Sunday, 22 September 2013
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
The future of waterproof fabrics
It has been a long time since we (society) have tried to experiment trying to find the perfect waterproof clothing. We have succeeded in producing plastic overalls and coats but they are not aesthetically pleasing or very comfortable to wear.
Researchers in Lodz, Poland, have found the solution.
University of Technology in Lodz scientists have developed an ionized gas called ‘cold plasma’ in order to create a fabric that is completely capable of repelling all liquids. Professor Jacek Tyzynski, who is at the forefront of this discovery, explains that this phenomenon known as ‘hydrophobicity’:
“The hydrophobic effect is the observed tendency of non-polar substances to aggregate in aqueous solution and exclude water molecules. The name, literally meaning "water-fearing," describes the segregation and apparent repulsion between water and non-polar substances”. (Courtesy of Wikipedia).
A wax-like ‘cloak’ is created from the cold plasma over the fabric. Note to self, the internal structure of the fabric is not altered due to the fact the waterproof layer is only applied to the surface.
This method will be able to be used for general household items, e.g. tablecloths, and also used for the production of clothes for professionals. The demand from such industry professionals as fishermen and waiters are on the rise, however scientists are only able to turn out such fabrics measuring 5cm x 5cm.
This is certainly a future technology for many industries and be in high demand. Someone somewhere, will become a very rich person.
The short video below explains the discovery further:
Innovative beds
We all have one, we all go to them at any time during the
day, and some people go to them when they feel scared. They make us feel safe.
We go to them with our other half. What am I talking about?
Yes of course I am talking about beds. Yes we all think
of them as just a mattress a headboard and a base – where drawers or empty
space (mostly for clutter to be found). Little do we know that designers have
done their jobs and designed and manufactured the object that we treasure so
much and look forward to so much at the end of each day.
Designers have tirelessly incorporated innovation into
beds for decades. For those fortunate enough to have a ‘little bit’ of money to
splash out on a really nice bed, here are some that my take your fancy:
# 1 – The Magnetic Floating Bed
It has taken six years of research in order for Dutch
Architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars to develop this magnetically levitating
bed. There are enough magnets to support 900kg / 1,984lbs – the equivalent of a
fully grown giraffe. To ensure the bed does not float away from any hard wind
or and weird movements (ahem), it is supported by four steel cables that
connect into your walls.
This is definitely an eye-catching feature in the bedroom,
but you would have to fork out €1.2 million / $1.53 million / £1.04 million in
order to own one yourself. Also you would need to have a pretty large bedroom
to fully appreciate the effectiveness of this illusion. It is safe to say, you
will not find it in any local mattress store.
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| Courtesy of www.h-eich.com |
# 2 – The Cosmovoide Bed
It has been scientifically proven that we all spend approximately
one third of our lives in bed asleep. Therefore we would ideally like to be
sleeping in a nice bed as possible. How about spending $60,000 / £38,200 / €45,300
to ensure your comfort is attained. It is, I would agree a much more reasonable
price in comparison to the Magnetic Floating Bed, but still, it is rather
expensive.
For all that money, you do however get wrapped up in a
cosy ‘cosmic’ harmony in this luxury bed that is shaped like an egg, whilst
suspended by hammock-like springs, with a telephone, theatre / DVD set-up, a
television at the foot of the bed along with several rainbow coloured lights to
emphasize the relaxed atmosphere once one is ‘inside’.
Do not be alarmed the bed itself can be customized, according to its French manufacturer’s – therefore you won’t be stuck with the
rather garish looking yellow suede external colour you see in the picture.
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| Courtesy of www.bornrich.com |
# 3 – The Rocking Bed
When babies are rocked or cradled, they always seem to
fall asleep. Why does this technique have to stop once we get too old for our
parents to pick us up? Manuel Kloker has designed, a patented ‘rocking frame’.
It is essentially a bed that rocks back and forth similar to that of a rocking
chair.
I suppose you will be able to alter the orientation of
your lying position to depend whether you are ‘rocked’ forward-and-back or
side-to-side. I personally may find this a novelty that interest would
disappear rather rapidly as some days, I just want to lay there on my bed and
not having to worry about having a roller-coaster ride to sleep.
This is available, on average, about $6,800 / £5,130 / €6,070
but that may increase or decrease depending on the size you order. This bed does
come without a mattress, so add that onto the already extraordinarily high
bottom line.
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| Courtesy of www.toxel.com |
# 4 – The 'Scoop' Bed
I thought this was an ‘interesting’ name for a bed myself
too.
As apartments and houses are being built smaller and
smaller these days, space saving devices are becoming an essential part of
furniture hunting. Saba Italia’s designer Guido Rosati, designed the ‘Scoop’, which is an innovative answer for the demand of space
saving furniture combining both the bed with the sofa.
