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Design Beyond Aesthetics
A journal exploring electronic music, sound, and visual culture through a design perspective—connecting technology, rhythm, and contemporary creative practice. This platform focuses on the structures behind electronic music: from techno and house to sound design, production, and cultural movements. It examines how music is shaped by machines, systems, and environments—bridging design thinking with sonic experimentation.
While rooted in design, the focus shifts toward electronic music as a cultural and technological language, analyzing genres, artists, tools, and the spaces where sound becomes experience. Published on otaviosantiago.com, this is an independent perspective on how music, design, and technology intersect—moving beyond aesthetics into structure, systems, and culture.
Graphic, Web & Motion Designer
Recycled Food Waste Robotics: EPFL’s ‘Claw’ Machines Made from Crustacean Shells
When Food Waste Becomes Functional Technology At EPFL’s CREATE Lab, scientists are redefining the boundaries between waste, biology, and robotics. In a recent study, researchers developed robotic claw machines made from recycled food waste , using crustacean shells—specifically langoustine tails—as structural components for functional robotic systems. The project challenges the dominance of metal, plastic, and synthetic composites by asking a radical question: can biological
Mar 11
Bee-Sized Robot Design: How MIT Is Rethinking Flight, Intelligence, and Scale
The development of a flying robot small enough to rival a bumblebee marks a significant moment in bee-sized robot design , where engineering, artificial intelligence, and biomimicry converge. Created by researchers at MIT, the four-centimetre robot weighs less than one gram yet demonstrates agility, speed, and control comparable to its biological counterpart. Designed to operate in environments inaccessible or dangerous to humans, the robot is envisioned as a future tool f
Feb 17
Design and 3D: From Visual Experimentation to Cultural Language
Design and 3D are no longer separate territories. What began as technical experimentation has evolved into a new visual language — one that reshapes how we experience identity, space, and digital culture. 3D is not just a tool. It is a shift in perception. How Design and 3D Started to Converge The relationship between design and 3D began quietly, inside software labs and motion studios. Early 3D tools were complex, slow, and reserved for specialists in animation or industria
Feb 15
Design and Art: Where Visual Culture, Function, and Expression Intersect
The relationship between design and art has shaped visual culture for centuries. While often treated as separate disciplines, design and art continuously influence, challenge, and redefine one another. Together, they form a shared language of expression, structure, meaning, and cultural reflection . Design is commonly associated with function, clarity, and communication. Art is associated with expression, interpretation, and autonomy. Yet in practice, the boundary between
Feb 11
Design and Sustainability: Responsible Design for a Sustainable Future
The connection between design and sustainability is no longer optional — it is essential. Design shapes products, systems, behaviors, and values. Every decision, from material choice to digital interface, carries environmental, social, and cultural consequences. Design determines not only what we create, but how it is produced, distributed, consumed, and discarded. In a world facing climate urgency, resource scarcity, and social imbalance, design has moved from decoration
Feb 9
Design and Technology: How Innovation Shapes Contemporary Culture
Design and technology have always evolved together, shaping how societies build, move, communicate, and imagine the future. From the invention of printing to digital interfaces, every technological shift has transformed how design functions as a cultural and practical tool. Today, design and technology are inseparable forces defining contemporary and future visual language. Technology introduces new tools, systems, and possibilities, while design gives those systems form,
Feb 5
Design in Conflict: Lebanese Students Reimagine Design for Life Under War
Design in Conflict is an exhibition that brings together architecture and design students from Lebanon to confront the realities of living under continuous instability. Hosted inside Beirut’s abandoned Burj El Murr skyscraper, the show presents speculative yet deeply practical projects addressing life shaped by war, interruption, and resilience. Organised by Archifeed alongside product designer Youssef Bassil and design engineer Tark Mahmoud, the exhibition positions design
Jan 28
LEO Flight Unveils the Electric Solo JetBike — A Propeller-Free Personal Air Vehicle for Unlicensed Pilots
An Electric Solo JetBike With Enclosed Jet Propulsion Instead of Propellers LEO Flight has introduced the electric Solo JetBike , a compact one-person aircraft concept that hovers using electric jets instead of propellers . This innovative design serves as a low-altitude personal air vehicle that requires no pilot’s license . The electric Solo JetBike proposes a radically different approach to ultralight aviation. Following the still-concept LEO Coupe , the JetBike utilizes
Jan 22
Les Caryatides Guyancourt: When Irony Becomes Architectural Infrastructure
Les Caryatides Guyancourt and French Postmodernism Les Caryatides Guyancourt stands as one of the most provocative expressions of French postmodern architecture from the early 1990s. Designed by Manuel Núñez Yanowsky, the housing complex emerges at a moment when architects in France were actively rejecting late-modern functionalism and reintroducing history, symbolism, and theatrical form into the built environment. Alongside figures like Ricardo Bofill and Christian de Port
Jan 16
The Value of Professional Design Services: Elevating Your Brand’s Visual Story
