The world would be a much better place if, outside of everyone’s front door, there’s a scenic route, primed and ready for brisk walking, jogging, and – of course – cycling. You can avoid so many tricky logistics like fitting or strapping your mountain bike onto your tiny car. Or what to do with a…
Like clockwork, the number of designers, engineers, and makers who launch their projects on crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo never ceases to amaze us. After all—doesn’t everybody love a great success story? For those curious to see if their side project ideas are worthy of a successful funding campaign, the best way to head…
Start-up capital has been a pain point—and roadblock—for many brilliant ideas that never end up seeing the light of day. Considering how costly software tools alone can be, it’s no surprise that some innovators refrain from moving forward at all knowing what they’re up against before even having a prototype in hand. Both Siemens and…
We’re walking the floor at Solidworks World 2018. One must see is Easton LaChappelle’s Unlimited Tommorrow (UT) exhibit. He is cranking out some amazing prosthetic devices! Easton at 14-years-old took an interest in robotics where he submitted a robotic artificial limb in a science fair. His epiphany with regard to his future role in the world…
We’ve all heard of project crowdfunding platforms Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and RocketHub (among many others) to get our projects financed and manufactured. But what if your ‘project’ is a business or, to be more specific, a more robust company to produce multiple projects rather than one? This is the premise behind the new startup-investing platform known…
Like clockwork, the number of designers, engineers, and makers who launch their projects on crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo never ceases to amaze us. After all—doesn’t everybody love a great success story? For those curious to see if their side project ideas are worthy of a successful funding campaign, the best way to head…
Like clockwork, the number of designers, engineers, and makers who launch their projects on crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo never ceases to amaze us. After all—doesn’t everybody love a great success story? For those curious to see if their side project ideas are worthy of a successful funding campaign, the best way to head…
Like clockwork, the number of designers, engineers, and makers who launch their projects on crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo never ceases to amaze us. After all—doesn’t everybody love a great success story? For those curious to see if their side project ideas are worthy of a successful funding campaign, the best way to head…
Considerably more complex than a typical desk lamp or a child’s nightlight, the folks at CE Lighting have come up with a modern reinterpretation of everyone’s favorite boogeyman buster. At first glance, the Skala Lamp looks like a pencil holder without the…you know, pencil holding feature. In fact, it looks like little more than a…
People People, the Swedish company behind the Modern Pocket Watch and Wearable IoT for Snickers Workwear, has successfully run a new crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter for their Small Wireless Transparent Speaker with Flic Button control. The new speaker features a glass case so you can see exactly how the drivers are all wired together to…
Marcus Bree knows buildings. The engineer and architect fan has been creating highly detailed models of prominent buildings and landmarks since 2008, including the Sydney Opera House and the Guggenheim. He’s now setting his sights on the iconic Farnsworth House designed and constructed by famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe back in 1951. The…
HaYoung Lee a student at Hongik University, Soul Korea had no idea how an encounter roughly two years ago with a rouge cow in the bustling streets of India would inspire and alter his life pursuit. HaYoung’s epithony? Ultimately, the birth of a dream to become a product designer and a passion for what’s known…
Back in 2014, Kickstarter teamed up with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to sell some of the quirkiest and most successful products that come out of the crowdfunding platform through the museum’s lauded retail stores. The result was in many ways a glimpse into what a possible Kickstarter retail store would look like—a powerful…
We’ve all seen Kickstarter campaigns fail due to one issue or another–manufacturing problems, design issues, poor scheduling. Raise your hand if you’ve contributed to a failed campaign. Yes? I’m with you. It seemed like it couldn’t fail, right? More often than not, however, the issue all others stem from is a lack of planning–Planning that…
When I reviewed the ALPAKA 7even messenger bag, I didn’t realize how much I was going to use it. Like previous bags I have loved, it’s hard to imagine going anywhere without it. With the wild success of their Kickstarter campaign, knowing they failed on a previous project and learning that the bag was primarily…
