By Mason Currey - Feb 24, 2016

Designing for Desire

We talk to journalist Rita Catinella Orrell about her forthcoming “showcase of modern erotic objects.”

“I do not like the trend of attaching something to your phone to turn it into a vibrator. A phone is one of the dirtiest things around—why would someone want to put that near their clitoris when there are so many other more practical options out there? I also don’t like teddy bears, rubber ducks, or any other children’s toy turned into a vibrator.”

By Mason Currey - Feb 16, 2016

Benjamin Hubert on What It Really Takes to Make a Difference Through Design

The London designer has given up “style-centered” projects.

Design Indaba kicks off tomorrow in Cape Town, with three days of speakers on making “a better world through creativity.” One of those speakers is Benjamin Hubert, who presents an interesting case study for the independent designer looking to do more than just bring nifty new products into the world.

By Mason Currey - Feb 11, 2016

IDEO Joins Kyu

Tim Brown and Michael Birkin on why the creative collective may represent the future of independent design

On Tuesday, IDEO announced that it has joined kyu, a collective of creative companies owned by the Tokyo-based Hakuhodo DY Holdings. Kyu bought a minority stake in the 25-year-old design consultancy—the dollar amount and percentage are undisclosed—and IDEO will continue to be owned and independently managed by its partners. So

By Mason Currey - Jan 22, 2016

A Magazine That Luxuriates in Design’s Subtleties and Obscurities

Laura Houseley on the making of Modern Design Review

Everyone knows that print is dead, but anyone who visits the newsstand regularly has probably noticed that there are an awful lot of good-looking independent magazines that seem to be flourishing in these digital times—titles like Pin-Up (architecture), Apartamento (interiors), and Fantastic Man and The Gentlewoman (men’s and women’s fashion,

By Mason Currey - Dec 30, 2015

The Best Product Design GIFs of 2015

The animated GIF is ideally suited to certain types of subject matter. Adorable animals? Check. Out-of-sync Super Bowl dancers? Of course. Confused John Travolta? Yes, please. But product design—not so much. Nevertheless, 2015 did see a number of design-centric GIFs worth commemorating. Here are our ten favorites. 10. Introducing BB-8

By Mason Currey - Dec 15, 2015

Designing Disruptive Business Models

Verynice founder Matthew Manos calls out ten organizations doing it right.

Attendees of last October's Core77 Conference will no doubt remember Matthew Manos's presentation—as the founder of the Los Angeles–based design-strategy consultancy verynice, Manos is on a mission to get more designers to donate their work to pro-bono causes, and he makes a persuasive case for why giving work away doesn't

By Mason Currey - Dec 10, 2015

L.A. Design Without L.A. Stereotypes

Sight Unseen’s new exhibition goes beyond “California chill.”

More and more designers are opening studios in Los Angeles, but the city still offers relatively few opportunities to see their work in person. A welcome new venue, at least temporarily, is the downtown showroom Austere, normally dedicated to Scandinavian design but through February 14 hosting Site Specific: L.A., an

By Mason Currey - Sep 29, 2015

Sonos Debuts Software That Makes Its Speakers Sound Good Even in Terrible Listening Environments, i.e. Your Apartment

Like any other home-audio company, Sonos designs and engineers its products to sound their best in an ideal listening environment—and then releases those products into a world in which few of us achieve anything close to ideal listening conditions at home, whether due to laziness or ignorance or just having

By Mason Currey - Sep 22, 2015

Rolf and Mette Hay on Making High-Quality, Affordable Design Objects

The founders of the Danish brand HAY answer our Core77 Questionnaire.

"I'm extremely passionate about prototyping, because there's nothing worse than a bad prototype. You know, sitting with the drawing, looking at the first renderings on the computer, it's always interesting. But the moment where you go to a full-size prototype, that's the best part for me."

By Mason Currey - Sep 08, 2015

Matthew Manos on Giving Half Your Work Away for Free

The founder of the design-strategy consultancy verynice answers our Core77 Questionnaire.

"Something that I spend loads of my time doing is helping designers realize that giving your work away doesn't necessarily mean losing something, but it's actually a way to gain something totally new. I want to convince designers that pro bono can be a really exciting part of their practice."

