Over in freelance land, sometimes clients want an entire ‘package-deal’ with their product idea and brand ready to go at the flip of a switch. For those who don’t want to play creative director but need a placeholder logo, consider the new Squarespace Logo Generator that combines the simplicity of Squarespace with the massive icon…
Consider it a lesson in what could happen if you design faulty devices and the disastrous outcomes that they could bring. Inspired by the humorous Ian Frazier-written Coyote v. Acme lawsuit that was featured in the New Yorker back in 1990, Daniel Weil of design studio Pentagram has reimagined the designs for five gadgets that…
Consider it the ultimate snowmobile if you and your four closest friends want to leave the ski lift to the ‘commoners’. The RaptorTrax is a new concept vehicle built off of a Ford F-150 SVT Raptor base that professional rally driver Ken Block will be unveiling (and bragging about) later this week in Aspen, CO…
This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist brings an entirely new face-smack of great music to help propel you through those laborious, tedious design tasks for the next few days. This week our playlist is inspired by a ‘Wintry Mix’ as we polish our boots, air our long underwear and wax our beards before heading in…
We’re always talking about the future of design, the future of technology, the future of MAKING. In a world where smart cars will drive themselves in rush hour traffic, a world where 3D printing is enabling the blind to experience outer space through touch…how do we find the next ‘big thing’? Maker Galaxy is a…
This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist brings an entirely new face-smack of great music to help propel you through those laborious, tedious design tasks for the next few days. This week we’re dusting off some our favorite records from the 1960s starting with The Stooges and then work our way through everything from Dusty Springfield…
We’re always talking about the future of design, the future of technology, the future of MAKING. In a world where we can interact with empty space, a world where we can 3D print our own shower curtain rings and bionic ears, a world where we’ll be sending people to space for vacation, how do we…
These days I increasingly find myself asking “where was this when I was a kid?” when it comes to new toy designs ranging from electric inks to Arduino kits and iOS apps to the ability to ‘design your own shoes’ with NikeID. The latest comes in the form of an AMAZING Simpsons LEGO set that…
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from our favorite paper-based 3D printing friends over at MCor Technologies. The proud Irish (they offer cans of Guinness at their booth during trade shows if you ask nicely FYI) company has reported annual sales of their eco-friendly printers up over 600% and are showing no signs of slowing…
Recently, SolidSmack reported on master modder Ben Heck’s ‘hack’ of 3D System’s Cubify Sense Handheld 3D Scanner. A lot of Sense users had stated that the user experience was off the mark when considering that an accurate scan needed a real-time viewing monitor…however the supplied USB cord was either too short or created too much…
The reality of Minority Report-style gestural interfaces has arrived in the consumer market, folks. Intel has just announced that they will be introducing a new lineup of RealSense 3D camera offerings for laptop and tablet designs later this year that will bring “human-like senses to Intel-based devices”. To put it more frankly, the technology (also…
Having only recently acquired the 3D printed sugar company The Sugar Lab a few months ago, 3D Systems is already keeping the momentum moving in expanding 3D printing to chefs, bakers, and anybody looking to create conversational-worthy sugar cubes modeled in Grasshopper to have with tea. Expected to be available in the second half of…
It’s only day one of the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but this year has already shaped up to be the most exciting year thus far for 3D printing enthusiasts. Among other announcements, MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis has unveiled what will certainly be an exciting addition to their lineup of 3D printers—which have…
This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist brings an entirely new face-smack of great music to help propel you through those laborious, tedious design tasks for the next few days. This week we’ll start off with Paper Trails from the new Nicolas Jaar outfit Darkside and work our way through some Savages, Blood Orange, Kurt Vile,…
We’re always talking about the future of design, the future of technology, the future of MAKING. In a world where we can interact with empty space, a world where we can 3D print our own shower curtain rings and bionic ears, a world where we’ll be sending people to space for vacation, how do we…
No, the above image wasn’t lifted from the pages of a Moleskine Sketchbook folks…those are actual three-dimensional structures. Korean designer Jinil Park’s new ‘Drawing Furniture Series’ is fairly self-explanatory, but certainly plays tricks on the eye when viewed from a two-dimensional image. Representing basic line sketches, the new collection of furniture is the result of…
Claiming that they have built the largest ceramic 3D printer ever made, Israeli design and research studio ‘Studio Under’ have certainly set themselves up to a high standard. Founded by industrial designers Eran Gal-Or, Liat Akerman and Omer Merzel, the studio of recent Holon Institute of Technology grads focus on designing and fabricating 3D printed…