It wasn’t too long ago when having maybe 3 or so colors in a single mechanical spring-loaded pen was a big deal – but what if you could carry nearly every shade (approximately 16 million colors) in your pocket wherever you go. That’s just crazy. As the latest high-tech art tool, the Cronzy pen is a…
As if Kickstarter hasn’t already made getting side projects launched easier than ever, Amazon is now extending their support to project creators with, well, everything that Amazon offers as the largest global marketplace. Launching this week, the new Kickstarter Collection is now available on the company’s Amazon Launchpad digital storefront for hardware startups and crowdfunded…
By day, Wataru Kami is a concept artist at a production company in Tokyo, Japan. By night, he is a seasoned hardware tinkerer with one hand on the keyboard and the other holding a soldering iron. More recently, the Japanese designer put his two passions together to create what is surely one of the most…
Having already set the record for the most funded Kickstarter campaign twice before, it should come as little surprise that smartwatch manufacturer Pebble is set to beat their own record yet again for two new smartwatch designs and two versions of a hackable wearable. The new Pebble lineup – properly titled the Pebble 2, Pebble Time…
Since Kickstarter first hit the scene in the Spring of 2009, the popular crowdfunding platform has still proven to be a tricky playground for both businesses and backers over a half-decade later – particularly with campaigns that are actively promising fulfilment in the form of a mass manufactured product. Although the company has since come…
When you already have Tim Cook as an investor before heading into a Kickstarter campaign, chances are you’ve already got a winner on your hands. At least, this has been the case for a group of enthusiastic shower aficionados who are already making a splash on Kickstarter with their Nebia Shower. Led by CEO Philip…
Despite the seemingly endless amount of project management and instant messaging apps, spitwads and Nerf darts are oftentimes still used as a form of communication between some engineering and design teams. Whether you have an ongoing game of office warfare or not, it also never hurts to be prepared. For those who simply just want…
Whether you’re a fan of coolers with integrated Bluetooth speakers and a blender or not, the story of the Coolest Cooler isn’t about an insulated beverage container – it’s about what happens when a product sells tens of thousands of units literally overnight in the age of crowdfunding. After famously raising over $13.25M from over…
As more small and medium-sized businesses continue to find success – both financially and in terms of testing a market – using crowdfunding methods, it would only seem natural that larger companies would also want to take advantage of ‘expanded focus groups’ in order to test the viability of a product concept before dumping thousands…
When it comes to camping, everybody has their own levels of comfort that can range from the bare-bones necessities to all types of glamping. But if there’s one thing that everybody can agree on, it’s the fact that camping makes you hungry – and yes, campfire hot dogs do taste better in the middle of…
For all of the noise that comes pummeling through the crowdfunding tunnel, every so often we hear a story that truly stands out amongst the latest 3D printers, minimal wallet designs and coffee makers. With over 100 years and four generations in the making, LunoWear just might be one of those stories. Founded by two…
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…
With over 86% of the world’s existing engineers being male, it might appear that inspiring a new generation of female engineers is an uphill battle. Thanks to recent efforts to make STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) a more appealing career field for girls however, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Already, we’ve seen…
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…
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…
Since it was unveiled almost exactly one year ago, Google’s NYC-based 30 Weeks: A Founders Program for Designers incubator has been nothing short of a success story that even established design firms should probably take notes on. In collaboration with existing NYC design schools and institutions including Hyper Island, SVA, Parsons, Pratt, The Cooper Union…
Although we may not have functional hover boards yet (that don’t rely on a leaf blower at least), the past few years have presented skaters with a bevy of new technologies that have helped switch-up the four-wheeled board experience for the better. Of course, technology will never replace the raw skill of shredding the gnar…
For London-based kirigami paper artist and designer director Marc Hagan-Guirey (AKA Paper Dandy), a turning point came in March of 2012 when – after picking up the kirigami craft – he decided to leave his job as Head of Design at a Soho-based advertising agency to concentrate on paper engineering full-time, starting with his first…