When connected together, the feature looks like a
circular bed – a different design in itself. However, the bed can be pulled
apart resulting in two stylish sofas.
A great surprise for your guests.
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| Courtesy of www.i-cdn.apartmenttheraphy.com |
# 5 – The Computer Bed
Another space-saving innovation for you. This is an ideal
solution for student accommodation, guestrooms that you want to use an office, or
for apartments that are on the small size, making intelligent use of the space
under the bed.
This was invented by Lino son Francesco, a European
designer, using gas and hydraulic pistons to enable the computer table doubling
up as a bed. The design is available in a variety of different woods with
prices starting at $3,650 / £2,326 / €2,750
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| Courtesy of www.i1.wp.com |
# 6 – The Ceiling Bed
Now this is the bed that in my opinion tops the chart for
not only innovation, but for saving space also. Using only 4 square metres of
your apartment, the ‘BedUp’ model is stored in the ceiling during the day. When
the bed is required, it can come down as a manner of a lift system and stops at
a height that you have previously programmed. Therefore you won’t have to clear
any furniture that is underneath it.
When it is raised the option of having lighting embedded
into the base of the bed which will also provide a fantastic light feature when
the bed is down.
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| Courtesy of www.i2.wp.com |
All of these designs and features may seem a little
far-fetched or slightly out of most of our price range. One designer, Robin
Dodwell, who I am proud to call my good friend, is a product designer who
specializes in innovation, idea generation and excellent problem solving
solutions. He has designed a few beds of his own. Feel free to check out his
own design page at Robin Dodwell Design.
As one can imagine, designers have created so many bed
designs and features, obviously the more elaborate, intricate or fancy the
design is, the bigger the price tag. The designs featured in JB Design Blog can
be seen as possibilities for the rich, but hopefully would provide inspiration
to the designers out there to invent cheaper, flexible more effective and less
costly beds to suit the average bed user.
Sunday, 8 September 2013
Social Network availability
The meanings behind logos
Whenever someone creates their
own company, the most important factor to consider is its name. You will need
something that is catchy, memorable, sophisticated and at the same time, represent the
product or service.
I have always been passionate
about logos, names, designs and the reasoning behind why they were chosen to be
at the forefront of companies. For example, ‘JB Design’ is an anagram of my
name – James Boynton. Having my full name would be a bit too lengthy and not be
an extremely original and ‘out there’ name and logo. I have been called ‘JB’ by
my tennis coach from the United Kingdom and many of my tennis collaborators for
over 10 years. JB almost felt like an alter-ego of mine. Therefore the name has
meaning to a deep level for me so I named my Blog and company ‘JB Design’.
Some companies choose pictures
to represent their brand – Apple, Jaguar, Orange…You may instantly know and
recognize these brands but where did they come from. Just like I explained with
JB Design there must have been a reason why they were chosen.
Below are some explanations of
what I have come to understand from a selection of famous companies you will
recognise:
Apple
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| Courtesy of www.breezycreativedesign.com |
The apple is said to be taken
from the story from the Bible about Adam and Eve. The apple represents the ‘Tree
of Knowledge’. There is also a nifty pun related to the “bite / byte” taken out
of the apple. This to me indicates the extent to which an individual will learn
from using a Apple product.
Amazon
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| Courtesy of www.your3dcenter.com |
One may think the orange arrow
poses no apparent purpose. But amazon.com says they have everything from ‘A to
Z’. Take a closer look as to where the arrow is coming from and going to (a to z). Also the arrow can be seen as a smile, a smile brought to the faces of
their customers.
FedEx
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| Courtesy of www.99designs.com |
Hmm, blue writing, orange writing,
nothing seems to be occurring in this logo. Wrong. Look closer. There is a
hidden symbol embedded within the FedEx logo. There is an arrow in the space
between the E and the x. Part of the positioning of this company is precision
and speed, this arrow symbolizes this rather well.
Eighty 20
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| Courtesy of www.crunchpost.com |
For all of you boffins out
there that understand binary, you will understand this one. This company is a sophisticated
financial modelling consultancy company. Their work is highly quantitative and
rather a lot of computational integration. This logo certain shows it. So what
is so special about this logo? Please, read on.
At first glances, the common
guess is 20% of the squares are dark. Incorrect, nice thinking, but incorrect.
Think of the dark squares as 1’s and the lighter squares as zeros. On the top –
1010000. On the bottom – 0010100. These ‘images’ represents 80 and 20
(respectively) in binary. Clever 'Eighty20', very clever.
Toblerone
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| Courtesy of www.logodesignblog.com |
The magical word is Swiss.
Toblerone is from Bern in Switzerland which is called ‘The City of Bears’. Look
closer at the golden mountain peak there is a silhouette of a Bear.
