I may have mentioned this umbrella before but it suits this bad mood day perfectly
It was designed by Joonsoo Kim, and is carried around in a stick form through which the cloud part is inflated when the rain starts to fall. Perhaps this is what Crowded House were singing about when they said you were always taking the weather with you.
That suits my mood, but the really angry rainwear enthusiast has got to go for this baby…
Big lovely things happening in the world of umbrellas of late. First of all there is this innovation from local (well, studying over the Simpsons-like three-eyed fish waters of the Tamar in Plymouth) designer Becky Barber which generates electricity by using a recently developed material called Nanosolar when opened. This then powers a nifty little light.
Then there’s this baby to which Chris sent me a link. Yep, it’s a samurai style umbrella. That’s pretty much all the explanation you need.
and in my own little umbrella fantasy world I am pleased to say that materials are being gathered for my Nifty range of individually decorated umbrellas. Ribbons, check. Buttons, check. Waterproof fabric paints… not there yet. Any recommendations?
Another day, another idea done better by someone else before me. These umbrellas are from a great range at Bright-Night, who have put a little light inside the canopy which illuminates the water-inspired designs. I’d love to see a crowd of them walking down a dark street, it would maximise the impact of the gorgeous shape that is the umbrella.
I wish there was an image available of this umbrella actually being worn. It seems like a great idea, but is it less twatty-looking than its counterparts here and here? Use your imagination…
You’re walking down a dark and rainy street when your umbrella glows red and then pulses blue. Within seconds you’re chatting via bluetooth with another umbrella holder in the viscinity. It’s a project that Jonah Brucker-Cohen and Katherine Moriwaki put together in 2004 while investigating clothing and accessories as the active conduit through which people create network relationships in public space.
Brucker-Cohen’s website it very interesting, but my google doesn’t throw up much about Moriwaki since 2006. However the project was featured at this year’s SOS 4.8 International Event on Sustainability Art, so hopefully we could hear more about it soon.
Here are a couple of amazing looking umbrellas that I’ve found on blogs but can’t locate elsewhere on the net…
from Ankur Khangaonkar
from Brian Micklethwait
Of Trendhunter’s top 8 umbrellas from May last year most have already been mentioned here. However, these are a few that got away (and are great)…
The Senz aerodynamic umbrella will not invert, and is windproof up to wind force 10. It was invented because of frustration with conventional umbrellas.
The Bumpbrella from RKS design (check out their whole website, you’ll be amazed) stops you from poking other people’s eyes out with your spokes. And it’s gorgeous! I wonder how it folds, if it does at all.
And the My-Day electronic paper umbrella (on to which any picture can be projected) looks unreal, and may well be as I can’t find a site featuring anything but the concept and these exciting photos…
Ken asked me for a boob umbrella yesterday. This thing would be perfect for projecting all manner of smut into the hemisphere above you.
Yeep! It predicts the weather! Well, it has an integrated wireless data-radio chip inside it that tunes into accuweather.com to pick up the area’s weather forecast. And then it flashes blue when the rain’s about to fall. That’s very clever. Wonder if it works.
But what does it do when orcs are approaching?
Found whilst idly browsing Gizmodo (what did I say?), this Pileus umbrella is just a prototype at the moment but when it comes out will have a projector in its handle that shines photos or video onto the canopy. And I start thinking that I might as well go out of business before I’ve started – who can compete with that?
Then I see this! It’s going to have the internet in there too. Oh, and a built-in camera, a motion sensor, GPS and a digital compass. Flickr photos will project out to the world. Directions will be given. Geeks will faint in the street (providing it’s dark and they can see its full spleandour).
It’s lovely, it’s wonderful, it’s making me very jealous. But at least I can console myself now that it is way way out of my league.
An umbrella which springs from the handle like a flower from a stalk. Andy Wana won the GOLD 2005 Australian Design Award-Dyson Student Award for this thing, but I’m having trouble reaching his webpage. I really hope he’s still making them because I want one/several/them all.
As the last thing I can find about them was in ‘05 I’m not going to hold my breath. However, this very similar idea appeared on Yanko in 2007 designed by Matthew Swinton. Not quite as pretty perhaps, but just as surprising if you saw someone get one out.
