In this fantastic Q&A from 1972, found on the excellent compilation The Films of Charles & Ray Eames and reproduced here in House Industries’ typography journal, Madame L’Amic of the Musee des Art s Decoratifs in Paris asks Charles Eames 29 questions about design, covering everything from the balance between form and function to the role of computers in creativity to the impact of influences.
via Brain Pickings.
The US Navy’s latest stealth drone, I love the sleek design, it really does look more like a space ship than a normal plane…
This isn’t the 62-foot wide X-47B’s first time in the air. Rather, it’s the first time it’s been able to pull up its landing gear and go into full “cruise mode”—an important step that gives the craft a chance to flex all of its sophisticated onboard navigational and sensor equipment. It’s still experimental right now, but if and when it’s ever deployed for real, it’ll be able to pack 4,500 pounds of weaponry, refuel in the air, and land at sea. That’s a lot of killing power in a robot—and all guided by someone far away.
via Gizmodo
Here’s a great resource for any one designing apps for Android, Olof Brickarp has done the hard part and converted the android action bar icons to Illustrator ro generic EPS files…
This project started around the time Google released it’s official Twitter client and introduced the actionbar. With the new guidelines they recommended to use the native icons in new ways. However, the ones included in the SDK have some styles applied to them and is only available in png format. So I started turning them into vector format, at the beginning mostly for myself to current and future projects.
via Yay.se
Brilliant but expensive, do check out the videos if you don’t quite believe it yourself…
This unique lamp was designed by Angela Jensen and engineer Ger Jansen. The Silhouette floating lamp based on the iconic table lamp looks ultramodern thanks to its floating top part. The floating effect is possible due to it´s electromagnetic components and a sophisticated control system. If you want to buy this lamp be ready to pay $1300. Have fun!
The Royal Institute of British Architects has unveiled the final designs in its creative pylon competition. Feast your eyes upon Plexus, Flower Tower and their inspired rivals, all pictured here. The idea is to overcome opposition to transmission towers by turning them into works of art that do not blight the countryside.
via SmartPlanet.
Electree bonsai is a contemporary whose leaves are small photovoltaic panels. It can charge your mobile devices via USB without consuming power than other light.
via Vivien Muller