It may not be enough that you know how to sort desktop folders, write a cordial email or sketch a straight line, you may actually need to know some software that allows others to see what’s going on in the recesses of your analytically-primed imagination. There are hundreds of software apps that help Industrial Designers…

If your fear of needles send you into a fever-breaking sweat, there’s nano-technology being developed in the recesses of multiple research facilities that would eliminate the tension and danger of delivering meds to your drug-laden organs. The skin, being your largest organ, is the target of a transdermal patch with microneedles to get the juice…

You can strum all day long and wear down the clearcoat on the wooden body of your regular old guitar, or you can be awesome and check out the humidity-proof, carbon fiber Blackbird Rider from Blackbird Guitars. Picking out tunes can be done in either Steel or Nylon String flavors and you’ll have the added…

Don’t take it from us, just listen to Al Dean who confirms that he is 99% sure that the new RED Digital Cinema cameras Scarlet and EPIC are modeled in SolidWorks and likely rendered in the blistery goodness of HyperShot. The RED SCARLET and EPIC are the first of their kind build-it-from-scratch-with-endless-amounts-of-possibilities Digital Still Motion…

Yes, it crawls like none other. Not across your face in the middle of a dark, cold night in the middle of Utah, but across the vicious terrain of the rockiest of earthen obstacles and barriers. BE warned! Be very a…warned! It’s the Venom Creeper with 70 degrees of axle articulation and a magnificent transmission…

Architecture in SolidWorks? Can it be done? Yes, and it doesn’t look too shabby either. Take a look at Darren Ng’s (DazStudios) photostream on Flickr and you’ll see just how cool it can look. Perhaps the greatest aspect of the images of a refurbished apartment that was modeled in SolidWorks and rendered in PhotoWorks is…

You may have seen this on some of the tech or design blogs a while back, but it just so happens that this simple looking stackable chair is a highly optimized, ergonomic peice constructed of recycled Playstation 2 game consoles and, oh yeah, designed in SolidWorks. Old news? Noooo… well maybe, but there’s a new…

You know what is sweet? Fast stuff is sweet. But a new SuperSonic Car adventure blows the whole concept of fast, along with the previously held 763 MPH land speed record, right off the sands of the Nevada desert. Richard Noble, developer of the record-setting Thrust SSC, piloted by Andy Green, is at it again…

“You likka ta ride the bicycles?” There’s nothing quite like zipping down the shoulder of the road or through a rocky crevasse with two-wheels and a handlebar between you and a very ugly and extremely stingy road rash. You are so hardcore, but look here. Lapierre Cycles will make you look like you’re a pro,…

It’s not everyday you get to sit for hours on end, as your body slowly atrophies… ok, well, maybe it is everyday, but this new chair from Herman Miller may turn your hardening arteries into pliable conduits of efficient blood flow to get that oxygen back up to your brain case. The Embody chair, with…

It’s got a 5 inch rotor, multiple lenses and a healthy appetite for taking photos from high above your eye for composition. You detach it from it’s base and launch it up to 160 ft (50m) into the vast blue yonder. The rotor and sensors take over and it does a somersault in the air,…

Ready. Aim. Rapid-prototype your freagin’ cool idea before someone else does. That’s exactly what Stu Fingerhut did with his gun rack organizer, fully-loaded to help you clean-up that mess gathering on your entryway table. The Process? Modeled in SolidWorks, rendered in PhotoWorks, and manufactured via Ponoko. It’s the steps that a lot of designers and…

Is all 2D stuff LAME? Absolutely not. Ponoko just blew that outta the water (thanks, SolidSmack is down -1% 3D) by bringing you PhotoMake to draw something cool, take a snapshot or a scan, upload, choose material… wif, bam, boom… instant lazer cut bliss from the masters of think, make, sell. Even though this is…

We’re in the exhilarating second half of the SolidWorks Press Event and as you can see from the live coverage, PAL Robotics is debuting the Humanoid Robot and striking fear in the hearts of those that know what is to come. Even though they’ll stab their metal jowls through the heart of the ‘peaceful’ societies…

I’ve covered a little of what Ponoko does with their laser-cut, create your design approach to manufacturing. Coupled with the ability to sell your own design, it’s simply the most unique and creative DIY site out there. Their blog is no less and has been one of my favorite to read some time. A group…

Now, think about it folks. When you’re cruising across the rocks, roads and roundabouts on your normal bicycle, you never know when a gaping water hole is going to open up right in front of you. Certain doom. Fortunately, this bicycle concept, could save you from landing face down in a muddy channel plus make…

Two, yes two mechanized designs of wonder and astonishment. You may think them mildly amusing at first, but after gazing upon the shear genius of these creations, I think you’ll agree with me that they are right on par with being two items you wish you could attach as appendages somehow… or use in your…

Interested in making something via the Ponoko rapid prototyping design site, but not quite sure about how to go about it? You’re in luck, they’ve just release a new service called Ponoko ID that allows you to request a design. You list a price, its sent to some designer and after one has picked it,…

Just look at that nice couple. So overcome with comfort from a sofa designed in SolidWorks, they’re about to smash there poor faces right into each other. Not too uncommon, but furniture designed in SolidWorks, that’s something that’ll make you look forward to bloody noses. Flexsteel has been making furniture for over 100 years. After…

There are products that really add to the quality of life and then there are products that can actually help you survive it. Whether its months in the brambles of the desolate Australian interior or days spent escaping robot swarms the Ersa, renewable water and power generator is one item you’ll want in your pack.…

If you keep an eye out for motorcycles you can wear, you may have seen this one zipping face down across the pavement of the internet. I know it’s not as practical (less dangerous?) as the two wheel versions we see everyday weaving in and out of traffic, but if you want to go from…

It’s both parametrically intense and oddly invigorating to look at. It’s like jumping in the air through a small hole and coming out on the other side with all the knowledge of perspective while marching rhythmically outside the confines of an inverted parallelogram. What is it? Surrealism. An artistic expression of the early 1900’s that…

Gather all of your calendars together, open them all to October 2008 and repeatedly circle October 15th till someone asks, “What are you doing?” Here’s where you jump up into their face and tell them very quickly with no breaths, “Prototype This!, a new show on the Discovery Channel starts October fifteenth with 13 episodes…

The mist clears and a brassy, leather-clad apparition appears towering above with nothing but a low hum and muffled wirring of clicks and springs. Prepare to inspire your rigid 3D mind into the most pliable, inventive machine of mechanical renaissance madness you’ve ever experienced. Steampunk. It’s the coolest new ‘old’ on the internet. It brings…

I’d have to say, forgive my Industrial Design tendencies, but then this site would not be SolidSmack if I did. I’m not an Industrial Designer officially, but I like the drawin’ and the inkin’ and the sketchin’ and that is exactly where IDSketching.com curls up nice and snug in your arsenal of super freakin’ cool…

Of all the things you could use to get from point A to point B, the best and most obvious choice for the future, I’m convinced, will be the Jetpack. Martin Aircraft Company is making sure of this with the first mainstream jetpack to hit the market. Efficient personal transport is certainly a hot commodity…

I imagine if you’re a regular reader of this colorfully pleasant blog you are perfectly capable of modeling a design idea up in SolidWorks. If you’re not, this site will help you realize your creative genius. DesignmyIdea.com can work with you on a design and give you some guidance on how to get you’re idea…

I’ve been reminded lately of one of the most frightening man-made beasts, glancing over my shoulder and shuddering at the sound of any loud, mechanical whirring. If you thought humanoid bipedal robots were nightmarishly creepy, wait till you see the video below. I remember pictures of the DARPA ‘BigDog’ military troop support robot years ago,…

We’re doomed. The robot armies are massing. As if simple non-humanoid robots were bad enough, now tiny, toddler-like and highly functional robot are coming to the market very, very soon people. Start packing. Aldebaran Robotics is bringing on the dream that many have of a personal robot companion to romp around with and they just…

I’m lovin’ me some algorithms. I’ve actually become so interested in them it’s affected my posting frequency and I’m starting to see domino-like creatures forming beautiful patterns in my numerically challenged nightmares. An algorithmic approach to design. Boring huh? Well, the results these patterns of numerical data create are the most amazingly fluid and kinetically…

“That storefront looks spectacular. I’m tellin’ ya, it looks like it’s sizzlin’ right up from THE GROUND.” Yes, the colors are mesmerizing your eye holes and you grasp for word to explain how structures can seemingly float curvaceously in front of you. Steel, screws and a little SolidWorks magic, I say, and Feature Factory has…

It’s absolutely insane, I tell you. How are you suppose to get a good nights sleep when your brain is obsessing about the intricacies of how to model inventive new products? I wonder what it is that makes us bring our 3D models into our nightmares dreams. Is it the challenge? the hours? subliminal messages…

Feast your eyes upon this odd lookin’ chair. Some products you can just look at and know it was designed with SolidWorks. The The Dreeben Billet Chair is one of those. It’s as if you are looking right at the model and recognize the features used to create it. Micheal Dreeben is the designer and…

