Why I think iPhone 4 is a major design failure

I am one of those who gush and oooh and aaah over most of the stuff Jonathan Ives designs for Apple. I already own an iPhone 3G and work in an office full of various Mac computers (from Power G5 to all shorts of iMacs to a MacBook Pro). But the current iPhone never did it for me. From the beginning, seeing the leaked device, up to now that I have handled the device, played with it, talked with many users and read a lot about it, I still don't like it.

First of all the design of the first three iPhones (2S, 3G, 3GS) was brilliant. Curvy, thin, elegant, different than anything else in the market. And they still look different than all other smart-phones out there. Instantly recognizable. Easy to hold. The feel of that backside curve in your palm is absolute perfection. Than the flat design for iPhone 4 comes along, with its beveled corners. Just like all the rest of the competition. Gone is the curve that made it so nice to hold.

Glass - back and front. Great idea, aesthetically perfect. But why make a device that is supposed to be handled a bit rough, one that usually lies on the back side, have glass there too? How ergonomic is that? How many fingerprints can one handle? (On the plus side, it does make for easier protective membrane application. But still). And the metal edge all around to hold that glass into place (among other things)? I don't need an iMac in my pocket, I have it on my desktop, thank you very much.

After many months, apple finally had to remove all traces of a white iPhone from their website. They cannot manufacture it because the white back surface with the glass diffuses the flash light of the camera so it ruins the photos you take (or try to). How can a big company such as this, with an incredible industrial design record, announce a product, much less take pre-orders for it, before testing it to see if it works properly? Latest news do seem to indicate it might be released next year. We'll have to wait and see.

I would be interested to find out your thoughts about this, so please feel free to add them in the comments.

Vinyl cut out clocks by Pavel Sidorenko

Last night I was at a small bar in my hometown listening to a friend DJ (Narita playing a great DJ gig as usual), when I spotted a clock made from an old vinyl record on the wall next to the DJ booth. I immediately thought that it was a great idea for a DJ gift but poorly executed (i.e. how about making clock hands like record player arms instead?) . Today, thanks to a Design Sponge post about Pavel Sidorenko, I found out how much better this idea can become.

Pavel Sidorenko is an Estonian designer, born in 1980 in Tallinn. He studied industrial design at the Estonian Academy of Arts, graduating in 2006. His aim is to create functional and playful products that retain their simplicity, interacting with the space and the user, creating not only incorporate pragmatic necessity, but also transmitting an emotional quality within the everyday environment. he received the 1st prize in the Massimo Martini Design Awards, in Milan's Macef show while his latest exhibition participation was in this year's Ambiente show in Frankfurt, as part of the EDL stand.

The clocks are made by laser-cutting the old vinyl records in various shapes. It is a fun idea, reminding me a lot of paper-cutting stuff other people do - the choice of material here is key and fresh. I would not mind having one of these on my wall!

© Pavel Sidorenko

A call for Greek designers

A few days ago I received this great e-mail from the well known in Greece CARTECO company, inviting the Greek designers from every section to sell their products through a dedicated website. I think it is a great opportunity so I post their "invitation" here:

CARTECO addresses an invite to GREEK industrial designers, graphic artists and artistic groups, who produce their products in small or large scale, manufactured, handmade or not, to a limited number or to order, and have a given business policy, to submit product details and information such as pictures etc. for sale in Greece and abroad through the new on-line store CARTECOSHOP.GR, which is under construction and will be soon on line.

The deadline is the end of February. It is not mandatory for participants to have a comprehensive collection or refined presentation, but certainly this will help. What interests us is for them to be able to guarantee quality and good design of the product and be consistent with our company and consumers. Be careful, we do not want to experiment with your ideas for the first time. We want ideas that are implemented and ready to fall in the market and become known to consumers. The product categories are general, i.e. objects, lighting, furniture, artwork, gifts, jewelry, silk screens, posters, textiles, etc. There is no restriction. Just be sure to get us all the necessary information quickly and to make us understand in as few words as possible exactly what it is that you do. The sales agreement for your projects through our website and our network is NOT exclusive and is not binding for any reason without any written agreement. Failure to accept the sale of products through our e-shop does not mean anything about the quality or the level of your work. We just cannot accept all the proposals or to cooperate with everyone. The products will be delivered to us finished, ready to pack for sale. Our company does not intend to enter a process of production, research and development of your project. If you are interested in selling or promote your products through our network, send us by e-mail to vpbartz@gmail.com the following:

• Black and white photograph of the designer or group
• Name and surname of the designer and the team
• Contact details, telephone, email, website or blog, Address.
• Small biography, information about previous activities, projects
• Products that are likely to be released or sold in our market or other shops. Up to 10 photos for each product that we propose for sale in our online store at the required resolution. Variations of the product. Potential variety of colors, versions, designs, etc. Product description, dimensions, materials. Delivery time by order of the day and whether there is a minimum order. Method of payment to you, your team or manufacturer.
• Sample if available (if in the end you are picked for the shop, you will be asked for one)
• Category sales and use, eg Artwork, sculpture, gift, furniture, etc
• Jpeg low resolution images (for web) in 2 sizes: 114X114 pix and 222X222 pix
• Text (in 2 languages): 250-300 words (1500-2000 characters including spaces)

Once selected, we will contact you to discuss the details of our cooperation and to require additional material to be posted on the website. Thank you very much for your attention and interest in cooperation.

