#Flock, which was commissioned from BERG by social networking service Twitter, was built using BERG Cloud, the design studio's operating system for network-connected products.

Using a wirelessly controlled Arduino microcontroller, the three birds inside the clock are choreographed to respond immediately to activity on Twitter.

Retweets, direct messages and new followers each trigger one of the three birds to pop out of the clock, accompanied by a snippet of birdsong.

Like the studio's Little Printer, the tiny thermal printer that led to the development of BERG Cloud, #Flock is a web-connected device designed to give digital data a physical expression.

BERG isn't the only design studio exploring ways of making digital data tangible – we previously featured a project to print muddled news headlines harvested from the internet and a plotter set up to write and re-write text from Wikipedia as it's updated.

Other machines on Dezeen include a mechanically operated sliding whistle that uses a bellow and levers to mimic birdsong – see all machines.

Photographs are by BERG.

The post #Flock by BERG
for Twitter appeared first on Dezeen.

Inspired by the cotton-reel tanks they played with as children, All Lovely Stuff designers Ed Ward and Carl Clerkin adapted the mechanical toy to hold a felt tip pen.

To propel the machine, simply wind the cotton reel while holding the wax cylinder, then place it down and let go. The height and position of the pen can be adjusted to make bigger or smaller circles, or straight lines.

The machine comes in a self-assembly kit containing an oak cotton reel, a clothes peg, a felt tip pen, a rubber band, a dowel and a piece of wax, and is available online from All Lovely Stuff.

Earlier this year Dezeen filmed a movie with designer Carl Clerkin, who told us about his aim to create functional wooden products with "a little bit of charm about them".

Other machines we've featured on Dezeen include a rotational moulding machine that inserts spontaneity into serial production and a contraption that mimics birdsong – see all our stories about machines.

We've also featured lots of toys on Dezeen, including wooden toys that incorporate plugs and clothes pegs and a knitted tree filled with knitted creatures.

See all our stories about toys »
See all our stories about products »

The post Drawing Machine
by All Lovely Stuff appeared first on Dezeen.

Above: The Invisible Line by Francesco Zorzi, using heated tools to make monochrome drawings on thermal paper.

Curators and initiators of the C-Fabriek project Itay Ohaly and Thomas Vailly invited designers to create their own production lines, machines, tools and products for what they call "the New Factory."

Above: CONSUMER LABORatory by Joong Han Lee and Thomaz Bondioli, involving customers in the customisation and production of jewellery.

Each installation is a combination of studio, factory and shop where consumers can watch and collaborate on the manufacture of their goods.

Above: Printing Lab – An adventure in Graphic Design & Manual Printing by Olivia de Gouveia, an open printmaking workspace where participants print their own image of a factory.

"C-fabriek is a place where designers work, create and manufacture, but also present their processes and methods to the public," say Ohaly and Vailly. "By doing so, they are reclaiming control over their creations and suggesting alternatives to industrialisation, production and consumption."

Above: Creative Factory Line01 by Itay Ohaly, moulding objects inside polystyrene packaging.

Ohaly's own Creative Factory Line01 makes objects like lamps, vases and stools by drilling into a block of polystyrene to make a mould, which is then filled with resin and rotated in a spinning frame as it hardens.

Above and below: Creative Factory Line02 by Thomas Vailly, using rotational moulding to make objects inside stretched latex.

The mould doubles as packaging and is hacked away by the customer once they get the product safely home.

Vailly's Creative Factory Line02 also makes use of rotational moulding, this time creating resin objects inside a stretched and inflated latex mould.

Above: Inner Fashion Line. Product and context design by Laura Lynn Jansen, process design by Thomas Vailly. A tight inner stretchy fabric and a loose non-stretchy outer fabric are pulled over an inflated balloon then bonded in selected places with glue. Once removed from the former, the bonded points gather the fabric to shape a garment.

There was also a paper mill recycling newspaper and leaflets from the city called the Paper Poo Machine, a food preserving machine, a fashion house making garments by gathering fabric with dots of glue and a human fax machine making prints on thermal paper with heated tools.

