Today a playlist is an audio experience; the only visual association you have with one is a series of text lines on a screen. But in the '80s and '90s, we (or at least I) formed a strong visual connection to mix tapes. Because they were physical media, you had to select and handl … | Continue reading
This Hybrid Dog Harness is by Seoul-based industrial design firm BKID. Designed for situations where your dog can be on- or off-leash, the retractable tether's handle can simply hang from your dog's back, when you don't need to handle him or her. I would've loved to have somethin … | Continue reading
Miami-based Douglas Hoekzema, once an architect, is now a mural artist. Going by the handle Hoxxoh, he's hacked different styles of lawn sprinklers to spray paint:Yielding works like these:Hoxxoh also does things the old-fashioned way, with spraypaint from a can, and his more con … | Continue reading
boAt Lifestyle began with the sale of simple yet durable charging cables. In 2016, the company entered the consumer electronics market with a mission to provide high-quality, affordable products tailored to the specific needs of Indian consumers.Founders Aman Gupta and Sameer Meh … | Continue reading
During World War II, the Nazis populated German cities with these flak towers.These complexes were often built with forced labor, and their purpose was to provide an impregnable base for anti-aircraft guns. Additionally, citizens could shelter within them during air raids. The co … | Continue reading
Even after all these years, I find cutting my nails awkward, particularly when using my non-dominant hand. Canadian company Khlip reckons the nail clipper's incumbent form factor is actually backwards, so they developed this alternate take. "All this time you've been doing it bac … | Continue reading
Bringing an autonomous camera-equipped drone to the consumer market has proved challenging. Amazon's Ring Always Home Cam, which flies around inside your house for security reasons, was announced in 2020; it's still listed as "Coming soon." Snapchat's Pixy, a drone meant to do aw … | Continue reading
Window washing as a profession can be dangerous. It's not that every day brings danger; it's that when there is an accident, the results are often horrific, as OSHA records show.A company called Skyline Robotics reckons humans shouldn't be doing the job at all. To that end they'v … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:Loop Gear's multifunctional flashlight with a strong sci-fi aesthetic. Scandinavian ergonomic gaming furniture: Fractal Design's Refine chair.In a marketplace dominated by ugly objects, Logitech's beautiful Yeti GX microphone stands out.A sm … | Continue reading
This case study focuses more on the UX side of things. Fiat hired industrial design and engineering consultancy Mixer Design Group to help develop their Fiat Track Camera System.Fiat asked Mixer to study and enhance the track experience for racing enthusiasts who drive the high-p … | Continue reading
In 2013, architect Aigars Lauzis went on an epic bicycle trip from London to Tokyo. It took four years, and Lauzis clocked 31,000 kilometers (19,263 miles).The trip inspired Lauzis to invent the BeTriton, an amphibious bicycle-towed camper. It weighs 175kg (385 lbs), but an elect … | Continue reading
This strange-looking object, by a company whose name has four consonants in a row, is a tool for cleaning out charging ports on smartphones and tablets.It features a variety of picks, brushes and scrapers, as well as a kind of scrubber port that you load with (included) "detergen … | Continue reading
The user interface for a piano, or synthesizer, are the keys. Players control the power of the note by the force with which they strike the key.Digital musical instrument manufacturer Roli dates this design to roughly 1700, and reckons it's due for an upgrade. Here in 2024, they' … | Continue reading
This TriMax Pro marks the fourth design approach we've seen to multi-screen laptops. It doesn't look like they've got the hinges quite perfected, but here's the idea:From a physical standpoint, the concept is lot simpler than the Duex Float we looked at last year:And it's a lot l … | Continue reading
In 1960, 25-year-old Herbert Dischinger started a wholesale business, selling fasteners in Augsburg, Germany. After 13 years, he'd observed that his tradesmen customers carried his products haphazardly, "untidily in bags and boxes." He then designed this metal case with brightly- … | Continue reading
Industrial designer Max Cuppens is the CEO and co-founder of Materialogic, which makes camper van interiors with large-format 3D-printed components. This means their pieces are not only lightweight, but can be executed with strikingly organic forms: They also say the fabrication … | Continue reading
