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Design Job: Ready for a Razor Sharp Career? Braun is Seeking Entry and Senior Level Industrial Designers in Frankfurt, Germany

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We are an international design team of 25+ Industrial & Graphic Designers, Design Managers, CAD specialists and Model makers, located both in Frankfurt and Boston, responsible for the Industrial Design, Packaging Design, UX Design and Strategic brand design for Braun, Gillette, Venus and the Art of Shaving.

View the full design job here

Is It Possible to Build a Quality $199 Ergonomic Office Chair?

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Every night, Manhattan's sidewalks are lined with garbage waiting for pick-up. The most common piece of furniture you'll see curbside are adjustable office chairs, the cheapie kind you get at a Staples or an Office Maxx for $100 or less. (This isn't limited to my neighborhood; I overheard Jimmy DiResta, who lives further east, say he sees the same and often harvests the gas shocks from them.)

One thing I've never seen is an Aeron or a Steelcase Gesture sitting by the curb. If you buy one of those, you're keeping it for life, or selling it if you no longer need it. They retain their function and value, and cost closer to $1,000 than $100.

Which begs the question: Is it possible to create an enduring office chair with sophisticated ergonomic mechanisms at Staples/Office Maxx prices? The cynic in me thinks it is not. But one company is trying—and intriguingly, it's a robotics company.

Autonomous, as they're called, has as their mission "to take breakthrough technologies in artificial intelligence and robotics and embed them inside everyday products." In addition to building wheeled teleconferencing robots, they've designed the ErgoChair:

In contrast to that high-production-value "sizzle reel," their narrated demonstration of the chair's features seems rather ad hoc:

The chair seems to have its merits, but what I find most odd is there's not a single mention of what contributions to the design a specialization in artificial intelligence and robotics has made.

The ergonomic features seem, at least on video, to be comparable to what currently-dominant office chairs offer. Assuming they work as advertised, then, the real test they'll need to stand is of time. Will they hold up over the long haul, or will these be curbside in a few years?

Question for fellow desk-dwellers responsible for their own seating: If you've got the money for an Aeron or a Gesture, would you gamble on a lower-priced ErgoChair, or stick with the tried-and-true?


Get Organized With Kickstarter

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As a professional organizer who's always interested in new products that might help my clients, I enjoy scrolling through Kickstarter to see what's on offer. Right now, I'm seeing many interesting items.

Even though many of us have a smartphone on us at all times, a wristwatch can still be a valuable time management tool. I wear one when working with clients, and what I want is a watch that makes it easy to tell the time. That seems obvious, but many watches are designed to look cool rather than to be practical. The only other bit of information I sometimes need is the date. So, I was very pleased with the watches from Twenty-Fifth, which meet those needs perfectly. The watches are also water-resistant, which is another feature that's critical to me.

Even my older eyes can easily read the numbers on those dials. The one bit of information that seems to be missing from the Kickstarter page and the company's website is the length of the band—I have big wrists, and some bands are just too short for me to wear. This Kickstarter will be funded on Nov. 11.

The Float Shelf from Prism Designs is a nice way for Apple users to de-clutter a workspace; it's a good place to put external hard drives and other such items. And if the end user's desk doesn't face a wall, it can also be used to display decorative items. 

The Float Shelf is made from a solid aluminum extrusion and holds up to 10 pounds. There are two sizes available; one or the other will fit all iMacs, Thunderbolt displays and cinema displays (As someone with an old 20-inch cinema display, I appreciate this). This Kickstarter will be funded on Nov. 30.

The Map Box, created by From the Workshop, might not seem like a big deal. However from my experience, a box that is proportioned perfectly for holding maps upright—and one that would look good on a bookshelf next to  travel books—is exactly what some end users would love to have. This project has until Nov. 20 to get funded; boxes are also available on Etsy.

The Gripster is a different type of bike storage solution than the others I've seen. It attaches to any bike's handlebars to provide additional stability when a bike is leaned against a wall (it helps to protect the wall, too). There's a magnet to provide storage options for the Gripster when it's not in use.

