Posts in Industrial Design

Italian manufacturer Brionvega has reissued Richard Sapper and Marco Zansuso’s iconic TS502 portable radio, now dubbed the TS522. These things go for $250 which is a bit steep, especially considering I haven’t listened to the radio in years, but with this kind of style who cares what it does.
Images via Anthony Mark

This is the sign out front at the Camper Hotel, Barcelona.  Camper is a Spanish company that makes great shoes and although I’m not sure what they’re doing in the hospitality industry, I’m all for it.  This place was amazing, very nice design throughout.  If you have a chance be sure to visit, it’s in the El Raval which is a very cool neighborhood with great design shops and one of the best book stores I’ve seen at the CCCB (where OFFF is held each year). Loved this sign, was a nice take on Americana via the venerable motel sign.

George Nelson’s classic 1958 design.  Always loved this desk (walnut and white laminate gets me every time), so pricey though ($1745!).  As a designer it’s a tough decision when it comes to furniture.  Do you spend your money surrounding yourself with inspirational pieces of design like this, or do you spend it on equipment to make better design yourself?  I always lean heavily towards the latter, as evidenced by the glut of Ikea products that fill my house. 

More Swag-Leg furniture here >
More info @ Herman Miller > 
Image via the Treadway/Toomey Gallery

Andre Morin’s HiFi for RCA – 1967. Is that a Perspex lid? Image sent in by Element Kuuda.  I couldn’t find it on the Ikea site, but I know I’ve seen something there that very closely resembled the center console of this system.  It was some sort of cabinet and looked almost exactly like this.  Anyone remember what I’m talking about?

My good friend Jorge Calleja sent me this Eames Catalogue. The cover seems ripe for recreating as a one-off poster for my living room.  More info at Herman Miller

By the way, Jorge’s not just good at sourcing vintage furniture ads, he’s also an incredibly talented graphic designer who’s currently with Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam.  Be sure to check out his portfolio.

After all the recent B&O bashing I thought I’d post something about a consumer A/V company dropping some proper ID.  Behold the latest from Yamaha, a SCD player and Amplifier. Clean clean clean, not black, not champagne, no LCD display on the Amp, looks like you could throw it from a moving vehicle and the CD wouldn’t skip. And are those wood end cheeks? Bravo…Way to keep it minimal.  More info over at engadget.

I use a lot of analog synthesizers in my music so I thought it was time to start posting some nice examples of musical instrument design. I have always been obsessed with vintage analog synthesizer interfaces and although the Macbeth M5 is a modern analog synthesizer, it adheres to the design ethics of and pays homage to the modular synthesizers of the 60’s and 70’s.   The color scheme and layout is evocative of the classic Arp 2600.  There is something so raw and utilitarian about the construction and layout of these that’s just beautiful. If you look at the interfaces of modern digital synthesizers it’s all plastic eye candy and blinking lights. I must admit, I have never played an M5, but it looks so good I think I can give it a pass sound unheard.  Photo Via Macbeth. I will start posting some examples from my studio soon.

Some ye olde number crunching for a Monday morning.   With all that color coordination going on you’d think those people would be required to wear matching jumpsuits. Via The-Adam

  More Digital love….This time from the Core Memory book. That blue is on a whole new level, I need those switches all over the place, controlling all functions at all times. 

The aptera car is one big step closer to production. You can actually reserve one of these 300mpg dream machines now for $500 ($26,900-$29,900 full price). I love this color scheme, the mustard on white feels classy and the lines are reminiscent of light aircraft. This is where good design truly becomes important, if you can build enough wow factor into alternative/hybrid energy cars you might just win over some of the SUV crowd. Engadget has more info here or you can visit the Aptera Website. This thing makes me want to trade in the Prius, although the lack of trunk space would be an issue.

Update via Bill Gross himself in the comments:
“Actually, I have a Prius, and I like it a lot. It seats 4, and the Aptera only seats 2.5, but believe it or not, the trunk space in the Aptera is quite generous. The car is pretty long, and there is a lot of space for stuff back there. But I would leave that for you to judge.”

Now that I look at it closer, there’s actually a fair bit of room back there.