By Rain Noe - Oct 20

First Class Travel, 1930s-Style: What Were the Interiors/Floorplan Like Inside the Hindenburg?

The ticket would cost you $7,000 today

In the 1920s, if you wanted to cross the Atlantic you got on a ship. Then Germany set up the world's first transatlantic air service for passengers, launching the Graf Zeppelin, the world's largest airship at the time. In 1930 it could fly you all the way from Germany to

By Rain Noe - Oct 20

Hilariously Stupid Car Stunts

BeamNG.drive is a vehicle simulation program that “applies basic engineering principles gleaned through its research into materials science,” as the BBC puts it. By accurately modeling how glass, plastic and steel all deform differently under impacts, the program’s physics engine can depict incredibly realistic crashes that might provide useful data

By Rain Noe - Oct 20

Apple's Self-Driving Lexus Spotted in the Wild; Points to Possibility of Aftermarket Add-On Autonomy

This week MacCallister Higgins, a software engineer who specializes in autonomous vehicles, Tweeted this video that's reportedly of Apple's self-driving car: Higgins co-founded Voyage Auto, a group of ex-Apple, ex-Google and ex-Udacity engineers that are developing self-driving vehicles. It's possible he or his company is doing freelance work for

By Core Jr - Oct 19

Browse Our New Shopping Guide for Designers

A selection of vetted products from Core77 editors

The best way to find gear is getting a tip from a friend you trust. As friends of our design community for over 20 years, we want to be that voice of reason by helping our readers find products that really, truly work. So, we've gathered a list of things

By Rain Noe - Oct 19

Festool Launches Website Selling Discounted Tools With Free Shipping!

…and my friend Randy is pissed off that I'm telling you about it

If you're a would-be Festool owner but find their high prices too much to swallow, check out their newly-launched website: Festool Recon, which sells their "gently used" tools at a discount. Because the company has a 30-day return policy, they've got an inventory of like-new tools that owners either returned

By Rain Noe - Oct 19

Chicago Ironworkers Recreate "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" Photo, With a Couple of Modern-Day Twists

"Lunch Atop a Skyscraper," the iconic 1932 photograph of ironworkers perched on a beam 840 feet in the sky, is probably one of the most recognized photographs of the 20th Century. While the ironworkers in the photo really were the men building the 30 Rockefeller Plaza building, and are

By Rain Noe - Oct 19

BioLite Invents Ultra-Efficient, Smokeless Campfire Device

…and it's caught fire on Kickstarter

One of the best parts of camping is sitting around a fire with your friends--unless you're in that position where the wind is blowing the smoke directly in your face. BioLite has solved this with their FirePit, an intelligently-designed sort of floating hearth that uses 51 air jets to

By Joel Moskowitz - Oct 18

Tools & Craft #69: Long Planes in the Modern Workshop

These are the longest planes I own. I don't actually use any of them although I have tried. The longest planes I use are in my shop, these planes are in my tool collection. Long planes, "Jointer Planes" as they are called exist for two reasons:The first reason is for

By Steven Johnson - Oct 18

Steven M. Johnson's Bizarre Invention #34: Dual-Balloon Rainwear

No umbrella necessary

Steven M. Johnson's "Patent Depending" series of inventions range from social commentary to plain ol' bizarre, and they always give us a laugh. So we've contracted him to let us publish one every week.

By Rain Noe - Oct 18

Patagonia and REI Selling Used Gear/Clothing at Great Prices

...plus you can trade your used stuff in for credit

Maybe you buy a backpack for your new camping hobby, then discover you hate camping. Or there's a two-year-old jacket in your closet that you hardly ever wear because it looked better on you in the store. Maybe you received a better bike light as a birthday gift, and now

By Rain Noe - Oct 18

Adventure Tape: Super Useful, Reusable Alternative to Duct Tape, Bungie Cords and Rope

This story starts with a broken bicycle, and reminds me a bit of how Post-Its were invented. Richard Brooks is an avid downhill mountain biker, and in the field he continually encountered problems with the chainstay on his bike. Brooks also happens to work for Watts Urethane Products, and as

By Rain Noe - Oct 18

The U.S. vs. Japan Giant Robot Duel Finally Happened, and These Guys Aren't Messing Around

Mecha vs. Mecha

We've been waiting for this international giant robot fight since 2015, and this month it finally happened. To refresh your memory, American robotics firm MegaBots challenged Japan's Suidobashi Heavy Industries to a mecha-vs.-mecha fight, the challenge was accepted, and trash-talking ensued. To be honest, I was a little worried that

By Emily Engle - Oct 17

Marimekko's Mika Piirainen on Designing for a 66 Year Old Brand "By Accident" and Managing Stress in the Workplace

Plus, a look inside the iconic lifestyle brand's printing factory

I'm a designer at Marimekko's ready-to-wear design team. In the past, I have also designed some prints for Marimekko, but at the moment I'm concentrating on creating the silhouettes. In this job it's important to understand the characteristics of prints, as well as the foundation of Marimekko's ready-to-wear—paying equal attention to the print and the shape of the garment.

