Can This Paint Change Design?

Does anyone remember those hypercolor t-shirts that changed color with body heat?

Memories of kiosks in the mall heaped with garishly colored cottons

 and people huggingt-shirts to their chests gleefully experimenting..

This trip down memory lane was courtesy of

The Alsa Corperation - 

who are manufacturing a paint that is heat reactive.

It begins as a base coat of white,

with either black or blue eclipse on top.

As the paints heats, it will change from the black or blue color to white!

If you like, you can add a "candy coat" on top of the eclipse paint -

which will result in the black or white becoming the other color you have chosen.

There are also glitter options! (do not, under any circumstances, tell Coco!)

While this is a wee bit gimmicky, I wonder if it harkens to future possibilities..

imagine a room that can change color to repel or absorb the suns rays as we choose..

Energy efficient walls?

There are huge design considerations here as well,

imagine the ability to have different colors in a room dependent on the time of day.

Obviously the color options would have to be expanded hugely,

the current finishes look like something you would find on a bike frame, not a wall -

 but still..

 thoughts?

Oh, yes, and thought you may get a kick out of these options that are floating around..

I see dorm room possibilites..

synthetic snakeskin Please Touch Pillow..

You have all seen this one, I'm sure..

and Shi Yuan also made a fading calendar and interactive art..

Apartment Therapy found this Yala Sofa by Elliat Rich that I quite like -

some people at  Moving Color that are exploring ideas..

and there is a really lengthy article here about the technical side

 if you need to know how it works - I admit I did not read it well.. visual learner :)

Are we going to find tasteful way to use this technology to our advantage in interiors?

Or will it remain relegated to baby spoons and gimmicks?

til next time..

gorgeousness for your iPhone

found this over at Poppytalk and had to share -

stunning iPhone wallpapers from Samantha Hahn

whose work is going to be shown at the Gallery Hanahou this fall.

can't get enough of delicate watercolors these days... xx

Blackberry or iPhone?

source


I've never been into video games.

I have an iPod.

I love my blackberry.

(the excuses because I use BBM so much reasons for why I didn't make the switch to an iPhone earlier)

But:
I use a mac.
I present images to clients all the time.
My rollerball broke. Again.

The time had come to say goodbye to my blackberry and, have to say, I am in app heaven!

Started with the Benjamin Moore, 

the wonder app that scans any surface and color matches it to one of their paint hues..

then ColorSnap from Sherwin-Williams,

 which can customize color with lightness, saturation and hue features..

I'm sure you all have iHandy Level iPhone app, this is really cool.

Your phone can tell you if the art you are installing in your clients home is perfectly level - LOVE it!

Got the really useful MacBox Units iPhone app -

 converts measurements from metric to imperial, among others things -
perfect for a Canadian designer who does work for my lovely neighbors to the south :)

The Handyman DIY app is fantastic for recording the measurements of a room,
 and itemizes all the plugs, switches and so on..
it allows you to organize lists of materials, tasks, etc for each room - so helpful!

Now I'm looking at the Mark On Call app for floor plan genius, 

and apparently it lets you scan any finish and skin it onto any item in your online pic-
this would be so helpful for color visualization.

Anyone tried it?

Must admit, friday night, when my blackberry was about to sigh it's last, exhausted breath,

panic set in a little.. 

but now that I have crossed over to the dark side,

all I can say is - 

WHY did I wait so long?!!!

1 2 3 4 5 6

What side of the fence to you live on?

Any words of wisdom to pass on to the new girl?