Designer : Raka Gemma

Jason says :
My objective was to use the current Lamborghini design language and apply it to their tractor line. What many people don’t know is that Lamborghini started as tractor manufacturing company, and later became famous for their exotic sports cars. I wanted to infuse the tractors exterior with the styling of today’s Lamborghini sports cars, especially the new Reventon, which applied a shattered-glass type styling to the body panels. Once my sketches were complete, I used the orthographic drawing I created to build a scale paper model of the Lamborghini Toro Tractor. I then used Alias to build a 3D model for the final result.

Designer : Jason Battersby

Designer : Jinyoung Jo

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

The human touch in communication is easily lost in today’s digital age. Hindrances to communication can include the interface of buttons, screens and keyboards. D:Scribe enables users to communicate with others in a way that comes most naturally, through handwriting.

D:Scribe uses a high quality writing nib befitting that of a precision writing instrument, as opposed to current digital ballpoint pens in the market. The nib can be rotated to suit the user’s handwriting grip style. The optical sensor beneath the nib is in a central position, as opposed to current digital ballpoint pens. As such the centred scanner is much more effective.

SMS and email messages are sent via bluetooth to a mobile phone or computer, without the user having to take out his/her mobile phone. In a social context, this is perceived to be a less anti-social activity than pressing buttons on a mobile phone to text someone.

Designer : Reuben Png

Text from Alberto :
Space tourism is already a concept that many companies are taking seriously. Imagine that you have traveled to the moon with four other lucky tourists. You arrive on the moon which is still very empty, and now you and your four travel companions have six hours spare time. Design a moon recreation vehicle with this new form of travel and leisure activity in mind.

FOUR WHEEL STEERING ensures soil preservation by two footprints while providing improved steering.

COORDINATED STEERING reduces damage on the moon surface since turning impact is limited to two footprints by turning front and rear wheels in the opposite direction.

PACKAGE: Passenger Seats are distributed in order to offer a wide central aile. Space is needed to access the seats due to the space suits size. The pilot is centrally located to improve his/ her visibility and vehicle control. Besides self-levelling and transport height according to the ground conditions, SUSPENSION ARMS place the rear of the vehicle near the ground in order to provide access for passengers and pilot.

ENVIRONMENT: The relatively insignificant lunar atmosphere involves:

A. FRAGILITY
- Footprints must be reduced since they will last for thousands of years à Solution
- Dust thrown up from the wheels must be minimized à Solution

B. HOSTILITY
- Extreme temperatures varying from 100ºC to -173ºCà Solution
- Heterogeneous topography à Solution &

CONCEPT: Moon Recreation Vehicle that allows exploration and cooperation with professional astronauts while minimizing influence on the environment. The self-leveling on the move provided by the suspension arms improve the conditions of transport and in addition it is intended to create the sensation of walking on the moon!

MOON RECREATION VEHICLE

The body concept consists of 4 panels (two side panels, the roof and the floor which would also have a function of frame since it would contain the drive unit). These panels would be assembled on the “skeleton” frame (similar to one of the sketches). Suspension arms and wheels would complete the vehicle. So all the parts would fit into the shuttle meanwhile the final assembly could be undertaken at the moon.
The idea behind the glass panels is to provide windows as bigger as possible in order to offer a big scope for the passengers. The driver would also enjoy a big windscreen. I guess an environment like the Moon might intimidate. The idea is to transmit safety by means of:
- rounded surfaces: things like an egg or a dome are structural masterpieces.
- width provided by the suspension arms and wheels around the vehicle body: the moon surface is quite waved and hilly.

The footprints left behind by the Apollo astronauts will last for many thousands of years because there is no wind on the Moon. The Moon has no atmosphere, so there is no weather to erase the footprints. Although gravity is extremely low, we are talking about a big vehicle with five people inside so I think wide wheels would reduce compaction and by no means are useless, since the concept pretends to be as friendly with the environment as possible.

The beginning of the project coincided with the announcement of The Police tour. After all, the lyrics provided me with some messages about the environment and the vehicle.

Designer : Alberto Seco

Text from the website:
Our original goal was to improve the CFL bulb, both in color and usability, but the technology to do so was not obvious. We began to explore colored filters and realized that any filter would reduce the lumen output. We then looked into adding LEDs to change the overall color output. This led us to the realization that florescent lights have huge environmental drawbacks. CFLs use ballast, which contains mercury, electronics and plastic housings. Most consumers just throw fluorescents out with the trash, even though they should be disposed of as toxic waste. CFLs are not dimmable and therefore use their maximum light output each time they’re turned on. In addition, the form and cold color of CFLs keep them from being widely accepted as a replacement to the incandescent bulb.

As our ideas began to focus on combining LEDs with a fluorescent, we sketched several forms that tried to create harmony between the two technologies. The idea of creating a separation between work and home life through the modulation of the color output drove some of our early forms. As soon as we chose to use only high-output LEDs, our forms changed significantly, rendering the old concepts no longer valid.

As designers are inclined to do, we started to create beautiful forms that revolved around the advantages of the new technology and the form factor it lent itself to. This may have been our biggest wrong turn. With LEDs, that form was flat and thin; but this would not solve the problem we had defined for ourselves. To create the biggest impact on society, this design had to keep the barriers to acceptance as low as practical—which in part meant no super-sexy, fluid designs that would only be found in high-end design stores. Any unnecessary styling would cause a rift in its mainstream acceptance.

We realized the easiest way to create acceptance was to deliver the technology in an already widely accepted form. The form of a standard light bulb was then the obvious choice. It would not ask consumers to change their form of power, their light socket or replace the lampshade attached to the bulb. And it underscored the notion that good design is about solving problems for the whole ecosystem of the product.
Designer : FrogDesign

Designer : Ziba Design

From : Safrett via MocoLoco

The design sketches seem to suggest that both rear wheels will be belt driven in the 500cc Piaggio-engined petrol version – although hybrid and fully electric versions are also on the cards, the latter featuring twin electric motors, one in each wheel hub. The luggage angle is definately a big part of the concept fot Sidam.

We’ll wait to learn more as the Xnovo moves towards a launch date rumoured to be late 2008. Price is expected to be around ?8000 for the 500cc model.

via thebikergene