While I’ve written about my fair share of dangerous products, none of them are inherently made to harm people. That changes right now, as science man and YouTuber Steve Mould covered an assassin teapot too cool to pass up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJL0XoNBaac&ab_channel=SteveMould Originating in China, the assassin’s teapot was made to poison your enemies. It does this using two…

Near the shores of Los Angeles stands the Ivanhoe reservoir. And covering the entire surface of this 39-hectare (96-acre) wide reservoir are over 96 million shade balls. You must probably be betting that this is the world’s biggest ball pit and you might be right! But those balls serve a greater purpose than providing the…

You can see them in almost every appliance you own. No, I’m not talking about buttons or switches; I’m talking about those two holes in your electrical plugs. Well, what are those for? I bet you’re thinking that they must have some specific purposes, right? The guy behind Silver Cymbal is just as curious as…

In this interview, we chatted with one of the leading LED illumination experts in the world, Julius Muschaweck. If you want to know how to super-precisely measure and model LEDs for illumination, this is the guy to talk to. The former “Osram grandpa” worked as a go-to LED expert within Osram and now works as…

Have you ever wondered why carpenter pencils are shaped the way they are? It wasn’t a design error or some environment-conscious carpenter trying to reuse rejected pencils from the production line. There really are a number of things a good, old construction pencil can do which a #1, #2, or even the fabled #3 pencils…

In my drummer days I could lay down a beat! I couldn’t wait until the next time I could sit in front of a drum set. In between times, I’d take to air drumming in my bedroom imagining banging out a perfect beat. Like most things, good drum skills take consistent practice. Sadly, for a…

With all that free-time in the last 4-minutes of your 30-minute lunch break, you may be thinking NAPTIME. But why nap when you could LEARN? If you’ve yet to check out LinkedIn Learning, now may be a good time to finally take the plunge into the vast, virtual pool of knowledge. Aram Goganian is the…

Between September 16th-20th this year, Denver was overflowing with out-of-towners for Denver Startup Week. (Which was much to the dismay of native Denverite Uber passengers.) Here, you can read about the many physical product development related goings-on at this free conference. There were a lot. See below for the video: The Venue I try not…

After 10 years of designing sports products, industrial designer Eelco Siebring has opted for quite the career change. No longer designing sporting equipment, he now works as the lead designer and 2D layout artist for Undone, the upcoming, and quite unique, animated series on Amazon Prime centering around a girl named Alma as she interacts…

Have you ever wondered what’s involved to bring a new product to market? Perhaps even now you have a juicy idea scrawled out on a napkin tucked away somewhere. Every time you happen across it you’re thinking “Without a doubt, this here puppy is the next big thing!” Problem is, you have no earthly idea…

Frequently when you hear about a revolutionary new product idea, it’s usually something great with the potential to benefit all of humanity. Television, penicillin, the iPod; the introduction of these inventions into our world helped make it the better place that is today. But what about all of the failed inventions – the ones that…

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…

While the mission behind Kickstarter is great for “small guy” entrepreneurs with a good idea and enough chutzpah to launch it into the world via the internet, the ending result isn’t always so great for some project backers. Although the company doesn’t report an official number (nor would they), one only needs to do a…

SkillCoach is a new series where Vince Haley, Product Dev. Professional, and Educator, provides a virtual design critique of new product designs or processes with an aim to help you strengthen your creative and technical skills. Feel free to participate in the discussion via sharing your comments below! Connect with Vince on Linkedin here or via Instagram here. Have…

SkillCoach is a new series where Product Dev. Professional, Vince Haley, provides a virtual design critique of a new design or submission we’ve received. Give us your feedback in the comments! Connect with Vince on Linkedin here. Have a design you would like to submit for a review and critique? Contact us here. Welcome to…

We’re back! If you’re familiar with some of my other projects or subscribe to my YouTube channel, you’ll notice two new videos. Those are the the first of an eight part video series on building product prototypes. The series captures the process of creating a working prototype for a solar charger power bank – The…

It’s no secret that e-waste is on the rise. While socially conscious companies are starting to ramp up design for disassembly or otherwise take a closer look at their supply chains, we’re still not exactly in a desirable place when it comes to a worldwide effort – as outlined in a new report from United…

Although their products over the years have been hit or miss, the democratic design approach towards product development that Quirky has pioneered since being founded by Ben Kaufman in 2009 has always been front and center for the company; now, it’s looking like that’s all that they’re going to do with a new focus as…

Looking at incredible structures such as the Sphinx in Egypt or the genius of Leonardo Da Vinci’s self propelled cart, it’s even more impressive when you think about the rudimentary resources that the designers had hundreds and even thousands of years ago. Today, we have highly sophisticated tools like CAD software and rapid prototyping to…

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…

If you’ve been on the fence about whether to purchase MODO 801 or not, you have until Friday (12/19) to purchase the software package for 40% off of its retail value, which would bring the cost down to $897.00 (normally $1495.00). Discounted as part of a MODO Flash Sale, the steep discount is almost unheard…

Ahh…there’s nothing like a plate full of sweet potatoes and mounds of stuffing to wash it down. Let’s not forget to mention the eggnog, cranberry, bowls of shelled nuts and mountains of pumpkin pie, too! Today you’re probably feeling a slight belly effect from last night’s tastebud carnage…but don’t worry…we all are. That’s why we’ve…

Along with other Quirky hits such as the more recent Aros Smart Window Air Conditioner, the Pivot Power falls in line with one of Quirky’s well-positioned design strategies: make existing and dull products that people use daily ‘smarter’…whether it’s a simple reimagining of an age-old hardware design or by incorporating a connected software ‘smart home’…

When it first launched, few people could have ever expected the Coolest Cooler to be as successful as it has been…it would have been impressive just to hit the $100,000 mark for a product whose sole purpose is to keep beverages cold at a picnic. Currently sitting at just above the $10 million funding level,…

Deciding what to hang on the wall is never an easy choice. Unless you’re an art collector and rotate pieces often, finding that ‘perfect’ photograph or painting can take months if you are finicky about details. If somewhere along the way you’ve been looking for that final touch to make your home office or workshop…

With a jury of twenty-four established designers who have ‘been there and done that’, taking home one of the 176 trophies in the annual IDSA IDEA Awards is certainly no easy feat. Between Fifty-Three’s stylus and new start up PillPack’s innovative take on the prescription medication user experience (designed in partnership with IDEO), the IDEA…

NYCxDesign has proven to be a success yet again this year with events ranging from the NE IDSA conference focusing on ‘Design It. Build It. Fund It.’ to the ‘Meet the Makers’ series held at Brooklyn’s Industry City. Of all the events that have been taking place this month, the WantedDesign NYC exhibition is perhaps…

We’re always talking about the future of design, the future of technology, the future of MAKING. In a world where low-cost paper microscopes will allow for fast and affordable testing for diseases in developing nations, a world where Oreo cookies are 3D printed in colors based on Twitter conversations…how do we find the next ‘big…

Like a well-orchestrated production, the pages that have come and gone for various Kickstarter campaigns regularly tell us a story of organization and order without delivering even a glimpse of the chaos that’s happening backstage. With the announcement that he burned all copies of his Kickstarted book due to poor fulfilment planning, Sad Pictures for…

Introduced in 1985, the original NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) became nearly as desirable as a Farrah Fawcett poster for every teenage boy on planet earth. Over the following few years, the NES revolutionized the video game industry—selling over 60 million units (!!!) and brought Mario, Zelda, and of course, Duck Hunt to living rooms everywhere.…