Rodd/Observations & Innovations

Rodd and Olfactory Experience to develop innovative new concept to improve life with dementia

2011-11-25T09:09:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to announce that Rodd and partners Olfactory Experience have been selected by the Department of Health and the Design Council as one of 5 successful teams to develop innovative product and services to improve the quality of life for those living with Dementia.

The announcement was made today by the Department of Health and the Design Council which will award the teams a share of £360,000 to design and develop prototypes of their ideas.

A million people in the UK will be living with dementia by 2012 and one in three of us who live to 65 will have some form of the condition. The 'Living Well with Dementia' project aims to develop the next generation of products and services, drive innovation and stimulate the market, in a bid to improve the quality of life for those with dementia, their families and carers.

Our proposition 'Scent Clock’ is a home scent-device to stimulate appetite and enhance nutritional status in dementia. The device will look to increase the likelihood of eating, reducing the issues of weight loss, dehydration, fatigue and malnutrition that people with dementia experience.

We will blog about the project as it develops, with final prototypes unveiled in the Spring.

Rodd establish new links to address the nutritional needs of older adults

2011-07-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Rodd have formed a new partnership with AgeUK and VISION Culture to explore Service Design opportunities that address the nutritional needs of the UKs older adults.

More project details will be announced later in the year.

Rodd are creating service design propositions that break the malnutrition cycle amongst older adults.

2011-07-24T13:37:00.001-07:00

Rodd have been selected by the Design Council/Technology Strategy Board to develop innovative service design propositions that lead to increased independence and improved quality of life amongst the UK's over 65's.

This article from the Telegraph gives an overview of the problem.

2011-07-08T13:44:00.001-07:00

Great workshop over...

2011-06-30T17:49:00.001-07:00

....now willing my flight home to arrive.

Both Ben & Pete schools make the finals

2011-06-30T15:34:00.001-07:00

Rodd Directors have helped two schools reach the finals of National design competitions.

Both schools will present their design proposals to a judging panel at the Design Museum later this week.

A full blog post to follow.

Calm before the storm

2011-05-30T23:45:00.000-07:00

A beautiful sunny morning at the studio.

Expecting a full-on Ideation day today with colleagues and visitors.

Pic/ Morning Sun. Chart House

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rodd included in the '50 Best Blogs for Industrial Design Students'

2011-05-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

Rodd has been included in the top '50 Blogs for Industrial Design students'.... which is fantastic! If you want to see who else is on the list hit the jump.

More about Rodd and our user centred approach.

Rodd Directors appointed as Design Ambassadors by the Design Council

2011-05-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Alongside our current commercial commissions at Rodd, Peter and I have been asked by the Design Council to support two national schemes as Design Ambassadors to Schools.

Peter's work is part of the Schools ‘Water Challenge’, an initiative that is exploring ways in which water consumption can be reduced, and mine, ‘Keeping Connected’, is helping to improve the way older adults connect to younger people, their community and the wider world by using service design.

Both challenges are aimed at Key Stage 3 students with members of the professional Design industry providing support and mentorship. The schemes are part of a national competition due to complete in July 2011.

You can follow my involvement on the Keeping Connected challenge here over the coming weeks.

Read more about Rodd and our work in the field of user centred design.

Contact Rodd/

Rodd Design - Ben on the Judging Panel at the 'Include' 24Hr Inclusive Design Challenge

2011-04-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

The team at Rodd has long been associated with Inclusive Design and specifically the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre's great Inclusive Design Challenge format. However to date we have fielded participating teams and even reigned victorious as a team leader of multinational teams of academics and design professionals in both Japan and Korea, but to be asked to be part of a judging panel at this years Include Conference at London's Royal College of Art was the ultimate accolade!

The challenge format in this case was a gruelling 24 Hour design challenge by teams of international design professionals, many of whom had not met before the start of the event never mind work together! Each team was partnered with an design partner whose role was to help the team see the world through their lives.

The teams were working to a brief of 'People Power' and could use design to create inclusive opportunities for product, service, graphics or infrastructure; in fact any discipline or embodiment that they felt appropriate.

As part of a panel of judges consisting of Michael Wolff (Chair), Emily Campbell - RSA, Lee Bazalgette - Factory Design, John Corcoran - Wire Design we had the task of selecting the evenings winner from six truly inspiring solutions. Ideas ranged from a zone of urban tranquillity to an app for recording snippets of sound and image that served as a social way finding tool. Each team had adopted the user centric approach with ease and delivered beautifully executed solutions under some pretty extreme conditions - however the audience prize went to team '10 Collective' and their concept 'Memo'. A tech solution which embeds metaphorical DNA onto your 'Chip and Pin' card - which allows the interface on the receptacle device to adjust to suite your needs, opportunities such as language, service customisation as well as the more obvious eyesight impairment were proposed.