Founded in 2010 by book editor Patrick Mulligan and graphic designer Ben Gibson, the mission of Brooklyn-based Pop Chart Lab was to do one thing and do it very well: render all of human experience in chart form. Three years later, the two have found themselves with new titles (Patrick as Editorial Director and Ben…
Back in May of 2013, SolidSmack reported on a couple that found themselves in a horrible predicament: they wanted to bake a birthday cake for a beloved friend, however they didn’t have an oven. Being the design savvy couple that they are, a 3D printed cake of their own design seemed like the best alternative.…
If you’ve been looking for a way to keep those SolidWorks muscles strong going into 2014, consider this SolidWorks 101 Course from acclaimed industrial designer Adam O’Hern (AKA ‘the cadjunkie’). Unlike other industrial design tutorial series, Adam keeps the long, awkward pauses out and the intensity full throttle…all in an easy-to-undertand and proven learning formula…
This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist brings an entirely new face-smack of great music to help propel you through those laborious, tedious design tasks for the next few days. This week we’ll start off the new year right with some gut-busting tracks starting with Staring at the Sun from TV on the Radio and we’ll…
If your blackjack hands have been getting a bit stale and you’re looking to conserve those hard-earned pennies, then consider this new bike building-themed Kickstarter project from graphic designer Alex Solomon. Geared consists of color-coded cards that represent different components of a bicycle assembly with the object of the game being to use your ‘Part…
Recently we received an interesting note from SolidSmack reader Rex Brodie about the Cubify Sense handheld scanner that he had recently purchased. According to Rex, the scanner was insanely difficult to use without a portable screen and a 12+ foot long USB cable…and that’s after assuming that your subject matter is ‘ideal’. There have been…
It could be argued that there are two different kinds of people in this world: those who can draw accurately on an Etch A Sketch and those who end up with what looks like a ball of hair coughed up by their neighbor’s cat. Okay, perhaps not…but regardless, the Etch A Sketch is as iconic…
As the market for artisanal goods keeps expanding in a world of disposable IKEA and H&M ‘goods’, so too does the desire for people to hear the stories behind these expertly-crafted artifacts. Murray Carter is another one of those makers who has spent his life perfecting the craft of bladesmithing…a unique craft that demands both…
If someone were to tell you five years ago that you would be able to 3D print a garden in the next few years, your disbelief would probably grow faster than the grass hair on a Homer Simpson Chia Pet. However the momentum of mixing digital fabrication with non-traditional materials doesn’t seem to be slowing…
We’re always talking about the future of design, the future of technology, the future of MAKING. In a world where we can interact with empty space, a world where we can 3D print our own shower curtain rings and bionic ears, a world where we’ll be sending people to space for vacation, how do we…
Lately we’ve been seeing quite a few discussions around various SolidSmack social media outlets discussing the best portable digital sketching tools. Sure, most people will gravitate towards an iPad and the Microsoft Surface based on cost and applications for other uses. However, if you consider yourself a professional designer with the need to have full-blown…
UK-based brothers Simon and Chris Parke surely have an appetite for underwater exploration adventure. Their S.C.P. Marine Innovation Limited is a Portsmouth based start-up dedicated to the powered marine action sports category and the two have just launched a ShareIn campaign for a wearable propulsion system that utilizes high-performance marine thrusters mounted on the user’s…
One of the biggest hurdles in moving 3D printing forward has been the material constraints for creating ‘all-in-one’ products. Sure you can take apart that old computer mouse, hack together a new form factor in SolidWorks, spit it out of your MakerBot and fasten the still-warm pieces together, but few people would call that ‘revolutionary’…
This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist brings an entirely new face-smack of great music to help propel you through those laborious, tedious design tasks for the next few days. This week we’ll start off with Toe Cutter-Thumb Buster by Thee Oh Sees and work our way through some Deerhunter, James Blake, Autre Ne Veut, and…
We’re always talking about the future of design, the future of technology, the future of MAKING. In a world where we can interact with empty space, a world where we can 3D print our own shower curtain rings and bionic ears, a world where we’ll be sending people to space for vacation, how do we…
Laugh all you want, but sharpening pencils is a serious business…just ask Artisanal Pencil Sharpener David Rees. As the number one #2 pencil sharpener in the world, David makes thousands of dollars a year through his pencil sharpening business and even has a book on the topic—appropriately titled ‘How to Sharpen Pencils’. In this humorous…
Aside from being one of the most livable places in North America, Greenwich, Connecticut has one more aspect going for it these days: their very own MakerBot store. With slightly more breathing room than their NYC flagship store, the Greenwich store resides in a village-like storefront on Greenwich’s main street amongst cozy pubs, ambient coffeehouses,…
