Industrial Design News
A Multifunctional Urban Pole
This nifty Shift Pro is by Simes, an Italian manufacturer of outdoor lighting. It's essentially a weatherproof, modular pole system that can be used to host lighting, cameras, speakers, Wi-Fi transmitters and power sockets.
Users can configure the head units as they like.
Furthermore, each of the heads can be flipped, and can also rotate 360 degrees. The lighting unit's projector can also be deployed from its housing and aimed.
The company calls it "A complete solution for smart management of cities, urban areas and residential environments."
An Industrial Designer's Unusual Writing Instrument
This unnamed writing utensil is by Alberto Essesi, a Milan-based industrial designer. Essesi says he "created" the tool and describes it as if it's been fabricated, but I believe it's just a concept, judging by the images.
"A simple tool I created for myself. I saw a documentary about how we used to use rocks to sketch on walls and there was something that intrigued me. I grabbed a rock and tried to sketch, I noticed that i was forced to create long and bold lines, focused on the larger form rather than details, each line flowed and had a certain energy to it.""I of course had to take this rock to the next level. The sphere is created of polished aluminum through the middle section and sand blasted anodized aluminum to the sides. The center is hollow to reduce weight and the tip of the pencil is easily replaceable as well as uses 'infinite graphite' that lasts incredibly long and replicates the feeling of a smooth stone grinding against a surface."
While I think it'd take a while to get used to, I'd be very curious to try drawing with this.
Hoto's Designey Rotary Cutter Features Nice UX Touches
Hoto, manufacturer of designey tools, has jumped into the rotary cutter game. The Chinese brand has done a remarkable job of establishing a Modernist design language across their entire range of tools, and this one—which they're calling "electric scissors," though it is in fact a rotary cutter—is no different.
It cuts through all of the materials you'd expect a rotary cutter to get through.
Aside from the looks, the company's designers have added some features that make the tool stand out, from a UX perspective.
It's got a built-in grinding wheel, allowing the user to sharpen the blade in place.
And when it is time to replace the blade, they made changing it a tool-less procedure.
The tool is USB-C rechargeable, and there's an easy-to-read battery life indicator right where you want it.
There's also a safety lock.
Lastly, it comes with its own case.
The Hoto EdgeFlow Cordless Electric Scissors, as they're calling it, run $80.