It's subjective, but "great form, terrible CMF" is how I characterized Azio's line of chunky, deconstructed Izo keyboards. Their Retro Mechanical Keyboard line, however, is a bit more subdued. For the most part they stick to basic tones and a simple design language: The version b … | Continue reading
Nik Dvornikov runs Broinwood, a U.S.-based manufacturer of custom endgrain cutting boards. Having mastered the art of CNC inlay, Dvornikov can produce some incredibly detailed designs: A glimpse at how he does it: For a more detailed look, Dvornikov posts videos of his custom b … | Continue reading
As we've written before, companies manufacturing electronics designed to be used in prisons make them transparent, so that inmates cannot use them to smuggle contraband. Previously we'd looked at some prison radios as well as transparent electric typewriters, but product pipeline … | Continue reading
This intriguing Soft Lamp prototype is by Tokyo-based interaction designer Kuan-Ju Wu.Once activated, it responds in a surprising way:Yes, it is pneumatic, and appears to "breathe:""I aim to further develop my concept of Feral Interactions: delightful exchanges among humans, mach … | Continue reading
Product company Electric Trout brings some designey-ness to the world of MagSafe chargers, eschewing the typical EDC aesthetic for something recalling '90s Alessi. All are made of acrylic.The $39 Expo Apple Watch charging stand features an elastic strap to hold extra watchbands. … | Continue reading
Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, Founder and Principal of Interwoven Design Group, leads the 2024 Core77 Design Awards Sports and Outdoors Category which features consumer products or services created to encourage play, movement, or learning. Examples include toys, games, athletic equip … | Continue reading
How can a car company—sorry, a mobility company—gain customers that are too young to have a driver's license? At this week's Geneva Motor Show, Microlino unveiled their Microlino Lite, a teen-friendly version of their existing model. The two-seater has the same front door style a … | Continue reading
Here camera repair expert Ryan Jones restores the dial markings on a Leica M3. To fill in the impossibly thin engravings, Jones employs a clever technique: He applies Testors enamel with a dental pick, then wipes the excess away using special swabs. The dental pick wasn't the fir … | Continue reading
This Expandy furniture piece transforms from an armchair into both a two-seater loveseat and a three-seater sofa.Developed by Montreal-based mechanical engineer Daniel Chiriac, the idea is that full sofas take up a lot of space in a small apartment, yet are only needed when enter … | Continue reading
This Memo X gizmo, by Taiwan-based manufacturer Zenlet, lets you make your own sticky notes out of any paper. You stick a piece of paper into it and press down; in one motion it cuts the paper and applies the light-tack adhesive.While you can cut your paper to the standard square … | Continue reading
Julie Arrive´ and Alex Hulme are the co-founders of Approach Studio and will serve as Jury Captains for the 2024 Core77 Design Awards Emerging Technologies category. This category features systems, services, research, hardware, or software products created with the aid of recentl … | Continue reading
Brand adulation reaches a new high. Today French fashion brand Jacquemus is releasing this Le Sac Swoosh, a luxury handbag shaped like the Nike logo:Just ooh it Judging by the model's fingernails, it's indeed meant as a handbag and not an athletic accessory. The bag's unique, pre … | Continue reading
Afshin Mehin is the Jury Captain for the Core77 Design Awards Commercial Equipment and Robotics categories. The Commercial Equipment category features operational equipment and systems designed for public, commercial, industrial, medical, and scientific use. Examples include mach … | Continue reading
Spain-based artist Kiko Miyares carves these wonderful cars--with their high beams on—out of wood:"I immerse myself in a creative game where shapes, dimensions, and perspective intertwine to challenge expectations," Miyares told Colossal. At the ends of the beams, you can see wha … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:The Twisted GOAT, a tie-down alternative designed to be faster than using rope or ratchet straps, is essentially a massive twist tie. Klein Tools' offset Locknut Wrenches are a great example of form follows function.Only 1 in 15,000 visually … | Continue reading
This DISPATCH concept for an urban delivery system is by Springtime, a Dutch industrial design consultancy with a focus on mobility.Through technological developments and our changing shopping habits, the parcel delivery market has greatly changed. We want the purchases we ordere … | Continue reading
