Designers, artists, and developers are often so focused on working on their next project that they forget the little marvels which help them get to where they are. Take the simple pencil, for example: Sure, we all know it’s made of wood and lead, but a lot of time and effort goes into making these…
You’ve seen pieces of wood get mixed with resin and turned into kitchen pieces before, but here’s one you can actually use to help with your cooking. Using a piece of old cherry tree burl and some blue resin, YouTube channel gavel coulee woodworking has crafted a resin bowl as smooth as the concoctions you’ll…
The weapons of the titular Star Wars Jedi, lightsabers are nothing short of freaking cool. Fictionally powered by kyber crystals, these glowing portable beams have unique colors, handles, and best of all, can cut through pretty much anything. Countless replicas have been made since the original movie’s 1977 release, but seeing as kyber crystals aren’t…
Whenever a YouTube channel hits certain subscription milestones, they are awarded a YouTube Play Button. You get a silver one at 100,000 subscribers, a gold one at 1,000,000, a diamond one at 10,000,000, and a customized Play Button upon reaching the seemingly unreachable 50,000,000 subscribers. The only problem with these Play Buttons is they aren’t…
Since the 19th century, the bicycle has undergone thousands of different design iterations for different riding styles and rider sizes. While you could say frame designs have varied based on road or offroad usage, the core design of the bicycle itself hasn’t gone through many revolutionary design changes. This is where German manufacturer Urwahn Bikes…
Even with the massive convenience that digital fabrication technologies have afforded us, you’ve got to admire those who are actively keeping the primitive manufacturing arts alive. Sculpting, woodworking, and blacksmithing are just a few of the ancient crafts that still manage to draw the eye with their personalized, handcrafted looks — not to mention insane, mesmerizing…
Building a guitar is as much art as it is science, and chances are if you’re playing one, you’ve probably entertained the notion of making one of your own. While most all electric guitars are CNC milled (even those considered ‘handmade’), acoustics are a different story, consisting of a myriad of steps that range from…
The Leatherman Wave was released back in 1996 and was the first Leatherman to feature accessible blades without opening the handle. People must have loved cutting things to ribbons because it became the company’s bestselling multi-tool ever. So it only made sense for BRANDMADE.TV, a documentary YouTube channel, to show how this iconic multi-tool gets…
After watching a video of Prusa Research headquarters, it’s increasingly obvious that time is up for new 3D printer startups. The video, produced by 3D printing YouTube Channel 3DMN and appearing below, is an informal tour of the Prusa Research manufacturing site, where that company produces thousands of desktop 3D printers each and every month.…
Despite its myriad of uses, not everything can be solved with the common Swiss Army Knife. There are times when you need something with a bit more “oomph”; be it a heavy-duty multi-tool for the outdoors, or just one which latches onto a keychain for easy access. In the case of the classic Leatherman tools,…
For many of us, math wasn’t exactly our strongest subject back in school; just as you’re beginning to grasp the concept of numbers, along come letters, symbols, and shapes to boggle your mind further. Suffice to say, we were lucky enough to pass the subject; but for the current and future generations, understanding 3D concepts…
Not everybody knows how to play the game, but almost anyone can appreciate the quality of a good chess set. The smoothness of the pieces, the feel of the metal – it makes you wonder how some of the most expensive sports equipment is used on a tabletop “board” game. But not New York designer…
As if making a kitchen knife out of aluminium foil wasn’t scary enough, YouTube user kiwami japan has outdone himself by making one of the sharpest kitchen utensils out of measly cardboard (you know, the stuff you usually cut with knives). Creating a cutting tool out of a harmless material isn’t as easy as sharpening…
You may take it for granted (what with all the cars in your neighborhood), but a large percentage of the Netherlands population (27% to be exact) heavily rely on bikes for their day-to-day commute. So it’s pretty sad when you realize most bicycles in the country are manufactured overseas— effectively increasing their cost. Due to…
Pi Day may already be behind us (March 14th), but there are plenty of other ways to celebrate the mathematical constant over the rest of the year. The Pi Bike is a fixed gear bicycle from the minds of Martijn Koomen and Tadas Maksimovas in collaboration with ideas company WE ARE Pi. Inspired by a pi…