Above and below: FootMade – Custom made shoes by Eugenia Morpurgo, shaping shoes around the customer's feet using connectors that replace glue and stitching in the shoe's construction.

C-Fabriek took place at the Schellensfabriek as part of Dutch Design Week from 20 to 28 October.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the same building, architect Brian Peters was making bricks from 3D printed ceramic.

Above and below: Paper Poo Machine by Parasite9, a paper mill recycling the city's waste newspapers and leaflets.

See all our stories about Dutch Design Week.

Photographs are by Kim Costantino and Christian Fiebig.

Above: Foodconvertors by Lucas Mullié & Digna Kosse, table-sized factories for preserving and preparing food at the same time in a kitchen where the food practically prepares itself.

Above: Impulsive Furnishing Unit. CNC machine by Christian Fiebig, concept and furniture by Itay Ohaly and Thomas Vailly. A whole furniture factory reduced to the size of a standardized plywood palette, which can be shipped and used anywhere. This machine was used to make the furniture found throughout the C-Fabriek exhibition.

Above: An element of time by Juan Montero, a clock that produces and destroys a ceramic object in a 24 hour cycle.

Above: Shaping Sugar by Amelia Desnoyers, a production line treating molten sugar like glass.

Above: Shaping bodies by Bas Geelen and Erik Hopmans, reintroducing the physical exercise to factories that's been lost with the introduction of more automated production lines.

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

The post C-Fabriek curated by Itay Ohaly
and Thomas Vailly appeared first on Dezeen.

The Improvisation Machine was designed by Frye as a way to incorporate spontaneity and unpredictability into the process of serial production. "It was difficult to 'design' something improvised," Frye told Dezeen. "Improvisation can't be repeated or planned – and therefore I can only try to design somehow the framework in which improvisation will eventually happen."

The spontaneity comes from never using the same mould twice. The resulting objects resemble ceramic, but are actually made from a plastic that hardens in half an hour.

To begin the process, Frye makes a plastic mould from a flat sheet by adapting a net based on tessellated octagons. The pattern can easily be altered and the same one is never used again.

The mould is then suspended in the frame by strips of fabric tape, filled with wet polymer plaster and sealed before the drill is switched on. The screw pressing the switch of the drill enables the user to control the speed of the rotation while the plastic cures.

After hardening, the objects are sanded outside and varnished inside. Some are sawn open to widen the aperture of the container or create a lid.

While each of the vessels is slightly different, all of the objects are related to each other as they are based on the same octagonal grid.

The Improvisation Machine is on show at the Istanbul Design Biennial as part of the Adhocracy exhibition, which investigates the impact of open-source thinking on the design world.

"Adhocism is not only a design activity, but also a political statement," said Frye. "Since it uses everything that is immediately available, mass production loses influence. Instead of shaping things anew, the improviser uses what is already there and solves his specific problem immediately. He can directly respond to a situation."

Exhibition curator and Domus editor  Joseph Grima told Dezeen about the concept of "adhocracy" at the opening of the exhibition, arguing that as systems of mass production are increasingly replaced by flexible peer-to-peer networks and new technologies, we can expect a "cultural revolution" – read the full interview with Grima.

Other projects from the biennial we've reported on include an open source design for a water purifier and a 3D printing project that explores how objects created from identical digital files can be as unique as hand-made ones – see all our stories from the Istanbul Design Biennial. The biennial continues until 12 December 2012.

We previously featured a similar rotational moulding machine powered by a cordless drill that produced plastic piggy banks, and Phil Cuttance has just contributed a vase using a similar process to the Stepney Green Design Collection curated by Dezeen.

See all our stories about machines »
See all our stories about the Istanbul Design Biennial »

Photographs are by Annika Frye and the movie is by Aiko Telgen.

Here's some more information from the designer:

A series of rotational moulded pieces was produced in a experimental production setup. By using a self-made rotational moulding machine I can produce variation instead of repetition.

