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Measuring Spoons with a Built-In Topping-Off Mechanism

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For the precision-minded baker or cook: These measuring spoons called Levoons have two clever innovations. Observe:

Of my friends who cook, some operate intuitively, i.e. "A dash of this, a pinch of that." Others follow recipes as fastidiously as if they're reading instructions for how to build an ICBM. Levoons are obviously for this latter group.

Their design, by the way, was good enough to get them on the MoMA Design Store's radar.



Making Sawdust #1: The Most Valuable Hardware Installation Tool

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At any given moment during a project, it is possible to find many tools scattered about the workbench. Here I am cutting hinge mortises and installing brass butt hinges on a door. Can you guess which is the most valuable tool in this picture?

Not surprisingly it is not the errant Golden Retriever paw behind me, and fortunately it is the cheapest tool on the bench.

Years ago I bought a 200 pack of these little plastic cups to use for mixing and applying epoxy. There is rarely a project that comes off my bench where I don't end up using one of these cups. In this case it is the perfect receptacle for holding all the tiny brass screws and hinges for the doors on this clock I am building. As a project draws to a close, the anticipation rises and it is natural that I start to rush a little. I have to constantly remind myself to slow down and to use the same attention and care I use during the joinery phase. So it is with the desire to finish that tiny screws and hinges get knocked off the bench into the shaving strewn floor never to be seen again.

Generally I use my hinges to layout out the mortise on the project so I'm constantly picking them up and putting them down. I then need to check the fit and tweak the mortise for a snug install so I shuffle the hinges around again. Then while I'm drilling the holes and threading the screws in, I'm constantly reaching for the tiny screws. All this movement can quickly get things knocked to the floor or placed in a far corner of the shop where it disappears.

When it comes time to install hardware on your next project, take a minute and drop all of it into a jar, cup, Tupperware, or whatever. Be vigilant and drop the screws and hinges back into the cup each time you test the fit of a mortise, drill, or pre-thread the screws. That way no matter what happens to interrupt you in the process, you always know where your hardware is.

…Just don't knock the cup off the bench.

______________________________________________

This "Making Sawdust" series is provided courtesy of Shannon Rogers, a/k/a The Renaissance Woodworker. Rogers is founder of The Hand Tool School, which provides members with an online apprenticeship that teaches them how to use hand tools and to build furniture with traditional methods.

The Brooks England x Tokyobike Ltd. Edition Bike Is Rose Gold Porn

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Brooks England is legendary in the cycling world, known as much for their long-wearing saddles as for their aggressive commitment to their "heritage quality" style and brand. For the last 150 years, and the last 25 in particular, they've ignored modern fads and dialed in what makes a bike seat comfortable, durable, distinctive and sexy (if you swing this way). To celebrate this big birthday they partnered with several of the world's best bike makers to produce small batches of extra flashy, Brooks-inspired bikes. 

In this edition Tokyobike and living-legend bike builder Osamu Fukuda (of Kirin and Kinfolk fame) were tapped to create a fast and minimal city bike modeled on the Mini Velo. Brooks England x Tokyobike joint released just ten super elite bikes, hand built by Mr. Fukuda himself and kitted out with simple, drool-worthy Japanese made components. 

While they're certainly not Brooks-old, Tokyobikes has done similar tinkering with their simple frame designs over the years. Their line of city bikes couples smaller wheels and classic frame geometry, allowing shorter people actual comfort on otherwise traditional-looking bikes. These graceful fillet brazed frames use that style, with slick details like internal housing and a copper number plate. 

Each of the limited edition design schemes emphasize copper as a central theme. In the Brooks x Tokyobike, it shows up from the rivets of the saddle, to the grips, to the rosy bling of the chainring bolts. 

Worth the £2,100 (~$3,000)? For a hand built Fukuda frame with impeccably curated parts, I'd have to say yes.

Oh, did you want one? Well, sorry, they've sold out already. But Tokyobike is happy to add a flashy Brooks saddle to any of their existing (if less illustrious) line. 

Design Job: Searching for a New Job Sucks! Lucky For You, Dyson is Seeking a Product Feature Designer in Malmesbury, United Kingdom

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The Product Feature designer will be expected to generate new ideas for future connected products that are both product enhancing, innovative and accurately timed in the fast moving world of connected products. At Dyson we are encouraged to think differently, challenge convention and be unafraid to make mistakes. We’re creative, collaborative, practical and enthusiastic. But most of all we’re hugely passionate about what we do.

View the full design job here

Hilarious Fidget Cube Becomes Kickstarter Smash

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Of all the things you could design that would be smash hits, here's one that most wouldn't have thought of. The Fidget Cube is an object that does nothing—in the same way that Seinfeld was a show about nothing. Yet they both deliver satisfying mini-experiences:

It's hard to tell if inventors Matthew and Mark McLachlan did this as a lark, and their initial target was just $15,000. But backers have responded in force: Over 50,000 people pledged for the $19 object, landing them nearly $2 million at press time—and there's still 40 days left to pledge.

