Perhaps none of us will top the professional-level squatting recently done by a young entrepreneur at AOL’s headquarters. The then-19 year old Eric Simons was a part of an AOL incubator focused on helping young people with their startups. Having ran out of money, the persistent Simons ended up squatting at AOL…showering in their gym,…

When Kickstarter first launched, it was a hotbed for garage hobbyists, indie game developers, and the occasional ‘pro’ who wanted to test the crowdfunding market. More recently, the platform has made its way to more commercial projects that while having been successful, are arguably exploiting an indie-based platform and have led some into a pit…

Missed the early adoption period for a Google Glass? Need to see how they frame your pretty mug without forking over the $$$? Sunny Gao, an entrepreneur from China, showed off his replica Google Glass during the the Global Hackathon this past weekend in Shanghai. He also uploaded the file for your 3D printing pleasure.

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 be taking a dive into the Indie Pool to cool off from our funky Magical Acid Funk Temple Playlist from last week. We’ll…

Well, it’s about that time of year to start pitchin’ the ol’ teepee in the backyard for those sugar-infused, marshmallow-happy backyard camp sessions. Before little Timmy gets worked up over how many S’Mores he can have at a time this year, get yourself caught up to speed with our backyard camping edition of Cool Tools…

This week we have the great pleasure of speaking to failure analysis expert, design history aficionado, prolific author, and paper clip extraordinaire, Mr. Henry Petroski! Henry has written over 17 books on design and engineering ranging from the history and importance of the toothpick, to why failure is paramount in the design process.

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 be kickin’ up the funk a notch with a mixture of blues, jazz, and funk-inspired vibrations. We’ll start with a little Bibi Tanga…

This week we have the great pleasure to speak with the founder of the ever-popular NerdFitness.com, Mr. Steve Kamb! Steve has developed a loyal following of hundreds of thousands of readers through his unique fitness site aimed at Nerds from all walks of life. We’ll talk with Steve about everything from why he preaches the…

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 brings us a whole new slew of upbeat face-melting ear juice from the likes of Munnibrotherz, Tame Impala, and Menomena to Surfer Blood, Grieves,…

Come join us around the campfire and bring your extra-large marshmallows because this week’s episode of Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff is live! We love our SolidSmack readers! Do you have something cool you’ve come across and want to share it on SolidSmack? Don’t hide it in your neck skin! Send it on in…

For those who aren’t cranking out 3D prints in full-rotation 24/7, there is another money-making opportunity on the block on par with MakeXYZ. As previously reported by SolidSmack, MakeXYZ is a sort of ‘AirBnB’ concept for your 3D printer. Similar to the concept of renting out a spare room in your house to travelers that…

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 brings us some of the best sounds of the 60’s including The Stooges, Nancy Sinatra, Leonard Cohen, and The Supremes.

Between designing space planes, restaurants, jet packs, and a line of apparel for GStar RAW, it’s hard to believe Marc Newson actually has time to ‘go home’. But just like the common man, even design celebrities need to catch some much needed ZZZ’s when the sandman comes. Unsurprisingly, Newson’s London abode is a direct reflection…

Aiming at becoming the flagship store for the UK Makers Community, the iMakr store is getting ready for their highly-anticipated grand opening later this month. As previously reported by SolidSmack, the store will stock all things Maker on two stories of retail space. However most importantly, will it be an early example of the ‘office…

Opening tomorrow and running through the 14th, the Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano (The Milan Furniture Fair) is bound to have a few surprises that we’ll report on over the week. This showcase of all things product design has also been an outlet for famed British designer Ross Lovegrove to show off his latest…

Need 600 ice cream spoons for a birthday party tomorrow…straight from your CAD file? In this recently released video from Stratasys, we are able to see just how powerful 3D printing can be in a traditional manufacturing environment. For garage and hackerspace Makers who may only need a few hundred parts for their Kickstarter project…

Between incorporating their color library into Autodesk’s Sketchbook Pro and providing drool-worthy retail displays, Copic is stepping up their marker game even further with the upcoming release of 288 color chips. Featuring matte or gloss on curved and flat surfaces, the new chips will be highly-beneficial for better envisioning your product before you even put…

What could be more fun than scaring sharks off with a baby seal costume?! This week’s episode of Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff is live! We love our SolidSmack readers! Do you have something cool you’ve come across and want to share it on SolidSmack? Don’t hide it in your neck skin! Send it…

This week we have the great pleasure to speak with the talented Elliot Blanchard of Invisible Light Network. Elliot is a multi-disciplinary designer who recently presented his latest 3D printed product at Austin’s SXSW Festival. We’ll talk with Elliot about everything from Rhino’s Grasshopper to using the new Shapeways API. Rock.

