2011 has been a hard year. Global Revolution! Natural disasters! Bankruptcy! What's next? We're not hedging bets for 2012 just yet, but in case things don't turn out the way you'd expected, we've got you covered. Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide has everything you need to get through these hard times and survive through the... end times?
Today's pick is from Hand-Eye Supply: One part vocational haberdashery, one part supply store and one part gallery, Hand-Eye Supply is Core77's Portland, Oregon retail flagship. The store features hard-to-find workwear, supplies, tools, books and gifts for creative types.
Sugru helps you "hack things better": it's a handy air-curing silicone rubber that can be used for a variety of functions to improve the shortcomings of almost any product you can think of. Reinforce electronic cables, sculpt ergonomic handles to your specifics or create bumpers for your more delicate gadgets. A handy must-have for your survival pack!
2011 has been a hard year. Global Revolution! Natural disasters! Bankruptcy! What's next? We're not hedging bets for 2012 just yet, but in case things don't turn out the way you'd expected, we've got you covered. Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide has everything you need to get through these hard times and survive through the... end times?
Today's pick is from Matt Wolfe: Matt Wolfe fell in love with the internet at the tender age of 11 and is now an Interaction Designer at Teague.
Even in a post-apocalyptic society, a freshly made salsa will taste infinitely better than the canned stuff. Spice up your food storage plan with these heirloom preparedness seeds. With variety packs in options like ancient grains, culinary, medicinal, garden or salsa, these seed packets can last up to 4 years if stored properly and plant up to a 3/4 acre garden.
2011 has been a hard year. Global Revolution! Natural disasters! Bankruptcy! What's next? We're not hedging bets for 2012 just yet, but in case things don't turn out the way you'd expected, we've got you covered. Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide has everything you need to get through these hard times and survive through the... end times?
Today's pick is from Allan Chochinov: Allan Chochinov is the editor in chief of Core77 and Chair of the new MFA in Products of Design graduate program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
What's better than a family friendly project that is also a survival essential? The paracord is essentially long lengths of nylon rope macrame'd into a belt, bracelet or necklace—think 8 feet of cord woven into 8 inches of compactness. Prepping for the year ahead, we say kumbaya. Start with a bracelet, watchband or belt. (That belt weaves up 100 feet of cord!)
2011 has been a hard year. Global Revolution! Natural disasters! Bankruptcy! What's next? We're not hedging bets for 2012 just yet, but in case things don't turn out the way you'd expected, we've got you covered. Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide has everything you need to get through these hard times and survive through the... end times?
Today's pick is from David Auerbach of Dijital Fix, a design & electronics store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and San Francisco.
A sign of the times? Maybe. A good accompaniment when gifting cash for the holidays? Definitely. Our pick for Cyber Monday, take this as our friendly reminder to shop responsibly. Tip: For that gift recipient who's worth the $107, wrap the Money to Burn candle in a Benjamin with a rubber band.
2011 has been a hard year. Global Revolution! Natural disasters! Bankruptcy! What's next? We're not hedging bets for 2012 just yet, but in case things don't turn out the way you'd expected, we've got you covered. Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide has everything you need to get through these hard times and survive through the... end times?
Today's pick is from Jennifer Leonard: Jennifer Leonard is an interdisciplinary Design Leader at IDEO, and the co-author of Massive Change (with Bruce Mau), a book about the future of global design.
In these hard times, there's not much that's more important than getting a fair day's pay. By donating $75, you enable people looking for work to earn money by financing community rebuilding after disasters like earthquakes. Peruse Oxfam's other charitable giving programs—$50 buys a goat or a sheep for a farmer in need, $100 helps start a small business, $150 trains a midwife, $175 digs a well for a community. This is truly a gift that keeps on giving.
2011 has been a hard year. Global Revolution! Natural disasters! Bankruptcy! What's next? We're not hedging bets for 2012 just yet, but in case things don't turn out the way you'd expected, we've got you covered. Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide has everything you need to get through these hard times and survive through the... end times?
Today may be the day for burying one of these, or so the saying goes, but you'll want to keep Estwing's beautiful version of a hatchet handy for your next outdoor excursion. The Chicago Rockwood, Illinois-based tool company offers the essential article of camping equipment in a single piece of steel with a leather-wrapped handle.
2011 has been a hard year. Global Revolution! Natural disasters! Bankruptcy! What's next? We're not hedging bets for 2012 just yet, but in case things don't turn out the way you'd expected, we've got you covered. Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide has everything you need to get through these hard times and survive through the... end times?
Today's pick is from Jennifer Leonard: Jennifer Leonard is an interdisciplinary Design Leader at IDEO, and the co-author of Massive Change (with Bruce Mau), a book about the future of global design.
In times of stress, it's important to stay organized! The Grid-It!, a Core77 Design Award Runner-Up, does double duty as a gadget organizer and iPad case. Have a place for chargers, cords, pens, gadgets and more. The system of woven elastics makes the Grid-It! versatile while keeping your tablet safe from debris or environmental stress. If only Grid-It! would make a full-body jumpsuit...
