Ray Kettlewell Paddles.

  When I arrived to these shores in 2010, my wife took me out canoeing. I’d been in a canoe before, but only on a handful of occasions, and never anywhere as idyllic as the Canadian backcountry. A canoe instructor in a previous life, she taught me some of the basics, beginning with the essential [...]

The Fender Stratocaster

Today’s trite aphorism is courtesy of Dieter Rams: Good design is long-lasting. I would add to that : Good design is widely copied. The Fender Stratocaster exemplifies both. In 1954, Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares created one of the most enduring and recognizable examples of industrial design music has ever seen. The “Strat” is still [...]

James Dyson Award 2011

  Over the last 30 years, the flow of our brightest engineering graduates was sucked into the bloated and profligate financial-services sector, seduced by lucrative compensation packages. Meanwhile, manufacturing was allowed to wither on the vine, seen as an unfashionable anachronism in the charge to a predominantly services based economic model. In countries like Australia, [...]

Poler Duffaluffagus Duffel

 I’ve been a long time skater, though I don’t usually travel with my board. If I did, and I know plenty of people do, then this bag from Poler would tick all the boxes. Included are stowable backpack straps, leather accents to lend it a little understated style, enough capacity to carry a week’s worth of [...]

Hublot’s replica Antikythera mechanism

  The story of the Antikythera mechanism could be drawn directly from science fiction. Discovered in 1900, along with a treasure trove of ancient artefacts from a Roman shipwreck resting at the bottom of the Aegean, it was eventually revealed to be a complicated analogue computer, conceived to predict the motion of celestial objects decades [...]

Maximilian Büsser: extreme haute horlogerie.

  Haute horlogerie is a micro-technological artform that taunts me cruelly, a siren call to avarice, only to dash my dreams on the sawtooth rocks of economic reality. I’d have to be rolling the readies like Abramovich, because the price of admission is equivalent to a small apartment, or a tad more than an Aston [...]

Ferrari 250 GTO

A few posts have been dedicated to Bugattis from different periods, and I’ve been surprised by the amount of traffic they draw. It occurred to me that if folks should drop in to look over those photos, I should then take that opportunity to direct their attentions to this sublime beauty. I’m sure plenty of [...]

Audi Duo Series – They’ve got wood

  In 2009 I reported on the Renovatia wooden bike created by German timber technology student Jens Eichler in 2006. It was a beautiful one-off design exercise, albeit heavy and impractical. In 2011, Audi has teamed up with Portland wooden bike frame specialist Renovo resulting in the the “Duo” series. If you haven’t guessed already, [...]

Chris Bangle says great cars are Art

Chris Bangle, love him or hate him, has plenty to say that I believe should be shared on the subject of cars as Art. This was filmed back in 2002. Enjoy.

2010 Chevrolet Camaro – International Design Genes

The 5th generation Chevrolet Camaro is an American muscle car with venerable international design genes. That stunning exterior was penned by a Korean-born designer, the GM Zeta platform is Australian, and it’s made in Oshawa, Canada. Proof that GM finally understands how to mine the rich seam of talent that runs through their global operations, [...]

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