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,…

From converting a cheap wood dining room table into the ultimate productivity station to repurposing lamp components into clever light fixtures, there are very few things that cannot be done with IKEA’s expansive product line and a creative mind. Despite a growing community of IKEA Hackers, however, the company has never formally encouraged these hacks—as…

I love the look and feel of handcrafted wood objects–a guitar, a speaker, a cutting board are all pretty typical, but a keyboard made of wood? I’m not sure I could get used to that. However, the Oree Board 2 may make me drop that plastic keyboard like a chunk of wood, err… you know…

A little over a year ago, Mokacam introduced a tiny 4K camera of the same name on Indiegogo where it was successfully crowd-funded several times over before it even got near the end date. With that much success, Mokacam is back for round two with a second, smaller version of the 4K camera, aptly named…

I was always under the impression that I could get away with using an $4 bargain bin cutting board. I own two–a plastic one and another that looks like something similar to wood. They work for a while, but eventually look like they’ve been dragged behind my car–cut, warped, stained and burned. But those end…

Efficiency. Glorious efficiency. The streamlined and punctual Japanese train system. The meticulous movement of precision components in a Swiss made watch. The time saving zzzchick of Velcro shoes. I don’t know about you, but I am getting goosebumps. Certain cultures, like the Germans and their engineers in particular, are known for prizing the concept of…

A new docu-series on design is set to premiere February 10th on Netflix. The title, Abstract: The Art of Design. Now for those of us who like to peek behind the scene or tap into the minds of the creators, the series should be a doozy! As for me, I’m looking forward to seeing the episode…

Before cyclist Denise Mueller set off to Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats to break the speed record for fastest person on a bicycle, two others came before. US. Cycling Hall of Fame inductee John Howard who topped-out at 152.2mph in 1985 and Holland’s Fred Rompleburg who managed to cruise at 167mph in 1995. Like the two…

Right out of the gate for 2017, Adobe is offering a pair of applications featured at the Adobe MAX 2016 conference–a Windows version of Adobe Experience Design CC (XD) featuring real-time collaboration, and a new 3D product shot composer for graphic designers named Project Felix. They’re focused on accessibility (which we’re strong proponents of here…

Sometimes there are Kickstarter campaigns you hope will succeed, but sadly wind up failing. Noah Li is a Game Animator who launched a Kickstarter campaign that didn’t quite reach the funding goal. Maybe I’m biased because I’m a fan of both the MechWarrior universe and World War 2 technology, which is what Noah’s campaign merged…

Welding is a useful skill to have, especially if you want to repair your vehicle, which was the goal of Instructable user Mr-Mash who figured it was cheaper to repair his own rather than taking it to the shop. For him, the easiest way to learn welding was to build one big, freakin’ bicycle outfitted…

It’s hard to believe that CES is already behind us in the new year, and with it, a slew of new products and technologies that you likely won’t need for yet another year (Alexa! Drones! OLED TVs!). Okay, so maybe you actually do need an Alexa-enabled device for ordering barrels of cheeseballs and toilet paper…

Yeah, you see kids frolicking about in their Velcro buckle shoes and remember when life use to simple and carefree. No wonder the international sign for frustration is a unlaced shoe. It’s not? Well, IT SHOULD BE. There, I feel better now. Fortunately for all of us who can’t bend over to tie a shoe, don’t…

I quit riding my bicycle, but I may take it up again. Not for health purposes, mind you. The reason I quit was it seemed, no matter where I rode, my tires would go flat. It didn’t matter whether I was riding on pavement, grass, sand or gravel, I would always get a flat tire.…

I just watched the recap of Episode 1 of The Big Life Fix series on BBC Two, and it is A MUST SEE. Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOotr40UBE If you’re not choking back tears of happiness for that boy, I’m a bit worried about you. How amazing is that story? Jude Pullen and crew – hats off to…

Admittedly, I am a multi-tool user as probably most engineers are no matter what field they are in and I can say with certainty that not all multi-tools are the same. I’ve owned a Leatherman Sidekick, a Gerber Multi-Plier 600 (needlnose) and a SOG S66N and while they all are great in their own…

Michael “Hap” Hapner is a midwest artist whose niche is repurposing everyday artifacts into colorful Spot & Dot art pieces. Our paths crossed recently at a Antique Vintage Artisan Market in Berrien Springs Michigan. Hap had brought along a sampling of his garden flower art pieces. While most of the vintage wares were muted with…

Ahh… do you feel that? That turkey bone stuck in your throat as you ponder discounts and deals on all sorts of gadgets, gizmos and product dev tools? Well, wash that bone down with a swig of cranberry sauce quick, because we’ve got our eye on the best deals of the day. Keep an eye…

As anybody who sits in front of the computer for at least eight hours a day knows, a great office chair is an absolute necessity if you plan on walking upright without pain any time in the next 20 years (or good heavens, the next 20 minutes). And unsurprisingly, behind every great office chair is…

Consumers today. What a tough life. Numerous styles and colors of appliances, not to mention the configurations and features. Then there are refrigerators–a metal box insulated to keep cold air in and rodents out. Yet, they lack the flair captured in the 50’s, back when cars had massive tail fins and toys could be cool,…

We’ve all seen those flashy custom wheels bolted to vehicles most of us couldn’t afford. Like those vehicles, those custom wheels don’t come cheap and were probably designed and manufactured by one of the premier wheel companies such as Vossen Wheels. Ever wonder why those wheels are so expensive (costing about several thousand per-set)? Or, what’s involved…

Since they came screaming onto the scene in 2010 with what is arguably the most original light bulb design since…forever (?) with the Plumen 0013, the Plumen crew has kept their innovation streak going with new updates to the humble light bulb in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. For their latest collection, the…