In 2017, three friends in Germany attended a large camping trade fair, and came up with an outside-of-the-box-van idea:"Why do so many people buy camping vehicles (99.5% diesel!) and then only use them for this one purpose for a few weeks a year? Why not quickly convert existing … | Continue reading
A German company called ASB GlassFloor makes, well, guess. They got their start making glass floors specifically for squash courts; now they've expanded into making glass floors with millions of LEDs beneath the glass, turning the floor into a gigantic display. The company has be … | Continue reading
It takes a lot of guts to rethink a form as well-established as the watch band. But Canadian company ErgonBand reckons that plenty of activities, from cycling to running to typing, place our watch faces at the wrong angle to read. Thus they designed the rather elaborate alternati … | Continue reading
Here's an interesting solution for car campers: This accessories collection by SeaSucker, which allows you to set up a portable kitchen using your vehicle as the structure. Vacuum mounts, which you pump the vacuum into manually, adhere to your vehicle to support a worksurface, … | Continue reading
From a product standpoint, we're living in strange times. It took decades for brands like General Motors and Herman Miller to develop the refined products they design and build today. But in a matter of just years, Chinese brand Xiaomi has gone from making smartphones to electric … | Continue reading
Microphones targeting the gaming market can have…challenging aesthetics. They often look like they were designed using the contents of random parts bins.In contrast, Logitech's Yeti GX microphone looks like it should be in the MoMA:I love the chunky flow of the form and the simpl … | Continue reading
This SK-05 Pro, by Chinese "flasholic" brand Loop Gear, is a multifunctional flashlight with a striking sci-fi aesthetic. The compact design features a 1300-lumen spotlight, a 2550-lumen floodlight, removable rechargeable batteries, a magnetic butt end, and the ability to serve a … | Continue reading
Robotics company Aescape targets the lifestyle and wellness market. To develop their eponymous automated massage system, they turned to industrial design and engineering consultancy Whipsaw. As the firm writes:Massage is as old as humanity, but never before have robots been able … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:Adam Savage raves over the utilitarian beauty in this antique custom linesman's tool bag. By Yamazaki Home, a clever design for an easy-to-store spray bottle.ID firm Tricycle rethinks the design of the overlanding water tank.The Permobil Sma … | Continue reading
I've learned that living in a rural area, in the summertime, means bringing a cooler to the supermarket. Some supermarkets here have machines that provide free ice by the exit. You don't want to buy frozen meat in August, then drive it home for an hour or more while it's sitting … | Continue reading
In the early 1960s, GM auto designer Bill Mitchell made a controversial choice. For his redesign of the 1963 Corvette, he created a split rear window. The "spine" that ran between the two glass panels was reportedly inspired by Mitchell's fascination with marine life forms; indee … | Continue reading
Today you can play stunningly immersive HD games on your smartphone. But the popularity of this object here reveals a hankering for a simpler, more tactile gaming experience.The Thumby Color, by open-source hardware company TinyCircuits, is a diminutive gaming console with a 16-b … | Continue reading
These days, most desks and standing desks are just a slab with legs. For some reason that's become the modern style, even though we now have more peripherals and desk-borne gadgets than ever. In contrast, Grovemade's standing desk features a massive, useful full-width drawer that … | Continue reading
This Axon Connector is by Berlin-based 1x1 Systems, a company that empowers local production of furniture. It's a 3D-printed connector that allows the user to quickly knock together a coat rack out of wooden rods. The idea is that you use the company's online configurator to te … | Continue reading
This Maze Lamp is by Dutch designer Stijn van Aardenne. The fabrication process is quite novel:"No two Maze Lamps are alike," van Aardenne writes. "They all start with a unique seamless pattern that is extruded around a rotating axis on a 3D printer." As for the material, "plasti … | Continue reading
It's fitting that this invention comes from France, a country with a lot of outdoor cafes and a lot of cobblestones. Fixmotion's outdoor tables feature a self-stabilizing leg design:Best of all, you don't have to futz with anything. You just put the table down and it does the res … | Continue reading
