Foozoo Design blog has a nice article on the features of the Dyson Airblade. I’m not sure if the writers of this blog has used one of these yet, but my boss, in his deep love of cool products, has purchased one of these for our office, and my verdict is: I love it. It is a very fast and effective hand dryer. My only criticism is that it’s quite loud. I don’t think this problem will ever be solved, yet it’s still a problem. It scares our two cats so much at work that they now sleep, eat, and use the bathroom from the fartest point in the office from this machine.

Meet The Dyson Airblade | The Foozoo Design Blog

Wallpaper has incited an impressive collection of photo shoots over the years, so why not capitalize on their fantastic collection by offering a number of their best shots in a limited printing. Photography collectors take notice!

The first collection includes images by Jonathan de Villiers, Mauricio Alejo, Jonathan Frantini, Christopher Griffith, Stefan Ruiz, Daniel Stier, Benedict Redgrove and Joël Tettamanti, printed on Fuji crystal archive matt paper and priced between £290 and £990. Click here to browse the full selection.

Wallpaper* Selects – Art – Wallpaper.com – International Design Interiors Fashion Travel

uhuru, to me, may have been the most impressive furniture designers I saw at BKLYN Designs in terms of their creative reuse of industrial products. For example: the Stave Bench and the Bilge Lounge reuse whiskey barrels from the finest white oak. These barells are charred and used only once in the barreling process then discarded or sold. uhuru purchases these barrels and leaves the barrells in a state very close to where they found them to make these beautiful chairs and tables shown above and below. This is what I would consider a very low energy intensive form of recycling which in my mind is the best form of recycling.

But uhuru’s commitment to this type of recycling does not stop with whiskey barrels. They have a variety of products that make use of whatever industrial scrap might be around. Their website features products such as the Fenced In Table made from repourposed fence parts- this table you won’t believe.

I’ve been thinking about how to create a fresh approach in my own kitchen recently, so it’s no surprise that I was extremely excited to see the work of Produce to get some inspiration of what my kitchen could be. Their work, as shown in their pot and knife rack, wall bins, and wine rack have a thread that ties their work together perfectly. Clarity, simplicity, and a juxtaposition of rugged wood mixed with slender steel profiles dominate their design aesthetic. It got me thinking, ” What if I got rid of my boring old cabinetry and replaced them with these bins?” It would really open up the kitchen while creating a very unique spatial character. I’m hooked.

OK, I’m now on the Phonofone bandwagon. I think I’ve read no less than 10 posts on the topic which will all tell you the same thing I’m about to tell you: The Phonofone by Science and Sons is a ceramic amplification system for you iPod. This mechanism uses passive horn acoustics to amplify you ear bud to a maximum of 55 decibels which is about the loudest a typical laptop speaker will produce. The company claims that the sound, compared to a typical laptop speaker, is rich, warm, and quite good for what it is. Of course, as one might suspect, the music amplified through the Phonofone will probably want to be classical and not techno or other bass intensive music which is difficult to amplify naturally.

So what’s cool about it? For starters, the Phonophone is a true piece of art. I’ve always been attracted to ceramics to begin with, but if you add in the nostalgia of it’s iconic form and the integration of new technology, then you have broken through into the world of extreme object of desire. Not to mention, wouldn’t it be nice to pass this down to your son or daughter as an heirloom of early 19th century technology? What’s funny about this device is because new technology has left old technology in the dust that it has clouded such useful devices as the gramaphone into obscurity. Kids now would most likely want to know where you might change the batteries on a device like this not realizing that the invention is about exploiting physical properties long forgotten. It’s a device like this that makes me want to re-examine ancient technologies that required no electrical power to see if I can find new ways to harness this historic ingenuity.

One thing I’ve been seriously wanting to do is give a shout out for my awesome sponsor, 2Modern.com. They are my dream sponsor because it is so easy and fun to talk about their products and mean every word I say. So today, I dip into the bag of 2Modern goodies to find some serious design nuggets.

Before I go any further, I’d like to say that the Ooba Bassinet is a bit of a selfish pick for me to put on Design Crack. I’ve been hunting for good baby furniture design objects ever since my wife and I found out we were expecting (That’s right, ladies. I have a baby due, so no more advances please!). We have and extremely small apartment in San Francisco, and our style is Victorian mixed with a modern-ish sensibility. The bent plywood frame of the bassinet fits in with our knock off Eames Lounge Chair perfectly. As well, the bassinet is small enough so the child can be sleeping close to our bed without taking over the room. Ooba, the company making the bassinet, has also created a simple and beautiful slip cover, so washing and maintaining the bassinet is a breeze. The price is $600 and would be well worth it for the architect-couple expecting. The only thing missing from the bassinet is a way to modify this beautiful piece of furniture into a bench which would mean a long lasting use for the piece long after your child exits infancy.