It's fair to say democracy is struggling. The lofty ideal of governance for the people by the people has suffered against the shifting reality of modern society. What was once hailed as an innovative approach to policy-making reflective of citizens' needs and wishes has failed to … | Continue reading
Just 8 years ago, Time magazine named the selfie stick one of the best inventions of 2014. It's about to become obsolete; mass-market selfie drones have arrived with Pixy, Snap Inc.'s new product.From a UX perspective, Snap has taken the Apple (at least the old Apple) approach to … | Continue reading
It's rare to see a female-led tech object startup company, and this one caught my eye. Canadian company Aurea, led by mechanical engineer Cat Adalay and designer Rachel Carr, is to wind what BioLite is to fire and sun. Aurea invented the Shine Turbine, a portable wind turbine tha … | Continue reading
So, remember that university sleep study where the researcher slept wherever her cats slept every night? Here's a sort-of (unaffiliated) product tie-in, also created by college students, but this time involving dogs. As the inspiration, anyway. The Plufl, conceived of by Universi … | Continue reading
This person rigged up this elegant little lighter, that can be extinguished with one hand: If the application's not obvious, "This is for lighting pipes/smoking things and such," the inventor writes. "In many people's opinion (myself included), it tastes smoother this way than us … | Continue reading
Most of us take the ability to brush our teeth, making all of those fine circular movements, for granted. But for those with cognitive and developmental disabilities, or for paralyzed individuals whose teeth are brushed by a caregiver, those motions can be difficult-to-impossible … | Continue reading
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These storage furniture pieces by Paris-based designer Frédéric Gaunet caught my eye. They're made by Tolix, a French manufacturer of metal furniture.The MT 1335 is a handsome storage unit that looks both retro and modern:It scales down to become the MT 750: And scales down once … | Continue reading
This "Wisdom Tree" was purportedly designed because "readers love to read serval [sic] books simultaneously," according to manufacturer Bookniture.I initially deemed it silly, but after thinking about it I can't deny it offers some utility. Where I think it would be very handy is … | Continue reading
I think it's silly that the valet and clotheshorse are now obsolete pieces of furniture. For clothes that are not dirty enough to go in the laundry but not clean enough to go back into the dresser, I think most of us could use a more elegant solution than throwing them across a c … | Continue reading
Incheon, South Korea-based industrial designer Ye-Eun Son found what most of us recognize: That power strips, in addition to being unsightly, are magnets for dust.She designed her Turney concept to address this:"I solved the dust and [unsightly] lines of the power strip by turnin … | Continue reading
The Soulseat (pictured above) that we looked at here is an interesting, relatively simple alternative design for an office chair that allows you to sit in a variety of positions. I'd never seen anything quite like it, but have just learned they're not alone in this market. Compet … | Continue reading
Package design for cosmetics, at least in the West, seems to have pretty clear rules: Render forms that are monolithic, minimal, elegant, muted. So I was struck by these two lines of Miniso's cosmetics packaging, designed by South Korean ID consultancy found/Founded. The designer … | Continue reading
Earlier we wrote about Hydrowood, the incredibly well-preserved timber being harvested from an underwater forest in Tasmania. The submerged trees have yielded gorgeous lumber:It would be a shame for any of that prized wood to go to waste, but the furniture-making process invariab … | Continue reading
Here's a fantastic example of design success over time. Ever since designer Anton Willis released the first Oru Kayak in 2012, he and his company have continually improved and expanded upon the design, creating multiple variants that are faster, lighter or more rugged than the or … | Continue reading
Industrial designers Gilli Kuchik & Ran Amitai are partners in both work and life. On their daily commute to the studio, the duo writes, "every morning we would get stuck in the same traffic jam on a street that had funny street sculptures of all sorts of creatures:""We were imme … | Continue reading
The conceit behind Gundam, and other anime in the mecha genre, is that futuristic technology allows humans to ride around in gigantic humanoid exoskeletons, controlling their movements from a cockpit in the chest.It seemed like complete science fiction upon Gundam's release in 19 … | Continue reading
