Designer : Eon Ju Park via DesignBoom

Interview with Nico :

What was the inspiration for your concept?
The inspiration was the experimental approach to molecular cooking. Even after several decades of molecular cuisine, it still seems to be an exclusive game for specialists. So it became my main goal to bring some of the fantastic possibilities and ideas of molecular cooking to all ambitious cooks with an easy to use, affordable appliance.

How does your concept fit into this year’s competition theme “Designs for the next 90 years”?
I think the idea of molecular cooking is forward-looking, but the procedures and methods of preparing molecular dishes are still conventional. I would like to change this with my concept. At first, the idea of printing food seems to be something straight out of a science-fiction movie, but on second thought it is not unrealistic at all. I even think that Moléculaire could be the future kitchen tool that opens up possibilities for food-makers interested in molecular cooking.

What are the main consumer benefits of your concept?
Moléculaire is a futuristic kitchen appliance that offers several new possibilities to professional chefs as well as home users. It’s based on a layer-by-layer printing technique that arranges small particles from a set of ingredients. Within minutes, it prints out three-dimensional desserts, complex structures, shapes for molecular dishes, and patterns for decorating a meal. In addition, it’s easy to use. You simply insert a blister pack into the reservoir, place Moléculaire on top of a plate, and press the start button. Users can also create their own recipes with special software and their own ingredients. Ambitious users can download recipes and share them with other users in an online community.

Describe the consumer research behind your concept.
I conducted interviews with chefs and did a lot of research on the Internet. These approaches helped me to understand users’ interests, concerns, wishes, needs and desires. The outcome shaped my initial ideas and helped them grow. The most difficult thing about designing for the future is predicting the possible social and technological developments (their direction and speed). Therefore, it was very useful to read reports like sociological studies about cooking and future scenarios about the development of new technologies.

What kind of materials would you use to build your concept?
For my concept, I would use polycarbonate as the main material. I plan on applying this material in three different variations, each providing the right characteristics for the different parts of my design. Transparent polycarbonate can be used for the window, black tinted for the lid/display, and white for the body. The robotic printer arm and head could be made from aluminum. A blue (O)LED backlight accentuates the processes inside the printer.

Who is your favorite designer?
I don‘t have a favorite designer.

What are your career goals?
After I graduate in 2010, I want to gain more professional experience in a product-design company. In the long term, I want to further develop my conceptual and strategic skills and step into product-related design management.

Designer : Nico Kläber

Designer : Xuacu Pérez Quesada

Martin interview with Electrolux :

What was the inspiration for your concept?
In my opinion, everything I have ever seen, read and heard is my inspiration. Every experience stays somewhere inside you, and if you are lucky, it will come out at the right moment. If I look back, this particular concept was definitely inspired by the book The Naked Sun from Isaac Asimov, the R2-D2 robot from Star Wars, an egg, insects, and whatever else I see every day.

How does your concept fit into this year’s competition theme “Designs for the next 90 years”?
Ninety years is very long time. Nearly four generations will pass through, every one of them with its own dreams, desires and possibilities. One long lasting dream is to reach the stars, but before that, we will have to reach Mars to see whether or not we can live without Earth. This is the time where my concept is relevant. At that time, we won’t think of machines as dumb boxes with buttons, but more as partners that obey our commands, but still have their own minds. They will be more autonomous and think and make decisions on their own. It may sound frightening, but it isn’t scarier than the first arrival of trains to the cities.

What are the main consumer benefits of your concept?
One thing you notice on Mars is the silence and serenity. That’s quite good for one week’s vacation in the countryside, but for modern people it’s very depressing to live in such a place for several months or years. Therefore, the main benefit of Le Petit Prince is that it’s not just a machine, but more like a pet or silent friend that you can speak to when you aren’t in the mood to talk to people. On top of that, it is a good gardener that grows any plant you want or need to bare life or just for its beauty.

Describe the consumer research behind your concept.
Well, I must admit it’s difficult to do any real research behind the concept since it’s designed for Mars. However, some of my friends said it’s cute (I always thought some of them have to be from Mars) and I consider their feedback sufficient.

What kind of materials would you use to build your concept?
Metallurgy, glass production and synthetic plastics have been used for a long time and will probably continue to be used in the next hundred years, so I didn’t feel an urge to use new yet unknown materials. Nanotechnology made giant leaps in the last few years and it will improve properties of material surfaces in the future, so they will be even harder and more resistant than anything we know today. More effective (even transparent) are solar panels, etc., but this evolution will not affect the fundamentals of my concept.

