It seems like everybody has a favorite product from the Back to the Future series. Whether it’s Marty McFly’s Nike Air Mag Sneakers, a Delorean, or the Black and Decker ‘Hydrator’ that turns a Bagel Bite into a full-sized pizza in seconds. Personally, I’ve always dreamed of owning a Hoverboard. While there have been a…

BMW just announced that their new i3 electric car was heavily inspired by the latest in tablet and smartphone designs. Given that the automotive industry is usually on the forefront of trends that trickle down into other facets of design, does this mean that the frosted overlays, thin typeface (Helvetica Neue), flat graphics, and gradients…

For those of you who have implemented the new Power Surfacing plug in for SolidWorks into your toolset, your work has no doubt taken a more organic route. For those unfamiliar with the plug in, Power Surfacing allows you to design complex freeform Class A surfaces in SolidWorks without the headache of patching trimmed surfaces…

For his ‘about’ section on his Behance profile page, designer Francois Xavier Saint Georges of Montreal describes his work as “low tech, bare hands, and experimental”. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that his slingshot design is entirely void of the actual ‘slingshot’ itself. With his clever go-anywhere design, you can pack this badboy…

If you’ve not heard of Craighton Berman, you’ve seen his work (or work inspired by his). He’s an industrial designer/illustrator based in Chicago and it just so happens that this year’s IDSA International Conference is in Chicago as well. So, it worked out quite nicely for Craighton to stop by and lend his signature sketching…

You may have noticed a more frequent collection of 2D printing-based news here on the ‘Smack in recent weeks. Why? Well…because in this 3D printing-obsessed world, it’s become a refreshing mental break to see new ways of doing something that for decades was done literally the exact. same. way. every. frickin’. time. Additionally, 2D printing…

Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone also wants a bucket of booze when they’re not loved. You could grab that mug shaped like a sad, baby owl (or just fall in the bucket) to drown your sorrows, but if you want to be sad in style or just have a quick snap from your fav…

What is a ‘smart home’ supposed to look like these days? How is the sudden increase of smart products on the market going to shape the future of home living both from aesthetic and convenience standpoints? NYC-based trend research company PSFK set out to create an interactive smart home experience for the urban environment that…

Remember when regular 2D paper printers were all the rage? Neither do I. However, as much as we’ve taken the paper printer for granted it’s still one area that has been plagued with bad design time and time again: flimsy plastic components, cumbersome ink cartridge replacement experiences, and overall bulky awkwardness all remind me why…

In a not too distant future, you’ll absorb your coffee through the air, control your home thermostat with third eyelash from your left eye and sculpt crazy alien faces in your browser. Actually, that last one is already here. It has been for some time as a open source port of a school project by…

Perhaps nobody loves cardboard as much as Yale Mechanical Engineering graduate Zach Rotholz. After years of working with cardboard at various other jobs and internships, he launched Chairigami; a company that sells recyclable, cheap and sturdy cardboard furniture that is perfect for temporary setups (or if you have a back of steel, a permanent setup).

Founded as the Star Furniture Company in 1905 in Zeeland, Michigan, the name changed to Herman Miller after the president of Star Furniture (Dirk Jan De Pree) offered stock to his father-in-law who purchased 51% of the company. His father-in-law’s name? You guessed it: Herman Miller. Eventually the name would become synonymous with some of…

Each month, tons of fire hoses from the thousands of fire departments around the world end up in landfills. Oakland, California-based startup Oxgut (sweet name BTW, inspired by what firehoses used to be made of) is aiming to re-route at least a few of those through their network of designers and artisans where the hoses…

Readers who religiously track the origin, blend, and temperature of their professionally-pulled morning espresso shots might want to turn away from this one. This week, the first test-run of a new vending machine service called Briggo Coffee Hauses (designed in conjunction with Yves Behar and his Fuseproject group) launched in Austin, Texas. Would you trust…

Before the ever-popular selfie-style photograph…which arguably has a very high compositional failure rate…people did things the old fashioned way: they asked someone to take a photo for them. Japanese company Sunpole saw a glaring opportunity in world where smartphones outnumber people and created the first ‘official’ selfie smartphone stand.