This small workbench, apparently designed for modelmaking, was created by carpenter François-Alexandre Monfort while pursuing his Masters in Product Design at France's École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD).I wish there was more detail provided about the piece, as … | Continue reading
Through her work as a futurist, Alisha Bhagat imagines and investigates truly fascinating visions of what is to come. And although she possesses years of experience in traditional strategic foresight, she is working to upend our typical sci-fi visions of the field. Bhagat regular … | Continue reading
If you're interested in learning to design and 3D print flexures, here's a chance to save hours or days of experiments, not to mention print spools. In this week's Core77 Crash Course, 3D printing maven Akaki Kuumeri will break down his tips, tricks and principles for creating 3D … | Continue reading
As a teenager, Mike Vetter fell in love with the Lamborghini Countach. Like most teenagers, he couldn't afford one. But he did manage to scrape up $2,500 for a kit body, and another $1,700 for a used Pontiac Fiero. With no mechanical training—Vetter was working at a Burger King a … | Continue reading
My elderly neighbor uses a cane, and one of the pain points I've observed is her struggling to get it in and out of the car. Collapsible canes exist, but they can be fiddly. I've been looking around for a better solution and just discovered this Quick Fold Cane, designed by Micha … | Continue reading
We are all familiar with the phrase, change is inevitable. However, what we are starting to experience globally, the speed in which change occurs, and the complexity it presents to systems, policies, products, lifestyle, values and social and environmental justice, is not just su … | Continue reading
The design of traditional hip flasks contain both good and lousy UX. The good is that they're slightly curved, allowing them to nestle against your body when placed in a pocket. The bad is that they're made of metal and opaque, making it difficult to fill them to the top without … | Continue reading
The annual Valparaiso Cerro Abajo is a nerve-wracking urban downhill bike race, held in hilly Valparaiso, Chile. Cyclists with nerves of steel rocket down narrow staircases, alleyways and at one point even through a house, at what you could call great peril, for about 2 kilometer … | Continue reading
Aimed at car campers and outdoorspeople, the Tail Table adds a convenient surface to the open rear of your hatchback, car or SUV. Just as the Moki Door Step relies on the existing door latch of your car, the Tail Table hooks onto the trunk/hatchback latch.In its diminutive form, … | Continue reading
In this post we looked at a variety of steps you can hook onto the wheel of your truck, to make it easier to access the bed from the side.And in this post we looked at Dropracks, a roof rack that automatically lowers its load down to the side of your car.Something sort of in-betw … | Continue reading
Teenage Engineering has created another beautiful (and pricey!) tech object in their TX-6, a portable mixer. It's "comparable to larger units, but with even more tech packed into one sturdy little machine," the company writes."TX–6 is our powerful 6 channel stereo mixer with buil … | Continue reading
Here's an example of designers not thoroughly thinking through a problem, and a tradesman having to take up the slack. Consider the design of a freestanding EV charger. Regardless of manufacturer, the designs seen by Trevor Palmer, a UK-based installer, all have a flanged base at … | Continue reading
Unless you grew up in a culture that routinely rests in a deep squatting position, that particular posture can be tough on the joints. French industrial designer and ECAL grad Camille Ringenbach, observing the poor postures of laborers at a vineyard, saw the physical stresses tha … | Continue reading
Because I live on a farm, I have two types of boots: Boots that might get feces on them, and boots that will definitely get feces on them. The dedicated muck boots live in a bucket when they're not being used and never touch the floor of my house, but the "might boots" I will occ … | Continue reading
While I'm skeptical this is an improvement, curiosity means I'd have to try one of these, were it sold here. The Kurun toothbrushis an ultrasonic vibrating toothbrush with roller-style bristles, bunched together in an arrangement that supposedly always presents them to the surfac … | Continue reading
