjà Vu
Designer Chaz Maviyane-Davies on the reappearance of an old invention.
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02.10.11: Ernest Beck

GlobalTap Update
GlobalTap water station update.
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01.20.11: Edited by Julie Lasky

Social Design in Three Dimensions: Four Examples
A business-school case study inspires MFA design students.
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01.13.11: Julie Lasky

Bushpunk and the Future of Africa
Why Maker Faire Africa is a model for economic development
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01.05.11: Phil Patton

Charging Double
Comparing two new electric-car chargers: Blink and WattStation
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12.23.10: Maria Popova

Rise of the Micro-Medici
On the value of microfunding creative ideas that stem from a single mind.
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12.01.10: Julie Lasky

Bigshot Camera Update
Reporting the status of an innovative children's camera in development
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11.23.10: Phil Patton

Keith Richards and His Amazing Portable Cassette Recorder
With the recent announcement that Sony has discontinued the Walkman, Phil Patton meditates on the powerful influence of portable music technology.
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10.11.10: Ernest Beck

Safe Agua
The first collaboration between Designmatters at Art Center College of Design and Chile’s Un Techo para mi País creates fresh ideas for water usage in a Santiago slum.
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10.04.10: Phil Patton

The Meek Shall Inherit the Market
Phil Patton writes in praise of frugal engineering, and not just for developing markets.
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09.27.10: Kaomi Goetz

The Utility Collective
Report on the Utility Collective, a furniture business that emphasizes local materials and production.
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08.18.10: Phil Patton

Mitsubishi i-MiEV Electric Car
Review of Mitsubishi's i-MiEV electric car.
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08.12.10: Peter Wolf

Pet Projects
Essay on design as an underutilized force for the humane treatment of animals.
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08.09.10: Meena Kadri

Tinkers, Hackers, Farmers, Crafters
Interview with Emeka Okafor, founder of Maker Faire Africa.
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07.13.10: Phil Patton

Murray T.25 City Car
Report on Gordon Murray's conversion from revolutionary race car designer to creator of one of the greenest city cars ever.
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06.23.10: William Underhill

D-Rev Blue Star Jaundice Treatment
Report on Blue Star, D-Rev's affordable jaundice treatment for newborn babies in the developing world.
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06.17.10: Krista Donaldson

The Real Cost of Free
Do you give the poor farmer a pump if you know it will transform her crops and move her family from just scraping by into the middle class? It’s hard to say no, isn’t it? But you should.
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04.08.10: Amanda Hurley

Hold Your Sawhorses!
Brazilian architecture firm StudioMK27 creates a controversial furniture collection based on the designs of construction workers.
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03.26.10: Jonathan Schultz

One World Futbol
Report on One World Futbol produced by Hope Is a Game-Changer.
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03.17.10: Phil Patton

One Car Per Family
Report on Yves Béhar's design for a new "people's car."
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01.28.10: Ernest Beck

GlobalTap
Report on prototype for GlobalTap water refilling stations.
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01.05.10: Rick Landesberg

The Bleating Edge
Rick Landesberg's photo of an innovative design in Haiti for keeping goats in their place.
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12.10.09: Julie Lasky

Bigshot Camera
Report on a camera that children assemble to learn about science and engineering principles.
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12.04.09: Jane Withers

In Praise of Shadows
Essay adapted from "In Praise of Shadows: New European Lighting Design," presented at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, September 19–October 18, 2009.
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10.01.09: The Editors

And Speaking of Sustainability...
Proceedings of a 2003 seminar about Timeship, a visionary project designed by Stephen Valentine for storing the frozen remains of people awaiting reanimation.
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09.22.09: Andrea Codrington

Freeplay Fetal Heart Rate Monitor
Report on the Freeplay fetal heart rate monitor, which won the 2009 INDEX award in the Body category.
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09.18.09: Ernest Beck

Peepoobag
Report on Peepoobag, a new self-sanitizing, single-use, biodegradable container for human waste.
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09.09.09: Jane Margolies

Pig 05049
Report on Pig 05049, a book cataloging all of the products made from a single pig, which won the 2009 INDEX award in the Playful Learning category
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09.09.09: Ernest Beck

Chulha Stove

Report on the Chulha stove designed by Philips to reduce indoor air pollution in developing countries.


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09.09.09: William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer

The Doers Club
Design prodigy William Kamkwamba recalls building a windmill to generate electricity for his village in Malawi, Africa.
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08.29.09: Phil Patton

Triple-Digit Inflation
Phil Patton questions GM's sustainability claims for its Chevrolet Volt electric car.
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08.13.09: Alec Appelbaum

FLAP Bag
Report on the FLAP bag, a multipurpose messenger bag for developing-world populations.
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