Keynote Speaker

Design Crack

Architect
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96
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409,000
Location
San Francisco
Member Since
Feb 2007
My name's Brandon. I am a designer at the San Francisco architecture firm of David Baker and Partners, and am a design and fashion addict. I run a blog called DesignCrack.com which is my hub for all things heavy in the design world.

DesignCrack is meant to be a fun place to store my design digging. I'm always looking for inspiration, and I do this by exploring the city, the web, other cities, looking for things I find beautiful or fascinating.
Religious Juxtaposition
Religious Juxtaposition
A Bookshelf for the Religiously Confused
Religion is so complex. That’s why the Juxtaposed bookshelf designed by Mike and Maaike is so important. It helps you simplify religion by bringing together all the world’s most important religious texts… MORE
Stair Architecture
Stair Architecture
The Incredible All-Stair House
Did you ever feel as if your not getting enough exercise? One way to combat this is by making you house 100 feet tall and separate each floor by a staircase. This is what the son of famous Portuguese architect… MORE
Pricey Furniture
Pricey Furniture
Keep Your Feet of My $42,000 Coffee Table
This coffee table looks relatively simple. It's made of several large pieces of hardwood that has been treated with a silver finish. But the San Francisco manufacturer of luxury furniture, Council Design,… MORE
iPod Case For Old Ladies
iPod Case For Old Ladies
Grannytunes
Granny tunes clears the chasm between youthful geek fetishism over the iPod digital audio player, and the antique flavors of an 80 year old woman. The tassel makes this design a must have. The concept… MORE
Edible Furniture
Edible Furniture
Biodegradable Starch Chair by Max Lamb
The Starch Chair by Max Lamb evokes in me strong hope for the future of green furniture design. The chair shown above is created by squirting out a continuous tube of starches which are layered so that… MORE
Pre-Broken Ceramics
Pre-Broken Ceramics
Greece VS China Plates
Greece vs China is a plate with a clear concept: take the plates needlessly broken during any traditional Greek wedding celebration. salvage them, and glue them back together to sell them as high minded… MORE
The Sound of Luxury
The Sound of Luxury
$145,000 Muon Speaker
Muon speakers are, quite frankly, the most opulent speakers ever made at an unreasonable price of $145,000. Mind you, this price would get you a Ferrari with a pretty decent sound system, but, if you… MORE
Resin Lamp Clearly A Winner
Resin Lamp Clearly A Winner
Designgedichtjes
The Resin Lamp is as simple and finely crafted light as you would expect from Designgedichtjes. The lamp really looks spartan. It consists of a cord, a couple of light bulbs, and highly polished clear… MORE
E-Commerce Meets Ultra-luxury
E-Commerce Meets Ultra-luxury
20Ltd Sells High End Design
20ltd is a link that someone sent to me, and I’ve been very impressed with the site. Essentially, 20ltd has taken the concept of the Design Crack site and turned it into a retail business, which, I would… MORE
Paradoxical Art
Paradoxical Art
Self Healing Tape
Self Healing Tape is paradoxical in design, allowing you to make things appear broken even though they aren't. I recently covered the fun and innovative Nature V2.0 chair by Dream Me a Sheep which is… MORE
First Green Gas Station
First Green Gas Station
Office dA Design
Office dA, a Boston based design firm, has created this gas station in the heart of Los Angeles. It creates quite a paradoxical relationship for those who seek it out. For the everyday user of this gas… MORE
A New Wave in Furniture
A New Wave in Furniture
The Storyline Shelf
I’ve included a couple of images from the Dutch By Design collection called Storyline. It’s a bookshelf that has taken the form of an abstracted sound wave. The designer created the piece in the exploration… MORE
Bendable Interior Objects
Bendable Interior Objects
Bend Your Way to Luxury
I subscribe to a newsletter by a Swedish company by the name of Form Us With Love, and they just sent me an announcement for their latest design product/company called BIO (Bendable Interior Objects).… MORE
Beach Cafe Made of Iron Sheets
Beach Cafe Made of Iron Sheets
Graffiti-Proof East Beach Cafe
Thomas Heatherwick created this beach side cafe in Little Hampton, UK around an extremely strict design concept. The owners of the East Beach Cafe wanted to discourage graffiti, which was a problem in… MORE
Social Network For Designers
Social Network For Designers
Design 21
Design 21 is a Design Social Network I read about in this month’s ID Magazine. When I went to the site, I was skeptical of its ability to connect designers, but after a quick look around, I realized… MORE
Whimsical Art Tiles
Whimsical Art Tiles
JuJu Design Snow Print Ceramic Tile
These are two young designers whose names I cannot pronounce, but whose design concepts I immediately get. Both Tuukka Tujula and Maija Puoskari are members of the design collective JuJu Design Party,… MORE
Subtle and Powerful Chapel
Subtle and Powerful Chapel
Peter Zumthor Design
I’ve always been a fan of the work of Peter Zumthor, and a recent article I read in Icon Magazine has reinvigorated the joy that I get in his work. This work in particular, the Bruder Klaus Chapel,… MORE
