The bikes on display at the 2018 North American Hand Made Bike Show, recently completed in Hartford, CT, are inspirational works of art, beautifully constructed and painted, ready to hit the road or trail. As a life-long biker, I've been to many rides and festivals that feature a few booths and vendors selling accessories, but this was my first time at a proper bike builder show, so I was like a kid in a candy store. 

The show was big enough that it took us a bit more than 4 hours to walk the floor, but not so big that you got overwhelmed and desensitized to the beautiful creations on display. The material of choice was steel, with plenty of carbon fiber and titanium on display as well. A few builders showed bikes made with bamboo tubes, with a particularly interesting bamboo project on display from the Cyclolab at the University of Kansas.

The attention paid to each machine is truly impressive. Gleaming paint jobs, exquisitely crafted welds, beautiful head badges, polished chrome bits and matching seat/tape and cranks/rims are all standard offerings. I have a hard enough time keeping the tires matched on my personal bikes. Coordinating the color scheme as tastefully as the pro builders do it is no easy task, proving once again how important the details are. 

In addition to the bike builders showing their wares, the show included displays from several of the big parts manufacturers, tube producers, wheel builders and vendors selling other accessories. I was surprised that there were not more bag makers participating, since many of the bikes shown were bikepacking and adventure-touring rigs. 

Overall, for a bike enthusiast it is a great way to spend an afternoon. For a design fan, or someone who appreciates hand crafted, analog technology, its a rare collection of people and objects literally exemplifying the state of the art. I'm happy to report that the custom build bike industry is thriving. Now I just have to figure out how to get one myself. 

Mosiac Cycles

Designed and built in Boulder, CO. mosaiccyles.com

Photo credit: Dave Pinter

Mosiac Cycles

Designed and built in Boulder, CO. mosaiccyles.com

Photo credit: Dave Pinter

Mosiac Cycles

Designed and built in Boulder, CO. mosaiccyles.com

Photo credit: Dave Pinter

Mosiac Cycles

Designed and built in Boulder, CO. mosaiccyles.com

Photo credit: Dave Pinter

Breismeister Bicycles

Custom steel frame manufacturer based in Queens, NY | breismeisterbicycles.com

Photo credit: Dave Pinter

Breismeister Bicycles

Custom steel frame manufacturer based in Queens, NY | breismeisterbicycles.com

Photo credit: Dave Pinter

Breismeister Bicycles

Custom steel frame manufacturer based in Queens, NY | breismeisterbicycles.com

Photo credit: Dave Pinter

Breismeister Bicycles

Custom steel frame manufacturer based in Queens, NY | breismeisterbicycles.com

Photo credit: Dave Pinter

Alex Meade Bikeworks

Alex Meade makes frames and complete bikes, as well as offering frame building classes and tools for builders. At the show he had a custom jig on display, along with a bike. | alexmeade.com/

Photo credit: Dave Pinter

Alex Meade Bikeworks

Alex Meade makes frames and complete bikes, as well as offering frame building classes and tools for builders. At the show he had a custom jig on display, along with a bike. | alexmeade.com/

Photo credit: Dave Pinter

When starting a new product-based business, a major roadblock you'll likely hit is figuring how to bring your product to life for the first time. Outside of your homemade prototypes, you've never had to deal with finding a manufacturer before! But your product, whatever it may be, is in demand, so it's time to rise to the occasion. 

If supporting local manufacturing is your jam, the new online resource Colin is a promising start. When we first spoke with Colin co-founders Artin Yip and John Lempka last year, they explained that they were in the initial phases of creating a platform to connect designers with local manufacturers in New York and beyond. Needless to say, we were excited by the idea, but we weren't fully sure how it would end up coming together. Last week, a little less than one year later, they reached back out to let us know Colin had launched and that we could give the beta a test drive.

Search for a material, process or product.

Our editorial team isn't looking to manufacture anything at the moment (we are taking suggestions, though), but we're impressed with the wide variety of manufacturers already participating in the Colin community and how easy it was to get in touch with them. 

I searched for "glass", and these were just a few of my results.

Once you search for your keywords, click on a manufacturer and their profile will pop up. From there you have the option to browse through a few of their past projects and send a message if you're interested in working together or getting a quote. The simple UI gives you all the basic information you need to know before taking the next steps.

