You may take it for granted nowadays, but the simplified nature of current metro maps can be attributed to a single person: Henry Charles Beck. In a recent piece by Eugen Esanu for UX Planet, he talks about how Beck – an engineering draftsman – worked on creating the London Underground Tube Map in the…

Developed in collaboration with the Aluminum Company of America in 1944 by Wilton C. Dinges, the Emeco 1006 Navy Chair is one of the most iconic chairs in the history of industrial design. Initially designed for the Navy submarines during WWII as a chair that could withstand the rigors of life at sea—including a torpedo…

As if Google hasn’t already done enough to streamline how we get our information, the company’s Cultural Institute just did for art and design what Google Streetview did for maps. With works and artifacts from more than a thousand museums across 70 countries, the company’s new and improved Google Arts & Culture website and app…

During the late 1920s – just before The Great Depression – those who were fortunate enough to own an automobile preferred the bright highlight of a whitewall tire to contrast against the increasingly gloomy and dark surroundings. Ironically, because blackwall tires required less effort to maintain after curb scuffs due to a greater amount of…

This is our new column “Great Ideas Never Die.” Here at SolidSmack we talk a lot about the future of Design and forget the History behind the tools, the inventions and the processes we use. Not to mention the rather kooky, inventive and slightly crazy designers behind them. So we decided to give them a…