Absolut and TreeHugger Present Downloadable Designtag:www.treehugger.com,2008:/absolut//122007-10-02T16:59:01ZMovable Type 3.34In An Absolut World Everything is Downloadabletag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.275302007-10-30T15:39:28Z2007-10-02T16:59:01Z This Side Up Table by David Graas In an Absolut world, we will download design on demand. It is like the music for our iPod; dematerialized bits and bytes put together again where we need it, without the waste...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.phpThis Side Up Table by David Graas
In an Absolut world, we will download design on demand.
It is like the music for our iPod; dematerialized bits and bytes put together again where we need it, without the waste of a physical intermediary. In a world where we watch our carbon as closely as our waistline we don't want to be driving to stores; in a world where everything except Absolut can be digitized, why move material when we are interested in ideas, creativity and talent?
With digital designs we decide what we want from the best in the world, not what Mr. Store Manager picks out. The Long Tail is at our fingertips as we cruise from Korea to Kansas for the design that suits our taste.
Once we find it we email it to the neighborhood CNC shop (we could buy a Mr. Router home model but the shop is conveniently right next to where they print out our clothing and sew it together...) and bring home the pieces for assembly, no delivery van required. The long boat trip from China is a thing of the past as we choose local, sustainable plywood as the medium.
We don't want to own a lot so what we do should be the best and exactly what we want, what we choose, not what anyone else decides they will sell to us, because we live in a downloadable world.
Join TreeHugger and Absolut in this demonstration of a downloadable world. We have asked designers from around the world to give us one/sixth scale models of their designs that you can download, print, cut out and build. Collect them all!
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Make Your Own Downloadable Toystag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.291262007-10-12T14:48:12Z2007-10-12T14:50:45Z We just learned about Paper Critters, an entire colony of paper toys inhabited by 4946 contributions from people all over the world. Not only that, they provide software tools to draw your own paper critter, make it part of...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.php
We just learned about Paper Critters, an entire colony of paper toys inhabited by 4946 contributions from people all over the world. Not only that, they provide software tools to draw your own paper critter, make it part of the colony and print it out. Trend hunter Josh Spears says "it's all in the application; you’re supplied with different tools used to decorate your critter, like shapes, thematic stencils that range from “cute” to “rebel” — good for those of us who can’t even draw a straight line to save our lives — a palette of colors, as well as the option to incorporate an uploaded image from your hard drive. But the best is the end result; when you’re finished, you print out your little bad-ass, fold and glue him together, and wait for office workers to think you’re keeping your secret talent on the DL." Make your own at ::Paper Critters ]]>
Shirley Pui-Yu Cheung: Laptop Tabletag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.287812007-10-02T16:39:21Z2007-10-02T16:49:45Z Ryerson University School of Interior Design graduate Shirley Pui-Yu Cheung asks: Why not maximize a piece of 4' x 4' baltic birch wood by taking advantage of its natural beauty and making it multifunctional? An occasional side table that...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.php
Ryerson University School of Interior Design graduate Shirley Pui-Yu Cheung asks:
Why not maximize a piece of 4' x 4' baltic birch wood by taking advantage of its natural beauty and making it multifunctional? An occasional side table that functions like a study or laptop table with an extra height space for a glass of juice or a book. When not in use as a laptop table it can be easily transported by grabbing on to the oval cutouts. Not only is it multifunctional but its non-conventional form makes doing work more fun!
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Bruce Sterling on Downloadable Designstag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.286762007-09-28T18:34:14Z2007-09-28T18:39:40Z You, dear readers, are not the only ones thinking about downloadable designs; Writer Bruce Sterling wrote the book and made the video! "The future will see a new kind of object — we have the primitive forms of them...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.php
You, dear readers, are not the only ones thinking about downloadable designs; Writer Bruce Sterling wrote the book and made the video!
