Softech'ture: Rethinking Fabric Waste by NextOfKin Creatives and Mobella Galleria explores transforming discarded textiles into functional homeware. Addressing the 45% fabric waste from production, the project repurposes textile offcuts into modular Link Lamps and sculptural Floral Vases through shredding, molding, and compression. Softech'ture champions circularity, showcasing how upcycled materials can shape a more sustainable future in contemporary design. Credit: Chubby SeriesFloral VaseLink LampView the full project here

This is my Stihl GTA 26, a battery-powered mini chainsaw with a 4" blade. While it can be used for spot pruning, I've found it extremely useful for trimming the dozens branches off of a fallen Cedar before bucking it into rounds with a proper chainsaw. The tool is reasonably ergonomic, but I have two issues with the design. One is that the hinged blade guard (shown in the product photo below) is flimsy and the connection point is weak; during use, the chain cuts into the guard and stresses it. You'll notice that in my photos above, the chain guard is absentit broke off after repeated stress. My second gripe is the battery life indicator. In order to see how much charge you have left, you have to press this membrane-switch-style button, which then illuminates the LEDs. This tiny button is difficult to precisely register on and press, even bare-handed; with gloves on, it's nearly impossible. On top of that it's inconveniently located on the side. When I bought the Stihl a few years ago, there was only one competitor on the market, Milwaukee's M12 Hatchet. I didn't care for the ergonomics of it (the battery is on the handle butt, shifting weight that way) and chose the Stihl. Today I was surprised to learn that Fanttika Chinese manufacturer of designey toolshas launched a competing product. Their W10 mimics the ergonomic shape of Stihl's offering, while greatly improving (in my opinion) on the battery indicator.At $150 it's 30 bucks cheaper than Stihl's current pricing. That said, while it's also better-looking than the GTA 26, I don't much care about the way an outdoor tool looks. I also think the black color is a mistake--what are we doing, pruning branches at the Karl Lagerfeld estate? I often set the GTA 26 down on the forest floor as I toggle between it and the real chainsaw. Stihl's bright orange and white colorway is easy to spot. Lastly, Stihl has a reputation measured in decades, whereas I never even heard of Fanttik until a couple of years ago. For now I'll stick with brands I know. But I wouldn't be surprised to see Fanttik gaining traction in this space. If they're still around in 10 years and my Stihl ever fully breaks, I'd consider them then.

This amusingly overbuilt Long Point Pencil Sharpener is by California-based stationery company Blackwing. Rather than sharpening your pencil point into a mere cone, it cuts a curved taper into it; this shape, the company claims, "resists breakage."The sharpener is made of machined aluminum, and the blade is German steel. Comes in three colors, and runs $22.

This innovative little gadget makes product videography easier. The Trexo Wheels Go holds a smartphone or camera (up to 1,500g/3.3 lbs) and provides portable motion control. The device can execute smooth dolly shots, sliding shots and orbital shots. It can also be used as a rotating turntable for 360-degree shots (although its weight capacity in this mode is just 1.2kg/2.7 lbs).The Wheels Go is small and portable, weighing just 526g (1.3 lbs). It can be controlled via the onboard controls, your voice, or an app on either your smartphone or Apple Watch. Trexo is a Turkish photography accessories company started by the three Kilibay brothers, one of whom, Mahmut, is an industrial designer; Mahmut was responsible for the form. The object is small enough that it can also be used as a selfie handleit's not quite a selfie stickand the device's onboard camera and software feature automatic face tracking, keeping the lens on your mug as you move around. The Wheels Go has been successfully Kickstarted, with 22 days left to pledge at press time. The Early Bird price is $239 (expected to retail for $349) and they expect to ship in September.

