While saw blades come in a multitude of sizes and colors with a range of different kinds of teeth, you surely haven’t seen a saw blade like this for sale at your local hardware store before. Canada-based woodworker John Heisz recently cut a circular disc/blade from regular ‘ol printer paper (no teeth) and installed it…
With four finished degrees from MIT (BS: Physics, Math, MS: Mech. Engineering, Media Arts and Sciences), scientist and engineer Jeff Lieberman knows a thing or two about –– well, a lot of things. As the host of the TV show ‘Time Warp’ on the Discovery Channel, his interest in the human consciousness took him down…
Few things are as enticing to young engineering students as the opportunity to build their own go-karts from scratch, and 18-year-old engineering student Jasper Edwards is living the dream. The UK-based engineer, who works out of his own garage, creates his karts starting with shopping carts and wheelchairs scavenged from local junkyards. Using the existing…
Nobody will blame you if you’ve never taken a moment to think about the hard science behind a simple pizza delivery. After all, paying the driver and eating the pizza is usually the priority in any situation involving pizza. That said, everything from the carefully-placed humidity ventilation holes to the pizza saver dongles is the…
As if spending an afternoon assembling IKEA furniture isn’t already a kick in the pants, imagine doing so while navigating your way around the Dark Side of the Moon under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. Such is the premise of the aptly named new YouTube series HIKEA. Created by NYC-based creatives Hunter Fine and Alex…
With a seemingly endless supply of content and social media updates getting hurled at us 24/7, it’s become increasingly difficult to break the time-sucking and vicious cycle of distraction. If you’re a freelancer or one of the few digital nomads who work from home without the pressure of an afternoon presentation deadline, this problem can…
Used by engineers and designers in nearly every corner of the product design and development industry, the humble Moleskine notebook is often the starting point for hatching the next great product idea. But while sketching in the iconic notebooks happens anywhere at any time, it is often when sketching over a cup of coffee at…
At age 80, fourth generation Japanese toymaker Masaaki Hiroi still cranks out classic wood toys from his workshop where he has spent a lifetime mastering his craft. While many might be worried about retirement and slowing down during their eighth decade, Hiroi continues to keep his mind and hands active doing what he loves to…
Having raised nearly $275,000 over the past month, filmmaker Gary Hustwit has already shot past his $200,000 crowdfunding goal to make RAMS, the first feature documentary about Dieter Rams. For those who want a digital download when the film is released or any number of limited edition Dieter Rams-related backer rewards, today is the last…
As if Google hasn’t already done enough to streamline how we get our information, the company’s Cultural Institute just did for art and design what Google Streetview did for maps. With works and artifacts from more than a thousand museums across 70 countries, the company’s new and improved Google Arts & Culture website and app…
Having born a toy company out of his living room with the desire to revive the “glamorous ’60s American modernist vibe and carve it into awesome contemporary wood toy designs” for his two young daughters, Brooklyn-based architect and designer Vlad Dragusin has since expanded Candylab Toys into a team of four after successfully launching his…
While Apple may be spending millions on advanced recycling robots that can disassemble iPhones and recover valuable metals for reuse, those who are motivated enough can recover their own metals from e-waste in their own backyard – provided they have some patience for the process and a whole lot of junk electronics. Starting with four and…
Despite being one of the most celebrated meals of the day, few people ever really have the time to make a full breakfast before running out the door. Unsurprisingly, this has led some to create automated breakfast machines that attempt to make waking up to a fresh plate of bacon and eggs as easy as…
In case you weren’t keeping track, yesterday was World Industrial Design Day (which is different from the relatively new US-based National Industrial Design Day on March 5th) and what better way to celebrate industrial designers than to make fun of their quirks? Whether the video was intended as a vehicle for promoting their portfolios or…
As the creator of design documentaries Helvetica, Objectified, and Urbanized, filmmaker Gary Hustwit has made a name for himself by opening up the worlds of graphic, industrial and urban design to the general population with compelling interviews that to this day are among the best of their kind. For his latest––and most ambitious––project, Hustwit is…
Unless you’ve been churning out legendary solos, filling stadiums, and selling millions of records since the 1970s, the likelihood of having your own signature guitar model is pretty slim. Launching this week, the new Fender Mod Shop is changing all that and will now let anybody design and customize their own signature guitar model from…
It was only two weeks ago when LEGO released their extremely detailed “life-like” replica of the iconic Porsche 911 GT3 RS with a 2,704-part build sequence modeled after the real-life vehicle’s assembly process. Although the $299 kit is already out of stock, LEGO wants to settle your woes with yet another impressive automobile kit modeled…
