Perhaps best known for sand casting his Pewter Stool in the natural landscape of Caerhays beach on the South coast of Cornwall back in 2006, industrial designer Max Lamb has continued on his quest to explore new ways of manufacturing products in nontraditional ways over the past ten years. For the Crockery Collection, Lamb turned his attention to fine bone china tableware slip-cast from plaster models carved by hand with a rough stone-chipped exterior surface. Using the primitive tools of a stone mason, Lamb bypassed the traditional slip-casting workflow process consisting of a CAD model and a physical master model in favor of designs that are each “formed quite simply…

The ability to quickly observe a form and deconstruct it into primitive shapes that can be sketched or modeled is one of the most valuable skills that a designer or engineer can have. Unfortunately, learning how to think this way doesn’t necessarily come naturally for most – particularly if it involves a sketchbook and a pencil. In his Dynamic Sketching class at Art Center College of Design, designer and illustrator Peter Han teaches students how to break down everything from insects and marine life to more complicated mechanical machines like tanks and airplanes to better communicate their product designs visually. Over the past six months, Han has been keeping a…

Repurposing old or outdated tech has increased in popularity thanks to the Maker movement. Some of the more creative builds include turning an old Nintendo NES system into a functioning toaster, turning an old iBook and mouse into a decorative clock, and making a rechargeable battery pack from an old cell phone. Repurposing old tech isn’t limited to hobbyists and makers alone as big businesses like aviation giant Boeing are doing the same, albeit on a grander scale and with airplanes or rather airplane parts. Boeing’s Custom Hangar is a store that went online in December of 2014 (covered here) and has since offered up a unique selection of decorative…

While we may not have the hoverboards we were promised, electric longboards – particularly Boosted Boards – have come in at a close second. Also, unlike the hoverboard, you can actually buy an electric longboard today – assuming you can justify the $1,000+ price tag. Or, if you happen to have an electric drill and a spare longboard laying around, you can also make your own electric skateboard for getting from A to B in 2016 style. Using a right angle drill attachment paired with a flexible drill bit extender and the body from a repurposed brass wire wheel brush mounted to his front wheel, Igor from Inspire To Make has created…

Except for perhaps the Raspberry Pi or Arduino, few products are as capable of going from zero to hero with a little DIY ingenuity than IKEA furniture – otherwise known as IKEA Hacks. At its core, an IKEA hack is a modification or repurposing of an IKEA product that breaks into the IKEA code of furniture assembly. To date, users have created everything from room dividers out of coat hangers to multi-monitor workstations from closet doors. Now, users will soon be able to build their own large format 3D printers using just two $9.99 LACK side tables thanks to this ingenious hack from Northampton-based 3D printing enthusiast Wayne Mason-Drust. “This project…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw levitating plants, a new way to kickstart your design process, how to make your first cutting board (or hoverboard), behind the creative process of artists Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber and more… Ready? Let’s go! This week we look at: DESIGN LYFE “LYFE is a zero-gravity growing system allowing you to cultivate your favorite plants in mid-air.” Triggers “Triggers is a tool for creative agencies and freelancers that makes the ideation process easier, faster and more effective.”…