20 Innovative Brands Focused on Game-Changing Products
Here’s a quick mental exercise for you. Imagine you were faced with a fight, in which you knew your opponent was bigger, stronger, more experienced, and had access to the best facilities, trainers, and coaches money could buy. Would you step into the ring?
It’s a terrible analogy, but those kind of Rocky odds are what nearly every new independent brand faces today. Amazingly, despite having the deck stacked against them, plenty of small, passion-fueled companies are creating incredibly innovative products with one goal in mind; revolutionizing their respective industries. While we make it a point to highlight brands like this on a regular basis, in the list below we’ve compiled 20 of our favorites to date in no particular order.
Read on about them all after the break and remember their names, because we don’t expect them to stay small for long.
Water has always been the arch-enemy of electronics, but Liquipel’s revolutionary coating seems poised to change that. Demo videos have shown how Liquipel can protect precious gadgets like the iPhone in the event of a water splash or even outright submersion, without altering the device in any tangible way for users. In fact, the company’s videos have made such an impact, that they’ve had to turn down customers demand for their $50+ waterproofing treatments until they can meet demand. That may be bad news for butter finger electronics owners looking for immediate “oops” insurance, but it’s good news for consumers at large, since this initial traction hints that H20 and circuitry may soon get along forever.
For the full list of game-changing products via Gear Patrol please click here.
Source: gearpatrol.com
Collaboration, Content and Communication: New Tools for the Creative Class
The technological revolution that has been ushered in by affordable technology and powerful processors has provided ordinary people with the tools to create everything from photos and videos to virtual architecture and even complex 3D models. Consider that on average, YouTube users upload the equivalent of 240,000 full-length films every week, more than 250 million photos are uploaded to Facebook every day, and Twitter processes 250 million tweets each day. The result has been a near endless stream of content, commentary and engaging experiences, which have pushed the worlds of art and design into new territory, as creators look to keep pace with, and comment on the influence of technology in our daily lives.
To continue reading via PSFK please click here.
Source: psfk.com
Forget Shoes and Handbags (Just for a Moment), Your Tech Gear Needs Cute Accessories Too!
Technology is great and all (and we couldn’t survive without it), but let’s be honest: it’s not always great looking. Touchscreens, portable readers and laptops have traditionally been boxy and boring. While that trend is slowly changing as tech becomes sleeker, fashion is helping to speed the process up a bit. Luckily, designers know that we, as both technology and shopping addicts, want to make our handheld devices look just as cute as our outfits, and there are tons of great items out there that do the trick.
Take my phone, for example. It may be smart, but its design is fairly uninteresting from a fashion standpoint. So, I keep a collection of cases in rotation and change them up to match my outfit or mood. After all, a phone is the one accessory you’re never, ever without–why should it look the same every day? You can find covers in almost every store, from reusable sticky skins to heavy-duty hard cases (for us accident-prone users), to make your phone a little less basic. My favorite idea? Reusable stickers–Chanel makes adorable lipstick print ones. It doesn’t stop there though; what about your headphones? You wouldn’t leave your ears naked on a night out–your earbuds deserve the same treatment. Toss those boring factory-issued buds for something crazy; the studs on these Lady Gaga’s Heartbeat 2.0 could just about function as earrings.
You might not be changing up your laptop as frequently, but who says you have to stick with that plain white fruit-shaped logo? You can get customizable skins from SKinIt in almost any style or color. Really obsessed with Miu Miu’s prints? Copy, paste and print–you’ll have the coolest laptop at #FW. Don’t forget to get a good carrier too, like this Marc Jacobs galaxy-print tote; you don’t want to just chuck your laptop in your purse!
The best cover selection though, hands down, are available for tablets. From the books and movies you store on them to the games you play and RSS feeds you read, your tablet is of the utmost importance. Show it some love with something pretty to keep it safe. Any brand worth it’s logo has a reader case, done in any material from leather to an ironic marble notebook slip.
To read this article via Fashionista, click here.
