By Ray Hu - Feb 19 New

The Parting of the Furniture

Unpacking the promise of IKEA's subscription model

BILLY is joining the gig economy, and he'll hold your books and whatever else you see fit until you upgrade to KALLAX or HEMNES, or you finally bring yourself to KonMari all your worldly possessions away...

By Rain Noe - Feb 18 New

Husqvarna's Crazy "Backpack Chainsaw"

When the exploded view of a product is the finished product

Wielding a chainsaw can be tiring. Getting tired leads to accidents, so I call it quits as soon as I start to feel fatigued. That's a luxury I can afford because I'm harvesting firewood on a relaxed schedule, not performing silviculture for a living. I admire the professional arborist that

By Rain Noe - Feb 18

Plastic Bags are Recyclable, So Why Can't We Throw Them In Recycling Bins? PBS Explains

Here's why "If you must choose between a home recycling bin or the trash, the recycling industry suggests throwing plastic bags in the trash"

Plastic bags have this recycling symbol right on them… …and yet we're not supposed to throw these scourges into the plastics recycling bin. And if you fill them with recyclable materials, like plastic bottles, and throw that into the recycling bin, guess what: The entire bag and its contents will

By Rain Noe - Feb 18

This Japanese Version of a Nail File is Cylindrical (and Of Course, Multifunctional)

File transfer complete

Here's an innovative take on a rather humble object, the nail file. The original form factor gets you detained by the TSA. In contrast, this Japanese version is a short, innocuous cylinder with multiple filing functions: We don't have a line-by-line translation available, but we can clearly see that it

By Rain Noe - Feb 15

A Dental Industry Tool for Getting the Last Drop of Product Out of a Squeeze Tube

The Big Squeeze is now commercially available

Nothing drives me nuts like wasted product. When I finish a bag of potato chips, I up-end the bag and pour the powder at the bottom into my mouth. I "marry" my shampoo bottles. Back when I was cooking for myself, if I fried up a steak, the pan and

By Core Jr - Feb 15

Watch Nicole Gibbons' "How to Disrupt an Oversaturated Market" Talk at the 2018 Core77 Conference

CEO of the new paint company Clare, Nicole Gibbons, figured out how to disrupt an entire industry with a combination of understanding her expertise and recognizing room for improvement within the paint industry. Here, she shares how she identified a market problem and created a system that fills a void in a crowded industry, while also making the experience of choosing paint for your home relatable, beautiful, and enjoyable:

By Rain Noe - Feb 15

These Bolts Change Color When Tightened Properly

SmartBolts obviate the need for torque wrenches, and make spotting trouble easy

I love torque wrenches, because they let me ensure that dangerous parts like lawnmower blades are properly tightened. But what if you didn't need the torque wrench (which are pretty damned pricey) at all? A company called Stress Indicators Inc. has invented SmartBolts, which feature a red dot in the

By Rain Noe - Feb 15

AeroMods: DIY Aerodynamic Improvements to Cars

Hypermilers get hypercompetitive

"Hypermiling" is the practice of saving gas by driving conservatively. Practitioners accelerate slowly, coast wherever possible, and let physics do most of the braking for them. Ardent hypermilers can improve fuel economy by absurd amounts, wringing 62.7 mpg from a 25 mpg car, for example. This gamification of fuel economy

By Core Jr - Feb 14

Sponsored Post: Currently Crowdfunding: Delightful Robots, Handy Portable Chargers and Holographic Driving Assistants!

Navigating the world of crowdfunding can be overwhelming, to put it lightly. Which projects are worth backing? Where's the filter to weed out the hundreds of useless smart devices? To make the process less frustrating, we scour the various online crowdfunding platforms to put together a weekly roundup of our favorite campaigns for your viewing (and spending!) pleasure. Go ahead, free your disposable income:

By Emily Engle - Feb 14

Freitag Expands Material Offering to Include Recycled Plastic Bottles (After 25 Years of Truck Tarp Loyalty)

The new F610 CINNAMON backpack has 'em both

Freitag has been known for their sturdy bags made from truck tarps for the past 25 years, but today there's been a plot twist: the Zurich-based company announced that they'll be adding fabric made from recycled PET plastic bottles as their second main material. The announcement comes in the form

By Rain Noe - Feb 14

MoMA's "The Value of Good Design" Exhibition

"Exploring the democratizing potential of design" by studying furniture, cars, appliances, electronics and more

This week the MoMA opened The Value of Good Design, an exhibition that examines the titular subject by looking backwards to look forwards: "Is there art in a broomstick? Yes, says Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art, if it is designed both for usefulness and good looks." This quote, from a

By Core Jr - Feb 14

Watch Jamie Wolfond's "Backwards Design Isn't So Backwards" Talk at the 2018 Core77 Conference

Many designers follow a traditional design process, where final designs are sent to a factory after they've gone through the prototyping process. Jamie Wolfond and his brand Good Thing, however, choose to put an emphasis on specific materials and production methods at the beginning of the design process, working with factories, manufacturers and outside designers to bring unexpected twists on classic home items to life. In this talk, Jamie delves into this method of "backwards design," explainin

By Rain Noe - Feb 14

CCAD Industrial Design Students Studying Effect of Technology on Mental Health

Here's a dispatch from the school's "Unplugged Day"

According to the Columbus Dispatch, a group of industrial design students at the Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) are working on "a multi-semester project to examine the impact of technology on mental health." As part of a related student-led CCAD initiative, all students were asked to avoid their

By Rain Noe - Feb 14

Observing Cars Crashing Into K-Rails, to Debunk a Theory

A cop once told me how K-rails work. I don't think he was right

During my ambulance days, a State Trooper explained to me that K-rails were designed to keep cars stuck to them in the event of a collision (as opposed to ricocheting the car back into traffic, where they would cause mayhem). Have you ever heard this? I was never able to

By Emily Engle - Feb 13

A 2019 Lexus UX Won Fashion Week By Wearing Air Force 1 Inspired Tires

That feeling when a car rocks sneakers better than you do...

