When it comes to some of the more unusual advancements in additive manufacturing techniques – including a shelter crafted from silk worms – MIT’s Mediated Matter Group takes the cake. The group – which is led by 3D printing visionary Neri Oxman at MIT’s Media Lab – focuses on “Nature-inspired Design and Design-inspired Nature” through…
Although not everybody is a fan of electric cars and motorcycles, it’s hard to deny that some of the most exciting transportation design concepts in recent memory have been coming from those that are further exploring this new frontier – a frontier that allows designers to strip away many of the components that are necessary…
Thanks to a number of new platforms, tools and infrastructures, bringing a viable hardware product to market has never been easier than it has been in the past decade – and the momentum is only continuing to grow. In 2014, venture capital investment in connected device hardware startups alone reached nearly $1.5B – more than…
For all those mobile modeling mavens waiting for another 17″ workstation option, your wait is over. Today, from SIGGRAPH 2015, Lenovo has announced they are bringing back the 17″ workstation, and not only that, a completely redesigned 17″ workstation.
When it comes to model making, every architect, designer or engineer has their own proven method – whether it starts with a simple sketch and moves to foam core or with various found materials. Regardless of how they got there though, the model that client sees is likely to be considerably more polished – and…
As the Head of Research & Development at Sugru, UK design engineer Jude Pullen has undoubtedly spent more time kneading the ‘moldable glue’ than most of us – and thanks to his uncanny ability to create fun and educational projects involving various prototyping methods and materials, we all get to benefit from it. Previously, Jude…
Although manufactured toy construction sets – such as Tinkertoy – have been in existence for over a century now, it wasn’t until the desktop fabrication revolution a few years ago when we started to see how the design and production of similar sets can be created at home by the consumer – in fact, it…
Since it was founded in Amsterdam in 2013 by co-founders Brian Garret and Bram de Zwart, 3D Hubs has grown into the largest network of 3D printers with over 15,000 locations in over 140 countries, providing over 1 billion people access to a 3D printer within 10 miles of their home. The company is often…
When it comes to interior lighting options, few designs ever openly encourage users to actually interact with light bulbs beyond placing them in a socket – however the Arc Wall Light from industrial designer Vedat Ulgen is anything but your average light design. Made from solid walnut, the hand cut Arc Wall Light features channels…
There has been much fanfare around 3D printers in recent years. Meanwhile, you rarely hear about the laser cutter in mainstream media. Honestly, I am not sure why. Perhaps it is because the laser cutter doesn’t have a charismatic evangelist like Bre Pettis. Hey laser cutter manufacturers, I’m pretty charismatic and available, wink wink. It…
Don your favorite bath robe, cream that coffee and get comfortable with this weekend’s SolidSmack Weekend Reader. This week we saw everything from a new interface that wants to make CAD modeling feel like a DJ booth, five tips towards getting that design engineer job, Dell’s first all-weather, impact-resistant tablet for shop environments and more…
Despite the various conveniences that modern laptops, tablets and smartphones provide us throughout any given day, there’s no denying that the devices constantly remind us of a fast-paced world that’s obsessed with shiny new gadgetry and rapid obsolescence caused by poor build quality. But what if we could embed just a little bit of ‘lasting…
Since debuting in 1917, the Chuck Taylor All Star has since become one of the world’s top-selling and most celebrated sneakers. Worn by everybody from punk rockers such as the Ramones to casual Hamptons weekenders, no shoe can claim as wide of a market nor as many stories as the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star…
Although there are plenty of iconic furniture designs that are so recognizable that even non industrial designers can easily call them by name, few are as recognizable as the original Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, which was released in 1956 by designers Charles and Ray Eames. The chair and ottoman set, which is the result…
It’s no secret that cardboard is among one of the most effective materials for building prototypes, yet the material rarely ever moves past prototyping stage for obvious reasons. Ernest Packaging, a nationwide custom packaging solution company that was started out of a Los Angeles garage in 1946, has been spending the past year pushing the…
Don your favorite bath robe, cream that coffee and get comfortable with this weekend’s SolidSmack Weekend Reader. This week we saw everything from how Autodesk is planning on reinventing the near future of design education to how scanning and MoCap technology could change 3D design and more … So lay back, relax and take a…