However the judging panel felt that 'The Centre for Smoother Journeys' with their multi-format, smart phone game, 'Street Wheels' was the overall winner. The team had spent the day with a wheel chair user to understand the city from his perspective. Rather than address the literal urban infrastructure they chose to embrace skill of the 'wheeler' and created a cityscape game that allows players to select a wheel vehicle of their choice.

The challenge is to tour the city in the fastest time possible, and in doing so, the player gains points, powers to improve the landscape (both for speed improvements and structures that can be used for performing stunts and tricks) and access to new wheels of their choice, each requiring more skill than the last with which to travel around. Not unsurprisingly the top of the difficulty pinnacle was the wheel chair.

The panel commended the positive, fun and imaginative twist on disability.

Rodd - launch Armlock and Lupin at the HomeOffice.

2011-03-27T01:48:00.001-07:00

Last week Pete and I were invited to see three of our Design Council projects - Tie, Armlock and Lupin showcased at the HomeOffice. The work, part of a three year study, brought together the Design Council, the professional Design community and the Government to explore how simple design interventions can positively effect big social issues such as crime.

Our work focussed on 'hot-products' high on the thieves list - such as mobile phones and bicycles. Other projects explored aggravated crime with objects such as the pint glass, as well as attitudinal shifts towards crime amongst young adults in inner city Glasgow.

The projects were extremely well received by industry and policy makers alike. It's just a question of time before some of these ideas reach Market and start to make inroads into crime reduction.

Bike Theft Challenge

2011-03-03T13:07:00.000-08:00

Ok, so there goes four weeks! We have been briefed, innovated, prototyped, refined, reviewed and modelled two bike security concepts - 'Lupin' and 'Armlock'! (More details next week)

Ok, so the only thing left to do now is lock up and go home. Design Council pitch day tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Bike Challenge - 48hrs to go!

2011-03-02T03:02:00.001-08:00

Beautiful blue Hampshire day, models arrived on a 9:00am courier, Adam in the workshop on 'finishing' duty, Mark and I building our presentation....

You are what you eat...

2011-02-28T06:56:00.000-08:00

Followers of Rodd will know we have a keen interest in food - from the products we design for the kitchen and dining table, to making it and most importantly eating it!

The 'IKEA - Homemade is best' recipe book caught our eye a few months ago but has now been shortlisted for a category at this years Brit Insurance Graphics Award 2011. Not only is it a striking deconstruction of some awesome looking Swedish baking but is also partnered with an app (well what isn't!) that tells you just how much exercise you need to do to work off said Swedish baking!

Read more about IKEA - Homemade is best

Read more about Rodd's Divide Equally portion control concepts or watch our Divide Equally insight video here.

Design Council name check...

2011-02-28T03:49:00.000-08:00

Lovely name check and big-up from our friends at the Design Council this morning regarding our bike theft challenge. Guess it's only fair as we haven't slept for the last three weeks. ;-)

Sneaker Pimps....

2011-02-26T13:27:00.000-08:00

Guess this latest offering from Stance has a US bias...... Core 77 describes it as, "A fascinating mashup of two worlds, Stance is a project by Delroy Dennisur that brings together the DIY designer toy community with the sneaker culture".

Last time I painted Plaster of Paris toys they looked like this

I wish.....

2011-02-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

I found this after a tweet by IDEO's Tom Hulme. Great collection of ideas based around a simple wish list format.

http://theinternetwishlist.com/

Cow, Pirate, Cyclist RIP 2011

2011-02-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

From Creative Review...

Charming advertising characters are thin on the ground these days, so it is with some sadness that we discover Cravendale has decided to kill off the quirky group of housemates that has graced its ads for the last four years...

The ads were directed by Belgian directing duo Pic Pic Andre. To view more of their work, including a trailer for their film A Town Called Panic , visit Not To Scale's website.

Independence Matters

2011-02-24T14:02:00.000-08:00

Out of sync chronologically but a inspiring morning at the Independence Matters kick off session.

Design Council team visit Chart House

2011-02-24T02:08:00.000-08:00

Blink and we are half way through the bike challenge already.

We had a great review session with Mike and Peter from the Design Council's Design Out Crime Unit last Friday to rate and rank our 40 or so concepts.

We had ear marked one lead concept to develop but they spotted another to add to the mix. So without giving too much away we have a two ends of the security spectrum covered! And twice as much work to deliver!

More to follow as this week unfolds.

The Challenge continues!

2011-02-24T01:26:00.000-08:00

This week we will be immersed in mechanisms, exploded parts drawings, construction methods, 3D CAD, bike frame measuring, prototyping usage scenarios............................

Bike Challenge.....