Here's a question for you: Do you reckon we fidget more today than we did a century ago? Humans have a need to manually manipulate things, and tapping glass rectangles all day isn't very satisfying. I wonder if bygone activities—grinding our own coffee, installing typewriter ribbons, starting the car with a handcrank—ate up all that fidgety energy.


Lego is Growing Like Crazy, Leaving Mattel and Hasbro in the Dust

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If you watch our Job Boards, you know that Lego was looking for a Senior Design Director this summer. As it turns out, that one job was just a drop in the bucket: The company has been on a hiring spree this year, picking up over 3,500 new employees in the first half of 2016, bringing their total team to about 18,500 people.

In short, Lego is growing like crazy. They're building out their factories in China, Mexico and Hungary, with the aim of making the latter two facilities able to "potentially double" their output, according to the company. Quartz looked at the company's revenue/profit numbers and found that they're absolutely crushing Mattel and Hasbro, independent of employee populations:

Charts via Quartz

They're also growing faster than both companies:

Charts via Quartz

Lego is also in the process of designing a Sustainable Materials Centre, which will "deliver on the LEGO Group's ambition of ensuring that all raw materials used for manufacturing LEGO products, including packaging, are sustainable by 2030."

On top of that, they've set the ambitious goal of having "all energy consumption balanced by renewable energy by 2020," and to that end, Lego has invested in a wind farm off the UK coast. It's coming online next year and "will be able to supply CO2-free power equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of more than 230,000 households."

Says Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Goodwin:

"For the LEGO Group, investing in an ambitious responsibility agenda is an ongoing and integral part of our company - to continue to improve how we run our business in relation to our environmental impact. In that process, we focus on a broad range of efforts, with energy efficiency and investments in renewable energy being one cornerstone. Another is our search for sustainable materials, on which we will continue our dedicated work in the coming years.

Keep watching those Job Boards; another design position is bound to pop up.

Forging A Steel D20: When D&D Gets Metal

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Nerds come in a lot of flavors, and many of us double dip. Blacksmith tabletop gamer? A natural combo. Even if you don't personally have a high elf alter ego or a dogeared copy of the Players Handbook, you might appreciate the wholehearted creativity that D&D and similar pastimes can prompt. For your viewing pleasure, consider this step by step on forging the iconic 20-sided figure from hot steel. 

1:00 to start, 4:30 lumpy-golf ball stage, 7:45 for engraving, 10:20 for "testing"

Blacksmith Gil Ramierez, a.k.a. the Vlogsmith, does a nice job at showing the tools and method, while also illustrating the practiced eyeballing (and burritos) the process demands. Like most simple-looking things, a geometric shape is tricky as hell to actually create by hand...particularly with steel. 

This labor intensive die was first created as a gift, and I'd bet several GP it was a critical hit. Gygax would probably approve. 


A Sleek Approach to Street Light Design

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Juganu street lights are designed with a low drag factor, offering low resistance to high winds, which enhances pedestrian and driver safety and decreases maintenance costs. JLED street and road lights run cool, under 45C°, which further extends product life. Smartly designed, JLED street lights are lightweight, and easy to install and maintain. Using shape and right materials allows the light fixture to operate for years.

View the full content here

Shaper Answers Core77 Reader Questions on Origin Self-Correcting Router with Video Demos

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When we asked "How practical is the Shaper Origin" and invited you to ask questions, we knew Shaper would answer them. But we didn't know they'd go the extra mile and answer with video demonstrations!

Here the team tackles the things that are better shown than talked about. We've cued the video up to each specific question, so you can easily find yours:

How is the workpiece indexed to the cutting head when creating the box joints?

How do you zero the bit to the worksurface (Z-axis)?

How many unicorns does it take to build one?

How was the knot-filling patch created?

Does the locating tape leave a residue?

Can the camera be obscured by dust?

How efficient is the dust extraction?

How quickly does the bit raise in the event of operator error?

I like that they took the time to show everything, like when the plug didn't fit the first time around, then he shows you how to expand the cavity slightly. And that yes, the bit can nick the top of the outside surface if you steer out of it too quickly. The tool isn't a perfect, magical artifact, but it looks pretty darn amazing. More importantly, by taking the time to answer your questions in this kind of detail it shows that they're interested in engaging with you guys and gals, the target market.

Some of the questions you asked are better answered in text. Here they are:

Question: If a board is warped, will it affect calibration?

Shaper: Origin is currently designed to work on flat surfaces. In actual practice, we have found Origin capable of accommodating a moderate amount of board warpage with no problem.

Question: Can you use a keyhole router bit?