2011 has been a hard year. Global Revolution! Natural disasters! Bankruptcy! What's next? We're not hedging bets for 2012 just yet, but in case things don't turn out the way you'd expected, we've got you covered. Core77's Ultimate Gift Guide has everything you need to get through these hard times and survive through the... end times?
Today's pick is from Hand-Eye Supply: One part vocational haberdashery, one part supply store and one part gallery, Hand-Eye Supply is Core77's Portland, Oregon retail flagship. The store features hard-to-find workwear, supplies, tools, books and gifts for creative-types.
Survive Outdoors Longer's (SOL) "Survival Blanket" is exactly what it promises: its space-age "vacuum-metalized polyethylene" reflects 90% of body heat and resists shredding. But Survive Outdoors Longer has gone the extra mile by brilliantly printed wilderness survival tips directly on to the blanket... so if you do manage to survive (outdoors) long enough to make it back indoors, you can keep it for future reference.
2011 has been a hard year. Revolutions the world over! Natural disasters! Bankruptcy! What's next?
We're not hedging bets for 2012 just yet, but in case things don't turn out the way you'd expected, don't worry, we've got you covered.
In our 7th edition of the Ultimate Gift Guide, Core77 has 77 things you need to get through these hard times and survive through the. . .end times? Free or Thrifty, DIY or downloaded, we have ideas for everyone on your holiday gift-giving list.
In case you didn't notice, we wrapped up our final selections for this summer's tool-focused Ultimate Gift Guide. Over the last 2 months we've asked the experts to dig through their personal toolboxes to help us compile 77 ultimate tools to help you get your personal projects done.
And a special thanks to our incredible lineup of curators! Without their expert advice we wouldn't have had such a colorful snapshot of gifts, gadgets, cutters, desktop help and general tools for the contemporary designer.
Whew! We cant believe it's already August and to close out this incredible summer season of building we're excited to present the final curator of our special tool-focused edition of the Ultimate Gift Guide. byAMT Studio, a New York City-based design consultancy creates savvy, sophisticated products with a witty and mischievous sensibility.
Industrial Designer, curator and consultant Alissia Melka-Teichroew is the founder and creative director of byAMT. A Design Academy Eindhoven graduate with a Masters of Industrial Design from RISD, Melka-Teichroew is a true citizen of the world with roots currently in New York City. Besides her own original projects (which you can find at www.buyamt.com), the designer has held a design residency at IDEO and on staff at Puma International and her work has been carried or manufactured worldwide by brands like Victoria & Albert Museum, MoMA, Kikkerland, Van Esch and more.
Chicago-based Object Design League (ODL) makes design discovery fun again with their whimsical installations and thoughtful design pieces. The five designers work together to promote experimental and independent object design through public installations and events.
Most recently, ODL setup a Balloon Factory at the Museum of Contemporary Art where they took turns hand-making balloons and demystifying a process that even included an oven made from upcycled IKEA products. Lookout for the full launch of their online store, ODLCO, at the end of the summer. Until then, the fabulous five give us a sneak peek at some of their favorite tools and products to get you inspired through the end of the season. See their picks here or check out our full gift guide here
We are so excited to feature the cast of experts and educators from Brooklyn's 3rd Ward for this week's newest edition to our Tool-focused summer gift guide!
With 30,000 square feet of working space, 3rd Ward is a true incubator for innovation. Besides a wood and metal workshop, jewelry studio, photography studio and co-working space, 3rd Ward offers a range of classes to help make your ideas real. From welding to arduino classes, upholstery 101 to skatedeck making, 3rd Ward has classes for all levels of DIYers and curious creatives.
3rd Ward instructors picked out their favorite tools for this week's Ultimate Gift Guide selections. Pick up glow-in-the-dark ABS for your Makerbot and check out the most "thoughtful" upholstery hammer—if you're in the neighborhood, stop by for a class or two! See their full selection here!
We've been in awe of Becky Stern's incredible creative output for awhile. Following her video tutorials for Make has inspired us to try our hand at any number of projects over the past couple of years—so we were psyched when she agreed to curate a selection of tools for our Ultimate Gift Guide. Learn more about what Stern makes (and what made Stern) in our profile of this MAKE-er extraordinaire or check out her picks for our summer gift guide!
We were thrilled when our longtime contributor hipstomp agreed to pick ten of his favorite tools for our Ultimate Summer Gift Guide. As he explains below, his selections reflect his signature unconventional yet practical approach:
I love working with my hands and I'm extremely picky about my tools. A crap tool will ruin your day and a cleverly-designed tool multiplies its own value exponentially by helping you easily create lasting objects or enduring repairs. There's probably nothing in my life more carefully curated than my tool collection, and looking over it for this review, I realized how many different tools I have specifically for cutting things—paper, plastic, cardboard, foam, fabric, rubber, wood and more—so here I'll focus on Ten Cutting Tools I Can't Live Without.