I can see this being especially useful for an end user in an apartment who isn't allowed to install anything onto a wall. It would also be good for anyone who might have trouble lifting a bike on and off a rack. This Kickstarter has until Nov. 20 to get funded.

The Cactus Rack is a freestanding rack for surf boards, snow boards, long boards, etc. This is another product that would be helpful for end users who can't install wall-mounted solutions. It's a modular design—there are options for two, four or six boards. A two-board expansion pack can be purchased separately if the end user acquires more boards; that's definitely a cool feature. The rack is made from plantation-grown bamboo. It ships in a flat pack and assembles with an Allen key. This Kickstarter will be funded very soon: Nov. 5 at 5:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

The Eclipse from Native Union is a 3-port USB hub/charging station that also provides for cord control. (One of the three USB-A ports can be turned into a USB-C port with the flip of a switch.) Native Union found that most end users only charge two or three devices daily, so a larger and bulkier hub was unnecessary.

There are so many thoughtful features here—the video sums them up nicely. Here's just one: "Eclipse uses an advanced transformer to guarantee safe currents that won't damage your devices' batteries in the long term." 

My only concern would be that the cables will need to get rewound (in their individual channels) after each use if the end user wants to keep things looking neat when the devices aren't charging—that rewinding may get a bit tedious. This Kickstarter will be funded on Nov. 18. 

I'm always interested in a good hook, since hooks make it so easy to hang up clothes, towels, etc. Hooked, from Nicholas Marschner, is certainly attractive. My concern would be that it seems to protrude quite a distance from the wall, and it's made of steel—this could result in some nasty injuries if someone ran into one in the dark. So end users would need to be careful about the placement of these hooks. This Kickstarter will be funded on Nov. 29.

A fidget toy may not seem like an organizing-related product, but some end users with ADHD (and others, too) find it easier to concentrate on the task at hand when they can play with a fidget. The P6-Spinner from Jetset Robot was designed to fit nicely in someone's hand. It has a more adult/professional look than some other fidget toys, which might make it well suited for an office environment. 

Xube is a travel toiletries organizer. End users who want to carry their own toiletries on a trip (or to the gym) can either buy a bunch of travel-size versions of their favorites—which are sometimes hard to find—or fill travel-sized bottles from their larger ones. 

Xube is a variation on that second approach; it will hold four different shower products. And it uses nanosuction to attach to any flat surface, which could certainly be helpful in showers without any convenient ledges or shelves to hold these items. For end users who don't mind the refilling process, this might be a useful item. 

One big drawback, though: There's no way to label which section has what product. The design team wrote, "After no small amount of consideration, we concluded that it would be best not to compromise XUBE's sleek and minimal aesthetic." Not all end users will agree with this trade-off.

This Kickstarter has until Dec. 2 to meet its funding goal.

Reader Submitted: Count Down the Days With Poligon's Sleek Metal Calendars 

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Poligon has taken an entirely new approach to the calendar. Using the same techniques used to create metal sculptures, Poligon allows days to be permanently marked by pushing in a tab as each day passes. The user keeps track of the date in a delightful way and can mark future events like birthdays or holidays. This can be done with a full fold or half fold, perhaps signifying a less important event. Over the course of the year, the calendar transforms into something deeply personal. There are two types of calendar—folded and flat.

View the full project here

Reebok's Liquid Factory Aims to Eliminate Molds From the Footwear Manufacturing Process

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Earlier this week, we received a massive box at the office with the words 'Reebok Future' printed on top. Here's a full run-down of what happened next because it was too interesting to keep to ourselves:

The Tricked-Out Box

As we opened the box to reveal its contents, we noticed a small screen embedded in the top of the box. After a few moments, the words 'Reebok Future' flashed across the screen and a video of robots drawing with a strange red liquid began to play. There was a control panel below the video allowing volume and play/pause control. A charger sat at the bottom of the box just in case the contraption were to run out of juice. 