If you happen to be a designer seeking a local manufacturer or vice versa, Colin is an easy interface to use and seems like it would serve as a good starting point to your production research. If you'd like to test it out for yourself, Colin is offering the Core77 community an exclusive activation link that allows you to bypass the approval step and create an account instantly. And remember that Colin is not just for New Yorkers—the resource is seeking manufacturers outside of the NYC area as well. 

Try Colin: http://www.hellocolin.com/core77/

As glass rectangles of all sizes have come to occupy our attention spans, Samsung's designers have taken the largest one and enabled it to disappear. Their new QLED TVs, which come in fives sizes from 49 to 88 inches, have an irresistible "Ambient Mode" that kicks in when the TV's off. Prior to mounting the TV you take a photograph of the wall it's to live on, then this is what you see:

It's a simple, elegant trick that manifests an idea once you're finally able to turn off the news, the game or Bachelor-based cruelty: You are back in your living space. There's no TV here. Well there is, but don't look at it. It's there if you need it. In the meantime, congratulate yourself for your choice of wall treatment, well done.

In the photo below, you can better see a detail that the designers took the time to get right: A faint drop-shadow around the inside of the bezel. This gives the illusion that the brick on-screen is at the same depth as the brick surrounding it. Absent that drop shadow, your eye would spot the discrepancy of lighting to either side of the frame and the illusion would subconsciously be broken. This is a minor thing but to me, represents that extra mile that good designers will go to.

The clock/weather/news headlines/traffic information overlays are optional, chosen by the user from Samsung's list of partners (The Weather Channel, The New York Times and reportedly more to come). And you can of course set the timer on the Ambient Mode so that it turns off entirely, if you're concerned about your electricity bill. Alternatively you can opt for it to display an image of your choosing.

Another nifty detail is the company's elegant-looking One Invisible Connection, the single slim cable that supplies both power and A/V to the screen. It can be had in lengths of up to 15 meters, freeing you to place the TV wherever you want, sidestepping the tyranny of power outlet geography.

The TVs will be available later this month.

Nestled in the Rocky Mountains in beautiful Boise, Idaho, one of the nation’s best kept secrets. Wonderful outdoor activities like skiing, mountain biking, world class trout fishing, and white water rafting are right out your back door. Low-cost living and friendly people make Boise an easy choice for young adults and families.

Whether you're taking stills or shooting video, in order to get that "liquid light" effect on a smooth surface you need a diffused light source. You could run out and drop several hundred dollars or more on an LED softbox, but here industrial designer Eric Strebel shows you how he built his own. The housing is simple aluminum sheeting from the big-box store and the components can be ordered online:

Right now steel tariffs are all over the news, with different people arguing where we should buy our steel. Options exist because steel is by and large the same whether it's produced in China or the U.S. But Seattle-based physicist Christina Lomasney, the President, CEO and co-founder of Modumetal, might change all of that. If her company succeeds, Modumetal might become the go-to supplier (or licenser) of a very desirable, revolutionary type of metal called nanolaminate alloys.

Lomasney and her 17-employee company have figured out how to "grow" metal in a tank--and in a variety of compositions. It is an additive process, but it is not 3D printing. Their proprietary methods are obviously a secret, but it seems like a very advanced, highly-controlled form of electrochemistry, which is relatively cheap. Yet the metal it produces is "stronger and lighter than steel, more corrosion resistant than galvanize, more durable than chrome and redefines metals performance across industries," the company writes. "Modumetal will replace conventional metals and composites in applications, spanning infrastructure, automotive, aerospace, energy, construction and more."

It's not just exciting that Lomasney and her team have figured out the process--it's also that they've figured out how to do it on a large scale. That's the game-changer. "Modumetal is an industrial scale manufacturing process," the company claims, "that delivers nanolaminated alloys at a cost that is competitive with conventional metals processes."

Modumetal has been producing corrosion-resistant pumps and valves for the oil and gas industries, and has also successfully tested a thermal barrier coating system for alloys designed for the high-temperature demands of propulsion systems and turbines. They've also developed an iron-based alloy that exceeds steel "in strength, impact toughness and hardness, and yet [is] cost competitive with comparable high-performance steels." They also produce more conventional hardware that you or I would recognize and could spec' for a project: Hex nuts, screws, threaded rods, tubulars, washers.

