Filtered for that which motivates form

1. It’s hot in London so I’ve been seeing a lot of handheld portable fans, usually with a strap so you can hang it round your neck. My faves are the ones with thermoelectric coolers in the middle of the fan: a small plate that is so cold that it is covered with icy condensation. It’s the Peltier effect (the plate is really hot on the back) and the first time I’ve seen a thermoelectric cooler in the wild. Here’s a thermoelectric handheld fan on Alibaba. Three quid each if you’re buying over a million. A fan looks like a fan because of the mechanism used for the movement of air. I’ve been meditating this week on what motivates form in product design. Hey free concept: AirPods with built-in Peltier thermoelectric coolers so the buds are ice-cold in your ear holes. 2. A fan moves air; electronic products move data. That can motivate the form just the same. Durrell Bishop’s Marble Answer Machine (watch the video): marbles dropping out of an answering machine could form an intuitive…