Shaper: Absolutely. This is such an excellent way to produce undercut features; e.g. for nail hangers in picture frames.

Question: Will wood density/knots affect the gantry?

Shaper: We don't technically utilize a gantry design. But the root question is whether or not non-homogenous materials impact cutting performance. The short answer is "yes", varying material densities and irregularities can contribute to inferior cuts - we are not inherently changing any laws of cutting physics. We've found that one of the nice things about being involved in the cutting process, though, is that you're able to see and/or feel anomalies and are therefore able to make adjustments (to speed, bit offset, etc) if you are aiming for ultimate cut quality.

Question: How is it possibly fast enough at pulling the bit out in a case where you move it to far too fast or make a mistake....as it claims to in one of the videos? Is there a limit to what it can catch?

Shaper: It is still possible to make mistakes. The limitations to what Origin can correct are based on depth of cut and the speed at which you go out of bounds of the corrective range. If you are cutting a reasonably shallow depth and you do not fly out of bounds, the bit can retract quickly enough to not leave a mark. If you are drilling a 1-inch deep hole and push aggressively out of the corrective range, the bit will almost certainly leave a mark as it retracts out of the material. We are continuously making improvements to bit retraction speed and also our algorithms to help improve cut quality, for example via predictive motion path compensation. But if cut/finish quality is the paramount concern, we recommend performing bulk material removal at an offset from the final intended path, and a finish pass where only a small amount a material needs to be removed by the cutter. The ability to return to the workpiece to shave off just a hair more of material is really one of the magic qualities of Origin that change the way you're able to create.

Question: Are all those official videos where parts are fitting together "right off the tool" or is there sometimes some sanding needed?

Shaper: This is highly dependent on the material you are cutting and the cutter you choose. It is not uncommon for us to perform light sanding operations on pieces to remove fuzz before fitting them together.

Question: I did see mallet use. I guess as other have asked I want to get an idea of how precise this tool is. Can you quantify the precision vs. some existing CNC router tables that are somewhat similar in terms of price range?

Shaper: It's difficult to compare specs directly with other CNC routers since a human is involved in the cutting process with Origin. Experienced Origin users are able to achieve cut quality and precision very comparable to a gantry-based CNC. With a small amount of practice, you are actually able to achieve cuts far greater than within 1/100th of an inch using Origin. But we've decided to state that number as a more generally achievable range to help bound the conversation. It should also be noted that even a total newbie is able to take Origin and start making precise cuts much more quickly and easily compared with a more typical CNC router. With features like on-tool path modification, we're really focused on making the entire experience more intuitive. We strive to be the tool in your workshop you reach for first when you want to get something done.

Question: Any kind of warranty? Will these things be repairable by you? It's pretty complicated and I could see wanting to repair it. My aforementioned 3D printer has really good service and that's one of the things I love about it.

Shaper: Origin comes with a 12-month limited warranty. Any major issues encountered will be addressed by authorized return and Shaper will either repair or replace your Origin. We aim to stand behind our tools and our reputation.

Question: I mean, the big and really straightforward questions is obviously: Can it cut a dovetail faster than you can by hand?

Shaper: The answer to this depends on who is doing the cutting, what their level of experience is, and what kinds of fixtures or tools they have access to as an alternative to Origin. Origin doesn't do anything on its own, but it provides capabilities for traditional joinery and newer digital joinery techniques to nearly anyone. And beyond specific joint designs: the most important takeaway is the fact that Origin enables you perform complex cutting operations in ways that you would not be able to with a traditional bed router; for example, cutting feature into the end grain of a long board clamped to the side of a workbench.

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Thanks again to the folks at Shaper for taking the time.


10 Offbeat LA Destinations to Visit During Your Core77 Conference Trip

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This year's Core77 Conference is being held in the sunny city of Los Angeles—a city with rich design history, beautiful beaches, happy faces and, like any city, activities that err on the odder side of the spectrum. When planning your trip, remember that there's more to LA than our fabulous two-day conference itinerary. Explore LA's quirky, creepy and historic sides by adding these offbeat destinations to your trip:  

10. Visit the world's only active, urban Ice Age excavation site, La Brea Tar Pits & Museum. The on-site paleontologists discover new fossils and Ice Age insights almost everyday, right in the heart of LA.

9. With all the recent hubub around self-driving cars, it's nice to take a step back and look at what got us to this point. Petersen Automotive Museum is here to help with their vast collection of automobiles permanently housed in an old department store.

8. Sunken City is an abandoned development of beach homes in San Pedro that was destroyed in a 1929 landslide. An eerie and exciting place to hike, this area is comprised of crumbled foundations, destroyed streetcar tracks and other mysteries worth exploring.

7. The California Institute of Abnormalarts is not your typical night club. With happenings ranging from freak shows to live music to open mic ghost stories, you never really know what you're going to get. If you're looking to get weird, this is the place to be.