You could be forgiven for thinking these Aircore OWH headphones were designed by Apple. In fact they're by Shenzhen-based audio technology company Movengine. The unusual donut-shaped cans provide, the company claims, a "soundstage"-like effect "as if you were surrounded by HiFi speakers." They also reckon there's a comfort advantage to the pass-through design:"Unlike traditional designs that seal off your ears, AirCore OWH eliminates direct pressure on your ear canals, allowing for longer, more comfortable listening sessions. Enjoy a feather-light fit with zero ear fatigue--just pure, effortless sound." The Aircores weigh 309g (11 oz), which is significantly lighter than Apple's AirPods Max, which weigh in at 384g (13.6 oz). However, Sony's WH-1000XM5 take the lightness crown at just 250g (8.8 oz). Should you want to listen to something bass-heavy, or block out all external sound, included silicone caps can be used to plug the holes. One thing the open-ear design precludes is, of course, noise-canceling. That aside, the Aircores have been successfully Kickstarted, with 42 days left to pledge at press time. Buy-in starts at $149, and they'll ship in June.

This peculiar tool may not make sense to a tradesperson who always has a cordless tool on their hip. The Trio, by Japanese hand tool manufacturer Star-M, is an unpowered object with three functions: It can pre-drill holes, drive a screw, and install hooks. The tool caught my eye because I live on a rural property. Sheds and outbuildings often need plenty of hooks and screws for hanging things, and for small jobs, it'd be easier to have one of these handy than even a cordless drill. It comes in two sizes: An "S" for #1 screws and an "M" for #2 screws. Anything bigger than that, yeah, you're trekking back to the house for the drill.

This tiny piece of acrylic, just 34mm (1.3") square is essentially an IRL pixelator:The curious object was developed by Hakusi Katei, a Japanese materials engineer, and has a 16x16 pixel resolution. "From the initial concept through countless experiments, securing rights, mass production, and international shippingit was a tough journey," writes Katei, who batch-produced a run of 700 units. He was rewarded: They sold out immediately. Katei's currently working on a second batch scheduled to go on sale in April. If this is your thing, they can be ordered for $96 here.

Fun fact: In the early- to mid-20th century, American drug stores and pharmacies used to have counters with soda fountains where they sold both fizzy drinks and freshly-scooped ice cream. What do those things have to do with medicine? There are two conventional explanations: One is that carbonated beverages were thought to have medicinal properties and promoted proper digestion. The second is that pharmacists could apply their knowledge of chemistry to concocting palatable sodas.But the true motivation for drug stores selling soda and ice cream, as with most things in the modern world, is more stark: Money. ""If you have a line of business [where] your customer base is taking care of those who don't feel well," Scott Besci told L.A. Eater, "and they only come to you once or twice a year, you need a reason for customers to come in more often."Besci should know. He's the general manager of the Thrifty Ice Cream factory outside of L.A. Thrifty traces their roots to SoCal's Thrify Drug Stores, launched in 1929. That chain, run by brothers Harry and Robert Borun, "sold single scoops of ice cream for only 5 cents, using the cheaply priced sweet as a loss leader product to entice customers to visit more often." After the 1930s the Borun brothers realized they could make more profit if they cut out the middlemen and made their own ice cream, and they opened the Thrifty Ice Cream plant in 1940.There was something very unique about the ice cream sold at Thrifty Drug Storesand it had to do with both ergonomics and portion control. Scooping frozen ice cream out of a bin was physically difficult, particularly for smaller workers. So the Borun brothers outfitted their chains with a specially-commissioned cylindrical scoopdesigner unknown, sadlythat employed the user's body weight, rather than arm strength, to extract ice cream from the bin. "You just put [the scooper] in the container, you push your weight against it, so no matter how petite or how big a person you are, you can push that down, simply turn it 90 degrees, and pull up and have a perfectly formed ice cream scoop," Becsi explains.A large trigger on the scoop activated a push-out mechanism that ejected the ice cream. Because the scooper was barrel-shaped, the ice cream came out in a cylindrical shape of roughly uniform amount. The cylindrical shape also made it easier to stack multiple flavors. This ergonomics-borne invention also yielded a branding benefit. Thrifty Ice Cream came to be associated with the cylindrical shape, which you couldn't find elsewhere. Today Thrifty Drug Stores no longer exist; they were acquired by Rite Aid in the '90s. But Rite Aid shrewdly kept the Thrifty Ice Cream brand around. And, since they own the I.P. for the scoop, are now making a few extra bucks by selling the distinctive scoop to the public. It retails for $27.

