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nendo's Toilet Design for Disaster Victims, An Algorithm that Cuts 3D Printing Time in Half and More

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The Core77 team spends time combing through the news so you don't have to. Here's a weekly roundup of our favorite finds from the World Wide Web:

This algorithm cuts 3D printing time in half.

Vintage Honda CT-110 auction ending today at 5PM. Bidding at $2,800!

Gentrification measured by the usage of Edison bulbs.

How to hack prison

nendo's designs for disaster victims

Talking luxury car design, and jewelry, with Earl Lucas, the chief exterior designer at the Lincoln Motor Company.

Nathalie Du Pasquier, the artist, designer, and founding member of the Memphis group along with Ettore Sottsass, shares some of her artworks and the philosophy behind them.

Porsche is starting its own subscription system where you can get Porsches on demand for $2,000 a month.

An argument against the travel neck pillow.

A neural network created its own celebrities—the result is terrifyingly realistic.

These looping abstract animations are mesmerizing.

Hot Tip: Discover more blazin' hot Internet finds on our Twitter and Instagram pages.


Bad Design Meets Unnecessary Technology: Guy Reviews ION Bottleless Water Cooler

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Here's a great example of a product design that probably sounded great on paper, but clearly sucks to use in the real world. We present to you the Ion Bottleless Water Cooler:

1. The Initial Design Problem

Office water coolers require the end user to lift that heavy jug of water, invert it, and drop it into the top of the machine.

2. The Solution

Let's design a water cooler that hooks up to a tap instead and filters the water. With no reservoir, it will be much smaller, taking up less space, and no one will have to lift the bottle.

3. The Add-Ons and Details

Let's add carbonation, and a lot of different temperature options. And a touchscreen!

4. The End Result

Over the weekend this Redditor posted this review of the resultant device:

Just a reminder of how much can go wrong between #2 and #4.


Toy Design Fail: Teddy Bears With Long Legs are Horrendous

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There are certain classic toy designs that simply oughtn't be messed with. Here's a case where a manufacturer did not heed this rule, perhaps realized that they screwed up after they'd already gone into production, and perhaps was very careful in how they presented their creation in photographs.

The object in question is the Joyfay Giant Teddy Bear 78" (6.5 Feet) White. Here are the first six photographs of it shown on the Amazon listing:

Cute, right? But if you get down to the final, seventh photo, you see this:

The legs are grotesquely long, but the first six photos all use foreshortening or cropping to downplay that fact.

Apparently many folks who bought the teddy bear never bothered to check that sixth photo, and are hilariously crapping all over the product in the reviews with their own, more honest photos. Some examples:

And this damning review sans photo:

And a couple of wiseacres:

To be fair to Joyfay, the bear has received primarily positive reviews…

…but the one-star gripes have worked their way up to the top of the list.­­ Because let's face it, these days negatively funny stuff always draws more attention.

Via Motherboard

Design Job: Passionate About Design and Writing? Consider Joining Our Team as Editorial Intern in NYC!

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Our Editorial Internship offers a wealth of experience in editorial research, metric tracking, copywriting and editing (not to mention hanging with us in our Soho office!). We're looking for a passionate individual who's ready to embrace their inner design nerd, has a way with words and is itching to attend and cover design events in the New York City area.

View the full design job here

Clever Design for a Device That Picks Up Nuts

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I've never had to harvest pecans, but presumably the designers of this Multi Headed Nut Wizard have. Here's the brilliant object they came up with, which "will pick up through light to medium leaves and will hold up to 40 lbs of pecans when full." Be sure to stick around until the end, when they show you how they unload the thing:


Classic American Muscle Car Design: What Was the Best Year for the Pontiac GTO?

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The Pontiac GTO, like the Chevrolet Chevelle, was a classic American muscle car that debuted in 1964. Initially the GTO was merely a performance package for Pontiac's Tempest, but became an actual separate model in 1966.

The GTO's design was tweaked every single year of the decade it was in existence. To see how it's evolved, we'll rely on the excellent and consistent photography of RK Motors Charlotte, which also records 360 turntable video of the models they restore:

1964

360 Turntable:

1965

360 Turntable:

1966

360 Turntable:

1967

360 Turntable:

1968

360 Turntable:

1969

360 Turntable:

1970

360 Turntable:

1971

(No turntable video available.)

1972

360 Turntable:

And then, folks, it all came crashing down.

1973

1974

Which year was your favorite, and why?

