With over two decades of experience teaching how to design, draw, and render at the highest college level, concept designer Scott Robertson knows a thing or two about what it takes to make concepts ‘stick’ for his students. And as one of the most widely-recognized design sketching masters, he’s proven these concepts in his own practice through and through. In How to Draw: Drawing and Sketching Objects and Environments from Your Imagination, the Art Center educator consolidates years of design sketching knowledge—from thumbnail sketches and perspective grids to shaded renderings—into a digestible self-study program that can take anybody’s sketching ability to the next level. Frankly, if you’re even remotely serious…

Don your favorite bathrobe, cream that coffee and get comfortable with this week’s SolidSmack Weekend Reader. The Weekend Reader features a handful of the most interesting articles featured on the ‘Smack over the past week ranging from tips and tricks to inspirational designs, processes, and more. So lay back, relax and take a load off while reading the top stories on SolidSmack this past week. Oh and uh…don’t forget to shed some much-needed sunlight on your face, too. Behind the Design: The Remarkable Leatherman Tools Story Despite its myriad of uses, not everything can be solved with the common Swiss Army Knife. There are times when you need something with…

Tired and torn the Chinzwhithal cut a furrow at the canyon pass up to the chiseled peaks of Monteretch, collapsing at dusk having cut just deep enough to unblock the spring where the vein would now fill with the nectar of these links. Maciej Drabik – New space scenes and cities (plus a city kitbash set) with personal work of galaxy libraries, cover illustration and more. Through Your Lens – Winners of the 2018 Underwater photography competition. These are just amazing. Patterninja – An very simple online app to create your very own custom patterns. Select from images or upload your own. Neural Beatbox – A project by Nao Tokui that records noise you…

The FormBox is an inexpensive table-top vacuum former, and they say it’s “a perfect partner for your 3D printer”. What’s a vacuum former? A vacuum former a simple manufacturing system that uses molding principles to form 3D shapes. The idea is to heat a thin sheet of thermoplastic to the point where it is soft and saggy. Then it’s placed over a mold and a vacuum pulls the soft sheet fully along the mold’s surface. The soft sheet rapidly cools and solidifies into the desired shape. After cooling, it can be removed and the shape can be extracted by slicing off the excess sheet material. The entire process takes only…

When it was released earlier this year, the Nintendo Labo platform — a modern cardboard construction set extension for the Nintendo Switch portable video game platform—made a bigger splash than anybody could have predicted. While the Nintendo Switch has proven to be popular with gamers of all ages, a modular cardboard construction set seemed like an odd choice of accessory set. Turns out, it’s the perfect complement in the age of STEM education and has sold like hotcakes since release. The set, which carefully balances video game play and teaching the principles of engineering, physics, and basic programming, allows kids (of all ages) to create everything from a functioning piano…

We’ve said it time and time again, but the Raspberry Pi is just so dang cool and we believe all designers and engineers should have one in their toolkit—if not on their desktop. While there is a bit of a slight learning curve, it’s nothing that today’s designers and engineers can’t handle on a leisurely Saturday. So why not start now? The Raspberry Pi Mastery Bundle includes 8 courses to get started creating your very own Amazon Echo or even a KUKA-like robotic arm for your desktop (how’s that for office bragging rights). Throw in any of your own 3D printed housing designs, and the opportunities are limitless! For a…