Barring martial arts, American football is certainly one of the most violent sports out there. I mean, why would you go out of your way to tackle somebody at full speed when you know he’s running headfirst into you with the same idea? Broken bones sprained ankles, concussions – these are risks every player takes whenever they play. Thankfully, a wide range of safety gear has been developed over the years, taking past players’ mistakes and injuries and turning them into research for the next piece of lifesaving equipment. The ZERO1 is a new type of football helmet designed to absorb the impact of a collision by locally deforming itself…

While there used to be a painful shortage of inspirational design sketching books out there, these days, design students and those looking to refresh their skill set may, in fact, have too many to choose from. The good news is, there’s something different to learn from each—so go ahead and build out that library. Among other design sketching book favorites, we love the broad variety of sketching styles presented in Sketching. While the book is ideal for any design student or classroom, many professionals and design studios will also likely learn a thing or two from the wide variety of sketching styles and form examples presented within the book’s eye-popping…

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 get the groove going with the super chill “A Calf Born in Winter” from Khruangbin before diving into fresh tracks from Whitney, Happyness, Slow Club, Night Moves, and others before wrapping things up with the…

When it comes to side projects, hours become days, days become weeks, and weeks can often become months or years. But what if getting a minimum viable product created could happen on a Saturday…assuming you aren’t building a flying car? Many successful entrepreneurs have been touting the benefits of the 1-Day MVP—a one-day, all-out sprint to go from fresh idea to app or hardware prototype. Sure, some projects may take a little more energy and time than others, but having the process and infrastructure in place to successfully glide ideas along is what counts the most. Which is exactly the premise behind the 1-Day MVP 2.0 online training course; one…

Mondays might not be your favorite day of the week, but the good news is that we’re all in this together ladies and gentlemen. As purveyors of prime Grade A web content, the SolidSmack crew has done some of the heavy-lifting to make sure you get your Mondays started on the right track. Welcome to The Monday List. Every Monday, we link you up with some of the most insightful, informative, and socially-relevant stories to keep tabbed, bookmarked, reading listed, pocketed, or what have you to get your week started on the right foot. Be sure to check in each week for a new crop of freshly sprouted words curated straight…

While multi-million dollar companies are trying to bring the flying car dream into the real world, one ambitious Filipino man has already beaten them to the punch. Kyxz Mendiola isn’t a famous designer, engineer, or CEO of some big wig company. In fact, he’s a dancer! Most of his electrical engineering, fabricating, aircraft designing, and yes, even his piloting skills are self-taught via the good old internet. But with research, skill, and a whole lot of determination, this guy managed to create a single-seated, one-person multicopter capable of flying at low altitudes for 15 minutes at a time. Dubbed Koncepto Millenya (“The Millenium Concept”), this manned flying machine is no…