Yesterday, SolidSmack posted on the Electric Loog Guitar—a sort of build-a-guitar kit that encourages customization. While build-a-kits have been in existence for decades, there seems to be a resurgence in interest for both adults and kids alike. After raising over $160,000 on Kickstarter with 29 days left to go in their 30-day campaign, the Kano…
As a result of the increase in customization in mass manufactured products, so too has the interest in how products are actually built…and why not? Building things is just as fun as owning them! While the likes of various 3D printers and Arduino kits have taken the Making community by storm, there have also been…
The iPad stylus market has seen an interesting turn in recent months with the release of Wacom’s Intuos Creative Stylus and now this morning, the Pencil by 53. For anybody who has used the iPad app Paper by 53, you might be familiar with 53’s exceptional attention to detail in the user experience and their…
Airless tires have been sort of like a pesky mole in the last ten years: they poke their heads out just long enough to catch some attention, then retreat back into their holes. Other than being airless and less-prone to damage, their use in automobiles has been questionable based on their potential lack of driving…
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 going to kick up the tempo a few notches to get that blood pumping first thing in the morning. We’ll start off with…
As a dog owner, I am constantly on the lookout for dog products that aren’t your run-of-the-mill, ‘bought it at PetsMart’ variety. Sadly, very few products actually exist for dog owners that reflect rock-solid design ideals (and no, I don’t need a Gucci dog collar). For those looking to step outside of the realm of…
When looking at companies embracing the 3D printing movement, it’s hard to deny that Microsoft is taking large strides towards making their products more seamless in the 3D printing experience for the mass market. With the combination of introducing native 3D printing support into their recent Windows 8.1 update—a first for an operating system—to the…
With 70% more customer presentations than the previous year, you would be hard-pressed to not find something interesting at Dassault Systèmes’ 2013 North America Customer Forum—a sort of showcase of how users and companies are using Dassault Systèmes’ software for various applications. From the impressive keynote speakers who dove into the future of STEM education…
Master woodworker and community leader Eric Hollenbeck presents a rare breed in today’s technology-obsessed world. While 3D printers, laser cutters, and CAD software have re-defined what it means to ‘make something’, Hollenbeck’s most-modern tool in his impressive arsenal was built in 1948. In this mesmerizing Maker profile from director Ben Proudfoot of Breakwater Studios, we…
As any office prankster worth their salt will tell you, launching objects in a parabolic arc at an unsuspecting co-worker is one of the greatest and most-satisfying ways of communication (assuming that said objects are gummy bears, marshmallows, and the occasional spitball). E&M Labs is offering a new way of stepping up your office warfare…
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 gently with Piledriver Waltz by Alex Turner and work our way through some Portishead, Beach House, Fred Astaire, and The Jam…
With their recent launch of Cubify Design, you would think that 3D Systems would hypothetically be sitting back in the boardroom drinking coffee and eating jelly doughnuts while waiting for the world to take notice. While that actually doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend a Friday morning, 3D Systems are keeping their momentum…
From the future-forward aesthetic and unique manufacturing processes of Mykita eyewear to the sustainable ‘buy-one-give-one’ business model that is Warby Parker, we’ve seen quite the gamut of what’s possible for eyewear design and manufacturing in the past few years. Belgian industrial designer Frédéric Gooris has expanded that bubble by a few more breaths with his…
This past Friday, 40 of the world’s top experts in digital and interactive art, data visualization, software art, 3D printing, augmented reality, and other digital art and design applications converged on the stage at The New School in NYC’s Greenwich Village for LISA 2013 (Leaders in Software and Art) to discuss their projects, where these…
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 celebrating the first week of Movember—the month of the Moustache that also aims to bring awareness to various men’s health issues with a…
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…
As a media company, we’ve seen our fair share of apps, platforms, and ways of getting our content to the masses. Some people prefer to wait for EngineerVsDesigner to roll in over the air on their iPhone while some prefer watching the show here on the Smack. This week brings a whole new way of…
