It doesn’t take long for kids to learn that when it comes to Tic Tac Toe “the only winning move is not to play.” But there’s something iconic about the game that means it keeps coming back. And designer Shahar Peleg has crafted such an unusual version I’d be tempted to pop it on my desk: it’s mirrored, so the pieces are halved until you place them on the grid. Not as high-tech as cloaked chess, but simple, and surprisingly eye-catching. [Peleg Design via Yanko design, DVICE]

While we’re rarely captivated by drawers here on Giz, Fractal 23 is more than worthy to take a place next to USB fart warmers and the like. Because by properly staggering 23 drawers of varying sizes, Takeshi Miyakawa has made use of every inch inside this cube…the hard way. My IKEA dresser is more than a little jealous; it’s turned to booze with my old Wal-Mart patio set that hangs in the garage. Here’s a bonus shot:

[Takeshi Miyakawa via DVICE]

This Eject Powerstrip is an even more refined version of this raise me up powerstrip, adding a larger, foot-usable eject base and wider plugs for wider AC adapters. What’s the point? One, so you can unplug stuff with your foot without having to bend down under your desk, and two, allowing you to unplug certain plugs that are slightly too tight for their own good. Would we get one if this were real? Yes, if it wasn’t all that much more expensive than a standard powerstrip. [Core77]

Not long after the phrase Web 2.0 emerged, also Web 2.0 design appeared. An unwritten set of guidelines that demanded that a decent webpage should have gradients, round corners, some mirror effects, a badge, and the important stuff should be in a font size of at least 48px came to existence.

I’m still not sure what they were thinking back then. Did the designers really think users where that stupid that they needed big letters screaming at them? Was it all about showing off Photoshop skills, or had it something to do with the idea that Web2.0 should be clearly recognizable as something different, something totally not Web 1.0.

Well let’s no longer talk about the past, and bad examples, let’s search for good ones that are available to us now. Because I have the feeling that we’re slowly moving to a new set of design guide lines. I’ll present you three websites, that – although they are different – have a lot in common too.

First:

Flickr.com probably one of the oldest Web 2.0 companies that didn’t go along with the bling hype. The interface is clear and simple, but still looks shiny cool.

Second:

Cnn.com, got a new fresh design last year, and is one of the finest examples of how to make a site without gradients and without drop-shadows behind each box.

Third:

Hulu.com, only around for a few months now, and a living proof about designing a good site that mainly exist out of white space. (It It is still in beta, but you can get a login within a day, check for some more screenshots here)

three ways to go beyond Web 2.0 design

So what is it that all these site have in common?

1. Grids and white space
Order your site with mathematical precision, create a grid where each column has a certain width, and stick to that format. Another thing is making things stand out not by making them really big, but by adding a lot of white space around it, some things on Hulu just needs to be clicked because there is noting else that catches the eye. Mark Boulton wrote a good tutorial about it, Khoi Vinh wrote a blog post accompanied with a pdf for it.

2. Typography.
There is a lot more into typography than only choosing which font you are going to use. Without even changing the font you can already differ two text blocks from each other in different line-height, different grey scales, and different sizes. Once again Mark Boulton wrote a wonderful series. Another good point to start with is Oliver Reichensteins article about typography.

3. Colors, and shades of grey
I already mentioned the use of different shades of grey to differ texts in importance, and especially sticking to one or two colors and grey can be easy tools to create an attractive yet clean site. Flickr especially manages the grey tones pallet very well. Veerle wrote a good article and ColorLovers and Adobe’s Kuler are worth visiting too

To sum it up: master your grey skills, keep your distance, and get some mathematical madness for order running through your blood. And you will be on your way to go beyond the drop-shadows and big starry things with text in it.

Why leave notes to your family on a magnetic dry erase board on your refrigerator when you can write directly on the toaster where nobody will see it? Actually, this toaster doesn’t actually let you write notes onto the toaster, it burns the note into the toast as well, which means your kid has plenty of time to read your reminders to them as they eat their breakfast. Or they can just shove the whole thing into their mouths and pretend they didn’t see it at all. Either way, it’s breakfast done right. [Yanko Design]

In the growing architecture-with-embedded-lighting department, there is a new technology inspired by the bioluminescence of sea life. A Chilean architecture and design duo developed a modular lighting system called theANEMIX, which can be used as a partition or a modified wall and creates unique 3D effects, while using a minimal amount of energy to create them.

The ANEMIX
system is composed of one or several two-layered panels, with luminescent and reflective combinations that create the cool result. The installation framework includes basic aluminum or wood bases, with a serigraphed acrylic or glass upper section, LED lighting on the sides, and a thermoformed (reshaped sheet) mirror in the back. This surface combination minimizes the energy consumption needed for the LED lights by essentially recycling the light throughout the frame.

The system can also be customized with different patterns, curves, and tube shapes in the serigraphy or the mirror.  Click for more on the inspiration behind the design.

In their first iteration of their light model, the designers

used
bioluminescent sea life as an example of the creation of a light source
produced without heat.  Many animals in the deep ocean generate light
at low temperatures through the chemical reaction between a pigment and
an enzyme, and the glass, aluminum, and thermoformed mirrors conjure a
similar effect out of this system.

So how much is it? We don’t know yet, but it’s probably way cheaper and
more energy efficient than buying a few wall-sized LCD screens.

http://theanemix.com

This LED table, designed by Julian Appelius and Fabien Dumas, may look like a regular table at first, but that changes when you place something down. When an object—usually transparent—interrupts the path of the light through the table, the light gets transferred into the object and lights it up all pretty-like.

We’re not sure what practical use this table has, but who can say no to LEDs? – Jason Chen

Project Page [Too Many Designers via Core77 via Slashgear]

RCA began selling the Gem line of MP3 players, including the Opal. Creative introduced its Zen Stone. And today Acer brings us the Gemstone. Earthly naming conventions are nothing new, from the PEBL to the i-Stones, gadget makers have long tried to portray their wares as organic, natural forms instead of the mercury laden, toxic ones the really are. But if consumer electronics companies really want to mimic nature…

then they should heed these words from industrial designer and sci-fi gadget imagineer Branko Lukic, from his upcoming book nonobject:

Each natural “product” is a unique specimen; nothing else compares to one, after another, after another. Imagine if the manufacture of consumer electronics afforded such diversity! Imagine if consumers had the pick of an endless array of devices, each one its own distinct shape, size and color while keeping the internal components the same… The state of things now: sameness sits on assembly lines; sameness lives on shelves; sameness is in hands of consumers. Need it be this way – where color is the only distinguishing feature? Why not tackle design in more interesting ways? Rather than considering a product as one of many, diversify the multiple existing molds and consider product a little more freely. Need each be a clone of the other? Why not envision production methodology anew, as a result of more organic processes? Just imagine: a near future where we still make a single product in large volumes, but we do so more randomly, intuitively, eclectically. This way, with advanced manufacturing techniques, consumers are offered more choice within a single product category.

Unless, of course, we are all electric sheep who want to own the exact same thing. –Noah Robischon

nonobject Design Fiction No 3: Pebble [Book Preview]