As a product of the 20th century, I prefer physical buttons to touch-capacitive surfaces. But I appear to be in the minority; gadget manufacturers today love fitting their objects out with the latter. This CLVX 1 keyboard, by Belarusian manufacturer Clevetura, is a strange hybrid. It's a full-size keyboard with actual scissor-switch keys that, collectively, serve as a swipeable touchpad. The big question is, why? The company claims, as all tech manufacturers love to, increased productivity. "Seamless switching between typing and gestures speeds up your workflow like never before," they assert.The keyboard is pre-programmed to recognize the trackpad gestures Apple has for their Macs. Touch mode is activated automatically, so users can switch between touching and swiping "seamlessly."The CLVX 1 has been successfully Kickstarted, with 22 days left to pledge at press time. The units are going for $200 and are scheduled to ship in July.

This White Marble Bookmark is by British designer Paul Cocksedge. It pushes the boundaries, to say the least; the thing is 30cm 22cm 90cm (11.8" 8.7" 35.4"), and not easy to move at 110 kg (242.5 lbs). "The Bookmark splits the room and I enjoy the fact that it elevates the book. It becomes a focal point. Books tend to be hidden on shelves where you can't really appreciate them. I added this curve at the bottom so it gently rocks and it's counter-intuitive to what a heavy piece of marvel should really do but it's quite playful." "The Marble Bookmark is everything a bookmark is not: heavy to lift, difficult to carry, and bigger than the book itself. The work alters the power balance between page keeper and book, tethering it to its place on lamp can create long or wide shapes, and be adapted to fit into various interior spaces."If you're into the concept but can't spare the floor space, Cocksedge also offers a tabletop model. This smaller version is "just" 22cm 10cm 24.5cm (8.7" 3.9" 9.6"), and weighs 13 kg (28.7 lbs).Unsurprisingly, these will not see mass production; Cocksedge is only making 20 of each.

SNRGY Studios, a Swedish product development firm of designers and engineers, looked into hobbyist soldering stations. Their research indicated that many peoples' soldering set-ups look like this: SNRGY founder Alexander Osika could relate. "As a maker for many years," he writes, "l've always been frustrated by how traditional soldering stations demand dedicated desk space and how you always waste time when the right tool is not in your hand. This limitation inspired me to create SOLDR, a solution that delivers professional-grade soldering capabilities in a compact, portable format that you can set up on any desk and easily take with you wherever you go." Osika and the design team itemized each item needed in the soldering process and integrated them into a cleaner design. Here's their design process: The frame unfolds to reveal the heat-resistant worksurface and a grid from which accessories can be hung. Though the two plates are made of powder-coated steel, they're only 1mm thick, which keeps the overall weight down to 1,500g (3.3 lbs). There's a carry handle, and with folded dimensions of 255mm x 205mm x 35mm (roughly 10" x 8" x 1.3"), it will also fit into a backpack. Silicone feet on the bottom provide a non-slip grip. A soldering iron holder unfolds and has space for the iron, a soldering sponge and brass wool. The holder will fit most USB-C-powered soldering irons, the company says. The holder can of course be placed on either side, to suit both left- and right-handed users. A powerful LED lighting unit provides 1,000 lumens, allowing you to see what you're doing with clarity. The lighting unit also contains a fan with a replaceable carbon filter to extract the fumes. The fan/lighting unit is USB-C rechargeable and has a 3-hour runtime.A quartet of helping hands are included. They have magnets on both their bases and backs, providing flexibility of placement. Their grips are heat-resistant silicone, providing a good hold, and they can be operated by one finger. A pair of tweezers are included, each with different tips, in a holder. The included wire stripper removes the jacketing in one motion, self-adjusts to different gauges and has adjustable end-stops, providing consistent lengths of exposed wire. A spool unit holds both the solder and the copper braid used to remove solder, with the ends of each emerging from a slot. The holder has been designed for the spools to be easy to pop out and reload. They've also designed a spool for the power cable. A spring-loaded flush cutter is mounted in a bracket. The refillable flux syringe contains a precision-dispensing tip and a leak-proof cap. Another nice detail is that the open-source design can be partially DIY'ed in order to save on cost. While the full kit is up on Kickstarter for $120 (and will retail for $170), if you're able to 3D print the frame and brackets yourself, the price drops down to $75 on Kickstarter (to retail for $110). SOLDR has been a smash hit on Kickstarter; it blew past its measly $6,500 target five minutes after launching, and has currently passed $500,000 in funding, with 8 days left to pledge at press time.