2011-02-17T11:37:00.001-08:00

Good day today. Shortlisted concepts agreed, refined rigs ready, ideation visuals and story printed and organised, mechanism rigs underway, concept visuals drawn, scanned and photoshop'd. IP novelty search ready to go.
Looking forward to our first review meeting with the Design Council at Rodd tomorrow at 11.00! Lights off, door locked. Home.

Bike Challenge - building to learn

2011-02-16T09:09:00.001-08:00

With mountains of post-its, an assortment of bikes and a few decent hunches - we have spent the day 'designing by building'...

Quick rigs like this (as rough and ready as they may appear) are a brilliant way to prove out multiple concepts and invariably lead on to new ideas.

We are working (rapidly!) towards a first 'show and tell' with the Design Council here on Friday.

The making of the Arne-Jacobsen-designed Series 7 bent wood chair

2011-02-15T14:34:00.000-08:00

Beautiful chair. Beautiful film.

Secrets out....

2011-02-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

Horaaaay!

We have been selected by the Design Council as one of four teams to look at ways design can be used to combat residential bike theft. The plan is to try and keep a visual record of the project as it unfolds over the next crazy 4 weeks... granted you have had a few sneaky peeks already.

We really want your insights - so get in touch with your stories, inspirations and bike love here.

More details about what we have to deliver here

To understand a little more about the background to the Design Out Crime Challenge go here

Bit more of this today...

2011-02-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

Mondays...

2011-02-14T08:35:00.000-08:00

Just one of those mornings!

Post-it Voting!

2011-02-13T04:42:00.001-08:00

Adam - voting....

Mark - reserving judgement

Mark - making his mark!

On your bike....

2011-02-13T04:31:00.001-08:00

We have a great 'design thinking' project going through at the moment - more to follow once we get the thumbs up!

Who says accountants are not creative...

2011-02-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

Isaac Salazar is an accountant in New Mexico. When he's not crunching numbers he's working on his side project, called "Book of Art,"

If he can do this with a book and a scalpel, just imagine what he can do in Excel!

Sports brand Adidas gets on the Eco bandwagon

2011-01-30T06:29:00.001-08:00

Adidas Eco shopping bags - now you can feel '3stripe' cool whilst saving the planet. Jesus!

What's not to love....

2011-01-17T13:52:00.000-08:00

World of Alice AC Adapter from http://iida.jp/news/

Thumbs up if this makes you smile...

2011-01-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

Great little video highlighting how fast technology is moving. Show a group of young French class mates a series of iconic products from the last three decades and watch how they struggle to recognise them.

Mark does Movember

2010-11-19T08:47:00.000-08:00

No it's not a fashion statement but a way of raising awareness and money for prostate cancer. Movember challenges participants to grow a moustache for the whole month of november in aid of charity. To find out more about it go to the great website www.movember.com or if you want to donate or just see an update of my facial caterpillar go to http://uk.movember.com/mospace/666696/

EcoMind Delft

2010-11-16T02:10:00.000-08:00

Sustainable design is something that has always interested me, it’s something that I think is part of our responsibility as designers to understand, promote and implement. But it is often difficult to apply within tight deadlines and to projects where BOM cost is KING! So I jumped at the opportunity presented by South East Design to travel to Delft in the Netherlands last week and take part in a two day workshop exploring and developing new approaches to sustainability and ‘eco effectiveness’.

Above are a few images from the trip, for the Full text including the Challenges, insights and actions form the event visit the news section of the Rodd website: http://www.rodd.uk.com/news.asp?nID=91

2010-11-09T02:27:00.000-08:00

Fascinating illustrated view of 300 years of fossil fuel dependancy in just 5 minutes.

A library for the post print era'

2010-11-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

Having watched Ideo's Future of the Book thought piece recently it was interesting to see threads popping up on LinkedIn Future Trends group about the same subject.

Whilst I was initially dismissive, printed books are beautiful, tactile etc surely people are unlikely to switch to digital on a wholesale basis? Perhaps I'm wrong as the next link I get is this from Fastcode 'A library for the post print era'....

Recycling in the credit crunch

2010-10-27T07:45:00.000-07:00

Came across this interactive graphic whilst searching the sustainability thread, although the figures are from 2006 they're still very interesting. Follow the link - roll your mouse over the bubbles containing the countries total waste and watch the breakdown between recycled/incinerated/landfill show on the left (good on Germany and the Netherlands).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2009/jan/05/waste-recycling-credit-crunch

Visualising the invisible

2010-10-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Magnetic Movie from Semiconductor on Vimeo.

More here: http://www.semiconductorfilms.com/

2010-10-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

Spot your favourite inclusive design superstar's in this showreel from Creative Cities.....

At least it wouldn't need ironing

2010-10-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

Sarajevo-based designer Amila Hrustic based her latest collection of clothing on the platonic solids, producing a set of delicate handmade dresses, each one exploring the cube, tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron or icosahedron.

Looks like a paper dress to us - and very beautiful it is too!