Beyond hardware, what are the implications for designers? Lomasney kicks off this video with some examples, then shows you a bit of their process, touches on Samurai swords, shows you how Modumetal stacks up against conventional metals and more:

Of course, as we industrial designers well know, having a novel process doesn't really become revolutionary until you are able to scale it up. Modumetal can. Here they discuss their potential to revolutionize manufacturing where metals are concerned:

If we, as a country, could focus on how to educate, support and enable more people like Lomasney--a fourth-generation nuclear scientist, for chrissakes--and spend less time squabbling about tariffs, I think we'd all be better off.

Take some time today to enjoy our archive of the Designing Women Series, Core77's look at the achievements of lesser-known and under-appreciated female design pioneers.

Since 2010, iOttie has become a leader in the car accessories industry. We have been utilizing our industry expertise and challenging ourselves to create functional and modern accessories to aid your everyday mounting needs. iOttie believes that customers come first. iOttie is

Introduction

Anything can be designed in the digital space, but not everything can be 3D printed.

When you design a part for 3D printing - whether it's for prototyping or for manufacturing end-use products - certain limitations apply. These limitations have to do with the basic mechanics of each additive manufacturing process (and the laws of physics).

In this article, we summarize the most important rules and process restrictions you must keep in mind when you design parts for each of the main 3D printing processes. We also describe the key strengths and limitations of each technology to help you get the most out of your designs.

If you are not sure which 3D printing process or material is best for your application, visit our previous articles here and here.

Keep this infographic near you while designing and use it as a quick reference:

Click here for an enlarged (and free) version of the infographic

Designing for FDM

In Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), an object is built by selectively depositing melted material in a predetermined path layer-by-layer. The materials used in FDM are thermoplastic polymers that come in a filament form.

The FDM 3D printing process

The main design limitations in FDM come from the shape and size of the deposited melted strings of plastic material. These have a typical width of 0.4 to 0.5 mm and a typical layer thickness of 100 to 300 µm.

The recommended minimum wall thickness of FDM is 1 mm, but protruding features and pins need to be larger (the recommended minimum is 2 mm and 3 mm respectively). Another limitation of FDM is the need for support structures: the melted material cannot be deposited on thin air. Any wall that has an inclination greater than 45o from the vertical needs to be supported. Support structures are usually printed in the same material as the base part, but dissolvable supports that provide a better result are becoming more and more common. Surfaces printed on support structures usually have a lower finish than the rest of the part, so it is recommended to avoid them altogether if possible, by thinking about the part orientation on the machine while designing.

Remember the Y, H, and T's of FDM support when you design parts for this process

A common misconception about FDM is that a lower layer thickness is always better. A lower layer thickness than the standard (which is 200 µm) should be used only when you design parts with very small features or with significant curvature, as it reduces the "stair-stepping" effect.

Here is a summary of other important FDM printer parameters:

-Typical build size: 200 x 200 x 200 mm (up to 1000 x 1000 x 1000 mm)

-Common layer thickness: 50 to 400 µm

-Support structures: Required (critical angle 45°)

-FDM materials: Thermoplastics (PLA, ABS, Nylon, PETG, ULTEM - see more)

For more details on designing parts for FDM, visit the article here.

Designing for SLA/DLP

In Stereolithography (SLA), an object is created by selectively curing a polymer resin layer-by-layer using a UV laser beam. Direct Light Processing (DLP) is a similar technology that uses a projector instead of a beam. The materials used in both SLA and DLP are photosensitive thermoset polymers that come in a liquid form.

The SLA 3D printing process

SLA and DLP can produce some of the most accurate 3D printed parts with very fine details, as the light source can solidify material very accurately. With this process, features can be produced that have dimensions down to 0.2 mm and walls with a thickness of 0.5 mm (sometimes even smaller).

SLA and DLP are also known for producing parts with a very smooth surface finish that resembles injection molded parts. Keep in mind though that support structures are also required here (the critical angle here is again 45°).

Support in SLA/DLP has a tree-like structure. At the points of contact, small marks will be visible on the part and manual post-processing is required to remove them. For this reason, keep all features that require the highest dimensional accuracy on the same side of the part if possible. 