If you've got your smartphone in a protective case, chances are it's plastic. For those that prefer a more natural materialand are willing to leave your phone naked while in useleather goods company Hard Graft offers this $126 Masterpiece iPhone Case, which is about as minimalist as you can get. These are artisan-made in Italy, using full-grain vegetable-tanned leather sourced from Tuscany. The interior is soft and suede-like, and the edges are hand-painted. The case is attractive in a less-is-more kind of way, but I'm not sure how practical it would be over time; leather has a tendency to stretch, and a protective case is no good if your phone can slide out of it. The company says "To avoid stretching the leather, push the bottom of the case, while pulling on the top of your device." In other words, you have to adjust to the object, the object doesn't adjust to you. The things people do for luxury.

These days, even an economy car can reach 100 mph. Sports cars can double that. Despite having the power to do so, few drivers zoom around at such speeds, understanding that the potential consequencesa speeding ticket, license revocation or a deadly accidentcan be bad.However, people have demonstrated no such self-control with smartphones. Study after study cite the negative effects of too much screentime. Live concerts, school recitals and sporting events are filled with people who are there in person, yet fastidiously recording the moments rather than experiencing them directly. During idle moments at home, doomscrolling, social-media-driven envy and toxic comment wars persist.Is this a design problem, or a human nature problem? Designers Joe Hollier and Kaiwei Tang reckon it's a design problem. The duo, who met at a Google design incubator, were disturbed at how the incubator cited central design goals of apps to be "stickiness" and "retention.""One of the biggest markers of success was retention," Hollier said in an interview with Technical.ly. "Not your revenue, but how many hours a day your users were plugged into it. The idea being that if it was sticky enough you could develop a whole slew of business around it. We felt products were being built to get people addicted less than trying to solve some human need."The pair subsequently designed the Light Phone, a feature-limited phone with a Modernist, minimalist design. Their 2015 Kickstarter to launch it was successful; ten years later, the phone is on its third generation. Over the Light Phone's evolution, Hollier and Tang had to decideby using their own judgment and sifting through user feedback--which features to offer and which to ditch. Whereas the original Light Phone allowed little more than calling and texting, the Light Phone III now features a camera, navigation, music and podcast playback, alarms, notes, and an NFC chip. However, Hollier and Tang took a stand on other common features of smartphones. The Light Phone III notably has:- No social media access- No web browser- No third-party apps- No music streaming- No e-mail clients- No messaging apps beyond text messages- No calendar syncing- No task management apps- No document editing- No cloud-based storage access- No gamesIt seems a delicate line to tread, between useful and harmful features. Users might welcome the inability to access Instagram, yet rue the inability to call a Lyft. That aside, Hollier and Tang have marketed the phonesuccessfullyto those seeking a distraction-free lifestyle and an easier-to-maintain phone (the battery is user-replaceable). The Light Phone III isn't cheap; it's available for pre-order now for $600 and is expected to retail for $800. Which begs the question: Is it possible for a user to own a full-featured smartphone, and simply avoid using the features that bring negative consequences? Is self-control the responsibility of the user, or is it that app designers have immorally figured out how to hijack the brain in an unacceptable way? An Industrial Design professor of minea well-regarded and award-winning designer of the time--offloaded all responsibility to users. "If you design a car, someone will use it to rob a bank," was as far as his philosophy went. But that was over thirty years ago. Have the times changed and brought with them new responsibility for designers? What is your philosophy?