Cars, Markers and Beers: The 2017 Middlecott Sketch Battle Experiment™ at SEMA

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The yearly SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show is when custom builders, resto-mod officialdom, gear heads and car nuts of all kinds descend on Las Vegas in a rowdy clash of screeching tires and burning rubber—and that is not hyperbole. Out front of the show is a low G skid pad where professional drivers can take out cars to see how easily they do donuts, from the Ford Mustang to the latest Kia. Legendary builders like Rod Emory, Magnus Walker, Singer, and Icon show off their latest and most insane builds. Mainstream brands like Ford, Honda, and Chevy display their race vehicle R&D test beds and high performance models. And every possible part maker you can imagine is set up to show off how they can improve your ride from stiffer racing shocks to smartphone integration.

It is in that mix of motor oil, super high octane racing fuel, and car branded tattoos that the Middlecott Sketch Battle Experiment landed. The Middlecott Sketch Battle Experiment (or MSBE) ir organized by designer Brook Banham and Frank Schwartz, founder of Advanced Automotive Consulting Services. Their goal is to bring design out of the corporate offices and into the limelight. MSBE has been running at the Detroit Auto Show for the past 8 years, and this will be its second year at the LA Auto Show. The concept is simple: Gather all of the designers that are at these shows anyway, pick the best of the best of them, and have them square off in a live sketching competition. This year sponsor Axalta helped them one-up the experience by actually bringing the first few rounds of competitive heats directly to the show floor in their booth.

Contestants furiously sketching against the clock in the opening round.

The main competition was held at a rented out club in downtown Old Las Vegas. A welcome respite from The Strip, designers from all of the major brands checked in to have a few beers and cheer on their favorite competitors. Last year, I participated at the LA edition as a judge, and this year for SEMA I dropped in as a surprise competitor. Three thirty minute heats whittled the field down from 15 entrants do to a final 4, to a single winner who took home a giant WWF style championship belt. Other entrants included Daney Chhang previously at Faraday Future, Roberoto Martinez, Cesar Estrada of Airdesign, independent designer Chris Greazel, John Narciso of TSW, Justin Famularo owner of Joy Performance Wheels and designer at Rivian, Del Swanson, Kayvan Naderi, Matt Torres, Ryan Goimarac of FCA, and Art Center students Chris Lah, Henry Pu, Jose Omar Gonzalez Torres and Xinhan Wang. Competition was stiff but friendly, with entrants pushing and encouraging each other. If you think sketching live is stressful, try doing it in front of a room full of car designers in various states of inebriation. Judges included the legendary Camillo Pardo who designed the Mustang and Ford GT, Tim Anness Head of Jeep Exterior Design, and Adam Genei of Mobsteel.

Each round had a theme. The first was restored-modded pick up trucks, round 2 was Lincoln low riders, and round 3 was open as long as it fit in with SEMA and Mobsteel. The event's headline sponsor was MobSteel, a Detroit based builder and wheel maker. Daney Chhang walked away with the championship belt, and the crowd walked away energized and inspired. 

So much of what we do is locked up behind closed doors for years, and sometimes forever. Getting a bunch of designers together and setting them loose is a good thing, even if only for a few hours. If you're planning to be in LA for the auto show in December, come a few days early to check out the next Middlecott Sketch Battle Experiment™.

The next Middlecott Sketch Battle experiment will be Nov 29th, from 7pm-11pm, at the LA Auto Show. Get your tickets HERE.

Free, Downloadable Book on "Materials, Processes, Principles and Practice" Reveals Forgotten Joinery Techniques

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Here's a great, free resource for you furniture designers or architects looking for different ways to join materials together. A book called "Cassell's Carpentry and Joinery," first written and illustrated in 1854, painstakingly details all of the joinery techniques--many of them forgotten--that builders used for centuries to create our furniture and structures.

The book focuses on practical techniques rather than theory:

A wide range of topics are covered:

But the part that immediately jumped out at me was the section on joinery, as I spotted some interesting techniques I've never seen before. For example, here's how to create a wide dovetailed surface out of a series of narrow boards. If you did this with contrasting woods, it would be visually striking:

Since there's no copyright on the book, we'll publish here a bunch of images from the chapter on joinery to pique your interest:

Here Joey from Kingpost Timberworks, a New-Zealand-based custom furniture company, tries tackling four of the joints detailed in the book using modern tools:

You can download a copy of the book for free, in a variety of digital formats, here.


Design Job: Put your Game Face on: The Philadelphia 76ers Are Searching for a New Graphic Designer 

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The Graphic Designer supports all marketing efforts through the design of forward thinking, creative graphic elements that maintains the Philadelphia 76ers as a world-class brand across both traditional and interactive mediums. The mediums include brand campaign assets, ticket sales material, print, OOH, in-arena signage, direct mail, digital content, logos, etc. The Graphic Designer must be a team player who can balance creativity and tight deadlines in our fast-paced environment.