As a PhD student at the University of Florida studying Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in controls, Tim Elmore is about to shake up the future of 3D printer filaments. Currently, a spool of your favorite color of ABS (or PLA or PVA) runs just south of $50 at the MakerBot store, not including the…

It’s not quite Halloween yet, but if you’re the type that likes to plan ahead, then you should consider this for that masquerade ball seven months from now. COLLAGENE is a Kinect software application designed to create adaptive and customizable masks based off of a quick scan from an XBox Kinect. Developed by DO THE…

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 features a reverb-heavy, Shoegaze-inspired playlist including My Bloody Valentine, Blonde Redhead, Dinosaur Jr., and Spacemen 3. Get ready to Rock the rest of the…

Are you tired of waiting more than two episodes of Breaking Bad for your high-resolution part to 3D print? Two Masters of Engineering students at UC Berkeley are too, and with their ingenius new 3D Refiner Kickstarter project (already funded with 29 days to go), you can 3D print at a fast low resolution, and…

Few scents truly bring back the golden age of my childhood. Chocolate pudding, fruit roll-ups, and scented markers are high up on that list, but few can meet the powerhouse that is Play-Doh. To this day, if I ever catch a whiff of the colorful fun stuff I am instantly and without warning thrown into…

Get ready for a battle of Killer Bees versus Cardboard Swords (somebody’s gettin’ hurt)! This week’s episode of Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff is live! We love our SolidSmack readers! Do you have something cool you’ve come across and want to share it on SolidSmack? Don’t hide it in your neck skin! Send it…

After having raised over $8 million on Kickstarter ($8,596,474 to be exact) from the original goal of $950,000, the wildly successful OUYA open-source video game console will be launching with a bang from San Francisco this week. In celebration of the launch, OUYA teamed up with MakerBot and Thingiverse to offer the option to 3D…

For designers, finding parts for a project can be a cumbersome experience. While McMaster-Carr and other part suppliers have convenient downloadable CAD models of their inventory, it can still be a time-sucker to search those inventories if you’re still in a conceptual stage. The new 3D Part Source search engine developed by 3D Industri.es aims…

Having recently been approved for a Type 7 Federal Firearms Licence (FFL), Cody Wilson just can’t seem to stay out of the news these days (not that he has a problem with that). Currently Wilson is awaiting his early-April approval for his Class 2 Special Occupational Taxpayer (SOT) add-on which will allow him to manufacture…

For those in the greater London area, get ready to see a whole lot more 3D printing buzz. Today, iMakr announced that it will be opening a two-story, 2500 square-foot 3D printing retail store in Farringdon in Central London. Could this be the ‘office supply store’ of the future? Take off your Google Glass at…

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 features an Electronic and Trip-Hop inspired playlist including Cut Chemist, YACHT, Africa HiTech, Portishead, and LCD Soundsystem. Get ready to blaze through the week!

For those with ‘well-behaved’ dogs, carrying a leash at all times in order to obey leash laws can be…well, extremely annoying. Between trips to the park, hikes through the trails, or even a jaunt downtown, finding and carrying a leash can be a cumbersome experience. Rollo co-founders Tony Lord and Sid Fohrman saw this overlooked…

It’s no longer a secret–modo 701 is going to kick butt in major ways. Luxology’s Brad Peebler gave an online presentation this morning where he showed off the best of what’s new for those of us eager to dive into the new release. From updated edge beveling enhancements to a new animation workflow, Luxology has…

It bounces! This week’s episode of Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff is live! We love our SolidSmack readers! Do you have something cool you’ve come across and want to share it on SolidSmack? Don’t hide it in your neck skin! Send it on in to smoth@www.solidsmack.com. Ready?…..Kick IT!