6. The Velaslavasay Panorama is an exhibition hall, theater and garden that focuses on unusual visual experiences—especially 18th and 19th century 360 degree panorama paintings. If you've only been exposed to the iPhone panorama camera feature, you should check this out.

5. Take it back to the '70s at Good Times at Davey Wayne's...if you can find the entrance. One thing's, for sure, the alcoholic snow cones are worth the hunt.

4. If you've ever wondered what it's like to be an animal in captivity, the first Los Angeles Zoo gives you the chance to picnic inside and around its abandoned habitats. The zoo opened in 1912 and was abandoned in 1966.

3. Grab drinks under an old redwood tree at the iconic, 81 year old, Clifton's Cafeteria. Not sold yet? There's also a lot of Jell-O and a real waterfall. The overall experience is sure to take you on a trip back in time to the golden age of LA—especially the water abundance.

Not even going to attempt explaining this photo, but yes, this is part of an exhibit.

2. Discover all types of oddities at the Museum of Jurassic Technology, where you can expect to be surrounded with elusive exhibits like "Dogs of the Soviet Space Program" and a creepy rooftop garden. Every pervious visitor gives a different description of the museum, so you'll have to see this one for yourself.

1. It's no secret that LA had some pretty fantastic neon signs back in the day. The Museum of Neon Art's collection is filled with iconic nods to the past, but they also look towards the future with rotating exhibits and workshops.

We know you're excited for our conference, but we encourage you to show LA some Tupac style California Love while you're there. Enjoy planning your trip, and we'll see you later this month!

Join us September 29-30 for the Core77 Conference in Downtown Los Angeles. Buy your ticket today!

Sorry, Here's Why Your Tote Bag is Definitely Not Eco-Friendly. Plus: the Industrial Inspiration Behind Amusement Park "Log Rides"

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Core77's editors spend time combing through the news so you don't have to. Here's a weekly roundup of our favorite stories from the World Wide Web.

"RIP iPod Classic. See You at Urban Outfitters in 2036"

While everyone is heated about Apple's headphone jack removal, this love story between human and iPod Classic is a nice reminder to take a step back and remember what's really important—actual music and our evolving methods of organizing it.

—Emily Engle, editorial assistant

Tote Bag Saturation

I've always had a suspicion that the tote bag craze we've all been taking part in for the last decade is something of an eco-sham. No matter how virtuous they seem, there's no way that manufacturing promotional totes (that get used once, maybe twice) could actually be good for the environment. Well, The Atlantic has published the truth: cotton tote bags require 327 uses before their existence makes ecological sense! I'm ashamed to admit that I have two drawers full of totes that I've squirreled away over the years; that's roughly 9,810 more trips to the farmers' market before they've served their purpose.

Rebecca Veit, columnist, Designing Women

Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space by Brian O'Doherty

A fun little read on history and issues of postwar art in Europe and the United States. In the words of Google Books: "When these essays first appeared in Artforum in 1976, their impact was immediate. They were discussed, annotated, cited, collected, and translated—the three issues of Artforum in which they appeared have become nearly impossible to obtain." Now, thanks to the good people at Monoskop, you can devour via this pdf.

—Carly Ayres, columnist, In the Details

Behind the Invention of the Popular Amusement Park "Log Ride"

The history of an amusement park ride you weren't even aware had a rich industrial history.

—Allison Fonder, community manager

Eel Robot

Be soothed by this beautiful Norwegian eel robot. It lives underwater to care for seafaring equipment and eat unsuspecting Michael Crichton characters.

—Kat Bauman, contributing writer

A DIY Closet Organizer, Free vs. Paid CAD, an Improved Clamp Rack Design & More

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Pedestal Trestle Table

There is a crazy amount of labor and on-the-fly design here, as Jimmy DiResta builds a trestle table that looks as if it will withstand a bomb blast. (And if you're wondering why he paints the base, it was requested by the client.)

Clamp Rack - Version 2

Revising your designs with practical upgrades is only possible after you've lived with them for a while. Here Jay Bates creates a new design for his clamp rack, eliminating the problems that arose from his initial design:

Othello/Reversi Game Board & Pieces

Bob Clagett has made an arcade machine before, so a board game should be no sweat—right? As always, we appreciate that Clagett leaves his mistakes in the final edit, then shows you how to compensate for them:

Workbench Paper Roll Dispenser

Here Ramsey whips up a simple paper roll dispenser for keeping your workbench clean during painting or messy glue-ups:

SketchUp Make vs. Pro

Some of you have fancy CAD packages paid for by your job. Others have to buy your own, or noodle around with free software. Here Ron Paulk explains the differences between SketchUp Make (the free version) vs. SketchUp Pro (the paid version):

Dead Blow Mallet

Pretty cool: Laura Kampf makes a dead blow mallet (the type filled with shot) with one plastic head and one wooden one--all for less than ten Euros:

DIY Closet Organizer

Ben Uyeda, aka HomeMade Modern, bangs out a fast and easy closet organizer/dressing station:


Drill a Curved Hole, Build a Cantilevered Desk, Make a Jewelry Box out of Scrap Wood and More

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Drilling a Curved Hole!