Most professional and amateur filmmakers and photographers have probably used a camera dolly at some point for everything from time-lapse imaging to creating smooth horizontal camera movements. Suffice it to say, those dollies can be costly depending on the rig, which is why some creative aficionados decide to build their own, which is precisely what…
In the history of graphic design, only a few players hold the keys to the golden gates—players responsible for shaping the identities and aesthetic of many of the brands surrounding us today. It would be impossible to have that conversation without bringing up graphic designers Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar of Chermayeff & Geismar (now…
First used to carry items in nomadic times, then later sold as a way to sustain life, woven baskets have played a critical role in the history of human culture across all continents. While we may not have a massive need for them anymore, the craft of making woven baskets from scratch is still very…
Ceramic craft is considered to be one of the most primitive and natural examples of product design. For Seattle-based artist Katie Marks of Silver Lining Ceramics, that means quite literally taking inspiration from under the Earth’s crust for her latest collection inspired by crystal formations. But just as mesmerizing as her final product—is the way…
As a boy playing street football, I could run! But on one particular day, the day I got my new shoes, I really turned on the jets! That’s the day my buddies nicknamed me Halley’s comet, after that famous one (never mind my name’s spelled with one L). It’s amazing what those new shoes did for my psyche. In a similar…
The centerpiece of Mathew Borrett’s Hypnogogic City peers into a hazy and shifted existence of Toronto’s city hall. From our view, we see a hybrid destruction of Toronto’s city hall both by man and by nature. Each building seems to hold its own function and host its own colony. Everything else is grown over with…
If you haven’t seen it, I would highly recommend watching the original animated movie Ghost in the Shell, which will give you an idea of the amount of technical detail prominently featured in the live action adaptation hitting theaters later this month (March 31). To get an even better idea of the detail in question,…
While Nike and Adidas consistently pull out all the stops when it comes to promoting their latest footwear innovations, other footwear manufacturers have taken a much quieter route in promoting their technologies—but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t have them! While it may have been 30 years in the making, this epic mini-documentary from…
I was always under the impression that I could get away with using an $4 bargain bin cutting board. I own two–a plastic one and another that looks like something similar to wood. They work for a while, but eventually look like they’ve been dragged behind my car–cut, warped, stained and burned. But those end…
A new docu-series on design is set to premiere February 10th on Netflix. The title, Abstract: The Art of Design. Now for those of us who like to peek behind the scene or tap into the minds of the creators, the series should be a doozy! As for me, I’m looking forward to seeing the episode…
From ridiculously complicated product lifecycle management scenarios to some of the most futuristic manufacturing tech ever seen, few industries are quite like the aerospace industry. While we may be a few years off from some really, really futuristic stuff trickling down to Coach—and even, First—Class, it’s safe to say that we’ve come a long way…
In need of extra money to help support his family back in the 1930s, Montana welder Rudy Ruana began making knives on the side in a small garage. Before long, his reputation for high-quality handmade knives spread across the United States and what began as a side hustle to help put food on the family’s…
With vinyl record sales surging at a 28 year high, it’s no surprise that among those celebrating the resurgence of that “warm and fuzzy sound” are the vinyl manufacturers themselves. In 2015 alone, vinyl sales hit $416 million thanks in part to major retailers including Barnes and Noble and Urban Outfitters adding vinyl to their…
It’s no secret that design is more than just about making something look good; many of today’s billion dollar companies are driving record profits through their neverending search to better understand their users to build them better products that are more friendly to use. But as many of our three-dimensional experiences move into two-dimensional interfaces,…
How are vinyl records made? Have you spent nights awake just pondering that? Well, let’s put your mind at ease. It begins with a metal flat disc and a coat of lacquer, and ends spinning on a turntable. Boom. Done. The Vinyl Factory provides a glimpse on how they make records in a 60 second…
