One of the biggest challenges facing product designers in coming years will undoubtedly be the question of planned obsolescence. For while we genuinely believe that the majority of designers understand their responsibilities in terms of sustainability and resources, we also know that most designers understand their responsibilities to help their clients generate profit. Finding the correct balance wont be easy. But it must be found. Perhaps the most distressing example of planned
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Noise isn't something that we here in Leipzig's Lower-East Plagwitz Village have to worry too much about. The loudest it gets here being when the frogs sing their morning chorus around the lake. However, within the (smow)office, as with in all offices, it can get loud - telephones, typing, coffee machines, Eames House Birds, laptop coolers. All the normal office noises that conspire to create a background wall of sound. Whereas long-term exposure to such background office noise is
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