This video was created as part of YouTube user TheManimation‘s third year dissertation looking at early forms of animation in contemporary design. What’s been created here is really cool if you think about it. If you were to watch the wheels of this bicycle with the naked eye, all you would see is a blur of white paper. But through the lens of the camera with its limited frames, you instead see something awesome. Check out some of the other test videos on TheManimation‘s YouTube page.

[Via: Copenhagenize.com]

The Skigraphiks contest works like this: Download the template, where you’ll place your design, here. Fill out the entry form and upload your artwork to the G3 Skigraphiks website. Your completed template will appear on the Skigraphiks contest site, where people will vote for their favorite. At the close of each round, the template with the most votes wins–and gets that round’s model of G3 skis (this month is the Manhattan) with their design front and center.

The third annual Skigraphiks contest, which launched last week, is the biggest one yet. It will run in four near-month-long rounds, from October through mid February. The first and current round began on October 15th and will end November 14th. Each subsequent rounds begins on the 15th of the next month and ends on the following 14th. With each new round, a new ski model will be provided as both the template and the winner’s prize. In addition, the skis with the winning design will be available for purchase to the public for a few months after they are released.

You can submit as often as you’d like, and once you have, you can even utilize the Skigraphiks’ contest tab that enables you to share your design on Facebook–to get as many people to vote for your design as possible. So… get drawing or doodling now and enter soon–the first round closes on November 14th!

Parkour, the art of “urban gymnastics,” is awesome to watch. But here’s a form of Parkour that surely none of us has seen before…

[Via: The Adventure Life]

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Via Yanko Design

Since the nation’s metropolitan areas are beginning to see more and more police officers on bicycles, it’s about time they start riding something that sets them apart. This unique design from Ciprian Frunzeanu combines functionality and futuristic police style. While it certainly looks a bit dorky, the bike includes a siren (activated by a button on the left handlebar), storage space, and a built-in GPS mapping device. The electronic devices are powered by pedaling, and the carbon fiber body and honeycomb wheel structure enhance durability.

[Via: Yanko Design]

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Ever wonder what it’s like to have twice the ass? Need an extra trunk to store your junk? This is it. The Peach, designed by Yen-Hsiang Skeet Wang, is the greatest thing to ever happen to backpacks. Inspired by the need to recycle in comical fashion, Wang used his creative prowess to create glory. Here’s what he had to say about his design:

“I decided to use human like display forms and breathe new life into them to add a sense of fun to an otherwise spiritless form.”

I wonder what he creates with the top half of the mannequin…

For ballsy individuals, the Peach would be a great match with the neoprene wetsuit thong for a perfect combination of fashion and function.

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There’s a new skateboard on the market to make all your friends jealous. Olafur Eliasson and Mekanism Skateboards teamed up to make this sweet reflective board, rightly named “Your Mercury Ocean,” that will probably soon find its way under all the cool kids’ feet.

[Via: PSFK]

As our Creative Director said, “impractical, but rad.”

The bike was a created by Olli Erkkilä for his graduate project at Institute of Design in Lahti in Finland. Scandinavian design never fails!

[Via: Make]

When it comes to cycling safety, being seen is of utmost importance, but of course you still want to look sleek while doing it, which is why this new concept from Teague is truly innovative. The Pulse is a truly functional — as well as good looking — urban bike with a whole lot of bells and whistles including electric turn signals and a luminescent frame. which means that for once you can be super safe and still come off as cool.

[Via: GOOD]

More pics after the jump.

Wetsuits certainly serve their purpose, but do they always have to be so plain looking? Artist Diddo doesn’t think so. He’s making these unique looking wetsuits, all in an attempt to provide us with something to help us look a little more original and a little less like the rest of the crowd

With custom inks and unique printing techniques, I was able to map textures onto the suits to create original designs that evoke the mysteries of the seas.

More pics after the jump.

I’m not sure whether these would make you look cooler than other cyclists or just plain lame. Thoughts?

Too bad the keyboard isn’t connected to the internet and your Twitter account so you can live tweet from your bike ride…

[Via: Boing Boing]

We like it when designers put sports equipment to functional use never intended for said item. And we like surfing. Which is why we’re digging this surf chair designed by Adam Scott. Definitely the perfect accessory for helping you dream of sweet waves while you’re stuck in the office or at home on a rainy day.

