Here's what we looked at this week:Objets d'esign: Lexon is releasing speaker and lamp versions of Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog sculpture. Volvo's new Multi-Adaptive Safety Belt compensates for different sizes, shapes and crash severities.Dometic's designey coolers use a different manufacturing method. Wandercraft's Eve, the world's first self-balancing exoskeleton, allows people to walk again.U.C. Berkeley's tiny pogo robot has a unique locomotion style.BARE designs a better—and less expensive—Dutch oven featuring a host of UX improvements.Clever materials use: How to clear standing water on a flat roof using rope.Architecture that works with challenging terrain, not against it: The Zig-Zag Resort, by JA Joubert and UNS Architects.Industrial design firm APE creates the Echo Pro, a perfect-fitting bike helmet with a novel adjustment mechanism.The Splay Max: A folding portable 35" monitor.Industrial Design student work: Dashiell Schaeffer's Curvesse rocking chair, made from a single sheet of plywood.These unusual, "anti-ligature" doorknobs are designed with a grim functional purpose.Designey tool kits: A trend with legs.BareBag's unusual design approach: Bags that serve as hanging points for other bags.From Germany, the NOHRD SlimBeam is a handcrafted, attractive piece of home exercise equipment.Why America's streetlights have been turning purple.When industrial design is subject to aftermarket modifications: BoxPlates to undo the PlayStation 5's look.This ShowerClear design fixes the mold problem all showerheads have.Industrial design case study: Curve ID tackles industrial kitchen equipment for JAVAR.

Here's what we looked at this week:When marketing trumps product design: A digital camera with fake analog controls becomes a crowdfunding smash. This ATMO drone from Caltech smoothly transitions from flight to four-wheeling. In Germany, in-curb EV chargers have been rolled out in a pilot program. They're 99% reliable.This unique recessed handrail feature, designed by Adjaye Associates.Industrial design firm No Picnic makes even telecommunications gear look good.The Archibald, by industrial designer Leo Salzedo, is a convoluted towel radiator made from a single steel tube.Whirlpool's retrofittable, rotating lower-level dishwasher rack improves accessibility.Industrial designer Nik Bentel's Loopy Chair, inspired by bike racks.Sky View's smart design feature makes transparent stargazing tents practical.Architect turned product designer develops the Kara Pod, a countertop air-to-water device that also makes coffee.Engineer Patrick Schlott fixes old payphones, re-installs them in public places and provides free calls.Japanese specialty woodworking tools: A Knot Remover kit.Far cheaper, pellet-based industrial 3D printing from Pollen AM.Square's new handheld reader, created in collaboration with industrial design firm Huge Design.Peter Donder's mysterious and beautiful robotic chicken feet.The Macaron, Mavimatt's quirky furniture piece with a hidden table surface.This heavy-duty steel media cart is by Modern Industrial Furniture, founded by a tech worker turned furniture designer.Hyundai's incredible WIA autonomous robot parking valets.Industrial design case study: Y Studios designs a laptop privacy shield.

Here's what we looked at this week:Crucial Detail's Ona Wine Chiller is an unusual-looking object for keeping wine bottles cool. Marc 3DP's love letter to 3D-printed fidget toys.A jeweler shows you her method for making Trinity Rings.The Newave: A modular surfboard that breaks down for transport.Inside the design of the Delta Three Oscar Halo system, a high-end ballistic helmet liner.China hosts world's first humanoid robot fighting competition, and more are on the way.Remedial design: Touchscreen backlash prompts aftermarket control knob and buttons for Teslas.Mafell's crazy pull-push portable table saw.A Dutch-Danish housing crunch solution: Build floating neighborhoods.MAFGA (Make American Fonts Great Again)?Swatchbox's Second Life Samples program is an easy way to recycle your firm's material samples.Extreme package design: The Art Edition of the "Calatrava - Complete Works" book.Once known for scissors, Fiskars has a hit with a demolition tool, their Pro IsoCore Wrecking Bar.A modern take on the doorknob by industrial designer Will Zhang.Industrial design case study: PDR brings dignity to catheter bags.

Here's what we looked at this week:The quest to optimize existing objects: The EDJY features an unusual single-blade fingernail clipper design that allegedly delivers better results. Apple's "Vehicle Motion Cues" are an on-screen anti-motion-sickness trick.From Australia, magnetic and custom-fit sun shades for your car.The Otemon splice: A crazy Japanese technique for splicing the bottom of a rotted column.Image and work: Chris Hall Stunning Frank Lloyd Wright art tiles by Motawi Tileworks.A glow-in-the-dark substitute for EDC gear: These Isotope Tritium Fobs rely on actual radioactive isotopes.Philips' Fixables initiative will offer free downloadable files to 3d print replacement parts for their products.Dutch researchers develop "countersnapping," the opposite of a push-to-open mechanism. An industrial design classic: The Brionvega Algol TV, by Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper.Good or bad? The Trace camera system records entire sporting matches, but highlights just your child.From Latvia, Kanttari's bronze bar cabinet. This Solo Windchill 47 Cooler has a built-in air conditioner. Because heaven forbid you break a sweat outside.The Loki cleaning robot, here to end janitors.A new umbrella shape from Japan (for an entirely frivolous purpose). Growl: An AR punching bag for training and gaming.Design solutions for beachside umbrella-wind wars, and one man vs. nature.Form follows function: Dyson's new approach yields the super slim PencilVac. An industrial design case study from Germany: Fluid Design updates Beurer's grooming devices.

