yesterday, apple released a whole new range of products across the ipod line, as well as a new look itunes packed with new features. there is a new ipod touch with a camera (among other things), and a new ipod nano with touchscreen, both of which can be seen at the bottom of this post.
the thing that caught my eye though was the new ipod shuffle. the previous version (below) confused me a little; it did away with the physical buttons on the shuffle itself, and used buttons on the earphones cable. this was both awkward and fiddly, and also meant you couldn’t use your own headphones without buying a separate in-line remote, which was a bad move by apple in my opinion.
the newest version (at the very top of this post) looks like the shuffle two generations ago (pictured above), but squarer. i still love the integrated clip, which is something they’ve also added to the new touchscreen nano. at only £39 for the new shuffle, i’m very tempted to get one!
the england football team have a new home kit (already?!), that features the same ‘tailored by umbro’ design style as the previous home and away kits, as well as the previously posted about ‘umbro world champions‘ kits. the difference this time however, is that they include a pattern designed by graphic designer peter saville.
i like it! it remains simple, which is what i liked about the previous kits, and i like the repeating st george’s cross pattern. the below text is from umbro and peter saville.
the new fabric print on the shoulder panels of the home shirt is inspired by an increasingly diverse england. made up of different interpretations of the classic st george’s cross symbol, the pattern is displayed through the repetition of four different coloured crosses that are evocative of the basting stitches synonymous with bespoke tailoring
the traditional red cross is still present alongside blue and green ones, which are colours present in the official england team crest. these have been joined by a purple cross, a blend of all the three previous colours to accentuate diversity. the conceptual change visually reflects modern england in a noticeable step forward from the current all white kit.
both the nation and the fans themselves are more diverse than ever before – whether that’s differences in politics, religion, ethnicity, fashions, music and art. the landscape of england has shifted dramatically over the past couple of decades and we are now one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world. football is a language that everyone can relate to and the new england home kit provides the perfect canvas to reflect what england looks like today. the reality of modern england is expressed in this pattern as it reclaims the st george’s cross to positively represent our contemporary society.
below is a short video of peter talking a bit about it, but you can find more at the umbro blog.
the collaboration between kibisi and puma/biomega continues! after the first set comes the ‘mopion’, a cargo bike designed for urban environments. the thing i liked most about the first set was the ones that had a basket integrated into the handlebars, and this one comes with an even bigger carrier! due to it’s aluminium frame, the bike only weighs 22kg, and seems to be available in the same range of colours as the first ones were.
along with the previously posted about collaborations with aiaiai, kibisi are coming out with some really nice stuff recently!
alex has forwarded me to this flikr set after he found the real thing in his dad’s workshop: the readers digest complete do-it-yourself manual 1969. featuring some great photos, loads of cool exploded diagrams and lots of other cool ideas, it’s well worth checking out. as rob pointed out, can you imagine what your house would look like if you followed all the tips inside? in my opinion: amazing!
well, i posted about the aiaiai swirl earphones a while back, and have now posted twice on the tma-1’s, so it was to my surprise that i realised i hadn’t posted about the ‘tracks’ headphones. all designed for aiaiai by kibisi, the tracks are inspired by the classic walkman headphones.
a single piece of metal makes up the headband, which is also used for the adjustment (and insertion and removal) of the ear cups. another example of some really clever and subtle design in this on-going collaboration. they come in some great colours too!
the cls mobile drive is designed by silvain willenz for freecom (who also make the previously blogged about usb clip). this external hard drive incorporates a labeling system on its side so you can identify your hard drive contents at a glance, inspired by old cassette tapes (a little bit similar to this).
Witnessing the growing number of hard drives owned by individuals for their data (music, data, films, back-ups…) and inspired by the old cassette tapes and floppy drives, we imagined a drive that could be labeled in a very simple and personal way.
i like the idea, and the simplicity. all very nice!
cool hunting have a cool video about the making of the tma-1, the headphones i recently posted about. the video features kibisi designers jens jartin skibsted and lars holme larson and aiaiai co-founder frederik jørgensen, talking about the design process.
these really were designed with dj’s in mind, with almost 30 in total consulted through the development and testing process. key to their thinking was that a dj has a job to do, and the headphones are a tool to help them do it. i really like the bit where he says that the adjustment holes are inspired by crutches. brilliant!
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