Most of the interviews we shot for COFA Online have now gone online. A few others with Jona Piehl from Land Design Studio and Nik’s brother, Tom Roope from The Rumpus Room will be released next year and they all explore working in the grey area of merging and emerging disciplines.

Nik Roope gives some great insights into the thinking behind many of Poke’s successful projects:

Sebastien Noel and Eva Rucki from Troika on their cross-disciplinary projects:

Here, Mark Hauenstein talks about his journey from studying fine art to being head of Research and Development at AllofUs:

Thanks to Rachel for the great camera and editing work.

My mate Nik, the man behind Hulger, just mailed to say that they’re having a sale and phasing out some of the older colours.

So if you want the super cool radioactive stylee yellow PIP*Phones or one of the elegant P*Phones (they were one of the first models and still cool) for 40% less than the normal price, head on over to Hulger.

If you want to hear what the quality of one sounds like and hear a bit about the philosophy behind Hulger, have a listen to the Core77 podcast I did with Nik a while back. The recording is of Nik talking to me on one of the PIP*Phones via iChat.

[tags]hulger, core77, nikroope[/tags]

My mate Nik Roope has been busily working up another smart idea to brighten up the lack of imagination in the marketplace again. This time it’s the Plumen Project.

Based on the same principles as the Hulger range and the Hulgerisation project, the simple, but smart, idea is to make low-energy bulbs that actually look cool. Not only is it a playful way to re-think an existing product, but it’s also a really great idea to entice people to switch.

The prototype (pictured) is looking pretty snazzy already, but go check out the site for some of the other ideas waiting in the wings.

[tags]sustainability, hulger, nikroope, plumen, design, play[/tags]

Nice set of posts on playful, interactive household lights from Chris over at Pixelsumo.

I’m particularly partial to Hector Srrano’s Superpatata above (partly because of the name I think) and also Demelza Hill’s Reveal Lighting.

Good to see Yuko Taguchi’s wind down clock that she made for the Hulgerisation project in there too. Nik Roope and I chatted about that very lamp in our Core77 podcast about Hulger.

[tags]pixelsumo, lighting, hulger, interactivity[/tags]

My first Core77 Broadcast with Nik Roope about Hulger has just gone online.

It should become one of a series of podcasts for Core77 and I’m really pleased because it’s one of my regular reads. Core77 started out (and still bills itself) as the “industrial design supersite”, though their remit has become somewhat wider, which I think is great personally.

So I thought I’d start with Hulger because it is product design, but with a very different philosophy to most gadgets.

I’ve known Nik for around 15 years. We were both members of Antirom and also used to do an interactive performance together with Joe Stephenson. Over the years we have had some really interesting conversations about emerging technologies and cultures and I’ve watched Hulger go from an amusing idea to being on its way towards being a design icon.

The interview also brings this philosophy to bear on his main job as one of the co-founders and creative directors of digital agency, Poke and it’s interesting to hear about how those two sides influence each other.

You can listen to the broadcast on the Core77 site and there is also a version on iTunes.

Let me know what you think and also who you would like to hear interviewed in the future.