Source: fashionista.com
My Smart Life: Tomorrow
This is Part 2 of My Smart Design Life, which features interviews with three designers — Chris Spooner (graphics) , Kelly Hoppen (interiors), and Yves Behar (products) — about their wired lives and how technology has shaped the way they work, supported by Intel. Read Part 1 here.
Less than 10 years ago, I dreamed of a phone that could help me organize my life and stay connected. I dreamed that blogging could be a viable career option. I dreamed about computers with touch screens. These dreams have all been realized, but now, I keep thinking, “What’s next?” Jetpacks? Flying cars? Refrigerators that do your grocery shopping for you?
Source: design-milk.com
The Tools That Make It Happen: Parsons — School of Constructed Environments
Parsons The New School for Design, located in New York City, is made up of five schools that bring together graduate and undergraduate programs, including the School of Art, Media and Technology, School of Art and Design/History and Theory, School of Design Strategies, School of Fashion, and The School of Constructed Environments.
The School of Constructed Environments is the only integrated school of architecture, interior design, product design and lighting design in the United States, so this is a school I really wanted to get a peek inside. It offers dual degrees on the graduate level in interior design and architecture, and interior design and lighting design, as well as integrated studios among its various programs, so there is a lot of collaboration among the disciplines. The school is known for its signature Design Workshop, where students design and construct projects for non-profit clientele.
I spoke with the Dean of the School of Constructed Environments, Bill Morrish, who shared more about the goal of the school, the learning environment, and the key tools students use to solve problems with design every day.
Too read the entire article via Design Milk, click here.
Source: design-milk.com
My Smart Design Life: Today
This is the first in a series of five posts we’ll be doing on “Technology and Design” with the support of Intel that focus on how technology has shaped and will shape design. Not only will we get to take a closer look at the products we all use daily, but we’ll be talking to designers from all over the globe about how they use technology in their design work every day.
Technology is changing so quickly that most of us can barely keep up with the latest and greatest. Not only are devices getting faster, but they’re getting smaller and more useful. Designers use all kinds of technologies in their every day lives, from portable devices to software to techniques — we’ll cover it all.
My Smart Design Life is a two-part article in which we chat with three designers — Chris Spooner (graphics) , Kelly Hoppen (interiors), and Yves Behar (products) — to get the details of their “Smart Design Life”; in other words, how they’re wired. We wanted to find out exactly how these designers use technology every day and how it has changed the way they work and live (the good and the bad). In Part Two, the designers will imagine what technology and life will be like in 10, 20, even 30 years from now.
To read the full interviews with Chris, Kelly and Yves via Design Milk, click here.
Source: design-milk.com
20 Innovative Brands Focused on Game-Changing Products
Here’s a quick mental exercise for you. Imagine you were faced with a fight, in which you knew your opponent was bigger, stronger, more experienced, and had access to the best facilities, trainers, and coaches money could buy. Would you step into the ring?
It’s a terrible analogy, but those kind of Rocky odds are what nearly every new independent brand faces today. Amazingly, despite having the deck stacked against them, plenty of small, passion-fueled companies are creating incredibly innovative products with one goal in mind; revolutionizing their respective industries. While we make it a point to highlight brands like this on a regular basis, in the list below we’ve compiled 20 of our favorites to date in no particular order.
Read on about them all after the break and remember their names, because we don’t expect them to stay small for long.
Liquipel:
Water has always been the arch-enemy of electronics, but Liquipel’s revolutionary coating seems poised to change that. Demo videos have shown how Liquipel can protect precious gadgets like the iPhone in the event of a water splash or even outright submersion, without altering the device in any tangible way for users. In fact, the company’s videos have made such an impact, that they’ve had to turn down customers demand for their $50+ waterproofing treatments until they can meet demand. That may be bad news for butter finger electronics owners looking for immediate “oops” insurance, but it’s good news for consumers at large, since this initial traction hints that H20 and circuitry may soon get along forever.
To see the full list of brands creating these awesome, game-changing, high-tech products via Gear Patrol, click here.
Source: gearpatrol.com