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We all know that military technology eventually trickles down to the consumer sector. GPS, microwaves, the internet, digital photography, and even duct tape all began with defense applications.One of these that's often overlooked is cargo pants. A British invention from 1938, they met World War II's need for British troops to carry maps, extra ammunition and medical supplies. American paratroopers adopted them shortly thereafter; because these soldiers jumped out of planes wearing anywhere from 70 to 160 pounds of kit, being able to distribute some of the load into leg pockets was a welcome innovation. Throughout the 1950s, '60s and '70s, cargo pants were something civilians could only find in an Army-Navy store. But in the 1980s they entered mainstream fashion, propelled by hikers, outdoorspeople and fashionistas seeking novelty. Here in 2025, we're now seeing the most extreme version of cargo pants yet. An Italian company called Minimal Organised Wear (MOW) acknowledges that "we've come to rely on expensive electronic devices that accompany us everywhere, yet we often lack the protection and organisation they demand," they write. The company's mission is to "embrace the challenges of water, weather, and unpredictability to design extreme waterproof solutions tailored to modern nomadism." MOW's solution is these Caligo All-Terrain Travel Adventure Pants. They feature no less than 18 freaking pockets, which can carry objects as large as camera lenses and 10-inch tablets. There's even an RFID-blocking pocket for carrying sensitive gear.The pants are lightweight and breathable, being made from ripstop nylon, and feature weatherproof YKK zippers. MOW says the pants are durable and can stand up to harsh weather conditions, and that they've both used recycled material to create the pants and that they are themselves fully recyclable. Here are some examples of the extreme stuff they can carry:Demand for these is startlingly high. They've been successfully Kickstarted with over $160,000 in pledges at press time, with 2 days left to pledge. Buy-in starts at 95 (USD $104) and they expect to ship in September.

Customers in today's markets have high expectations in terms of functionality, performance and usability. Successful products and services must be innovative and connect with their audience to encourage adoption and embrace new ideas. That's where Psycho-Aesthetics (P/A) comes in, a human-centered innovation methodology that bridges the gap between psychology, design, and business strategy. Originally developed by Ravi Sawhney, founder and CEO Los Angeles-based design firm RKS Design, he and his team have been using P/A for more than 40 years across industries to create products, services, and experiences that deeply resonate with people.While many organizations are familiar with design thinking, which emphasizes empathy, ideation, and prototyping, Psycho-Aesthetics takes it a step further by integrating deep psychological insights into the innovation process. Unlike traditional design thinking, which often focuses on usability and problem-solving, P/A is rooted in human perception and emotional connection, ensuring that innovations are not only functional but also deeply resonant with users. By prioritizing the way people feel about an experiencerather than just how they interact with itP/A helps businesses craft solutions that inspire long-term engagement and loyalty.What is Psycho-Aesthetics?At its core, Psycho-Aesthetics is about understanding how design influences human perception and emotion. By applying psychological principles, it helps innovators develop solutions that not only attract users but also foster trust, engagement, and long-term adoption.Unlike traditional design-thinking approaches, P/A focuses on visual collaboration and emotional connection, making innovation accessible to entire organizationsnot just design teams.Sawhney created the P/A methodology after a stint working at the legendary Xerox PARC office developing the first touch screen interface. He saw first-hand how challenging it was to convince people to interact with hardware in a way that had never been done before. The lessons learned at that time led to a deeper understanding of what it takes to convert tentative users into life-long customers.The P/A process was first published in a Harvard Business School case study in 2006. At that time RKS had released a line of innovative electric guitars. The case study showcased how RKS used the P/A process to reinvent the electric guitar, blending emotional insight and human-centered design to create a more expressive, customizable instrument. The design also introduced an ecologically sustainable approach through modular construction and the use of environmentally conscious materials.The P/A process was later released in book form in 2019. The KOR water bottle case study in that first edition used to show design students how to design a product. The new P/A 2.0 edition expands the methodology beyond product design with more case studies, showing its application in various products, places, and services. Psycho-Aesthetics isn't just for designersit's a methodology for anyone involved in creating innovative solutions. Whether you're launching a new product, refining a brand, or improving a service, P/A provides a structured yet flexible framework to ensure your ideas truly connect with people.By focusing on the human experience, P/A doesn't just generate creative ideasit makes sure those ideas succeed in the real world.Psycho-Aesthetics 2.0 is available on Amazon (free for Kindle Reader) and you can learn more about the process on the RKS website.