This week, our summer gift guide gets ten new picks from the fellas from Geekhouse Bikes, hailing from Allston, MA, just outside Boston. Even though Portland, San Francisco and New York tend to dominate cycling-related headlines stateside, Boston—home to Geekhouse, Icarus, Royal H Cycles to name a few—has a bicycle culture of its very own.
In their own words:
Geekhouse Bikes is a custom steel TIG-welding operation based in Boston, MA. We take "Made in the USA" very seriously. Founded in 2002 by bespectacled bike geek Marty Walsh, Geekhouse produce a range of bicycle frames for all types of riding. We work hard to source as much as possible from within the United States and we hold green business practices in high esteem. By employing a small staff, we take the time to personally cater to your ideas and we love watching each and every build take on the personality and individuality of our customers.
Check out a nice video of said "bespectacled bike geek" at work after the jump... or skip ahead to their picks.
The summer season is upon us and what better time to dust off the table saw and pull out the workgloves?
Fire up your engines for a new challenge or get back to those projects you've been procrastinating on with a little help from Core77 and friends! We've asked some of our favorite designers from the worlds of craft, hack and DIY to help curate a selection of gifts and gets to inspire you to get your hands dirty and dive, safety-goggles first, into the season for making!
Today we're launching the summer edition of our Ultimate Gift Guide with picks from the Core77 editorial team and the experts at our Portland-based store, Hand-Eye Supply. Stay tuned as we unveil more gifts every week from our amazing group of curators. Up next week, Boston-based custom frame builders, Geekhouse Bikes.
Can a keychain/key receive any more love from the Internet? When it's something so deceptively simple as 2010's much loved Keybrid, the answer is no, it cannot. Keybrid is here and belongs in your pocket. Buy a two pack for you and that special someone who remains on your shopping list.
For those looking to add a little quality and variety to their pursuit of bacon, we've got hungry eyes on Savenor's Bacon Society. Choose any combination of their monthly specials (from Cob Smoked to Smoke Wild Boar to Duck Bacon) and have the finest bacon shipped to your door. With shops in Boston & Cambridge, Savenor's prides itself on the quality of both its goods and its butchers' skills. If Julia Child couldn't resist, how can we?
For the big kids in your life, we present the Hansen Tacker; a steel, craftsman-built, industrial stapler still light enough to be used one-handed. Perfect for projects from stretching canvas to hanging garland to posting for sale signs around the neighborhood for your old stapler.
What do you get the kid who has everything? How about a way to turn the boxes and wrappings from other gifts into even more things! makedo kits contain a construction tool and bunches of reusable connectors and hinges to make new objects out of random household items. The nylon connectors are award-winningly designed to be safe, simple and easy to use, so its fun to give old cardboard tubes and cereal boxes a second life as toys and decorations, or make costumes from bubble wrap, fabric scraps, and egg cartons.
When we first saw the USB Battleship, our immediate response was WANT! - so we had to make sure to include it in this year's Ultimate Gift Guide. While sadly lacking the capability to let us actually play Battleships against our USB devices, the USB Battleship's long base still provides plenty of support for up to 5 USB connections at once. Hopefully the aircraft carrier and destroyer versions are coming soon.
Since the point of a Sharpie is to be a "permanent" marker, its about time they made one you'll want to hold on to for a while. The Stainless Steel Sharpie has a slightly longer grip and nice heft to it, plus it's reusable (you can screw in new ink cartridges to change the color or refill it), making this a trusty tool for your kit rather than an just another disposable marker.
If just the idea of a puppy or kitty hiding in a fruit box to steal your coins isn't already enough to make you melt, then either your heart's made of coal or you'd better prepare to be shop-vacc'd off the floor of your studio after watching this!
(Actually, I'm more partial to the chihuahua Itazura Coin Banks, but that's because I've got one asleep in my lap right now.)
Another simple concept with a great execution from Studio Ve is featured in this year's Gift Guide: the Tongue Bookmark. Instead of a dramatic reminder sticking out of your books to mentally nag you about what you've left undone, this welcoming little wedge of beech wood invites you back in with a smile.
It was 1997, I was 20 years old, wandering around random Milan back streets when I stumbled into a little architecture bookstore and picked up the only book on the front table in english, "Aircraft" by Le Corbusier. Written in 1935, I'd argue there hasn't been a better book written on design since. It masquerades as a book on emerging aircraft technology but in actuality it is a call to arms for all creatives. Corbu' is at his quotable best with lines like:
"Reform is in the very essence of things. It lies at the heart of craftsmanship. Revolution is accomplished by the cumulative effect of details."
"No door is closed. Life goes forward... make nothing academic, never say: that is the end!"
"The schools are run by "professors" (the very definition of a school). The professors teach according to the prescribed programme. The programme is prescribed by authority. Is this authority in touch with life? Occasional only. As life a programme? No, life is explosive."
"Teaching is only possible in the workshop. Arithmetic and handwriting can be taught in schools. But invention originates in the workshop."
If that wasn't enough, it has over 100 beautiful pictures of mid 1930's aircraft. This is the only item you need to put on your holiday wish list. It's out of print, so you will pay a premium, but it is worth it. Birch Books has a few copies as does Amazon.
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