When it comes to the near future of how things get made, generative design tools are slowly but surely becoming yet another useful component of the modern day designer and engineer’s tool kit. The generative design process, which centers around infinite computing power to find optimized design solutions based on parameters that are set by…
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 a Star Wars Death Star Aromatic Infuser that’s sure to look right at home on your desk, a fancy new…
When it comes to learning 3D CAD tools in today’s age – be it SolidWorks, Rhino, Catia, Fusion 360, MODO or most any other – motivated self-learners have more options than ever before ranging from random tips and tricks videos on YouTube to more organized online courses from multiple providers. But as educational tools as…
Making primitive huts and tools from scratch using only natural materials found in the wild is a skill that many may wish they had, but rarely ever have had the opportunity to learn. For new YouTuber Primitive Technology, making these huts and tools appear to be a part of his everyday life – and now…
I want to introduce you to someone. Let’s call this person Gary. Gary works nights and weekends in a garage on a project based on the same technology you work on. Gary is a Maker. Picture this, you stand around the water cooler complaining about how last year’s holiday party was better because they had…
Considered by many to be among the best desktop 3D printers for creating high resolution parts, the SLA-based Form 1+ from FormLabs is also unique in that it is capable of using a variety of resin materials to satisfy different print needs. Currently, the FormLabs lineup of resin materials – which come in 1-liter bottles…
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 how to create your own cushions for a converted camping van, how to create a box sofa from scratch, a…
It’s no secret that CAD tools are among the most complex pieces of software to learn and – perhaps most importantly – use effectively with intent. Unsurprisingly, learning these tools has been a brutal experience for many that can test even the most patient of learners and take them to their limits. More recently, video…
Although the Lego brand hasn’t yet found a solution for the inevitable rogue Lego brick that somehow always ends up being stepped on with a bare foot, the company has been actively looking into ways of making their seemingly perfect toy bricks a better product. Among other ways they can make Lego bricks better? Make…
Although product designers have been using various additive manufacturing technologies to create rapid prototypes for decades now, few objects have ever been bigger than a traditional consumer electronic product. Thanks to recent developments in the past few years though, the scale of 3D printing – through FDM 3D printing methods, to be exact – has…
Although a large amount of attention over the past few years (and especially the last two months) has been focused on the bevy of digital streaming music services including Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal, another kind of listening experience revolution has been quietly brewing as well – yet it’s been in front of us for…
Despite the deep connection to Earth that can be found through surfing waves around the world, the process of creating a typical surfboard is anything but earth-friendly; among other materials used in the traditional surfboard manufacturing process include polyurethane blocks and various glassing chemicals whose waste gets tossed into waste bins once the finished board…
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 an impressive restoration of a classic Porsche Targa, a vertical record player that’s worthy of a spot in your office,…
When it comes to staying innovative in an age where toys are being replaced by touchscreen devices and apps, leave it to NERF to keep churning out new ways of experiencing the same toy over and over again. Yesterday, the toy blaster brand that’s responsible for more than a handful of office warfare battles announced…
You upload your file, place your order, and in less than four seconds your product is being printed. That’s the answer to the question I asked Mitch Free about how his new venture is changing 3D printing and bringing automation back into the spotlight. It’s also the answer to why they’re able to ship the part to you the same…
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 two sleek new camera offerings for the pro-am photographer, an easier way to shoot and edit video on the iPhone,…
When it comes to guilty pleasures in film geek land, look no further than the dozens of YouTube videos created by the group of blacksmiths, machinists and swordssmiths over at Man at Arms. The group, who have built everything from Oddjob’s Hat to Arya’s Needle, are masters of documenting the process of replicating forged weapons…
Don your favorite bath robe, cream that coffee and get comfortable with this weekend’s SolidSmack Weekend Reader. This week we saw everything from a crowdfunding campaign that was 100 years in the making to a new type of synthetic (and soft) wood-like material to a library of 70 open source 3D print designs that utilize…
