LUSID DESIGN BLOG: 01/02/2011

Field Work Noordoostpolder

Exhibition from november 23th 2010 untill april 3rd 2011 in Nieuwland Museum Lelystad.

Field Work Noordoostpolder is the result of a project by Maarten Kolk and Atelier NL (Nadine Sterk en Lonny van Rijswijck).

The group was invited by Studio Makkink & Bey to work on a project for one year and dive into the history of the Noordoostpolder and the reclamation of land.

The three designers, all graduates from the Design Academy Eindhoven, investigated local vegetation, animals, plants and culture as well as archeology, the composition of soil and the agricultural use.

This YouTube movie features an interview with the designers.

www.nieuwlanderfgoed.nl

www.mkgk.nl

www.ateliernl.com

www.studiomakkinkbey.nl

Japan Goggles takes the pain out of understanding Japanese [Video]

Finland has sent a strong delegation of mobile startups to Mobile World Congress this week. Among them is LucSens, a company working in the rapidly developing mobile translation space.
I met founder Iulian Florea, who demoed the company’s Japan Goggles app for iPhone for me. Similar to Google Goggles and Word Lens, the app allows you to translate text captured by your phone’s camera into English. However, not only does this handle Japanese (unlike Google’s app), this works entirely without any need for an Internet connection.

LucSens, which also offers a version of the app for Chinese, is concentrating solely on east Asian languages and plans to expand onto Android in the near future.

Converse Has Saved the 100 Club

Converse supports indie music not only by creating more opportunities for up-and-coming musicians, but also by saving iconic rock venues from closure. In September 2010, it was announced that iconic London-based the 100 Club, which for over 70 years has been hosting performances by a plethora of musicians such as the Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones, Oasis bands among others, was due to close because of an increase in rent prices. The club was to be shut for ever in December 2010, but then the 100 Club said that it was discussing possible business collaborations with various partners that could help it out of the trouble. Now, the results of these business talks are unveiled: Converse, one of the biggest global shoe-brands for teenagers and younger adults, comes out as the sponsor the venue.

In fall 2010, activists launched the Save the Club campaign, which received lots of support from a range of musicians, including Sir Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Liam Gallagher among others. The battle for life ended yesterday, on February 14, in favour of the club, when Converse announced that it will become a sponsor of iconic space. In the interview to www.xfm.co.uk, the venue’s owner, Jeff Horton commented that the club will not feature any logos and brand identity of Converse, since the brand just “wanted to give us [the club] a hand” and will not turn it into another ad platform.

The shoe-wear label issued a statement, which said, “We at Converse are very excited about our new partnership with the legendary 100 Club in London. Converse and the 100 Club both share a love for music and this partnership is a great opportunity to reunite the 100 Club with a generation who experienced history inside its walls, as well as introduce it to a new generation with a vow to bring the best in music to its legendary stage.”

Lamps for the Comfort of the Interior

What are the constituents of the comfortable interior? Functional layout, modern appliances, convenient furniture, attractive window curtains, and, of course, properly designed and installed lighting system. Actually, lamps in the interior serve both functional and aesthetic purposes: they provide light for comfortable living while being an essential part of the entire home design concept. The variety of lamps available today may impress even the most sophisticated customers and home designers. From Victorian shades to hi-tech LED lamps and to lamps, featuring futuristic and complicated design – one can find literally any lamp out there to fit a particular interior or application.

Cruzine wants to show design in all its possible aspects. We do not want to limit it to web design or digital illustrations only, because design is, actually, a very universal notion, having a lot to do with fine art. Have a look at the showcase of lamp designs we want to share with our audience today. Many of these lamps feature such revolutionary designs, that the border between their functionality and aesthetics vanishes, resulting in the perceiving of such lamps as true masterpieces stemming from the most advanced engineering and designing techniques.