View the full design job here

Festool Now Manufacturing in the U.S., and Their Parent Company Has Purchased SawStop

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I was surprised to learn that Festool's parent company, Tooltechnic Systems (a/k/a TTS), purchased SawStop earlier this year. On the one hand both brands are focused on worker safety: Festool was a pioneer of both dust collection and the guiderails that make kickback from circular saws virtually impossible, and SawStop's table saws practically guarantee you leave the shop with all ten fingers. But Festool is known for making portable tools for jobsites, whereas SawStop's bread and butter was traditionally shop-based cabinet saws.

It's true that SawStop now makes jobsite/contractor table saws that can be hauled around...

...so perhaps we'll see a Festool-branded version? Or could SawStop's flesh-sensing technology somehow be integrated into a handheld power tool? For their part, TTS states:

"For TTS and the company's subsidiaries, it has always been a top priority to deliver precision results with maximum operator protection. The newly acquired technology, which TTS will continue to develop together with the SawStop team, supports these priorities and prepares TTS to face stricter safety requirements that are likely to be imposed on power tools."

I'm not sure what those "likely to be imposed" new requirements are; maybe they've got a line on something brewing at OSHA?

In other Festool news, the company has also announced that they've begun producing their guiderails in the U.S.A., at the company's facility in Lebanon, Indiana. This makes good business sense, should certain protective trade policies come into existence; producing the relatively low-tech guiderails here allows them to dip their foot in the U.S. manufacturing pool, perhaps with an eye on future expansion of capabilities.

We know what you're thinking: If they're producing the guiderails here and not having to pay to ship them across the Atlantic, will they be cheaper for us U.S. customers?

Probably not. But we've already told you where you can buy Festool stuff on the (relatively) cheap--on their recon website. One of our readers already wrote in to say he'd scored a Kapex there at a steep discount.

Whatever Happened to the Amabrush Hands-Free Automatic Toothbrushing Device?

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There are nearly 30,000 people who want to brush their teeth without using their hands. We know this because earlier this year, 26,832 Kickstarter backers pledged €3,198,516 (USD $3.75 million) to bring the Amabrush, an "automatic toothbrush," to life.

Yes, our resident illustrator of imagined contraptions, Steven M. Johnson, came up with this first. But here's what Amabrush's real-life version looks like and how it's used:

Early tester models were supposed to have gone out by now, with the final product to ship in December. But those plans have been derailed. So what happened? According to the Amabrush developers,

…We unfortunately could not manage to send out Amabrush to our Pilot Testers, due to legal concerns.

…For everyone to know why we had to take those steps: We had some serious discussions with legal departments. Governmental matters did put us [sic] obstacles in our way and with every step it seemed to get more complicated and so a pre-release of our product was not possible, due to certification and other governmental issues.

It's somehow really complicated and we don't want to go into detail right now….

Doesn't sound very promising, but it's amazing that it brought in $3.75 mil. 

Would-be design entrepreneurs among you, we suggest you start poring over Johnson's Bizarre Inventions to see what other crowdfunding gold might be in there.

Boston Dynamics Releases Teaser Video of New Design for Dog-Like Robot

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Remember Boston Dynamics' SpotMini robot from last year? To refresh your memory, it was a sort of dog-giraffe hybrid with a lobster claw for a head.

Well, now they've made some design changes, and just yesterday they released this teaser video of the New SpotMini, racking up 1.2 million hits:

Apparently the giraffe/lobster parts have proved unworkable so they ditched them. By the bye, did you see that aperture in the middle of the thing's "face?" I've got no idea what it's for, but it looks like you shouldn't stick your hand in it.


A Look at the Fuji Transonic's Crisp, Aerodynamic Design 

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The no-compromise, aerodynamic design of the Fuji Transonic is the culmination of Anvil’s years of experience in designing aerodynamic and performance carbon fiber bicycles with Advanced Sports International. The Transonic design uses sharp-surface transitions to accentuate dramatic highlights and shadows across the frame. Crisp edges on the front and rear triangles of the bike create a negative space that emphasizes both speed and motion. Additionally the front and rear brakes are integrated in

View the full content here

Design Job: TED is Looking for a "Detail-Oriented and Deeply Collaborative" UI Designer in New York, NY

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We're looking for a UI Designer capable of developing high-fidelity, visually appealing prototypes. Experience with design systems is a must. The UI Designer will work on the entire range of TED initiatives (TEDx, TED-Ed, TED Fellows, and the TED Prize), as well as TED.com and other online properties. The UI Designer will also work on a myriad of internal applications that support our organization.

View the full design job here

A Dirty, Rotten Package Design Trick

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I recently received this as a gift. It's a package of poop bags, which I go through a lot of as I have two dogs.

The package appears to contain two layers of nine rolls.

But when you open it up…

…you see this inside.

This cardboard spacer serves no function other than to make the package appear like it contains more than it does. Which seems silly since the precise amount of bags it contains are printed right on the top.

Also wasteful is this riser, which is just a hollow paper box. 