Domestic appliances for the next 90 years: what will they do?

Electrolux is organizing an International competition Design Lab 2009 for undergraduate and graduate industrial design students around the world.

The theme for this year is: «Domestic appliances for the next 90 years»

The brief for the competition’s 7th edition is to create thoughtfully-designed home appliances that will shape how people prepare and store food, wash clothes, and do dishes over the next nine decades. The design ideas should address key consumer insights such as being adaptive to time and space, provide learning and allow for individualization.

2008 1st prize winner, Flatshare refrigerator by Stefan Buchberger

For more information, rules and registration visit Electrolux Designlab.

A jury will select 3 winning entries that will receive cash prize awards. The Design Lab has a First Prize of 5,000 Euro and a six-month paid internship at one of Electrolux’s global design centers. Second prize: 3,000 Euro. Third prize: 2,000 Euro. All cash prize awards include VAT.

2008 2nd prize winner, iBasket by Guopeng Liang

A selected number of students (students are persons who are officially registered as undergraduate or graduate—Bachelor’s or Master’s degree—students with a university at the time of submission of the design idea), will have their idea developed into a 1:1 full scale model of their design. The finalists will be invited to London, England for the finals and be available September 23 & 24, 2009 for this purpose. An exhibition of the finalists’ entries will be shown during a press event in London. Afterwards, the exhibition will travel around the world.

2008 3rd prize winner, Coox, by Antoine Lebrun

Applicant registration and submissions will be accepted through May 31, 2009.

Photos from the 2008 contest courtesy of Electrolux.

Panorama Design 2008

Panorama Design is probably the biggest annual design event in Greece, a conference taking place in Halandri Art Centre on the 22nd and 23rd of November and again on the 6th and 7th of December. It's a creative hive for top Greek designers from the whole spectrum of design: analysing the way they get inspired and create through case studies. The program of the conference is enriched with the presence of important foreign designers.

So what will be happening there: The first day, 22nd of November, is Adobe D-Day! Adobe, famous for their graphic design oriented software, organize this type of seminars around the world, aiming at better providing quality services to creative people around the world. So after a run of successful presentations in Europe and the Middle East, it's Greece's time to host such an event!

Then we're on to Product Design day: dedicated to the third dimension of design, it will feature presentations from well know Greek designers working both in Greece and abroad. The site says that this type of seminar is done for the first time in Greece (dealing with the creative process of product and industrial design) but it has been done in Thessaloniki also for the last three years during the Design exhibitions in January. I hope this is better organized and more practical instead of theoretical. The designers speaking will be : Konstantinos Hoursoglou (chd - Lausanne), Vassilis Mylonadis (My design, Athens), Panos Vassiliou (Lime Studio, London), Vassilis & Stathis Petropoulos (Vast Design, Athens), Evgenios Skourboutis (Athens), Thomas Mylonas (dot kite lab, Amsterdam) and Sergios Fotiadis (we design, Athens). The conference is co-ordinated by Christopher Brellis (antidot design studio).


The two days in December will be filled with the visual communications aspect of design: graphic designers, illustrators, animators, directors etc. will be speaking to attendees on a multitude of aspects of design - the Panorama as we know it from previous years. Check the list of speakers. Victor Coen and Dimitris Arvanitis stand out, but the rest of the speakers really deserve your attention too as they are well known and very creative people in their respective fields.

Special Event:Design of Modern Greek Furniture

Today opens the 2nd International Furnidec Business exhibition in Thessaloniki. It hosts, just like last year, the 3rd Design Show, which has known Greek designers exhibiting their work. In a specially designed space for this, in Pavilion 14, this special show is a celebration of design furniture and home accessories, outside of the usual commercial styles and norms.


Avant guard designers and architects project a special concept in objects concerning furniture. The prerogative for participation is the original idea and construction based on innovation, functionality and high standards in strength, style and unexpected forms and shapes. Most of the participating designers had previously shown in BARTESERA in Athens last month.



For the very first time, a Pan-Hellenic competition for furniture design took place, under the Helexpo-Furnidec co-ordination, in collaboration with the Greek Secretariat for Industrial Design. Any individual or team represented by a professional in the field of design and also graduate of any design school was eligible. There are 7 equal awards that will be given on Sunday. All the participants exhibit their designs and models along with their more well know colleagues, in Pavilion 14, in the special area designated for them.

The design of the whole space was done by my colleague Ioanna Papadopoulou, and we both supervised the set up of the exhibition space for the company we work for, Tetragon. I will post photos after the event.

The show is from the 25th until the 28th of January at the Thessaloniki International Fair grounds.