Here's what we looked at this week:A good example of improving an existing product's UX by listening to customers' pain points: Star-M's special Raceway Bit speeds installation times for electricians. Milwaukee's alternative designs for vacuum-based drill dust shrouds.Elements Ed … | Continue reading
"We are completely revolutionizing air conditioners," writes startup Transaera, "with advanced materials that remove moisture from the air before cooling it. Then we use the heat generated by the air conditioner – instead of wasting it – to dry the material for the next cycle. Th … | Continue reading
This is an interesting furniture form, designed for the masses, and always poorly executed. (I have a hard time admitting those two qualities are now permanently linked.) Aimed at the outdoor grilling crowd, it's a height-adjustable outdoor side table with a cooler in the bottom … | Continue reading
You've seen pit stop footage with crew members zipping tires on and off. But you may not have seen this thing being swapped out:That's a bottle filled with water, usually mixed with some combination of vitamins, minerals and/or glucose. Races can be long and grueling, and drivers … | Continue reading
SHFT is the handle of a South Korean product designer who produces objects in sheet metal. Their m.o. is to post shots of prototypes on Instagram to gauge feedback, then batch-produce the things people like. One such object is this stainless steel Fold B clipboard for sketching, … | Continue reading
This Ourou shelving system employs an unusual wood joint. It was developed by French industrial designer Guillaume Bloget, working with craftsman Antoine Rivie`re."I wanted to make a wooden shelving system, without nails or screws, completely removable so that it could be stored … | Continue reading
Standard Equipment, a Toronto-based furniture startup, is producing this unnamed seating system framed with 5mm aluminum sheets. It ships broken down, and you bolt it together. The cushions are foam, upholstered in Olefin canvas.It's available as a one-seater club chair……a two-se … | Continue reading
Responsible furniture designers use sustainably-sourced and certified wood. However, not all of that wood goes into the pieces, of course; there are offcuts and scrap. These high-quality pieces of wood, which have had the bad luck of occupying the negative space of a design, are … | Continue reading
When I was living in the city, I wore out the ass of a pair of Carhartts just by sitting on stoops and concrete. Bummed me out as the rest of the pants were still good. If only NYC was bedecked with these: That's the Corner bench, by Norwegian industrial designer Lars Tornøe. The … | Continue reading
This elegant portable lamp, called Salt, is by German lighting manufacturer Grau. Made of powder-coated aluminum and with a rubberized base, it features a touch-sensitive top that allows you to dim the LED, which maxes out at 450 lumens.While the lamp's form is stark and technica … | Continue reading
For building durable structures and outdoor furniture, tropical hardwood Ipé is a gift from nature. Unfortunately, we've taken too much of it, devastating the tropical rainforest to produce boardwalks, decks and flooring for yachts.A more sustainable alternative to Ipé has been d … | Continue reading
If you're designing steel outdoor furniture or infrastructure, your go-to material would be stainless steel—if your client has deep pockets. If they don't, you'd step down to galvanized steel, which adds a protective layer of zinc, offering the corrosion resistance at a lower cos … | Continue reading
These elegant, double-walled Cilindro oil cruets are by Italian industrial designer Corrado Dotti. They're handmade, out of borosilicate glass.There's also a Cubo version… …and finally the Sfera. (The vessel without a spout is a salt shaker.) They're also available with tinted … | Continue reading
These Vök trays are by Icelandic industrial designer Dögg Guðmundsdóttir. The name makes immediate sense—if you speak Icelandic:"Inspiration and the name for these trays were found in the cracks and holes in ice that are known in Iceland as vök." "The Vök trays are three asymmet … | Continue reading
Most power tool manufacturers you've heard of, and some you haven't, offer some form of vacuum-connected dust collector for drilling. The lamprey-like devices use the vacuum's suction to stick to a wall or ceiling, while a hole in the middle admits the bit. Milwaukee has two alte … | Continue reading
This Space-Frame series of furniture, by Berlin-based architect Gustav Düsing, was designed over a decade ago as an experiment. It's a pity it wasn't pursued further. Made of Baltic Birch plywood, the pieces could conceivably be cut on a less-than-full-size CNC mill and would obv … | Continue reading
