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Clever Cycling Accessories Designed By Students Who Don’t Bike

“The bike is such a goldmine for designers,” Chris Kabel tells Co.Design. “So many problems to solve, so many things that can be made better.” 

Every few weeks, however, he travels to teach at ÉCAL in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he says the culture hasn’t quite caught on (at least not like it has in the Netherlands, where pedals far outnumber people).

That didn’t stop Kabel from recently holding a semester-long course dedicated to forming “valid, innovative, and working proposals” for bike accessories, and the results are pretty fun—especially impressive considering Kabel says that most of his students didn’t actually own their own bicycles. Over five months, they came up with an eclectic collection of clever mods and smart additions. I’m partial to the zip-tie with a bell at the end that dings with a quick flick of the excess cable, and the wire brush that wraps around the back wheel to deflect wet pavement splashes up onto the rider’s behind; in lieu of a fender, that seems like a neat fix.

See their video and read the full story here.

4 Things Obama Could Do To Foster America’s Creativity When President Barack Obama takes the stage on Tuesday night to deliver his State of the Union address, he’ll attempt to take the pulse of the nation and prescribe a cure. His message is going to focus on the economy and helping the middle class. But his prescriptions, as leaked to the media, appear to be standard political fare—boost R&D, build infrastructure, more clean energy, and better schools. That’s all good, standard stuff but familiar stuff. The problem is that Obama isn’t a very creative president. He’s progressive (which is great by me) but not creative in the sense of sharply reframing our national narrative and offering dramatically different solutions to our challenges. Creativity is the source of economic value. Creativity takes what money can’t buy and transforms it into what money can buy. We have spent decades focusing on efficiency, and it has brought us stagnating incomes and falling mobility for the middle class. It’s time to focus on creativity. How could the president amplify the nation’s creativity? Here are four major reframes of our national economic narrative, Mr. President. 1. MAKE ENTREPRENEURSHIP, NOT BIG BUSINESS, THE CENTERPIECE OF ECONOMIC POLICY. 2. MAKE MANUFACTURING, NOT BIOSCIENCE, THE MAJOR RECIPIENT OF FEDERAL R&D SPENDING. 3. PROMOTE CROWDSOURCING. RELEASE THE JOBS ACT FROM THE SEC. 4. MAKE ART AND SHOP COURSES CENTRAL TO EDUCATION. Here’s the full story. [Image: Obama]

4 Things Obama Could Do To Foster America’s Creativity

When President Barack Obama takes the stage on Tuesday night to deliver his State of the Union address, he’ll attempt to take the pulse of the nation and prescribe a cure. His message is going to focus on the economy and helping the middle class. But his prescriptions, as leaked to the media, appear to be standard political fare—boost R&D, build infrastructure, more clean energy, and better schools.

That’s all good, standard stuff but familiar stuff. The problem is that Obama isn’t a very creative president. He’s progressive (which is great by me) but not creative in the sense of sharply reframing our national narrative and offering dramatically different solutions to our challenges.

Creativity is the source of economic value. Creativity takes what money can’t buy and transforms it into what money can buy. We have spent decades focusing on efficiency, and it has brought us stagnating incomes and falling mobility for the middle class. It’s time to focus on creativity.

How could the president amplify the nation’s creativity? Here are four major reframes of our national economic narrative, Mr. President.

1. MAKE ENTREPRENEURSHIP, NOT BIG BUSINESS, THE CENTERPIECE OF ECONOMIC POLICY.

2. MAKE MANUFACTURING, NOT BIOSCIENCE, THE MAJOR RECIPIENT OF FEDERAL R&D SPENDING.

3. PROMOTE CROWDSOURCING. RELEASE THE JOBS ACT FROM THE SEC.

4. MAKE ART AND SHOP COURSES CENTRAL TO EDUCATION.

Here’s the full story.

[Image: Obama]