HashOut: 2007/04/27

Lenovo-Designed Olympic Torch for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing

Lenovo-Designed Olympic Torch for the 2008 Olympic Games in BeijingWhen everything is going hight-tech, why not the Olympic torch?

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympiad Games of XXIX (BOCOG) in the presence of the International Olympic Committee, unveiled the Lenovo-Designed Olympic Torch for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Lenovo's design, the "Cloud of Promise," was chosen over 300 competitor themes and will be carried by torchbearers around the world in the Olympic Torch Relay preceding the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Lenovo is also the TOP (worldwide) Sponsor of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Since its inception in 1936, the Olympic torch has come to represent the history and culture of its host country and city. Lenovo's unique approach for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch incorporates a sleek and modern design with historical Chinese symbolism. The primary theme of the torch’s artwork is clouds, which are intimately associated with Chinese culture, and are often represented in works of Chinese architecture, drawing and painting, furniture and story-telling.

Design of the Torch

The torch, fashioned from a polished aluminum-magnesium alloy, measures 720 millimeters x 50 mm x 40 mm (28.35 inches x 1.97 in x 1.56 in) and is exceptionally lightweight at about 1,000 grams (2.21 pounds).
Additional features of the torch design include:
  • Primary coloring of deep red and bright silver, a fusion of traditional Chinese art and contemporary design, blending symbols of Chinese culture, philosophy and art;
  • A handle designed not only for comfort, but to emulate the unique sensation of one hand holding another thanks to a coating of rubber-based paint; and
  • An embossed pattern of clouds, which represent the ever-developing Chinese culture.

Lenovo's award-winning design team spent more than 10 months on the design of the torch. Altogether, more than 30 Lenovo design specialists were involved in the torch project including the core team of 10. The team was truly multinational, including designers from Germany, Singapore, US, Japan, New Zealand, Italy and China. The experience and specialties of the designers were equally diverse, and included majors in graphic design, chemistry, engineering, materials, anthropology, art and history. For months the teams engaged in intensive brainstorming, including game playing and creativity exercises, to help them look at the torch design from many different perspectives.

And if you enjoy watching videos, here is one for you from Lenovo.
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Black gold for the loo

Renova diamond-encrusted gold-plated black toilet paper holder / dispenserYour loo-break need not be cheap, anymore. Portugal based Renova, one of Europe's biggest producers of household paper products, has put a diamond-encrusted gold-plated toilet paper holder on sale for $132,000 USD (€100,000 euros).

Hand-made by traditional jewelers in Lisbon, the box's logo plate is encrusted with 148 diamonds to mark the worldwide sale of one million rolls of the firm's novelty black toilet paper.

Whoever buys the toilet paper holder will receive one roll of Renova's black toilet paper every day, for the rest of their lives.

Other items from Renova, worth mention, are toilet paper with moisturising lotion and multi-coloured paper towels. Renova has also introduced toilet papers in red, orange, and green after the huge success of its black toilet paper.
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