According to Australia-based Knog, bike bells generally look and sound a bit ugly – but what if they were streamlined to fit the existing profile of a handlebar and sounded like an angel playing a glockenspiel? That’s a big “what if” – but if their recent success on Kickstarter is any indication, thousands of bell-ringing cyclists also…
According to Cornwall, UK-based traditional wooden boat builder Ben Harris, a wooden sailing boat is perhaps the most glorious instrument the human hand can build. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, his mother even said that his first word was ‘log’. Having been working with wood professionally since the young age of 15, Harris first cut his chops…
Inspired by a phenomenon called emergence, a process whereby larger entities, patterns, and regularities arise through interactions among smaller or simpler entities that themselves do not exhibit such properties, artist Thomas Medicus recently turned his attention to creating a hand painted anamorphic sculpture that he calls the “Emergence Lab”. “On each side of the cube…
Interdisciplinary innovation is expanding and Derek Hugger believes art and engineering should be no exception. The artist and woodworker uses intricate engineering designs to put nature and mesmerizing kaleidoscopics of abstract shapes into motion. We found out more about everything that goes into this process and how each piece goes through hours of development, so…
After searching for two years for a globe for his father’s 80th birthday present, Peter Bellerby was faced with gifting his father either a modern political globe (of the mass manufactured variety) or a very fragile (and expensive) antique globe. Like most other plans that are hatched in a pub, Bellerby decided that rather than…
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…
Although a majority of people may be more interested in analyzing the construction details of the latest iPhone design rather than something that came out of a blacksmith’s workshop, blacksmithing has seen a surge in popularity over the past few years thanks in part to the amount of YouTube videos that document the grueling process…
Considering how much time we spend at our keyboards (well, many of us anyways), even the slightest of design changes can make a world of difference in how we interact with our digital toolkits – good or bad. Apple understands this and has even brought their latest keyboard technologies front and center for their latest…
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…
While toy designs start out much like any other product design – with an idea and a sketch – they can quickly become a more involved modeling exercise that requires expert sculpting techniques using both digital tools – such as MODO or ZBrush – as well as traditional sculpting tools including clay or wax. While…
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…
For all of the ‘making of’ videos that go behind the scenes of how a product comes to life, it’s easy to forget that the product’s lifecycle goes far beyond where most of these videos end – which more often than not is somewhere between coming off the production line and packaging. In what is…
As of June of 2015, over five million (and counting) Raspberry Pis have been sold to a new generation of Makers, Hackers, Developers, Tinkerers and Programmers. Already the fastest selling British personal computer, it has also shipped the second largest number of individual units behind Amstrad PCW – AKA the “Personal Computer Word Processor” -…
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…
When it comes to athletic footwear design, it can be difficult to wade through various marketing campaigns that tout various foot support or material innovations and the actual innovations themselves. With that being said, the actual innovations truly are groundbreaking when they end up in a finished and deliverable product – oftentimes shaving seconds off…
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…
This is part II (see part I here) of a series that will give an inside look at how my friends and I are attempting to turn an idea into a real product. It is my goal to make this an accurate representation of what it’s like to create a product completely from scratch, without…
With a childhood that consisted of designing and building his own toys from the age of five or six, to a career history that spans the fields of animation, graphic design, interior design, carpenter, scenic painting, welding, writing and acting, hosting Mythbusters seems like a natural evolutionary step for the show’s Adam Savage. Savage, along…
For filmmaker Ben Proudfoot, churning out high-quality documentaries that tell the story of a Maker’s process is a walk in the park. The Nova Scotia-born filmmaker attended the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles and has since gone off to win dozens of festival awards worldwide and even a qualification…