Perhaps you’re one of those fine folks who enjoys a leisurely ride around your village in a tweed suit and impeccably-kept vintage bicycle (the real kind, not the re-issues). For most riders, having that much cool-factor is borderline uncomfortable, and I’m sure the tweed suit doesn’t help make the riding comfortable either. For the rest…
Yesterday, 3D systems quietly unveiled a new member to their small family of modeling apps including Cubify Invent and Cubify Sculpt with their latest, Cubify Design. While Cubify Invent is their most intuitive tool that is aimed at teaching the basics of 3D modeling and Cubify Sculpt offers organic modeling and digital sculpting, Cubify Design…
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 paying tribute to one of the more influential figures in rock who sadly passed away this past weekend, the iconic Lou Reed. We’ll…
Live design competitions have been one of the best ways for new (and existing) designers to showcase their chops and get great exposure without having to pull out their portfolios. Additionally, watching a mouse arrow dive through command menus and toolbars can be one of the best ways of re-imagining a software program or getting…
Having directed both live-action and animated films for over ten years, Nando Costa is no stranger to film production, yet waiting for over 800 pieces of maple to be laser-engraved and used as individual frames for a short film is somewhat new territory. In his latest Kickstarter-backed short film “The New America”, Costa puts those…
Brought to you this week by Smoth Mealer’s expansive collection of TI-84 Calculators and a box of floral print lotion-flavored Kleenex, be sure to check out the all new episode of Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff! By the way, we love our SolidSmack readers! Have something cool you’ve come across and want to share…
In a world where mass-manufactured Nike Air Jordans, Teva Sandals, and Croc Clogs dominate the sidewalks, it’s easy to overlook the time and patience that goes into designing and making shoes by hand. Sure there’s value in appreciating how the latest sneaker design came to fruition, but the amount of disconnect is surely larger than…
This week EngineerVsDesigner sat down with one of the co-founders of the KICK-BUTT Kickstarter project that aims to bring self-sufficient farming into your living room, Mr. Josh Rittenberg of Aqualibrium. We’ll talk with Josh about everything from “What’s the difference between hydroponics and aquaponics?” to how he and his team came up with the idea…
We’ve been seeing an onslaught of great Maker-inspired ad campaigns from various alcohol makers in the past few months ranging from DeWars’ 3B Printing Project campaign to Ballantine’s Ballance. The latest to join the ranks is Baileys with their Baileys Chocolate Luxe campaign that will really, really, make you want to have some chocolate after…
Yes, you heard that right. Not one, not two, not three-hundred, but 908 robots that can assess what’s dirty in your home and…well, clean your house for you. 23-year-old industrial design student Adrian Perez Zapata recently took first place in Electrolux’s 2013 Design Lab competition in which his concept ‘Mab’ explores the automation-network of bees…
As bicycles increasingly become the go-to transportation of choice for urban dwellers, pre-existing problems that have plagued cyclists for years become highlighted and with them (hopefully) new and better solutions to make riding a better experience. Take for example the problem of commuting with a messenger bag, backpack, or gym bag. While messenger bags by…
For those who watched Apple’s Developer Conference back in June, you might have remembered Apple CEO Tim Cook inviting out a CEO of a new toy car company that utilized Apple’s iOS devices as a ‘steering wheel’ of sorts to drive physical cars. For those who might not have seen the keynote presentation, these aren’t…
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 of the best ‘spooky’ music we know to help welcome the Halloween and Day of the Dead season. We’ll start…
As any regular reader of SolidSmack knows, digital fabrication tools have led a helping hand in ways never before seen for designers, artists, and even regular-Joe hobbyists. Combining the powers of digital modeling or 3D scanning with various devices that output a three-dimensional object still sounds like something out of the future, yet every day…
Putting a 3D printer in the back of a car might not be that revolutionary, but considering what kind of power that could put into the hands of various service people? Now that’s getting interesting. From plumbers to electricians and even general contractors, the ability to have on-demand part production on-site could rapidly speed up…
Brought to you this week by three cans of baked beans mixed in a bowl of raspberry jelly and Bob Seger’s Greatest Hits, be sure to check out the all new episode of Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff! By the way, we love our SolidSmack readers! Have something cool you’ve come across and want…
