TOP 10 reader submissions of 2017

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2017 was a year that saw the product design field keeping up the rhythm as new materials emerged, production forms evolved, and business plans changed. we received several thousand submissions from our readers, with designers, artists and architects from across the globe sending through a diverse range of works that we have shared with our audience over the last 12 months.

we believe that maintaining an open dialogue with creatives is extremely important, and we are happy to showcase the high level of original projects of our readership. from a personal space helmet to a machine that irons your clothes, we highlight 10 product design projects from our reader submissions of 2017.

1 – how a student moulded three costly cameras he couldn’t afford into a 3D printed device

with the support of groundbreaking 3D printing platform 3D hubs, richmond student paul kohlhaussen created a fully functional 3D printed camera, taking the best features from an array of costly high-end cameras and reverse engineering them into the camera of his dreams. with no prior knowledge in CAD software, kohlhaussen taught himself everything from scratch when designing and building the eight components that make up the camera’s modular design. providing access to over a billion people worldwide, 3D hubs simply analyzes the user’s digital design and uses their matchmaking algorithms to present the best 3D print options.

2 – pushcart furniture by lim + lu and CL3

cornell university’s college of architecture, art and planning unveiled a 12-piece versatile bespoke furniture series designed by hong kong-based architecture office CL3 and interdisciplinary design studio lim + lu for their new york studio. referencing the pushcart, the project began by examining the inherent qualities of these vehicles and how they were used on a daily basis – being in an upright manner or in a more reclined positioned. this bipolar characteristic of the pushcart presented the opportunity to design a portable furniture series that could also have multiple personalities.

3 – helmfon personal space helmet by hochu rayu

‘helmfon’ is a tool created to help have full concentration at work. the helmet device gives users privacy and doesn’t allow background noise kill the productiveness. the innovative product was designed and developed by ukrainian design company hochu rayu. its bold colors allow the office to stand out and look fun.

4 – void rug by scott jarvie

multidisciplinary artist scott jarvie designed an optical illusion ‘void rug’, when viewed from a particular angle, creates the image of a gaping circular void in the floor. the design was influenced by the notion that the design of a 2 dimensional rug could be informed by a 3 dimensional approach, where there was more thought embedded in the design than simply the surface pattern. the illusion of depth is achieved by careful consideration of perspective, light and texture.

5 – type H 70th anniversary van by david obendorfer + fabrizio caselani

as tribute to italian automobile designer flaminio bertoni and his citroën HY unveiled exactly 70 years ago, david obendorfer and fabrizio caselani presented a contemporary reinvention of the legendary model. packaged as a complete car kit and developed on the citroën jumper chassis, the type H 70th anniversary van will be exclusively sold across italy.

6 – color flow furniture by orijeen

when monochromatic schemes are underwhelming and color trends are overrated, orijeen’s color changing cabinets are sure to satisfy. the korean-based studio created the pieces to change color by applying a lenticular surface to their designs. orijeen‘s mini collection – called ‘color flow’ – comprises of two storage pieces, both of which vary in color gradients. a freestanding wardrobe ranges in shades of greens and blues whilst a smaller sideboard highlights blues with pinks.

7 – cloud lamp reacts to donald trump’s tweets by ParseError

multidisciplinary designer ParseError redefined ‘political climate’ with his latest lamp design. the political lamp stirs up a thunderous storm for every donald trump tweet in real-time. talk about pathetic fallacy! each tweet is materialized by a series of lightning roaring through the clouds, disturbing the soft glow of the lamp.

8 – BIKI by robosea

robosea is an entrepreneurial technology company which specializes in highly-precise developments – mainly underwater automation equipment. for this project, the team introduces BIKI, the first bionic robot fish that can capture 4K videos and pictures, or like they state it – ‘the most fantastic moments’.

9 – viride by goula figuera

created by barcelona-based design studio goula figuera, ‘viride’ — from latin green — is a collection of experimental luminaries that combine two elements present in the domestic landscape: artificial lighting and vegetation. ‘viride’ blends the suggestive capability of transforming interiors with light and decorative plants in a new typology of object containing both. the collection is comprised of three different models, each one specially designed for each specific plant morphology. all of them have one or more LED panels with a color scheme suitable for interiors and at the same time, convenient for the growth of the plan.

10 – effie: the world’s first domestic automated ironing machine

fed up with ironing? so are rohan and trevor, creators of hello effie. the all new effie iron is the world’s first domestic automated ironing machine. the design functions as an iron, steamer as well as a drying. ‘iron effie’ can iron your clothes by contacting them and pressing the creases out, emulating the steam ironing process. ‘steam effie’ pushes steam into your more delicate clothes without touching them, allowing the wrinkles to simply fall out. finally, ‘dry effie’ dries items more gently than a tumble dryer by moving hot air over the clothes, leaving them undamaged.