By Rain Noe - Jun 22 New

Watch This Making of an Equus Alligator Watch Strap Video

A clean, quiet, soothing process

Most of you reading this blog, and most of us writing it, know what it is to make things. And we've all seen tons of videos of other people making things. This one here, of an expert saddler/sellier crafting an alligator watch strap for Equus, stands out for being the

By Shannon Rogers - Jun 22 New

Hand Tool School #35: What to Do While the Finish is Drying?

I co-host the WoodTalk podcast with Marc Spagnuolo and Matt Cremona, and it's a running joke on there that I never put finish on anything. That's not entirely true, but I do tend to put it off a lot. The reason is that my shop is useless once I

By David Frane - Jun 22 New

What Happens When You Intentionally Crash a Work Van?

Theorize all you want; sometimes you just have to smash things up.

Hidden within the specs of many products are the performance standards they are required to meet. It's easy enough to ignore these things until you see what happens when something goes awry—as in the crash of a work or delivery van. In the video above, a European manufacturer of vehicle

By Rain Noe - Jun 22 New

This Animation Perfectly Sums Up What's Wrong with Social Media Users

Coolman_coffeedan is the Instagrammer who gets the Internet

Instagrammer Coolman_coffeedan has been taking the piss out of the Internet. By posting (self-aware) photos of him in yoga poses, contrived partying shots and a purposely-badly-Photoshopped image of him with attractive models, he's making a sly commentary on the banality and artifice of social media—though it's not clear if all

By Rain Noe - Jun 22 New

"Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy"

Here's a podcast & book recommendation for industrial designers

Every single day, 600 tons of particle board go into a factory, and out the other end comes a product so ubiquitous that there is one for every 100 people on Earth. It was designed in 1978. Can you guess what it is? It's Ikea's Billy bookcase, which should go

By Rain Noe - Jun 22 New

British Architects Come Up with Sweet NYC Skyline Chess Set

Skyline Chess matches iconic NYC buildings with chess pieces perfectly

Dagnabbit! Once again architects have something cool for which there is no industrial design analog, inspiring jealousy. London-based architects Ian Flood and Chris Prosser founded Skyline Chess, a company that produces chess sets where the pieces are iconic London buildings. Now they've just Kickstarted an NYC edition: As a

By Steven Johnson - Jun 21

Steven M. Johnson's Bizarre Invention #134: The SnapCar

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 Emily Engle - Jun 21

Tom Sachs Discusses Failure, Selecting Materials and Collaborating with Nike for the Mars Yard Shoe 2.0 

After the release of the second Mars Yard Shoe, Sachs reflects on his experience during a tour of his studio

The original Mars Yard ShoeThe history of the Tom Sachs x Nikecraft Mars Yard Shoe is, without a doubt, one for the books. Releasing 5 years ago, the first Mars Yard Shoe took both the sneaker and design worlds by storm. Promising to deliver superior stability in rough terrains, the

By Joel Moskowitz - Jun 21

Tools & Craft #52: Decorative Japanese Chisels

In the European tradition, the steel parts of tools have usually been made, for the last couple of centuries anyway, in large factories. The metalwork is usually straightforward, forged by nameless smiths, and any decorative differentiation is in the handle material and maybe some brass trim. In Japan where the

By Rain Noe - Jun 21

The Industrial Design Prototyping Process, Part 8: Documenting the Work with Photos & Video

Just because your prototype is finished, doesn't mean your work is. Here industrial designer Eric Strebel points out the importance of having a pre-established, ready-to-go camera set-up, as with deadlines you may need to ship your prototype out the day it's finished, and you want a way to document your

By Rain Noe - Jun 21

The OneBlade Core: A Hyperdesigned Razor That Provides a Good Shaving Experience With Just a Single Blade

There was a lot of design and engineering attention lavished on this thing

I shave with a cheap Dorco Pace razor, and as someone who enjoys using fine objects and tools, I hate myself for it. It's an ugly piece of plastic that looks like it was created by a failed basketball sneaker designer. But I use it because the cartridges are relatively

By Core Jr - Jun 20

Currently Crowdfunding: Our Favorite Kickstarter Projects of the Week

Intricate Japanese knives, a buckle that turns any watch into a smart watch and more

A roundup of our favorite Kickstarter projects currently crowdfunding for your viewing (and spending!) pleasure. Go ahead, free your disposable income

By Core Jr - Jun 20

A Safe Space for Getting Your Work Critiqued by Peers 

Check out our new "Work In Progress" Facebook group

Students: how many times have you found yourself before a review wondering if you could've improved anything about the project you've been working on? Wishing you had more people with design experience with whom you could reach out to and get feedback? Well, we're hoping to offer up a solution.