The Sperry ball turret was a marvel of 1940s engineering. American manufacturer Sperry figured out how to cram a human being into a 3.5'-diameter armored sphere with Plexiglas windows, alongside 500 rounds of ammunition and with two .50-caliber machine guns sticking out of it. … | Continue reading
The Zippo lighter was the original EDC item, back when cigarette marketing was truly wild:In the decades since, as these doctors started coughing a lot and cigarette smoking declined, Zippo branched out into other product categories to survive. This offering here brings them full … | Continue reading
Why on earth would you make a kettle square?"We have created a non-round kettle in pursuit of faster water boiling speed and stability when using a burner," explains manufacturer Sugiyama Kinzoku.A fair amount of design went into the 700mL vessel:Point 1: "The handle is neatly st … | Continue reading
Re-surfacing ice rinks creates a lot of extra ice. Students at ETH Zurich in the Master in Advanced Studies in Architecture and Digital Fabrication program found a creative way to use this excess ice with their Cold Production project."Cold Production explores a zero-waste fabric … | Continue reading
This Pantographic Bench is by Miguel Saboya, a Brazilian furniture designer/builder.Saboya—a man of few words, at least where his website is concerned—says only that the bench is made of sapele and linen.Saboya has an atelier in Lisbon where he takes commissions. You can see more … | Continue reading
Swiss architecture firm Digital Building Technologies has designed a 3D-printed building that can be taken apart, moved, and reassembled.When it's erected later this year, Tor Alva ("White Tower") will be the world's tallest 3D-printed building at 30m (98') tall. Designed as a pe … | Continue reading
Here's a strange piece of furniture I can't take my eyes off of. I spotted this rather extreme triangular console table on an auction site:It's nearly 7' long, and 20" wide at its widest point. The auctioneer has branded it "Mid Century Modern," but there's no designer attributed … | Continue reading
Daniela Maci´as leads the Core77 Design Awards Home & Living category featuring consumer products or services designed for use in a domestic setting. Examples include home accessories, appliances, home electronics, smart home products, and security systems.Everyday items like soa … | Continue reading
In Holland, police have found a correlation between the rising popularity of e-bikes and an increase in accidents. And in 2022, the country experienced a record number of fatal bicycle accidents. To combat this, Dutch authorities passed a law regulating e-bike capabilities. Legal … | Continue reading
These curious objects……are Bose's new $299 Ultra Open Earbuds, designed to deliver in-ear sound without blocking out the outside world. "Listen to a podcast as you're walking the dog and want to hear that bicycle about to pass, hear your number called at the deli while watching a … | Continue reading
The Female Design Council "is an action-oriented, professional membership organization dedicated to providing professional growth for womxn in the field of design," they write. "The FDC provides business and creative support, guidance, and mentorship while fostering dialogue and … | Continue reading
The term "lock nut" or "locknut" can refer to two different pieces of hardware:The one on the left is a nut with a nylon insert, which grips the thread of the bolts to prevent the nut from undoing itself through vibration. The one on the right, often called a conduit locknut, is … | Continue reading
This whole time, has the name of the Spot dog robot been a double entendre? Maybe not according to Spot manufacturer Boston Dynamics. However, Engineering students and faculty at the University of Glasgow have developed RoboGuide, a robot seeing-eye dog with Spot's canine form fa … | Continue reading
Securing heavy loads can be done with rope or ratchet straps, the two dominant methods (at least where I live). The former requires a knowledge of knots, the latter, a bit of fussing with alignment and rewinding. Inventor Matt Hawkes, who grew up on a 600-acre cattle ranch where … | Continue reading
Happy President's Day! This weekend former President Donald Trump made a surprise appearance at Sneaker Con, a sneakerhead convention, in Philadelphia. Trump was there to announce the launch of Trump Sneakers, a line of kicks led by the $400 "Never Surrender High-Top Sneaker."Lim … | Continue reading
