He’s been at the designing gig for quite some time now, so you know when designer and product maker Eric Strebel recommends tools, it carries a little weight. Eager to help both new and experienced designers alike, he recently listed seven tools which he personally finds indispensable when working on a project: 1. Digital Calipers…
For some designers and engineers, 3D scanning physical objects to use as reference models can be the ultimate time-saver. Industrial Designer Eric Strebel is one such design professional—and as always, he has some insightful tips for fellow designers and engineers out there who want to kickstart their 3D scanning game—aka, photogrammetry. Photogrammetry is a process…
WhLike a true creative, when he’s not working on a project for a client, industrial designer Eric Strebel likes to create improvements to his own toolset. In the past, he’s made sketchbooks, dust masks, resin casting boxes. This time around, he’s working on a tablet stand for his 16-inch Wacom Cintiq Pro to position it…
For years we’ve been watching industrial designer Eric Strebel’s insightful design process videos; videos that show how he goes about making products from start to finish. Starting with concept sketches, he follows a traditional design process of moving on to CAD models and then various forms of prototyping—yet, we’ve never really heard the man speak…
In possibly his oddest/coolest video yet, designer Eric Strebel breaks down the making of a one-of-a-kind toilet paper holder. But unlike the version you have at home, which has no technology whatsoever, this rectum-cleaning receptacle holds a couple of smartly-designed magnet discs to make pulling the right amount of toilet paper squares a one-handed process.…
EWhile it’s important to make your design projects look good, this goes double for the tools you use to peddle your craft. How else are clients going to know you make well-made products if the sketchbook you’re using has a Hello Kitty cover on it? Taking a break from working on commissioned projects, Eric Strebel…
We’ve seen his tips on how to make the ultimate dust mask and resin casting boxes, but for his newest video, designer Eric Strebel is going way back to where he starts all his ideas: his sketchbook. As any designer worth his salt knows, sketching preliminary ideas before executing them in CAD or on the…
During his previous cellphone charger project, designer Eric Strebel had the misfortune of having a piece of metal get stuck in his eye. And since injury is something anyone working on a project should be ready for, Strebel has decided to put his skills to work and create a dusk mask with integrated eye protection.…
Continuing work on his cellphone charger prototype, industrial designer Eric Strebel takes this opportunity to show how he completes his designs with a bit of high gloss finish. After taking out the electronic components, he fills in the imperfections of the foam using some polyester body filler before sanding it down and coating it in…
Although many of industrial designer Eric Strebel’s take on prototyping projects are of his methods, he isn’t above sticking to the book every once in a while. In his newest video, he shows how he works with a design brief for a wireless charger. The brief comes with a couple of specifics: it must be…
We all know Eric Strebel is a savant when it comes to prototype making. He’s done a hundred cast parts from a single master part, used a CNC machine to manufacture 200 vaccum-formed panels, and even showed us how to finish and paint different molds. In his latest video, Strebel dips into the world of…
We can always depend on industrial designer Eric Strebel to put a ton of effort into every project he makes—especially when it comes to his YouTube videos that unveil many design tips and tricks. In his latest, Strebel showcases how he makes his prototypes look so dang remarkable—from filling imperfections to achieving that perfect coat…
When working on a project for a client, designer Eric Strebel likes to help out his fellow man by dropping some of his own modelling tips and tricks along the way. He’s already showed us how to create casting boxes, approximately a hundred cast parts from scratch, and his personal process for low volume manufacturing.…
You know Eric Strebel likes to show you how to make stuff, right? Did you also know he’s a science fiction fan. Upon watching a movie involving a magical, glowing amulet (which narrows the potential number of films down to about a thousand), he felt inspired to create his own wearable glowing rock – one…
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…
Taking a break from creating cast parts and mold boxes , designer Eric Strebel cracked his paper coloring knuckles to bring you a sketch render color paper challenge which has him sketching a design concept on… you guessed it, COLORED PAPER. The design in question is a modern approach to a Tucker truck from the…
Always one for ingenuity, Eric Strebel puts his industrial design expertise to good use even with the simplest of tasks. This time, he’s been commissioned to produce 120 cast parts from a single solid master part. Seeing how costly it is to make solid parts, Strebel decides to take matters into his own hands and…
Industrial designer Eric Strebel is at it again – this time with a how-to guide on making reusable mold boxes for casting silicone or urethane parts. Eric has already skipped the boring part and cut the pieces out, so it’s just a matter of predrilling the sides to prevent the wood from splitting. He overlaps…
Before you get to work on the final product of your design, it’s in your best interests to make a prototype first, right? Of course. You’ll have a physical sample to test and abuse, plus you can adjust the aesthetics of the design without worrying about the cost. We’ve covered plenty about 3D printing, but…
Product design whiz Eric Strebel is at it again – this time with his personal guide on how to create a small batch of 200 vacuum-formed panels for display at a car show. Eric starts the same way he begins all his designs: in the ideation phase. Even though panels aren’t the most complex products,…
If you work in manufacturing or have your own resin casting operation, you’ll know the all too familiar sound of pressure pots or tanks being bled and the subsequent look of agonizing pain as blood prepares to spray from the earholes… maybe it’s not that bad. Yeah, yeah it is. Ear plugs always get lost or…
I was having a tough time finding my white car occasionally. I wanted to remedy that situation by having an antenna that was unique and stood out in a crowd. I settled on a Glow option as it would be a lighter color than other vehicles and “of course” glows in the dark! MATERIALS How…
Botzen Design Studio will have a 2-day, hands-on Model Making Workshop Saturday, June 25 – Sunday, June 26th. It all happens at the Botzen Design Studio in Southfield, Michigan (northwest Detroit).
I build a lot of mock-ups and prototypes of various consumer products that I design for my clients. I cast a lot of parts in silicone molds, but I don’t cast a lot of silicone parts, much less gaskets. So, this project will take an existing process and combine it with 3D printing in a new way to make…