Holy cats. The relentlessly inventive Izzy Swan figures out how to drill a curved hole! "I have had a few ideas about drilling curved holes," Swan writes, "for inside corners on new house framing to run electrical wire and cable. This is the best idea I have had yet:"

Foot Actuated Camera Controller

To better shoot his stop-motion animations, Frank Howarth rigs up a way he can trigger the camera with his foot while both hands are engaged with the work:

Cantilevered Desk

Matthias Wandel whips up a simple, if unusual, design for a cantilevered table:

Lathe Stand With Pull Out Grinder

April Wilkerson builds a stand for her lathe. To keep her gouge-sharpening grinder nearby, yet out-of-the-way when needed, she adapts a kitchen mixer lift:

Easy Compost Bin

As part of his "limited tools" series, Steve Ramsey bangs out an outdoor compost bin with a saw, drill and staple gun:

Jewelry Box Out of Cutoffs

Here Marc Spagnuolo, a/k/a the Wood Whisperer shows you how to make some handsome jewelry boxes out of scrap wood:

Tanto Knife

Jesse de Geest, a/k/a the Samurai Woodworker crafts an essential piece of kit for his assumed name: A Japanese tanto knife.


Design Job: Teach the Future of Product Design—Nanyang Technological University is Seeking a Faculty Member in Singapore

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School of Art, Design and Media Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Faculty Position in Product Design Young and research-intensive, Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) is ranked 13th globally. It is also placed 1st amongst the world’s best young universities. The School of Art, Design and Media (ADM) at NTU Singapore invites qualified academics to apply for a faculty position as either Assistant Professor or Associate Professor (tenure track).

View the full design job here

Supercar Designer Gordon Murray Creates Low-Cost, Flatpack Truck for Developing Nations

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It's incredible to think that Gordon Murray, the man who designed this…

McLaren F1

…has now designed this:

OX

That's the OX, a low-cost vehicle designed to be shipped, flatpack-style, and assembled on-site (with tools included in the kit). 

The target market is the complete opposite of the wealthy McLaren F1 owner; the OX is intended for folks in developing nations for whom motor transport is typically out of reach.

It may not look like much, but it is loaded with clever, utilitarian design:

The tailgate can be detached and used as a loading ramp.

The bench seats in the rear can be used as sand tracks.

The space behind the front bench seat is sized to hold jerry cans, as gas stations in the target countries will be few and far between.

The canopy can be removed and used as a temporary shelter.

The nose and tail of the undercarriage is raked to provide a 42-degree approach/departure angle.

You'll notice it has three separate windshields rather than one. That's because it's easier to replace one small one that sustains a crack rather than an entire regular-size windshield. They're also interchangeable, so that if two of them become damaged en route, the unbroken one can be placed in front of the driver.

Everything on the truck, from the glass to the body panels, is flat to keep costs down. All of the body parts, which are made from "extremely strong and waterproof bonded wood composite" (marine plywood, we're guessing) are interchangeable from left to right—including the doors. This makes it easier to acquire replacement parts.

Also keeping the costs down are the off-the-shelf engine—a 2.2-liter diesel found in Ford's Transit vans—and the fact that four-wheel-drive was eschewed. "Four-wheel drive systems add weight, complexity and cost to a vehicle, reduce ground clearance and increase tyre wear and fuel consumption," the GVT claims. "Through clever and innovative design, the 2-wheel drive OX has most of the attributes of a 4-wheel drive vehicle, without the negative aspects." I'd like to see more detail on this, but none are provided other than that the "weight distribution [is] 71% over the front axle when unloaded and 50% when fully loaded, producing easy handling [either way]."

The OX itself is also meant to serve as a generator. When jacked up, either front wheel can be removed and replaced with an adapter, allowing that wheel to drive a belt connected to whatever the user wishes to power. Additionally, a power socket is provided on the front of the vehicle.

Some compromises had to be made, of course. The steering wheel is in the center of the cab, avoiding commitment to right-hand or left-hand drive, which varies from country to country.

As for why it's designed to be delivered flatpack: Import duties on vehicles are stiff in Africa, making vehicles unaffordable for most. As one example, in Nigeria the duty is 35% to 70% of the vehicle's total cost. But by shipping it as cargo and having it assembled within its country of destination, the tariffs can be avoided, dropping to just 5% in Nigeria. Also, more of the flatpacked OXen can be stuffed into a shipping container than if they were pre-assembled.

