Someday We Will All Be Driving Locomotives

That is, the cars we drive will eventually be diesel-electric hybrids.

Ever since the Ford Reflex concept car I have written to Volvo, Ford, Subaru, Mazda, Honda, and other manufacturers to tell them my family would support any company that is the first to bring a diesel-hybrid station wagon to market. Finally, finally, a major news outlet is covering this topic and it seems we're about to get our wish.

See Newsweek: Not So Dirty

Uncommon Wool

I love wool. Love it. Hydrophobic on the outside and hydrophilic in the inside makes it perfect for clothing.

It can also be used in construction.

As insulation. See FC: Bellwether Materials Turns Sheep's Wool Into High-Quality Insulation

And in bricks. See Inhabitat: Researchers Develop Eco Super Bricks Made of Wool

Wagon Fever

I have to give station wagons their own tag since I mention them so often.

And I do so because I love them. And my love affair started with the Swedish Utility Vehicle - the Volvo 240 wagon and we (me and wagons) have been going steady ever since.

Wired's writers have the fever too, and the only prescription is to make a list.

See: 12 Wonderful Wagons We Want

I agree with every wagon choice though my list would also include the Volvo XC, the Buick Roadmaster Estate family, and the 1992-1996 Toyota Camry wagon.

And Consumer Reports is in the process of testing the car I would drive if I was told you can only have one car for the next 15 years, the TDI SportWagen. See: 2010 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI

...the vast majority of SportWagens (over 75 percent) are sold with the TDI diesel engine...

More About Honda

My family had 1987 and 1998 Accords and they were great cars. The 1998-2001 is probably the best general purpose used car you can find.

But as I hinted about with the Crosstour post - there's something up at Honda.

And here Edmunds summarizes it: What's Wrong At Honda? Maybe Everything

Another analyst said many recently launched Hondas are "sloppily designed, not very good to drive and even worse to look at."

You Ain't Got No Alibi

Naturally this refers to the hideous looking Honda Crosstour.

In fact, all of the new Honda's are rather unfortunate looking. But earlier this week I looked in my rear-view mirror and was startled by the grotesqueness of what was there. It was something like this:



At that moment I knew I had to find out who Honda's chief designer was so that I could run far away from anything they were involved in. The NYT provided all that I needed to know. Would you rather buy something designed by a guy who looks like this:


(Dave Marek, chief designer and senior manager at Honda's American auto design studio)

or this?:


(Jonathan Ive Senior Vice President, Industrial Design Apple)

Come On!

VW's New Design Language And One Other Thing

Via FC: Volkswagen Unveils Its First Hybrid

Brandishing an iPhone, he added: "Otherwise, why would my friend Steve Jobs design this! Our design is about honesty and responsibility."

The other thing via GCC: Diesels Account for 85% of All Jetta SportWagens Sold in March

TDI killed the ethanol star.

I Will No Longer Stereotype Pre-Fabricated Homes As "Trailers"

Via TH: Small Second Home Design Adapts To Seasons



The Scandinavian countries sure know how to design (e.g., classic Volvos and Saabs, Ikea, the Draken).

Are These Designers Trying To Fail?

Or are they trying to design this decade's Aztek?

What is going on with these oversized hatchback wagons? Who makes a vehicle that is as big as an SUV but with a sloping rear hatch that makes it impossible to put dogs back there? If you want to make a station wagon then make it wagon like!

It is crazy.

My list of today's stupidest cars (without adding the entire Chrysler line due to obviousness):
- Honda CrossTour
- BMW X6
- Toyota Venza

Volvo Is Going To Do It - A Diesel-Electric Hybrid!

This is what I have been waiting for. For an automaker to manufacture a car that is a four-wheel drive plug-in electric hybrid with a biofuel compliant diesel engine all in a station wagon form.

And here it is, via FC: Volvo Offering a Plug-in Diesel Hybrid in 2012

and GCC: Volvo Car Corporation to Introduce Diesel Plug-in Hybrid in Europe in 2012

I just hope the third-row jumper seats are available. It would then be the one car to rule them all.

I have already contacted Volvo in the U.S. to ask that this car be brought stateside.

Eco Links

Eco Friendly Flooring Guide is a Great Resource

New LED Light Bulbs Can Replace 100W Incandescents

Nothing But Streets

Street View

Data visualization guru Ben Fry has created a unique map of the United States by displaying all of the nation’s 26 million roads—and nothing else

A Clothing Company That Makes My Heart Flutter

Empire Canvas Works - I'll be ordering myself a vest soon!

We're Empire Canvas Works, and we're not here to replicate the technology-laden garb you see on retail shelves. Our task is to harness the steady function of natural fibers, and blend it with a few modern traits that ensure comfort and durability. We believe that your garments, handwear, and footwear should work the same way, every day, despite age, wear, and exposure to the elements. Our goal is to sell you a great product- once. Your task is to wear your mitten palms smooth on the Hickory of an axe, collect generations of puppy hair on your vest, and listen as the tight fibers of your anorak sing quietly against the brush for miles on end.

The Obama Brand

Newsweek - Expertinent: Why the Obama "Brand" Is Working

Is Obama's stuff on the level with the best commercial brand design?
I think it's just as good or better. I have sophisticated clients who pay me and other people well to try to keep them on the straight and narrow, and they have trouble getting everything set in the same typeface. And he seems to be able to do it in Cleveland and Cincinnati and Houston and San Antonio. Every time you look, all those signs are perfect. Graphic designers like me don't understand how it's happening. It's unprecedented and inconceivable to us. The people in the know are flabbergasted.

What does that say about his campaign?
My feeling, in my own narrow sphere as a professional graphic designer, echoes a little bit what Frank Rich wrote in his column on Sunday, where he was talking about Hillary Clinton's argument that Obama doesn't have the experience to run the country properly, and how you only needed to look at how her own campaign has been managed to see the flaw in that argument. I sort of see the same thing. I'm not sure that the commander-in-chief proves his mettle by getting everyone at his rallies to set their signs in the same typeface, but as someone who knows how hard that is, I'm very impressed.

The specific choices are also made in really good taste and I'd say to certain degree they also philosophically align with what his position is.

Round And Round

IHT - The rise of the modern roundabout

They may be great for traffic flow but they're terrible for pedestrians.