For those in the market for a new desk toy, your future just became 1,210 LEGO blocks brighter. LEGO has announced a new building kit specifically aimed at adults (or very mature youngfolk) that focuses on the principles of design and architecture. Nope, this isn’t a specific model like other LEGO Architecture kits. This is…

Between smart locks and smart thermostats, the Smart Home Revolution just keeps getting better for those wanting total control of their home through their devices. The latest to enter the market comes in the form of Canary—a fitting name for an all-in-one home monitoring device that features an HD camera, a microphone, night vision, motion…

Founded in 2010 by book editor Patrick Mulligan and graphic designer Ben Gibson, the mission of 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 as…

Since he retired from his graphic art profession 15 years ago, Hal Lasko now spends 10 hours a day crafting pixel art pixel by pixel. Due to his deteriorating eyesight, Hal uses the zoom tool extensively to create works that even some of today’s most talented graphic artists could learn from. In this mini documentary…

For those well-versed in their Vietnamese cuisine, Pho (or phở) is one of the most common and loved dishes that can be eaten at pretty much any time of day. It is the official national soup of Vietnam and is often spoken highly-of due to it’s wide range of complex flavors and the implementation of…

The crossroad between interaction design and food/drink has been explored more frequently in recent memory as sculptors, designers, artists, and makers stretch the bounds of what creates a culinary experience. So far we have seen bread that has been designed to act as a scouring sponge for cleaning up the remains of a plate, cookies…

Luxury camping? Sounds like an oxymoron, yet we have been seeing an increasing amount of modified trailer solutions that throw the term ‘roughing it’ into…well, the rough. Among other crazy/functional designs floating around right now are the recently released camper concepts from BMW’s Mini. In an age where camping without any charging cables for a…

Who needs a dinner bell anymore? As smart home devices become more mainstream and accessible, so does the market for creating a ‘smart family’. The kid-oriented FiLIP smartwatch offers a glimpse into how an application-specific design (rather than a design for ‘apps’) just might be the answer for thriving in the smartwatch market.

It started with a 3D printed pinhole camera for hobbyists. Enthusiasts took it to the other extreme seeking ultimate quality with the wildly successful Travelwide 4×5 kickstarter campaign. Twenty-four year old Léo Marius has taken the middle road this time around with his project OpenReflex; a 35mm film SLR concept created with…you guessed it, a…

If you’ve ever tried to restore the inside, outside or underside of an Airstream, you know living in a 3×6 foot area of the trailer while you redo the plumbing over 2 years is just one of the small joys. That’s the DIY approach. The approach that will save you time and keep your last…

Don’t let your eyes deceive you people…this is not a mockup or macro photography trickery. Inspired by the appearance of corrugated cardboard, Swedish design studio TAF recently designed the offices for Swedish branding and design agency NINE with interiors that resemble cardboard boxes—a well-played nod to the packaging design that happens within the agency’s walls.

With all the recent talk surrounding Apple’s iOS 7 redesign and the push for creating better harmony between software and hardware design, it’s easy to overlook an industry that has been tackling this design problem for years: the digital camera industry. Nikon’s design department recently released a video that takes us behind the scenes of…

We’ve come a long way from the bulky, steam-spewing technologies of yesteryear. Today’s gadgets are sleek, sexy testaments of where we’ve come from and where gadget design for the home is headed. Some operate invisibly, working from behind the scenes to make your life easier, while others catch the eye like a camera flash. What…

Not sure about you, but I enjoy a plate of steaming hot Styrofoam chunks and raw silicon rubber in the morning. I enjoy it even more when it’s chock full of electronic and re-soldered PCB bits. Delicious. Now, take that and turn it into a lesson on form, function and recycling a USB mouse to…

There have been quite a few multitool products launched on Kickstarter, even a few for your pocket, but do any of them pop the top of a bottle and let you tighten a 8mm hex head on your fancy scooter? NO. Not like the Ringtool does anyway. Ringtool is a single-piece multi-tool, designed by Jonathan…

You all know the Playstation 4 (PS4) and the Xbox One are preparing to stock the shelves of many a store and the TV console of many a gaming fiend. With all the attention each new console systems has been receiving, the exclusive games for each and the updated box-tastic designs, the choice is becoming…

It’s a toss-up, but typically, I prefer to strap the skull of a massive Zebu or Longhorn to the handlebars of my bike, just to stay stylish. In the common situation where I need to access my phone for directions to the local skull buffing facility, I risk gouging myself or others. On top of…

If there’s one outlet that 3D printing really shines, its in finding new ways to upcycle existing products that would otherwise end up as waste. Take the Sprout for example: through a simple design and 3D print, an otherwise disposable item becomes something a heck of a lot more useful…and in some cases, better than…

