As often as we look at and use appliances that live out their entire lives on our kitchen counters, you would expect there to be more exploration into thinking of these objects as ‘functional sculptures’ rather than ‘attractive mass manufactured objects’. At least, this was a glaring concern from Berkely-based design studio Montaag Products. After…

If you have you ever held a film projector before, chances are you have probably heard the distinct clacking noise that comes with using it. The sound comes from the Geneva Drive, a mechanism which gets its name from the 17th century Swiss watches it used to power. In a video by the Maker’s Muse…

Few objects are as ubiquitous in the New York City landscape as the humble pushcart. Whether to ferry packages up a skyscraper or transport a piece of artwork down the block, the assistive devices have come to represent the number of goods that flow in and out of the city on a daily basis. It…

The ruler and measuring tape have been around since time immemorial. If you’re looking for something more modern, more pocket-size, to physically measure your projects, then you might like the idea of this compact rotating ruler. https://youtu.be/dGESlcHJlTA How ya like that whistlin’? The Rollbe is a tiny measuring tool which looks like a miniature pizza…

If there’s one thing that can turn an ordinary object into an extraordinary object, it’s knowing that you built said object yourself. As to be expected, however, things tend to hit a snag when functional electronic appliances enter the mix. Aiming to satisfy the middle ground between a functional object and a DIY experience, the…

People People, the Swedish company behind the Modern Pocket Watch and Wearable IoT for Snickers Workwear, has successfully run a new crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter for their Small Wireless Transparent Speaker with Flic Button control. The new speaker features a glass case so you can see exactly how the drivers are all wired together to…

Having been practicing digital illustration since the early 1990s (this after years of practicing traditional art), Brazil’s Jomar Machado has amassed an impressive portfolio of 3D design work that spans decades. While the early years of his professional career were spent creating storyboards, layouts, and concept art for print at the advertising firm JW Thompson,…

Marcus Bree knows buildings. The engineer and architect fan has been creating highly detailed models of prominent buildings and landmarks since 2008, including the Sydney Opera House and the Guggenheim. He’s now setting his sights on the iconic Farnsworth House designed and constructed by famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe back in 1951. The…

HaYoung Lee a student at Hongik University, Soul Korea had no idea how an encounter roughly two years ago with a rouge cow in the bustling streets of India would inspire and alter his life pursuit. HaYoung’s epithony? Ultimately, the birth of a dream to become a product designer and a passion for what’s known…

For those of you don’t play video games, Overwatch is a highly addictive first person shooter that pits two teams composed of six characters each against each other. From a mild-mannered robot to a talking gorilla, the game took the world by storm with its unique character roster and cartoony art style which anybody with…

If you like to watch things roll, and build things to make them roll, these beautiful, modular marble runs were made just for you. Invented by entrepreneur Walter Mason, these wooden marble runs work similarly to many a Rube Goldberg machine–you’ll recall the one in the OK Go music video, yes?–albeit not as complex and much…

In most cases, picking a product that is ‘built to last’ should be high up on a consumer’s priority checklist, but with recent advances in sustainable materials, that hasn’t always proven to be the case. In fact, ‘leaving no trace’ can actually be a selling point for some disposable products. But a one-time use grill…

Indian Motorcycle, one of the world’s oldest motorcycle companies, has heard the complaints about motorcycles taking up too much space on the road. Their answer? The Indian Scout Bobber. To the untrained eye, this two-wheeled vehicle looks just like any other bike ridden by hooligans. But upon closer inspection, you’ll see all of its features…

If you thought that skateboarding with a board made of LEGO bricks or a smart A.I. was weird, then you clearly have no idea of how crazy the human race can get. One look at the Onewheel+ and you’ll know where it gets its way-to-obvious name. Held together and powered by A GIGANTIC WHEEL, this…

You bought that Wacom but didn’t think about using a keyboard with it, did ya? If it’s not on your lap, it’s hanging off the edge of your desk or wedged between your wall and the Wacom. There’s a better way and it comes in the form of a bluetooth keyboard. Arteck Bluetooth Keyboard The…

Don’t you just hate it when your keys jangle in your pocket? Jingle-jangle-jingle, here comes Bob. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to let complete strangers know I have more keys than a night-shift janitor. Jingle… jangle. Who knew that after years of restless jangling, the simple solution is a spring to…