While Autodesk University has been a premiere event for the product design community for quite a few years now, there has historically been little to offer in the form of concept design, design sketching, and general creative inspiration outside of the CAD/CAM world. This year however, Autodesk launched their first-ever CAVE Conference with the goal…
Well folks, if nothing stirs your curry more than some exciting CAM news, then this year’s Autodesk University in Las Vegas was for you! In case you missed the announcement from SolidSmack last week, Autodesk is moving forward with their Autodesk 360 collaborative cloud experience with the addition of CAM 360. We had a chance…
This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist brings an entirely new face-smack of great music to help propel you through those laborious, tedious design tasks for the next few days. This week we’re pulling out some old folk favorites to coincide with the release of the Coen Brothers’ latest film Inside Llewyn Davis (yes, it’s good!).…
File this under that ever-expanding ‘Why Didn’t I Think Of That?’ pile: Swedish travel and lifestyle photographer Jens Lennartsson was feeling like he wanted to get a little more attention from potential agency clients, so rather than going the traditional route and creating ‘the mother of all business cards’, he omitted the card altogether and…
Last month we reported on the opening weekend of the new Hatch Live tournament—a sort of Cut+Paste-like competition with the end goal of having a unique, manufacturable design. Well, after a month’s worth of tournament weekends, this past weekend saw the championship round between talented designers Wil Rodriguez-Joglar and Nelson Ayala as they battled out…
We’ve seen quite the gamut of unique bicycle designs over the past year. From the 19th century velocipede re-imagined with today’s bicycle technologies to custom bicycle designs that utilize rapid manufacturing methods and everything in between, riders looking for a funkier ride have never had more options. The Sandwichbike from designer Basten Leijh is the…
It was only yesterday that we took a look at Autodesk’s Project Shapeshifter and explored how it is moving away from existing simple modeling apps and into more complex modeling aimed at the consumer market. Although 3D printer sales have surged (and will continue to do so), the bridge between concept and well-executed print is…
If you’re a fan of the popular Automoblox toys, then this one’s for you. Architect Matteo Ragni organized a list of one-hundred designers and architects to design their own take on the wooden toy car as a part of his 100% ToBeUs initiative. The well-conceived initiative is focused on moving kids away from disposable toys…
This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist brings an entirely new face-smack of great music to help propel you through those laborious, tedious design tasks for the next few days (although we hope you’ll take some time out this week to stuff your face with turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie). This week we’re going to…
Autodesk has been making headway with various announcements leading up to next week’s Autodesk University in Las Vegas. A little over a month ago we saw the release of their Project Miller preview, which is aimed at optimizing and validating designs before hitting that heavy ‘Print’ button to send a file off to a 3D…
There’s been a lot of hype surrounding the (RED) charity auction curated by Jony Ive and Marc Newson—particularly in regards to their one-of-a-kind desk and Leica camera designs. Well, it all goes down tomorrow (Saturday 11/23) at Sotheby’s in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. In preparation for the auction, Sotheby’s held a limited-engagement exhibition to show…
Few industrial designers have branded themselves with flamboyant tastes and pink outfits, yet Karim Rashid has created a solid name for himself as a multi-disciplinary designer who has worked with everybody from Alessi to Coca Cola and Dupont to Dirt Devil. With his creative direction guiding everything from product design to branding and even fine…
Consider it a handheld 3D printer of sorts—and not of the stringy-glue gun variety. The FreeD is MIT’s latest cool piece of tech that is essentially a handheld milling machine that allows a user to sculpt a pre-defined shape from a 3D model. As 3D printer manufacturers are moving towards higher resolution and accuracy in…
With it’s earthy tones and fibrous appearance, it almost looks appetizing enough to eat. Inspired by alternative manufacturing processes that could help re-shape the Greek economy, University of Edinburgh grad Spyros Kizis has developed a way of using Artichoke Thistle fiber mixed with a new waste-oil biological epoxy resin to create a plastic-like material that…
For those who have been using Adobe’s Creative Cloud since its recent release, it has been a sort of blessing on multiple levels. With a simple Creative Cloud account, a user can active or deactivate the entire Adobe software suite on up to two computers—and if you want to use Adobe After Effects for a…
Having been friends since childhood, Are Audio founders Richie White and Ross Connolly shared a common passion for engineering, physics, and high-fidelity sound. Today, the two are hard at work with their custom audio speaker company based out of St. John’s Newfoundland. The hand-manufacturing process that goes into making anything audio-based is always a slippery-slope:…