When it comes to working with sustainable materials, bamboo is among the most widely-used for good reason: although it is technically a grass, it is the fastest-growing woody plant on Earth. Additionally, the plant’s complex underground system of roots and rhizomes remain intact and a specimen is able to quickly regenerate itself at the rate…
Although we might have come to take physical books for granted over the years, their presence in an ever-increasing digital world of smartphones and e-readers has led many to reconsider the value of a well-constructed book. Of course – just like any other manufactured product – there are great examples of the craft that have…
Don your favorite bath robe, cream that coffee and get comfortable with this weekend’s SolidSmack Weekend Reader. This week we saw everything from an Adam Savage-designed and built functioning Star Trek Captain’s Chair replica, an update on the upcoming KeyShot 6 rendering and animations software, how Google is leveraging their new NYC-based hardware incubator, the…
After moving to a small San Francisco apartment, architect Anton Willis was sadly forced to put his fiberglass kayak into storage. Aiming to solve the problem of kayak ownership in an urban environment for himself and many others like him, Willis set off on creating a city-friendly kayak design that was sensitive to the needs…
Known for churning out television show classics including The Young Ones, Black Adder, Keeping Up Appearances, Mr. Bean and legions of others, the BBC is no stranger to when it comes to developing entertaining content ranging from late night TV and car review shows to nature specials and various documentaries. More recently, the British Broadcasting…
Roy Barazani is the rare type of person that I want to personally meet and congratulate on his ingenious product idea. His product, The OFFBITS, is a line of open-source robots that encourages users to add their own stray upcycled hardware components. Originally designed with “unused and unloved” bits and pieces, the ‘build-it-yourself’ kits can…
During the 9-5 grind, Ken Jasinski is an Industrial Designer and his wife Quan is a Color Specialist – both working in technology. While grad school has always been of interest to them, they instead chose to spend their hard earned money and spare time on launching Butter. During the past several years they have been slowly building Buttur and the brand’s first…
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 an entirely new way of thinking about our smartphones, a new offering from Sony that wants to fuse light and…
Justin Mrazik is a Bay Area-based industrial designer who chooses to work in wood because of the life and warmth that it brings to everyday objects. The life and warmth his products exude can be felt with one visit to his kitchen. The small wooden spice shelf. The salt serving spoon. Kitchen Utensil I prototypes in each drawer. A hand-turned…
Between the latest developments behind the HoloLens to the announcement of their Internet Explorer replacement product, it’s already been a busy couple of days for Microsoft at their annual Build Developer Conference, which runs from April 29th through May 1st in San Francisco. Of course, the conference wouldn’t be complete without some updates on Windows…
Like many others who love to create, one of my heroes is Adam Savage — Mythbuster, science communicator, movie prop collector, and maker. In one of the many hours I had spent absorbing his philosophies and skills watching Youtube videos, he said something that put into words a concept that had taken me many years…
Among others who have had a profound influence on the history of industrial design, Dieter Rams is among the most prolific designers whose opinion is still sought after today. The German designer, who cut his teeth at Braun and established the company as one of the most historically-significant contributors to the history of “understandable products”,…
As interest in consumer-based 3D printing continues to grow, many new users are still finding themselves on the fence about actually purchasing a desktop 3D printer or using any number of 3D printing services including Shapeways, 3D Hubs or one of the many local Makerspaces that are continuing to pop up in communities worldwide -…
It’s hard to deny that of all the things that go well together, workshops and rural settings are among the best. Perhaps it’s the mixture of nature and industry that seems to balance everything out, or maybe the rolling brooks and grass hills are simply just a nice contrast from the more industrialized factories in…
It’s been an interesting past few years for bicycle design and fabrication – among other reasons, the combination of both traditional craftsmanship techniques and more modern manufacturing methods have not only changed how bicycles are made, but also what they are made out of. While some have opted to use additive manufacturing technologies to create…
For just about as long as I can remember, I was obsessed with making things. My ceiling was completely obscured by hanging model airplanes and my collections of Legos and K’Nex were, let’s just say… significant. As a kid I absolutely loved making models and toys just to have them, play with them, and look…