"I'm more proud of this than any other vehicle I've done," Murray told Top Gear.

Gordan Murray

Murray was hired to do the design work by Sir Torquil Norman, the philanthropist and "ex-fighter pilot, lawyer, economist, banker and retired toy magnate" who conceived of the project. "It's a crime, almost, that only 20 percent of the world's population has access to a motor vehicle," says Norman. He set up a charitable organization called the Global Vehicle Trust to develop the vehicle and has spent £3 million on development thus far.

Sir Torquil Norman and Gordon Murray

"The most satisfying elements of the project for me are that the OX will make such a difference to so many people and that it has no competitor in any part of the world," says Murray. "It has been a privilege to work alongside Torquil to make his vision a reality."

"Our priority now is to raise the funding to complete the testing and take the project to fruition," Norman reports. "We believe that the OX has huge potential for charities, aid organisations and development programmes. My dream is to one day see an OX in every village in Africa."



This Week: Read 'Till You Drop at an Art Book Fair, Get Inspired for Your Next Start-Up and Embark on a Heroic Journey 

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Jumpstart your week with our insider's guide to events in the design world. From must-see exhibitions to insightful lectures and the competitions you need to know about—here's the best of what's going on, right now.

Monday

Harness Your Mind's Full Potential at: Introductory Design Thinking Workshop

Are you curious about design thinking? Don't just watch from the sidelines—give it a try at this experimental workshop. All are welcome, so go in with an open mind and take some new design thinking skills home with you.

Hong Kong. September 16, 2016 at 3:30 PM.

Tuesday

Bring a Bookworm to: Transmutations

Transmutations,a solo show of works by Emo de Mederirosis inspired by the idea of the monomyth, a word coined by James Joyce in Finnegans Wake and introduced by Joseph Campbell in his seminal work The Hero with a Thousand Faces. This interactive exhibit consists of over five sections that explore the concept of stereotypical heroic adventures.

Paris, France. On view through September 24, 2016.

Wednesday

Third Wheel With Your Favorite Design Couple at: Artek and the Aaltos—Creating a Modern World

This exhibit examines Artek, a pioneering Finnish design company founded in 1935, and focuses on its two architect co-founders, Alvar Aalto and Aino Marsio-Aalto. Artek and the Aaltos considers the Aaltos' shared practice through the lens of their groundbreaking company, whose under-recognized and multifaceted mission far exceeded its manufacturing of bentwood furniture designed by Alvar Aalto.

New York, NY. On view through October 2, 2016.

Thursday

Get Inspired for Your Next Startup at: Incubator

Often the hardest part of getting a new business off the ground is sourcing all the components needed to create something able to compete with current producers. Inevitably, using what you can find becomes the most practical way to make it happen. Incubator is a series of work in which Attenborough-Naftel look into the aesthetics of ad-hoc construction of both the spaces that facilitate small start-ups and the goods that are commonly produced there.

Baltimore, MD. On view through October 15, 2016.

Friday

Read 'Till You Drop at: NY Art Book Fair

The NY Art Book Fair consists of artists' books, catalogs, monographs, periodicals, and zines presented by 370 international presses, booksellers, antiquarians, artists, and independent publishers. An overwhelming yet very satisfying event—don't forget to bring an oversized bag for your loot. 

Long Island City, NY. Fair runs from September 16, 2016 to September 18, 2016.

Saturday/Sunday

Electrify Your Weekend with: Electro Craft and the Beginning of the London Design Festival

What are electrical products like when they are not designed with mass-production in mind? As part of the London Design Festival, Electro Craft challenges electrical manufacturers to think differently about how products are conceived, designed, made and used, when craftsmanship is valued over the pressure of mass-production.

London, Uk. On view through September 25, 2016.

Check out the Core77 Calendar for more design world events, competitions and exhibitions, or submit your own to be considered for our next Week in Design.


Designing a Tampon Alternative for the 21st Century

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Every now and then a product comes out where the sheer thrill of its existence is quickly replaced by a sense of horror that it took so long for something like it to come about in the first place.

Such was the case with FLEX, a new kind of tampon that is hypoallergenic, latex-free and safe to wear during sex. I'll spare you the gory stories that make a case for something like FLEX—think sex stories with more blood than a Quentin Tarantino film—but let's just say, innovation in the feminine hygiene industry was long overdue.

"FLEX was born out of a personal problem," says Lauren Schulte, CEO and Founder of The FLEX Company. "I hate tampons—they leak, they smell, they're uncomfortable and what's worse, they gave me terrible yeast infections after every period." Schulte explored other alternatives—such as menstrual cups—to no avail, eventually leading her to pursue a research and discovery phase in hopes that it would lead her to a more promising alternative. 