Designer : Martin Miklica

Designer : HJC Design

Awards:
- First Place: $20,000
- Second Place: $10,000
- Third Place: $5,000
- 40 Honorable Mentions: $1,000 + 1 LG U.S. Phone (A.R.V. of $300)

Start and End Dates: April 20, 2009 @ 12:00 a.m. PST – June 7, 2009 @ 11:59 p.m. PST

Submit your idea here!

[Press Release]

CHICAGO, IL. – April 21, 2009 – LG Mobile Phones (the fastest growing mobile phone brand in North America) is partnering with crowdSPRING (an online marketplace for creative services) and Autodesk (a leader in 2D and 3D design and engineering software) to hold a new competition to define the future of personal mobile communication. Starting today, U.S. residents age 18 and over can have a chance to design their vision of the next revolutionary LG mobile phone and compete for more than $80,000 in awards.

This year’s competition is even bigger and better than last year’s with first place awarded $20,000, second place awarded $10,000 and third place awarded $5,000. And to reward as many people as possible in the name of creativity, LG will be giving out a whopping 40 honorable mentions of $1,000 plus an LG U.S. phone!

“We’re very excited about this competition because it gives consumers, professionals, students and design enthusiasts all a chance to exercise their creative imaginations and have their ideas be heard. You don’t have to work for LG to make an impact on the future of mobile phones,” said Ehtisham Rabbani, V.P. of product strategy and marketing for LG Electronics MobileComm, U.S.A, Inc.

Autodesk will supply participating designers with a free 15-day trial of SketchBook Pro. Autodesk SketchBook Pro software is a digital sketchpad. A paint and drawing application for use on the Mac or PC, it offers an intuitive, streamlined user interface so even new users can be productive within minutes. The 15-day trial will give all competitors access to industry-leading professional design software and levels the playing field for professional and amateur designers alike to create the phone of their dreams.

Both seasoned and aspiring designers can submit their entries until June 7th at www.crowdspring.com/LG

Competition Details

Eligibility: Any U.S. resident that is 18 years (or age of majority in state of residence) and older

Start and End Dates: April 20, 2009 @ 12:00 a.m. (midnight) PST – June 7, 2009 @ 11:59 p.m. (midnight) PST

Winners will be announced on July 7, 2009 at www.crowdspring.com/LG/winners.

Prizes:
• First Place: $20,000 Cash Award
• Second Place: $10,000 Cash Award
• Third Place: $5,000 Cash Award
• 40 Honorable Mentions: $1,000 Cash Award + 1 LG U.S. Phone (A.R.V. of $300)

Official rules can be found at www.crowdspring.com/LG. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED

This innovative concept of Ian Simpson Architects will become a groundbreaking “green” exemplar, a favorite conference and visitor’s destination and an inspiring resource of mathematics education. The Fibonacci spirals will allow placing seeds on the seed head, leaves on a stem and petals on a flower as well as will help people to understand the relationships between nature and mathematics. The structure of entering the flower head will be an encouraging experience over the countries by showing how architects, artists and engineers have used the numerical sequences and simple angles found in wildflowers. This design is now being considered as an excellent addition to the National Wildflower Center.

Designer : Ian Simpson Architects, Adams Kara Taylor Engineers, and Hoare Lea Engineers via [Bustler]

David Raffai words :
In the future metropolis, which will be more and more chaotic, confusing, grey and polluted, we risk becoming automatons, slaves to money and personal success: not accepting the intrinsic naturalism of the human being; ready, instead, for selection and competition, forgetting about individual diversity and the respect of pure ideas, which separate us from cold, mechanic industrialization. Escape, via art, from the objective conception of things, choosing instead authentic, non-contaminated expression.

SNUG is a concept which aims to create a sense of community: a simple, fun object, designed for people who appreciate personal relationships, people who are different from the others, in their opinions and in their feelings. This multiplicity of emotions gives birth to an intention of self-expression able to make well-being and happiness blossom, trying to recover the values which are otherwise slowly vanishing in our world.

Some technical parameters:
- 4 seater interior which can be used as a living room
- changeable graphics on the side to be more unique
- fuel cell

The form concept was based on paper waves which are covering a central cell, where the interior can be found.

Designer : David Raffai

Designer : Kazim Doku

sunLight is scaleable. The standard configuration embeds 6 modules, each of which consists of an LED unit and 2 AAAA rechargeable batteries. Furthermore, one of modules holds a charge controller. For more or less luminance/capacity, the size of solar cell film and with it the number of LED-battery modules can be varied proportionally. A low number of components reduces the production costs; production of different sizes requires just one new tool for the base material. Except for the batteries, all parts could be made of recyclable polymers.

Designer : Hermann Eske via GreenerGadgets Competition