The moulds were made from simple geometric patterns, the material is a special plaster that hardens within short time. I also added wooden parts and other materials. The hollow objects were cut in order to create a vase/dish/container.

The Machine, for me, is more than just a tool: I designed the machine itself by using basic characteristics of a piece of furniture such as brass fittings, multiplex and steel tubes.

The first series of pieces comprises different items such as vases, containers and bowls. Each object is unique. Still, all objects are related to each other as all forms are based on an octagonal grid.

The plaster hardens within 30 minutes. The objects are sanded from the outside, their inside is covered with varnish. Some objects were cut with a saw in order to create a container or a vase. In this way, the top and the bottom of the vase/container/dish can be produced within a single mould. At first glance, the material resembles ceramic, but the plaster is more lightweight. Also, wooden parts and other materials can be added. A screw enables continuously variable speed.

The first model of the machine was improvised with Fischertechnik parts. In the beginning, I wanted to make a machine that can improvise, but I figured out that the improvisation cannot be done by a machine. It actually happens when the machine is being made (in the workshop) or when I produce objects with the machine: I am the one who improvises!

The objects were produced in the gallery Kunstverein am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin in June during the DMY design festival. The exhibition Res publica / Res privata was curated by Susanne Prinz and Oliver Vogt. In October, the machine and the objects created in it will be shown at Adhocracy at Istanbul Design Biennial.

The post Improvisation Machine
by Annika Frye appeared first on Dezeen.

The Thread Wrapping Machine creates objects by binding components in hundreds of metres of thread while coating them in glue.

Above: photograph is by James Champion

Pieces of material such as wood, steel or plastic are passed through the machine as it spins round, controlled by a foot pedal.

Above: photograph is by Märta Thisner

As the object is moved through the machine and wrapped in thread, additional components can be added to create chair legs, seat backs and other elements.

Above: photograph is by Märta Thisner

Varying the colour and type of thread used creates different patterns around the final objects, which so far include chairs, stools and benches.

Above: photograph is by Märta Thisner

"I have full control over the development of the machine," said Alvarez, explaining that the set-up allows him to be independent from industry as well as from tradition. "I can freely experiment and develop it according to what I discover are my needs in this new craft," he added.

Above: photograph is by Märta Thisner

Alvarez, who is half Chilean and half Swedish, studied at Konstfack University College of Arts, Craft and Design in Stockholm, Sweden, before completing the Design Products MA at London's Royal College of Art.

Earlier this year, Dezeen filmed a movie of course leader Tord Boontje giving a tour of the Design Products graduate show.

A version of Alvarez's machine that embellishes the objects with tiny Swarovski crystals is currently on display at the Design Museum as part of the Digital Crystal exhibition.

Other objects in the exhibition we've reported on include Troika's mechanical projector, Philippe Malouin's spinning "light paintings" and Arik Levy's interactive computer-generated crystals.

We previously featured Alvarez's triangular bench carved from a log of American cherry, which appeared in the V&A museum during the London Design Festival this September as part of an exhibition of work by RCA students.

See all our stories about machines »
See all our stories about furniture »

Photographs are by Paul Plews except where stated.

Here's some more information from the designer:

The Thread Wrapping Machine is a tool to joint different types of material with only the glue-coated thread as its cement.

Above: photograph is by Märta Thisner

Through using this construction method, many different materials can be joined to form objects and spaces such as wood, steel, plastic or bricks. Designing the Thread Wrapping Machine, I have created a new tool and a method of working.

Above: photograph is by Märta Thisner

To be independent from industry as well from traditions. I have full control over the development of the machine, I can freely experiment and develop it according to what I discover are my needs in this new craft, the Craft of Thread Wrapping.

Above: photograph is by Märta Thisner

The Craft of Thread Wrapping, as it is something that was born with this tool, and don’t have any history neither any traditions or norms to relate to.

Above: photograph is by Märta Thisner

To become a master of the Craft of Thread wrapping, at least 10,000 metres of thread has to be used.

The post The Thread Wrapping Machine
by Anton Alvarez appeared first on Dezeen.