It's been two years since we first saw the 2x2 Ultra Bike prototype, which had electric motors—and gas tanks!—in each wheel.Produced by Russian company Robo Systems, it's now being offered for sale through mobility company TheArsenale. The current version of the bike looks like r … | Continue reading
A company called Elements Eden is taking square aim at the "design lover's" crowd with their repurposed airline galley carts. The staged photographs present them as Mac workstations, Monocle storage units and shrines-in-waiting to Dieter Rams. The company says these are designed … | Continue reading
I don't know whether to be impressed, terrified or skeptical. This is startup Astribot's eponymous robot competently performing domestic tasks: Tidying up a worksurface, preparing food, vacuuming, ironing, folding clothes, etc., purportedly without being teleoperated:My kneejerk … | Continue reading
When installing raceways or conduit brackets, each installation screw requires two holes on opposite channel walls. One hole is sized to fit the shaft of the fastener, while the opposite hole must be larger than the fastener's head. This is so the installer has enough room to dri … | Continue reading
The most common surgical implant is a screw; surgeons insert billions of them in patients each year.Screws need holes, and holes need drills. When wielding these drills, "Surgeons currently use their 'feel' to stop on the far side of the bone," writes McGinley Orthopedic Innovati … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:The strange story of how lefty abuse led to the formation of a successful mid-century design duo. Microsoft's new AI face animation technology turns a single snapshot into a convincing talking head. "Make anyone say anything."Outside-the-box … | Continue reading
The curse of an industrial designer: Slaving over details no one will get to see. It's a pity that this GO streetlight, by Zurich-based industrial designer Jörg Boner, is mounted so high up. From the ground you can't see how attractive the head is. It's made of die-cast aluminum, … | Continue reading
Sometimes you nail that one component that makes the whole piece. In the case of this Piloti Alu table, by Portugese industrial designer Hugo Passos, it's the corner connector:The frame is aluminum, and the tops are available in stone or laminate. The Piloti Alu is in production … | Continue reading
This Grasp Lamp, by Danish industrial designer Thomas Albertsen, isn't really a lamp in the technical sense: Instead it's a structure to hold lighting. Which is to say, the lamp has no wiring, just a (presumably magnetic) connection point where you pop in a rechargeable LED light … | Continue reading
Space may be infinite, but it has the same problem we do on Earth: Not enough housing. Builders of space habitats are constrained by shipping capacity. While rocket launches have become cheaper and more frequent, there are only so many building materials you can cram into the pay … | Continue reading
In the UK, where drinking warm beer was a thing, pint glasses were an appropriate vessel for centuries. In 20th century Germany, a new type of beer vessel evolved along with the technology of refrigeration: The stange, which translates to "pole" or "rod," as that's what the narro … | Continue reading
This object might baffle Westerners visiting Japan:To give you some context, you'd find it in a traditional noodle shop.It's an old-school spice vessel, invented prior to blowmolding. They often hold shichimi (a spice blend) and are easily made with local materials. The body is s … | Continue reading
At first glance, wearable speakers are a strange bit of kit. When Bose released their Soundwear Companion in 2017, I couldn't see the use case. But as I age it becomes more obvious. I frequently use captions while watching shows or movies, as I have a difficult time making out th … | Continue reading
These stunning furniture pieces are by Australian furniture designer/builder Brodie Neill (who did that ReCoil table we looked at earlier). First off, this Bonsai shelving unit was commissioned by a client. It's made of bronze and hollow:The Atmos desk is "formed from a single su … | Continue reading
Muddycap is the handle of an anonymous artist/designer whose bio reads "I make chairs and shits." His Instagram is a deep portfolio of insane chair designs. (Most appear to be renderings, though he can be seen making models in some shots and occasionally shows IRL full-size build … | Continue reading
Korean artist/designer Oneseo Choi must have a steady supply of castoff aluminum extrusions. His "Pattern of Industry" series uses them to make furniture:Because Choi is branded both an artist and designer, it's a little trickier to evaluate the work. If it's art, it's essentiall … | Continue reading
