I’m always amazed by how good graphic designers have become at explaining information. Since design has leapt into the 3rd dimension, so has the elaborate art of infographics. We’ve seen it with Johannes Tsopanides’ InfObjects in a previous article. We’ve seen it with 3D printed bracelets that are made from stock market data. What’s next? Have a…
I love a car with personality. Just today, I had a chat with a friend of mine who recently bought an old Honda, a ‘beater’ in desperate need of a paint job. He has a talent for the arts – Paint runs through his veins, so to speak. So, I recommended he graffiti his car.…
There should be five things that you do today. They should all involve string, live bait and an assortment of wild animals. Oh, and this, KICK IT.
When the bluebonnets are dancing in the field and you feel a large antler near your spine, it’s best you not turn around. Simply put your headphones, tighten your belt on and scream, KICK IT.
I know it’s the weekend. Time to work on the tan, take the horse for a ride, wax your bike and maybe even make that crumpet basket you’ve been reading about. But before you do all of that, sit back, relax and enjoy 3 minutes and 42 seconds of bliss. KICK IT.
Why, it looks like you’re enjoying your weekend. Spring hat, drink in your hand, veggie or steak kabob of your choice grilling on the hood of your neighbor’s car. If only life could be just a touch more exciting. May I introduce the SolidSmack Update? I may. KICK IT.
Sure, you could be boring and screw wood and metal together – but what if you could drop-forge molten metal into the woodwork? Hello SPECTACULAR. Well, that’s exactly what Hilla Shamia has been doing. The wood is cut to size, a mould is placed around it and molten aluminum is poured in, filling in all the cracks…
This is a guest post by Bruce Buck, avid photographer, videographer and workstation geek at MySolidBox.com. There’s one constant in product design – the development of new products. Shocking and unexpected I know, but when that development gets down to all the individual component parts of a larger product, the process gets a whole lot…
Guest post by Bradley Derry from bradleyderry.com Design is details. Design is the tiny elements in a product that work their way into final production from hours of sketching, prototyping, and CAD. Details are what the designers agonize over and what the manufactures spend so much time trying to get just right. This post is…
Well, that’s it. You and the design school that spit you out… suck. Toss that portfolio in the rubbish heap. Gadi Amit, president of NewDealDesign in San Francisco has an article this week over at Fast Co.Design called American Design Schools Are a Mess, and Produce Weak Graduates. Agree or Disagree?
I know, you may be 5 layers of neon-green acrylic away from overdosing on your custom design addiction. Too bad, it’s about to get 1,000x worse. Ponoko and CloudFab have teamed up to combine the goodness of 2D laser-cut design and the multi-dimensionality of 3D printing to bring you… Personal Factory 4. This is probably…
I could seriously watch this video over and over again… In fact, I have. So much so, I caught fire myself and had to be doused with a potted plant from the kitchen. I love watching skateboard videos, but this one does something a little different. This one tells the reason behind the madness and…
It’s been a while since we’ve asked this. Plus, when I was talking to a friend about mixing cheese sauce with green paint and throwing it into a fan, he suddenly slapped me and mentioned this: “I’m currently using SolidWorks, NX, AutoCAD, TeamCenter, KeyShot, Shot, and Photoshop as my design arsenal.” I dropped the cheese…
Before you reach in that bucket and grab a week-old shard of melted plastic to gnaw on for a little iPad case-makin’ inspiration, look at what the necessity for flatness and reduced material usage has resulted in. Like many of you, Jeff Bare, of jbare designs, knew he would be getting an iPad the first…
Little did you know it, but that engineering degree you spent 100k and 5+ years completing, fueled by cafeteria food, long nights and the occasional nervous breakdown… may actually be making you less useful, or at the very least need some flare. In an article at Techcrunch, Vivek Wadhwa goes up against some thoughts from…
Look out folks, there’s a CNC storm a’comin’. A wee, cute little storm of laser cut, three-axis THUNDER! It’s the DIYLILCNC and it is so lil’ you’ll want to build it, give it a hug and then command it to do your gantry-mounted bidding! In the same open-source artery as the Makerbot 3D Printer, Chris…
Well now, I hear some of you are in the mood for a really broad question with a very broad and generalized set of choices. EXCELLENT, I say! We’ve got just the question. Today, we’re wondering what topics about 3D, design and any combination of the two, interest you the most. Why? Because there’s an…