In today’s fast-paced digital world, first impressions are everything. When a potential customer lands on your website or sees your marketing materials, what do they see? Is it a polished, cohesive visual story that draws them in, or a disjointed, forgettable experience? This is where professional design services come into play. They are not just about making things look pretty; they are about crafting meaningful connections through visual communication. But what exactly make
Jan 14
A Moss-Covered Earthen Roof Shapes the Sekiyuan Teahouse Waiting Area in Japan
A Moss-Covered Earthen Roof Blends Architecture and Landscape The Sekiyuan Waiting Area in Ichihara City, Chiba, is a small architectural gesture with unusually rich cultural depth. Designed and built by Kurosawa Kawara-ten together with an architect and an artist—none of them professional builders in the traditional sense—the structure is a quiet but significant exploration of how informal building practices can contribute to contemporary architecture. The project was car
Jan 13
3D Printed Carbon Fiber Instruments: Forte3D’s Lightweight Cello and Violin
Why 3D Printed Carbon Fiber Instruments Matter for Modern Musicians Forte3D is rethinking the future of string performance with 3D printed carbon fiber instruments built to survive real-world conditions that often damage traditional wood. Where wooden cellos and violins can crack, warp, or slowly deform with changes in humidity and temperature, carbon fiber stays stable—helping musicians travel, rehearse, and perform with less anxiety about the environment. The idea began w
Jan 10
Plant-Based Plastic That Dissolves in Water Could Redefine Sustainable Packaging
A new plant-based plastic developed by researchers at Japan’s RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science dissolves completely in water within just a few hours — leaving no microplastics or residue behind. Built from cellulose, one of the most abundant natural materials on Earth, the innovation points toward a future where packaging no longer becomes permanent pollution. How This Plant-Based Plastic Works The newly developed plant-based plastic is built using carboxymethyl cel
Jan 7
Plastic-Free Soy Sauce Fish Dropper Designed to Decompose in Weeks, Not Years
Rethinking Single-Use Objects with a Plastic-Free Soy Sauce Fish Dropper Single-use food packaging is often designed for moments but persists for decades. The plastic-free soy sauce fish dropper created by Heliograf and Vert Design challenges this imbalance by aligning material lifespan with actual use. Named Holy Carp! , the small container replaces the iconic plastic soy sauce fish with a biodegradable alternative that decomposes in soil within weeks instead of years. Des
Jan 5
Plastic Box Store Turns Brutalism Into a Sculptural Supermarket Experience - Brutalist Supermarket Design
Minimal Studio has unveiled Plastic Box , a fully functioning supermarket in Mallorca that doubles as an immersive architectural installation. Defined by exposed concrete, industrial materials and a ceiling made from 1,200 recycled crates, the project reframes everyday shopping through the lens of brutalist supermarket design . Located in Port of Pollensa, Plastic Box was conceived as a “raw concrete envelope.” Minimal Studio stripped the existing structure back to its bones,
Jan 3
Smart Socks for Diabetes That Restore Sensation and Reduce Chronic Pain
Smart Socks for Diabetes That Help Users Feel the Ground Again People living with diabetes often struggle with neuropathy , a nerve-damage condition that reduces sensation in the feet and increases the risk of falls, ulcers, chronic pain, and infections. ETH Zurich spin-off MYNERVA has created a breakthrough solution : Leia , a pair of smart socks for diabetes designed to restore sensation in the foot sole and relieve neuropathic pain without medication. Leia integrates elec
Dec 30, 2025
RMIT Researchers Reimagine Rammed Earth Using Cardboard Tubes as Permanent Formwork
Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia have developed a groundbreaking construction material that encases rammed earth inside permanent cardboard tubes , eliminating the need for cement and significantly reducing embodied carbon. The system, known as CCRE ( cardboard-confined rammed earth ) , offers a low-carbon, lightweight, and thermally efficient alternative for low-rise and modular architecture. A low-carbon redesign of rammed earth
Dec 29, 2025
Meet Ori: the world’s first frameless umbrella inspired by origami
A new hardware startup founded by MIT engineers and leading origami innovators is rethinking one of the most overlooked pieces of everyday design : the umbrella. Ori , the world’s first frameless origami umbrella , replaces metal ribs and fabric with a single engineered canopy that folds with architectural precision. At full size, Ori offers a standard 1-meter canopy. When closed, it collapses into a 3.5 × 23 cm cylinder , turning the canopy itself into the supporting structu
Dec 28, 2025
DeTour 2025 Transforms Hong Kong’s PMQ With Installations That Reveal the Hidden Meaning of Everyday Objects
deTour 2025 Hong Kong , titled The Shape of Yearning , arrives from 28 November to 7 December 2025 , turning PMQ into a ten-day creative laboratory of exhibitions, installations, workshops, tours, and performances. Curated by designer Adonian Chan and organized by PMQ , with sponsorship from the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) , this edition invites visitors to reflect on desire, interpretation, and the emotional charge embedded in everyday object
Dec 26, 2025
OnCue Keyboard Wins 2025 James Dyson Award for Parkinson’s Therapy
The OnCue Keyboard , a gaming-inspired therapeutic device designed for people with Parkinson’s disease, has won the 2025 James Dyson Award in the medical category. Created by product designer Alessandra Galli, the keyboard combines inclusive design, haptic feedback, and artificial intelligence to help users type more easily, accurately, and independently. OnCue Keyboard and the 2025 James Dyson Award Out of more than 2,100 submissions from 28 countries, the OnCue Keyboard w
Dec 25, 2025
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