By Mason Currey - Aug 25, 2015

The 2015 Core77 Conference: The Future Now

Introducing our final CoreCon session, with a look into the near and distant future of design thinking and product development

Core77 is holding its second-annual design conference in Los Angeles on October 23, and we're pulling out all the stops. We've got a spectacular venue in downtown LA; we're throwing two parties; we're offering optional field trips the morning after the conference—and, of course, we have a stellar lineup of

By Mason Currey - Aug 24, 2015

The 2015 Core77 Conference: Business Now

Introducing our third CoreCon session, with a look at the challenges and opportunities facing design entrepreneurs

Last week, we introduced the first two sessions of the 2015 Core77 Conference, taking place in Los Angeles on October 23. Today, we're back with a preview of our third session, Business Now. Our first speaker is Matthew Manos, founder of verynice, a global design strategy and foresight consultancy that

By Mason Currey - Aug 20, 2015

The 2015 Core77 Conference: Making Now

Introducing our second CoreCon session, featuring spectacular water fountains, made-in-LA lighting, socially-minded crafts and a life-design workshop

The 2015 Core77 Conference kicks off in Los Angeles just nine weeks from today. Yesterday, we introduced our first conference session, Collaboration Now, featuring speakers from Google, Levi's, Sonos, The Hydrous and Future Partners. Today, we're back with a preview of our second session, Making Now, which will look into

By Mason Currey - Aug 19, 2015

The 2015 Core77 Conference: Collaboration Now

Introducing the first of our four CoreCon sessions, with speakers from Google, Levi's, Sonos, The Hydrous and Future Partners

Last year, in Brooklyn, Core77 held its first-ever design conference, a daylong affair that explored neomaterialism, wearables, cycling culture, the "spectacular vernacular" and plenty more. This year, emboldened by that success, we're hosting an even more ambitious event in downtown Los Angeles, with more speakers (23!), more parties (two!) and

By Mason Currey - Aug 17, 2015

Signs of Life

Project Projects' Prem Krishnamurthy on a weeklong wayfinding experiment in the French countryside

In the world of communication design, perhaps no word is less sexy than wayfinding, which inevitably conjures up images of dull-yet-necessary signage, maps and, well, even more signage. And yet anyone who has tried to navigate an unfamiliar airport, museum or public-transit system can attest to the power of a

By Mason Currey - Jul 14, 2015

Frederick McSwain on Conquering the World of Corporate Gifting

The industrial designer—and newly appointed chief creative officer of LR Paris—answers our Core77 Questionnaire.

The world of promotional products is a $20 billion industry. But right now, for so many companies, it's an afterthought. They'll spend a lot time on their websites and their consumer-facing establishments, but then they'll buy a beer koozie and put their logo on it. It's completely off-brand.

By Mason Currey - Jun 30, 2015

Incase's Moses Aipa on Bridging the Gap Between Product and Graphics

The company's VP of brand and creative answers our Core77 Questionnaire.

The Incase brand mantra: "A better experience through good design." That applies to everything we touch. We eliminate the superfluous, we edit down to what's necessary, and we aim to achieve a universal design language that transcends both age and demographics. Through that, we're able to create solutions that allow users to have a better experience pursuing their passions.

By Mason Currey - Jun 19, 2015

David Adjaye on His New Line of Textiles for Knoll

“There's a vibrancy and movement, but it's not intense; it's not something that's supposed to trip you out.”

Today, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, opens David Adjaye Selects, an exhibition of 14 West and Central African textiles drawn from the museum's permanent collection by the Ghanian-British architect. Adjaye's work curating the exhibition was also the inspiration for a new line of textiles he designed for Knoll, which

By Mason Currey - Jun 03, 2015

Barber & Osgerby on Justifying the Existence of New Objects

The London designers answer our Core77 Questionnaire.

The duo is on a mission to create new archetypes and modes of use for beautiful things.

By Mason Currey - May 19, 2015

Ronan Bouroullec Is Never Satisfied

The French industrial designer answers our Core77 Questionnaire.

Name: Ronan Bouroullec Occupation: Designer, and one-half of the Paris studio Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec Design Current projects: It’s a mix of a lot of things. I’ve just come back from seeing a finished prototype for a small architectural project in Iran. We’re working with a big Korean company on

By Mason Currey - Apr 28, 2015

Sonos's Tad Toulis on Bridging Hardware and Software, Being a "Pessimistic Optimist," and the Power of Naïveté in Design

The company's VP of design answers our Core77 Questionnaire.

