Ben Hopson

The Gesundheit Radio from 1972 physically “sneezed” every six months in order to clear its innards of dust. It’s probably a little silly, but it does make me wonder what other bodily processes could improve the functionality of consumer electronics. Sweating? Stretching?
http://www.vimeo.com/9227839

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UK studio, Product Tank, is producing some excellent kinetic product concepts.  I love this lamp’s locking mechanism and the pop-up table/chair/flatware set!

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My wife Emma and I collaborated on this series of kinetic jewelry pieces that we call the Scissor Collection.  As the name suggests, these designs were inspired by the simple and elegant movement of scissors. High polished sterling silver bars are connected using 18k gold rivets to create multiple scissor joints. This mechanical construction allows the wearer to transform the pieces into different shapes.

There are more pictures, information, and an online store on our website

http://hopsonkineticjewelry.com/

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I am speechless before Andrew Haythornthwaite’s lovely kinetic furniture pieces.  See for yourself:

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I’m not sure how this happened, but footage of a kinetic sculpture I made for a Modest Mouse video (here) somehow made it into this Lenovo commercial.  It gets a whopping 1 second of airtime starting at 0:27!  Don’t blink or you’ll miss it!

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I really enjoyed this elegant twisting jewelry box design by the young UK designer, Andrew Jenkinson (b16jnk@yahoo.com.)   This idea is so much more interesting than a plain old hinged lid!

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I stumbled across this video of a 2006 ad for the IBM Thinkpad that demonstrates its amazing folding keyboard.

It looks like there was a surge of interesting folding laptop designs in 2006.  Here’s one from Fujitsu:

Here’s another from Samsung:

With the advent of tablet PCs and smart phones, however, there seem to be more interesting transformations happening with independent keyboards. This one was made by a company called Stowaway:

This one is from iGo:

Finally, I discovered this gem from Amzer:

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I have updated this website with a lot of new work and new information.  Make sure you check out the new “Workshops” section for examples of student kinetic work from Sweden’s Umea institute of Design.

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I love this sign sculpture by British art and design practice, Troika, for the Victoria and Albert Museum. While it pains me to say so, their kinetic letter sculpture blows mine out of the water! Just look:

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