Here’s the latest from NOTCOT’s London-based editor and resident zoologist, Justine Aw as she checks out Clerkenwell Design Week 2013.

Revitalizer from Merve Kahraman, a wax-lamp that re-creates itself. The wax lampshade melts over time, dripping into the mold below to reform the shade. The result is an ever-changing sculpture, but also a room that smells of candlewax. More photos of the Revitalizer and Revitalizer 2 in the House of Detention during Clerkenwell Design Week and a video of the lamp in action from the designer on the next page!

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Here’s the latest from NOTCOT’s London-based editor and resident zoologist, Justine Aw as she checks out Clerkenwell Design Week 2013.

This year Jaguar UK teamed up with RCA to create a design challenge for students of both the RCA’s automobile and textiles courses. Of the 9 group entries, the winning design on show in the Farmiloe building alongside the new F-TYPE comes from RCA students, Ewan Gallimore and Claire Miller. There’s some making imagery over at Carscoops. See more pictures of their sculpture at Clerkenwell on the next page!

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Here’s the latest from NOTCOT’s London-based editor and resident zoologist, Justine Aw as she checks out Clerkenwell Design Week 2013.

I couldn’t help but stop as I caught a glimpse of the Cloud Leopard hanging through the open doorway of Craft Central at Clerkenwell Design Week. The stunning installation was cut by hand over five months by Nahoko Kojima of Solo Kojima and actually created right in Clerkenwell! Since it’s creation, the piece was unveiled at the Saatchi Gallery and has travelled extensively with Arte&Arte’s Miniartextil. More photos of this incredible piece on the next page.

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This week’s roundup from NOTCOT.org includes a french press for your mason jar, a 3D printer that can print onto any surface, laser tracking bubbles and more. To find out more about each post, click on its individual image.

Here’s the latest from London-based editor and resident zoologist, Justine Aw from the 100th RHS Chelsea Flower Show!

My highlight of this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show was this incredible “Fruit of the Tree” display from Kent-based East Malling Research, who were celebrating their 100th anniversary alongside the prestigious flower show. The centrepiece of the display was a delicately extracted apple tree, showing off its incredible structure both above and below the ground. The striking display was designed in collaboration with Physical Pixels, who have been behind a few of our other favorites too (including, the Big Egg Hunt!). More photos on the next page!

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Here’s the latest from London-based editor and resident zoologist, Justine Aw!

While over at New York Design Week they have the Progetto Barrique (with the swing we loved here) with designers repurposing reclaimed casks… here in London, there’s a similar project upcycling beer barrels! This is one of my favorite projects from May Design Series, “The end of the Big Beer Barrel” from Switzerland-based Yask. The project’s premise is the retirement on 50 litre (11 gallon) stainless steel beer barrels in favor of a new smaller model. The iconic larger sized beer barrels will suddenly be retired from use and candidates for recycling or upcycling. The studio explored how these barrels might be used in variety of contexts. Take a peek on the next page!

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Here’s the latest from London-based editor and resident zoologist, Justine Aw!

It’s also a great week for design here in London with Clerkenwell Design Week just around the corner and the first ever May Design Series in London. I headed down to ExCel this morning for the first morning of the May Design Series, which brings together kbb LDN, The ARC Show, INTERIORS LDN and DX all under one roof. Some of our show highlights on the next page!

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Wow what a day ~ it’s nearly 4:30 in the morning, and i really ought to sleep before ICFF in a few hours… but i wanted to share the fun at Wanted Design with you before i got a quick nap in… i’ll fill in more about what’s what later, but take a peek at the things that jumped out and inspired me so far on the next page!

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Explorations in 3D printing + growing wearable = Xuedi Chen’s Invasive Growth! We’ve been curiously following along on instagram for some time now… and the project is now live! I love that it’s “…inspired by my fascination with cordyceps, a fungal parasite that attacks arthropods. Once infected, the fungus slowly takes control of the insect both mentally and physically. Before the insect dies, the fungus makes it climb high onto a branch and grip on, giving it an advantageous place to spread spores. Once the insect is dead, the cordyceps protrudes out, breaking through the exoskeleton.” And the final pieces play with moss growing on wearable neck/head pieces… imagine a day when you need to water your jewelry regularly? Take a peek at the process and details on the next page!