I'm not particularly in love with technology—I think technology is an amazing tool that can do amazing things—but being a bit naive about how it all works actually helps me to keep more of an expectation of the end user.

By Mason Currey - Apr 07, 2015

Hadrien Monloup on Making Super-Slim Wallets and Why Designers Should Aim for Improvement Rather Than Perfection

The Bellroy co-founder and design director answers our Core77 Questionnaire.

Name: Hadrien Monloup Occupation: Co-founder and product design director of Bellroy and Carryology Location: Jan Juc, Victoria, Australia Current projects: We have built a great, fast-growing wallet brand and business. Now we are working really hard on the Bellroy of tomorrow. And that will include some very interesting products. One

By Mason Currey - Mar 24, 2015

Ineke Hans on Designing Products That Are Clean, Clear and Clever

The Dutch industrial designer answers our Core77 Questionnaire.

We recently launched two new products: the Drawer Table for the Dutch brand Arco, and the Aline bar stool for the Swedish company Johanson. In addition, we recently designed one kilometer of balconies for an apartment building in

By Mason Currey - Mar 17, 2015

Immediacy Is Key, and Six More Takeaways From Our 'Tech Specs' Interview Series

We noticed a handful of themes (and complaints) emerge from talking to designers about their digital tools.

Last Friday, we wrapped up our ten-part Tech Specs interview series, in which we talked to designers from a variety of sectors about their computer setups, most-used software, favorite apps, biggest tech gripes and related issues. Obviously, this is too small of a sample size to extrapolate any broad generalizations

By Mason Currey - Mar 13, 2015

Tech Specs: Marc Fornes, Founder of THEVERYMANY

The New York–based experimental architect on generating form through code, hopping between software platforms, and why his studio decided to buy a foosball table instead of a 3D printer.

By Mason Currey - Mar 12, 2015

Tech Specs: Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, Director of Pratt's IMARI Lab

The designer, educator and wearables expert on being an enthusiastic early adopter, always searching for the hack, and why industrial designers are fearless people.

By Mason Currey - Mar 11, 2015

Tech Specs: Jonathan Harris, Digital Artist

The Brooklyn-based artist and data-visualization pioneer on avoiding smartphones, being a control freak about his process—and why he thinks apps are destined for obsolescence.

By Mason Currey - Mar 10, 2015

Tech Specs: Andrew Kim, Designer at Microsoft

The Seattle-based designer on being addicted to Instagram, sticking with physical sketchbooks and why his biggest problem with software right now is the lack of immediacy.

By Mason Currey - Mar 09, 2015

Tech Specs: Greg Howell, Design Chief at Ram Trucks Exterior Design

As we begin our second week of tech-centric Q&As, Ram Trucks’ exterior-design head talks about the digital (and analog) tools of the trade—and his most epic tech fail.

By Mason Currey - Mar 06, 2015

Tech Specs: Victoria Slaker, VP of Product Design at Ammunition

The San Francisco–based designer on having a very straightforward computer setup, being an impatient early adopter—and why she’s grown wary of the “super shiny rendering.”

By Mason Currey - Mar 05, 2015

Tech Specs: Abe Burmeister, Cofounder of Outlier

The Brooklyn-based designer and entrepreneur on the iPad Mini’s “transformational” form factor, his devotion to Wacom tablets and why he does most of his work from the couch.

By Mason Currey - Mar 04, 2015

Tech Specs: Ladies & Gentlemen Studio

The Seattle-based designers Dylan Davis and Jean Lee on working from home, being “degenerate Luddites” and searching for the perfect small-business software.

By Mason Currey - Mar 03, 2015

Tech Specs: Paul Hoppe, Art Director at Local Projects

The NYC–based art director on prototyping through code, building interactive installations—and being careful not to let new technology get in the way of the story.

By Mason Currey - Mar 02, 2015

Introducing 'Tech Specs,' Our Interview Series on Designers' Digital Tools

Starting today, as part of our 2015 Tech-tacular, we’ll be publishing Q&As with ten designers about their computer setups, most-used software, favorite apps and biggest tech gripes.

By Mason Currey - Mar 02, 2015

Tech Specs: Thomas Murray, Senior Industrial Designer at Bresslergroup

In the first of our ten tech-centric Q&As, Murray talks about the industry-wide transition from analog to digital sketching—and his personal aversion to cordless mice.