"The future will see a new kind of object — we have the primitive forms of them now in our pockets and briefcases: user-alterable, baroquely multi-featured, and programmable — that will be sustainable, enhanceable, and uniquely identifiable. Sterling coins the term “spime” for them, these future manufactured objects with informational support so extensive and rich that they are regarded as material instantiations of an immaterial system. Spimes are designed on screens, fabricated by digital means, and precisely tracked through space and time. They are made of substances that can be folded back into the production stream of future spimes, challenging all of us to become involved in their production. Spimes are coming, says Sterling. We will need these objects in order to live; we won’t be able to surrender their advantages without awful consequences." ::putting people first
Watch the amazing ::video here
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Bradley Marks: Laptop Tabletag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.285882007-09-26T15:13:04Z2007-09-26T15:24:04Z Students at The Ryerson University School of Interior Design in Toronto, Canada were asked to design a piece of furniture out of a single 4 x4 sheet of baltic birch plywood. These wowed the crowd at the Interior Design...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.phpStudents at The Ryerson University School of Interior Design in Toronto, Canada were asked to design a piece of furniture out of a single 4 x4 sheet of baltic birch plywood. These wowed the crowd at the Interior Design Show this spring; We thought it a wonderful opportunity to present the work of these talented young designers as downloadable designs. So far as we know, none are in production, but that might change....
Ryerson University School of Interior Design Student Bradley Marks says:
Table as sculpture was the driving force behind the constructivist inspired cantilevered piece. Line and forms transform depending on the perspective from which the table is seen. In certain instances planar elements dominate, in others linear, while in some a false sense of mass is created, The strong colour was used both to unify and to lead the viewer's eye around and through the table's various components.
Please enjoy.
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Bradley grew up Thornhill, Ontario just north of Toronto. Having attended numerous art schools in his grade school years he developed a love of architecture and all things design. His post-secondary education began at McGill University where he attained a degree in Political Science. Following his graduation Bradley moved to London, England where he became reacquainted with his love for art, architecture, and design. While abroad Bradley decided to pursue studies in this field and upon return to Canada commenced a second degree in Interior Design at Ryerson University. He is currently in his third year of the program.]]>
Next: Downloading your Wardrobetag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.285542007-09-25T15:53:35Z2007-09-25T16:03:04Z In Finland, Freedom of Creation (FOC) is designing fabrics that use laser sintering technology to produce fabrics of interlocking links of plastic. "instead of producing textiles by the meter, then cutting and sewing them into final products, this concept...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.php
In Finland, Freedom of Creation (FOC) is designing fabrics that use laser sintering technology to produce fabrics of interlocking links of plastic. "instead of producing textiles by the meter, then cutting and sewing them into final products, this concept has the ability to make needle and thread obsolete."]]>
FOC's manufacturing partner is FKM, with the largest fleet of sintering machines in Europe. With a push of a button, the manufacturer realizes significant economic benefits, such as elimination of warehouse, stock, and assembly processes, extreme reduction in transportation costs and enabling just-in-time production"::FOC via ::PSFK]]>
Nicola Enrico Stäubli: Foldschooltag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.285062007-09-24T13:17:56Z2007-09-24T13:27:58Z "Mass culture is run by superficiality and ecological absurdity. Foldschool supports craftsmanship as a face-to-face approach to design and brings together product and user the closest possible. The mindset of foldschool is to restore design to one of its...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.php
"Mass culture is run by superficiality and ecological absurdity. Foldschool supports craftsmanship as a face-to-face approach to design and brings together product and user the closest possible.
The mindset of foldschool is to restore design to one of its original missions: to provide a product at an affordable price through a smart manufacturing process.
Foldschool is a collection of free cardboard furniture for kids, handmade by you. The ownloadable patterns can be printed out with any printer. Follow the instructions and assemble a stable piece of furniture."
You can download a free, full scale pattern from Foldschool or build a 1/6 scale miniature:
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Foldschool is designed by Swiss-based architect Nicola Enrico Stäubli. He is living and working as an independent architect, designer and bike messenger. Foldschool is his first mass product, cardboard furniture hand-crafted by the consumer.]]>
It is Already Happening: Ponokotag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.283902007-09-20T12:36:02Z2007-09-20T12:42:32Z While we experiment with downloadable designs on this site, at New Zealand's Ponoko, they are already doing it. They put all of the pieces of the puzzle together to let designers upload their flatpack designs, let purchasers buy them,...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.php
While we experiment with downloadable designs on this site, at New Zealand's Ponoko, they are already doing it. They put all of the pieces of the puzzle together to let designers upload their flatpack designs, let purchasers buy them, and they find manufacturers to laser-cut them out. They call it "the world's first personal manufacturing platform. It's the online space for a community of creators and consumers to use a global network of digital manufacturing hardware to co-create, make and trade individualized product ideas on demand."