Wearable tech is now common, arguably thanks to the Apple Watch. That product struggled upon its 2015 launch, but the eventual additions of features people wantedhealth and fitness monitoring, ecosystem integrationpushed it into the mainstream within a few years.Competitiors have since popped up, and the wrist is now as viable a product battleground as the pocket or desktop. But one wearable tech location that no one's cracked yet is the finger. Many have tried. By our count at least six companies have attempted to launch a smart ring that would allow gesture control, dating as far back as 2009. The Loop Pointer, the Nod Ring, the Padrone Ring, the Tap Strap, the AirPoint Ring; have you heard of any of them? And the Mycestro ring from 2013 failed at spectacular cost, garnering $354,000 in pledges before struggling to deliver and eventually evaporating.But the tech world is filled with optimists, so here we go again. This time a startup called Ring Mouse is holding a Kickstarter for their eponymous product. "This one happens to control your entire digital universe," the company promises. Offered in stainless steel or titanium alloy, the Ring Mouse is offered in sizes 4 thru 15. It features a swipeable touchpad for scrolling, and two buttons for tapping, zooming, advancing, etc.The idea is that you can use it for interacting with apps or media while you're doing other things, like washing, cooking, exercising or strolling around a presentation stage.Here are some projected use cases:The included charging case provides 10 hours of battery life. The Ring Mouse has been succesfully Kickstarted, with 23 days left to pledge at press time. Buy-in starts at $90, and they expect to ship in June.

For manufactured objects, the cylinder is a powerful shape. They distribute pressure evenly, which is why airplane fuselages, soda cans, oxygen canisters and disposable batteries are cylindrical.The shape of a disposable battery has long dictated the shape of another object: Flashlights, which have traditionally been little more than a battery sleeve with a light source at the end. But now that battery technology has evolved, flashlight designers are free to imagine fresh forms that are better-shaped for certain user activities. Like this USB-rechargeable Slim+ model from Texas-based manufacturer Nebo. The rectangular form and perpendicular lens means you hold it differently than a cylindrical flashlight; this is less for illuminating dark paths, and more for examining engine bays and the like. The slim form fits easily in a pocket and doesn't roll when you set it down. Furthermore, it features both a magnetic base and a hanging hook for hands-free use. It's made of aluminum, is water- and dust-resistant, and puts out 700 lumens.A slightly larger Slim+ 1200 model puts out more lumens (you can guess the number). Both models above also feature laser pointers and can be used as powerbanks. Moving in the other direction, size-wise, the Slim Mini puts out just 250 lumens. It's way more compact but you lose the pointer and the power bank function. They also offer a Slim Mini UV, for those doing inspections. The Slim+ runs $45; the Slim+ 1200 is $60; and the Mini versions go for $20.

Here's what we looked at this week:The Columbus, Italdesign's wild 1990s minivan concept.Form follows bizarre: Maybe the strangest EDC object we've seen. Product Designer Vicki Tan's "Ask This Book a Question" is a book on improving the decision-making process.A fantastic piece of industrial design: The Kodak Smile Camera, by ID firm Branch Creative.Industrial Design student work: A measuring system for Festool. We have some constructive criticism.From Japan, the Bathtope is a space-saving bathtub that can be tucked away when not needed.1980s Postmodern furniture: Heinz Landes' Solid Chair, made of concrete and ten pieces of rebar.The Rorra, a designey stainless steel water filtration unit, looks better than the competition. Will the company stick around?With their Zyklop Speed ratchet wrenches, Wera improves upon a 160-year-old design.Engineering for its own sake: Hancept's Zero Mk2 is a pen that folds into a credit card.Concept Sketching for Industrial Design, an online course.Japan's "Swap Reefer" trucks with freestanding detachable cargo containers.Within the odd product category of remedial design, add-on drawers for desks evolve.This Multi Auto Spray, by Japanese industrial design consultancy Lont, is a designey water spray gun attachment for bottles.Form evolution: Nebo's Slim line of rectangular flashlights with perpendicular lenses.Industrial design case study: Fresco comes up with a better-looking brain-computer interface.

