It’s time for another round of apps that cover the spectrum of your beloved smart device(s)! The Weekly App Smack is the best of new or updated design and productivity apps (and maybe a couple of fun ones, too) for the busy design or engineering professional. This week we have a list sure to make you more efficient. Do you have an app suggestion that has made your life easier or changed up your workflow? Let us know in the comments below or send it into tips@solidsmack.com. Hit it! Enki – Coding, Learn to Code (iOS — Free) The #1 app to learn data science, learn to code, stay on top…
Long considered an indispensable asset for anybody working in CAD, the 3D mouse is a quintessential tool that belongs on the desktop of any industrial designer or engineer. Within a 3D application such as SolidWorks, Rhino, Fusion 360, or Keyshot, the directional, zoom and rotate functions provide an intuitive extension of the users’ design intent. To put it quite simply, a 3D mouse helps get rid of those annoying repetitive keystrokes and allows the designer to come as close to possible to holding their digital 3D design in the physical world. As pioneers of the 3D mouse territory, 3Dconnexion has blazed a trail with their SpaceMouse collection. And when it…
Another fiscal year, another chart showcasing a company’s earnings. The fiscal year 2018 proved to be another high-earning era for Autodesk, as the CAD company reported in its most recent yearly earnings report. The biggest highlights of the report include a Q4 2018 revenue of $737.3 million and 2018 fiscal year earnings worth $2.57 billion. Since the company separates its Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR) and subscription plans from its actual revenue, Autodesk was able to provide information that their ARR for the past fiscal year amounted to $2.75 billion. Their software subscriptions (which the company leases through various channels) also generated an extra $550 million in Q4 2018 while they…
Get that stretch out of your system with this week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist. It’s fashioned up, ready to make you pull your shoulder blades back and knock out another week of meaningful work while you bob your head to the beat. Whether you’re in the shop milling aluminum, sketching the latest product prototypes or modeling up a 3D storm, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week on SolidSmack Radio we’ll fire things off with “Her Ocean Will Not Be Thwarted” from modern surf rock band The Mermen before jumping into tracks from Hot Chip, Son Lux, Cage the Elephant, Foxygen, and others before wrapping up…
As somebody’s wise old uncle probably said at one point or another in history: never underestimate the power of a reliable belt. While it might be an easy item to overlook in the wardrobe department, having a belt with the right fit can make or break a day in the workshop — particularly if you’re bending up and down with that old Shop Vac hose. While a good, solid leather belt and custom-engraved cowboy buckle are pretty awesome, we also love the simplicity of a straight-up, no BS, simple solution like the KingMoore Tactical Build designed after military-style belt systems. Oh yeah, and it’s just 15 bucks. With breathable wear-resisting nylon…
Ask any knowledgeable person about what they think IDEO is and you’ll likely get different—albeit similar—answers: “It’s one of the original modern design firms.” “It’s a do-it-all design agency.” “It’s a problem-solving company.” Luckily for those answering, all of these are correct in their own way. But to get to the ultimate answer of who IDEO really identifies as in 2019, the production company Dress Code went and asked the people closest to IDEO: the employees themselves. IDEO And A Story of Design is a short, 12-minute film that takes a look at the company from its founding in 1991 to the present day. It collates interviews from various members…