Don’t you love the feeling of creating something? A digital model, a sculpture, starting the engine on that project car, drawing on the wall with your child… ahhh. Crafting objects with our bare hands rewards us with the satisfaction that we’ve contributed something unique to the world. But for those with less than the creative capabilities of Picasso left…

Since they came on the scene back in 2010 with the Glif iPhone 4 Tripod Mount & Stand, Studio Neat collaborators Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt have become one of the few success stories to rise out of the Kingdom of Kickstarter. Starting with that smartphone tripod, which, at the time, was an entirely new…

Be still my beating heart. This site is beautiful. Thngs.co is a website dedicated to preserving a memory of every imaginable thing we have produced thus far. I don’t believe I’ve ever liked THINGS so much. It’s a feast for the eyes you and future generations are sure to appreciate. As they put it Thngs…

As far as furniture design goes, Amsterdam-based industrial designer Sebastian Brajkovic certainly has an interesting backstory. As a child, his interest in the rotation and skewing of objects—ranging from spinning tape decks to car wheels—was so intense, that his parents believed that he may have been autistic. While he is not, his interest in perspective…

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When all you know is SolidWorks, everything you design will look like RoboCop. You can do better.

Screens. The bigger they get, the harder they are to fit into your pocket. Gone are the days when people were content with a phone display the size of your thumb. Shame. Now everyone seems to be carrying a PC in their pocket with a screen the size of a small badger holding a handheld gaming…

In the case that you might have gotten bored with your fleet of Bentleys, Porsches, and other luxury automobiles, a new roundup of vehicle concepts might tickle your (vehicular) taste buds. Produced by UK-based Ford van dealership Ford Transit Direct (??), this small collection of form studies takes a look at what modern ‘luxury’ might…

I can’t imagine going for a run without a water bottle in hand–a gallon of milk is just too heavy and goes everywhere when you try to take a sip. Am I right? There’s no limit to the number of stainless steel insulated water bottles available, so when we heard of the Malko Bottle we…

It easy for makers, creators, and builders to shut themselves up in their workshop hours on end to get their design just right. Working in solitude can help get the job done, but sometimes you want to get feedback from others. Whether you’re looking for feedback, advice, or inspiration, sometimes you need to get someone…

As a kid, any source of light should provide sanctuary from the underside of your bed or the empty space in your closet. With an active imagination coursing through that little body, the darkness can make even a simple shoe look like the severed foot of your next door neighbor. That’s why parents attach all…

As a boy playing street football, I could run! But on one particular day, the day I got my new shoes, I really turned on the jets! That’s the day my buddies nicknamed me Halley’s comet, after that famous one (never mind my name’s spelled with one L). It’s amazing what those new shoes did for my psyche. In a similar…

Don’t you hate how Kickstarter ruined the ukulele for all of us? I used to love that instrument. I never had an opinion about baby xylophones either but I do now–hate em. When I see b-roll of a busy bearded man, in a busy coffee shot, in a busy city accompanied by an upbeat ukulele,…

While not feasible for every product out there, ceramic materials are one of the few natural materials available to us that can be formed into just about anything. Best of all, it’s a sustainable and cheap material to work with. But ceramic furniture? Inspired by German machinery manufacturer Carl Schlickeysen, inventor of the first machine…

It looks like Bridgestone is flexing its biceps at Nexo by creating airless bicycle tires that won’t go flat, even when punctured. Unlike conventional tires with an inner tube filled with air to maintain rigidity, Bridgestone’s “Air-Free Concept” wheels feature thermoplastic resin spokes to maintain shape and support the weight. The tires are stretched around the inner…

If you see me and I’m not holding a pen or pencil, I’m probably asleep or holding a taco in each hand – probably the latter. There’s a reason I have a small budget for writing instruments – I love the smell of a new pen and, of course, the different style and designs. A…

At a price point that could afford a mid-sized home, it’s understandable why many people choose to just appreciate a Ferrari from a distance rather than as a weekday commuter. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll miss out on sitting in the driver’s seat every day. Through a partnership with Italian outfit Poltrona Frau,…

Airgora.com is the newest design site we love. They feature the best product design and talk about how it’s all done. But it’s way more than just a design site. Airgora is also a print magazine capturing the wonder of the design process and a marketplace for designers and brands to bring their products and…

We’re back! If you’re familiar with some of my other projects or subscribe to my YouTube channel, you’ll notice two new videos. Those are the the first of an eight part video series on building product prototypes. The series captures the process of creating a working prototype for a solar charger power bank – The…