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Another amazing inspiring week is behind us ~ from video projected in droplets, animal wine bottle creatures, food cut in half, the trash bag tent, how Drive shoots their amazing videos, apps you can draw AROUND, the neoLucida, lego tats, land rover parkour, EPIC meat bars, kaleidescopic glasses and far more… click the pics to find out more!

Fun detail Shawn noticed when we were driving up Sunset Blvd in Hollywood… those street lamp banners were turned into guitar strings with a Jack Daniel’s Guitar Pick stuck in them! See more pics of it on the next page…

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This post is part of the NOTlabs Laser Challenge: 30 days, 30 experiments! Shawn and I are alternating days with executing and sharing a Laser Cutter involved experiment! And most importantly - we’re supposed to have fun, explore ideas, and it’s less about a fully formed product/concept at the end of the day, but more about seeing where the experiment takes us!

Laser Challenge #12 was inspired by Bokeh Shape Filter Kits which you can buy (but never fit my primary lens which has larger wide angle) and DIY versions. Bokeh means blurred in Japanese, and it’s used to describe the out of focused lights in your dark/night shots. By placing one of these filters on your lens (essentially a black disk with a shape cut out in the center) you can change the shape of those light blurs! There’s something fun about playing with a process so analog and instantaneous in a world where its so easy to photoshop everything… it’s almost magical to see what light shapes appear through the viewfinder.

And since i was chatting with Rich of Diesel Sweeties while testing out shape ideas… we were inspired to try one of his red robots! … as well as jumping sheep and a gear/burst! Ultimately, the robots were our favorite as we tested it out taking pictures in santa monica of the pier, pch traffic, the intersections and more! They also work fantastically for video… the mesmerizing robots that emerge from every light we drove by as they danced to the music makes it tempting to choreograph a music video light show or sorts, or a light driven stop motion animation… but perhaps that’s a project for another night? Check out our driving video experiments as well as some fun photo effects we discovered while playing with the Bokeh shapes on the next page!

p.s. If you have ideas, or want some laser cutting done, or want to play with us… feel free to use the contact form or leave a comment! And if you’re curious about the laser cutter we’re using, here’s the unboxing.

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Fun way to celebrate the upcoming Mother’s Day, the artists over at Wieden & Kennedy are busy illustrating advice from moms for P&G’s Thank You, Mom. campaign and posting them up on their pinterest (there are 59 so far!)

To join in the fun ~ “What’s the best advice your mom gave you? Mothers give us the gift of wisdom through life lessons they pass down to their children. This Mother’s Day, P&G is honoring moms by creating a gallery of these beautiful bits of knowledge. Share yours using #momswisdom or on our Facebook page and it may be added to our gallery.” Fun idea, beautiful typography, and lots of sound (and some interesting) advice! Take a peek at some of my favorites so far on the next page…

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Phew* Sorry i’ve been quieter than usual over here ~ getting sick has sort of thrown a kink in regular posting and the Laser Challenge this weekend, but working through it all and trying to catch up before NY Design Week! Lots of fun inspiration again over at NOTCOT.org, so click the pics above to find out more!

This post is part of the NOTlabs Laser Challenge: 30 days, 30 experiments! The ground rules are: for 30 days, Shawn and I are alternating days with executing and sharing a Laser Cutter involved experiment! And most importantly - we’re supposed to have fun, explore ideas, and it’s less about a fully formed product/concept at the end of the day, but more about seeing where the experiment takes us!

Laser Challenge #7 is here! When Shawn was teaching me to play poker this weekend, I found it hard to stop playing with the chips (and it was driving me crazy how ugly they were) ~ so naturally the conversation evolved to sparking ideas about how much more fun they could be! So for today’s challenge, he prototyped some gorgeous wooden poker chips that you can BUILD with! They interlock to make fun little structures during the game… we’re still fine tuning it more before we end up with a full set - perhaps the future ones with use different woods/materials for different values, or a splash of lacquered color along the edges, and have deeper notches to help them attach better, but it’s a fun start! See the making of and details on the next page!

p.s. If you have ideas, or want some laser cutting done, or want to play with us… feel free to use the contact form or leave a comment! And if you’re curious about the laser cutter we’re using, here’s the unboxing.

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