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 we’ll get the groove going with “Smoke Machine” from Jesse Woods before diving into sweet melodies from Monster Rally, The Concretes, Blake Mills, Mothers, and others before wrapping up with “Seve” from Tez Cadey. Rock! Have suggestions? As always,…

YouTube user kiwami japan has a bit of an odd obsession with making homemade blades and other weapons from obscure and unusual materials. Case in point. This knife wasn’t made from a hard-to-find metal, but from a roll of aluminum foil you likely have stashed in your cupboard to wrap a sandwich or make tin foil hats. What some may not realize is that enough sheets of aluminum foil can become a block of aluminum foil. And said block can be sharpened. Crafting a knife from a sandwich wrapper isn’t simple, with considerable tempering and hammering of the layers needed to create the slab of metal to be sharpened. From…

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. The Scrabble Keyboard is the Ultimate Desktop Peripheral for Word Junkies Even as more players eschew traditional board games in favor of smartphone app alternatives, there is still a significant population of…

If you’ve been on the fence about finally entering into digital tablet sketching (or notetaking) territory, both Google and Apple revealed some great news for you this week. First up is the all-new $329 9.7-inch iPad. While marketed towards educators as a low(er) cost of entry to bring iPads into the classroom (the education-adjusted cost is just $299 per unit), the most significant update is the inclusion of Apple Pencil compatibility. Previously only available on the company’s significantly more pricey iPad Pro tablet, the company is banking on the hardware combo to help springboard an entirely new way of thinking about technology in the classroom. Fortunately, everybody else can benefit…

The cap slapped shut with a thud and the tunnels expanded. You would never think a labyrinth of this complexity lay beneath the grass, yet the expanding corridors of hinged plates, overlapping gears and pistons steaming drew us toward the cavern, the cavern where we would slap muffin bubbles into these links. G liulian – A lot of mind-bending and intricate architectural work, but I just love the trees in his painted scenes. Aporetic Sequence – Instagram follow of the week. Jean Pierre Roy is a Brooklyn-based artist who just had a solo exhibition at Volta Show. Simple Line – Since we’re talking exhibitions, check out the sweet spirograph-like work…

Cherished by writers, designers, illustrators, and other creative professionals for its soft dark lead and unique flat eraser, the Blackwing 602 is worth trying at least once—but be forewarned: you may never go back to plain old #2 pencils again. Originally manufactured by the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company from 1934 – 1988, the Blackwing brand was acquired by California Cedar Products Company in 2008 and reintroduced to a new generation of creatives in 2012. And now, you can score your own 12-pack of the legendary pencil for just 23 bucks. Palomino Blackwing 602 Pencils 12-Pack — $22.95 Features: One pack of 12 Palomino Blackwing pencils Pencils feature a soft and…