This is for you out there who either are curious about design awards or have made a decision to enter but are looking for guidance on presenting your team's work to a jury. If you are reading this unconvinced of the merit of entering a design awards program, please let us to take … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week: Fun for corporate drones: The Escalator Slide, by artist/designer Julijonas Urbonas. Mitsubishi Electric's sealed, insulated $270-$500 single-slice toaster apparently makes perfect toast. The precursor to the bicycle: This 1817 "running machine … | Continue reading
A hair comb is relatively slim and easy to carry; a hair pick, less so. Global industrial design and product development firm Shark Design rectified this with their Portable Hair Pick. As the firm writes:Collapsible and perfect for on-the-go use. The portable hair picks are desig … | Continue reading
This waterproof Storm Jacket, by Hong Kong clothing brand Storm Lab, has a whopping 18 pockets. There's an extra flap of fabric to help accommodate them all. It's an EDC'ers dream.One pocket, on the left sleeve, is transparent and comes with a removable "lighting module" that ser … | Continue reading
For reasons of access, we haven't seen any work from industrial design studios in Thailand since 2013. But I just came across this quirky Cubb alarm clock by Syrub Studio, an ID consultancy based in Thailand's Chonburi province, and was struck by how different the form sensibilit … | Continue reading
Faum, an Australian company that manufactures beeswax products, makes this amusing chess set where the pieces are candles. It was designed by sculptor Tatsiana Shevarenkova.Shevarenkova explains her intent:"Over the past year, beeswax has been a primary medium of my practice. The … | Continue reading
This year Scott Henderson leads both the Core77 Design Awards Lifestyle Accessories category featuring consumer products intended for personal use in daily life, and the Core77 Design Awards Tools category which features consumer products or services designed for individual use t … | Continue reading
In the early days of your industrial design career, you're trying to create value for clients. Get far enough along and rack up the right accolades, however, and apparently you can convince companies to manufacture your flights of fancy. Danish veteran industrial designer Anders … | Continue reading
Drinkware manufacturer Stanley cut their teeth keeping beverages hot for 20th-century factory workers. That market is long gone, but Stanley has successfully pivoted with the times. Today's target customer is more concerned with glamping than stamping, thus Stanely now produces t … | Continue reading
Here's an interesting take on laptop design, by Tokyo-based industrial design firm Junichiro Yokota Studio.The design incorporates the rear riser that many of us use on laptops, both for ergonomics and as a cooling measure, and uses that riser as a "storage tube" for the ports: T … | Continue reading
Over the years we've looked at multiple designs for stair-climbing handtrucks. The UpCart uses a triangular configuration of wheels:The TechLift design used mechanical advantage in a clever way, but the product didn't last in the market: Dutch company Matador seemed to give up on … | Continue reading
Garrett Brown is the inventor of the Steadicam and other camera stabilization systems. Having invented the Steadicam way back in the 1970s, Brown has retained his deep understanding of how to balance weight to create stability. In recent years, he turned this mastery towards solv … | Continue reading
Chrysler has unveiled their Halcyon concept car, an aptly-named model thankfully designed with an old-school attention to form.Just a few years ago, I might've called this concept bland, maybe derivative: The nose of a Ferrari 308, the roofline of a Nissan 300Z, the sides of a fi … | Continue reading
Consider the UX of getting acetone or similar onto a rag: You unscrew the vessel, cover the spout with the rag, briefly invert the vessel, then reorient it and re-cap it. That's fine if you're doing it once. But for those working in a shop environment where this is a regular task … | Continue reading
Call me crazy, but I think AI eyeglasses aren't ready for primetime. The latest buzz is being generated by startup Brilliant Labs, which is offering these Harry-Potter-esque specs called Frame for pre-order:However, watch this real-time 30-second demo, and tell me what you think: … | Continue reading
This is technologically impressive and downright eerie. 1X, a Norwegian company developing humanoid robots, is showing off their completely autonomous EVE model—which has a gym body torso, wears clothes, features a primitive illuminated smiley face, gets around on wheels, and wor … | Continue reading
While there's no such thing as a "standard" restaurant chair, during my table-waiting days I've handled tons of these:I know you can't see what the underside looks like, but it's burned into my brain from inverting these onto tables at the end of each shift. Beneath the seat, the … | Continue reading