Sony Vaio
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| Courtesy of www.blog.corporatelogos.ws |
We all know someone who has a Sony
Vaio computer, perhaps you own one yourself. There is another ‘computery’
meaning. The V and A represent a basic analogue signal and the I and O
represent the digital signal. Clever huh?
Formula 1
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| Courtesy of www.blogcdn.com |
An easier one for you now. At
first glance you would see Formula 1 underneath. Then why would there be just
an ‘F’ with some red stripes. In between them both, you should see the number 1
within the negative space. This does look like a fast logo communicating speed.
Carrefour
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| Courtesy of www.findlogo.net |
For everyone who has traveled abroad, you may recognize one of the biggest retailers in Europe Carrefour. All
of you budding linguists will know the name of this retailer means ‘crossroads’
in French. Therefore the two opposite red and blue arrows make sense. Those
with attention to detail will have also recognized the first letter of the
company within the negative space between the two arrows.
I am positive I have
highlighted my initial statement of explaining there must be hidden meanings
behind the logos, names and designs.
Have you noticed every car has
a logo? Some embody the manufacturer’s heritage or mission for the company.
Below is a link to an intriguing website explaining the story behind a
selection of popular car logos:
Saturday, 7 September 2013
Edible Spray Paint
Once again I am left wondering
“Why has this not been developed sooner”?
Edible spray paint will not
only make your food look amazing at parties or even just at dinner to entertain
everyone around the table but also be rather amusing. I will elaborate.
Imagine you have invited friends or family to your place and you bring out a spray
painted chicken. I would imagine they would be thinking “wow, nice decorative
feature”, but low and behold you start carving and consuming. Their facial
expressions will be all the entertainment you will need that evening.
Most people recognise the
famous ‘gold woman’ scene in James Bond – being English myself, and being
called James, I am obviously a big fan! So why not provide the same ‘opportunity’
to your food.
The innovative product ‘Ess Lack’
or ‘Food Finish’ is exactly like a spray paint coming in a variety of colours –
blue, gold, red, silver, and from what I am to understand, there are more to
come.
So for those meals that are
slightly too brown or too ‘well done’, this is a perfect remedy to provide an
aesthetically pleasing meal without nothing known of the contents below the
coloured layer. Once sprayed, give it some time to dry, and you are ‘good to
impress.
According to Arne Taegen from ‘Deli
Garage’, the food company behind Food Finish, Gold is the best seller. The spray
is flavourless however it does contain food dyes and ethanol. But those ingredients
are essential to provide the desired result. However the Food and Drug Administration
has concluded that there is no concluded evidence connecting food dyes and hyperactivity
in children.
So far, there have been no
complaints from this product. Personally I cannot see how or why there would
be. For all who is interested, this product is available only in Europe right
now for just over £20 / €24. Expansion in the distribution is imminent.
Check out Deli Garage's production:
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| Courtesy of Deli Garage |
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
Innovative designs for the handicapped
I know it does seem that I
have been blabbering on a lot about 3D Printing. So for your benefit, JB Design
has decided to blog on the innovative products that are on or
nearly on, the market for people with disabilities.
Blindness
This must be one of the most
terrifying, unsettling and less-understood handicaps. I personally have no
idea what it would be like to be blind. I can barely go 10 minutes with walking
around my apartment with my eyes shut. It is true, that if you lose one of your
senses, one or more of your others increase in sensitivity. One of the most heightened
senses for the blind is the sense of touch.
A team of Harvard
undergraduates understood this first hand. For many years, a young man called
George helped a visually impaired school back in his home country of Greece. At
Harvard, George had a roommate who on many occasions brought 3D Printed objects
back to their room.
I apologise, I thought I could
get away from the 3D Printing for one blog, but this is a truly inspirational
story so please bear with me.
George loved paintings, and he
came up with the idea of “Midas Touch” - ‘translating’ paintings in to a form
that the blind community could appreciate. A simple technique of ‘relief’
allowed the idea to become a reality, protruding the images out from the wall.
His Harvard team have successfully
created many reliefs, a couple names you may recognise – the “Mona Lisa” and “Starry
Night” – are two representations. They won several funding’s and awards
amounting of approximately $75,000 / £48,200 / €57,000.
When one goes on the internet
and searches 3D Printing, one would most likely see a “3D Printed gun” it
really is amazing to think that resources are allocated that way than rather to
use the resources to more ‘socially responsible’ issues.
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| Courtesy of www.vrvis.at |
An absolutely superb website
to see the future of innovations for the blind is on ‘Trend Hunter’. This
trendy, art, design and innovation website have highlighted a whopping 53
innovations for the blind. Take a look. It is fantastic what is here already
and what is to come:
Sport
Being a lover of sport, I find
it inspirational of the many people who embrace their handicap and play sports.