Removing the support structure from an SLA part

Here is a summary of other important SLA/DLP printer parameters:

-Typical Build size: 145 x 145 x 175 mm (up to 1500 x 750 x 500 mm)

-Typical layer thickness: 25 - 100 µm

-Support structures: Always required

-SLA materials: Thermoset resins (standard, ABS-like, PP-like, rubber-like - see more)

For more details on designing parts for SLA/DLP, visit the article here.

Designing for SLS

In Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), a laser passes over particles of a polymer powder, fusing them together and building a part layer-by-layer. The materials used in SLS are thermoplastic polymers that come in a powder form.

The SLS 3D printing process

SLS can produce parts with good details and great accuracy: the minimum feature size that can be produced with SLS is 0.7 to 0.8 mm. Holes must have a minimum diameter of 1.5 mm though, to prevent over-sintering.

A key advantage of SLS is that it needs no support structures. The unsintered powder provides the part with all the necessary support. For this reason, SLS can be used to create freeform geometries or interlocking assemblies that are impossible to manufacture with any other method (leave a 0.3 mm gap between the moving parts).

Beware though that warping is an issue in SLS, so it is not recommended to 3D print parts with large length-to-width aspect ratio with SLS.

SLS part printed as a single assembly

Here is a summary of other important SLS printer parameters:

-Typical build size: 300 x 300 x 300 mm (up to 750 x 550 x 550 mm)

-Support structures: Always required

-Typical layer thickness: 25 - 100 µm

-SLS materials: Thermoplastics (Nylon, TPU, composites - see more)

For more details on designing parts for SLS, visit the article here.

Designing for Material Jetting

In Material Jetting, a printhead (similar to the printheads used for standard inkjet printing) dispenses droplets of a photosensitive material that solidifies under ultraviolet (UV) light. The materials used in Material Jetting are thermoset photopolymers (acrylics) that come in a liquid form.

The Material Jetting 3D printing process

Material Jetting is considered the most accurate of all 3D printing technologies and can produce parts with very smooth injection molding-like surface finish.

Due to the nature of the material dispensing though, the recommended minimum wall thickness and feature size are 1 mm and 0.5 mm respectively, which is larger than SLA/DLP.

Support structures are always required in Material Jetting, but they are printed in a secondary dissolvable material that can be easily removed after printing, leaving little to no remnants.

A key advantage of Material Jetting is the ability to produce accurate multi-material and multi-color prints that represent accurately end-use products. To designate a different material or color to particular areas of the part, the model must be exported as separate STL files (for single color/material) or accompanied with an OBJ or VRML file (when blending colors).

Multi-material part printing with Material Jetting

Here is a summary of other important Material Jetting printer parameters:

-Typical build size: 380 x 250 x 200 mm (up to 1000 x 800 x 500 mm)

-Support structures: Always required (but soluble)

-Typical layer thickness: 16 - 32 µm

-Materials Jetting materials: Thermoset resins (ABS-like, PP-like, rubber-like - see more)

For more details on designing parts for Material Jetting, visit the article here.

Designing for DMLS/SLM

Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) and Selective Laser Melting (SLM) are similar technologies that use a laser to scan and selectively fuse (or melt) the metal powder particles, bonding them together. The materials used in both processes are metals that come in a powder form.

The DMLS/SLM 3D printing process

DMLS and SLM machines are high-end industrial systems that have great accuracy. The minimum achievable wall thickness and feature size are 0.4 and 0.6 mm respectively.

Support structures are always required in metal 3D printing to prevent warping and to anchor the part on the platform and they are printed in the same metal material as the base part. Simulations and topology optimization algorithms using specialized software are often employed to minimize the amount of support, as are difficult to remove.

Since DMLS/SLM requires considerable engineering effort and has a high cost, currently it is mainly used in high-end applications. The key strengths of the technology lay on the opportunities of manufacturing highly-optimized lightweight structures and consolidating multiple components of an assembly into a single part.

Topology optimised satellite antenna manufactured using DMLS. Courtesy

Here is a summary of other important DMLS/SLM printer parameters:

-Typical build size: 250 x 150 x 150 mm (up to up to 500 x 280 x 360 mm)

-Support structures: Always required

-Typical layer thickness: 20 - 50 µm

-SLM/DMLS materials: Metal and alloys (stainless steel, aluminum, titanium - see more)

For more details on designing parts for DMLS/SLM, visit the article here.