Reebok's Liquid Lab

Let's get to the main point—the sneakers that were stashed inside the box. The Liquid Speeds are the first result of Reebok's Liquid Factory—an open innovation lab set to open sometime next year in Rhode Island. Liquid Factory will focus on new, experimental footwear manufacturing techniques, including the 3D Drawing that can be seen on the Liquid Speeds. 3D drawing is Reebok's attempt to take Nike, Under Armour and Adidas' 3D printed shoes to the next level.

The 3D Drawing technique utilizes robots to free-hand winged designs with a urethane-based liquid gel—created by BASF—onto a flat surface. After the robots layer the gel to obtain the desired strength and shape, the center of the forms are attached to the shoes' sole and the wings are wrapped around the sneaker to be laced. The process can be seen in Reebok's promo video:

3D Drawing was inspired by the automotive industry—specifically the red gaskets found on truck door vents. According to Reebok Future head, Bill McInnis, the vents' gaskets used to be made my mold but have now been handed over to robots that apply them directly to the vents. This process reflected Reebok's ultimate goal of eliminating expensive molds from the footwear design process—they were able to program robots to draw the entire outsole of the Liquid Speeds without molds.

Instead of being an after thought, Reebok chose to have the 3D printed element function as a lacing mechanism, replace the outsole mold and attach to the sole—making for a powerful triple threat.

Testing the Liquid Speeds

Man, these are comfortable—props to Reebok's robots! The flexible 3D printed liquid complements the lacing process—the material stretches as you lace, allowing a snug fit. Walking around felt a little weird at first, though. You can feel every ridge in the sole as you move due to the curved nature of the liquid shapes, and the layered gel is surprisingly heavy. This isn't necessarily negative—just somewhat of an adjustment. 

I'll sum my concerns up into three questions to keep things brief: How will the 3D printed gel's traction react to extreme weather, i.e. snow/ice? How will the heavy weight of the gel affect wearability for professional athletes? Will the gel's relatively thin joints hold up over time? 

These concerns aren't minor by any means, but with the opening of the full Liquid Factory next year, Reebok should have plenty of space and time to work out any 3D Drawing quirks. The Liquid Speeds are just the beginning step in Reebok's mission to change footwear manufacturing, and we're excited to see what's next. 

What do you think about Reebok Future's UX, Liquid Lab and Liquid Speed sneakers?

Hand Tool School #8: Working With the Wood Grain to Ensure Greatest Strength

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(Note: You'll see a shocking photo here of this thing called a tablesaw, which I used to use before switching over to hand tools. This old lesson here is important regardless of whether you use power or hand tools.)

I am adding a French foot to a Hepplewhite bookcase that I'm building for my wife's voice studio. The key to making these is ensuring that the grain follows the curve of the foot so you get nice long-grain strength throughout. The problem is that the direction of that curve is nowhere near parallel to that of your average board. So I have to orient my pattern for that best grain relationship.

Set the pattern so that the grain follows the curve of the foot

I took my bevel gauge and set the angle needed to crosscut the individual feet blanks from the larger board.

Use a bevel gauge to match the angle

Then I used that bevel setting to position my miter gauge on the table saw.

Use the miter gauge to cut out French foot blanks

Finally, I have a blank cut to the exact height of the foot that still allows the grain to flow along with the curve. From here, I am free to miter the 45 degree corner referencing off this fresh edge. The inside edge will be cut on the bandsaw.

Now the grain will add strength to the feet

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This "Hand Tool School" 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.


Japanese Craftsman Demonstrates Intricate Marquetry Technique

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This is a crazy combination of low-tech production methods, precision hand craftsmanship, graphic design and utter patience. Here craftsman Noboru Honma demonstrates a fabrication technique that yields CNC-like visual complexity, yet has been executed for centuries, long before the discovery of electricity:

The technique was developed in the Hakone region of Japan during the Edo period (1600s to 1800s). You can learn more about this Hakone Yosegi-Zaiku technique at the Japanese Traditional Culture Promotion and Development Organization's website.


