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UK Toasts Safer Beer Glass

Shatter-proof pint glass aims to cut binge-drink violence

(Newser) - The inventors of a new beer glass say they've found a way to cut the number of violent assaults by UK drinkers who've lifted too many pints—and used a broken one as a weapon. Taking their lead from shatterproof windshields, a team of designers added a resin coating to... More »

The Most Stylish Cities in the World

Paris, Milan top Forbes list

(Newser) - Weighing everything from fashion to architecture to street life, Forbes rates the 10 most stylish cities in the world. The best of the best:
  • It doesn’t get any more chic than Paris
  • Milan: “flashy” fashion and cool contemporary design
  • New York: a shopping spree from Brooklyn to 5th
... More »

Users Prefer Bing to Google But Won't Switch: Study

Focus group users prefer design, organization of Microsoft search engine

(Newser) - Bing, Microsoft’s new search engine, impresses users—but not enough to make them switch from Google, TechCrunch reports. Asked to rate Bing’s features, users in a study by the Catalyst Group thought Bing beat Google in almost every category, including visual design, organization, and filtering options. The exception... More »

Message the Thing in Modern-Day Bling

(Newser) - A new wave of jewelry designers is ditching pretty gemstones for cutting-edge commentary, the Economist reports. Using mainly found objects, plastic, recycled junk—and some precious metals in unexpected forms—jewelers are rejecting social-status-bling for designs that tell stories or question values. Dutch designers lead the pack because they “... More »

Face It: Font Inspires a Certain Type of Backlash

(Newser) - Comic Sans is a lighthearted font, easy to read and very popular. Too popular, if you believe its legions of detractors. Like many other comics-related entities, it even has a sworn enemy—the 10-year-old Ban Comic Sans movement, which compares misuse of the typeface "to showing up for a... More »

Ariz. City Gets a Do-Over

Officials annex extra 5 miles for Mesa's new downtown

(Newser) - Mesa, Ariz., is getting a do-over. The financially battered city experienced explosive growth for more than half a century, and municipal leaders hope to recover that vitality, reports the Economist. Their solution? Start building, but not in the strip-mall-and-tract-home model so familiar in the Sunbelt. The city has annexed 5... More »

Barbies of the Future May Grow on Trees

Researchers use wood and wax to make biodegradable alternative

(Newser) - Wooden toys may not be so 1850s, scientists say. A bioplastic made from trees has been used to make everything from golf tees to car parts in recent years, but its sulfurous stink kept it out of the toy market. Now a sulfur-free version of "liquid wood" is available,... More »

BlackBerry Maker Faces 'Storm' of Criticism

Bugs and design flaws in newest, much-anticipated model irk dedicated users

(Newser) - BlackBerry’s newest model, the Storm, has provoked frustration among users over bugs and bad design choices, MSNBC reports. Though the phone gained favorable early impressions for its “clickable” touchscreen, BlackBerry-related websites have recently been buzzing with criticism, as many have found writing email on the screen to be... More »

Watchmaker's Anti-Fakery Technique Is So Money

Vacheron Constantin uses methods used to foil counterfeiters on new $50K line

(Newser) - A Swiss watchmaker has broken new ground in the effort to fight fakery, Portfolio reports, using techniques designed to foil currency counterfeiters on a new line of timepieces that run to $50,000. Vacheron Constantin uses laser engraving on tiny components, and coats dials with transparent film printed with tiny... More »

Green Housing: From Good Idea to Good Business

Architects, not automakers, have the power to halt global warming

(Newser) - With US homes on average twice as large as they were 50 years ago—and, of course, dwarfing those in all other developed countries—rethinking our idea of "home" is as crucial to cutting global warming as switching to a smaller car, says architect Edward Mazria in Fast Company.... More »

Arms Smugglers Had Nuke Blueprints

Design could have been passed to any 'treacherous regime'

(Newser) - Smugglers who sold weapons parts to Libya, Iran, and North Korea also had blueprints for a compact nuclear weapon—plans that could have been sold “to some of the most treacherous regimes in the world," warns an upcoming report by American and international investigators. The device could be... More »

Iconic Sign Is Fabulous Indeed

Nearly 50 years later, designer discusses her creation

(Newser) - It's been nearly a half-century since the iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign went up on the Strip, and Betty Willis is still as sharp as she was when she designed it, Las Vegas Weekly reports. Willis created the neon design back when the Strip still intersected dirt... More »

Architects Vie for Best Wobble

Abandoning profession's firm foundations, designers cook up gelatin gems

(Newser) - Don’t accuse them of playing with their food; the finalists in the 2008 London Festival of Architecture’s Jelly Design Contest aren’t fooling around. Using what Americans would call gelatin, “a vast range of architectural motifs and techniques have been used to spectacular effect,” an event... More »

Vuitton Refuses to Be Accessory to Genocide

Luxury firm sues over fundraising T-shirt

(Newser) - A Danish designer hoped her T-shirt featuring a starving child tricked out with Paris Hilton's favorite accessories—a Louis Vuitton handbag and her tiny dog Tinkerbell—would highlight the media's distorted priorities and raise money to fight genocide in Darfur. The French luxury brand, however, was not amused, and has... More »

Phone Makers Chase Fickle Customers

Execs obsess over consumer wants, 'subliminal' needs

(Newser) - With the cellphone industry increasingly hit-driven, phone designers are plumbing the consumer psyche through cultural experts and focus groups, reports the New York Times. "Our job is to be behaviorists and psychologists," says an exec. Competition has heated up as consumers buy—and discard—phones at an ever-faster... More »

Tiger Designing First Golf Course

Champ plans challenging game in Blue Ridge Mountains

(Newser) - Super champ Tiger Woods is ready to hit the greens again—this time with his first-ever design for a golf course. He's planning a whole new 18 holes on a scenic spread in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. Describing himself as a "minimalist," Woods said he'll rely on... More »

Product Design Gets Wilder, Faster

Today it's round Kleenex boxes; tomorrow, talking ones

(Newser) - Commercial product design is being overhauled faster and faster as brands compete in a fragmented market. The Internet and cable TV have diluted the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, and companies are spending more money on engaging design to win customers: Pepsi, for one, is rolling out a new can every... More »

Bill Targets Designer Knockoffs

Copycat clothes would be blocked for 3 years

(Newser) - Capitol HIll is considering a bill that would place fashion designs in the same league as a work of art that can be copyrighted, protecting designers from cheap knockoffs for three years. Currently, designers can copyright logos and names, but manufacturers can legally replicate their creations stitch for stitch—and... More »

The 10 Laws of Design Simplicity

MIT expert reveals the secrets of great products and services

(Newser) - In an interview with John Maeda, NPR correspondent Ira Flatow questions the MIT Media Lab designer about his new book, "The Laws of Simplicity." The 10 laws are:
  1. Reduce: Remove functionality
  2. Organize: Organization makes a system of many seem fewer
  3. Time: Savings in time feel like simplicity
  4. Learn:
... More »

Liz Claiborne Dead at 78

Designer was first woman to found Fortune 500 company

(Newser) - Designer Liz Claiborne, whose styles aimed at career women revolutionized everyday fashion sense in America and brought feminine new looks to the workplace, is dead at 78. She was the first woman founder of a Fortune 500 company. Claiborne died Tuesday in New York, after a lengthy battle with bone... More »

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