Kenwood’s Response Kettle

I saw the kettles above over on Boing Boing and thought I’d post a little blurb. It’s called the Response Kettle, and was created by the folks over at Kenmore. The outside of the kettle lights up to show you the temperature of the water inside, blue means cold, red means hot.

This totally reminded me of the Hansa Waterfall Faucet, which shows you the temperature of the water coming out of your tap.
These are both are great examples of how design can really help people. No more worrying about the water being too hot or cold, you know instantly by sight.

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

Text by

October 15, 2007 - See more posts by Bobby

The New Honda Concept Cars: PUYO and CR-Z

Honda recently unveiled two awesome new concept cars at the Tokyo Auto Show, the PUYO and the CR-Z. Both are extremely crazy looking, which is why I’m immediately drawn to them.

The PUYO is sort of a compact van that is completely rounded and has no sharp angles. In fact, the thing doesn’t even has door handles, and the doors slide upward gullwing style. The top of the car is basically all glass, save for a few structural supports. It’s also uses a fuel cell, so you’d (hopefully) be saving money on gas as well.
I’ve always wanted a bubble car like this, I think it would be so much fun to have.

The CR-Z is the reworking of Honda’s original sporty compact, the CR-X. But now it’s got a gas-electric hybrid system, and almost entire glass roof, and a beautiful body style. Those headlights are extremely rad as well.

But honestly, I’m kind of sick of seeing concepts, I want some real damn cars already!
Also be sure to check out Jalopnik’s coverage of the Tokyo Auto Show as well, there are ton of amazing concepts to check out.

Bobby Solomon

Text by

October 12, 2007 - See more posts by Bobby

Neill Blomkamp

I’ve been a fan of director Neill Blomkamp for a couple years now, so I thought I’d post something kind of comprehensive about him. Mr. Blomkamp was born in South Africa in 1979 and is now currently based in Vancouver. He’s been getting a lot of buzz lately because he’s supposed to direct the movie for Halo. But Fox, who owns the rights to the movie, doesn’t want him to direct it, even though Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings movies and Halo’s producer, handpicked him to do so.

What makes him really stand out is his ability to direct these great hand held features which seamlessly blend robots and futuristic elements into them. My favorite of his is the short above called ‘Alive in Joburg‘, which is about a race of aliens that have come to our planet, but end up getting stranded here and can’t leave. It’s really well done, and even kind of creepy.

Under the cut I’ve also put some of his other videos, so be sure to check those out as well!
Continue reading this post…

Bobby Solomon

Text by

October 3, 2007 - See more posts by Bobby

Sigg Jones

Sigg Jones, Heavyweight Champion Wrestler Gone Crazy

Sigg Jones' Agent, Wearing Pink Healty Nike Vandals With Celestial Wings

Sigg Jones is a heavyweight, champion wrestler who’s getting ready for a match against The Dentist. Unfortunately, he downs a bad energy drink, causing all of the good to come out of him, and making him want to fight his Agent. Thankfully, the Agent has a little help of his own…

This is the plot behind the quirky short film by Matthieu Bessudo, Douglas Lassance, and Jonathan Vuillemin, three amazingly talented students from the Supinfocom School in France. Together they have created an absolutely brilliant video that is just as good as anything coming out of any major computer graphics studio.

The style of the characters are similar to those of Jamie Hewlett’s Gorillaz. They move compltely fluidly and gracefully, and I love that they have an almost clay appearance to them. The styling of the characters is also brilliant, outfitting the Agent in a pair of black and white Nike Vandals and Paul Smith jacket with a fluorescent green lining. Sigg Jones gets a pair of Puma Slipstreams and a creamy Reebok Power Glove. Their attention to detail definitely paid off, giving the whole video a pure sense of realism. I feel this is also true when it comes to the sounds they put in. Sound is often downplayed in videos like this. But while you watch it, you can’t help but feel you’re in the action with them.

It’s a truly amazing video. Definitely the best thing you’ve watched in a long time.

Link via NiceToMeetYou

Bobby Solomon

Text by

September 27, 2007 - See more posts by Bobby

KDDI’s Infobar 2 Phone

The Infobar 2 Phone

This post is about how yet again, the Japanese get most of the cool electronics in the world. KDDI, makers of notable phones such as the Talby, has just released the Infobar 2. The phone was designed by the amazing Naoto Fukasawa, who is probably one of the best industrial designers around these days.

I think what I really like about it is how un-modern it looks. The phone is much more about the design and the feel of it. I feel like a phone like this would be really good for mom, who doesn’t need a fancy-ass iPhone. She needs something that’s simple to read, with a large bright screen and that’s easy to find in her purse.

The Infobar 2 comes out in Japan this November.

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

Text by

September 27, 2007 - See more posts by Bobby

Ads via The Deck