As someone who previously worked in package design I understand that the riser is there to increase "shelf presence," i.e. the marketing team looked at competing packages and found that they were taller on the shelf, then ordered this up to compensate.

Package design trickery is nothing new, but if you've seen one that really bugs you, post a photo of it in the comments.


Designing for Low-Volume Manufacturing

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Here's the latest video from industrial designer Eric Strebel, who walks you through a process that will prove helpful when you need to pump out a lot of something:

This video is about designing for low-volume manufacturing, using vacuum forming and laser cutting. It shows how I approach designing and manufacturing for low volume production.
I use vacuum forming for the main parts of the color panels that I am making and then the laser cutter to cut out all the parts. I then hand assemble the parts in to the final product. I even cover how the parts get shipped in the shipping boxes with bags.


"Mirror" Video on Things That Look Alike

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As industrial designers our mental database of objects should be immense, and we can often use one object to describe another. After all, how many shapes and form factors are there, really? Or as Italian film company Tanello Production points out, "In nature all is apparently different but essentially the basic shapes are repeated with infinite declinations." Here they illustrate the point with this short, sweet video:

MIRROR • Short story of similar objects from Tanello Production on Vimeo.


Today's Urban Design Observation: Using the Hell Out of a Table

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Spotted in Chinatown, placed out on the curb as garbage. Some chef or butcher definitely got his or her money's worth out of this butcher block.


Steven M. Johnson's Bizarre Invention #227: The Inflatable Dining Tray and Drink Holder

Kickstarter Announces Drip: A New Online Platform Where You Can Kickstart Yourself

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Kickstarter has been all about inventive products and the stories behind them since day one. By now, we all know the basics of how the crowdfunding platform works—designer thinks of groundbreaking idea but needs funding, designer creates Kickstarter campaign to raise awareness and funding, designer either earns enough funding or doesn't, which is important due to Kickstarter's all-or-nothing funding policy. But what would this format look like if it were creator-focused instead of product-focused?

Enter Kickstarter's new platform, Drip. Launched this morning, the subscription based website hopes to circle some attention back around to the creators working on exciting projects—instead of just the end results they produce. 

How it started

Drip was initially created by record label Ghostly International back in 2012 as a way for people to support musicians through subscriptions. Kickstarter noticed Drip's potential early on and acquired the service around two years ago to keep it from shutting down

Now, Kickstarter has built a new version of Drip from the ground up that both meshes with their own goal of helping creative projects come to life and keeps the legacy of the original Drip alive.

How it works

The new Drip platform is a place for people to fund and build communities around their creative practices as a whole. When we think about how subscription services are used in today's world, we think YouTube, music streaming services like Spotify and maybe even those monthly boxes of Japanese snacks you can get in the mail. 

While all those are great (especially the snacks), none of those platforms are exactly conducive to designers and their practices—unless of course you make how-to or sketching YouTube videos like Michael DiTullo or Spencer Nugent

While Kickstarter is for targeted, one-time funding of specific projects, Drip is for ongoing and committed support in the form of fans, friends and new audiences. Drip is less about end results and more about supporting people you believe in and want to see succeed.

After creating a Drip profile, artists and designers are able to share information such as their process, notes and progress reports/updates. This information keeps their subscribers in-the-know and provides a behind-the-scenes look into their practice, which in turn will hopefully attract the attention of even more subscribers.

The equivalent to the Early Bird Backer on Drip is the Founding Member. During a period of the first 7 to 30 days of a Drip profile, people who subscribe to that Drip are automatically Founding Members. Creators are able to offer Founding Members special rewards—sometimes including physical product—to encourage people to back them early on. Instead of an all-or-nothing model like Kickstarter, Drip pages will continue no matter how many Founding Members subscribe. 

Let's talk money

Creators are in control when it comes to subscription rates. They can choose whether to charge their subscribers every month or every time they release a new project. This is where subscribers need to be smart: If you're getting charged once per month to subscribe to someone's Drip, you better make sure they're putting out quality work on a semi-regular basis to make it worth your while. 

Kickstarter will charge a 5% fee on subscription payments and then a credit card processing fee of around 3%, which is comparable to regular Kickstarter fees.

How to get involved

The launch of the platform includes "Drips" from around 60 exciting creators, including Debbie Millman of the Design that Matters podcast and food futures magazine, Mold

Right now, Drip is invite-only to allow Kickstarter some time to test out the service from both the creator and subscriber sides, but Kickstarter hopes to make the platform open to the public early next year. 

Drip is just starting out today, but Kickstarter founder and chairman Perry Chen already has high hopes for the platform. He believes Kickstarter is already a place that directly helps bring creative projects to life but that it's time to open up their model to support creators through their practices as a whole because, "it's not all about the work". 

What're your thoughts on Drip? Would you create a profile and/or put trust in the profiles of other creators through subscription?

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