Since 70,000 BC, humans have been playing around with different shapes and sizes of lamps – but the LUNALUXX just might be the first lamp that literally floats in the air – it’s a sleek, minimalistic lamp with a light emitting disc that is literally suspended in mid-air. Created by design engineers Ian van Eenennaam…
Last time we heard from Mininch, the new hand tool company had raised over a quarter-million dollars from their first Kickstarter campaign – where they were hawking a unique multi-tool design that featured multiple bits in a pen-sized package. Their product, which was simply called “Tool Pen”, was aimed at the “Fix It Yourself” generation…
I get asked the question, “How do I become an inventor?” – a lot. I think people ask me that because I’ve been turning ideas into physical objects for the better part of two decades (that sounds more impressive than it is — I’m counting the formative LEGO-building time of my youth) and I’ve become…
While it’s common knowledge that crowdfunding has changed how products are brought to market, the process of going from grassroots Kickstarter campaign to viral success has also introduced entirely new challenges for ensuring that supply chains and vendors are capable of meeting necessary manufacturing requirements that thousands of eager backers – and not to mention…
Since finding crowdfunding success on Indiegogo in April of last year, the design team behind Amsterdam-based Dick Moby Sunglasses have showed no signs of slowing down. The team, which consists of designers Tim Holland and Robbert Bettink, met while studying together in Amsterdam and came up with the original idea of sustainable eyewear while on…
As if LEGOs haven’t already taken up our shelves and desk space, they may soon be traveling with us to coffee shops, meetings and anywhere else we take our laptops thanks to a new Kickstarter campaign from Jolt Team. The team – who describe themselves as “two guys building awesome products in San Francisco with…
It goes without saying – science should be (and most often is) fun and entertaining. When we’re curious our minds are the most open to new ideas and sometimes people forget that ‘playing’ is the most natural form of discovery and exploration – especially where innovation for product design is concerned. Nanotechnology is the study…
Although Kickstarter has been responsible for churning out successful product after successful product, what happens to a Kickstarter campaign page after a product launches has been…pretty much nothing. Thanks to the popularity of some projects, the SEO for any search of said product is likely to bring up the Kickstarter page first (go ahead, try…
Although the concept of urban farming isn’t necessarily new, the trifecta of crowdfunding platforms, widespread access to digital fabrication tools and the general public’s interest in eating healthier has helped propel the practice into both single-family homes and apartment rooftops at a rapid rate. In cities such as London, Chicago and New York City, urban…
With every great idea, Seed investment can go a long way towards turning it into an actual and great product. While crowdfunding has only been around for close to a decade, it has been the primary proving ground for testing ideas and turning out products that can end up becoming sustaining businesses. Some may argue…
Despite the horror stories of unfulfilled orders and not to mention the thousands of half-inspired ideas, Kickstarter is still an extremely powerful crowdfunding platform for getting product design ideas off the ground…as long as project creators do their homework in advance. According to the company, a majority of their users that back projects are oftentimes…
If you still haven’t managed to remove the ‘Everything is Awesome’ LEGO Movie song from your head, this next bit of awesome news probably isn’t going to help much…unless of course, keeping the song stuck in your head is awesome (it’s awesome). Inspired by his three awesome sons and their desire to create more complex…
Ask anybody who has become a speed demon within an app what their secret is and more often than not, an expert-level use of hot keys is likely to be among the more common answers. Whether the user is a graphic designer switching between selection tools in Photoshop or Illustrator, or a design engineer switching…
Dubai has it, Sydney has it and San Diego is getting it soon. What do these three very diverse cities in very different parts of the world have in common? A severe difficulty of freshwater supply while being right there next to billions of liters of ocean water. Desalination is the magic word that is…
Back in May of this year, the MoMA Design Store in New York City announced that they would be selling a curated collection of successfully-funded Kickstarter projects as a part of the NYCxDesign festivities that occurred over the month. Needless to say, the experiment was a success and proved to be a fine example of…
It’s no secret that the ‘urban bicycle’ is a hot topic in bicycle design circles. With the rising popularity of the recent Oregon Manifest–an annual nationwide competition that pairs design firms with small bicycle fabricators to create the ‘ultimate’ urban bicycle–along with a host of bike-related infrastructure developments, urban cycling is on the forefront of…