With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you.
This week we saw everything from a minimalist smart phone that features only the bare essentials, a timer app for helping you keep track of task management, a dinosaur coat rack project, a most excellent mini-doc on shaping bonsai trees and more…
Ready? Let’s go!
This week we look at:
DESIGN
“Say it with words. Focus on what matters most and leave out the rest. The MP 01 is a simple mobile phone for smart communicators.”
Bang & Olufsen BeoLink Multiroom
“BeoLink Multiroom unites your Bang & Olufsen products into one liberating wireless system. Play different music in different rooms or let one tune flow throughout your home. Just touch your Bang & Olufsen product to instantly join the music stream, or control the experience from your mobile phone…”
APPS
“Keeping yourself focused on tasks can be not easy sometimes. FocusDots is a beautifully designed timer to improve your focus on tasks and discard activity that can divert your attention…”
“Headspace is meditation made simple. Install today to learn meditation and mindfulness in just 10 minutes a day…”
DIY
“Modern outdoor sofas can be quite expensive. I made this sturdy DIY couch from solid wood 4x8s, 2x8s, outdoor sofa cushions from IKEA and grey Minwax wood stain for a nice finish…”
“I can’t take responsibility for your actions upon following these instructions, like if you climb inside the cardboard box you’re spraying on or somehow screw or glue a dinosaur to your face, you likely shouldn’t have embarked on this project…”
ROCK AWESOMENESS
The Art of Shaping a Bonsai Tree
“Ryan Neil has spent over a decade working to master the Japanese art of bonsai. As he shapes and forms these miniature trees, he describes how closely intertwined humans are with them. Filmmaker Ryan Bush captures Neil’s dedication to the art form and the responsibility he holds while practicing his craft. “If you don’t respect that life and death is a very real part of the creative process of bonsai … you don’t have anything in the end except for a big dead tree…”
“We met with Harley-Davidson chief stylist Ray Drea to talk about freedom, personalisation and a connection to your soul. Motorcycles stripped down to their raw, custom essence, the Dark Custom is Harley-Davidson’s no frills, pure thrills experience…”
And there you have it!
Send your cool tool finds to smoth@www.solidsmack.com, sign up for our newsletter there in the sidebar or ask us a question in the comments or via email about diy, design, tech or anything else. Smoth would love to help.