"I dug into the feminine hygiene market and different inventions. I was particularly focused on determining what made them succeed (or fail)," Schulte says. "When I learned that the modern tampon and menstrual cup were invented in the 1930's with little innovation to date, I vowed to dedicate my life to making something better for women."

Schulte's research began with listing out every single question she had about the space and then ticking them off one by one. "This took me about a year," she explains. Starting with the market in the U.S. and then looking at the offerings on a global scale, Schulte read up on the history of different products and patents to understand how the supply chain, manufacturing process and marketing strategies worked together to create menstrual products. "I paid extra close attention to products that had failed. Why did they fail? What could be learned?"

Schulte found that most people ran out of money during proof of concept or proof of design. "For those who made it through those initial phases, some failed because, first of all, their product couldn't be manufactured at scale and at a price point consumers would be willing to pay and, additionally, in a manner that the product itself would not fail during use," she says. "Then there's the group of products that made it through design and manufacturing successfully, but haven't been able to achieve product-market fit at scale. I put menstrual cups in this category because they're very easy to design and manufacture as a single-shot injection mold, but even though the market has a high awareness of menstrual cups, there's a relatively low adoption rate among users." One example, DivaCup (pictured below), the category leader, saw sales of under $1M in U.S. retailers last year—this number indicated to Schulte that menstrual cups are still very niche.

"I also studied the regulatory framework through which American Class II medical devices—a product category that also includes condoms, for example—must operate under," Schulte says. The FDA has specific requirements for all Class II medical devices to ensure safety and effectiveness, which Schulte dug into extensively.

From there, Schulte moved into a series of interviews with 53 various industry experts and manufacturers. "I talked to the FDA, and three independent consultants who specialize in taking Class II medical devices through the FDA approval process," Schulte says. "I talked to entrepreneurs in four countries who had tried making a menstrual product but had failed, and really dug into figuring out why that happened. I spoke to a handful of entrepreneurs who had made completely different medical devices (and had succeeded) to figure out how they managed through some of the problems that I wasn't sure how to overcome. Around the same time I also started interviewing product designers who could help me design my product."

Schulte quit her lucrative marketing job and started working full-time on FLEX in 2015—right after she started getting calls from out-of-state strangers who had heard murmurings about her idea and wanted to know where they could buy the product.

"I ordered every type of menstrual product I could find from the last 20 years," Schulte says. "I tried them all. I gave them to friends to try. I started collecting informal feedback. I hosted focus groups. I talked to strangers. I continued gathering feedback on what features and functions women really wanted in a product." All that user research and product testing informed Schulte's approach to product design as well as helped her develop a customer adoption plan, business model and marketing strategy. "The design is important, but without considering education, the economics of how the product would be sold and a marketing strategy, I knew I'd face the same fate of some of the women who had come before me and failed," Schulte says.

Similar to menstrual cups, FLEX collects rather than absorbs menses, a.k.a. all that delightful blood and other matter expelled from the uterus during menstruation. Unlike menstrual cups, however, FLEX is a disc that is worn at the base of the cervix instead of in the vaginal canal. This allows for air to flow freely, which helps reduce cramping while also allowing users to have intercourse during wear. Also unlike many menstrual cups, FLEX is disposable—meaning there's no need to rinse and reuse, a feature that, while practical and eco-friendly, was a sanitary hangup for many of Schulte's friends who used the product. In a field that hasn't seen much innovation in decades, FLEX creates an entirely new product category: menstrual discs.

Due to Schulte's own experience with yeast infections, material choice was of the utmost importance with FLEX and she opted to use medical grade polymers for the menstrual disc. "These materials were chosen because they do not disrupt the pH of the vagina and have antimicrobial properties," Schulte says. "They are tested for safety inside the human body and are used in all types of surgical tools. All tampons (even organic ones) disrupt the vagina's pH, which is what can lead to yeast or bacterial infections." FLEX can be worn for up to 12 hours and holds about 5 tampons worth of fluid, so it only has to be changed once or twice a day. This is a stark contrast to the frequency of change required with tampons—closer to every 4 hours—which when not followed can result in a range of medical concerns including Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).

FLEX, on the other hand, has not been linked to TSS. "The critical difference between FLEX and tampons is that FLEX is made out of inorganic materials (medical-grade polymer) while tampons are made out of organic material (cotton), which is a bacteria magnet," Schulte says. (She writes about the science behind TSS here.)

The final form and shape was the result of rigorous user testing, which found the disc to be the easiest form for women to insert and remove. "Women love the fact that FLEX doesn't block the vaginal canal, which makes it immensely more comfortable than any other product on the market," Schulte says. The founder and her team pulled from years of data on the "average" size of the vaginal fornix (the space around the cervix where FLEX sits)—collected from the days when the area was measured to prescribe diaphragms—to find an average that would fit over 90% of women. "And to help it fit even better, we used materials that employ your body heat to get softer, allowing them to mold to individual contours for a custom fit," Schulte says. "This is very different than a menstrual cup, which is made out of materials that are stable and must be appropriately sized, like latex or silicone."