Design Job: Become a Kid Again as Blip Toys' Product Designer/Manager in Plymouth, MN

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Blip Toys is a small fast growing manufacturer specializing in mass-market toys and sporting goods. We currently have an opening for a high energy Product Designer/ Product Manager willing to work in all aspects of the creative process. Working with our management and creative team, the candidate will help develop

View the full design job here

Parley's Alternative Worldview: Planet Earth as Spaceship

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We all have a view of our immediate environment that informs the way we behave within it. We keep our voices down in the library, we raise our voices when we're watching a playoff game at a bar. We cross our offices to throw paper into the recycling bin rather than dumping it onto the floor. We drive on the street and not the sidewalk.

Zooming out a bit further, we each have a concept of how our country and economy works. Next week Americans will go to the polls to vote for whom we see as the best (or perhaps least worst) candidate to administrate that system.

Nov. 8th

Zooming out even further, there's the planet. What are we doing on it, and how does it all work? How ought we behave on it? This video provides one potential explanation:

The video was produced by Parley for the Oceans, a think tank and TED-like traveling event host that gathers "creators, thinkers and leaders" to solve threats to the crucial ecosystem that is our oceans.

That may sound vague, and the video above may leave you thinking "Fine, okay, so Earth is this spaceship, now what am I supposed to do about it?" Parley lays out a roadmap for how change can be concretely effected, particularly by us as both creatives and consumers:

We believe the power for change lies in the hands of the consumer – given he has a choice – and the power to shape this new consumer mindset lies in the hands of the creative industries.
Artists, musicians, actors, filmmakers, fashion designers, journalists, architects, product inventors, and scientists have the tools to mold the reality we live in and to develop alternative business models and ecologically sensible products to give us earthlings an alternative choice, an everyday option to change something.
To succeed, we need to find ways to synchronize the economic system of humankind with the ecosystem of nature. And make environmental protection fiscally lucrative for pacesetting major companies.

Up next, we'll show you an example of a new partnership Parley has engaged in with a major manufacturer that embodies these ideals. And their solution comes in the form of a physical product, one that many of you here are familiar with.

Part of the Solution: Process and Progress at Dutch Design Week 2016

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Attracting an estimated 295,000 visitors, Dutch Design Week celebrated its 15th anniversary this year with record attendance figures at exhibitions around Eindhoven. From the former Philips factories in Strijp-S to the galleries of the Van Abbemuseum, Dutch Design Week once again offered a crowd-pleasing (and oftentimes crowded) smorgasbord of art, architecture, and design.

Among the 100 exhibitions on view between October 22–30, the Graduation Show at the Design Academy Eindhoven is arguably the single most important one. While the majority of the 40,000 visitors were impressed by the 171 projects on view—the show was bigger than ever—seasoned veterans couldn't help but notice that some projects lacked originality. A preponderance of fashion and especially performance-based projects reinforced the overall art-school vibe, to the effect that potentially market-ready products seemed out of place.

The Klokgebouw show filled another sprawling exhibit hall, with hundreds of projects and participants showing work either in production, or prototypes on their way to market. Included was Mind The Step, a collection of student work and research projects from three technical schools (Eindhoven University of Technology, Delft University of Technology and University of Twente). The work here specifically included technical aspects, explorations and demonstrations. 

Meanwhile, "The Making of" served as an easy catch-all theme for the diverse exhibitions and attractions but didn't quite capture the DDW experience. Upon initial reflection, two trends that ran throughout the event: food and virtual reality. Reduced to these two incommensurate forms of sensory experience, 'design' is conceived as less about making or objects and more about simply being in the moment.

As one of the two DDW Ambassadors this year, Maarten Baas, reluctantly stepped into the spotlight (the other was Bas van Abel) with an exhibition celebrating the 15th anniversary of both Dutch Design Week and the founding of his studio. Widely considered a highlight of the week, "Maarten Baas Makes Time" comprised a retrospective and a group exhibition, with performances, a VR component, and a fine dining experience—all under a single roof.