Professor Dumpster, Jeff Wilson (professor of environmental sciences at Huston-Tillotson University), is in the production phase for his Kasita prefabricated, connected tiny house, which will most likely be available in December of this year. This isn’t your typical tiny house but rather a modern take on a popular movement centered on sustainable living. In this…

For the hardcore pen fanatics out there, the ability to accommodate a particular type of ink refill can make or break the purchase of an otherwise perfect pen. Further, few people enjoy being locked into a propitiatory refill—forced to buy only one particular kind of ink. Enter the Ti Pocket Pro—a titanium pen that adjusts…

Traditional speakers, the kind that sits on your bookshelf, produce sound by applying an electrical audio signal to a voice-coil, which vibrates rapidly back and forth, thus moving a diaphragm, which pushes air resulting in an audible tone. The design has not changed much over the century since the invention in 1925. However, VETR Audio,…

There is something zen-like about products that require no hardware to assemble (we’re looking at you, IKEA). It’s as if those materials and parts were created for the sole purpose of existing as the components of a seamless assembly. The Lo1 lamp from Chilean industrial designer Emmanuel Gonzalez is one of those products. With a…

You know something has gone mainstream when IKEA starts to sell it. And no, I’m not talking about fried onions and cream sauce. Try smart home products. Called Trådfri, the internet-connected smart lighting system is the company’s first foray into the home automation market—which is currently dominated by products including Philips Hue and Nest. At…

Tough, durable, long-lasting toys were almost nonexistent in my household when I was growing up. Transformers often lost their limbs after a month or so, G.I. Joes normally went to war without their weapons and “Have you seen the pieces to my new Lego set?” was a question routinely heard by my parents and siblings.…

The pull between the pen and the pixel has plagued designers since the early days of digital design software. While a finished product always ends up as data, it’s more logical to test out ideas on paper before committing to a digital plan of action. Sure—hardware like the iPad Pro and Microsoft Surface have created…

No matter how you spin it, headphones can be a nuisance when it comes to desktop organization. Despite the array of headphone storage options out there, it’s still all too common to just place them wherever is convenient on the desktop But what if headphones could actually be a centerpiece of your desktop (after your…

When you drop $65K on a Confederate Hellcat X132 motorcycle, the last thing you want to do is crash it. If the unfortunate does happen, in the case of one individual, you can always turn to Austin-based Revival Cycles and have them redesign and rebuild the bike to make it even more badass. They did…

We’ve all seen Kickstarter campaigns fail due to one issue or another–manufacturing problems, design issues, poor scheduling. Raise your hand if you’ve contributed to a failed campaign. Yes? I’m with you. It seemed like it couldn’t fail, right? More often than not, however, the issue all others stem from is a lack of planning–Planning that…

The centerpiece of Mathew Borrett’s Hypnogogic City peers into a hazy and shifted existence of Toronto’s city hall. From our view, we see a hybrid destruction of Toronto’s city hall both by man and by nature. Each building seems to hold its own function and host its own colony. Everything else is grown over with…

Headphones. They’re a modern necessity for many of today’s workers and, in many cases, have become the universal sign for “don’t bother me right now.” But as convenient as they are, they can be kind of annoying when it comes to keeping your desk uncluttered. Headphone stands usually tend to do the trick, but how…

If you haven’t seen it, I would highly recommend watching the original animated movie Ghost in the Shell, which will give you an idea of the amount of technical detail prominently featured in the live action adaptation hitting theaters later this month (March 31). To get an even better idea of the detail in question,…

I bet you didn’t think paintbrushes were still hand-made, did you? (I didn’t.) If you’ve drawn, painted or stepped foot in an art supply shop, you’ll know the name Winsor & Newton. They make an array of paper and art tools, and paints but you may be surprised to find out they’ve been making brushed…

Here’s the story: A man shot a deer and then used its teeth to make himself a set of dentures, then ate the deer with the deer’s teeth. He used the teeth for three years before one broke while biting into a piece of bear meat. The man beneath the teeth was Francis Wharton, a…

Whether or not Apple actually makes a self-driving car for the masses or not, perhaps just as interesting is what the company would envision a car in 2020 to actually look like—you know, considering that it would be chiseled away by a team of the world’s most elite industrial designers. To give them a boost,…