By Core Jr - Jun 20

Designing to Eliminate the Concept of Waste

The winners of the bi-annual Product Design Challenge seek out new ways for design to drive the circular economy

The bi-annual Cradle to Cradle Product Design Challenge asks emerging designers to develop new solutions for improving our environment through sustainable design. Each iteration of the challenge brings us closer to realizing the imperative to create a circular market standard. Presented by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute in

By Robert Grace - Jun 20

Sponsored Post: Materials Matter: Exploring the Luxurious Side of Beauty Packaging

The role plastics play in cosmetics design, and why young designers should consider this overlooked career path

Young designers starting a career tend to think big and often dream of creating the next cool sports car, cell phone or iconic piece of furniture. Not many, notes Sam O'Donahue, picture themselves designing cosmetics packaging or lipstick cases. O'Donahue, a Brit who earned an industrial design degree from

By Rain Noe - Jun 20

Auto Design Exercise: Pickup Trucks Mashed Up With Luxury and Performance Vehicles

An ode to the El Camino?

Remember the "Transferring the Design Language of Classic Game Consoles to Cars" exercise? Now it appears the same organization—a UK-based retailer of Ford vehicles—has commissioned another design mash-up, this one following the recent trend of pickup trucks gaining luxury amenities. Though the exercise is called "Luxury cars re-imagined as Pick

By David Frane - Jun 20

Knipex Pliers Wrench

The convenience of pliers with the precision of a wrench

When in a hurry or traveling light, we often resort to one-size-fits-most tools like adjustable wrenches and pliers. These tools are fine for rough work but are a poor choice when working on vehicles, machinery, and other precision equipment. It's not that they can't do the job; it's that they

By Rain Noe - Jun 19

Completely Mesmerizing Time-Lapse of Wood Having Layers Removed

Brett Foxwell's "WoodSwimmer" video is visually surprising

Photographer/filmmaker Brett Foxwell, who has expertise with both stop-motion and time-lapse techniques, created this very surprising video by shaving logs down layer-by-layer, then stitching still shots of the cross-sections together: WoodSwimmer from bfophoto on Vimeo.Writes Foxwell: I became fascinated with the possibilities of a sci-fi world based on the

By Fictiv Inc. - Jun 19

Thoughts on Designing for Disassembly

Someday someone will need to repair, upgrade, remanufacture or recycle the things you design

All right, all right! I'll confess: I'm part of the last generation to enter college without a cell phone—part of the last generation to graduate before iPhones were even on the market (Gasp! The horror!). My parents gave me my sister's old phone as a sophomore, and I remember not

By Rain Noe - Jun 19

"John Wick 2" Re-Shot With Nerf Guns is Freaking Amazing

Corridor Digital does it again

Nerf has a toy design hit in their N-Strike Elite and Elite XD, the lines of "blasters" that fire foam-tipped projectiles. And they sell so well that you could argue Nerf doesn't need to advertise them. This doesn't appear to be a commercial or sponsored content, but Corridor Digital, the

By Rain Noe - Jun 19

Coleman's 4-in-1 LED Lantern

An old form factor with new tricks

Camping goods manufacturer Coleman has pulled off a clever piece of design with their Quad LED Lantern. By taking the old-school form factor of an actual lantern, then turning what would be the four glass faces into LED panels, they've created an object that provides 360-degree illumination—but allows four people

By Rain Noe - Jun 17

A DIY Stone Bench, Building a Side Table, Machining and Grinding Damascus Steel & More

Part 3 of this week's Makers Roundup

Weekly Maker’s Roundup is a weekly list of our favorite builds, tips and tricks for makers. Ranging from classic to novel, practical to outrageous, these projects represent what making is all about—problem solving and having fun.