By David Frane - Jul 24

Urushi Ratchet Handles

Incredibly beautiful and insanely expensive.

Looking for a gift for the tool user who has everything—and I mean everything—how about an Urushi Ratchet Handle? For a mere $2,000-$4,000 you can get one of the handful of these things made each year. Urushi is obtained from the sap of the lacquer tree and is so central

By Rain Noe - Jul 21

Forget Ant Colonies. Here's a Desktop Termite Habitat

Watch them destroy wood in a controlled environment

It might be tough for me to sell you an inch-thick cross-section of Douglas Fir for $125. But if I encased it in acrylic and placed a live colony of termites in there, maybe you'd give it a second look. That's the hope of the folks behind the Termitat, a

By Rain Noe - Jul 21

The One Low-Tech Design Feature All Rolling Carry-On Suitcases Should Have

With more and more of us traveling more frequently these days, luggage design has become a hot category for design entrepreneurs. As one example this Samsara design, billed as "The world's first aluminum smart suitcase," recently sought just $15,000 in pledges but pulled in a whopping $293,192. New luggage

By Rain Noe - Jul 20

Clever Designs for Perpetual Calendars

…that all have one glaring design flaw

For those of you that still use physical calendars, maybe you like having a dozen photos of hapless kittens or shirtless firemen cycling through the months. But a subset of you might prefer a single grid that will serve for the entire year and that doesn't have any pages to

By Rain Noe - Jul 19

Nooz Optics' Minimalist, Handily-Portable Reading Glasses

For occasional use, these are designed to be convenient

For those not already saddled with eyeglasses or contacts, it can be handy to have a pair of reading glasses on hand. In New York City at least, menu font designers and restaurant lighting designers seem determined to make menus impossible to read. For situations like these, French company Nooz

By Core Jr - Jul 17

Bro Tip: the FLEXR Folding Pullup Bar

Lump this into the "how has someone not thought of this yet?" category

You know a product has been missing from the market when it goes up on Kickstarter and receives 10 times the amount of funding it requested. Recently, that product turns out to be the FLEXR pull up bar, very surprisingly from our research one of the first of its kind.

By Rain Noe - Jul 17

A Medieval British Anti-Counterfeiting System: Split Tally Sticks

When woodgrain was used as an authentication factor

I remember tearing money in half, back when things were all cash, when you needed a guarantee that someone would wait for you. I'm not sure if this was a New York City thing or if they did it in your town too. For example, let's say I took a

By Rain Noe - Jul 14

Creating a Gigantic Super Soaker That Can Cut Watermelons in Half

This thing is like a portable waterjet cutter

Mark Rober, the ex-NASA-engineer behind that giant Nerf gun, is again scaling up a toy firearm designed for children. Rober teamed up with Bob Clagett to create a giant-sized Supersoaker that practically has the capabilities of a waterjet cutter: You reckon Rober got the idea after seeing this scene in

By Rain Noe - Jul 14

Woman Taking Selfie at Gallery Accidentally Knocks Over $200,000 Worth of Art

Narcissism + display pedestals set up like dominoes = disaster

British artist Simon Birch is the creative force behind The 14th Factory, an L.A.-based industrial warehouse that's been converted to an art gallery. The gallery, which features the work of dozens of artists, was designed by Birch to be interactive. But perhaps not this interactive: According to Hyperallergic, The footage

By Core Jr - Jul 13

Fit a Weekend Trip Into One Backpack

Here are some items to help you get away with packing light

In an ideal world, I could pack for several weeks worth of travel into one small backpack, which if you're bringing your normal essentials could potentially be impossible. Thankfully, there's a world out there full of designers trying to make it so we can, all the while creating products we

By Rain Noe - Jul 11

Hell in a Handbasket: A Security Lock for Pints of Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry's Euphori-Lock is, sadly, not a gag

What is this world coming to? First we saw the Fridge Locker, a lockable plastic cage one must use to protect their food inside communal refrigerators. Now we see this insane Ben-&-Jerry's-branded combination lock for ice cream pints: I thought (or hoped) it was a gag, but the thing is

By Rain Noe - Jul 11

How Would People React to Having an Additional Thumb?

