Technology

Subterms

    More stories

    • 163 Shares169 Views

      This week, Rolls-Royce had a rebrand and NASA's Mars mission got a logo

      by

      This week on Dezeen, design studio House of van Schneider unveiled the logo for NASA’s robotic rover and Pentagram gave the Rolls-Royce visual identity a makeover.House of van Schneider has designed the branding for NASA’s 2020 mission to send a rover to Mars to look for signs of past life.
      A red circle symbolises the red planet, overlaid with a pixellated outline of the robot and a star that represents Earth glimpsed from Mars. This logo is going on the main rocket as well as the rover, along with badges and keycards used by scientists on the project.
      “We never had our work on a rocket, or sent to space, let alone on Mars. This was a first for the entire House of van Schneider team,” said  founder Tobias van Schneider.

      Rolls-Royce unveils “confident but quiet” rebrand by Pentagram
      Design studio Pentagram revealed the rebrand it designed for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, based around the signature statuette that perches on the bonnet of its cars.

      Called the Spirit of Ecstasy, the figure of a woman with diaphanous wings has been updated and flipped to be a simplified logo for Rolls-Royce.
      “Things like the size of the waist were so important,” said Pentagram partner Marina Willer, “because we didn’t want to indicate that she was too skinny, as that wouldn’t set a good example, and we didn’t want to make her too feminine and sexual either.”

      Expo 2025 Osaka logo revealed as ring of red blobs
      A red circle was revealed as the winning design of the competition to make the logo for Expo 2025 Osaka. Graphic designer Tamotsu Shimada won over the jury and the public with a circle of blobs that look like cell nuclei – and googly eyes.
      Japan embraced the anthropomorphic qualities of the design on social media, producing memes and fanart of the logo as an alien creature, a video game character, and even a loaf of bread.

      Melania Trump criticised for “upsetting” White House Rose Garden renovation on social media
      Melania Trump also had the attention of design Twitter this week. Her redesign of the Rose Garden at the White House went viral after she shared pictures of her foray into landscape architecture.
      It wasn’t the first time that the First Lady – who left her formal architecture studies to pursue a successful modelling career –turned her hand to design. We rounded up four examples here.

      Photos reveal Foster + Partners “floating” spherical Apple Marina Bay Sands store
      Photos of the new Apple Marina Bay Sands shop in Singapore have also been popping up on social media. British practice Foster + Partners is building the spherical store on the water, where it will be reached via a footbridge.
      Foster + Partners’ founder Norman Foster also unveiled his design for a temporary parliament building for the UK. The proposal includes a debating chamber and office spaces for 650 politicians wrapped in bomb-proof glass.

      MAD wraps Beverly Hills residences Gardenhouse with America’s “largest living wall”
      Planted facades had a moment in architecture news this week. Chinese architecture studio MAD laid claim to building America’s “largest living wall” by wrapping a housing development in Beverly Hills with a swirl of succulents.
      Norwegian firm Snøhetta covered a timber office in Austria with a layer of greenery trailing up a latticed metal frame.

      Perforated metal pavilion by Neiheiser Argyros disguises London Underground vents
      In other architecture news, major infrastructure projects had their vents cunningly disguised by architects. Architecture studio Neiheiser Argyros shrouded the exhaust vents and fire escape of a London Underground station with a stylish pavilion and cafe.
      To hide a ventilation shaft for the upcoming HS2 railway line, architecture firm Grimshaw has proposed a decorative roof of weathered steel to transform it into a local landmark.

      [In]Brace allows users to control a computer with their tongueIngenious wearables featured in design and technology news on Dezeen. Graduate designer Dorothee Clasen has created a retainer called [In]Brace that allows the wearer to communicate with a computer using just their tongue.
      Amelia Kociolkowska, another graduate designer, has created a wearable spandex pouch called Carrie that allows for the convenient and discreet carrying of period products.

      Island Rest is a black-timber holiday home on the English coast
      This week our readers were excited about a larch-clad holiday home on the Isle of Wight, a hilltop house in Costa Rica with views of the ocean, and a government building in India covered in an Ikat pattern of bricks.
      This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week’s top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don’t miss anything.

      Read more: More

    • 125 Shares169 Views

      Burberry and Tencent collaborate on interactive WeChat shop in Shenzhen

      by

      Visitors to Shenzhen’s Burberry flagship store can use Tencent’s WeChat app to interact with the window display and play their own music in fitting rooms.The British fashion brand and China’s largest social media company collaborated to design a shop that suited Shenzhen’s growing reputation for technology.