As one might imagine, designing and developing a Class II medical device comes with its own suite of challenges, and not least of all was the process of raising capital. "Investors want to see product-market fit before they'll give you money; but you need money to build a product and it typically takes $2-3 million and two-three years to bring a Class II medical device to market," Schulte notes. Same goes for manufacturing. "Manufacturers want to know that you have money before they'll talk to you; but investors want to know that you have a product and manufacturer before they'll give you money."

FLEX ended up raising about $1.12 million in seed funding and recently acquired competitor Softcup, so it now owns much of this small yet growing market. With  funding locked down and manufacturing secured, FLEX is now available for pre-order online. "We've been overwhelmed by the positive response from women all over the world," Schulte says. "It's clear we've struck a nerve—women are tired of how shitty our products are. There is no product as ubiquitous and as hated as the tampon. They leak, they smell, they cause bloating and infections. It's no wonder we feel gross during our periods; it's not because our periods are gross, it's because walking around with a wet piece of cotton between your legs all day (or with a diaper strapped to your panties) is an uncomfortable experience. If men had periods, we'd be on the Mach 10 of tampons."

All this brings me back to square one. Why did it take so long for something like this to come about? The answer is likely a combination of the lack of discourse around a (widely considered to be) taboo topic along with the general absence of women in roles that can shine a light on these types of problems. Hopefully FLEX is the sign of more to come in this field, ushering in a renaissance of products and services to address other overlooked realms.

"I genuinely believe that if you are determined to solve a problem, you can do it, even if you don't have experience," Schulte says. "You have to approach the problem with an open mind and surround yourself with people who believe in your vision and have the capabilities to help you execute."

A Cable Management Solution for Retail Environments

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mce came to FIT with a need to create their new Mobile Care Expert Zone device. The design had to take in consideration many challenges such as being operate in a demanding retail environment, being able to connect to every device and various cable types. The process had to incorporate both custom and of the shelf components.

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More Purpose and Style via Vetra

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We introduced Vetra in the spring. We were intent on bringing it in because the boxes from France would not simply be full of quality workwear but also decades of family tradition, a culture of perseverance, and a brand we could proudly champion. People in Portland and beyond seemed to like the stuff the Bereens Family has been making since 1927, and so did we, so we've brought some of the most beloved pieces back and introduced a few new ones (including some specialty cuts for women and a dynamite piece of Herringbone for men). 

Take a look at some of the new stuff from France...

Vetra Work Jacket Hydrone Twill
Vetra Women's Work Jacket Black Twill
Vetra Work Jacket Overdyed Khaki Herringbone
Vetra Women's Work Coat Marine Twill

These new arrivals are a further illustration of Vetra's pursuit of purposeful, stylish gear that blurs the line between workwear and fashion. Staying true to their roots in early 20th Century European industry, Vetra continues to make strong-stitched and comfortable clothes that don't quit. Launched in 1927, Edouard Beerens combined the first letters of vetements de travail—work clothes—to find "Vetra." They're still work clothes, but with such style, that phrase sounds way too modest.

Shop the collection here.

Yea or Nay? Palette's Modular Physical Dials, Buttons and Sliders for Computer Work

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Palettes are a series of clean-looking dials, sliders and buttons that bring tactility to operations you'd normally perform on-screen. Here's a quick example:

I'm mightily impressed at the thought that went into the UX. Take a look at how you set these up:

The design seems pretty great. The magnets are smart and I dig that the little OLED screen displays what app you're in. And despite the fact that the modules appear to slide across the desk a bit too easily in the video, the company says that "Rubberized bases keep Palette firmly planted on your desktop as you slide, press and turn." 

The standard units are aluminum, but they've also got a handsome version done in solid cherry.

I'm putting this up as a "yea or nay" because despite how well-designed and clever these are, I'm not sure I'd sacrifice precious desk space to incorporate the system. I'd love the buttons for Photoshop, where I often have to hunt and peck through a series of commands, and the dial for editing videos in Premiere, although it's hard to beat key taps for frame-by-frame accuracy. I don't have any use for the sliders, though; I've always found sliders, as an interface, to be imprecise.

I work on a laptop, and in general I like to keep my hands on the keyboard and trackpad; I stopped using a mouse long ago because I don't like reaching. I've also grown fond of keyboard shortcuts, but admittedly I can't tell if it's for efficiency's sake or because I've developed Stockholm Syndrome.

What say you, would Palettes fit into your workflow? And would you be willing to spare the desktop real estate?

These are, by the way, just about the opposite of that Fidget Cube.

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