existing wonders

ABRACADABRA



ABRACADABRA aims to use design to create a new experience, just as a book allows us to encounter a new platform of experience and knowledge.

ABRACADABRA is a bookmark that makes use of a simple movement of air through a tube. Each bookmark contains an air-filled tube, half of which is flattened during use by the weight of a book’s pages. Squeezing the exposed side of the bookmark inflates the concealed side. This enables the tube to lift up the pages of the book, and allows the book to be opened more easily. The concealed side of the tube is coated with adhesive, allowing the bookmark to function as a sticky note. The graphics on the bookmark tubes bring a hint of delight, particularly when the book is opened to reveal the unexpected design on the concealed side of the tube.

The product experience can continue after the bookmarks have reached the end of their functional life. ABRACADABRA is produced in packages that consist of six bookmarks, one clipping wire that bends in several directions, and a paper ‘pot’. When the bookmark is no longer usable, some fun can be had using the package. The ‘pot’ can be detached from the paper, and the wires folded so that a ‘tree’ comes to life. The bookmarks can be added as ‘leaves’ simply by clipping them into the centre of the wires.

between the pages.



Between Pages is a vertical scanner that scans pages of books or documents by inserting them vertically.

the scanning of pages in a book with existing scanners gets tricky, especially when it comes to areas close to the book’s binding. scans of these areas often appear darker and bent. Between Pages is based on the idea of inserting a scanner between pages, instead of placing a book on the scanner. This enables both pages of the book to be scanned perfectly, without a dark and uneven area. Between Pages also requires less space while using and storing.

instead of the amount of light required by a conventional scanner, this vertical scanner’s operation is based on a scanner sheet that combines organic photodiodes and an organic transistor. The organic photodiodes pick up reflected light from the object being scanned, and thus, the thickness of the scanner can be greatly reduced. The thickness of the bendable scanner sheet is 1mm, including the protective coating.

there are two touch-pad styled buttons placed on each side of the scanner. a scan is made when the user presses an engraved button on the side of the scanner that they wish to scan from. the cover is designed to make it easy for the user to open it from the top and the side.



this postcard design is sweet.

anymails.



Anymails is a visualisation of an e-mail inbox. Microbes serve as a metaphor to visualise the e-mail inbox including its structure and characteristics: one microbe represents one received e-mail. How an animal looks and moves depends on the age, status, and sender of an e-mail. The user can go back in time to see and compare e-mails received over the last months or years. He can filter and group e-mails by certain attributes to find easier a wished e-mail. The prototype was coded in Processing, a Java-based language.

emotionmail.



The Web special aims to develop a more trend-oriented target group using its claim “Belebt die Sinne” (“Vitalises the senses”). The user can send messages, which are faster than letters and more sensual than e-mails. When writing an EmotionMail, the meaning of the text is automatically analysed and images from a database are added. The addressees receive their individual EmotionMail as an animated movie clip combining text and graphics in a new way.