Designing for Binder Jetting

In Binder Jetting, an adhesive binder is selectively dispensed onto a powder bed, bonding the particles together one layer at a time to form a solid part. The materials used in Binder Jetting are metals, sand, ceramic or polymers that come in a powder form.

The Binder Jetting 3D printing process

Binder Jetting is not recommended for manufacturing parts with fine features and small details (the recommended minimum wall thickness is 2 mm). This is because the as-printed parts are fragile and need to be strong enough to survive the post-processing step before they gain their good mechanical properties.

The strengths of Binder Jetting lay on the fact that printing occurs at room temperature: thermal effects, like warping, are not an issue here so very large parts can be manufactured.

Support structures are not required in Binder Jetting, leading to higher productivity, especially when compared to other metal 3D printing technologies.

New metal Binder Jetting systems that are planned for release in 2018 are expected to push the capabilities of this technology forwards.

A stainless steel part manufactured with Binder Jetting

Here is a summary of other important Binder Jetting printer parameters:

-Typical build size: 400 x 250 x 250 mm (up to 800 x 500 x 400 mm)

-Support structures: Not required

-Typical layer thickness: 50 - 100 µm

-Binder Jetting materials: Metals, full-color sandstone, silica sand - see more.

For more details on designing parts for Binder Jetting, visit the article here.

In conclusion

Designing for a specific 3D printing technology requires knowledge of the basic mechanics of each process. Familiarizing yourself with the basic principles of 3D printing will help you get more out of your designs.

For those that want to learn more, The 3D Printing Handbook helps you master all the key aspects of 3D printing. It is designed to read unlike any other engineering book, full of easy-to-understand diagrams and inspiring visuals and will help you find the right 3D printing process for all of your designs.

*******

3D Hubs is the world's largest network of manufacturing services. With production facilities connected in over 140 countries, the 3D Hubs online platform helps you find the fastest and most price competitive manufacturing solution near you. Founded in 2013, the network has since produced more than 1,000,000 parts locally, making it the global leader in distributed manufacturing.

A couple of years ago, we covered Lake Art, a family-run business that uses a laser cutter/engraver to create decorative objects inspired by local lakes, rivers and oceans. Recently brought to our attention is Pangea, a small company that has a more minimal take on a similar topic. 

When he initially started experimenting creating 3D ocean maps, industrial designer and Pangea founder Tom Percy was working a full-time job at a design firm. After making his first official map of Australia's Moreton Bay as a birthday gift for his father, Percy caught the mapmaking bug and decided to pursue the side hustle more seriously.

Percy's initial design process starts with isolating a region of coastline he wants to feature. He then sources the bathymetric data and begins to sketch the contours of each layer. Once they layers are ready, he laser-cuts the pieces out of plywood sheets. The most labor-intensive step in the process comes after the laser-cutting, when Percy carefully hand-glues each layer onto the next. The top layer is always white to emphasize the beauty in the variety of depths in each map.

Since the region possibilities are endless and every piece is handmade, each map ends up as a one-of-a-kind work of art.

Percy's goal within the next couple of years is to launch a new platform on his website that allows users to isolate sections of an online map—like Google Maps—themselves and then automatically send it to Percy and his team so they can get started. This would save time for Percy and ultimately make each project feel that much more personal. 

Pangea maps may be sans complicated text and color, but we actually dig thier stripped down versions of typical ocean maps. If you're craving more eye candy, their Instagram page has plenty of it in addition to their website.

Toy Fair is an annual toy industry trade show held mid-February in New York City. The event is open to industry only and is the largest toy trade show in the Western hemisphere. It's the place to be if you're an up and coming studio trying to get your big break and where the big studios show off their new toys for the coming year. This was my second year at the fair, and I saw a lot of exciting new booths and some familiar faces. 

DIY culture and customization were very present in toy designs this year. Modern toys are all about how a child can really make the product their own. There was also a focus on space-saving items to please parents living in small spaces. Kids are notoriously bad at cleaning up after themselves, so many products try to make the clean-up process easy and fun. 

A big trend across the whole fair was getting kids interested in programming. STEM has become a big theme in a lot of kids education as we enter further into the digital age, and the toy industry is jumping on board. Designers seemed split down the middle in terms of how we should be handling the large amount of technology kids are exposed to these days. Half of the educational toys focused on reducing screen time; getting kids off screens and learning in real life. Others took a more optimistic approach to screen addiction—kids are going to look at screens anyway, so we might as well teach them something while they do.