      Shoppers use WeChat, a Chinese messaging and social media app, to engage with the shop in Shenzhen’s MixC development.

      Tencent and Burberry have produced a custom mini program that is unlocked via WeChat. Users create a profile and are given a digital avatar in the form of a cartoon fawn that hatches from an egg.

      Through the app, shoppers can book one of the three themed fitting rooms, pre-select the clothes and play their own music while they try them on. They can also use this program to book a table at the in-house cafe and make appointments with stylists and other services.
      To encourage engagement, the program has a rewards system to earn “social currency” that unlocks custom content, such as new characters and outfits for the animal avatar and exclusive dishes on the cafe menu.

      All the products have QR codes, which can be scanned to display more information and visual hints for styling the project – and give the user more points for unlocking content.
      The interactive window display is currently a sculptural recreation of the runway for Burberry’s Autumn Winter 2020 show. Mirrors and screens capture the movement of people as they interact with it, which users can capture and share with their phones.

      “Social media is an increasingly important part of the customer journey and the interaction between social media and physical surroundings is ever more seamless,” said Burberry senior vice president of digital Mark Morris.
      “Our social retail store in Shenzhen is our response to this. It is a space where the social and physical worlds merge, taking interactions from social media and bringing them into the physical retail environment,” he told Dezeen.
      “The tech we use in the store is intended to provide a seamless journey that augments customers’ online and instore life. Therefore, this is not a tech store, but a beautiful luxury store augmented by technology.”

      Burberry chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci turned to the brand’s archive to create a visual look for the themed rooms that correspond to the digital platform.

      Peter Saville collaborates with Riccardo Tisci to design new Burberry logo and monogram

      The Italian fashion designer used the Thomas Burberry Monogram and the fashion house’s fawn print as a recurring motif – the latter being the inspiration for the WeChat avatar too.

      Furnishings, fixtures and plinths throughout the store are made from plywood and mirrors. Tisci used a palette of beige, pistachio, pink and blue throughout the 10 rooms in the shop, each of which has a different theme.
      The three bookable fitting rooms are decorated around the concept of Burberry Animal Kingdom, Reflections and the Thomas Burberry Monogram, and visitors can book their favourite via the app.

      Thomas’ Cafe is decked out in high-gloss beige with chamfered mirrors, animal-patterned wall panels and layers of sandy-coloured curtains.
      Even the tabletops are mirrored, creating a unique backdrop for diners to capture their meal for sharing on social media.

      In the Trench Experience room, digital displays set in the plywood walls show moving images of nature in reference to the fashion brand’s founder, Thomas Burberry, who designed a waterproof trench coat for British troops in the first world war. This room has more opportunities for customers to unlock custom content.
      “I am fascinated by the balance between nature and technology, and the energy that connects the two,” said Tisci.
      “This store explores this relationship, blending the digital and the physical realms in an exciting new concept. I wanted to bring this love of the outdoors to life through all the elements of the store.”

      Burberry previously brought technology to its London shop, where it installed a robot that appeared to chisel sculptures out of polystyrene blocks.
      Tencent recently opened its new headquarters in Shenzhen, a pair of towers designed by NBBJ joined by multiple bridges to encourage staff to meet and interact.

      Read more: More

    • 238 Shares139 Views

      in Rooms

      Live conversation with Dezeen Awards judges and winners including Nelly Ben Hayoun and Sevil Peach as part of VDF

      by

      [embedded content] Dezeen Awards winners and judges including Studio Drift, Arthur Mamou-Mani, Adam Nathaniel Furman and Sevil Peach will take part in a live drop-in conversation from 1:00pm UK time as part of today’s VDF x Dezeen Awards collaboration. The special edition of our Screentime interview series also features Nelly Ben Hayoun, Sarah Izod and Talenia […] More

    • 200 Shares159 Views

      in Rooms

      Watch talks by Paola Antonelli, Liam Young and Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg from Dezeen Day at VDF

      by

      Today we are streaming the entire Dezeen Day conference as part of Virtual Design Festival, including talks by Paola Antonelli, Liam Young, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg and more. Dezeen Day was Dezeen’s inaugural international architecture and design conference. Six months after the event took place, we are broadcasting all the talks, panel discussions and conversations from […] More