Back in April, the LEGO design team unveiled their latest 2,704–piece LEGO Technic model in the form of a life-like” replica of the iconic Porsche 911 GT3 RS with a build sequence modeled after the real-life vehicle’s assembly process. To keep the LEGO build process as close as possible to the same real-world assembly process…
If you’ve been paying attention to the Apple rumor mill as of late, you’ve likely heard that Apple is (supposedly) working on incorporating an OLED touchscreen trackpad to replace the function row of keys at the top of the new MacBook keyboard with a monster trackpad below – expected to be released later this year.…
Having already set the record for the most funded Kickstarter campaign twice before, it should come as little surprise that smartwatch manufacturer Pebble is set to beat their own record yet again for two new smartwatch designs and two versions of a hackable wearable. The new Pebble lineup – properly titled the Pebble 2, Pebble Time…
It’s no secret that design is more than just about making something look good; many of today’s billion dollar companies are driving record profits through their neverending search to better understand their users to build them better products that are more friendly to use. But as many of our three-dimensional experiences move into two-dimensional interfaces,…
The ability to quickly observe a form and deconstruct it into primitive shapes that can be sketched or modeled is one of the most valuable skills that a designer or engineer can have. Unfortunately, learning how to think this way doesn’t necessarily come naturally for most – particularly if it involves a sketchbook and a…
While we may not have the hoverboards we were promised, electric longboards – particularly Boosted Boards – have come in at a close second. Also, unlike the hoverboard, you can actually buy an electric longboard today – assuming you can justify the $1,000+ price tag. Or, if you happen to have an electric drill and a spare…
In case you haven’t scratched your retro video game nostalgia with emulators, apps and more DIY projects than you can shake a sweaty handful of quarters at, Atari has announced that they want to take over living rooms once again. This time, however, as a range of smart home products. In a news release…
The lasting contribution to society from today’s reality TV shows can be endlessly debated, but if there is one that can do more good than harm, it’s likely the Intel-backed America’s Greatest Makers. The reality competition show, which pits 24 teams of Makers against each other with weekly build challenges leading up to a $1…
Designed to allow devices to be customized for an individual’s own style and functional needs, Google’s Project Ara modular smartphone has been one of the more compelling pieces of hardware kit announced within the past few years. The platform, which allows users to swap out hardware components including high-resolution cameras, loudspeakers, different battery sizes and…
When it comes to starting a side project (or a “project” project), ironing out early ideas and evaluating them ahead of time – rather than just jumping in – can mean the difference between a hugely successful venture or a massive major headache further down the road. Unfortunately, moving productively through this brainstorming process and staying…
As a certified LEGO Master Model Builder at the LEGOLAND California Resort, Robbie McCarthy earns a living doing what most kids (and many adults) could only dream of. According to his job description, McCarthy frequently combines good old-fashioned brick building skills with proprietary software and custom fabrication to manage LEGO projects from creative conception through…
Between video games, spreadsheets, musical instruments, weather forecasts, cameras and more, the amount of life-changing things made possible on our smartphones is made possible thanks to over five decades of developing increasingly powerful – yet smaller – computer chips. Needless to say, it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t that long ago when even the…
Going back to the introduction of desktop publishing tools that allowed everyday Joes and Josephines to “design” and print documents with relative ease, the perceived value of professional design services has continued to decline as skills and processes that previously required years of training continue to be simplified and automated for nonprofessional users. Perhaps no…
Whether it exists in the form of Javascript, a music video, or any other bonkers use of everyday objects, the Rube Goldberg machine never fails to keep the fun side of invention alive. More recently, the watchmakers at Seiko created what is sure to be the smallest Rube Goldberg machine ever created using – you…
With a foundation in photography and a degree in Product Design from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Northwestern Switzerland, photographer Fabin Oefner learned early that the creative process – regardless of the medium – is a multi-layered and complex balancing act of multiple factors. Along the way, he also found that his…
As any true LEGO fan will attest to, the real fun of the plastic brick toys exists somewhere in the process of unboxing a model and attaching the final piece. For Porsche fans, the latest release from the toy brick maker will give you 2,704 opportunities to appreciate that process. For their latest LEGO Technic…