Magnets have always been cool to kids (and honestly adults). This year I saw some really creative uses of magnets in everything from stuffed toys to building blocks and robots. As a designer myself, it gave me hope—sometimes it can feel like everything innovative has already been done with classic ideas like magnets, but there is always a new application out there waiting to be thought of.

Toy Fair 2018

Photo credit: Core 77

Sago Mini / Pillow Playsets

Utility for Parents, Fun for Kids: Sago Mini is an an example of a company that is really thinking all the details through and nailing it! All their toys aim to please parents and preschoolers alike with space saving, portable designs and fun creative accessories.

Photo credit: Core 77

Sago Mini / Pillow Playsets

These awesome Pillow Playsets, available Fall 2018, turn your couch into a kitchen, doctors office, or dollhouse! The sets have fun pockets that reveal hidden surprises and accessories like a frying pan and food items.

Photo credit: Core 77

Sago Mini / Pillow Playsets

The Pillow Playsets can be quickly tucked away, perfect for families where space is limited. Designed with a black and white neutral exterior, the pillows fit beautifully into any room.

Photo credit: Core 77

Sago Mini / Portable Playsets

Sago Mini doesn't limit their playsets to the couch though. Inspired by Moleskine notebooks, their portable sets come fully loaded with figurines and accessories that all pack up into the playhouse.

Photo credit: Core 77

Sago Mini / Portable Playsets

Perfect for trips, the sets come with a built-in handle that's easy for kids to carry. Once you're ready to play, the sets provide lots of explorative play and silly surprises behind flaps. Check out their site for more fun

Photo credit: Core 77

Though Full Toys / Modarri

Modarri cars are another great example of a really well designed toy. The company started on Kickstarter and found success with their durable cars that can be taken apart to mix and match colourful parts.

Photo credit: Core 77

Though Full Toys / Modarri

They have real suspension springs on the wheels and are driven around by putting your finger into the driver's seat.

Photo credit: Core 77

Though Full Toys / Modarri

Putting these cars together was so satisfying as each part fit perfectly together. It's impressive how much variety there is in the designs while still being seamlessly interchangeable.

Photo credit: Core 77

Though Full Toys / Modarri

Coming in March, you can also get an all white Modarri set that comes with paints so you can pimp your ride.

Photo credit: Core 77

Post-it Notes are an invaluable tool when it comes to effective brainstorming sessions and leaving reminders for yourself in the office. Heck, they even make it incredibly easy to leave passive aggressive notes for roommates and family members. However, the peeling ends in this image are something I'm sure all designers are familiar with:

While Post-its are a useful tool in the moment, their ability to stay put longterm is questionable, and their lifespan highly depends on what type of surface they're stuck to. Post-it Brand recognized the need for communication in tougher conditions through the release of their new Post-it Extreme Notes. The notes, which feature 3M'a Dura-Hold™ paper and adhesive, seem to be more appropriate for people who demand more than the ability to stick to a white board, including designers, construction workers and engineers.

With designers in mind, we decided to give them a test run by sticking them to various surfaces and leaving them there for three days. Reporting live from the Core77 office, here are the cold, hard facts:

They stick to metal

The Post-it Extreme Notes stuck very well to our dusty metal lock.

Same goes for one of our metal chairs.

They stick to plants

Very minimal peeling on this large plant. You can really see the difference in texture between the Post-it Extreme Notes and regular Post-it Notes here.

They stick to plastic fish

Sticking them to large plastic fish was also effortless.

They stick to terracotta

We were happy to see the Post-it Extremes stuck to terracotta and ceramics well.

They do not stick to Aeron Chairs

Don't bother trying to stick them to your Aeron chairs, it's not going to happen. In general, steer clear from fabric and fabric-like materials with these.

They stick to glass

We stuck one to the glass on our arcade game. We came back three days later so no peeling.

They stick to wood

Same goes for the painted wood on the arcade game!

And to our very old hardwood floors.

They stick to paper lamps

The Post-it Extreme packaging advises against using these on paper, but they did well on our paper lantern.