If you’ve surrounded yourself with thousands of lighted spheres like I have, you’ll be interested to learn of the potential for incredibly cool design living within each of the precious glowing orbs. Andre Baran of formendesign.de knows, and has animated a spherical surprise to impress upon you the true nature of transformation as applied to…
Kick the wads of paper away from your coworker’s head and pick him up off the floor. It’s ok to slap him if he’s still unconsciousness, because he’s about to thank you for showing him a way to go through massive amounts of design iterations with fewer convulsive reactions or concussions. Last week, we discussed…
I know, you think school desk and B-movie horrors of being eaten by one while creepy freckled children laugh scream their way back into memory… while you’re in the middle of a presentation… for a multi-million dollar contract. Not good. Fortunately, Phelan Miller has a fresh take on school desk for the learning establishments of…
If you’re anything like me you have a blast furnace on standby, ready to toss a shoddy product design into the very instant it frustrates you. Fortunately, you have great skills… great Kung-fu CAD skills that, harnessed under the proper kind of energy-efficient lighting with sufficient doses of caffeine, would rival the power of a…
OK, so the last poll revealed that no one cares if the OS goes away as long as our lovely apps work. Hoorah. But who cares about OS this or OS that when you can model up something sweet you’ve always wanted to, right? There’s the 3D modeling at your day job, but what if…
Oh man are we about to blow the door of your creative gourde WIDE OPEN. You might just call a meeting to discuss new ways to design those pump housings you model all day. Be warned. I’ve been wanting to find some simple design to showcase. Simple design that can inspire designers and engineers alike…
This bicycle concept has been on the web… A LOT. You may have seen it, but you may not know that it was designed using 3D. Yes, I know, it’s almost obvious. The design is also being refined in SolidWorks and that’s where you come in. Brad Waugh has a cool idea. A hubless bike.…
Nobody wants bloody digits laying about, cluttering up a finely dusted workshop floor. That’s just bad business. That’s why this one, designed in SolidWorks, is made to leave your nubs attached to the hand. News of the SawStop severed the airwaves a while back, but the Discover Channel Time Warp Show meets up with inventor…
You can strum all day long and wear down the clearcoat on the wooden body of your regular old guitar, or you can be awesome and check out the humidity-proof, carbon fiber Blackbird Rider from Blackbird Guitars. Picking out tunes can be done in either Steel or Nylon String flavors and you’ll have the added…
You may have seen this on some of the tech or design blogs a while back, but it just so happens that this simple looking stackable chair is a highly optimized, ergonomic peice constructed of recycled Playstation 2 game consoles and, oh yeah, designed in SolidWorks. Old news? Noooo… well maybe, but there’s a new…
“You likka ta ride the bicycles?” There’s nothing quite like zipping down the shoulder of the road or through a rocky crevasse with two-wheels and a handlebar between you and a very ugly and extremely stingy road rash. You are so hardcore, but look here. Lapierre Cycles will make you look like you’re a pro,…
It’s got a 5 inch rotor, multiple lenses and a healthy appetite for taking photos from high above your eye for composition. You detach it from it’s base and launch it up to 160 ft (50m) into the vast blue yonder. The rotor and sensors take over and it does a somersault in the air,…
We’re in the exhilarating second half of the SolidWorks Press Event and as you can see from the live coverage, PAL Robotics is debuting the Humanoid Robot and striking fear in the hearts of those that know what is to come. Even though they’ll stab their metal jowls through the heart of the ‘peaceful’ societies…
Now, think about it folks. When you’re cruising across the rocks, roads and roundabouts on your normal bicycle, you never know when a gaping water hole is going to open up right in front of you. Certain doom. Fortunately, this bicycle concept, could save you from landing face down in a muddy channel plus make…
So, yesterday in Switzerland, a bunch of subatomic particles busted out a lap around the largest, most powerful particle accelerator ever conceived by us tiny humans. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is up and running, but it’s not the only project testing the vast limits of scientific discovery. Japan’s Large Helical Device has some fancy…
Two, yes two mechanized designs of wonder and astonishment. You may think them mildly amusing at first, but after gazing upon the shear genius of these creations, I think you’ll agree with me that they are right on par with being two items you wish you could attach as appendages somehow… or use in your…
Just look at that nice couple. So overcome with comfort from a sofa designed in SolidWorks, they’re about to smash there poor faces right into each other. Not too uncommon, but furniture designed in SolidWorks, that’s something that’ll make you look forward to bloody noses. Flexsteel has been making furniture for over 100 years. After…