London-based Scott Richler's design background is atypical: He's worked as both an architect and a jewelry designer. Both disciplines have clearly informed his Harlow Chandelier: The shades are mold-blown glass, available in white or smoked grey. The structures are available in f … | Continue reading
Designer and manufacturer unknown, but this chair hails from 1970s Norway, according to reseller Møbelhøker.It demonstrates mastery of steam bending and, surprisingly, it's listed as a folding chair. You can guess where the pivot point is, though the hardware is unseen. The armre … | Continue reading
Italian industrial designer Bruno Munari designed this radical Cubo posacenere ("Cube ashtray") around 1954:Image: Di Albertozanardo - CC BY-SA 4.0 Placing the butts inside the box was completely outside-the-box; up until that point, anything we'd call an ashtray was an open dish … | Continue reading
Interior design magazine RUM posted these shots of an NYC apartment renovation: While the newer furniture pieces are credited, this vernacular chair in the second shot is not:Image: Piet Albert Goethals The seatback flows downward to become the front leg, of which there are only … | Continue reading
This article was written by Scott Jenson and Michael DiTullo A few recent tech writers have leaked that the new AirPods case will likely have a touch screen. Other earbud makers have tried this as well but it's Apple, so people will naturally have strong opinions, and we're no di … | Continue reading
We don't often see softgoods in ID students' portfolios, so this one jumped out at us. This M–W256 project was done by Sven Abplanalp while studying Industrial Design at ECAL:"M–W256" is a project resulting from a global analysis of connectors from the textile industry. This rese … | Continue reading
On a Wire is a record stand as unique as your collection: the only record stand available today that organizes and displays your records simultaneously. On a Wire lives near your turntable, organizing your new, favorite, and new favorite records, while also displaying a record of … | Continue reading
"In perhaps one of the great ironies of human civilisation," writes Brian Kaller, "mechanical devices to truly magnify human power came along as soon as we didn't need them." Kaller's article, "The Hidden Potential of Bicycles," is well worth a read.To Kaller's point, bicycles ca … | Continue reading
Yet another bizarre design origin story.People come to product and furniture design through different routes. Some go to school and get a degree in Industrial Design. Others become architects, then decide working on smaller-scale stuff is more interesting. In Europe and Scandinav … | Continue reading
Yet another AI genie's out of the bottle. The…geniuses over at Microsoft have unveiled their new VASA technology for "Lifelike audio-driven talking faces generated in real time." The tech can use a single snapshot, then animate it to match whatever audio is plugged into it. "Make … | Continue reading
The Japanese art of flower arrangement, Ikebana, is a captivating practice that aims for poetic synthesis of human hand and natural beauty in each composition. Stickybana, as documented on this Instagram page, is a sub-genre that centers cannabis within that tradition. The pairin … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:Startup Humane has debuted their Ai Pin, to damning reviews. The UI/UX design is just insane. Form follows function: NASA's zero-gravity drinking cup, prototyped in space.Some wonderful scans from "The Function of Colour in Factories School … | Continue reading
Zenpack is a packaging design firm with a key difference from competitors: They also handle fulfillment, bringing design and manufacturing under one roof to offer clients a turnkey solution.They were recently hired by coffee retailer Cambio Roasters. "When Cambio Roasters was get … | Continue reading
This screw gripper, designed and manufactured by Wera Tools, is for holding non-magnetic screws on the tip of your driver. It slides over cylindrical and hexagonal shafts with a diameter of 4.5mm to 6mm. Made of soft plastic, they won't mar the surface of your workpiece as the sc … | Continue reading
This Tove Lounge Chair was designed by Arnold Madsen and Henry Schübell*, a 20th-century Danish design duo. Produced in the 1950s and '60s, it's finely designed and made, with a well-balanced blend of curves and straight lines. The frame is Oak and the sculpted armrests are made … | Continue reading
This low-tech Cloche table smoker is by Paris-based industrial designer Guillaume Bloget. It's made of Beech and stainless steel. "CLOCHE is for cold smoking food from aromatic plants or wood chips. It preserves the intrinsic flavors of each food while perfuming them with a smoky … | Continue reading