2010-10-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

"With so many Apple Near-Field Comms patents being filed, and Nokia keen to integrate NFC tech into every one of its new phones from next year, we're also guessing NFC may appear on the iPhone 5. That should allow you to use your iPhone as a credit card, a travel card, and just about anything that you can point at a card reader. Beat that, Microsoft and Google"...........

Did we mention that team Rodd had already developed a mobile phone security solution?

http://www.rodd.uk.com/news.asp?nID=85

Foxconn - triple decker bunks, chickens and 137,000 iPhones per day

2010-09-15T02:01:00.000-07:00

Interesting article about Foxconn the company that was started with a $7500 loan and now employs over 800,000 people and produces 137,000 iPhones per day.

Beyond the grey vest...

2010-09-15T01:48:00.000-07:00

I have always been slightly in awe of futures and experience videos produced by other design agencies, there is something seductively slick about this genre of future gazing.

However I have noticed that in a few instances and particularly in this short Blog piece about the future of screen technologies by Swedish group The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) that whilst undeniably slick, some of the propositions fail to ask ‘why’ and appear to fast forward to fast forward to the ‘when’ – the predictable sequence of the girl brushing her teeth and social networking in front of her wifi connected mirror is in my opinion one such example of a brainstorm that should not have made it off the Post-it.

That said this film does serve to show a tempting picture of a future of crystal clear, beautiful screen graphics and Smart phones with ‘stretchy’ displays.

Culture Shock

2010-07-28T03:21:00.000-07:00

The first post from Rodd in a little while and this time it is courtesy of our latest addition to the team, Hiroyuki Tanaka. ‘Hiro’ is a visiting designer from Japan who is working with us on a project.

As you would expect we are continually trying to unravel the intricacies of our respective cultures and this is a great offering from him which highlights some of lesser known facts about Japanese life.

Japan - The Strange Country (Japanese ver.) from Kenichi on Vimeo.

Peter in Hong Kong - Day 5

2010-05-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, Day off! Promised myself an early start but you know how it is, jet lag and lazy bones conspired to keep me in my bed till 11 am.
Once up the first shorts of the year were worn and off I went walking from the Hotel in Kowloon down to Victoria Harbour with views south across to the Hong Kong Island. Soon I reached the iconic Star Ferry terminal and for the fantastically low price of £0.25p you can cross probably one of the most famous of pieces of water in the World. The fleet of 12 ferries that operate routes across the harbour carry over 70,000 passengers a day, or 26 million a year. In fact crossing the Harbour on a Spring morning with the impressive architecture of the Island looming ahead must be one of the top experiences of my life. Just got to be done.

Having taken the cable tram up to the Island Summit last time I avoided the holiday makers and headed instead back to Kowloon and up to an area known as 'Mothers market', home to 'You want copy watch'. This market area consists of rows upon rows of stales selling every conceivable useless gifts known to man and in amongst all the tat can be found these incredibly realistic copy watches. For $HK 250, about £25, you can have a Rolex or a Chanel bag that your friends would need to be told is a fake. This time I resisted and came away empty handed.

My flight home was that night. All flights to London leave around midnight and arrive early morning making them very popular with the ex PAT British bankers who want to pop back home for the weekend.

Peter in Hong Kong - Day 4

2010-05-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, Much like yesterday but no talking just listening to the other speakers.

Peter in Hong Kong - Day 3

2010-05-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

Monday: I was out in Hong Kong to deliver two talks at the Hong Kong Development Council. The HKDC is a cross between our DTI and the Design Council, helping HK Chinese companies learn how to build business and export around the World. It's a recipe for success, the place was a buzz with workshops, seminars and information overload. The group of 20 or more I was presenting my 'Masterclass' (their words not mine) was made up of engineers, designers, marketing and academia but all came from SDA (small domestic appliances) manufacturers in Hong Kong and China.

In the morning session after presenting myself and Rodd Design I spoke about the premise that Good design is all about good communication, ie how clear channels of communication within businesses go along way to improve the design process and hence better design. It was enlightening to hear from the delegates that many of the problems that stifle design in the West is just as prevalent in the East, the main difference is their capacity to over come them and just crack on. Making stuff is in their blood.

My afternoon session was the recently completed Rodd case study of the Kenwood Strategy project. I am biased of course but the work we did for Kenwood is of the highest order and reasonably complex to get you head around it, even for a English speaking designer who has a understanding of user group profiling and matching brand and product values, let alone a Catonese speaking Chinese engineer. I need not of worried, the notion of designing products for people's lifestyle is very much part of Eastern thinking, whether they can truly understand Western culture is another thing.

Peter in Hong Kong - Day 2

2010-05-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

Sunday 9th. Arrive to an equally cracking airport Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok. Opened in 1998 it is now the 2nd busiest airport in the World piped to the title by the one I left yesterday. Like Heathrow Chek Lap Kok deals with passengers in the most efficient way and within 40 mins I'm through customs and on my Hotel bus.