At this point, New York Fashion Week is basically just models and celebrities theatrically trying to one-up each other via expensive outfits. If you doubt this, come visit our office in Soho and people watch for a bit. But this fashion week cycle, it wasn't a model, a blogger or

By Core Jr - Feb 13

Watch Floyd's "Creating Your Place Within a Longstanding Market" Talk at the 2018 Core77 Conference

Through offering attainable pricing, same-day delivery, easy-assembly, transparent customer relationships and a dedication to great design, furniture company Floyd has been able to successfully create its own market within the longstanding furniture industry. Here, Floyd Co-Founders, Kyle Hoff and Alex O'Dell discuss how they are building a brand that continues to stay ahead of the game and tackle the problems of the typically painful processes of buying, assembling and moving furniture.

By Steven Johnson - Feb 13

Steven M. Johnson's Bizarre Invention #246: The Road Office

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 Joel Moskowitz - Feb 13

Tools & Craft #126: A Better System for Keeping Tools Sharp

How did craftspeople in ancient times build incredible things with crappy tools?

I was wandering around the Metropolitan Museum of Art when it occurred to me: nothing much has changed over the millennia. Before the mid-seventeenth century, steel was not common. Craftsmen had a choice between expensive tools made of blister steel and iron tools that were case hardened to get a

By Rain Noe - Feb 13

Demonstration: Does That DOMOM Deburring Tool Actually Work?

Short answer: No, it's a cheap knock-off of the Uniburr

Last month we posted about what appeared to be a wondrous tool, the DOMOM Deburring Tool. We weren't the only ones to spot it/be suckered by it; following an extensive social media advertising campaign, DOMOM's product bought their way onto the radar of many, including a YouTube channel I've been

By Rain Noe - Feb 13

Austin Hodges' Images of Ruined Standalone Homes

Last kids on the block

I have a lot of respect for Austin Hodges, as he's one of those artists that produces good work, yet is grinding it out at a 9-to-5 to support himself. "I don't think I could ever make photography my career," Hodges told Messy Nessy. "I would lose interest in the

By Rain Noe - Feb 13

Yea or Nay: This Robotic Toilet-Cleaning Device

It's made by Robotech (not THAT Robotech)

A company named Altan Robotech (yes, that's their real name) is selling Giddel, a small robotic toilet cleaning device. You can let the device do its thing while you try to initiate hooking up with your partner. If you don't believe me, watch the video below: Were I the

By Allison Fonder - Feb 12

Alexis Houssou on How to Know If Your Company is Right for Venture Capital Funding

"Every overnight success is usually a company that almost died five times."

Alexis Houssou, co-founder of the venture firm Hardware Club, worked with his business partner to upend the typical structure of venture capital firm. They didn't just want to fund successful hardware companies—they wanted to start a community for these startups looking for others to talk to about the daily challenges of trying to fund a successful tech startup.

By Kickstarter Design & Tech - Feb 12

The Incredible Pressure of Building a Shower Head—One With the Potential to Save a Billion Gallons of Water

A team of Apple, Tesla, and NASA alumni are working to turn the stigma of the "low flow" shower on its head, one luxurious, well-engineered rinse at a time.

After years of tough engineering challenges, the Nebia 2.0 is a feat of elegant industrial engineering that pulls inspiration from agricultural irrigation, office furniture, and fuel injection. California was in a drought—its worst in recorded history. And for much of 2014, Bret Recor had been trying to convince a Mexico

By Rain Noe - Feb 12

Tips and Tricks for Rendering Soft Goods

Including how to quickly get textures without having to draw them

When it comes to rendering by hand, "Soft goods and apparel products can be a real challenge for designers," writes industrial designer Eric Strebel." They're not shiny plastic objects, but are more organic and flowing. Getting the light and lay of the material to read correctly is key to conveying

By Rain Noe - Feb 12

After Living in Tiny NYC Apartment, Australian Industrial Designer Invents Folding Stairs (and Furniture)

As a furniture design student living in New York City, Zev Bianchi found the space constraints rather different than what he was used to in his native Australia. This "living in high priced and confined conditions," Bianchi writes, "was where I developed my passion, partly out of necessity, to design

By Rain Noe - Feb 12

A DIY Desk With Hidden Laptop Storage

…made from reclaimed pallet wood, but without that "pallet wood look"

While I'm not a fan of working with pallet wood, I understand the appeal of free raw materials. Here Brad from the Make It Youtube channel harnesses the stuff to create a desk. He not only manages to avoid the typical rustic pallet wood look, but also adds a nifty

By Rain Noe - Feb 11

An Inflatable Roof Rack for Your Car

The light-duty Ultix Tair Rack is cheaper than conventional roof bars, stows away easily and is quick to install

Here's what I've found to be the pain points for roof racks, at least the one for my car: 1. It's a pain-in-the-neck to install. It came with a little cheapie torque wrench that I've been meaning to buy a replacement for, but I already spent several hundred dollars on