Photoshop CS5 - 3D feature!

While Photoshop CS5 has included a number of extraordinary features, the 3D features have taken another giant leap with a fantastic feature called Repoussé. Which allows you to create 3D text. Working in 3D in any application is processor intensive. It will use up RAM extremely quick. Older machines would have crashed all the time so as machines have become increasingly powerful, software continues to as well.

The Flintstones 50th anniversary - 8 wacky inventions

Yabba Dabba Doo! The Flintstones are 50 years old, so we've put together a blog in their honour. As we design and manufacture our own products we thought it seemed fitting to share a few of the Bedrock's wackiest contraptions.

This week we love... Envirophone

I'm sure many of you are aware of Envirophone by now. For those of you who don't Envirophone offer a safe and reliable way to get cash for your mobile phones.

Envirophone take their Environmental responsibilities very seriously. They believe in a sustainable environment and that is why reuse is always their first port of call in the recycling process.

95% of their mobile phones are reused. In most cases they’re refurbished and sold to developing countries where they can play a major part in helping to develop communication networks. The reuse of mobile phones offers a valuable infrastructure in these countries.

If a phone is beyond economic repair then they send the phone off to a recycling plant in the UK where it’s broken down and valuable metals and components are extracted.

As well as paying out over £70 million to the consumer they've also managed to offset over 3,000 tonnes of carbon and have paid out over £3 million to charities and the education sector. They actively believe in giving back to the local community which is great to see a company not just saying it but doing it!

So is it worth trading in old phones for cash? Well I recently traded in two old phones and received £33.61 for two old phones.

Nokia 6500 Slide £32.55
Nokia 1100 £01.06

Instead of leaving unwanted phones in your draw, why not earn some easy cash and do something great for the planet.

HTC vs iPhone

Any time soon your network provider will phone saying your contract is soon to expire and you can upgrade to a new phone.

Age 103 And Still Designing.

103 year old Eva Zeisel continues to astound. The Hungarian born designer just doesn't won't give up. In addition to being enormously talented, her life story is as interesting as her work.

Protomold CUBE

If you’re involved in plastic design you may have heard of Protomold. If not, they’re a Rapid Injection Molding outfit. You can send them your 3D models and have a prototype created super fast for as little as $1795.

The cube is essentially a box of nothing, that is, if you only consider what’s in the box. If, on the other hand, you consider what’s on the box, it’s a box crammed with useful information on how (and how not) to achieve the best possible results from injection moulding.

It’s Protomold's new sample part; a nifty little piece that ships flat but folds into a 63.5mm cube using living hinges and two kinds of moulded-in clips (locking and non-locking). The part shows some of what can be done in a straight-pull mould, and the clips and hinges are just a few of the many sample features scattered across the surfaces of the cube.

My protomold sample CUBE arrived in the post last week and its really cool. If your eyes light up when somebody mentions plastic design or want an interesting purple cube sitting on your desk, they have a free sample they’ll send you. It shows you good and bad practices and what to consider when creating an RIM part. If you are a Product designer or just interested in design I suggest to order one! They're free and super cool!

Tom Kelly-Lord
Spinninghat.com

Can design save the world?

Last week myself and a few colleagues headed down to the Design Museum, to see the Sustainable Futures exhibition – Can Design Save the World? A new exhibition that:

"presents key examples of how design can deliver a more sustainable future. The exhibition examines not only the objects themselves but also the infrastructure in which objects are produced and exist. At a time when designers and architects are under pressure to ‘think green’ and education establishments are placing greater emphasis on sustainability in the curriculum, this exhibition highlights how design can, literally, help save the world."

Can Design Save the World? That’s the question the Design Musuem ’s Sustainable Futures exhibition attempts to answer through examining the objects on display. Taking a selection of projects, existing or are in the making, this exhibition presents key examples of how design can deliver a more sustainable future. The exhibition examines not only the objects themselves but also the infrastructure in which objects are produced and exist. At a time when designers and architects are under pressure to ‘think green’ and education establishments are placing greater emphasis on sustainability in the curriculum, this exhibition highlights how design can, literally, help save the world.

The majority of the products I had heard of or seen online before however it was great to see them for real and hear the history behind the design. This included products such as;

The life Straw: LifeStraw is a point-of-use water filters designed by the Swiss-based Vestergaard Frandsen for tourists and people living in developing nations. LifeStraw Personal filters a maxium of 700 litres of water, enough for one person for one year. LifeStraw Family filters a maximum of 18,000 litres of water, providing safe drinking water for a family for more than two years. It removes 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria, 99.99% of viruses, and 99.9% of parasites. LifeStraw Personal kills 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria and 98.5% of viruses.


One laptop per child: OLPC mission is to create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning. When children have access to this type of tool they get engaged in their own education. They learn, share, create, and collaborate. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future.


Sustainable Futures – Can Design Save the World?, Design Museum, London

31st March 2010 until 5th September 2010

Tom Kelly-Lord
Spinninghat.com