I've visited Hong Kong in October where the temperature is hot and the sky's clear. I arrived this time to a temperature of 29 deg C, which was nice to warm the bones of a cold Englishman but the grey, overcast weather that went with it prevented the city showing itself off in all its glory.

Peter in Hong Kong - Day 1

2010-05-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8th. Flight to Hong Kong. Arrive at T5, our newest and shiniest Cathedral to the Skies. The place is vast, brilliantly designed and a joy to travel through. Every attempt to upgrade myself with BA from the cheap seats at the back to at least the middle was thwarted so I had to sulk past the revised Business Class beds to my place of rest for the next 12 hours. However I did watch 'Nowhere Boy' a highly entertaining film about the early life of a certain John Lennon.

Lights come on when the Sun goes down.

2010-05-08T02:41:00.000-07:00

Solar-powered lights are rarely as beautiful as 'Morning Glory', by Wendy Legro. A graduating student at The Netherland's Design Academy of Eindhoven, Legro designed the project for her graduate thesis.

Her idea was that in the modern world, we've lost the pleasure of watching things grow and change--and inside our homes, artificial light is always competing with natural light. Morning Glory attempts to counteract that.

Intended to be hung near a window, the light is composed of a delicate structure that flowers, depending on lighting conditions. When it's bright outside, the lamp shrinks up, allowing sunlight to stream past. When it grows dark, the lamp eventually blooms in a snowflake pattern, revealing the LED's inside.

Rodd at Trading places Exhibition

2010-04-30T03:19:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night saw the opening of 'trading places' celebrating 10 years of the dba inclusive design challenge. Some of the divide equally range was on display as one of the few projects from the challenge to make it's way into production.

Rodd - Divide Equally

2010-04-25T01:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.rodd.uk.com/news.asp?nID=88

Read the latest on our Divide Equally Housewares range. Say good bye to weigh scales!

Trading Places: Ten Year of the DBA Inclusive Design Challenge at the RCA

2010-03-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

To celebrate ten years of the DBA Inclusive Design Challenge, the Helen Hamlyn Centre is organising a special exhibition at the Sackler Centre for arts education at the V&A in spring 2010, sponsored by the Department of Work and Pensions.

This exhibition, entitled Trading Places: Ten Year of the DBA Inclusive Design Challenge at the RCA 2000/10, will be held from 19 April to 16 May 2010. A special creative industries night will be held at the Sackler Centre on 27 April in partnership with the DBA and V&A to celebrate the show.

The Trading Places exhibition will then travel to Boston's Institute for Human-Centred Design in autumn 2010 for a showing before an American audience.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tie by Rodd featured on the Design council website

2010-02-25T14:29:00.000-08:00

Design Out Crime: Tie from Design Council on Vimeo.

Video produced by the Design Council to demonstrate Tie our mobile phone security solution.

rodd.uk.com

Rodd is thinking about its passions

2010-02-25T14:16:00.000-08:00

We have been asked to discuss our passion(s) in a forthcoming article. Currently the list is long and the thinking is not really crystalised. Whilst we develop our thoughts on this we thought we would share this humorous TED Video from Austrian graphics guru Stefan Sagmeister. In this film he discusses how design brings happiness.

rodd.uk.com

USB recharging now via the wall socket...

2010-02-22T13:34:00.000-08:00

guess it was only a matter of time and a cute little startled expression to boot!

www.rodd.uk.com

'Tie' by Rodd & TTP. Wining mobile phone security solution to be unveiled in Barcelona

2010-02-12T08:54:00.000-08:00

Figures suggest that 228 mobile phones are reported stolen in the UK every hour. As handsets become increasingly sophisticated, we’re carrying more personal and business information around with us, much of it unsecured. Experts in cybercrime believe that criminals will seize on this as a new opportunity in much the same way that email and online banking spawned the ‘phishing’ phenomenon.

As part of Design Out Crime; an initiative from the Home Office Design & Technology Alliance Against Crime and the Design Council. Rodd were selected alongside 3 other agencies to Challenge the next generation of phone theft.

Partnering with TTP a technology group with a history of developing technical solutions for the GSM market our solution would focus on making stolen handsets unusable and the data inaccessible to a thief.

Before a design solution could be identified it was important to understand how a thief operates; how and why the phone is stolen, what happens immediately after theft and the extended life of a stolen mobile phone. We discovered that a stolen handset is quickly separated from it’s SIM card, reflashed, sold on (more than likely exported) and combined with a new SIM. Currently there are few barriers to stop valuable / personal data being stolen, used in identity theft or to access bank details. The challenge was apparent, create a solution that would deter a thief, negate downstream criminal activity and enable a user to protect the data on their phone.

