Festival Automobile International: Concept Cars

Hello everyone,
Last week the Festival Automobile International ended in Paris. 25 Concept cars were displayed...Gina was present there too! Thanks to some connections, I was able to get the special issue of Le Point about the event.


GINA was developed by BMW and stands for Geometry and functions In 'N' Adaptions. The car is able to shift shape as it body is composed by a special flexible skin. This is just so interesting!


Want to know more about it?
You can check the following links:

-> Wikipedia
-> Wired
--> Or check out bmw.tv

Cheers everyone!

Multi Sensory Design Workshop : Fragrance

Hello everybody,

I am taking an elective called Multi Sensory Design. This course is covering the fields of product acoustics, tactility and fragrance. Using the right combination it are deal makers or breakers when customers decide which product they will choose. In addition, it strengthens the brand during the acquisition stage of a product.


IFF Inc. (International Fragrances & Flavours Inc.) hosted a workshop in which we had to design (or mix) a fragrance which would fit the following brief:

• - Suited for violet soap bar
• - Suitable for Malaysia
• - Relaxing / Comforting
• - Feminine
• - Modern / Contemporary
• - Fits the Fruitale Brand
• - Violet color connection

Well, at the end of the workshop our team came up with a recipe which was labeled "Malaysian Massage". From memory, the national flower of Malaysia was a relative of the rose flower. Therefore, the key fragrance was the rose one.

After checking, the national flower of Malaysia is called Bunga Raya (Rosasinensis). Which is a far cousin of the rose flower......

yeah, the name may sound cheezy, we only had 20 seconds to come up with a name. Anyhow, we are very positive about our final result. Let's see who will win this contest ;-).

Here are some pictures. Note that the fragrances you see in the pictures are only half of what we could use...



This workshop was very interesting as the chemistry of the flavours and fragrances industry was explained in addition to the technical implications of "designing smell".

Cheers,
Michiel

Material Xperience Fair

Hello people,
It's been a while that I posted a new item.

Well, here is a fair that I visited today about new materials for designers (especcially for interior designers, however there were some applications that could be used for product designers....).

Here is a batch of pictures..hope it inspires you! Just click on the pictures to enlarge them!



some rapid prototyping...

Size and scale doesn't matter...well, it costs 2000 euro to create this usb stick...


This shoe was simply amazing..also rapid prototyped. Look at the city inside of the shoe, the panels etc etc.


Bricks with led lights...everything is possible!



One of my favourites...transparent concrete! You can see the light projected on the back through the concrete plate here.


3d text possibilities inside of a glass plate...


Glass applications and different effects through different shapes and volumes...


Once more...different glass applications!

Here is the concrete once more...look at the light being transmitted...here they used chunks of glass to make the light pass through...



Glass with LEDs...no wires. Look at the picture and you can look through the window. Pretty cool he? Oh, you can change the colours and the intensity in addition of flickering patterns...



Heating bulbs and glass bulbs with turning thingies inside. Very nice to see! haha.


Water-jetted curved metal. Pretty cool effect though...


Some bits and pieces we could play with! Pretty funny though...

Some light applications used as a general theme. Very nice!


Once more...the panels... :)

Is this a 3d object...?

Or just a sheet of some kind of material?



Pretty cool blinds regulating temperature and light entry..



You cant look through it...

Now you can! This is just so cool haha.

Some explanations about the technology...

Plastics applications...nice and squishy bubbles!


Light transmitting concrete...

Three different densities of light emitting concrete. Imagine the different application possibilities!

Some details how it was made...just for information: 1m² costs about 1000 euro....
Look at the light coming through the concrete...

Advanced glass modelling applications...the shape is just insane and it is one piece!


3d material...varying your position will allow different patterns to appear...underneath is a detail of the different patterns possible. In this case, it are pixels. You can have different patterns though...

The details about the 3d materials...


Super smooth complex shapes in concrete...very very smooth...


Light varying paper...depending on the position it changed color. Below are different pictures taken of the same paper but different angles. Note the color variations. Made by 3M (if I remember correctly...)







Complex shape modelling in glass...Who would not want a chair like that? :)

Here are the details...


Molding and special coatings...


Wire applications and modelling possibilities...


Overall view of the central spot of the fair...

Rapid prototyping...once more the sexy shoe!

Interactive beamer...just jump and the water will splash and the fish swim away...Not very new, but nice to play with it!


Again the panels and the red lighting...

3d translucent material...looks nice and also used at acoustic modelling...




Well, I hope all these materials and applications may help you in designing cooler...and better products and interiors...

Till soon people!
Cheers,
Michiel