To find out, London-based designer Danielle Clode created a functioning one

While going for her Masters at the Royal College of Arts' Design Products Programme, Danielle Clode devised an interesting project that's part prosthetic and part conversation starter: The Third Thumb. By 3D printing in disparate materials and rigging up the mechanicals, Clode created a workable, functional limb extension. Here's

By Rain Noe - Jul 06

The Fascinating History of the Pen

…and how to succeed, and fail, in business by trying to build an empire with similar products

This should be required viewing for all industrial design students. The story starts off with the history of the modern pen which, fascinatingly, was prompted by spilled ink ruining a contract. What follows is a tale of clever design, mastery of materials, ergonomic considerations and above all, business savvy.

By David Frane - Jul 03

Tennis Ball Manufacturing Then and Now

Except for the scale of production and a greater reliance on automation little has changed since 1961.

When Henry the 8th played tennis the balls, he used were leather with hair or wool sewn inside. It was not until the late 19th century that tennis balls reached their modern form—pressurized rubber with a felt cover. By 1961, tennis balls were produced in factories using methods that are

By Rain Noe - Jul 03

How to Build a Simple, Effective Smartphone Projector

This should totally be an Industrial Design 101 assignment

Matt from UK-based DIY Perks shows you how to build his design for a smartphone projector. The design is impressive in that it leaves the phone out, making it easy to grab if a call comes in, and the construction method is pretty darn simple. I'd love to see this

By Rain Noe - Jul 03

You Can Shoot Drones Out of the Sky With a Confetti Cannon

Remember this guy? Johnny Dronehunter shoots drones out of the sky in style and silence, using a special suppressor-equipped shotgun. But as it turns out, you needn't pump hot lead into the sky to bring a quadrotor down; at a music festival in Canada, someone figured out a simple confetti

By Rain Noe - Jun 28

Smart Design: Doorknobs That You Can Open With Your Elbows, Hips, Pinkies Etc.

BHS has designed a series of multifunctional three-way knobs that will make life easier

More proof that there's always room for design improvements, even in the most established of objects. The humble doorknob hasn't changed much since its invention, with the exception of lever-style knobs that ease operation for those with grip issues. But Brinks Home Security has designed an innovative line of doorknobs

By Rain Noe - Jun 27

Ping Pong Precision Production Methods

This factory's got some serious balls, and one secret manufacturing step

First off, we love that there's a show called "Pingsider" that takes you deep inside the world of ping pong. Secondly, ping pong balls are one of those items that sound deceptively easy to make. But this look inside a factory in China, where table tennis is practically the national

By David Frane - Jun 27

Rethinking a Product We'd Rather Not Think About

No one—not even a plumber—dreams about owning a drain cleaning machine.

I'd be happy not to know what a drum machine is, but I do because I've watched the rooter guy use one to unclog our sewer line. What is a drum machine? It's a large motorized version of the hand snake a homeowner might use to clear the drain from

By Core Jr - Jun 23

Space Saving, Eco-Conscious Gear for Campers & Road Trippers

Get prepared before that Fourth of July getaway

The official first day of summer was this week, and with that begins plans for epic outdoor adventures. To help jumpstart your planning, we've compiled a list some of our favorite items that camping objects that feel essential rather than overdone and help make sure you conduct your camping or

By Rain Noe - Jun 23

A Video That Finally Explains the 4th Dimension in a Way We Can Understand

Geometry was my best math subject, and it served me well during my CAD jockey years. But one thing I could never wrap my head around was the notion of a 4th dimension. People smarter than me would try explaining it to me at a bar, and while I could

By Rain Noe - Jun 22

"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 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 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

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 Core Jr - Jun 16

Last Minute Father's Day Gifts Designer Dad's Gonna Want

Shout out to Amazon's 2-day shipping

Yeah, yeah, we know we're a little late with this Father's Day gift guide. However seeing as we aren't the only procrastinators, we bet at least 60% of you haven't even gotten your gifts yet. That's okay because we're here to help. Celebrate Dad, Grandpa, whoever with this list of practical Father's Day gifts you can still get by Sunday, thanks to the wonderful world of Amazon 2-day shipping: