In 2014, the animated GIF continued to prove itself a remarkably durable vehicle for capturing the full range of human experience, from the triumph against adversity to the realization of the ephemerality of existence. Even the relatively niche world of architecture and design saw a number of stellar examples. Here are our 14 favorites.

14. (Tie) Pasta-Making Machine / Paper Clip Manufacturing
Two of our top picks from the always hypnotic things-being-manufactured genre. (Honorable mention: Pop-Tarts assembly line)

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13. Relics of Technology by Jim Golden
From a collection of beautiful animations of obsolete tech by the Portland-based photographer

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12. Household Objects vs. Block of Ice
No additional explanation required

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11. Bendgate
The news that the iPhone 6 is bendable set off a firestorm of Internet commentary (and GIF spoofery)—but ultimately didn't seem to hurt sales of the new smartphone.

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10. Nike Power Laces
This Back to the Future II clip dates back to 1989, but it gained new relevancy this year when Nike designer Tinker Hatfield said at an industry event that power laces are coming in 2015.

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What would you do if you couldn't work a mouse?

Michelle Vandy was an architecture student who developed a repetitive stress injury in first one arm, then the other. Obviously this was a rather crippling setback. "All my interests and hobbies revolved around my arms and my studies and future career depended on them too," she writes. "But now all I had was pair of useless extremities causing me pain."

While she could still use her arms to perform basic tasks, interacting with the computer long-term was proving impossible. She began experimenting with non-arm-based interface methods, like using a Leap motion sensor in conjunction with a foot-powered keyboard device. That didn't work out. Neither did a stylus held in her mouth ("Observation: Too much saliva"). Things didn't look good, until:

I was sitting in my room late one evening fiddling around with this external touchpad I had lying on my desk and without thinking, lifted it up to eye level and touched it with my nose. "Click". I tried swiping too - it worked! I opened up photoshop with shaking fingers, hadn't opened it in months! I had a few more goes holding the trackpad to my nose and swiping left and right, up and down and the movements felt strangely natural to me.

Vandy began practicing drawing with her nose on the touchpad, and eventually even swipe-typing. "I wrote a large chunk of my Bachelors thesis on the iPad with my nose," she says.

Now a nose-using veteran, Vandy's work rig consists of a desktop Manfrotto tripod, Apple's Magic Trackpad, a tripod adapter plate and velcro strips.

She uses Illustrator and Photoshop at her current internship. Here's an example of the work she produces and how she does it:

If you're a teenager, eventually you'll leave home. And in the vacuum left behind by a collegebound child, some parents will develop Empty Nest Syndrome.

Some parents--but not all. To ensure that yours get the full experience, we recommend you pick up one of these Giant Birdsnest pieces of furniture, done up in lacquered wood and "highly comfortable egg-shaped sitting poofs which allow ergonomic sitting positions." For best effect you should buy one a year or two before your departure, to acclimate your parents to the sight of you sitting in it.

The nests come in different sizes ranging from two to 4.5 meters in diameter...

...and you'll want to choose carefully; while the smallest might be cozier, the largest should make the grief of your absence more acutely felt each time your folks walk past it, gathering dust in a corner while you're rushing Alpha Gamma Sigh.

And if you can, take the eggs with you.

Tonight is New Year's Eve, meaning a bunch of folks are going to get pulled over for DUI's. Some of the offenders will be blind-drunk, their judgment too dangerously compromised to have even considered they oughtn't get behind the wheel; others will be close to, but not over, the legal B.A.C. limit, and a subset from this group might not have driven at all if they'd been aware of their precise B.A.C. in the first place.

It is for this latter category of people that the Breeze breathometer was designed. For the conscientious tippler who wants to know exactly how drunk they are (or aren't) in legal terms, this sleek-looking breathalyzer fits on a keychain and pairs with your phone via Bluetooth.

The attendant phone app goes above and beyond providing your B.A.C.: It estimates how long it'll take until you're back to sober, assuming you can keep yourself from doing shots in the meanwhile, and has buttons you can hit to call yourself a cab or an Uber.

Happy New Year's Eve to you all, and stay safe!

Gin or Vodka? Don't remember? Fosta argues for redistillation in the Industrial Design process

It's the first day of a new year and what better way to start than with some food for thought. We've rounded up our favorite design thinking pieces from 2014 on a range of topics from design education to tips for getting hired at a design firm, thoughts on social design to questioning the term industrial design itself. Sit back, dive in, and get ready for another year.

But first, if you're still feeling a bit hazy from last night's celebrations, how about some hair of the dog...

Redistillation in the Industrial Design Process, or Why Gin is Better than Vodka, by Fosta
"...By simply following a path of endless reduction we distill out every impurity, we filter every trace of individuality, every element that deviates from the drive towards that (false) grail: a simple singular expression of form and interaction. Whilst the technical prowess needed to achieve such simplicity is significant and admirable, I am often struck by just how dull the results can be."

Designing with Energy, by Richard Gilbert from The Agency of Design
"...Unlike electricity consumption, where you need to go to great lengths to record and visualize energy, this data told you that the lump of material you're holding took 10 megajoules of energy to go from earthbound ore to product in hand. I could now define my whole material world in terms of energy—and that's exactly what I started doing, carrying a screwdriver and a set of scales I started disassembling and weighing products to try and calculate their embodied energy. This quickly escalated to doing an embodied energy calculation for everything I owned."

My first New Year's resolution for 2015 is to re-use more old things. And the guys over at Berlin-based Urban Light Factory already have the jump on me. First off their products come to you in wooden boxes made out of scrap and cut-offs:

Secondly is what's inside the boxes--unique, vintage-looking lamps created from the headlights of old vehicles.

Taken from junked cars, motorcycles and even farm tractors, the headlamps are turned into tripod-based work lamps or hanging pendants.

Many of my organizing clients have multiple mobile devices, and they get concerned about the space it takes to charge all those devices. No one likes a mess of cords on the kitchen countertop, the nightstand, the floor, etc.

For those who only have a couple phones (or perhaps an iPod), a few load-ding gadgets from xxd, designed by Max Kistner, might be all they need. These fold up to form a tray to hold a device by the socket; it's similar in concept to the Driin, which we wrote about before. However, there's nothing in this design to help manage the long cables that some of these devices have.

The Bluelounge MiniDock is also a single-device item used at the socket, but it solves the cable problem; there's no need to use a cable at all. The MiniDock attaches to the user's Apple USB Power Adapter, and the iPhone or iPod attaches to the MiniDock. Drawback: Users note that the MiniDock doesn't work with all iPhone cases—and no one wants to remove the case to charge the phone.

But many users are looking for charging stations that sit on a counter (or other similar surface) and hold multiple devices. The PowerDock 5 from Griffin Technology charges five iOS devices in their cases (and also works with many Kindles and Android devices) in a relatively small footprint. Again, though, there is no cable management control built into this design.

Power output (and the resultant charging time) is also a concern in all such devices. The PowerDock 5 provides 10 watts (5 volts DC @ 2.1 amps) for each charging bay. The manufacturer notes that "Many smartphones and tablets have unique charging requirements, so PowerDock may not charge your device as fast as you're used to."

The Converge, from Quirky, seems best suited for smaller devices such as smartphones and cameras. It provides some cable control with the straps on the rear side of the charger.

Other products, such as the Anker five-device charging station, are specifically designed to hide the cables. However, one user said that there's a minor problem with that. "It is a little fiddly to get it closed properly with all the cables tucked inside, as they tend to spring up and get caught in the crevices of the box." And another agrees, saying, "In my opinion, the tray is too shallow to accommodate the volume of 'hidden' wires used to charge 5 devices." It's a sleek design, but some users would like it to be less sleek and more roomy.

The Juice Box from Blu Dot is an interesting contrast to the Anker device. The Juice Box focuses on hiding the cords; it has a deep 4-inch box for storing the cords vs. the 2.2-inch deep box for the Anker product. It's a different kind of design, with the four devices laying flat rather than standing up, so it takes up more horizontal space than the Anker product while charging four devices rather than five. The Juice Box is built to accommodate the power strip of the user's choice, rather than having one included. That will appeal to users who have strong opinions on the matter, and annoy others who would rather have a complete solution, with one less decision to make.

The Belkin Conserve Valet has yet another focus, as the name indicates. It automatically shuts off power, including standby power, after the devices are fully charged. (Actually, it shuts off at 4.5 hours, which is when Belkin assumes the products are charged; it's not actually testing to see that they are.) It senses when new devices are added, and restarts the time counter so they get charged, too.

The Kinodai from Sample is interesting because it plays with the assumption that the devices being charged, if being held upright rather than flat, must be strictly horizontal or vertical. From a practical standpoint, it really doesn't make much difference if they are at an angle, instead.

Another interesting variation on charging station are the wireless chargers. There are multiple wireless standards at the moment, which certainly complicates things; any users looking for a charger must make sure it would work with their devices, either through the direct charge model (where the phone natively supports the charger's standard) or through the use of a charging case. The Duracell Powermats, which use PMA technology, work with the iPhone 5 and 5S via a charging case. Other charging pads, such as those from Choetech, work with the Qi format.

Powermats are getting more attention recently because they're beginning to get installed in Starbucks stores. These mats, unlike the consumer versions, will be accessible through rings that plug into the user's device and then get placed on a Powermat Spot—a relatively simple and inexpensive work-around to the compatibility issues.

Other plans for the PMA wireless technology include building it into Corian countertops, which some users will really like—except that Corian countertops don't seem to be the "in" thing right now.

Here's another design, for users who would prefer to have their devices out of sight while they charge: the Docking Drawer.

From mega-dams to cutting edge architecture, the Dutch seem to consistently pull off some pretty impressive infrastructure innovations—often characterised by characterful creative solutions to age old built environment challenges.

One such delight, is the Slauerhoffbrug—a fully automatic bascule bridge (aka tail bridge) in the city of Leeuwarden. Referred to by bridge fan-boys as a "Flying Drawbridge", the Slauerhoff lifts what is essentially a section of the road into the air to make room for passing water traffic. By doing away with the hinged mechanism of typical two-part raising tail bridges, this impressive piece of engineering can raise and lower much quicker than its traditional counterparts, allowing for minimum disruption to traffic on river or road.

My gym-going buddy says NYC's fitness centers will be packed to the gills--for the next two weeks. Getting in shape is apparently the number one New Year's resolution, though people start to fizzle as early as mid-January.

For those of you with shops, let's make a more lasting resolution: To work a bit more efficiently this year. In this DIY shop hack video, Izzy Swan starts off with something we've seen before--the nail-as-pilot-hole-drill-bit--but then launches into seven other shop tricks you may find useful.

Plastic is convenient to produce, though not the most durable stuff in the world. To get around this, San-Francisco-based industrial designer Mark Kelley created a line of desktop organizers made from polystone.

Polystone--a blend of polyurethane resin and powdered stone--is more substantial than plastic, featuring a smooth, almost porcelain-like finish, yet is lighter than stone (not to mention easier to work).

Produced under Kelley and partner Richard Liu's BASE brand, the clean-looking, minimalist line currently consists of three (really, four) products: Object 001, a desk cup; Object 002, a tall desk cup; and the combination Object 003, a small cup that nests in a tray. Check 'em all out here.

Today ends, successfully, the Kickstarter run of the Plug & Feather watches we wrote about earlier, which have unique stone faces. Now another watch made from an elemental material--wood--is also nearing the end of its crowdfunding run. And interestingly enough, these latter watches were designed by two teenage brothers.

Reed and Riley Stephens are 18 and 16 years old, respectively, and come from a line of woodworkers, following in the footsteps of their father and grandfather. Their Ambici watches come in ebony, koa, maple and sandalwood, and were carefully designed to avoid a potential materials conflict: Wood movement.

[With other wooden watches] the shrinking of the wood over time...often leads to a cracked crystal that is challenging to replace simply because the opening of the watch is now smaller. So essentially, there's an expiration date on the watch because of its wooden case....

Ambici watches [feature an] internal metal casing [that] prevents the wood from shrinking over time and cracking the crystal. It also adds weight to the watch [and offers] additional water resistance that typical wooden watches don't.

The pledging period ends five days from today, and the chosen date isn't arbitrary: It's the birthday of the Stephens brothers' departed grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer's. Their goal is to start a watch company not just for profit, but to help fund Alzheimer's research.

At press time they were quite close, at $11,450 of a $12,500 goal. You can get in on it here.

Whether hand or power, where would we be without our tools? Some of you earn your living with them, others among you retreat to personal workshops after hours, shaking off your CAD jockey status by working physical materials.

In 2014 we were lucky enough to witness an avalanche of innovative implements from around the world. Some you can buy around the corner, others would require you take out a massive loan to afford and have shipped from overseas. But all of them inspire the industrial designer in us to go out and make things.

First off we traveled to Germany for Holz-Handwerk, the European Trade Fair for Woodworking & Wood Processing. We saw everything from Mobile Furniture-Building Workstations to the awesome Logosol, which enables a single person to turn a felled tree into boards all by themselves.

We also checked out the JLC Live show in Providence this year, where we watched a demo of Festool's Amazing Dust-Free TSC-55 Cordless Track Saw. The thing blew our minds--no power cord and practically no dust.

One of the crazier things we saw this year was an Articulated Bandsaw. Manufacturer MD Dario flips the script on moving material through a blade; with their contraption, you can move the machine around a stationary 16-foot beam and still get impressively intricate cuts.

If your New Year's resolution is to spend a little less time working and a little more time relishing the day-to-day, you might want to consider investing in the Eclipse Clock. A gentle reminder of the passing of time—and of the inevitable deterioration of our bodies—the timepiece stands as a somewhat functional sculpture that blurs the line between art and utility.

Designed by the Chilean-born, New York City–based artist Iván Navarro, the Eclipse Clock was made exclusively for Paul Kasmin Gallery's PK Shop in an edition of 50, and produced in partnership with the shop's director, Polina Berlin. The first consumer product by an artist known primarily for his neon light–based installations, Navarro's Eclipse Clock depicts the passing hours through light and shadow, which cross over its face in phases (much like its namesake). As time passes, the word PETRIFICATION—etched into the glass face—becomes increasingly visible, a reference by Navarro to the archaeological process of understanding time and the history of the earth through the layers of its sediment.

"Iván wanted to make a functional sculpture, and an eclipse brings together two notions that have always interested him: light and time," Berlin says. "Incorporating the metaphor of an eclipse into a functional clock really appealed to him." Navarro and Berlin worked with the British industrial designer Robert Nightingale and his studio to bring the idea to life. Starting with hand-drawn sketches, the team created rough prototypes using lightbulbs and masking surfaces such as coffee cups, before moving on to CAD and 3D models.

Photos courtesy Paul Kasmin Shop

Mimicking the movement of an eclipse was the biggest challenge for the team. Initially envisioning the object as an opaque disc moving across an illuminated surface, Navarro created a CAD model for a prototype to be made of sheet metal that would move horizontally across a backlit surface. The engineering for the concept proved too complicated, however, so the team continued to explore a variety of materials—including CNC-ing the entire clock out of Corian. After struggling with getting light to pass through the piece, they next experimented with OLED light sources embedded into five-millimeter-thick sheets of mirror, a technique that made it easy to create the illusion of time but impossible to create a pure eclipse effect. Ultimately, Navarro decided that a digital version of the movement felt the most elegant and conceptual, and the team settled on using LEDs to create the eclipse behind layers of acrylic and glass.

Spun-aluminum prototypes that incorporated LEDs and circuit boards were used to mock up the look and feel of the final product. "There was a lot of mathematics, timing calculations and light tests to create the warm glow across the surface," Berlin says. "[In the end] Iván settled on the pure white face, warm light and the raw aluminum bezel." No stranger to working with light, Navarro brought on many of his long-time neon fabricators—such as Manhattan's Let There Be Neon studio—as well as local shops to help fabricate the various clock components. Each piece was sourced, made and assembled by hand in New York City.

More than a thousand LED lights housed inside the sleek, spun-aluminum casing were used to achieve the final effect of an eclipse, while maintaining the slim profile of a wall-mounted design. Starting out entirely dark at midnight, the device's light sources are completely off, and then gradually illuminate as morning approaches. Rows of lights begin to glow beneath the etched glass and a semi-transparent layer of acrylic, starting along the western edge of the clock. The LEDs form a crescent shape that moves laterally across its horizon—a pattern pre-programmed by Navarro. Fully lit at noon, the light slowly recedes back to pure darkness at midnight, repeating the cycle every 24 hours.

Another challenge in designing the Eclipse Clock was ensuring that it was not only accurate over a 24-hour period but also intuitive to a user. Sitting on the floor beneath the clock is an aluminum box, which holds external components and a control panel—a knob and LCD screen inside the box allow the user to easily set and adjust the time.

Navarro's Eclipse Clock will be featured at the opening of the Light Shop at PK Shop's flagship New York location on January 7. While the $7,500. price tag might be somewhat jolting, it's a small price to pay for the appreciation of time, don't you think?

Our top-rated tool-related story of the year didn't involve a particular tool, but rather, the space where one stores and uses them. The story of a "Largely Intact Woodworking Shop from the 1700s Discovered, Being Used as a Storage Shed Behind a School" blew our minds and, judging by the numbers, yours.

Photo by Jeffrey E. Klee, Architectural Historian of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

After seeing the tool storage system from PraXsys, pictured below, we determined "What Our First Industrial Design School Assignment Should Have Been: Self-Made Carrying Cases." Before learning to design for others, oughtn't we learn to design things to carry our own gear?

In "A Slick Hinge from Germany, and Some Awesome Toolbox Designs from Brazil," woodworking madman Matthias Wandel uncovered an unusual toolbox in the shop of cabinetmaker Gregor Bruhn. Wandel then created a mock-up to show us how the slick hinge mechanism works, and we also got to see some clever takes on the design from a pair of young Brazilian craftsmen. Check out videos for both at the link above.

Second Story conceptualizes, designs, and develops interactive media experiences that enchant, inform, and entertain, pioneering new ways to inspire wonder and connect audiences to stories, ideas, and information. They engage audiences with touch, sight, and sound, inviting them to participate and weave their own story -- The Second Story. In doing so, they must create worlds that consist of seamlessly interwoven digital and physical components.

And that's where you come in. They are looking for a new breed of Industrial Designer. Someone to help them dream up, visualize, and then materialize the physical forms and structures that allow them to make these stories possible. This job takes a positive disposition and a solution-based attitude, in addition to demonstrating true craftsmanship and design excellence. Take the leap and Apply Now.

When we throw things into the recycling bin, we know they'll be trucked off and re-processed at some magical, unseen facility. But a handful of people are getting a bit more involved in the process by re-purposing the material themselves. Last year we saw this guy turning plastic bottles into string, and now Grant Thompson, a/k/a "The King of Random," shows you how to turn spent cans into aluminum ingots.

"For as long as I can remember, I've been intrigued by the idea of melting metal and making things with it," Thompson writes. "The problem has always been that it was out of reach or required really expensive equipment."

To solve this, Thompson began creating multiple versions of a DIY foundry using commonly available materials. By his tenth prototype--made from a galvanized steel pail, Plaster of Paris and sand--he had a winner. Watch as he walks you through the process of self-producing ingots:

Crazy, no? And yes, Thompson's fully aware of the inefficiencies in the process:

Aluminum cans are one of the worst sources for aluminum to cast with, and some soda cans in the UK are actually made of steel. The alloy was meant for extrusion, so is not the best for casting. They also produce more dross (slag) because the thin walls oxidize quickly and the plastic coatings on the cans add impurities. A better source of aluminum for casting would be cast aluminum items from thrift stores, like electric skillets or small engine blocks from lawnmower shops.

For those of you thinking of trying this, it will of course require certain safety precautions. Hit the jump to read Thompson's list of the potential hazards and how to avoid them.

The Apple Watch launches this year, which means we'll soon see loads of imitators and competitors. The 2015 CES is bound to be smartwatch-crazy. But one prominent watch manufacturer is taking a different tack: Offering a smart watch strap that can be attached to different watches.

The Montblanc E-Strap is an Italian-made piece of leather texturized to look like carbon fiber (?!?) connected to a tiny screen that sits on the inside of the wearer's wrist. This OLED display is actually a touchscreen, and while I can't imagine it allows a wide variety of gestures given its diminutive size (0.9 inch) and resolution of just 128x36, the company reckons it will be good enough to provide notifications and some remote control functions. According to watch news site A Blog to Watch,

In addition to basic calls, texts, e-mails, calendars, social media, and reminder notifications, the e-Strap will function as an activity monitor/tracker with a pedometer and accelerometer to measure data that feeds into an included iPhone or Android phone app.

UK-based OC Robotics specializes in what they call "snake-arm robots," which have two distinct benefits: 1) They can work in confined spaces, and 2) They scare the living bejeezus out of most people, which can keep troublesome employees in line and co-worker quarrels to a minimum. Strangely, the company doesn't mention the second benefit in their literature.

Our snake-arm robots are designed specifically for remote handling operations within confined or hazardous spaces. Where snake-arm robots excel is in their long, slender and flexible design; they can effortlessly fit through small openings and around obstacles. They do not have prominent elbows that potentially snag or cause damage to sensitive equipment and they are easily manoeuvred into position and retracted back without disturbing their environment.

That's right, the environment is not disturbed—just the people who witness the machines in action. Check out their latest, given the friendly name of the Series 2-X125:

Google[x], Google's moonshot factory, is accepting applications for its 10[x] Fellowship. During the 6-month program, a group of interaction, visual, and industrial designers will bring their fresh perspectives to existing Google[x] product efforts such as Project Loon (balloon-powered internet), the smart contact lens, and other still-secret efforts.

[x] is not a think tank, it's a do tank. We're a rapid product development team. As a 10[x]er, sit alongside Google designers and researchers to define and drive the user experience of the world's most ambitious projects, and generate, develop, test, and transform moonshots into products ready for immediate release into the real world. With 4+ years of professional Industrial Design experience, this amazing opportunity could be yours. Apply Now!

This is the latest installment of our Core77 Questionnaire. Previously, we talked to Doshi Levien.

Name: Sebastian Wrong

Occupation: Designer and businessman

Location: London

Current projects: Developing the new collection for Wrong for Hay. This is a massive, full-time project. And then I also work on another project called The Wrong Shop.

Mission: To develop good design at a good price

Above: the Hackney Sofa by Wrong for Hay, a collaboration between Wrong and the Danish brand Hay that launched last year. Top right image: the Slope Chair by Wrong for Hay

The Stanley Stool by Faudet-Harrison for Wrong for Hay

When did you decide that you wanted to be a designer? I don't know if I am a designer. I got interested in design 15 years ago when I was manufacturing products for clients. So I was involved in the process of making, and that created an interest for me in design.

Education: I studied fine arts and sculpture at the Norwich School of Art.

First design job: Bronze-casting door handles for clients, with the manufacturing company I founded in 1996.

Who is your design hero? I don't have a design hero. Many things and many people inspire, influence and excite me, but to put that down to one person is impossible for me.

Above and below: Hay and Wrong for Hay opened their new showroom during last September's London Design Festival.

Describe your workspace: It's a very beautiful Queen Anne building in Central London where we have a showroom and offices.

Other than the computer, what is your most important tool? My iPhone. I make an enormous amount of telephone calls, but I also use it as a tool. For instance, I travel a lot, and the currency converter saves an awful lot of stress.