Magnetic Salt and Pepper Hearts
Magnetic Salt and Pepper Hearts
Shake On Some Love
Finnish Designer, Susanna Vesalainen, created this ceramic salt and pepper shaker for a competition this year sponsored by DesignBoom. The salt and pepper shaker is comprised of two ceramic halves held… MORE
Glowing Pod Sculpture
Glowing Pod Sculpture
Triode T33 Lamp
I find it extremely exciting when designers send me images of their prototypes to display on the blog. Even better than that is when the designs are as glorious as the T33 Lamp by Paris based design studio,… MORE
The Fireplace Goes Ultramodern
The Fireplace Goes Ultramodern
Radius Design is a hugely talented German based design firm. I’m always tickled pink when I get press releases from companies with so much talent because when I see their work I feel like the quality… MORE
Retro Handbag of the Day
Retro Handbag of the Day
Dior's 1947 Samurai Handbag ($3,900)
This bag is soooo old news. However, The Dior Samourai 1947 handbag is still one of my favorites even though Dior has probably gone on to market bigger and better pieces. This handmade gem by Dior is nothing… MORE
Can Denim Be Couture?
Can Denim Be Couture?
G-Star-Raw
I’ve never seen denim treated as expertly as by G-Star Raw. The company uses the most comfortable fabrics, and leave you feeling like an extra in a 1940's noir film. The styles in the most recent collection… MORE
Witty Home Accessories
Witty Home Accessories
Clause Bjerre's Light Plumbing
Claus Bjerre created a witty take on a candle holder. The holder mimics the form of a plumbing pipe with a valve. The valve, besides looking beautiful in its industrial simplicity, actually serves a purpose:… MORE
Customizeable Job-a-matic
Customizeable Job-a-matic
Instant Job Board For Your Website
I came upon job-a-matic recently while searching for an efficient way to post design jobs on my own website, DesignCrack.com. Job-a-matic is a tool that allows me to create and customize job posting on… MORE
A Bed with Shock Absorbers
A Bed with Shock Absorbers
Sleep On Recycled Car Springs
I recently came across this bed in a Toronto, Canada design shop. The bed isn't all that exciting. It's well crafted and reasonably priced at around $1400, but the obvious stand out aspect is that the… MORE
Lung Ashtray
Lung Ashtray
Gives Thought
Sometimes I wonder how it’s possible that I’m able to feature two lung ashtrays in such a short period of time. The first lung ashtray I saw was by an extremely adept Italian design firm called industreal… MORE
Frankentable: A Multileg Cabinet by Jaime Hayon
Frankentable: A Multileg Cabinet by Jaime Hayon
A lot of my friends have told me that they have loved my blog, however I rarely get comments on the blog unless I write something that’s not flattering. Take the Celebrity Smell Off, for instance. I… MORE
Orgasmatron 3000 Brings Fun to Washing Clothes
Orgasmatron 3000 Brings Fun to Washing Clothes
I have heard this urban legend all of my high school and college life that goes like this: having sex on a washing machine can cause women to go wild with passion because of the slow vibrating motion of… MORE
Products Designed to Test Your Relationship
Products Designed to Test Your Relationship
Jim Rokos, a recent graduate from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London, has come up with a number of products designed to expose personal relationships between couples, and their ability… MORE
Say "I Love You" By Swallowing Gold
Say "I Love You" By Swallowing Gold
Ted Noten has been featured a couple of other times on this blog for his humorous conceptual products, so when I saw his latest creation on NOTCOT, wedding pills, I knew I had to include these objects.… MORE
Laptop Chargers Can Do Double Duty
Laptop Chargers Can Do Double Duty
I wouldn’t call this product exactly “green” per se, but it does make something that is not so efficient into something useful. What I’m talking about is the laptop power / foot warmer by Clement… MORE
Shelter for the Poet Naturalist
Shelter for the Poet Naturalist
There is no doubt that if Henry David Thoreau had lived in the early 21st century that he would have wanted to have one of these incredibly efficient cabins in his wilderness home. The small structure… MORE
The Graffiti Report Card
The Graffiti Report Card
A Cool Way to Combat Ugly Graffiti
What is the Graffiti Report Card? The Graffiti Report Card is a mechanism that you can use to judge graffiti. It’s a sticker with an arrow on it that points to the graffiti. The sticker has a number… MORE
Design Meets Technology
Design Meets Technology
Marcel Wanders Takes His Shot at Stereos
There are a bunch of products I’ve featured by Marcel Wanders in the past. There’s the Microwave with the TV in the door. Then there was the City System Shelving for Mooi. All, beautiful stuff. But… MORE
Tool-less Shelving
Tool-less Shelving
The Xv Shelving System
The Xv Shelving System by SEED International is ingenious modular furniture. The system requires no tools to assemble. There is only one slotted shelf module and three joint shapes which are “X”, “V”,… MORE
Pet Lover Lighting
Pet Lover Lighting
The Chihuahua Nightlight
There is not much to say about the Carlos Nightlight that probably already hasn’t been said. I’m imagining what designer Kathleen Walsh was thinking when she set forward on her journey to make a night… MORE

