Pucker

David Wilde has completed a photography project that he has aptly named 'Pucker'. He has captured the reactions when babies taste their first lemons. There are some great expressions that have been caught and as cruel and unusual as it may seem, is definitely a source of entertainment. Found here.

Build your own 35mm SLR Camera?

So you want to build your own 35mm SLR camera? Well your friends might think you're crazy but have no fear because the world's first DIY SLR camera is here! The Kronstruktor looks beautiful and also looks relatively easy to put together. By clicking and screwing it together in a few easy steps; you'll soon have a fully-operational 35mm camera that's able to shoot brilliant analogue photos.

The camera comes with a top-down viewfinder to see what you shoot and to focus; an easy multiple exposure function; special settings for long exposures and a detachable 50mm f/10 lens. It's as good as SLR cameras go and thanks to the DIY aspect, you'll feel as though you've designed it yourself.
No paint or glue is required, and further customisation options for the Konstruktor will be made available in the future as more interchangeable Lomography lenses and accessories are set to be realised in the coming months.

So with the age of digital photography in full swing, if you are interested in getting back to the roots of analog photography why not build the camera yourself. I would also like to see how the photos actually turn out from one of these cameras. Found here.

Expanding Bowls

Although it may not look too different in function to the pre-existing Styrofoam cups/bowls that you add hot water to in order to have a meal, these expanding bowls are combining materials and technologies to make it a lot more sustainable. So much so that they have been awarded 'The Dieline Package Design Awards 2013: Sustainable Packaging Award.

Swedish research company Innventia teamed up with designers Anna Glansén and Hanna Billqvist from design agency Tomorrow Machine to develop a sustainable package customized for freeze-dried food. These expandable bowls save space during transportation by being compressed while being 100% biodegradable, being made from materials created by Inventia.

The paper composite is a patented cellulose-based material, but with properties similar to them of plastic. When hot water is poured into the package, the material reacts to the heat and transforms from a compressed package to a serving bowl.

The purpose of the collaboration between Inventia and design agencies like Tomorrow Machine, is to combine the knowledge of scientists and the creativity of designers to make use of the new material’s full potential and create the sustainable package designs of tomorrow - today. Found here.

3D printed casts

So we have all seen one, or had a broken limb ourselves that required a plaster or fiberglass cast to set the bones for weeks on end. For those of you who have had to endure this you would know about all the difficulties that come with it. Lack of air, itch, the smell and keeping it dry and clean. Well all of this could be solved with the relatively new technology of 3D printing. Victoria University of Wellington graduate, Jake Evill has produced a cortex prototype cast that is causing quite a stir. This cast is lightweight, ventilated, washable, thin enough to fit under a shirt sleeve, while strong enough to stabilize the broken bones while they heal.

'A patient would have the bones x-rayed and the outside of the limb 3D-scanned. Computer software would then determine the optimum bespoke shape, with denser support focussed around the fracture itself. The polyamide pieces would be printed on-site and clip into place with fastenings that can't be undone until the healing process is complete, when they would be taken off with tools at the hospital as normal. Unlike current casts, the materials could then be recycled.'


This idea and use of technology has enormous potential. It's a way of bringing fracture support into the 21st century, that actually has a stylish edge to it. Found here.

20 Creative Pieces of Packaging

Here are 20 examples of creative packaging. Not all of the above examples are extremely well designed but you can tell there has been some thinking behind them and how they promote the product. A lot of these ideas will have other designers smacking themselves in the state of 'why didn't I think of that'. I think most of the examples are pretty self explanatory except for maybe the design directly above this message. For anyone who needs an explanation, what may look like chunky pencils, are actually 'tubes' of Parmesan cheese that come with a specialized 'sharpener' that shaves the cheese. Genius! The package designs were randomly plucked from the world wide web, so there is no redirecting reference for this post.

Dumb Ways to Die

So, a while back I wrote a post about an Australian Train safety campaign that went viral. Now the Melbourne ad agency, McCann has converted some of the ideas into print ads. I love these as much as I originally loved the ad campaign... and now I've got the catchy tune stuck in my head... AGAIN!. Found here.