Some years ago in New York, the Times Square Alliance commissioned several designers to create street furniture for the site. Industrial designer Joe Doucet's JDXP contributed a series called The Village, described as "totemic structures that reflect the iconic New York skyline, … | Continue reading
This Odu concept is by Hungary-based industrial designer Alberto Vasquez. It's a series of modular cubes holding omnidirectional drawers.The drawers register in the center position via detentes. And here's an interesting detail: When you lift one of the units up to move it, the d … | Continue reading
This SmartDrive is by Permobil, a company that makes mobility solutions for those with disabilities. It's a wheelchair add-on that provides a power assist, making it easier for users to open doors, deal with inclines, or simply travel further while reducing fatigue.Users control … | Continue reading
Here's a clever design for a spray bottle, by Japanese brand Yamazaki Home.What's so special about it? The bottle's flat front features a magnetic strip, allowing you to keep it handy, assuming you've got metal surfaces nearby. The 500mL (16.9 oz) bottle runs $8.40. | Continue reading
This G-Series 18L Water Tank, by 4x4 accessories brand Vaast, was designed by Australian ID consultancy Tricycle Developments. The idea is that you mount it to your roof, providing a gravity feed. The orange circle is the tap outlet, which you open by rotating. The black cap up t … | Continue reading
It is fascinating to see what tradespeople fabricate for themselves to make their jobs easier. And for every Studley Tool Chest, there are probably thousands of unseen objects like in languishing in attics and basements.Tested's Adam Savage collects 19th- and 20th-century linesma … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:OMHU's Teddy is a minimal reconfigurable sofa design that quickly met market success. There are now browser plug-ins dedicated to selling furniture design knockoffs.Industrial design case study: The TernX, by ID firm Tricycle Developments, i … | Continue reading
As workspaces evolve, both new and old objects are now entering them, to fill needs that workers didn't use to have. There are offices that now have locker rooms, for instance. And the situation where workers no longer have dedicated desks and instead move about a space throughou … | Continue reading
This Lup Cable, conceived of by ex-Apple mechanical engineer John Hanna, is a self-coiling charging cable. To turn it into a finished product, Hanna and his company, Reaction Labs, tapped industrial design and engineering consultancy Design 1st.Product Design RequirementsAiming t … | Continue reading
From a young age, artist Kohei Omori was diagnosed with OCD and struggled in school. He has described his obsession with detail as a disadvantage that makes everyday life difficult; and while he was able to gain an equivalency diploma after dropping out of high school, he was not … | Continue reading
Believe it or not, the seven segment display was actually invented in 1903. Early applications in signal panels used incandescent bulbs. It wasn't until the 1960s and '70s that seven segment displays really took off, with the advent of LEDs; it made possible Hewlett-Packard calcu … | Continue reading
Most cargo bike designs are clearly evolutions of the standard bicycle design. However, a German mobility startup called Dynamic Drives started from scratch with their Intelectra, a cargo e-bike.The first big difference is how you sit on it. While the standard cargo bike rider po … | Continue reading
You might see the image below and think "Gosh, wouldn't it be pretty to have a little bamboo in my garden."That can be a mistake. Bamboo comes in two varieties, "clumping" and "running." The latter variant shoots out runners, or rhizomes, horizontally—for decades. They can spread … | Continue reading
Enya Honami describes her time studying architecture as "hell." Long hours, terrifying professors, impossible workloads, high stress. In the self-illustration below, she is the one sleeping beneath the desk during an all-nighter in the studio. After gaining her degree and getting … | Continue reading
In recent years people have slowed down on expecting flying cars, as it seems that segment of the mobility industry is moving towards VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) vehicles that don't have wheels.Chinese automaker GAC, however, has a novel concept that is sort of a flying … | Continue reading
You wouldn't think of woodworkers as being involved in purse making. But at Warsaw-based handbag manufacturer Kosaty Studio, they use these things: Once the fabric patterns are cut, the pieces are laid over the equivalent of a last in shoemaking, then adhered into place. And to … | Continue reading