Recently, we reported that MakerBot was expanding their retail empire to include ‘mini-stores’ within over nearly 20 Microsoft stores stretched across the United States. At the moment, their only standalone brick and mortar is their iconic New York City store where they have resided for just over a year now. Today it was announced that…
This week EngineerVsDesigner sat down with the young and talented founder of one of our favorite product design sites, Mr. Jude Pullen! We’ll talk to Jude about working with your hands in a digital prototyping age, how the idea for his site Design Modelling came about, and why he believes that working with your hands…
Operating in the fields of design, fashion, and architecture, Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves of Studio Swine have made a unique name for themselves through their exploration of design through material innovation and creating new sustainable systems with a strong focus on aesthetics. Having received multiple international awards including those from Wallpaper Magazine and the…
Living in 150 square feet doesn’t sound appealing to a lot of people, but for ultra-minimalists and those looking to pinch their pennies, downsizing their living space has been a liberating experience according to recent news stories over the past few years. With the rise of such couch-surfing/house rental sites such as AirBnB, micro-houses 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’re plugging in Moby’s iPhone to listen to what HE listened to for inspiration for his latest album. We’ll start with a Moby and…
As the Cupertino City Council gets ready to cast their final votes for letting Apple build their ‘Spaceship’ headquarters that was the subject of Steve Jobs’ final public speaking appearance shortly before his death, the rest of us get to see a glimpse at what the initial rendered images couldn’t completely convey: the sheer massiveness…
With everything from 3D print fail blogs to in-depth tutorials on how to avoid various 3D printing pitfalls, it was only a matter time before we saw a 3D print preview offering. Unsurprisingly, Autodesk Labs has given us our first taste of what to expect with their all-new Project Miller app designed for testing and…
Few things can tell you more about somebody’s personality than a list of their all-time favorite reads. Okay, maybe a hidden playlist of Dolly Parton’s hits has the potential to be slightly more revealing but regardless, book lists are definitely up there. From various philosophy books to instructional guides on Chinese calligraphy and the biography…
It’s no secret that having fun, brightly-colored toys scattered across one’s desk can perk up anybody’s work environment. Perhaps nobody knows this better than one of the pioneers of designer toys and founder of Kidrobot, Paul Budnitz. Heck, even MoMA carries over a dozen of his designs in their permanent collection. So what’s his secret?…
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…
Product designers who have found success using the iPad as a sketchbook are a rare breed: it takes patience and pre-existing skill to successfully communicate your ideas with large nubs nearly the size of your pinky finger. Could Wacom’s newly-released Intuos Creative Stylus be the answer to finally being able to sketch (more) naturally on…
Founded in 2006 by Bono and Bobby Shriver to engage the private sector in raising both awareness and funds to help eliminate global diseases such as AIDS, (RED) has been a popular fundraising model that allows companies to offer unique products within their own brand that also help support the initiative. It would take a…
French designer Eugeni Quitllet has barely taken a breather since winning a Red Dot Award this year for his Masters Chair, and has proved once again that he is a master when it comes to working with plastics. In this new set of ‘TSA-safe’ airline cutlery for Air France, Quitllet proves that you’re never too…
It’s no secret that ex-Apple designer Tony Fadell has found great success in his revolutionary Nest Thermostat design. The device has simplified the room temperature adjustment experience for thousands—and was one of the first smart home products that showed us a glimpse into the future of home living when it first came out. Riding on…
Inspired by the unique balance of what gives a fine whiskey it’s character, (in this case, Ballantine’s 12), Stockholm female design trio Front have created a unique sculpture set by the name of Ballance that embraces the ritual around consuming the fine liquor…so long as you can avoid ‘catching it’ with it’s balancing optical illusion…
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 unloading a handful of some of our favorite tracks from various Wes Anderson films. We’ll start with ‘Making Time’ by The Creation from…
For those who have had the time to get their feet wet in Autodesk’s Cloud-based CAD platform Fusion 360, you might have been missing a few ingredients from your previous workflow in another CAD package…particularly in the rendering department. On Wednesday October 9th, that problem will be solved after the announcement this morning that Luxion…