By Emily Engle - Oct 17

Nigel Langley Jr Lands Design Job at adidas' Brooklyn Creator Farm Through Instagram—At 17 Years Old

A look at how social media can successfully propel millennial careers

In many cases, the millennial generation has been forced to grow up way too fast, thanks to the ever-evolving social media phenomenon. What used to be back and forth AIM messages at 2AM while your parents were sleeping has quickly morphed into full-fledged profiles aiming to show the world detailed

By Rain Noe - Oct 17

Holy Cow: Dubai Police Have a Freaking Hoverbike

Remember how Dubai's police department uses a fleet of supercars as their cruisers? Now the flashy force has added another head-turning vehicle: A Scorpion 3 hoverbike built by Russian company Hoversurf. According to Autoblog, …The police force aims to deploy its latest toy as a first-responder vehicle in

By Rain Noe - Oct 17

New Design for Sofa That Transforms Into Bunk Beds

...and a bit of a mystery

You remember this couch that folds into bunk beds? That one, called the Doc, was featured in our most popular video of all time. We've long known that that piece, and many of the others in the Resource Furniture showroom where we shot it, was designed and manufactured by

By Rain Noe - Oct 17

Turning Children's Sketches Into Architectural Renderings

Most of these look better than Frank Gehry's stuff

British retailer Made.com asked a bunch of pre-teen kids to draw "what homes might look like in the future." The company then commissioned an illustrator to render them, and surprisingly, some of these don't look that far-fetched: Alannah, age 7, Woking This home features fluffy carpet walls, and its windows

By Jon Kolko - Oct 16

The New Materialism of the Home 

Modernist Studio looks into the future of the branded home experience

Modernist Studio focuses on strategy and design work for big brands. In working with these companies, we've seen a theme around "owning the consumer." Each company is fighting to become front and center in people's lives, with a particular focus on the home. Big companies speak about locking in customers

By Core Jr - Oct 16

Sponsored Post: A' Furniture, Decorative Items and Homeware Design Award Winners

Plus, enter your work in any category for a chance to be featured on our site next year

A' Design Award & Competition, one of the most well-known international annual juried competitions for design, is currently accepting submissions for its next cycle. The prestigious awards program covers a wide range of creative fields to highlight the very best designers from all countries in all disciplines. Entries to the

By Rain Noe - Oct 16

Up Your Halloween Decorating Game With Downloadable Holograms

...and rub it in your neighbor's face

Let's face it: Last year your neighbor did a way better job with their Halloween decorations, making your lame cobwebs and un-scary zombie statue look inferior. But this year you can put the Joneses in their place by upping your game with some scary-ass holograms. A company called AtmosFearFX is

By Rain Noe - Oct 16

Improvised Survival Solution: Trapped by Santa Rosa Fire, Elderly Couple Submerges Themselves in Neighbor's Pool for Six Hours

The devastation of the fire that tore through Santa Rosa this month is hard to comprehend; entire neighborhoods have simply vanished. As you can see in these aerial shots, the results look consistent with a thorough aerial bombing campaign: Image by Marcus Yam / L.A. Times The view from on

By Rain Noe - Oct 16

Do You See These Sneakers as Teal and Grey, or Pink and White?

A repeat of #TheDress, this time with footwear

Take a look at this photo: What color are these shoes? I see teal and grey, and while many others do as well, apparently another chunk of the population sees these shoes as pink and white. Yep, it echoes that blue/black or white/gold dress photo that was making the rounds

By Emily Engle - Oct 13

Linda Jiang on Designing the Essential Smartphone at Just 27 Years Old

Essential's Lead Industrial Designer shows off prototypes and delves deep into the design process

Having the opportunity to design a smartphone that will go straight to market in under two years sounds like a daydream you'd have during an endless design school critique. For 27-year-old Linda Jiang, it's just reality. As the Lead Industrial Designer at Essential Products, Jiang has been hard at