By Rain Noe - Jan 16

This "Impossible Screw" Has Mysterious Behavioral Properties

If you love fasteners AND party tricks, you've come to the right place

All of us understand how screws and bolts work. So imagine if you encountered a screw that you could advance--but not retract. I.e. you can screw it in, but it won't unscrew…unless you turn it from the other side. If you're confused by what I mean, watch this "impossible screw"

By Rain Noe - Jan 08

When Designers Don't Consider That End Users Must Physically Clean Their Designs

This is even worse than package designers who don't consider good ways to open their stupid packages

One of my gripes with designers of multiple fields--architecture, interior design, industrial design--is that they'll often design things with no thought to basic maintenance. By which I mean cleaning. Here's a second-story window in my house. It is festooned with cobwebs, dirt and dust, and is impossible for me to

By Rain Noe - Jan 02

2018 Best of "Hell in a Handbasket" and "Yea or Nay" Design Debates

As longtime Core77 readers know, our "Hell in a Handbasket" and "Yea or Nay" installments are really sibling sections. An HIAH post is triggered when some design "innovation" blatantly reveals something terrible about our society, whereas the YON posts are where I can't decide whether it's dumb design or

By Rain Noe - Jan 01

Our Favorite (Clever and Useful) Designs from 2018

Here are the most clever designs we've come across in the past twelve months. These are just as outside-the-box as our favorite weird/unusual designs from 2018, but have the added benefit of being extremely practical. Clever Contraption Makes Your Washing Machine Vibration-Free and SilentThe Magic Creeper: A Mechanic's Creeper With