The OfficePOD is an interesting concept for adding office space to your home. I like the idea, but I think I would find it a little claustrophobic. I do like their website though.
via Unplggd
A friend of mine recently quit his day job to follow his dream. He formed a new company to make great products, and do some great industrial design. Their first product went on sale this week after being announced at Macworld. It’s called the Podium. It’s a new stand for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it really is pretty cool.
My friend actually showed me the prototype for the Podium about a year ago, long before there was anything even similar to it on the market. Since then a few stands have come out that are in the same vein, but the quality of those other stands just don’t compare.
The Podium is really precision made, and has substantial weight to it (it’s heavy). The other thing that really sets the Podium apart is the ball joint on the back. It allows you to swivel your iPhone in just about any angle. I forgot to mention this in the video, but the hole in the back is a cable pass-through, to help manage clutter when your iPhone is plugged in.
I’ll be honest and say that the current price of $68 is a little steep, but you have to consider the quality. You get what you pay for.
I ended up throwing this little video together because the pictures just don’t do it justice, but if you want to see the stills I shot first, here’s the front, and here’s the ball joint.
Check out the Podium (and buy one) at www.podiumrevolution.com.
UPDATE (1/26/2009): The Podium guys have just come out with an Affiliate Program. I updated my links in this post to reflect my new affiliate link. Buying a Podium through my link will send a few bucks my way. :) And, if you use my link, with the coupon code, “revolution”, you’ll save 20%.
Objectified, a film about industrial design, is a new movie by Gary Hustwit. It’s his followup to Helvetica, which was totally awesome. The film should be released in March, 2009.
Here’s a list of designers that were interviewed for the film:
Paola Antonelli (Museum of Modern Art, New York)
Chris Bangle (BMW Group, Munich)
Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec (Paris)
Andrew Blauvelt (Walker Art Center, Minneapolis)
Anthony Dunne (London)
Naoto Fukasawa (Tokyo)
IDEO (Palo Alto)
Jonathan Ive (Apple, California)
Hella Jongerius (Rotterdam)
Marc Newson (London/Paris)
Fiona Raby (London)
Dieter Rams (Kronberg, Germany)
Karim Rashid (New York)
Alice Rawsthorn (International Herald Tribune)
Smart Design (New York)
Rob Walker (New York Times Magazine)
and more participants TBA