Arita House Amsterdam
With the Arita House project, designersScholten & Baijingsdisplay ceramics produced by 16 western designers working with traditional manufacturers from the Saga region in Japan.
Arita House Amsterdam
With the Arita House project, designers Scholten & Baijings display ceramics produced by 16 western designers working with traditional manufacturers from the Saga region in Japan.
Arita House Amsterdam
With the Arita House project, designers Scholten & Baijings display ceramics produced by 16 western designers working with traditional manufacturers from the Saga region in Japan.
11X17
Elisa van Joolen's 11X17 project reimagines brand identity - part of the Dream Out Loud show at the Stedelijk Museum.
11X17
Elisa van Joolen's 11X17 project reimagines brand identity - part of the Dream Out Loud show at the Stedelijk Museum.
Stirrer Carpet
Created by the collective We Make Carpets this piece is made from thousands of cocktail mixing sticks. Part of the Dream Out Loud show at the Stedelijk Museum.
Stirrer Carpet
Created by the collective We Make Carpets this piece is made from thousands of cocktail mixing sticks. Part of the Dream Out Loud show at the Stedelijk Museum.
Interior of the X BANK design shop
X BANK is a collection of Dutch fashion, art and design on display, and for sale, in the lobby of the W Hotel in Amsterdam. The store serves as a platform for Dutch designers, and also produces programs and events.
Designer Dinner
A lovely dinner table arranged at the studio of ceramic artists Nadine Sterk and Lonny van Ryswyck. The studio explore natural materials in the objects and finishes they create. Recent projects include glassware of different colors made from sand collected throughout Europe.
Catalog display at the 2016 Design Academy Graduation Show
In need of: Guts, Trust, Poetry
View the full gallery here

Laffy Wants to Bring Joy to Children in Hospitals

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The Laffy doll is a unique children's toy designed to use laughter to inspire and create laughter, specifically for children undergoing treatment for cancer. Pulse worked to develop Laff-A-Lot as a friendly and nonthreatening character while, in parallel, tailoring the electronics to accommodate a unique array of voices and sounds. Its compact size and form factor makes Laff-A-Lot ergonomic for small hands and easy to keep clean.

View the full content here

Mujjo's 5th Anniversary Wooden Macbook Cases

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Netherlands based leather tech and travel accessories company, Mujjo, celebrated their 5th anniversary this week. Instead of sticking with leather, Mujjo decided to expand their palette by releasing 50 limited edition wooden Macbook Pro cases.

Mujjo collaborated with Athanasios Babalis, industrial designer and co-founder of Shibui.com. Each vegetable tanned leather-lined wooden case was handmade in Greece with reclaimed American Walnut veneer. The case is able to hold the new 13" Macbook Pro, its third generation predecessor and the 12" Macbook. Take a look at the process photos:

"Layers are stacked and placed in a handmade mold. This goes into a press, where the case comes to life when the layers of veneer are pressed together to form its iconic silhouette. From here, the case goes on to CNC, a computerized mill which cuts each case to precise measurements, revealing its simple and instantly recognizable final shape."
"The case then goes through several stages of sanding to ensure a smooth finish. We apply a small amount of gunstock (tung) oil to the veneer for a final coating, which gives its final, satin-gloss-like finish."
"The case is enclosed with a stainless steel door panel, which is secured with a thumbscrew."

The cases have already sold out on Mujjo's website, but this could—maybe—mean more wooden products from them in the future.

What is Society's 'Drug' of Choice? Will Designers Ever End the Built-to-Break Model? Plus: Inside the Largest Mexican Restaurant in the World

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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.

What is the Opium of the People?

This Economist article asks a group of writers what we, the masses, use to anesthetize ourselves from the drudgery of ordinary life. The title is taken from Karl Marx's famous quote that "religion is the opium of the people;" but now that society is growing more secular, what's our drug of choice? Raising children? Food? Surfing the internet? Celebrity gossip? Designer goods? The article was written a few years ago but the answers are just as valid today.

—Rain Noe, senior editor

Step Inside Cuba's Oldest Printmaking Studio, Taller Experimental de Gráfica

A first-person narrative filled with fun facts about the history of printmaking in Cuba. Example: Lithography was introduced in Cuba during the early 19th century as a way to protect Cuban exports, especially tobacco, from counterfeiters.