[Via: Toxel]

Thanks to BoingBoing for uncovering these cool pictures of wooden bicycles from the city of Freiburg in Germany, which is considered by many to be one of the greenest cities in the world.

The original site the folks at BoingBoing pulled the pictures from is in German and, like them, I can’t translate it for you. But if you speak German feel free to let me know what the designer has to say about these sweet-looking bikes.

Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the pictures. (There’s more of them after the jump)

[Via: BoingBoing] [Via fudder]

It’s true: we hate plastic bottles. So you would think that any bottle that isn’t made of plastic would make our “good” list. But not these glass bottles. According to Crate&Barrel who is selling this attempt at green design, “Art is in the everyday. Eco-friendly crystal clear glass water bottles mimic plastic disposables.” But why are they trying to honor a product that fills up landfills and gets in our waste streams by making a piece of glass art? What’s wrong with a classy carafe? I’m going to say this product is a definite nominee for the Landfill Prize 2009.

Air-fresheners, treadmills you can take out on trail, pancake dispensers; we are surrounded by junk we don’t need. Advances in technology have allowed us to create just about anything, but when does smart design become just plain ‘ole stupid? The Landfill Prize can tell you.

Based in Britain, the Landfill Prize has a respectable purpose. “It’s to celebrate the stupendous creativity of the people tasked with inventing constantly inflated new wants for us to want. It’s a monument to perverse imagination and needless consumption.” That’s a fantastic cause!

Take part in the process and nominate the products that you deem all-out worthless, giving them a chance to score the top ranks in Landfill Prize 2009. What’s on the list so far? Several things, including a bubble wrap keychain, the Guitar Hero franchise and pre-filled disposable wine glasses. All stuff we could certainly live without, which is an excellent reminder that when we do consume it should be products that serve a purpose and aren’t immediately destined for the landfill.

Thanks to English ingenuity, the age-old dilemma of how to avoid credit card fraud while being environmentally friendly and exercising a hamster has been solved.

The slightly misleadingly-named ‘hamster shredder’ (no hamsters are shredded during the process) is an environmentally-friendly paper shredder that is powered by a hamster running on its wheel. As the paper is shredded it falls onto the bottom of the cage, providing the hamster with fresh bedding.

Tom Ballhatchet, a 29-year-old London-based design consultant, designed the hamster shredder as part of a Master’s degree program in industrial design. Although flawless in creativity, the contraption still has a few kinks to work out before it becomes feasible – for example, it currently takes an energetic hamster 45 minutes to shred a single piece of paper.

According to The Daily Mail, Ballhatchet said:

“I wanted to come up with a product that would capture people’s imagination while addressing issues of topical concern such as climate change, recycling and identity fraud.

The hamster shredder provides a solution to all of these things because it relies on the hamster to generate power, destroys confidential documents and turns paper into bedding.

Owners can put their paper in the top before they go to bed and wake up to find the hamster has been on its wheel and shredded the paper in the process.

The hamster just has to go about its normal life.”

Know of any other hamster-powered inventions? Have an idea for one of your own? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

[Via: Daily Mail]

Greenupgrader has pulled together the 20 coolest things made from skateboards, from jewelry to chairs. Pictured above are watches by Nixon and bookshelves by design firm Skate Study House that specializes in home furnishings that let you take your skating identity from the ramp to your living room. For more ways that put worn out skateboards to good use, check out the full list of 20 here.

Developed for his thesis project, the Kahnuna is a touring boat, inspired by Polynesian outrigger canoes. But the boat is designed for more than just water travel; it also turns into a comfortable looking place to sleep.

Weiss holds that the boat is made from “natural fibre composite materials,” meaning that he cut out the fiberglass normally associated with conventional boats. With the right resin, these natural materials can even be biodegradable, making for an environmentally friendly water ride.

Check out more photos from Weiss’ portfolio on his website.

[Via Huffington Post Green]

What’s cooler and more eco-friendly than riding a bike? Riding a cardboard bike. It doesn’t exist yet, but Phil Bridge, a Sheffield Hallam student, designed the cardboard set of two wheels that went on display this week. OK, so the whole thing isn’t made of cardboard, but the wheels and chain are the only elements that aren’t constructed of the light and bio-degradable material. Bridge calculates that it would cost about 15 pounds (that’s around $30) to construct the bike, making it not only a green mode of transportation, but a cheap one as well. But living in notoriously overcast Portland makes me wonder: what happens when it rains???

Watch the BBC’s video on it here.

Via Yanko Design