Tapwater.org at Limetree Festival

Lifebottle and Tapwater.org will be at Limetree Festival 26th- 28th August. This is the world's first plastic packaging free music and arts festival with zero waste to landfill policy. Should be fun! Carleen Anderson is amazing.

www.limetreefestival.co.uk

tapwater.org now fully live and stocked with lifebottles

One of the projects on which we've been working for 2 years has now gone completely live

www.tapwater.org

Revenue from sales of lifebottles goes into free installation of tap water dispensers in schools. The whole thrust is to reduce or eliminate disposable plastic water bottles. We've designed the identity and all of the products (lifebottles, ice stick etc). There's a great map and app which helps you find free tapwater when you are out and about. Over 1000 shops, cafes, pubs etc have already signed up (for free) to provide free tap water and to be searchable via the map and app.

Michael Green the founder of tapwater.org tracked me down after seeing my London on Tap carafe. Find out more about him here

www.julietshield.com/promote-tap-water-get-rid-of-plastic-bottles/

As it's for a good cause we'd like to promote it to as many people as possible - please spread the word and buy a lifebottle or two ;)

Spring with Gusto - Fresh Air and Fun Pegs

OK so things are warming up a bit after a seemingly endless winter. We've designed and produced some funky laundry pegs for energy company E.ON aimed at making the whole process more fun and less energy intensive.

In their words:-

'Tumble dryers are one of the biggest energy guzzlers in the home, so E.ON has launched the Fresh Air and Fun peg bag and pegs to make hanging the washing out to dry fun.

Each peg back contains 10 pegs with a variety of unique accessories that react to the outdoor conditions. There are:

* 2 x red windmill pegs that spin round when the wind blows
* 2 x green windmill pegs
* 2 x pegs that change colour in the sun
* 4 x pegs with windchimes'

We had a lot of fun developing and testing these products.

They can be purchased from www.eonshop.co.uk following the 'latest products' link. £9.99 gets you a slice of Fresh Air and Fun.

iPulse Wins Beauty Award

The iPulse light therapy hair removal device designed by Gusto for CyDen has picked up a Telva Beauty Award. The award is for 'best beauty device for in home use'. This is the European version of the same device as sold in Boots under the name 'Smooth Skin' and which has recently become Boots' best selling electrical item as well as the top selling product on Boots.com

This is a result of the combination of CyDen's innovative patented technology and Gusto's user centred Industrial Design. Gusto worked closely with the in-house team on this and other projects.

http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Smooth-Skin/

Towards safer glassware in pubs, bars and clubs...

The UK Home Office project with which we were involved last year has been progressed to prototype stage. Aimed at reducing incidences of 'glassing' attacks in pubs and clubs (at least 5000 reported incidences a year with often horrific consequences), the project is a Designing out Crime initiative for the Design and Technology Alliance. Neil Barron from Gusto worked with Innovation RCA at the Royal College of Art and a number of other parties including The Materials KTN through a series of workshops and brainstorms to generate ways forward.

The project was underpinned by two main questions: 'What if we could create a new type of safe drinking vessel for pubs, bars and clubs, especially those where preventing accidental or violent injury is a significant concern?' and...

'What if they were as safe as plastic or paper, operationally and commercially viable, yet gave consumers a social drinking experience equal to or better than conventional glass?'

The first phase of the project resulted in a series of design briefs which were then delivered to tender. Design Bridge won the job and developed two prototypes which were launched yesterday at the Design Council with the presence of all parties and the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson MP. The aim is to take one or both of the ideas into production. They are well explained in the film (to follow). We sincerely hope this leads to a safer drinking experience in pubs, bars and clubs.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8495617.stm

To Seoul with Gusto: 48-hour Inclusive Design Challenge

Last month I was involved with a great British Council project in Seoul, S Korea. This was organised and managed by Julia Cassim from the RCA and by the British Council plus the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The 48 hour Inclusive Design Challenge saw me plus 6 other professional designers lead teams of around 6 or 7 designers (from a number of different countries) each working with a Korean disabled person in order to find insights which could drive innovation into the wider world. The whole experience was amazing - involving very intensive group working and immediate engagement with the needs of someone (in our group's case) who was profoundly disabled in another country and in another language. We had brilliant interpreters, very enthusiastic student helpers (who really stepped up to the mark) and very open enthusiastic designers as part of the team.

Our innovation (branded 'Aura') was all about presence and communication and attempted to highlight physical presence and promote engagement - this was then applied to the wider world from children's buggies to courier's boxes.

There's a more detailed account of the whole project here :-

http://bit.ly/6zXiWC

Gusto harnesses pedal power to teach about electricity

This summer (what summer?) Gusto have created a bicycle powered giant buzzer game to teach children about energy, electricity and alternative sources of power.

The project has toured primary schools in the Midlands as part of E.ON's Energy Experience programme. Presented by Konnie Huq, the Experience enables children to learn about energy through fun and activities. Funnily enough, they were most keen on getting their teachers to pedal the bike whilst they enjoyed the game!