This week we have the great pleasure to speak with the one and only Conor MacCormack, CEO and Co-founder of MCor Technologies, makers of the paper-based 3D printer currently in use at Staples locations around Europe. We’ll talk with Conor about what led him into the 3D printing industry and how he even thought to…

And now for your daily feel-good story. Colin Macduff, a Washington State Navy veteran who did two tours in Operation Desert Shield accidentally blew off his finger in a shotgun accident in 2010. At the time, Macduff was unemployed and according to his doctor, would be unable to receive a prosthetic. What resulted belongs in…

When the Cintiq first came out, I vividly remember an illustrator friend of mine saying “It’s not a matter of if I’m going to buy one, it’s a matter of when I’m going to buy one.” Perhaps a lot of designers and illustrators have found themselves in the same boat and have waited for the…

…And you should get in your imaginary Dymaxion Car right now and head over to Kickstarter to help make it a reality. Illustrator Cole Gerst of Portland, Oregon was blessed by the Buckmister Fuller estate to pursue the project, which features over 200 full-color, beautifully illustrated pages. Move your white Dieter Rams book over and…

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’s playlist features all-new Phosphorescent (just released!), Son of Dave, Son Volt, Africa Hitech, Burial, and a slew of other buttery-slick tunes to jam to…

Since the days of Bo Jackson, cross-training has been seeing more exposure in the limelight. More recently, popular workout programs such as CrossFit have been demanding more from a shoe than just a comfortable running capability. Movements such as lateral cuts and jumping require completely separate needs from your run-of-the-mill existing high-end running shoe. The…

In the case that you love watching products turn on a lathe as much as I do, you are in mucho luck today. Product designer Ingo Schuppler has recently released the lathe-heavy process video for his latest design, “Schwarzes Gold’. The coal-based lamp design is in response to Germany’s energy usage and, according to the…

It seems like only a couple days ago SolidSmack was reporting on Cody Wilson and his move to ‘revolutionize’ 3D Printing with DEFCAD.com. Well, the resilient 3D printing poster boy for 3D printed firearms is back in the news again after having recently received his Type 7 Federal Firearms License granting him the ability to…

Invisible Light Network, an NYC-based creative studio specializing in interactive and experience design presented a 3D printing project at this year’s SXSW festival’s #FEED event. The #FEED event featured a number of artists and designer-types who combine the best of music and interactive art into a showcase of incredible experiences and innovative products. We had…

There was a sound at the door. It opened. There holding a small staff and a bottle of zebra skin, was Smoth Mealer and all the smoth babies. This week’s episode of Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff is live! We love our SolidSmack readers! Do you have something cool you’ve come across and want…

This week we have the great pleasure to speak with Max Bogue. Max is a co-founder of Wobbleworks and he, as well as fellow co-founder Peter Dillworth have created the 3Doodler, the world’s first 3D printed pen. They have a fully-funded Kickstarter project and there’s still time to get in on it. Now, these guys…

Luxology announced earlier this week their new modo 701, and as expected there are a host of improvements including expanded animation features like audio playback and sound support. For those of you looking to upgrade, here’s a quick preview of what’s to come.

The term ‘Knolling’ has been around since the mid-1980’s and is centered around the practice of organizing any number of objects for a specific purpose in an easy-to-view manner. More recently, design blogs, style magazines, and recipe books have used the practice as a way to instantly communicate a grouping of objects—whether it be items…

When we previously reported on those cool Sandboxr dudes, they were prepping to launch their super cool model building and 3D printing app. Well, that time has arrived folks and Sandboxr has just launched their Kickstarter campaign to make the app and sandstone-3D printing experience a reality for non-CAD users all over the world…and a…

Law student, gun owner, and 3D printing fan Cody Wilson has spent much of the last year working on 3d printed gun parts and setting up Defense Distributed, a sharing platform setup to help himself and others manufacture and share these printable gun parts. The result of 3D printed gun parts being usable in otherwise…

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’s playlist features a SXSW (South by Southwest Music and Arts Festival)-inspired playlist for those of us who just weren’t able to pull away from…

Between those who may be presenting reasons for a particular color or feature on a logo, or those who consider themselves branding experts, there are quite a few questionable design jargon statements made in the design world. The Design Jargon Bull$#!& Tumblr is your humorous archive of ridiculous design statements that just might make you…