In the northern province of Jilin, China there is a terrapin that is addicted to nicotine. According to the Xinhua news agency, “One day, Yun (the owner) teased the turtle by putting a cigarette butt into its mouth, and to his surprise it started to smoke it. From then on, he shared his cigarettes with his pet.
“It seems to have become addicted,” Yun was quoted as saying.
“Whenever I smoke in front of it, it will stick its head out of the water and fidget about until I give it the stub.”
Yun proved his claim by putting a cigarette in the tortoise’s mouth in front the paper’s reporter and his neighbours. To everyone’s surprise, the turtle finished it in less than four minutes.”…WTF
[VIA]
The 15.3m long SENTORI 50 concept yacht features a flybridge, three decks and strongly automotive inspired main lines of the hull, offering an elegant appearance to achieve a dynamic and sophisticated characteristic. The coupe-like appearance of the yacht has given by the distinctive a-pillar starting from the foredeck to the whole greenhouse. The large windows of the greenhouse and the owner’s cabin offers magnificent sea view and ensure plenty of light all over the room. The flybridge end houses an integratedly designed equipment carrier with dark color to support the yacht’s coupe character.
The rear area contains a large sunbed and a multifunctional dining area with an adjustable dining table for 8 persons that can be lowered if an additional sunbed is required. The semi transparent glass wrapped slick and homogeneous wetbar contains a sink, a refrigerator and a hotplate, which acts as a skylight as well for the salon underneath and indirectly illuminates the flybeidge at night. The innovatively designed steering console comprises a sophisticated keyboard that gives the driver a feeling of interacting with a high-tech instrument and slides into the console when not in use.
Other useful data:
Length: 15.3 m
Beam: 5.0 m
Displacement: 18 t
engines: 2 x 900 PS YANMAR
max. speed: 40 knots.
Designer : Motion Code Blue
The OPENbike system is combined with a user friendly, lightweight bicycle and effective technologies used in telecommunications, public-transport, positioning, car-sharing and logistics to create a unique and innovative bike-sharing system. The bike has been designed to comfortably suit riders of all body sizes with adjustable saddle and handlebar. The unique design of the bike has given it a clear brand identity which will help it to be easy recognizable. Produced with strong and recycled materials, this bike produces minimal environmental impact, while makes it durable enough to sustain for many years. The system also offers cargo bikes which can be booked ahead and is available at OPENbike centers, as a great solution for locals and visitors with small children to enjoy the city life.
Designer : Erik Nohlin
The 2Oct2031 watch concept has been designed for future to provide the future users ultimate luxury with great functionality. The integrated diamond like face of the watch contains two dial plates, one in center and another at the bottom left angle, which is supposed to be used and customized by the users. While the black diamond aspects symbolize luxury, the superbly designed durable belt provides comprehensive safety for the watch as well as comfort for the users.
Designer : Tao Ma
Pop bottle is a handy water filtering system that has been designed for active users in different environments where the water quality cannot be considered as safe. This dynamite shaped water bottle has the ability to collapse and expand as required. When the user wants the bottle to be filled half, the bottom half can be pushed into the top half. To make it a full bottle, pull the knob downwards that will expand the lower half which will give it a parabolic shape full bottle. To enjoy the liquid, push the cap to the side and screw of the filter cap. To make the inside water 100% safe, the inner construction comprises textile pre-filter, iodine bead to kill bacteria and active carbon that keeps the taste intact and filter out remaining parasites.
Designer : Bengt Brummer
A collaboration with founder Carlo Santambrogio and designer Ennio Arosio, their ‘Simplicity’ range features a series of iconic furniture pieces, beds, sofas and bookcases, along with architectural elements such as staircases and kitchens, all fashioned from ‘extraclear’ glass, that are elegant and distinctive, whilst perfectly complimenting their surroundings.
Imagine that you can lie in the bed watching the night skies. Or you can have breakfast inside your house enjoying the ocean view. The only problem is that everybody can see you from outside. But I think there will be an upgraded model with mirror walls from outside.
HDR photography has been popular around the web for a few years now. Every day, hundreds of people upload their HDR photos, whether original or digitally modified, in hopes of having a part in this trend. Only a few can be the best, and sorting through the bunch to find the best isn’t an easy job. There are always differing opinions on what looks great, as beauty is in the eyes and mind of the beholder.
We’ve found a handful of exceptional examples of HDR and HDR-ish photographs for your viewing pleasure. To enjoy an image in its full size and quality, please don’t forget to visit the photographers’ websites by clicking on the images that catch your eyes the most.
If you know of, or have your own, HDR photos that should be up here, let us know in the comment section.
Naturally, those who have the most to say about design are designers themselves. They sleep, eat and breathe design day after day, wrapped up in its principles and developing their own strong opinions about what’s effective and what isn’t. So it’s no surprise that they would express their thoughts about design through design itself. This collection of posters about design – created for a “What Is Design” contest – is a fun, humorous and insightful look into the minds of artists.