They can get wet

After leaving this one covered in water for over 20 minutes, both the adhesive and paper stayed strong. Just keep in mind to use waterproof ink if you know your notes will be getting wet.

There you have it, Post-it Extreme Notes do work on plenty of unexpected surfaces and conditions. We wish we could've tested these on concrete and brick ourselves, but alas, those materials aren't on-hand here. 

If you'd like to see some more intense testing, Post-it was able to get a little more extreme with the test conditions:

They're available at most big retailers if you'd like to test them yourselves.

Sonos is seeking a designer to join our UX team. In this role you’ll work at the intersection of music and cutting edge technology to create delightful user experiences for the Sonos Home Sound System. Driving and executing against the roadmap, you’ll work with some of the brightest minds in the business on a smart speaker system that combines simple and engaging musical experiences with stunning audio quality and rock solid reliability.

Stov. is a 360 degrees, 500 watts far-infrared, electrical fire pit that is built to provide the household with a "hotspot"—a focal point in the house for the family to gather around.

For the past several months, industrial designer Ti Chang and her team at Crave have been renovating an old Airstream trailer for an unusual purpose: Rather than prepping it for a camping trip, they've converted it into a rolling build-a-vibrator workshop to tour the country.

Crave has been holding build-your-own-vibrator workshops for years, finding them a helpful and informative way to engage customers. With the trailer, they can now take the workshops on the road, reaching more people around the country. They debuted the just-completed Airstream at the World's Fair Nano in San Francisco this weekend, complete with Vibrator Technicians on hand to answer fairgoers' questions. 

The interior has been transformed into a gallery showcasing Crave's products, and one end of the trailer features a workshop area where attendees can build their own vibrators.

Here's Chang discussing the project and the ultimate goal of the trailer:

And here's the video for Crave's crowdfunding campaign:

You can read our earlier Q&A with Chang here, and you can support the crowdfunding campaign here.

Want to see how a Crave vibrator comes together? Stay tuned!

Fume is a marker pen stand that stores and presents markers in an attractive and efficient way.

It's not often we see an entirely new form factor in transportation design, but the Ryno Micro-Cycle definitely fits the description. Invented by mechanical engineer Chris Hoffmann, what started out as an idle thought--his daughter saw a one-wheeled motorcycle in a videogame and Hoffmann wondered if he could build one that worked--became an actual, rideable vehicle:

We caught up with Hoffmann at the World's Fair Nano in San Francisco and snagged a Q&A with him about the Micro-Cycle, Ryno's evolution as a company and the transportation industry in general:

We'll post more on the hydrofoil craft he mentioned as soon as it becomes available.

aux synesthesia is the outcome of an interdisciplinary project between Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee and Freie Universität Berlin.

The vision of aux synesthesia is to change the "view" how we as visual human beings use our senses. With the combination of VR-technologies we created an experience based on auditive signals, coupled to an augmented reality. This augmented reality is an abstracted reflection of the true world, reduced to the most necessary details we need for an orientation in our environment. Those details will show up as digital sound waves which react different to certain materials, moving objects oder changing situations.

aux synesthesia acts as an interface between the physical and the virtual reality, creating an installation on a performative level. This experience gives a limitation of what we need to see and what to do miss in world which full of a sensory overload concerning the digital and real environment.

It's been twenty long years since any car-lover in America was able to buy a brand-new Toytoa Supra, as the company stopped selling them here in 1998. And in 2002, amidst declining sales, the Supra production line in Japan was shut down.

But the car has retained a cult following. Its appearance in the popular Fast & Furious franchise, as well as in videogames like Gran Turismo and Need for Speed, have kept the car alive in the imaginations of many; used models in good condition can go for 60 grand or more on eBay.

Now, thrillingly, Toyota has announced that they're rolling out a new Supra. At the Geneva Motor Show they unveiled the car in racing trim, as it will first be produced by the company's Gazoo Racing division--and may perhaps even be called the GR Supra, rather than the Toyota Supra; at least, that's what they're calling the car they pulled the sheets off of at Geneva. Here's the teaser video:

As a sign of the times, while the car is not expected to roll out until next year, some will get to drive it next month--in a videogame. "The GR Supra Racing Concept is to be featured," Toyota writes, "in a new update of the Gran Turismo Sport® video game, developed by Polyphony Digital Inc., and scheduled for release in April 2018."