From his tribute to the Commodore PET 2001 to a visual synthesizer for building fractal patterns, Swedish designer Love Hultén is a master at combining age-old wood crafting techniques with modern(ish) tech. Inspired by his passions for both traditional craftsmanship and modern technology, the Gothenburg-based designer is capable of commanding thousands of dollars for each of his own-of-a-kind midcentury-inspired pieces—and rightfully so. https://youtu.be/LBCk19o1CYk For his latest endeavor, Hultén turned his attention to the origins of video gaming with the OriginX—his tribute to the Pong video game cabinet, which helped establish the video game industry in 1972. Built with a walnut housing and featuring a control panel made with aluminum, the…

How small can a foosball table get before it’s at the border between highly-enjoyable and ridiculously annoying? About this small. Florian Bommier has created and shared a super small 6-on-6 foosball (aka table football) table that pits you against your opponent/spouse/friend in a race to see who can restrain themselves from twisting the small plastic frame into a heap and tossing it off the highest point you can quickly climb to. Florian created it to celebrate–you guessed it–THE WORLD CUP, with rumors that he played against himself nine times and tied every match. Shootout! He scores! He scores! HE SCORES!! There isn’t much detail on the print, but altogether it’s…

We’ve all seen our fair share of chain domino videos. By stringing together a bunch of blocks in an orderly (or disorderly) fashion, you can cause a chain reaction just by pushing one single domino. You’ve seen one. I’ve seen one. Heck, it doesn’t even take much to stack up a bunch of flat blocks to make your domino chain reaction. But what if you stacked something more dangerous than a pile of dominoes? Say, a pile of highly combustible matchsticks? This is the spin YouTube creator BLACKHAND has put on the classic and oddly satisfying pastime. Unlike dominoes which can stand on their own, matchsticks require balance and a…

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…

Having a place to jot down your ideas when inspiration strikes is a must for any designer or engineer. Yet, finding the ideal (durable!) scratchpad to keep in your pocket (or close by) at all times isn’t always easy. Which is why we love the Rollbahn pocket memo from Rollbahn. Featuring a gold metal cover (yep—really!) and tearaway gridded pages, this edition of the iconic Japanese notebook is the perfect fusion of simplicity and function. Rollbahn Gold Metal Cover Pocket Memo Book (Gridded Pages) — $10.66 Features: Made in Japan 112×138mm Durable Metal Cover Elastic Enclosure Perforated Tearaway Pages PURCHASE VIA AMAZON Affiliate purchases help support SolidSmack through a small…

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 all-new “Petals” from TOPS before diving into irresistible tracks from Wild Nothing, Hoops, Toro y Moi, Crumb, and others before wrapping up with “Island Music” from Tennis. Ready? Let’s…