Featured Ideas

The Fireplace Goes Ultramodern
The Fireplace Goes Ultramodern
Radius Design is a hugely talented German based design firm. I’m always tickled pink when I get press releases from companies with so much talent because when I see their work I feel like the quality… MORE
Sheepskin Champagne Glove
Sheepskin Champagne Glove
DollyPop by Dirk Wynants
I haven’t figured out why Extremis has decided to name their sheepskin koozie “Dolly Pop” . Duh! It’s sheepskin. Who’s the most famous sheep in the world? Dolly, the cloned sheep, of course.… MORE
DoNuts by Dirk Wynants
DoNuts by Dirk Wynants
Let me point you in the direction of probably the most innovative furniture company on the planet: Extremis. Extremis is a Belgian design house where cleverness is the top priority. For instance, Dirk… MORE
Bicycle Grip Knife
Bicycle Grip Knife
MKS Design is a small firm is comprised of Adam Simha. His work is mostly what I would call musings in steel. The knives for, instance don’t necessarily feel like something Adam set out to do. I would… MORE
Chandelier Autocollants by Munchausen
Chandelier Autocollants by Munchausen
There are now (it seems) dozens of companies that are making stickers that are used as architectural appliques. This makes sense to me. The medium is young and exciting, and designers want to push the… MORE
Shipping Container Architecture
Shipping Container Architecture
The Freitag Store Brings New Light to Upcycling
The Freitag Messanger Bag is all about recycling “useless” refuse into a finely built product. Their flagship store is no different in its sensibility. It’s thinness scares me coming from California… MORE
Subtle and Powerful Chapel
Subtle and Powerful Chapel
Peter Zumthor Design
I’ve always been a fan of the work of Peter Zumthor, and a recent article I read in Icon Magazine has reinvigorated the joy that I get in his work. This work in particular, the Bruder Klaus Chapel,… MORE
The Illusion Table
The Illusion Table
A Table Wonder Woman Would Be Proud Of
This is another piece from the &David;Store that I thought was amazing and fun. This is called, aptly, The Illusion Table. This piece, of course, would be the perfect piece for Wonder Woman seeing as she… MORE
The Paul Smith Track Bike
The Paul Smith Track Bike
Where Fashion and Sports Collide
The Paul Smith Bike manufactured by Mercian is true design crack. Paul Simth is what I consider to be the Tommy Hilfiger of the UK. That is, he takes an interesting fashion concept, like the bold, multicolored… MORE
The Wave TV Microwave
The Wave TV Microwave
A New Paradigm in Cooking and Entertainment
What’s so special about a microwave with a chicken on top? It’s only that the microwave has a TV built into the door! You heard me. Marcel Wanders, super designer and beloved by all turtleneck wearers,… MORE
Retro Handbag of the Day
Retro Handbag of the Day
Dior's 1947 Samurai Handbag ($3,900)
This bag is soooo old news. However, The Dior Samourai 1947 handbag is still one of my favorites even though Dior has probably gone on to market bigger and better pieces. This handmade gem by Dior is nothing… MORE
Flood Light by Julie Mathias & Michael Cross
Flood Light by Julie Mathias & Michael Cross
Flood Light is a lamp that defies logic. It’s a lamp made from four simple elements: glass jars, light bulbs, electric cables, and water. Doesn’t anyone see anything dangerous here? Live wires and… MORE
Precious Famine Coffee Table by Toni Grilo
Precious Famine Coffee Table by Toni Grilo
Take a close look at this coffee table. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. It’s made of hundreds of pieces of tableware. It’s the Precious Famine coffee table by Lisbon based designer Toni Grilo.… MORE
Re Ciclos by Culdesac: The Recycled Art of Lladro
Re Ciclos by Culdesac: The Recycled Art of Lladro
Culdesac is a Valencia, Spain based design collective with a multidisciplinary approach. Their work ranges from graphic design to product design, and anything in between. Their work recently seems to focus… MORE