If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

Use Too Much Water And Poor Little Fish Floats Belly Up.

Industrial designer Yan Lu is hoping that you'll think twice about your water consumption if you think of it as draining the home of a poor little fish, hence the name of his innovative design.

The wash basin, "Poor Little Fish", topped off with a fishbowl, not only looks interesting but works in such a manner that, if you're a fish lover, will not have you wasting a drop.

Why? Because as you turn on the faucet and let the water flow, the level of water in the fish bowl lowers proportionate to the amount of running water you are using. Let the water run for too long and you've got a fish out of water. Don't fret though, the water level in the bowl returns to normal after turning off the faucet. And it's designed in such a way that the water from the tap is pure because the pipeline does not connect to the water in the fish bowl.

The project was first shown in 2008 at the Kith Kin exhibit, a London based art & design cooperative, producing events exhibitions and projects to inspire. Then at Designersblock London in 2009

Here are some additional images courtesy of Mocoloco:

Yan Lu is a Chinese designer/engineer based in London. He graduated from product design department in Central Saint Martins in 2009, and currently in the first year of the Industrial Design Engineering joint course (MA + MSc Double Masters) at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London.

See more of his imaginative and innovative designs here.

Nostalgia On Canvas. Allan Innman Paints Our Favorite Childhood Toys.

above: Full Metal Jacket, oil on canvas

If toys from your childhood like Mr. Potato Head, plastic Cowboys and Indians, Lego®s, Strawberry Shortcake, Play•Doh and View-Masters take you back, the paintings of Allan Innman will be like a trip down memory lane.

above: Dump Truck, oil on canvas, mounted on board

Rendered in oils and acrylics, Allan paints classic toys from the 70s and 80s in a realism style, capturing their colors and spirit. From Gumby and Pokey to Talking Teddy Ruxpin, his collection of works called "Back In The Day" will have yearning to bring out that Susie Bake Oven or indulge in some paste-eating.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Blue Play Doh:

Turnin' The Corner:

Here's Looking At You Kid (Lego Minifig):

Legos:

Lime Chiffon At Charmkin's Flower Mill:

Cowboys and Indians:

Sunday Afternoon Nap (Teddy Ruxpin)

Pretty Pony:

Tater Head:

The View Master:

Gumby and Pokey:

Assorted Toys:

In the artist's own words:

I was born and raised in Oxford, Mississippi. In May 2006, I graduated with a BFA degree in Graphic Design from The University of Mississippi. I currently work for the University of Mississippi Department of Art as the Visual Resources Specialist maintaining the slide library and digital image library.

above: Allan in his studio

My interest in art extends to all sorts of different mediums. In the past, I have pursued design, printmaking, and painting. My current series of paintings focuses on the idea of evoking nostalgia through childhood toys.

Allan is also an accomplished landscape painter and works in mixed media as well. See all of his work here.

This Little Piggy Cried "Humanitarian" All the Way Home.

above: A philanthropic Piggy Bank set for children

Michigan-based Materious, in an effort to teach future generations about compassion and to help parents raise future humanitarians (Lord knows, we could use more), has designed a great-looking, fun and educational way to save money and turn your little ones into caring citizens.

above: the set shown in glossy pale pink (also available in white)

In an effort to teach their own child about compassion, kindness and caring, Stephanie and Bruce, the talented couple behind the design firm, came up with Piggy, a set of beautifully designed savings banks, in glossy white or pale pink, that nest together.

The larger “Momma” Piggy bank is for a child’s personal savings, and the smaller "Little Piggy" bank is for the child's charitable savings.

PIGGY FEATURES
* Hand-cast ceramic
* Set of banks: one ‘momma’ and one ‘baby’
* Modern, minimal design
* Glazed in pale pink or bright white
* Small pig nests with the large ‘momma’
* Removable bottom plugs on each
* Ships safely in fun “quote box”

The box in which the adorable nesting Piggies are packaged is covered with great quotes about compassion:

Quotes that embellish the box:
•If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. - The Dalai Lama
•We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. - Winston Churchill
•I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. - Maya Angelou
•It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it. - Albert Einstein
•Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being. - Mahatma Gandhi
•No one has ever become poor by giving. - Anne Frank
•Compassion is not religious business, it is human business, it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival. - Dalai Lama
•A good heart is better than all the heads in the world. - Edward Bulwer-Lytton
•In separateness lies the world’s great misery, in compassion lies the world’s true strength. - Buddha
•To care for anyone else enough to make their problems one’s own, is ever the beginning of one’s real ethical development. - Felix Adler
•The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

THE POWER OF PIGGY
This simple product, Piggy, can truly make the world a better and more compassionate place. Piggy helps teach kids about charitable giving, with the hopes of inspiring new generations of caring, sharing, philanthropic citizens. With 12,000 children born each day in the US, imagine the social impact if just a fraction of them learned powerful lessons of gratefulness and kindness to others.

USING PIGGY

Materious suggests that children learn to set aside 10% of their income to charity. Parents can discuss with their kids about who they would want to help most. When the baby bank is filled, a special event can be planned to deliver the money to the charity, or a trip to the bank and post office to mail a check.

The goal is to create positive feelings of doing good will make an indelible mark upon their character and place philanthropy as an important and intrinsic aspect of their life.

Buy the Piggy Nesting banks here (They donate 3% of the profits to charity)

For resources on possible charities, go to the 'Charity' tab of their site.
The designers want to know your own inspiring story, send it to them here.

above: Stephanie of Materious, with her inspiration.

Materious is also the company who brought us the fabulous Samurai Umbrella.

all images and info courtesy of Materious and special thanks to Stilsucht for bringing this to my attention.

Adding Comfort To Culture. Vitra Launches Fully Upholstered Versions Of Classic Eames Chairs.

The famous molded side and armchairs by Charles and Ray Eames, originally created in fiberglass in 1950, then made in plastic, now made of polypropylene, have become a little more comfy with the fully upholstered versions recently launched by Vitra.

The Eames plastic armchair (sometimes called the 'potato chip' chair) and the Eames plastic side chair, available in eight shell colors, are now offered with your choice of 13 different colors of Hopsak upholstery and black or white piping.

Hopsak upholstery colors for the armchair:

Shell colors for the armchair:

Hopsak upholstery colors for the side chair:

Shell colors for the side chair:

When you add these options to the base options (R-wire, wooden, X-base and La Fonda base, you get a large number of possible combinations. Casters are also available on the armchair.