In DESIGN

The Handmade Custom Steel Bicycle Maker Who Had 8 Months to Live

3 Mins Read

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 in 2008. Made by Hand has released another film in their series that covers people who make things by hand. The new film is called The Bike Maker and features Ezra, who tells his story and shows how making bicycles is as much about making time for what’s important as it is about working within constraints.

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In DESIGN

British Engineering in Effect. Flat-pack Truck Design for Developing Countries.

3 Mins Read

Imagine a crate of trucks that can be shipped on-site, built within a day, then sent to the four corners of the country delivering food, people, animals, medicine or a new shipment of mobile devices. Our first world problem encompass jamming 1000 pieces of $9.99 flat-packed furniture into small, hybrid cars. In developing countries, flat-packed furniture may have a market, but Sir Torquil Norman is betting millions that flat-packed trucks definitely have a market. The Ox, the philanthropic venture of Sir Torquil and in development by Global Vehicle Trust (GVT), is a truck being design and built in Britian with the goal of helping developing countries gain control over the transportation of needed supplies. Now, they’re seeking funding to finish the project.

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In FAB

Local Motors Uses Makerbot for Production Rally Fighter Parts

2 Mins Read

File this under your ‘good uses for 3D printing’ stack. The Local Motors Lab Team has been actively using the MakerBot Replicator 2 3D Printer to print prototypes, scale-down versions of parts, and smaller replicated pieces. Lo and behold, one of these sample parts actually found it’s way onto the Rally Fighter as a final production part. How did the Local Motors team optimize 3D printing on a consumer-level 3D printer for a final production part?

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In DESIGN

Happy 81st Birthday Dieter Rams !

3 Mins Read

Perhaps the most widely-respected industrial designer of all time, Dieter has inspired thousands—if not millions of designers with his perspectives on ‘good design’. From Apple’s Jony Ive to budding design school students, the Ten Principles of Good Design is just as relevant today as it was in the early 1980’s when Dieter began to recognize “an impenetrable confusion of forms, colors, and noises” in the world of design and manufacturing. In honor of his 81st, perhaps take a moment to reflect–yet again–on Rams’ ten principles. Like a good book, I find myself reading from a different perspective every time I read them. Enjoy your cake, Dieter!

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In FAB

The Sugar Lab: The One-Stop Source for All Your 3D Printed Sugar Needs

2 Mins Read

Have you ever wondered what Willy Wonka’s factory would be making if it ‘existed’ in 2013? After attempting and failing to 3D print a cake for a friend years ago, Silver Lake-based husband and wife design team Kyle and Liz took their understanding of complex geometry and did something Wonka himself would be proud of: they created a 3D printed sugar design lab.

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