Materials Girl

Enjoyed a quick visit to the Brooklyn Brewery for a peek behind the scenes into beer making. Check out those shiney shiney steel tanks, mmmmm, and this new filtration system. This multilayer accordion-looking structure is composed of cellulose pads, which are responsible for fine filtration after the beer is centrifuged, to remove any particulate after fermentation. Cellulose (C6H10O5)n is a naturally occurring polymer, seen in plants, paper, even cleaning sponges. After use the exausted (read: congested/full) filter pads can be composited for disposal, nice. This additional filtration system just came online so look forward to even clear-er beer at a Brooklyn bar, or bottle, near you.

Enjoying the gorgeous fiber art By Eric Reiger above the bar at the Williamsburg Hotel Bar. This explosion of technicolor tensile texture is made from 655,240 yards of string.

Where will the industry go next? What will be the break-out commercial product? Time will tell, but many companies are working hard to be that leader and their moment is aproching quickly. 

Thanks Atlanta, for a lovely departure from the ordinary airport experience. Flight Paths an immersive installation by Steve Waldeck -between terminal A and B- features a pixilated tree canopy which creates shifting light qualities and shadow, paired with sounds of the forest. The sculpture is constructed with industrial materials and techniques, the installation is composed of approximately 24,000 LED lights interspersed into a canopy of over 4,000 laser cut 4′x4′ sheets of aluminum. 

Exciting designs aren't limited to the outside of the package, Italian formulation company Tre Effe packed punch into their pressed powders (on display at MakeUP in NYC) with multi-color combinations, using side-by-side and mixed color options, even laser etching to bring a whole new level of detail and style.

Kawaii! Super adorable packaging options that put cartoons into your hand! From unicorns to lollipops there is no end to this parade of cute from Taimeng Beauty.

Tools are as important as formulation at MakeUPinNYC, with many booths showing their newest developments for the popular “beauty blender” style applicator. A wide range of materials are being leveraged in these hand-held tools, from sponges and foam to molded silicone.

Innovation filled day at MakeUP in NYC. Exciting packaging developments at the Yonwoo booth, check out this pump system that sprays powder!

I am both scientifically impressed and personally concerned (though only middlingly) by what I know to be the complete accuracy of this assertion. 

The application technique is interesting as well, carefully optimized for maximum durability and reflection. First a hot fluid polymer is layered down in a given pattern or design by a spigot on the back of a truck, think tar. Next a worker with a bucket full of microspheres and a broom pours the spheres onto the design and brushes them over the surface of the setting paint. this maximizes surface coverage, and ensures that the spheres don't get masked by the paint. Safety First!

If you're in NYC take the opportunity to (over) caffeinate with Birch 'Cold Brew' Coffee this summer. Chemically designed to rock your work day! 

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10 stories of new and innovative materials which are inspired by and emulate natural systems.