Whether your choice of vinyl exists in the 200-gram form or as a tortilla, the magic that makes music play from an analog disc is one of the most impressive engineering feats ever conceived. But how exactly does a turntable convert those modulated spiral grooves into magic melodies? As music writer Ned Lannaman once described,…
With Game of Thrones fans gearing up for the premiere of Season Six this Sunday, the Moleskine marketing team did what anybody with a giant stack of empty sketchbooks would do: they recreated the show’s iconic opening sequence from paper – 7,600 cutouts to be exact. Created to celebrate the release of a ‘Game of Thrones’…
In the age of the iPad and Apple’s revolutionary approach to changing how technology is used in the classroom, it’s easy to forget where it all started: the eMac (or, education Mac). Originally designed as an affordable iMac option for teachers and classrooms, the eMac eventually became available to the masses due to high demand…
Despite more recent efforts to clean up plastic waste in our oceans, a recent prediction by the World Economic Forum forecasted that the total weight of plastics will be larger than the total weight of fish – specifically due to the overall rise of global consumption. But what if at least some of those numbers…
Despite revealing their anticipated new iPhone SE and a smaller iPad Pro at their Keynote last month, the most impressive announcement from Apple came in the form of Liam, an industrial robot designed to tear apart discarded iPhones. Announced onstage by the company’s Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, Lisa Jackson, Liam is…
Love ’em or just plain prefer something else, there’s a reason why Nike stays at the top of the innovation food chain. Going all the way back to the original concept of making a shoe from a waffle iron, thinking outside the box has been embedded into the brand’s DNA since day one. Like Apple’s…
Forty years ago, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne established Apple to sell the Apple I Personal Computer Kit. Designed and built by Wozniak himself, the first units of the Apple I Personal Computer Kit would go on sale just a few months later for $666.66 ($2,772 today) and effectively put into motion one…
With the recent release of the Oculus Rift, it’s become clear that the age of consumer VR headsets is now upon us and it could only be a matter of time before “plugging in” to a virtual experience is scarily more exciting and immersive than what could be feasible without death or injury in real…
When it went off the air last month after 15 successful seasons over 13 years, most people thought that hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman were hanging up their MythBusters hats for good. While we may not be seeing Savage and Hyneman personally behind the MythBusters blast shield anytime soon, the franchise itself is being…
While you were tucking into Easter Breakfast or carefully organizing the Cadbury eggs in your basket this past Sunday, Henning Pedersen of Norway was delivering easter eggs via parachute with a hen mounted to a drone. It is 2016 after all. Pedersen, whose Norway-based company MAKEADRONE sells easy-to-build drone kits for kids, teachers and parents,…
Ten years ago, Brooklyn filmmaker Gary Hustwit began filming what he described as a “geeky side project”: a documentary about typography and graphic design called Helvetica. What started as a side project soon turned into a mini-phenomenon that became the foundation for two other documentaries: Objectified, which focused on the human relationship with manufactured objects,…
It’s been a little over a year since Microsoft first introduced the HoloLens, and while we’re still waiting for it to become a polished consumer product, the company is gearing up to release the $3,000 Developer Edition of the device – which could be shipping as early as this week. While we’re still yet to…
In what is likely going to be a more commonplace business strategy for some hardware developers, Valve, creators of the popular Steam gaming platform, have released the mechanical CAD geometry for their popular $49.99 Steam Controller. Under Creative Commons licensing, the geometry for all of the externally visible parts is free to download in a…
Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ve likely seen a lifetime’s worth of ‘Maker’ videos since the movement took off as a choice of narrative for both independent filmmakers and marketing teams alike nearly a half-decade ago. Unsurprisingly, the movement has been met with a fair share of parodies over the past few years – but…
Writing this, while listening to the Xscape album… The late Michael Jackson’s songs have been adapted in every way possible. From rock bands covering his classic tunes to school marching bands offering a medley of his hits, the King of Pop’s music lives on in various forms.
Hanging out with the world’s most famous bands including Metallica, Coldplay, The Grateful Dead and The Rolling Stones might sound like a fantasy for most, but for Ross Garfield (AKA “The Drum Doctor”), it’s just a part of everyday life. Since 1981, the drum specialist has been making house calls and “tour calls” to fix…
Apple’s Jonathan Ive has a lot of notable achievements under his belt, but suffering through the Sacha Baron Cohen treatment has never been one of them – until now. Baron Cohen – who you may know as the mastermind behind such characters as Ali G, Borat and Bruno – is currently promoting his latest film,…
