For some strange reason, humans sure love to knock themselves on the head with countless mind puzzles. The Rubik’s Cube, Chess—heck, even Candy Crush are all examples of how we have a penchant for exercising our minds in different ways. This wooden dowel puzzle by Instructables user mtairymd is no different. It may sound easy enough to jam some wooden pieces into a tight box, but when you’re short a saw and some sandpaper, getting these things to fit can be quite the challenge! Like most other projects, the build starts by carefully laying down the dimensions for each piece to ensure the finished puzzle fits together precisely as intended.…

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 o SolidSmack Radio we’ll get the groove going with “It’s Not Easy” from Omega before diving into sweet melodies from Ultimate Painting, Gold Celeste, Vetiver, Kaada, and others before wrapping up with “JBS” from Toro y Moi. Rock! Have…

You may think creating cosplay (the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game) costumes involves locking yourself up in a garage and making do with whatever spare hardware supplies are lying around—and you wouldn’t be far from correct! A lot of good cosplayers do precisely this; but with a little inspiration and a lot of dedication, they can go above and beyond to bring their favorite characters to life. Toronto-basedHenchmen Studios is a creative studio whose sole focus is on insane prop and costume making. They’re responsible for bringing many video game costumes to life – from the Hunter in Destiny 2, to…

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 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 256…

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. Wham-O Introduces a Radical New “Square” Frisbee Design Although humans have been throwing disc-shaped objects for centuries, it wasn’t until the 1930s when a couple was offered 25 cents for a cake…