I’m telling ya people, robots are taking over the world and SolidWorks is doing their part to aid in the onslaught of automated fulfillment like you wouldn’t believe. SHOES. The robots are in control of our footwear and it’s all starting at Zappos, perhaps the most brilliant shoe store you’ll ever find. Kiva Systems has…

Despite the fact that it looks like a very large, very colorful, yet well designed, doily, this is one of the winners of the lucrative 2008 Red Dot Design Award. This year alone 3,203 designs were entered ranging from textiles, like this fancy rug, to technology and just about anything else that spans product, conceptual…

Designing a door seems like the simplest thing you could attempt right? A panel, some holes, and a bit of glass. Contemporary door design makes it even easier with all the straight lines. These doors from Swedish designer Snickarper caught my attention though.

What incredibly functional complex designs could you possibly think up if you only had fabric, sheet metal or wood to work with? More than you could do carpet scraps and hot glue I imagine. Design can be interesting, but it gets downright inspiring when you see common flat panel materials used in different areas you…

We’ve seen some really sweet cars partially designed in SolidWorks, but the new Falen concept from Dowdeswell and Hardie has the unique pleasure of being designed completely in SolidWorks. The design team, nestled between the glens and highlands of Perthshire, Scotland, plans to debut The Falen at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2009. This…

Out of the 50 or so things I fear the most, one of the top is, not flying or crashing in a plane, but being hit head-on by a plane, and even more, by a GyroPlane. The one you see here just happens to be designed in SolidWorks. These planes typically look like a small…

Before you run out to get one of those rubber balls to sit on, take a look at this concept fro Jian Guan that will have your deep-vein thrombosis taking a long clot-free vacation to the island of comfy-chair bliss. The SmartChair, aptly named, provides a biofeedback system that senses your movement and adjust the…

I’m loving what Steven Kempton, from the Ponoko Blog, and his new band of writers (David, Duann, Roy, and Indigo) are putting out. They look at all the different aspects that surround manufacturing, art and design. David posted an item I recognized, the Demakersvan Cinderella table, but hadn’t given much thought to in the past.…

Every year about this time the International Contemporary Furniture Fair ends and a bunch of trendy people have satisfied their desire for new designs and ideas about contemporary furniture. The rest of us admire it through the websites able to cover the event and hope there will be something interesting that comes of the whole…

I know, it’s only Tuesday and you’re saying, “Yeeeeah, I typically take my inspiration on Fridays – Thursdays at the earliest to knock some of thoooose projects out over the weekend, m’kay? thanks.” But folks, this just can’t wait, I tell you, and will probably get you through the week completely distracted by your potential……

Right now, I’m really glad I ate breakfast because I just watched the video of the new PlasmaBlade from Peak Surgical. Peak Surgical, out of Palo Alto, CA, uses SolidWorks for their product design. They don’t quite fancy the slice, burn and wipe of traditional surgical methods so they’ve introduced plasma technology with this tiny…

Hold on people, we’re about to tear the fabric of uncool unicycle transportation into a million tiny bits. Ben Gulak has created the first production-ready, gyroscopic- powered, bi-wheeled motorcycle. The aptly named “Uno” has two wheels right next to each other making it look like the coolest half of a crotch rocket you’ve ever seen.…

Just look at that, another year of wanton waste and excess and suddenly Earth Day is here again to make us feel guilty about throwing that milk bottle away. While the eco-activism side of things makes me wretch slightly, I love to get outdoors and do the landscaping and the planting. It’s more because it’s…

If only I had a ice-cold beverage that didn’t become hot and tasteless within a container that fit nicely to the shape of my hand.*sob* Your polycarbonate dreams of a cool beverage lasting till your final sip and designed in SolidWorks have arrived. CoolGear Inc. is designing their liquid holding devices in SolidWorks. I know…

If you’re involved in plastic design you may have heard of Protomold. If not, they’re a Rapid Injection Molding outfit. You can send them your 3D models and have a prototype created super fast for as little as $1795. If you just completely glaze over when somebody mentions plastic design or want a interesting purple…

Slice! Dice! Oh, shazang! my favorite Scrubs episode is on right beneath my tomato slices! Sweet! This fine example of kitchen gadgetry was created in SolidWorks 2008 and rendered in PhotoWorks by Marc Nardangeli, an industrial designer. It’s an acrylic board with a chromium handle and a flexible (OLED?) screen embedded within. The idea is,…

Last week I gave you some tips on how to get hired on the spot. I got some good feedback from it and apparently some people are taking the advice. Like Caleb Stoll who just launched SolidWorks Unleashed and already has a healthy amount of great video posts. Buell Motorcycles, which primarily uses SolidWorks, is…