Recently I saw a road crew laying out cones to block off a section of highway, with this crazy-looking thing driving slowly behind them:I looked it up when I got home. That's an Autonomous Impact Protection Vehicle, essentially a driverless follow-truck rigged up with a deployabl … | Continue reading
As the cook in our household, my wife is constantly, arduously mixing things in large metal bowls. It doesn't look fun: She has to steady the bowl with one hand while mixing with the other, and often uses a bowl far larger than its contents, so that she can keep the bowl flat on … | Continue reading
We tend to think of the Japanese diet as being healthy. Having lived there, I can say they eat better than Americans, but there's still plenty of junk to be had, from the ubiquitous ramen stands to the pre-made conbini (convenience store) food that harried workers snap up.Additio … | Continue reading
At a press event earlier tonight Lincoln unveiled the Star, the striking concept electric vehicle they've been secretly working on.Why now? The company, which could have been counted nearly out of the game a decade ago, now has freshly-designed ICE models in their Aviator and Cor … | Continue reading
Have you ever wondered how manhole covers are tested for durability? Me neither, but that's not going to stop me from telling you about it.French manufacturer Saint-Gobain PAM makes ductile iron manhole covers—sorry, "access covers" in industry parlance—as well as grating and sur … | Continue reading
Here's a package design for beer (sort of) that caught me off-guard:Earlier this month Miller Lite released limited edition Beer Drops, a "liquid taste enhancer that adds more beer taste to other light beers." (And no, apparently it wasn't an April Fools' prank.)"Beer Drops…grace … | Continue reading
Michael J. Townsend, who earned both an MFA and a Masters from RISD, may have studied Printmaking, but he was "fascinated with architecture," according to the Providence Journal. That's why, after spending much time in and around the Providence Place shopping mall in the early 20 … | Continue reading
From this basic, expressive sketch……Italian industrial designer Odo Fioravanti worked up some physical models……to create the CJ (Coffee Jockey) machine, which tips over from modernism to brutalism:I thought perhaps it was a concept, but it was commissioned by espresso machine man … | Continue reading
trolala by lafloreThere's no award for Daughter of the Year, but if there were, Laflore's Natacha Seroussi would undoubtedly be in the running. After stepping up to the plate at the family business by helping Paris atelier and leather goods shop CECILE & JEANNE, now Laflore, laun … | Continue reading
Here's a designey concept for a combination flashlight/lantern/hanging lamp, by South-Korea-based industrial designers Han Youngseok and Park Jaehyeon. In its most basic form, it's a chunky rechargeable LED flashlight.For lantern mode, one places it on a flat surface and slides … | Continue reading
Over the years we've seen some surprising materials being repurposed into products: Fire hoses into clothing, highway billboards into tarps, airbags into backpacks, seatbelts into bicycle pedal straps. The latest unexpected source is decommissioned commercial airline life vests. … | Continue reading
I'm a little skeptical of a central element of this design, but I admire the initiative. Industrial design consultancy NextOfKin Creatives worked up this Stride Senze concept, a cane for the elderly that would use sensors and a motor to assist the user. In theory it would reduce … | Continue reading
Beartooth is a small device that pairs with your phone over Bluetooth. Once connected, you can now push-to-talk, send text messages or share your location with other nearby users that have a Beartooth paired with their phone—even in areas with no cell service nor WiFi. This makes … | Continue reading
In 2010, cycling enthusiast and teenager Nathan Hughes wanted pedal straps for his bike. Rather than buy them, he went to a junkyard and cut some seatbelts out of cars. He then learned to sew by watching YouTube, and made his own pedal straps from the seatbelts.They were pretty g … | Continue reading
Portugal-based furniture designer João Teixeira came up with Bars, a desk that features an elevated perimeter that serves as a storage/organization element. The inspiration for the form, according to Texeira:"On the one hand, looking for simple and practical ways for setting moo … | Continue reading
The EDC market seems insatiable. The latest multitool being snapped up by those who have to have a Philips, flathead and cutting blade on them at all times is this Multi-Tool Capsule by multitool peddler Wyn Labs. I at least have to admit that they're trying to do more with less: … | Continue reading