It's A Scooter! It's A Stroller! It's The Roller Buggy!

Although I think it ought to be named the Scroller, The Roller Buggy is a multi-functional baby carriage transformable into a scooter designed by Valentin Vodev, a member of the design trio behind CIO, Creative Industrial Objects.



Through a simple pull of the lower body, it extends the normal baby carriage into a scooter, creating a more sportive and faster transportation on various terrains and giving both parties a good time.



For the development of the Roller Buggy, a great amount of design and market research was invested. At first, the combination of baby carriage and scooter was tested in numerous plans and models after which the best results were optimized in a 3D model.



After the 3D model was created, a prototype was built and tried out in a park by placing a life size dummy into a third-party seat with seat belts. As the security of the child has priority, two front brake disks are provided to enable speed reduction at any time.



Child safety- Roller Buggy has a specially-made hydraulic brake system with two disk brakes that allow to reduce the speed and to stop. There is also a safety belt on the child's seat. The child should be older than 1,5 years and the speed shouldn't be faster than 15 km/h.



For children 1.5 - 4 years
Materials: Aluminium, plastic and rubber
Characteristics: Easy to store away, multifunctional purpose
Usage: Alleys, parks, streets


above: designer Valentin Vodev

all images courtesy of the designer and pixstudio

Rock a Bye Deadly Baby: The Ne Zha Works of Shi Jinsong

The Ne Zha Baby Boutique By Shi Jinsong, 2006 - 2008

Na Zha (or Nezha), is a Chinese mythical creature, an impish trickster with supernatural powers and flamboyant fashion sense (legend has it his red silk trousers generated so much heat the sea began to boil, enraging the East Sea Dragon King). Na Zha's essential ferocity long since tamed in the Chinese psyche, he is now chiefly celebrated as a God of Lotteries and Gambling, a commodified totem of the new global economy.


above left; the exhibition catalog. above right; the artist Shi Jinsong

Through his razor-sharp sculptures and related works, Shi Jinsong initiates a dialogue, at once menacing and ironic, between the forms of mythic Chinese culture and modern day globalization. "Na Zha" is here recast as the brand name for an outrageously unsafe line of baby products.

Meticulously assembled in stainless steel from intricate mechanical drawings, they include a deadly Carriage; a sadistic Cradle; a sinister Walker; and a malicious, multi-part Toy complete with needle-tipped pacifiers and dismembering abacus. Baby Boutique confronts its "shopper" with a radically strange and seductive "product," lethal luxury designed to reveal the forces that dominate our lives in unimaginable ways. - above text courtesy of Absolute Arts

Various Ne Zha strollers by Shi Jinsong:






For his first exhibition at Chambers Fine Art in 2006, Shi Jinsong produced a range of articles for baby Ne Zha, consisting of cradles, strollers, rattles and a walker. Two years later, in the second showing of Ne Zha, the infant seems to have grown up into a toddler and Jinsong's works include miniature suits of armor, a rocking horse, roller blades, a scooter and a tricycle.

Images from the first show (2006) at Chambers Fine Art Gallery:

above: Na Zha Stroller, Stainless steel, 2005, 40 1/6 x 38 5/6 x 32 2/7 in (102 x 98.6 x 82 cm)


above: Na Zha Cradle, Stainless steel, 2005, 24 x 31 7/8 x 24 3/8 in (61 x 81 x 62 cm)


above: Na Zha Rattle, Stainless steel, 2005, 3/4 x 5 1/4 x 3 3/4 in (30 x 13.3 x 9.6 cm)


above: Na Zha Baby Bottle, Stainless steel, 2005, 3 x 5 x 5 in (7.6 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm)


above: Na Zha Baby Toys, 2005, stainless steel




above: Na Zha Walker, 2005, stainless steel, 54 x 59 x 66 cm


Images from the second show (2008) of the Ne Zha Baby Boutique, 2008:

Above: baby suit of armor, stainless steel, 2008


above left, stainless steel baby armor and right, a stainless steel scooter, 2008


above: Full Armor-Mouse, Stainless steel, 2008, 31 1/2 x 11 3/4 x 7 7/8 in. (80 x 30 x 20 cm)


above: Rocking Horse, Stainless steel, 2008, 26 x 34 x 15 3/8 in. (66 x 86.5 x 39 cm)


above: Rollerblades, Stainless steel, 2008, 14 1/8 x 5 7/8 x 8 1/2 in. (36 x 15 x 21.5 cm)


above: tricycle, stainless steel, 2008

Earlier this year, Shi Jinsong's Ne Zha works were part of a 'China - contemporary revival', exhibition at the Palazzo Reale, in Milan, Italy. The images below are from his works in that show, courtesy of Designboom.






about the artist:


Born in Danyang County, Hubei Province in 1969, Shi Jinsong enrolled at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts in 1994, majoring in sculpture and mastering a gamut of traditional techniques. Under the influence of three powerful stimuli - radical socio-cultural change in China; a reading of Foucault's Madness and Civilization; and the birth of his first daughter - the artist began to investigate ideas of transformation and control.

The images in this post are courtesy of Chambers Fine Art, Saatchi Gallery, Marella Gallery, ArtNet

Kid Kustoms' Tins For Tots : Artists Trick Out Fenders For The Roddler For Charity

above: some of the custom painted fenders for the Kid Kustom's Roddler (shown below)





You may have read, or seen, in some gadget and design blogs, Kid Kustoms' very hip Roddler, a trike stroller with fifties-style fenders and embellishments. Or their new Trike conversion kit, The Enzo Trike, available with optional detachable "Buddy Wagon". They are great looking, very pricey custom strollers for design-centric or uber fashionable parents.






But in addition to the already eye-stopping looks of the Roddler or their new conversion kit, they, along with PPG industries and Wheaty Wheat Studios , invited over 50 artists to custom paint the Roddler fenders for a charity auction called Tins For Tots.




They invited the world’s best hot rod pin stripers, street artists, illustrators, air brushers, graphic designers, and cartoonists to compete in one of 3 categories to generate awareness and resources for charitable organizations.

The auction has yet to take place but many of the submissions have already come in.

Here are some of the fenders thus far (please click on each image to enlarge).

Sean Barton:

April Edwards:

Cat:

Daze World:

Peskimo:

Mega & Romeo:

Kryot:

Danny Casroc:

Roger Andrews:

Brent Nolasco:


Frolab:


above images courtesy of Kid Kustoms and Vinyl Abuse



Participation was by invitation only. Each artist was provided a set of fenders. While interchangeable on any of the Kid Kustoms Roddler strollers, the finished products are to be displayed in prominent galleries worldwide, and auctioned off on a custom mounted frame with a signed letter of authenticity. The Auction date has yet to be determined.

Upon submission of their works, D.A.W.S (Dads Against Wack Strollers) subscribers and readers from the esteemed magazines providing event coverage vote to determine the favored artists in each category.

The proceeds from all sales are donated to the artists’ choice of one of the five participating charitable foundations; One is Greater than None, UNICEF, Sacred Circle, Action Against Hunger and Conservation International.


The only stipulation for the contest is fenders must be painted in the Kid Kustoms color palate, which consists of 9 offerings from the PPG Vibrance collection that are exclusive to the Roddler.

You can subscribe to D.A.W.S. by sending an e-mail to DAWS@KidKustoms.com
Contact jamie@kidkustoms.com to participate in next years event



"We are motivated by our desire to make inspired, inventive, and incredibly functional products. Our brand transcends the traditional bounds of the juvenile consumer market and has received critical acclaim by the most discerning figures in fashion, technology, and automotive industries. It is the essence of employing the art of science. Through stellar design, an innovative approach and the integrity of our product and demeanour; we are proud to be the face of the revolution in Juvenile Products. Long live tins and fins."
-Joe Iacono and Jamie Coblenz of Kid Kustoms

Joe Iacono, Kid Kustoms and Iacono Design
Jamie Coblentz, Kid Kustoms and Pinstripe Prep


See the Roddler and Enzo trike Conversion kit at Kid Kustoms.