—Emily Engle, editorial assistant

The New MacBook Pros Mark the End of Upgradeable Apple Computers

We tend to get hyper-focused on the technical minutiae amidst a new Apple product launch (you're likely to hear comments like "what's the practical use of this new feature?" or "I miss the size of the older model!"). In the case of the new remarkably thin MacBook Pro, another detail we may want to bring up is how this redesign completely compromises the sustainable integrity of Apple's previous models, rendering it nearly impossible now for computer repairs or RAM replacements to occur. Which ultimately brings up the question: will designers ever find a commercially viable way to end the built-to-break business model?

—Allison Fonder, community manager

Tortillas for Everyone

Here's a story about the largest Mexican restaurant in the world. Arroyo in Mexico City serves 15,000 tortillas each night, has nine dining rooms, mariachi bands, a bull ring, and seating for 2,200. The restaurant is an institution that has been in business since 1940, celebrating traditional Mexican cuisine and culture.

—Stuart Constantine, publisher and managing partner

Building a Barrister's Bookcase, Understanding the Design of Bandsaws, Modifying an Outfeed Table & More

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Understanding the Design of Bandsaws

Matthias Wandel explains why bigger is better and why three-wheeled designs have an inherent design flaw. He also discusses how the form factor of his new bandsaw build is based on function and efficiency:

Big Bandsaw Build, Part 2: Laminated Beam Frame

This might be the most part-intensive thing we've ever seen Wandel build, and that's saying a lot. Here he creates a substantial frame for his new bandsaw XL by doing a helluva lot of glue-ups:

Building a Walking Velociraptor

While you might not have a need to build a perambulatory dinosaur based on Theo Jansen's leg mechanisms, Izzy Swan shows a bunch of his signature efficiency tips during the build process:

Making a Zombie Killer Bat

We've never seen Frank Howarth build anything outright weapon-like, but here he builds an anti-zombie spiked bat—segmented-turning-style, of course:

Lathe Tool Holder

On a more peaceful note, Howarth also upgrades his lathe tool holder, overcoming some CNC errors along the way:

Cherry Flag Display Case Collaboration

Jay Bates is off-site at a buddy's shop. Here the two begin collaborating on a display case. Watch for their clever UI solution for how to remove coins that are inset into wood:

Here's Part 2 of the build:

Modifying the Folding Outfeed Table

Here April Wilkerson adds more functionality to the folding outfeed table she recently built, adding slots for a table sled, removable T-track inserts for clamping and a paper roll with a cutter:

Barrister's Bookcase

The Wood Whisperer gives us an unnarrated build of a handsome, functional, and old-school-modular piece of furniture: A barrister's bookcase, which features garage-style doors.


Hack a Cupholder Into Your Bike, Build a Sliding Bathroom Mirror, Learn to Prevent Router Blowout & More

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How to Prevent Router Blowouts

The Samurai Carpenter gives you some practical tips on how to avoid tear-out when using a router:

Earthquake-Testing the Handplane Holder

This is funny. Challenged by viewers on whether his handplane holder would dump its contents in earthquake-prone areas, Matthias Wandel puts it to the test—using an ATV:

How to Make a Custom Ceiling Light Fixture

It's home improvement time—Bob Clagett whips up a bamboo veneer ceiling light to replace an ugly fixture in his entryway:

Sizing Narrow Boards with Hand Tools

Hand tool users: Shannon Rogers answers a viewer question about whether it's better to size narrow boards using a handplane or a saw. He provides a sensible and practical answer that seems obvious, but which I hadn't thought of:

Bike Frame Cupholder

Bicycle purists will flinch, but here Laura Kampf adds an amusing and ergonomic touch to her bicycle:

Automatic Band Saw Blade Sharpener

Sharpening a bandsaw blade can be time-consuming. Here John Heisz shows you a rig he's developed that advances the blade one tooth at a time to make the task easier:

How To Clamp Using Tape

You've seen Izzy Swan do this a million times, but here Chris Salomone demonstrates and philosophizes on the method:

