Having been open for a month, Keen Footwear’s Keen Garage in Portland, OR has seen nothing but glowing reviews from business leaders, architects, designers, environmentalists, and customers. Featuring everything from reclaimed barn doors to repurposed oil barrels upcycled into [comfy!] chairs, the retail environment is the penultimate museum of inspiration for repurposing…with purpose.
Releasing later this year, renowned interaction design guru Dan Saffer’s latest book
Microinteractions is bound to spark some new thinking patterns for physical and digital good designers…and we have your passport to the pre-release excerpt here.
Advertised as ‘Miniature Mountain Majesties’ on their Shapeways site, TinyMtn probably couldn’t describe their product any better even if they were offered a contract with NASA to 3D print mars as the prize. By using USGS (United States Geological Survey) public data, the creators have produced a striking 3D print library that begs the question…why didn’t I think of that?
Low and behold! The free modeling app from Autodesk that makes many quake with 3D modeling delight has received a point release and upgrade to a lot of the basic fucntionality. The new features are indeed a delight, but the deeper significance of the activity revolving around Autodesk and 123D is the evolution of the site. What began as a place to simply download the 123D Design, Catch and Sculpt and Make apps, is now going full-on community share site, with premium membership, a huge chunk of storage space and premium models from the 123D Elite.
Barely coming off the heels of the OpenRov open-source underwater robot project he developed at TechShop, David Lang has since marketed himself as an ‘(unexpected maker) Maker’ to help ease those with weak knees into the Maker Movement. After losing his desk job, he decided that he would do something other than stare at the computer all day. What unfolded shortly after is what is becoming more and more common in cities around the world: David joined a Makerspace with zero ‘Maker’ knowledge and taught himself the basics of shop tools and digital fabrication. The fruits of his decision soon paid off when he developed the OpenRov robot and gained fame as a ‘Zero to Hero’-esque storyline. Between making the rounds at speaking engagements (notably Autodesk University), David found time to sit down and start on his next venture: teaching others how to go from Zero to Maker.