Once you get past the phase of trying to impress others by bending 1/2″ plywood in your new swimsuit, take the uncomfortable onlookers into an air-conditioned room and show them this fabulous chair. The Eira Chair is designed by Rafael Fernández, Product designer and co-owner of Oitenta, a two-man product design and development studio in…

It’s products like Sensorial Stimuli Tableware from Jinhyun Jeon that spark new conversations about re-interpreting the purpose and potential of everyday product designs. Does an office stapler really have to be hard and rectangular? Does a coffee mug really have to be cylindrical? For her MA thesis about the relationship of food and the senses,…

Philippe Starck once famously said that there should be no cars on the road—-only motorcycles. While some soccer moms may disagree, his theory is valid: less pollution, more space, and dare I say it—more badassery. With all the recent developments of augmented reality-based windshields seen in concept cars in the past few years, it was…

Slipping a chunky headset on your noggin and diving into a digital reality was a wonderfully inviting development in years gone past. Virtual Reality (VR) was a technology that went the way of badly marketed viewing devices and gaming platforms that eventually turned into large mechanized boxes at malls and theme parks–boxes you and your…

It’s been exactly a week since the much-anticipated release of the Jony Ive-designed iOS 7 was revealed at Apple’s WWDC in San Francisco, and already there is a Tumblr parody on par with the popular Hipster Branding Tumblr. I vividly remember back in design school when fellow industrial design students ‘branded’ their projects with mixed…

On par with other smart home devices such as the Nest and Hue, Yves Behar’s latest design endeavor (along with tech entrepreneur Jason Johnson), August aims to replace physical keys with the power of Bluetooth in a cleverly designed smartphone app. Revealed this week at the D: All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes,…

If you’re like most people, you can easily spot the difference between a cheap product and a quality product — the price typically matches, too. A lot of time and attention goes into the design and craftsmanship of quality products, which is why they cost more. However, some companies go above and beyond the normal…

Unveiled yesterday in Brazil by Nike, the latest advancement in football (soccer) boot design came in the form of a boot that utilizes the new NIKESKIN mesh for an upper, effectively allowing the player to get as close as possible to the sensation of playing barefoot. How is the game changing and how did the…

Dirt! When is the last time THAT was the part of any design challenge you were given? Better yet, when was the last time anything digital was NOT part of your design workflow? Before you count that 30-minute bathroom ideation session as the trigger that sparked the latest round of innovation, there’s a new event…

Low and behold, the newest version of SketchUp has arrived. Come hither you geometry shaping device of delight. Since being acquired from Google by Trimble Navigation last April, the only update has been a stylish new logo. That all changed last week with the launch of SketchUp 2013. The name changes from version number to…

The art of manipulating wood can be traced back centuries ago when even stone was being manipulated to have more flexible properties. Last year, designer Elisa Strozyk created a range of household goods that are “half wood-half textile, between hard and soft, challenging what can be expected from a material or category. It looks and…

When you’re walking through the hallway slapping a rubber mallet across your mouthhole and both ears to produce an ethereal, hollow song, people may first wonder how you’ve managed to grow a third arm from your lower torso, before becoming enchanted by the rhythm reaching past the waxy depths of their inner ear. Kent Jenkins…

Located in San Francisco, the award-winning industrial design studio of Mike and Maaike have dabbled in everything from BBQ grills to wallpaper and bookshelves to driverless automobiles. With their future-forward approach to design-thinking it comes with little surprise that their luggage designs for Apple-favorite Incase are perhaps the most forward-thinking and functional luggage designs for…

Originally developed nearly 20 years ago for Axor as a simple outdoor farm tap, Phillipe Starck’s latest foray into the world of taps is aimed at not only providing an organic aesthetic to your wash basin, but also helps keep water usage down to a trickle…without feeling like a trickle.

For those used to cycling on busy city streets (NYC comes to mind), the need for swift reaction times could be compared to that of catching a fly with your bare hand. With maniac cab drivers and aloof SUV drivers running up and down Broadway, sometimes a simple hand signal doesn’t do the trick…especially at…

Invented just one year after the invention of Scotch tape in 1930, the tape dispenser is a unique package design-tool hybrid that can be found in just about every household. Due to the frustration of finding the loose end of tape on a roll, 3M Engineer John A. Borden invented the serrated-edge dispenser to keep…

Ezra Caldwell’s father was a custom wood furniture maker. He grew up playing in the wood shop. He now lives in Harlem and builds custom steel bicycles. He was also diagnosed with cancer, both devastating to his life and what he had built his life around. He was given 8 months to live. That was…