One From the Archives: DIY Sliding Bathroom Mirror

Ben Uyeda of HomeMade Modern shows us how to make a nifty sliding bathroom mirror over shelves using commonly-available materials:



Construct a Global View of Contemporary Architectural Practice, Enter an Anything-Goes Art Competition and Explore the Relationship Between Artists and Time 

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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

There's Still Some Time to Apply to: Arte Laguna Prize

The Arte Laguna Prize is an international open-themed art award based in Venice, aimed at enhancing Contemporary Art. The Prize is divided into the following sections: painting, sculpture and installation, photographic art, video art and performance, virtual art and digital graphics and 'land art.'

Venice, Italy. Online competition open for submissions through November 16, 2016.

Tuesday

Image via Core77 Discussion Board Contributor, Riccardo_Bianchini

Catch the Venice Architecture Biennale Before it's Too Late!

According to curator, Alejandro Aravena, the Biennale's goals are to, "widen the range of issues to which architecture is expected to respond" and to "highlight the fact that architecture is called to respond to more than one dimension at a time, integrating a variety of fields instead of choosing one or another." 

Venice, Italy. On view through November 27, 2016.

Wednesday

True Nordic: How Scandinavia Influenced Design in Canada

This landmark exhibition explores more than seven decades of Nordic aesthetic influence in Canadian design. Examining the ways that modern Scandinavian design was introduced to Canada and how its aesthetic principles and material forms were adopted and adapted by Canadian artisans and designers, True Nordic will present a comprehensive, critical survey of Canadian furniture, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, and glassware.

Toronto, ON. On view through January 8, 2017.

Thursday

Artists in Their Time

Istanbul Modern's collection exhibition, Artists in Their Time, focuses on how artists position their work and themselves within the concept of time. It suggests a conceptual field for examining, and reconciling, the links between an artist's time and societal, cultural, natural and universal time. It unites artists from very different periods, geographies and disciplines around common themes.

Istanbul, Turkey. On view through December 31, 2016.

Friday

IDSA Medical Conference

The design industry and the frontlines of the medical field are teaming up to provide insights into delivering improved healthcare value at IDSA's Medical Design Conference. Key takaways from the event include gaining actionable new perspectives and methodologies to impact work on building and strengthening successful design for healthcare and insights on the need for collaboration between the design and healthcare fields, including challenges and successful models.

San Francisco, CA. November 11 - 12, 2016.

Saturday/Sunday

In Our Time: A Year of Architecture in a Day

In Our Time: A Year of Architecture in a Day presents the most exciting and critical design projects of 2016 in a daylong convening organized and hosted by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Architects, curators, theorists, photographers, and filmmakers construct a global view of contemporary architectural practice.

New York, NY. November 12, 2016 at 10:30AM.

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.

New Book Illustrates Different Sketching Processes Used by Industrial Designers

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Remember rendering expert Mark Kokavec releasing his How to Draw Figures book? Now another industrial designer, this one from down under, is spreading the sketching gospel in book form. This one focuses more on hardcore ID sketching:

Projecet founder and Canberra-based industrial designer Tom Skeehan runs Skeehan Studio, which focuses on commercial furniture, lighting and product design. His book, Sketching Process, has already been successfully Kickstarted with $15,858 pledged on a $9,980 goal. But Skeehan is hoping, in the final 17 days of the campaign, to hit $50,000 in pledges; should that happen, he'll use the money to build an online instructional sketching platform.

Speaking of online instructional sketching platforms, don't forget to check out our own sketch-tastic videos by Michael DiTullo and Spencer Nugent.

Fun fact: If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and draw circles by moving your pen clockwise, when you try doing the same in Australia, your hand goes counterclockwise.


The SafariSeat: A Low-Cost, All-Terrain, Open-Source Wheelchair Built from Bicycle Parts

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If you want to research how to design for those with disabilities, you can buy the Inclusive Design Toolkit we looked at here. But industrial designer Janna Deeble did his research the hard way: An accident left him in a wheelchair for three months, providing first-hand experience of what it's like to not be able to use your legs.