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it is everything we are talking about here- a marketplace that "connects creators, consumers, digital manufacturing hardware and service providers to promote, make and trade products on Ponoko and social networking websites." Wow. ::Ponoko
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Don't Just Download Music, Download the Whole Player Too!tag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.283582007-09-19T14:51:18Z2007-09-19T14:53:28Z In an Absolut world, you not only can download your music, you can order up the music player as well. You just need something like Dimatix desktop inkjet printer which can print out circuit boards and electronic components. Polymertronics...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.php
In an Absolut world, you not only can download your music, you can order up the music player as well. You just need something like Dimatix desktop inkjet printer which can print out circuit boards and electronic components. Polymertronics is printing out "bespoke organic light emitting diodes"- custom lighting is now like going to the custom tailor. In an Absolut world you won't line up in front of an Apple store waiting for the iPhone, you will just download it. ]]>
Angelique Lucas-Witte: Laptop Tabletag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.283232007-09-18T14:18:51Z2007-09-18T14:29:22Z Students at The Ryerson University School of Interior Design in Toronto, Canada were asked to design a piece of furniture out of a single 4 x4 sheet of baltic birch plywood. These wowed the crowd at the Interior Design...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.phpStudents at The Ryerson University School of Interior Design in Toronto, Canada were asked to design a piece of furniture out of a single 4 x4 sheet of baltic birch plywood. These wowed the crowd at the Interior Design Show this spring; We thought it a wonderful opportunity to present the work of these talented young designers as downloadable designs. So far as we know, none are in production, but that might change.....
Designed for easy mobility and the use of a laptop, this table may also transform into a side table. Through the use of voids and shifting planar elements this piece is not only functional, but intriguing and playful. Visual continuity is created through the use of colour where one element penetrates the other. Although constructed out of Baltic Birch, wood may be substituted with acrylics or recycled materials. This multi-functional piece creates a playful and dynamic presence in any space.
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Because We Can: Tree Stump Coffee Tabletag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.282862007-09-17T15:32:25Z2007-09-17T15:46:03Z This table is coated with a water-based, zero-VOC finish. And made of 100% Certified Sustainable maple plywood. Which means that there will be more trees to make silly stuff like this out of. All of our products are made...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.php
This table is coated with a water-based, zero-VOC finish. And made of 100% Certified Sustainable maple plywood. Which means that there will be more trees to make silly stuff like this out of.
All of our products are made on demand, so we don't store a huge mass of potential land fill in a ware house somewhere. Instead we wait until there is a desire for them, and then they are produce. This table ships to you flat, and requires no hardware to put together. The table can easily be taken apart and put back together in a matter of seconds.
The tree table stands around 2 feet wide on a side (23" x 25"), and 2 feet tall (24") for the tall one, 16" for the squat one. and is all natural. Like a tree should be! Great for small spaces with it's ability to come apart quickly, or extra table to have around, and it's just plain fun!
Visit Because We Can or build your own miniature:
Download file for tall stump tableDownload file for squat stump table
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Because We Can, LLC is lead by a husband and wife team working in all mediums and exploring new ways of solving old problems. Jeffrey McGrew is a Designer and is currently taking his Architect License exams. Jillian Northrup is a Designer and Professional Digital Photographer.
Our goal is to make the world a more interesting place by making great things. We are a Design-Build firm, and are creative and passionate about our work and we can make anything. We use automated CNC fabrication techniques in our own in-house production shop. Any number, any size, anything you can dream of!]]>
Judging Your Downloadable Design: Josh Rubintag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.282322007-09-14T18:38:49Z2007-09-14T18:43:01Z Not only have we invited you to submit your own downloadable design, but we are assembling a panel of judges to pick the best one. First up: Josh Rubin of Cool Hunting. "I started Cool Hunting in February 2003...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.php
Not only have we invited you to submit your own downloadable design, but we are assembling a panel of judges to pick the best one. First up: Josh Rubin of Cool Hunting.
