IgenDesign is proud to be a supporter of Delfines del Sur a Colombian football team in SUB 18 Category.

This was a university project. The task was to make a 30×30 cm form study based on three keywords. Out of the three keywords, the first had to be a physical characteristic, the second a human attitude and the third an emotion. My keywords were: Cold, Rough, Anger

My research consisted of three phases: The linguistic research and definition of the concepts, the collection and analysis of the natural and industrial analogies relating to the concepts and the semantical systematization of the forms.

Physical characteristic: Cold

Definition: Significantly lower temperature than the human body. Causes stinging, waspy, sharp, frosty feeling when sensed.

Natural, industrial (objects and buildings) and art (sculptures) analogies were collected. The feeling of coldness in nature and in industry is due to edges and completely plain surfaces, to peaked, thin and intent forms and also due to crystal-like fragmented, sharp form

Human attitude: Rough

Definition: Ignoring polite formalities when socializing, often undisguised and thoughtless, sometimes rudely honest.

The number one natural analogy was inspired by the design of stones and rocks: lumpish, broken, rough, blockish forms. Concerning surfaces these are corroded, unattended, fragmented, harsh surfaces:

Emotion: Anger

Definition: the moment of bursting with fury and pent-up aggression.

One of the formal analogies is the advent of fury in the animal kingdom: how the face distorts and what forms appear at the moment of fury. Secondly, the display of these in the world of fantasies and in the car industry. The other formal analogy is the presence of bursts and explosions: storms, volcano eruptions, sunbursts and forms of explosions. Moreover, the concept of how these are present in art:

The final sculpture

Cold: with stingy forms, straight edges and completely plain surfaces. Rough: lumpish, broken, blockish forms. Anger: the whole form consist of a body bursting out of an epicenter, like an explosion.

Designer: Alberto Vasquez

Photographer: Simon Hukaya

A handle of a frying pan is not just a stick. It’s an elongation of our hand which makes us possible to grab and control an extremely hot object. Actually I consider it as a plier that is an integral part of our hands during cooking and only should connect to the pan when we want to move it or shake it. You can cook more comfortable and safe as there are no protruding sticks while the pans are sizzling on the stove.

The black clip fixes the handle when you close it. It’s made of the same material but different color – it can be produced by multicomponent injection molding. The clip style of the handles provides plenty of space for water and detergent to spray, splatter and clean (in the sink or the, ahem, washer).

The handles are made of a special kind of refractory silicone material that can handle 300-400 Celsius, so you could probably even put it in the oven by accident without incident.

There is a metal part inside the silicone to brace the handle.

People with limited use of their hands – e.g. people with arthritis – could use two of these handles on one pan, thereby shifting the weight of the cooking pan to their forearms so they can rely on arm strength, rather than hand strength.

The deep finger grooves and lengthy side plate should keep fingers cool and happy.

Test models made in the workshop.

Designer: Alberto Vasquez

Two years ago I designed the corporate identity of Akiyai – the colombian social network. They have founded their own football team for children in Colombia. Here are some photos of their first days and with their first soccer jersey:)

Thanks to my university (MOME) I had the fortune of meet Dieter Rams. Continuing the tradition of previous years, German architect Dieter Rams has received the Moholy-Nagy’s Award in 2012. After the awarding ceremony Mr. Rams held a consultation meeting with the best students of the university so we could show him our actual projects and get advises from him.

My project called flow lamp has been published as a case study in Maggie Macnab’s new book: Design by Nature.

You can read a great book review about it on Core77:

“In her new book Design by Nature, Maggie Macnab addresses the importance of metaphor in communication using the natural world as a starting point. For an abstract thought or concept, meaning can sometimes be expressed faster by pairing two superficially dissimilar ideas than by trying to explain it directly using the physical sciences. Consequently, metaphor has existed as a tool for conveying thought since human beings first began to examine the conceptual relationships that underpin our world. Clearly, a mastery of metaphor in the visual arena can go a long way towards effective visual communication…” Read the full review on Core77!

My project has been selected as a Special Mention by the BraunPrize 2012 jury out of 2,399 submissions from 73 nations. All entries were sorted by 15 Region Groups for highlighting the very best talent in individual countries. In addition to the 30 National Winners (2×15), the jury selected additional outstanding projects as part of the BraunPrize 2012 exhibition. 13 in Student category and 7 in Professional/Enthusiast category. These Special Mentions were picked from all submissions, independently of the country the participants hailed from.

The project has been displayed as part of the BraunPrize 2012 exhibition during the Award Ceremony night at Braun on September 26, and will be shown in the braunprize.com online exhibition and in the international press. http://www.braun.com/global/world-of-braun/braun-prize.html

The Flow lamp has been selected as a finalist at the International Design Excelence Awards 2012. You can check more information about the competition and the Flow lamp here.

The bamboo-made public lighting design called flow has been exhibited in the White Box Gallery, New York. Here you can check the insider photos of the opening event:

My lamp design which recently has won the second prize of BeOpen Milan has been exhibited at TEDx UChicago on April 29th. You can find more information on the event and can watch the presentations here.

Come and see some exclusive fotos about the event and the exhibition in the rest of this entry!