For all of the conveniences and wonder that additive manufacturing has provided within the past few years thanks to the desktop 3D printer revolution, the variety of processes used to create these millions of objects have oftentimes been more fascinating than the resulting 3D printed objects themselves. Among other reasons, smartphone apps and 3D scanners have significantly lowered the barrier to entry for creating physical objects. Although CAD software such as SolidWorks or Fusion 360 is still needed to produce more polished designs with engineering details and manufacturing in mind, it’s been pretty incredible to see what people have been able to create without these traditional object creation tools. Now,…
When it comes to their new product releases, no Apple product would be complete without the signature voice of Apple’s Chief Design Officer, Jony Ive, validating the company’s design decisions. Known for bridging aluminum surfaces with human emotions with words that make you feel good, Ive’s voiceovers – along with his approach to design – have also been unsurprisingly ripe for parody with everything from Twitter accounts to Tumblr blogs existing in his honor. Now, users can bring a little bit of that iconic British voiceover magic to their own product videos. Created by software engineers Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs, the Jony Jive Jony Ive Soundboard allows users to…
Designed in 1974 by Richard Danne and Bruce Blackburn, the 1975 NASA graphics standards manual – which includes the famous NASA “Worm” logo and other graphics to be used on spacecraft, suits and the like – has been a source of inspiration for everything from some of today’s most popular design trends to hollywood film set designs. Although the manual was retired by NASA in 1992 in favor of a more updated design language, a pair of New York-based graphic designers – Jesse Reed and Hamish Smyth – began a Kickstarter campaign earlier this month with the goal of reissuing the original 1975 NASA Graphics Standard Manual as a high-quality…
When it comes to saving sketches digitally, we’ve seen nearly every possible tool or gadget that could possibly be conceived: touchscreen stylus designs that emulate analog pens, sketchbooks that make it ‘easy’ for snapping pics that get uploaded to the cloud, iPad apps that emulate natural writing materials, dual ink pen/stylus combos and professional sketching apps that make everything from turning the angle of a page to zooming in and out feel like an analog experience on digital displays – a user experience that’s at the heart of the new iPad Pro. But, as Amazon is trying to prove with their new Dash buttons, these unnecessary steps that take us…
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 everything from one of the best pencil eraser designs ever conceived, a radar-integrated weather app that’s sure to keep you dry as the Fall weather starts blowing towards us, instructions on how to build your own hanging bike rack, how to cast with soft materials and more… Ready? Let’s go! This week we look at: DESIGN Pensword “Make no mistake – this sword eraser will fiercely fight any scribble and beat down every typo. It’ll be swift,…
When it comes to stages of the design process, few routines are as satisfying as laying out a handful of markers to begin the process of shading in a perfectly composed sketch. For those who have had to move this experience to digital devices for the sake of time and convenience, well – that’s just a dirty shame. For those still carrying around their markers and sketchbooks, there’s a new kid in town that wants to join your steady arsenal of Copics and Prismacolors. Known primarily for providing traditional artists with art materials since 1832, Winsor & Newton have announced that they’re launching a line of markers aimed at professional…