There are products that really add to the quality of life and then there are products that can actually help you survive it. Whether its months in the brambles of the desolate Australian interior or days spent escaping robot swarms the Ersa, renewable water and power generator is one item you’ll want in your pack.…
If you keep an eye out for motorcycles you can wear, you may have seen this one zipping face down across the pavement of the internet. I know it’s not as practical (less dangerous?) as the two wheel versions we see everyday weaving in and out of traffic, but if you want to go from…
Gather all of your calendars together, open them all to October 2008 and repeatedly circle October 15th till someone asks, “What are you doing?” Here’s where you jump up into their face and tell them very quickly with no breaths, “Prototype This!, a new show on the Discovery Channel starts October fifteenth with 13 episodes…
The mist clears and a brassy, leather-clad apparition appears towering above with nothing but a low hum and muffled wirring of clicks and springs. Prepare to inspire your rigid 3D mind into the most pliable, inventive machine of mechanical renaissance madness you’ve ever experienced. Steampunk. It’s the coolest new ‘old’ on the internet. It brings…
I’d have to say, forgive my Industrial Design tendencies, but then this site would not be SolidSmack if I did. I’m not an Industrial Designer officially, but I like the drawin’ and the inkin’ and the sketchin’ and that is exactly where IDSketching.com curls up nice and snug in your arsenal of super freakin’ cool…
I imagine if you’re a regular reader of this colorfully pleasant blog you are perfectly capable of modeling a design idea up in SolidWorks. If you’re not, this site will help you realize your creative genius. DesignmyIdea.com can work with you on a design and give you some guidance on how to get you’re idea…
We’re doomed. The robot armies are massing. As if simple non-humanoid robots were bad enough, now tiny, toddler-like and highly functional robot are coming to the market very, very soon people. Start packing. Aldebaran Robotics is bringing on the dream that many have of a personal robot companion to romp around with and they just…
“That storefront looks spectacular. I’m tellin’ ya, it looks like it’s sizzlin’ right up from THE GROUND.” Yes, the colors are mesmerizing your eye holes and you grasp for word to explain how structures can seemingly float curvaceously in front of you. Steel, screws and a little SolidWorks magic, I say, and Feature Factory has…
It’s absolutely insane, I tell you. How are you suppose to get a good nights sleep when your brain is obsessing about the intricacies of how to model inventive new products? I wonder what it is that makes us bring our 3D models into our nightmares dreams. Is it the challenge? the hours? subliminal messages…
Feast your eyes upon this odd lookin’ chair. Some products you can just look at and know it was designed with SolidWorks. The The Dreeben Billet Chair is one of those. It’s as if you are looking right at the model and recognize the features used to create it. Micheal Dreeben is the designer and…
I’m telling ya people, robots are taking over the world and SolidWorks is doing their part to aid in the onslaught of automated fulfillment like you wouldn’t believe. SHOES. The robots are in control of our footwear and it’s all starting at Zappos, perhaps the most brilliant shoe store you’ll ever find. Kiva Systems has…
Despite the fact that it looks like a very large, very colorful, yet well designed, doily, this is one of the winners of the lucrative 2008 Red Dot Design Award. This year alone 3,203 designs were entered ranging from textiles, like this fancy rug, to technology and just about anything else that spans product, conceptual…
Designing a door seems like the simplest thing you could attempt right? A panel, some holes, and a bit of glass. Contemporary door design makes it even easier with all the straight lines. These doors from Swedish designer Snickarper caught my attention though.
What incredibly functional complex designs could you possibly think up if you only had fabric, sheet metal or wood to work with? More than you could do carpet scraps and hot glue I imagine. Design can be interesting, but it gets downright inspiring when you see common flat panel materials used in different areas you…
SolidSmack has been around for just over a year and I’m lovin’ every bit of every juicy 3D/Tech/Design/SolidWorks Tip post I put up, but last night in the wee hours of a foggy night I wondered, “What the heck do all the wonderful people that visit SolidSmack like (not like) about the site?” So, the…
We’ve seen some really sweet cars partially designed in SolidWorks, but the new Falen concept from Dowdeswell and Hardie has the unique pleasure of being designed completely in SolidWorks. The design team, nestled between the glens and highlands of Perthshire, Scotland, plans to debut The Falen at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2009. This…