And You Can Take That to the Bank – Juanma Teixido
(image via: juanmateixido)
“Design is to make a synthesis of needs + information + colors in order to create something greater than the sum of its parts (and you can take that to the bank).” This poster, which won first prize, succinctly sums up what many of the other contest entrants were trying to say – and looks great, too.
Thinking Made Visual – ck/ck
(image via: ckck)
“Design is thinking made visual.” This quote by graphic designer Saul Bass, who created a number of the most recognizable logos in the world, is illustrated here in a simple but effective composition.
So Simple and So Complicated – Horacio Lorente
(image via: rockstudios)
Another quote by an iconic artist, Paul Rand, is brought to life through the power of graphic design. “Design is the method of putting form and content together… just as art, has multiple definitions… there is no single definition. Can be art. Can be aesthetics. Is so simple, that’s why it’s so complicated.”
Capturing the Elusive – Tony Price
(image via: tonyxprice)
“Design is capturing what is most elusive.” So writes designer Tony Price – and what, exactly, is that elusive element? It could be said that it’s that ‘J’ne sais quoi’, that special undefinable quality that gives design power. It’s something that some artists have, and some don’t.
Huge Watercolor Numbers on a Poster – Drew Kora
(image via: gravitymachine)
“Graphic design is huge water-colour numbers on a poster. It is? Yes, it is. How so? Because I just ‘designed’ it.” Just as fine art can be anything you want it to be, graphic design is design purely because someone said so.
De-sign – Juanma Teixido
(image via: juanmateixido)
“What is graphic design? To remove a sign from its original location and then blame it on the client.” Designer Juanma Teixido takes the word “design” and deconstructs it to a literal meaning, finding a way to connect it back to the original subject.
Creativity, Skills & Awesomeness – Ancient Wisdom Productions
(image via: ancientwisdom)
Creativity and skills are undeniable elements of good graphic design, but they’re not everything. To produce really standout design, you clearly need an equal amount of ‘awesomeness’ as well.
More Than a Sassy Typeface – Trev Stair
(image via: trigger25)
“Graphic design is more than a sassy typeface”. It may seem obvious, but some budding designers don’t seem to be aware of this fact.
Makes Information Less Boring – Marcus Olovsson
(image via: marcusolovsson)
“Graphic design makes information less boring.” Anyone who has ever tried to decipher data without the help of charts and graphics can attest to that.
Visual Balancing Act – Ben Cardy
(image via: benbacardi)
When combining color, typography, lines, shapes and other elements of design, getting them to come together successfully is a visual balancing act. One small thing out of place, and the overall design doesn’t work.
Visual Discipline – Timoni Grone
(image via: timoni)
Some people say that fine art is emotional, while design is informational. This poster by Timoni Grone illustrates the difference.
Order Out of Chaos – Janne Remes
(image via: vatoslocosjkl)
Like the previous poster, this simple and clean concept emphasizes the ability of design to provide clarity.
Here Before Pixels – Alejo
(image via: ale_dg)
Many people strongly associate graphic design with computers – but the truth is, it has been around a lot longer. This poster – “Graphic design was here before pixels” – doesn’t exactly answer the question “What is graphic design?” but it does make an important observation.
Getting the Mix Right – Elizabeth Mitchell
(image via: pixelfish)
Just as in chemistry, graphic design is all about getting the mix right. But instead of chemicals, designers are working with complex cocktails of shapes, lines, negative space, colors, typography, composition and other elements.
Eye Music – Pintovsky
(image via: pintovsky)
Visual communications and music have more in common than you might think – things like composition, rhythm and flow. When design works, it’s like a symphony – just as pleasing to the eye as well-crafted music is to the ear.
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The invention of radar in the 1930s not only saved Great Britain from the German Luftwaffe, it gave the Allies a huge advantage over their enemies in World War II. Imagine where we’d be if radar panned out and its forerunners – Sound Mirrors, Acoustic Horns and War Tubas – were the only means of detecting incoming aircraft?
Early Echlocation
(images via: Ratiu Family Foundation and Michael Leong)
The roots of acoustic location extend back to the late 19th century, even before the invention of aircraft. The earliest rendition of such a device appeared in the pages of Scientific UKn magazine from 1880. “Professor Mayer’s topophone”, invented and patented by A. M. Mayer in 1879, was intended to assist the wearer in pinpointing the source of any sound. How’s that for Yankee ingenuity!
(image via: Modern Mechanix)
From the “building a better mousetrap” category comes the Shout-O-Phone, a souped-up version of Professor Mayer’s enhanced ears that boosts the outgoing sound as well. Amazing… not so much the device, but that it took 60 years for it to be produced.
The Ears Have It
(images via: Amplifier Institute Failures and Dark Roasted Blend)
Somebody obviously thought there was potential in Professor Mayer’s brainchild (or brain fart, you decide) because personal, wearable sound-enhancing devices made a number of appearances culminating in the 1960 Brussels Inventor’s Fair where French inventor Jean Auscher demonstrated a device that was supposed to help boaters navigate in case of radar failure – which happens like ALL the time.