"I started Cool Hunting in February 2003 after accepting that I'm much better at organizing digitally than physically. As an interaction designer I'm always looking for both inspiration and an understanding of the way people do things. I decided to catalog what I found on the web and haphazardly named it Cool Hunting because to me that's synonymous with finding inspiration. Some people think this site is about trends, but it is more about curating observations. I get excited about obsessive compulsive art, elegant uses of technology, unusual and limited edition sneakers, and general paradoxes.
::Cool Hunting
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David Graas: Finish Yourself Stooltag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.281712007-09-13T14:14:48Z2007-09-13T14:33:20Z Dutch Designer David Graas thinks garbage is poorly designed. He says " Wouldn't it be nice if the discarded products would not cause problems for the environment? That you could throw them away without feeling guilty? Or the materials...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.php
Dutch Designer David Graas thinks garbage is poorly designed. He says " Wouldn't it be nice if the discarded products would not cause problems for the environment? That you could throw them away without feeling guilty? Or the materials could be completely re-used without much effort?"
He has designed the Finish Your Self Stool:
A stool made of cardboard has many advantages. It is very light, remarkably strong, 100% recyclable, easily assembled by yourself and, last but not least, quite beautiful. Also, because product and packaging are both made from the same type of cardboard, the packaging can be used to finish the stool by yourself. Two parts of the FYS stool are simply cut loose from the box containing the other six parts resulting in less waste.
Visit David Graas
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The designs of David Graas focus on being environmentally friendly and affordable at the same time and show a special liking for the trivial. In a world where products are out of date sooner and sooner he tries to prolong the life of his designs by adding meaning. Ordinary becomes extraordinary. Often the packaging plays an active role, giving content to the design. David Graas studied product design at the Gerrit Rietveld Art Acadamy in Amsterdam. Since 2004 he works as an independent designer in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He produces his designs under his own management in small numbers, with local resources, common production techniques and standard materials.
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D. E. Sellers: Emergency Stooltag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.275312007-08-26T16:00:38Z2007-08-28T14:09:28Z The Emergency Stool is designed to transcend function and question furniture as object, art, or image. The Emergency stool is a laser cut panel of Baltic Birch plywood where each part is connected to each other creating a panel...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.php
The Emergency Stool is designed to transcend function and question furniture as object, art, or image. The Emergency stool is a laser cut panel of Baltic Birch plywood where each part is connected to each other creating a panel that can be displayed an image on the wall prepared to be but into action for an emergency by simply breaking the panel into it's individual parts. The laser etcher graphic provides international assembly instructions. This kiche design adds ingenuity and humor to modern furnishings creating a useful stool or side table without fasteners or the need of complex tools.
Visit d e sellers ]]>
d e Sellers is an accredited award winning designer with a degree in architecture. His designs are inspired by the simplicity and functionality of his material. Combining conceptual sensitivity with technical expertise, d e Sellers has managed to transform modern materials into sculptural forms creating a unique design approach to furniture composition.]]>
What is a CNC Machine?tag:www.treehugger.com,2007:/absolut//12.275322007-08-26T15:18:34Z2007-09-12T16:46:34Z Because we Can's Shopbot A CNC (computer numerical control) router cuts plywood or other materials according to instructions from a computer, usually from a CAD drawing. All of the downloadable designs shown here are designed to be cut out...Lloyd Alter, Torontohttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/treehugger_welc_1.phpBecause we Can's Shopbot
A CNC (computer numerical control) router cuts plywood or other materials according to instructions from a computer, usually from a CAD drawing. All of the downloadable designs shown here are designed to be cut out on a CNC router. In an Absolut World, technology like this will be available as a neighborhood service like a Kinko's- you will download a design and send it to the machine, and then pick it up when your order is ready.
They are big machines, designed to handle full sheets of plywood, but in an Absolut world you may want to have one at home; right now you can buy little ones at Sears for under $ 2,000.]]>
The actual machine they are selling is a Carvewright, a compact and powerful Woodcarving Machine which measures a mere 15x 18x 26" inches. It's rising-head and feed through configuration accepts work pieces 14.5 inches wide, 5 inches high, and with proper support nearly any desired length.
If you are really handy, you can build one yourself; Plans and specifications for the MechMate here.]]>
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If you are really handy, you can build one yourself; Plans and specifications for the MechMate here.]]>