By Rain Noe - Jun 22

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 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 14

The Industrial Design Prototyping Process, Part 7: Assembly

Payoff time! Here the Mobile Solar Charger all comes together

After many patiently-executed fabrication steps, industrial designer Eric Strebel is finally ready to assemble the prototype for his mobile solar charger. Here he constructs and attaches the hinges for the protective petals, installs the electronics and, of course, makes sure the darn thing works:

By Rain Noe - Jun 14

Samsung's Monster 49" Ultrawide Curved Monitor

It's got a freaking 32:9 aspect ratio

Computer monitors are like city apartments: No matter how big you think yours is, you'll fill it up with junk before you know it. But that doesn't stop me from wanting Samsung's absurdly huge, 49"-wide CHG 90 UltraWide HDR QLED Gaming Monitor. I think I paid a grand for my

By Kat Bauman - Jun 13

Halal Nail Polish: Redesigning For Real World Users

Halalpaint nails an unrecognized need

When certain demographics can't use your product, it's important to ask why. Nail color is an ancient tool for self expression and accessorizing, but the practice has fallen out of use with many Muslim fashionistas. This is because run of the mill nail polishes are seen as a barrier to

By Kat Bauman - Jun 13

Watch How Caged Lamps Were Made Then and Now

Hint: not that much has changed

Caged Venetian (or Murano) glass lamps are a nearly timeless inspiration in lighting design. Their mix of metal restraint and trapped organic glass can range from sensual, to exquisitely detailed, to schlocky "Italian style" restaurant decor, and back again. (I have a conspiracy theory that those bad plastic pizza restaurant

By Rain Noe - Jun 12

NASA Unveils Manned Mars Rover Concept

…incorrectly attributed to "designers of the Light Cycles in Tron"

While NASA has had four different rovers on Mars, none of them, obviously, has ever been manned, nor designed to hold human beings. But this month they pulled the sheets off of the first manned Mars Rover concept, unveiling it at the Kennedy Space Center: The Mars Rover Concept Vehicle

By Rain Noe - Jun 12

"The Rise of the Machines: Why Automation is Different this Time"

Are freelance design jobs safe?

In this day and age, I value bodies that can take a lot of information and present it in a comprehensible way. The folks over at Kurzgesagt (German for "in a nutshell") spent 900 hours and nine months researching the history of automation, then created this video explaining why recent

By Rain Noe - Jun 09

Stantt's Data-Driven Sizing of Men's Shirts for a Perfect Fit

The company offers a staggering 75 different sizes, based on just three measurements

Most button-down men's shirts come in XS, S, M, L, XL. Just five sizes. As industrial designers we understand that manufacturers must limit their production variations in order to maintain profit, but clothing manufacturer Stantt reckons that those five sizes truly fit just 15% of men. That's why Stantt

By Kat Bauman - Jun 09

Yea or Nay?: What You Get When "Package Is Lamp"

A low waste, highly idealistic light

Cardboard, like reclaimed wood, continues to provide inspiration for materials-minded designers. It's tough but soft, ubiquitous and underrated, and incredibly easy to source. Letting the material drive the object is a similarly tried and true source of both innovation and "innovation." The R16 Lamp project aims to join the shipping

By Kat Bauman - Jun 06

Flatpacking... Pasta?

MIT might go IKEA on your macaroni and cheese

Did anybody else love those dinosaur sponge pills, but wonder what would happen if you swallowed one? You can deliver on that slightly menacing magic with this new shapeshifting pasta invented by MIT's Tangible Media Group. Beyond whimsy, lead researcher Lining Yao, and supporting researcher Wen Wang, note that

By Rain Noe - Jun 06

Solar Panel Window Blinds!

SolarGaps can turn any window into a source of free energy

If you own your home, it may make sense for you to invest in kitting it out with solar power. But for the millions of folks who rent, it's not possible to go green in this way. That will change if SolarGaps, a system of solar-panel-laden Venetian blinds, work as

By Rain Noe - Jun 06

Apple Announces HomePod Smart Speaker

Starting this December, it will be Amazon Echo vs. Google Home vs. Apple HomePod

In the world of voice-controlled digital assistant-driven smart speakers, Amazon and Google stole the march on Apple last year with their Alexa-powered Echo and Google-Assistant-powered Google Home, respectively. Yesterday Apple answered, pulling the wraps off of their forthcoming Siri-powered HomePod. PriceUnsurprisingly, the HomePod is a premium offering, expected to retail

By Tenny Pinheiro - Jun 05

The Ins and Outs of Design Sprinting 

Finally, a design approach you can't afford to ignore.

When was the last time you choose the harder, more expensive approach to solve a problem? That is the reason why the adoption of the Design Sprint practice has been skyrocketing worldwide. But before backing up that claim, let me set the stage with some foundation for the reader that is unfamiliar with the term Design Sprint

By Rain Noe - Jun 01

Waze Carpool Spreads to L.A. Next Week

Digital hitchhiking

From the 405 in Los Angeles to the LIE in New York, you'll see something depressing each rush hour: A veritable parking lot of crawling cars, with predominantly one driver per car. It's neither space-efficient nor sustainable. In an effort to combat this, Google's Alphabet, which owns the wayfinding Waze

By Kat Bauman - Jun 01

The Hypnotic Making of Bamboo Whisks

File under: Unexpected inspiration fodder

Matcha is more than a good ice cream flavor, it's an ancient tea preparation that relies on several deftly created tools. Aside from the tea itself (a cult subject I'll leave to real gourmands) the most crucial element is the chasen, or bamboo whisk, used to froth the matcha powder

By Randy Swearer - May 31

Why I'm Optimistic about the Future of Work, Robots and All

Recently there has been lots of talk about how the rise of automation is changing the workplace—as if a robotic takeover was just around the corner. I don't see automatons massing at the gates, but we need to acknowledge that there's some data fueling this anxiety. For example,

By Kat Bauman - May 31

Move Over Boston Dynamics: Mech Cyborgs Are Working At Lowe's

Powerup requested in the paint department

Did you know that Lowe's had a robotic innovation lab? Well you've been missing out. While we've been hand wringing over creepy new cyberdogs and oddly graceful rollerskaters Lowe's has calmly been rolling out a robot exosuit for its human employees. The Lowe's Innovation Lab started its human+ journey

By Kat Bauman - May 30

Can Braided Bamboo Shift Bike Frame Design?

Wicker road bikes would be beautiful

What would it take to make bamboo bicycles more exciting? Lance Rake thinks a wickery weave could change bike design for the better. Rake is an industrial designer and researcher at the University of Kansas who has been exploring bamboo materials for years. His aim is finding new structural options for the

By Rain Noe - May 25

Amazon's NYC Bookstore Transposes Digital Conventions Onto a Physical Environment

…which begs the question: Why?

Amazon has been opening physical stores for two years now, and today they open their first physical bookstore in New York City. It is interesting to see how they've essentially transposed their digital strengths into an actual environment, rather than aping the design conventions of a Barnes & Noble or

By Rain Noe - May 24

Microsoft's Beautiful, Design-ey New Surface Pro

The design mantle is no longer Apple's

Now that Apple has slowed down on innovative design, it's great to see that Microsoft is picking up the slack. Yesterday they put out a video of their new Surface Pro, and the thing looks amazing: I'm digging not only that they've developed their own style for the video—remember that