Czech Mates
(image via: Amplifier Institute Failures)
It was the invention of the airplane and, soon thereafter, the threat of massive bomber attacks in wartime that concentrated military minds. Some way of detecting warplanes at a distance had to be found, and the most obvious method was enhanced acoustic detection. The above devices were built and used by a number of armed forces with a mixed record of success. The above four-horned acoustic locater was built in 1920s Czechoslovakia and tested in The Netherlands… evidently the nearest noisy place.
Horns Of Plenty
(images via: Amplifier Institute Failures and Architectune)
Let’s not forget the UKns, carrying on the legacy of Professor Mayer in times of peace and war. The image at above, top, shows a two-horn aircraft detector in use at Bolling Field in Washington DC, in 1921. The lower image depicts a slightly less cumbersome acoustic locator manned by US Army troops in 1943, after radar had been introduced. It should be said that the first Japanese air raids on the UKn-held island of Corregidor in late December of 1941 were detected by acoustic locators.
Sounds Like War
(image via: Amplifier Institute Failures)
The 1930s saw rising tensions in Europe and rapid technological progress in aeronautics. Radar was on the horizon but until the newfangled machines were ready, something had to fill the gap.
Do I Hear Spitfires?
(image via: Damn Interesting)
As Hitler speedily rebuilt Germany’s war machine in the late 1930s, antiaircraft measures were a high priority. German radar research was far behind developments in Great Britain but that wasn’t the case with acoustic detection, as shown above. Behold, das Ringtrichterrichtungshoerer (or “ring-horn acoustic direction detector”)… RRH for short, used during the Second World war to help aim searchlights at night-flying bombers.
Release The War Tubas!
(image via: Amplifier Institute Failures)
Let’s not forget Japan, though Japan would probably like to forget these bizarre yet magnificent “war tubas”. These were a variation of the acoustic horn listening devices, not an attempt to blow attacking aircraft out of the sky using low-pressure sound waves. That’s Emperor Hirohito reviewing the Imperial War Tuba Brigade in the top photo by the way, so you know they were serious.
(image via: Fark.com)
That incredible War Tubas photo was the subject of a photoshop competition at Fark.com, and the above colorized rendition is one of the more intriguing efforts.
Sound Mirrors, Soul Survivors
(images via: Everyone Forever, C20 Society and Passing Strangeness)
The British were well along with large-scale radar installations as the blitzkrieg burst across continental Europe but taking nothing for granted, Churchill’s minions set up a significant number of concrete sound mirrors facing across the English Channel. many of these parabolic shells survive as abandonments today, a testament to a far-off time when wars were low-tech though no less deadly.
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Another year gone..in a flash. Last year it was 600-odd posts, this year we amped it up to 900-odd and next year we aim to create over 1,000 posts for your viewing pleasure. Once again, to our old fans and to our newest readers; a huge thank you from the ESPV team for continuing to support and read our blog daily…Big Up and have a good New Year!!
10. Awesome Tags. It’s probably been getting lots of hits cos of my use of that wonderful UKn word ‘awesome’….
9. 3 Modern House Designs. 3 Architectural marvels in modern living…
8. ESP Flaming Skull Guitar. This custom guitar design by Jimmy Diresta costs a whopping US$14,999! Luckily, it also comes with a velvet lined, coffin shaped case.
7. Corset Piercings by Dan Brailey. Highly original fetishistic piercings…
6. Chaz Bojorquez; Cholo Writer. Chaz is the Godfather of Cholo-style graffiti in LA and in this post are some lovely old pics of gang graff from the 70′s & 80′s.
5. Concept Robots By Tham Hoi Mun. A Malaysian conceptual artist who has an impressive array of design skills and a good eye for mech designing.
4. Hubless Custom Motorcycle. Hubless wheels work by fixing the rotating parts onto the outer side of a non-rotating inner ring that attaches to the motorcycle’s swingarm or forks…whatever, it looks incredible! Watch the video!
3. Takashi Amano Pt. 3. Seems like you guys and girls really enjoy gawping at Mr Amano’s ecological beauties…Don’t worry, I do too and plan to be posting lots more amazing fishtanks in the coming year.
2. Hot Toys Joker 12-inch Figure. Yes, that’s a picture of the toy, not of Heath Ledger. 35 points of articulation, a Parallel Eyeball Rolling System…possibly the best toy ever made.
1. Bad Tattoos. Yep, it seems like you all yearn to see pictures of tattooed dolphins smoking bongs in lazyboys and Patrick Swayze (RIP) reincarnated as a gay centaur with a tux shirt….Good to know that our viewers are an intelligent and sophisticated lot!
See you in 2010!! We are going for 1,000 posts next year, so be sure to check us out on the regular!
See the 10 best posts of 2008 HERE