There would be two parts to our solution; antitheft (securing the handset) and data security (protecting the data on the phone). To deter theft of the hardware we had to protect the handset and SIM, the solution: to create an inseparable bond between the two that criminals cannot break making the handset and SIM worthless to any potential thief. To prevent data theft we would encrypt the data with a user controlled 4 digit PIN, and use the same encryption system to enable a remote lock feature.

With the technology principals confirmed we began by immersing ourselves in usecases; exploring how our system could be integrated with current use patterns. Engaging with potential users we set out to understand how they valued security, what they understood as a security threat and their own potential risk. From this it quickly became evident that the winning solution would be a perfect balance between convenience, understanding and security.

The solution would have to be flexible; catering for different mobile platforms, variation between business and personal use and the value of the data on the phone allowing for perceived risk in a variety of situations.

We set about creating mobile security that that was clear, concise and visible, engaging when it needed to be and gave a reassuring presence that the system was active. By taking security from the settings menu and bringing it to the front of the interface; we raised the profile allowing the user to make their own decision as to where and when security is relevant to them.

We created tie a clear and simple brand. The strong identity gives the user a familiar visual language to follow when creating and managing their security.

The first time a phone is turned on the user is taken through a simple 1 – 2 minute setup, giving them a brief introduction to tie, security is now created and the hand set and SIM are tied. Once set up the user has no active engagement with this part of the solution other than the visibility of the logo displayed in the header bar. As part of the setup the user enters a username and password and has the ability to securely add multiple SIM cards to a list of trusted combinations.

For data security the solution was a small change to an existing process. Adding a choice at the keypad lock interface, the user would have the option to continue as normal or lock with tie. This no fuss approach gives the choice to use a PIN or not when locking their keypad. This choice would be presented every time they locked their keypad and would be controlled by a single button press; allowing them to use their judgement based on the perceived security threat at that time.

Tie is an appropriate solution that addresses a serious social issue with a simple interface behind which is a highly sophisticated and innovative technical resolution. Alongside TTP Rodd are currently looking at ways to develop the project and bring tie to market.

The working prototype will be on display from the 15th to the 18th of February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the mobile industry’s annual trade show.

http://www.rodd.uk.com/

Postcards from Asia...

2010-02-04T14:32:00.000-08:00

This is the second half of the "Postcards from Asia" gallery redirected from Core77 , featuring great images of bamboo and ceramic manufacturing places in Vietnam. it hard to imagine just how many small facilities there must be producing great quality craft items.

hit the link for the rest of the images and links to the producers.

www.rodd.uk.com

Colour, glorious colour.

2010-01-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

Cool headphones

2010-01-08T07:13:00.000-08:00

While doing some research i came across this brand that do some very simple, modern headphones. They are also beautifully photographed. check them out http://www.zoundindustries.com/

Snowy studio pics

2010-01-07T04:53:00.000-08:00

Soft drink powered phone

2010-01-07T03:36:00.001-08:00

London designer Daizi Zheng has created a conceptual mobile phone for Nokia that is powered by sugary drinks. Zheng proposes that the phone could run on a battery that uses enzymes to generate electricity from carbohydrates. Bio battery has the potential to operate three to four times longer on a single charge than conventional lithium batteries and it could be fully biodegradable.

http://www.daizizheng.com/projects.htm

User Experience films

2010-01-07T03:20:00.000-08:00

If you are stuck at home in the snow and have a few hours to spare then take a look at some of these videos. They are a series of lectures based on user experience compiled by smashing magazine

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/05/25-user-experience-videos-that-are-worth-your-time/

choose wisely - it'll take a while to watch them all!

Wall Clock

2010-01-07T01:39:00.000-08:00

Interesting wall clock made with overlapping laser cut sheets of metal

http://www.bgmproject.com/

2010-01-07T01:35:00.001-08:00

Simple and beautiful - the balloon lamp by http://www.kyouei-ltd.co.jp/index.htm

Also check out the 'water clock' - interesting

Inside Burton Snowboards.... 'makeit' video

2010-01-06T09:59:00.000-08:00

Rodd are always a sucker for a good 'makeit' video and this one from the boys at Burton snowboards is a cracker.

Make the jump dudes.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxZ-zLUe4T4

Carbon Foodprint...

2010-01-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

The Government says that food packaging should be labelled to show products’ carbon footprint, country of origin and animal welfare standards in its new food strategy, Food 2030.

Given our current 'Portion Control Innovation' fascination we are keen to understand what real relevance this information overload is having on consumers? Whilst I support the 'information is power' train of thought, how much credence will consumers give to the Ecological Load Factor of their beans on toast?

We would be fascinated to hear your opinions on this.... Hit the jump for the full article.

http://www.designweek.co.uk/new-food-labelling-legislation-launched/3008271.article

2010-01-06T08:36:00.000-08:00

I love these wooden tape dispensers

http://www.thetintedmint.com

Stone Paper

2010-01-06T07:38:00.000-08:00

Terraskin is a tree-free paper made of minerals. Stone paper is similar to traditional papers only it has a lot of advantages. When it comes to printing Via Stone paper uses 20-30% less ink than conventional papers. Stone paper can be water-resistant, tear-resistant, recyclable and biodegradable. No water or bleach can be used in its production as well!

check out the website http://terraskin.com/

Little models

2010-01-06T07:30:00.000-08:00

Make your pictures look like small models! try out the free application http://tiltshiftmaker.com/

Here's mine of Sienna, Tuscany

Beautiful Axe

2010-01-06T02:52:00.000-08:00

Check them out - http://www.bestmadeco.com/

Ink Calendar

2010-01-06T02:41:00.000-08:00

I love this calendar that uses the slow spread of the ink to indicate the date. The colours of the inks also relate to the hues of the seasons - lovely!

http://www.oscar-diaz.net/

Can openers in reverse

2010-01-06T02:29:00.000-08:00

I was watching the hairy bikers last night (not a show i normally watch - honest!). Near the end of the program they did a bit of a test, more or less a race between a host of different can openers - from simple antique manual openers through to the most modern 'automatic' one. Needless to say the antique one was a clear winner while everyone struggled with the more complex modern day ones. Interesting......

catch it on iplayer now http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00psp44/The_Hairy_Bikers_Mums_Know_Best_Family_Favourites/

Inclusive Design - Makes sound commercial sense...

2010-01-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

BT is inviting businesses to attend a free seminar in London which will set out the business case for inclusive design, and provide hands on advice through practical workshops on how to start implementing inclusive design principals. Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Minister for Digital Britain, will give the keynote address at the event (February 2 2010), which aims to explain the how and the why behind inclusive design.

The event will mark the introduction of a lengthy collaboration between BT, Helen Hamlyn Research Centre and Cambridge University. For more information and to register your interest in attendance make the jump below

http://www.btplc.com/inclusion/Events/seminar2010.htm

What the iPod tells us about Britain's economic future

2009-11-28T07:43:00.000-08:00

What the iPod tells us about Britain's economic future

Jabra Stone - At last a bluetoothe that doesn't make you look like a chav!

2009-10-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

A short design article and glamour pics of the new Jabra Stone. Just don't wear it and walk around in public talking to yourself.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/10/20/an-interview-with-johan-birger-part-of-the-jabra-stone-design-team/

Seoul 48 Hour Design Challenge

2009-10-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

Ben has just returned from Seoul’s I-Design festival, where he was invited to lead one of eight multi-national teams in a 48 hour design challenge organised by the Korean Council and the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre.

The focus of this years challenge (won last year in Tokyo by Ben's team) was to enhance existing leisure, pleasure and social interaction in Seoul.

This years winning team was led by Cian Plumbe of StudioHead, who created ‘Pitch Perfect’ an interactive Karaoke experience inspired by insights from their hearing impaired Expert User.

Halo

2009-08-07T08:58:00.001-07:00

Saw this on core77 recently: halo is a handy light specially dedicated to light-writting. Graffiti artists can conserve their own gesture they have with an aerosol spray. It is possible to change the color and the brightness of the led to change the graffiti’s styles. If the light doesn’t have enough battery, the user must shake it to have energy again
http://www.aissalogerot.com/

Stretch shelf

2009-07-30T01:12:00.001-07:00

I love this simple shelf idea from Peter Olyer. Aluminium pegs and a rubber band - Simple
http://www.peteoyler.com/work/stretch-shelf

Handmade leaf portraits

2009-07-30T01:08:00.001-07:00

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17276262

Augmented Reality - dull name, daft glasses but amazing technology...

2009-07-06T02:17:00.000-07:00

Ok so the heat wave is over and it’s back to gloomy Monday weather. If you need an espresso shot of cool, make the jump to GigantiCo and make you way through their Augmented Reality post. For those with SAD induced lethargy we have para phrased... and No, you don't need to wear the funny looking specs!

Augmented technology (the mixing of 3D computer graphics in to real world experiences in real time - kind of like the holographic conference phone in Star Wars!) has undeniable wow factor – but finding the appropriate application will decide the long-term future for the technology. Hopefully smart brands will find ways to create powerful and functional augmented experiences, rather than catchy ad inspired brand experiences – which capture the consumer’s attention for all of five minutes before the next latest greatest tech trend sweeps in.

The Giganti blog provides a dozen or so great links to demos – most are worth a browse, the 3D model of the Lego kit that magically appears as you grab a box off the shelf is every kids dream but in the greater scheme of things it’s a thirty second hit, place aware - ‘pastes’ real time tags onto your smart phone screen as you pan the camera around your immediate environment is a like a GPS meets Wiki experience, on a retail front (possibly the obvious jumping in point for the technology) the IKEA retail concept is kind of cool . Ever wondered how that sofa and lamp combo would look in you front room – read on…

All videos

http://www.gigantico.net/augmented2/aug_video_index_00.html

Ikea retail concept

http://www.gigantico.net/augmented2/aug_video_index_12.html

Place-Aware - GPS meets Wiki

http://www.gigantico.net/augmented2/aug_video_index_12.html

Full article on GigantiCo

http://gigantico.squarespace.com/336554365346/2009/6/23/augmented-reality-overview.html

Solar Ivy

2009-07-03T08:40:00.001-07:00

A creative way of allowing solar pannels to be mounted on vertical walls. Punched from a sheet they are allowed to move in the breeze and catch the sun from any angle.

http://www.s-m-i-t.com/

Rodd: are thinking salt!

2009-06-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

Simply does it....

2009-06-29T12:46:00.001-07:00

Continuing with today's theme ...... take one watch battery, one paperclip and one LED..... bingo glowing jewelry....

Rodd - cutting edge product designers.....

2009-06-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

Ok.... so we have a sensitive side, so we like paper jewelry....

Windowherbs

2009-06-29T01:49:00.001-07:00

These windowherbs from ZO are a great idea. The half pots come with a suction cup on the back allowing you to stick them straight to the window. Great for places with little room or poor lighting conditions
http://ontwerpduo.nl/en/werk_windowherbs.html

Celebrity scales

2009-06-29T01:40:00.000-07:00

This is fun. Weight increments have been replaced by celebrity (real and mythical) names. see more at http://www.karltoomey.com/

Rodd & TTP wins slice of the £400,000 Mobile Phone Security Challenge

2009-06-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

Rodd has been announced as one of the 4 winning partnerships in the £400,000 Mobile Phone Security Challenge, a national competition to create ‘crime proof’ mobile phones.

http://www.rodd.uk.com/news.asp?nID=81

Eyeclock

2009-06-24T01:43:00.001-07:00

This made me smile :)

http://www.mikemak.com

Whittle chair

2009-06-24T01:18:00.000-07:00

It's very rare that you'll find me talking positively about chair design and putting them on the blog but this is slightly different. Karen Ryan has taken a pen knife to a standard tatty old wooden chair. It's great to see something mundane being turned into something beautiful in such a way. see more at:

http://www.bykarenryan.co.uk/

also interesting use of flikr as portfolio.....

Yep, I didn't know there was one either.....

2009-06-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

World Industrial Design Day 2009 is fast approaching, and this year's theme is "Industrial Design: the product of human creativity. Follow the link below to find out what events are going on in your country.

http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/world_industrial_design_day_global_list_of_events_13842.asp#more

Apple make iphone security part of the user experience....

2009-06-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Damn their good!

The latest iphone combined with a MobileMe account brings mobile phone security up to date....

Follow the link below and watch the video....

http://www.apple.com/mobileme/whats-new/

Y-Water - The story behind the drink

2009-06-15T04:29:00.001-07:00

Yves Behar fronts a great video about the development of healthy kids drink Y-WATER.

The film introduces the relationship between the stakeholders and the issues they faced during development. Part of a video series by Eastman Innovation Lab.

Eastman Innovation Lab - Design Insights - Yves Behar - Video

Shared via AddThis

Why do we shrink wrap a cucumber?

2009-06-12T03:43:00.000-07:00

94% of consumers feel that shops should help them reduce wastage and save money at the same time.

63% of consumers believe that packaging affects their choice of product and 66% believe that products are over packed.

Just two stats from of a staggering array of evidence that supports that we consumers think the junk that gets wrapped around the products we buy really must change. This link to a piece of ethnographic research carried out by the Guardian makes for fascinating reading.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/jan/29/shopping.conservation

Bamboolarule

2009-06-11T07:14:00.000-07:00

Bamboolarule is a bent ruler that’s easier for people with arthritis to pick up
http://www.baskervillestudio.com/

Objectified

2009-06-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

Objectified is a feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the designers who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability.
Objectified was released in cinemas and film festivals in March. It will be available for download or dvd from next month. see more at http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/

Flip&Tumble

2009-06-10T01:54:00.001-07:00

I like these re-usable shopping bags by flip&tumble. Check out the fun and funky colours and great photography. Have a look at the interesting studio pics too....
http://www.flipandtumble.com/

sagaform

2009-06-10T01:50:00.001-07:00

Saw these guys at exclusively housewares. Apart from their household objects they produce a range of portable, folding barbeques. Take a look...

http://sagaform.com/index.php?id=52&L=1

Lékué

2009-06-10T01:38:00.000-07:00

Interesting silicone cooking/food prep products. We particularly liked the juicer and the cooking mesh http://www.lekue.es