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When you think of technology that connects your brain to a computer, you probably picture something like this: A startup called Neurable had the technology, but wanted better design for their first product, called Enten. They turned to industrial design consultancy Fresco for help. Brain interface tech for the everydayNeurable, a Boston-based startup, teamed with Fresco to design and develop their first product for the consumer market the Enten headphones. These BCI headphones monitor your brain activity and provide useful information for your daily life, like patterns of when you are focused or distracted.the clientNeurable is a neurotechnology company that uses Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology to interpret human intent, measure emotion, and provide telekinetic control of the digital world.services deliveredDesign Strategy / Industrial Design / Models & Prototypes / Virtual Photography / Digital Design"Fresco's support on the Enten project was invaluable. Their creativity, efficiency, and dependability greatly contributed to the success of the challenging task of integrating BCI into a consumer product. Collaborating with them was easy and fun. We continue to partner with Fresco on new explorations and product development efforts, and can always rely on their consistent delivery of high-quality, high-impact work." --Jamie Alders, Vice President of Product, NeurableOUR PROCESSDesigning consumer appealWhen you think of BCI, do you picture intricate monitoring devices, headcaps, and wires? Neurable's vision aimed to overcome those associations. We designed the BCI headphones to look, appear, and behave like a premium product, tackling numerous design and engineering challenges to seamlessly integrate the technology into a desirable form factor.Research prototype Schematic architecture Early design Working prototype Appearance model Final design Design for personasFor this novel technology, we began by understanding its application and the anticipated user environments. From user personas, we tailored our design choices in size, shape, material, color, and visual segmentation, considering a dense market of visual trends.Weaving tech into consumer soft goodsWe embarked on an R&D journey to research, design, spec, source, and manufacture selectively conductive 3D knitted fabrics. By experimenting with weave patterns and emphasizing ear comfort, we optimized the design for EEG channel skin contact and internal board connection. The final knit product conformed to 3D ear cushions, ensuring aesthetics, comfort, acoustics, and sensor performance. Engineering prototypes for testingThrough several engineering prototype iterations, we fine-tuned the integration of BCI technology into the Enten headphones, ensuring manufacturability. Fresco produced both individual and small-batch prototypes for design validation, internal review, and user testing.Appearance models for funding & design excitementDuring the design phase, we built high-craft appearance models for early product photography, marketing campaigns, stakeholder alignment, investor pitches, and to refine color and material selections. Part design for manufacturingFresco provided Neurable with a fully executed and documented industrial design and mechanical engineering blueprint for scaled manufacturing. We assisted Neurable in collaborating with contract manufacturers, verifying their expertise, and evaluating the secondary suppliers involved in the product's production.You can see more of Fresco's work here.

This Multi Auto Spray product is by Japanese industrial design consultancy Lont. The product consists of just the gun. Because all Japanese 500mL bottles (roughly equivalent to our 16-oz bottles in the 'States) have standardized cap threading, the Multi Auto Spray can use any 500mL bottle as its vessel.The product is designed for gardening, cleaning and even dogwalking (for spraying dog mess off of the sidewalk). It comes with a carabiner that loops through the leather strap up top, so it can be hung from a belt. It's powered by an internal USB-rechargeable battery. You rotate the nozzle to either jet or mist, and you spray it by pressing the large button on the back. It can empty roughly 25 500mL bottles on a single charge. The Multi Auto Spray is in production by Japanese gadget company Belle Leaf and retails for 7,000 (USD $47).

Desk accessories manufacturer Practiko got their start in 2020, after making an observation: Modern desks are often drawer-free slabs. Yet people still have a need for drawers. Practiko thus released this Otis line of add-on drawers:The demand was there, and five years later the company continues to improve the design. After considering customer feedback, the Otis 3.0 versions have more substantial handles that are easier to grab, as opposed to the old cutouts; there are more perforations in the drawer sides to provide more positions for the dividers; the drawers themselves have been made both beefier and larger in capacity; the Otis Tower now has leveling feet for coping with uneven surfaces, and also offers a double-height drawer for larger objects.Otis HangerOtis Tower This category of remedial design products wouldn't exist, if desk manufacturers simply designed desks with useful features, rather than chasing aesthetic trends. Practiko saw a gap in the market and plugged it. Good for them.