Tennis personally being my first sport, I find it fantastic to know that the
Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) – the main tennis body of Great Britain – is helping
provide the service of the sport for the visually impaired. The following link
explains how the LTA are including everyone within Great Britain to enjoy
Tennis. Some more inspirational stories:
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| Courtesy of www.lta.org.uk |
There are many other sports that
have the facilities to include the visually impaired – Archery, athletics, football,
cricket, ten pin bowling, swimming and many more.
Timekeeping
This may seem a silly
question. But how do the blind tell what the time is if no-one else is around?
Yes there are a couple
timepieces that come to mind initially. Talking watches – however these may be
hard to hear in some situations. Secondly, analogue watches that have removable
covers, but the drawbacks are that they can be difficult to use and quite
expensive to repair.
Yes you have guessed it. There
‘is’ a solution / a product / an invention out there that combats all of these
drawbacks. It is called the ‘Bradley’ watch. It is a watch that allows blind
people ‘feel’ the time. I mentioned the word “combats” in a previous sentence.
There was no pun intended but this device was created by a Lieutenant Brad
Snyder – who worked as a bomb defuser expert in Afghanistan.
Unfortunately he lost his
vision in an IED explosion. But that did not stop him lead a normal life. Oh
no. He won not only one, but two Gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympics. The
stylish timepiece he invented uses small ball bearings instead of the
conventional hands. One ball for the minutes and another signifies the hours.
There are raised bars to indicate the positions of the numbers.
The ball bearings are held in
place cleverly with magnets (that is all that is revealed from the schematics
of the watch I’m afraid). So with a shake of the wrist, the ball bearings
wobble back effortlessly into place.
The video in the JB Design Blog
below shows the watch in action.
It
is clear that the visually impaired, or any other handicapped persons for that
matter, should not feel separated.
Monday, 2 September 2013
3D Printing...continued...
Was it wishing? Was it knowledge of the industry? Or was
it foresight? Soon after JB Design’s post about 3D Printing was published,
there was a whirlwind of stories regarding the subjected topic intensely within
the month that followed.
I am referring mainly to my closing question of a
previous blog entry – “Who knows what is to come? It certainly excites me to
wonder!”.
True to my word, I am excited, as it appears in the
industry we all know what the next thing was to come. A desktop 3D printer that
is available to the public. Yes you did read that correctly, I had to pause to
see if I wrote it correctly! I am referring to the BBC report in August
regarding the ‘Makerbot Digitizer’.
People like you and me - members of the public, not just
industry companies, can now buy a 3D printer of their own. It is a fantastic
creation and a marvel to modern technology. It does come at a price of £900 / $1400
/ €1061. The fact of the matter is, this technology is not limited to
designers, artists, architects, engineering companies, it is available for
experimenters, visionaries and everyone who wishes to be a pioneer in 3D
Desktop printing.
Of course having just come out on the market, expectations
should not be too high. Intricate designs are not suited to this first (of many
to come) products. One scan will take just over 10 minutes to complete. But if
I had this on my desk at home, time would not be an issue (within reason) as I
would just marvel at the phenomenal fact of me 3D printing anything of my desire
in the comfort of my own home.
The video in the previous blog highlights reasons and
pretty much tells us why we will need 3D Printers at our homes, not only in the
future, but now.
“You can get what you need, at the size you need, at the
configuration you need, instantly”. Steve Caplin, Editor at 3dgeni.us
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| Courtesy of Makerbot |
NASA
Yes you have also read that correctly. NASA is in the
same section as 3D Printing? We would think this was ludicrous, but it isn’t
really as why can’t NASA not get into the 3D Printing world also? If it saves
them money…why not?
I do not know fully the ins and outs of NASA and their
going’s-on, but with a report recently released stating they are testing a
rocket engine fuel injector that has been 3D Printed, it really makes oneself
sit up and pay attention to this technology. WOW!
A Californian based company ‘Aerojet Rocketdyne’ successfully
created an injector using a technique called Selective Laser Melting (SLM) -
(Google it for full definitions (other search engines are available)). NASA has
recognised the potential of this technology and has invested undisclosed
amounts of money to explore ‘other avenues’ for it to be used.
The SLM technology has reduced the price by more than 70%
and manufacturing time, a whopping four months less.
Crazy as it may sound, NASA are researching different
materials used for 3D Printing. One source of mine has indicated that
researchers from Washington State University are experimenting with the
possibility of Printing in 3D format using lunar rocks.
Many companies are getting into the 3D Printing world.
General Electric is hosting a competition for third parties to successfully
design a 3D Printable aircraft engine bracket. With a $20,000 / £13,300 / €15,145
cash pool prize. This is pocket money change for such a global organization.
They too are using this technology within their upcoming
LEAP (Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion) turbofan family. Having previously
required 15 to 20 widgets, they now only require one. Not only cutting the
weight, but also boosting the efficiency of the engine fuel.
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| Courtesy of www.entrepreneur.com |
Well there you have it. The future of 3D Printing is
already here.
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