The market for wheelchair users in developed nations is one that designers are already addressing. But there's a need in developing nations for wheelchairs too, in regions where there are no sidewalks. Even if impoverished residents could afford a conventional wheelchair, it would do little good over dirt tracks and goat pastures.

Thus Deeble assembled a design team and developed SafariSeat, a low-cost, all-terrain, open-source wheelchair made from commonly-available bicycle parts:

Deeble's four-person outfit, Uji, has as their mission "to design tools that help people lift themselves out of the poverty cycle." The SafariSeat project is their first, and it's off to a promising start; it's not only been successfully Kickstarted, but is truly going to make a difference in people's lives.

"The open source toolkit means we don't have to pay licensing fees, allowing businesses to grow freely," says Matthew Lukindo of the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK). "This will mean more SafariSeats and more jobs for the community. The all-terrain [capability] and low cost design makes it perfect for the Kenyan environment."

At press time, the campaign had netted $68,977 on a $37,370 goal, but they can still use more funding. The current amounts pledged enable Uji and the APDK to set up two workshops in East Africa and produce 100 SafariSeats. More funding would not only allow them to produce more, but will also enable them to set up a disability outreach program to locate the undocumented folks in isolated regions who are desperately in need of a SafariSeat. There's just nine days left in the campaign, and you can pledge here.

This Manageably Sized Speaker Packs a Punch 

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Whether you are at Outside Lands in San Francisco or at Berghain in Berlin, being embraced by music is an emotional state of being. The sensation of a wall of sound wrapping you up and transporting you to fantastical places was the original inspiration for VOOM 21 by Y Studios.

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How to Drill a Square Hole

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The QuadSaw can be chucked into a drill and used to cut perfectly square and rectangular holes in drywall. The attachment is the brainchild of T. Michael Sebhatu, an African refugee turned engineer, who saw a tradesman installing electrical boxes and decided there had to be a faster, more accurate way than marking and cutting by hand. 

Sebhatu devised a mechanism that converts the rotary motion of a drill to the linear motion of an oscillating multitool (OMT). The blade in an OMT moves only a fraction of an inch per stroke, yet is able to cut because the tool produces thousands of strokes per minute—a technology devised in the 1940s by an orthopedist who wanted a faster safer way to remove plaster casts.

The QuadSaw differs from the OMTs found at tool stores in a couple of ways—it's a drill-powered attachment, and it has four blades that cut at the same time. The blades in a single-gang model cut a square opening for the electrical boxes (approx. 3" x 3") used in Sebhatu's adopted country, the UK. A second model cuts rectangular openings for larger (dual-gang) boxes.

How a standard OMT transforms rotary motion to linear action.

Unlike the blade in an OMT—which moves in response to an eccentrically mounted bearing—the blades in the QuadSaw are driven by a spinning cylinder with a sine wave shaped channel machined into it. Each blade is attached to a "block" with a diagonal slot in the back of it. The slot houses a captured bearing that drives the block back and forth in response to the up and down motion of the bearing as it traverses the channel of the rotating cylinder. It's a brilliant way to convert rotary action to linear motion while transferring power to four blades at once.

How the QuadSaw works: Captured bearings (30 a-d) slide up and down in the slots through a fixed collar (61) as they traverse the sine wave shaped channel in a rotating cylinder (24a). The bearings also slide in the diagonal slots (46 a-d) in the backs of the blocks (26 a-d) to which blades (10 a-d) are attached, converting vertical to horizontal (oscillating) motion.

Moving in unison, the blades make quick work of drywall, leaving holes that are perfectly sized for retrofit electrical boxes. A "pilot bit" on the back of the device prevent it from sliding when the blades first make contact. An adjustable "leg" allows the electrician to preset the height of holes he will cut.

The QuadSaw was patented and developed by Genius IP and is set for release in the UK in the summer of 2017. The company is said to have models sized for the electrical boxes used in the US. The tool is expected to sell for £199 (about $220 USD). That's a lot to spend for a hole cutting attachment but could be worth it to the electrician who regularly installs old work (retrofit) boxes in drywall.


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