If you hear the term "Reefer Truck," you might think it has something to do with weed. But that's the colloquial term used in Japan for refrigerated ("reefer") cargo trucks.Vehicle manufacturer Nippon Trex Co. learned of a problem faced by their clients in the cold-chain cargo business: Not enough drivers, not enough trucks. They thus designed this Swap Reefer truck, which features a long cargo-carrying chassis and has a special trailer that can be detached and stands on its own legs. This has several advantages. Typically, a reefer truck driver shows up to the loading point. The cold cargo, which might be perishables or pharmaceuticals, is loaded as the driver waits. During the loading process, the temperature of the refrigerated cargo cabin naturally drops. Once everything's loaded and the container is sealed again, the driver must wait for the cargo cabin to work its way back down to temperature before they can leave.Once they get to the destination, the driver must of course wait for the truck to be unloaded.The Swap Reefer is a far better system. The cargo container is loaded and set to temperature beforehand, so all the driver does is show up, then attach it. At the destination, they detach the trailer and don't need to wait for the unloading; instead they can take off to do another job. Furthermore, if it's a long haul, the cargo container can be carried there by multiple short-haul drivers, relay-style.I've cued up the video below so you can see how the trailers are detached. It looks pretty straightforward:I'm glad they solved the problem using a physical solution and human drivers, rather than focusing on autonomous trucks.

While newfangled EDC "tools" seem to emerge every day, there are still manufacturers improving upon the designs of long-established tools. The ratchet wrench has been around since at least 1863, but Germany's Wera reckons there's still room for improvement. "We just could not believe that it was not possible to make a ratchet work more quickly," the company writes. "Moreover, we did not like the way users had to apply many different types of ratchet to get a job done. We therefore questioned everything that was conventional about ratchets."The new design Wera developed is called the Zyklop Speed. A flywheel design makes the ratchet turn quicker. For getting into tricky spaces, the head tilts, with predefined locking at 0, 15 and 90. Locked in the 0 position, it can be used as a ratcheting screwdriver. The ratcheting mechanism contains 72 teeth, allowing a return angle as small as 5. Because the head can rotate, the conventional locking lever was not viable. Wera's designers devised a thumbwheel instead that can be engaged from any position. The shape of the metal bracket that holds the head offers, Wera says, "an ergonomic design with finger recesses that offer a perfect contact surface for the hand or fingers to turn the head." The company also offers an engraving option for the popular tools, reducing their chances of walking off of the jobsite. The Zyklop Speed comes in ", 3/8" and " variants, and draws rave reviews from users.

For ID-curious readers who want to dip their toe in the pool, here's an online course on Concept Sketching for Industrial Design. It's taught by Adam Miklosi, a freelance industrial designer based in Budapest. (Miklosi's no veteran, but he's been in the ID game for a decade and clearly has skills.) "You'll explore the art of sketching, covering essential techniques and industrial product design, using both analog and digital tools to enhance your productivity and outcomes." "Immerse yourself in a process that spans from initial research to the development of standalone design concepts. Learn to seamlessly integrate human and natural design elements, showcasing how functionality and form can coexist in perfect harmony." The course consists of 16 video lessons that you do on your own time. The lessons build towards "The final project [which] involves developing two design concepts based on a specific brief," Miklosi writes. "You will use the techniques learned to research, sketch, and ultimately present your ideas, demonstrating your ability to integrate functionality and aesthetics into innovative designs." The course runs $50.

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In some sense this object is the opposite of good industrial design, where you're trying to do more with less. This Zero Mk2, seemingly created by engineers for the sake of engineering, is a pen that folds into a credit card form factor. Whatever world this creates convenience in, is not a world I want to live in. The object is admittedly nifty, though obscene from a manufacturing standpoint; it consists of no less than 54 precision-made parts. The startup behind it, Hancept, announces this number as if it's an accomplishment in its own right. I can't picture the situation where carrying a conventional pen is impossible and this thing saves the day. But we're living in a time where people are running out of things to spend money on, and this $170 object will apparently fill some void. At press time this had been successfully Kickstarted with over $80,000 in pledges and 39 days left in the campaign.

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This Solid Chair is by Heinz H. Landes, a German Postmodern artist active in the 1980s. It's made of ten pieces of rebar and a block of concrete: Chicago-based vintage design reseller Carefully Picked has a pair of the chairs for sale. Their video is below. Sitters may be surprised to feel that the rebar has some give:These chairs would make an unpleasing gift for a construction worker who spends their days working these materials, but in 1986 it was suitably titillating for the gallery-going crowd.