The USPS has unveiled a new set of stamps called “Pioneers of American Industrial Design” that honors 12 of the most influential American industrial designers of the 20th century, and one of them is Walter Dorwin Teague:
Known as the “dean of industrial design,” Walter Dorwin Teague believed that good artistic design fit both form and function into a single aesthetic package. During his career-long collaboration with Eastman Kodak Company, he designed several popular cameras, including the 1934 “Baby Brownie” (shown on the stamp). [#]
Besides designing cameras for Kodak for 30 years, Teague also worked for the likes of Boeing and Texaco, becoming one of the most prolific industrial designers in US history.
Pioneers of American Industrial Design (via Popular Photography)
Cars can have pretty creative paint jobs, but it seems like the best anyone can do with a DSLR is do a messy DIY repainting or buy a Pentax with ridiculous or nasty-looking designs. Sherwin Sibala came up with these unique design concepts showing what a DSLR (specifically a Nikon D7000) might look like if people chose to personalize the body.
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SonyAlphaRumors received a pretty interesting tip yesterday regarding the design of the upcoming Sony Alpha A77 (which is still a rumor at this point). The anonymous tipster wrote that the camera — successor to the A700 — will have an innovative design that boasts a hybrid viewfinder by blending optical and electronic images:
Yesterday Sony explained the new system that will be used for the incoming a77 (the a750 will use a regular SLR design). Practically the are using two semi-transparent mirrors and a high-resolution EVF to reinforced the live image. They are using a reflexive technology design called 70/30, between each semi-transparent mirrors.
The final image in the viewfinder will have 30% of original image and 70% of electronic reinforced image through the new EVF.
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Here’s a new Sony Alpha concept DSLR camera that features a slanted LCD to keep your face away from the screen, similar to the Sony a352 concept camera that we featured last month. Unlike that one, which had a solar and rounded design, this one has a lot of edges and sharp angles, like what you might see in futuristic concept cars.
There’s also a concept flash unit that uses metal arms to make the flash extendable, allowing you to not only adjust direction but height as well.
What do you think of this design? Should camera makers design cameras to keep it away from the face, or do eyecup extenders suffice?
Prototipo reflex con nueva ergonomía (via Gizmodo)
Here’s a fun concept design imagining the classic Kodak Brownie reintroduced to for the 2012 London Olympic games as a simple digital camera. Designer James Coleman says,
After researching the history of the Brownie I realised that Kodak often made special edition Brownies for major events such as World Fairs or anniversaries. Being from London, I chose to design a Brownie for the upcoming 2012 Olympic games.
The only control on the camera is the shutter button, and it has three lenses — two for the viewfinders and one for the actual exposure. Rather than looking at an LCD screen or pressing a viewfinder to your face, you gaze into one of the two viewfinders from above depending on whether you’re shooting a landscape or portrait image.
What do you think of this design? Would you enjoy it as a novel “toy” digital camera?
(via Wired)
The “Sony a352″ is a concept camera design by Ryan David Francis, a Industrial Design Student at the California College of the Arts. His aim in the design was to create a camera that focuses on how people hold cameras:
The design of the Sony a352 focuses on how a camera is held and how the user takes a picture. By allowing the user to have a multitude of hand positions, the end result is ultimate creative control.
Another designed feature of the a352 is the sloped angle of the LCD viewing screen. This feature creates a comfortable eye to viewfinder interaction by allowing greater clearance between the user and the camera.
In other words, the design keeps oil off your LCD by keeping from being pressed against your face when you’re staring through the viewfinder.
What are your thoughts on this design? What do you like or not like about it?
Image credits: Photographs by Ryan David Francis and used with permission