When you look up Damascus steel saw blades on the internet you'll find many tutorials for would-be blacksmiths about upcycling end-of-use bandsaw blades into the pricey material that practically defines the garish realm of collector knives.This tool from Woxna, completes that circle in a way, rescuing Damascus steel from the display case and putting it back to practical use in an everyday workhorse: the pruning saw. Woxna is a relatively new company looking to produce premium outdoor gear and with their folding saw aim to upgrade the (likely) weakest leg of a well-heeled bushcrafter's blade tripartite of axe, knife, saw.  The founders turned to Nikita Golovlev of Struktur Design, a Swedish industrial design firm, to help them develop it.The saw folds for protection of both hand and blade, in the garden or out in the wild. The handle is offered in walnut and oak, and initially the blade came in high-carbon and stainless steel flavors. The Damascus version emerged as a bit of a lark for the company, but one rooted in a foundational desire to make objects worthy of passing down through generations. The conceptual power of Damascus steel derives from its formation, the folding and welding of its layers at anvil and furnace. Its visible path through forging is the selling point, but ironically in the market its story is held to surface level on the seamless edge of knives, reduced simply to style. Woxna and Struktur have serendipitously stumbled upon the natural medium for the narrative of Damascus – the thick blade and serrations of a pruning saw. Here the variegated strata of force and material are sharply delineated in every angular tooth. Stainless or not, sticking your saw blade in water, especially in the boonies, is not Core77 approved.Could Damascus steel's implied promise of high-performance be realized in this form? When you look closely you see that during manufacture, when the teeth are ground, the varied hardness of the layers create mini-serrations on the cutting edges. If you've ever been tempted by the look of Damascus this is the moment to take action — in Woxna's outdoor saw its beauty runs more than skin-deep. Also, through May 28th the kickstarter has some hefty-discounts for backers.Thanks to Nikita at Struktur for the following pics of the product development process:Initial idea sketch - wooden handle saw inspired by axes and knives Fitting the blade, locking and assembly screws in CAD Concept render 3D-printed scales on a fuctional prototype First milled samples arrive and assembled Softening up the edges and oiling the scales Ramping up the small scale production

Here's what we looked at this week:French company Cyclauto revives a modular cargo bike design from the 1930s. The Rivian R1T's brilliant "seamless tailgate" design feature provides a way better UX for unloading.Škoda's futuristic Slavia B electric motorcycle concept. Joe Doucet's OLO Table, made with Polygood Oyster, gives new life to old refrigerators, keyboards and computer mice.This Aura Triple Boost Pro adds three unfolding screens to your laptop.At the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, an interesting twist on the sunken living room (though that's not what it's supposed to evoke).Automatic photo timestamp/location-stamp apps for keeping track of projects.Laurids Gallée's Tralucid Stools are both crisp and blurry.The forgotten trade of the patternmaker: How metal objects used to first be made out of wood.The origins of the first mass-market tool chest, by H. Gerstner & Sons.Peter Ivy's gorgeous Rokkakei hand-blown glass pendant lamps.Acrobatic artist Bastien Dausse's low-tech wall-walking invention. I bet there's a fun commercial application for this.Hozo designs a better cordless ultrasonic cutter, with both UX and safety improvements.The Bzigo Iris is an in-room mosquito tracking device that lets you easily kill them.All 17 components of Freitag's Mono[PA6] bags are completely monomaterial and recyclable.For the Boat Life crowd, fun floating furniture by Bote.Design opportunity: Create a better portable tufting frame.The Pivotal Helix: A cute, goofy-looking personal electric flying machine.Industrial design case study: Tactile helps Milwaukee develop their digital level.

What industrial designers, architects and contractors have in common: They all do client work on projects that span months to years. Documenting the process is important, both for creative purposes and occasionally for legal cover-your-ass purposes. Having readily available proof of when certain milestones were achieved is important.With digital photographs, you can sift through metadata to find the date and time an image was shot. But wouldn't it be way more convenient if those stats were stamped right on the photo, the way disposable cameras used to do it?The developers of CamScanner, a productivity app, think so. They've introduced a Timestamp feature into their app that adds a tamper-proof (they claim) time and location stamp directly onto images as they're taken. "For freelancers, digital nomads, and small teams, the Timestamp enables smoother, more transparent collaboration," they write. "Professionals such as photographers and consultants can use the tool to document service hours with time-stamped images, which helps support fair and verifiable billing. At the same time, managers in industries like construction and nonprofit work can monitor remote progress through photo updates, saving time and reducing costs."It undoubtedly has a whiff of Big Brother, but I could see it being useful for keeping track of prototypes, site developments and the like.CamScanner isn't the only one in this game, of course. The following apps offer similar capabilities, offering date, time and GPS location watermarks on captured images:Timestamp Camera (Android)Timestamp Camera Basic (iOS)Smart GPS Camera Timestamp (Android)GPS Map Camera (Android, iOS) Happy documenting! (Or ass-covering.)

New this year from Austrian designer Laurids Gallée: This Tralucid Stool, which embodies the designer's fascination with crisp objects that contain blurriness. "This piece focuses on internal geometry. The matte surface on top ensures usability, while the sides, through refraction, create an illusion where the internal legs seem to reflect outward, appearing projected onto the stool's outer walls." "The structure consists of four solid blocks that are visible from within, yet from the outside, they dissolve into negative space."The Tralucid Stool is in (limited edition) production by Italian design platform Delvis Unlimited.

The theme of the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka is the circular economy. The Berlin-based studio of architecture network LAVA designed the structures which are, unsurprisingly, circular: Circular shape aside, visitors are meant to wend their way through the displays—which cover exhibitions of biospheres, circular cities with closed material and energy cycles, and examples of humans coexisting harmoniously with nature—in a linear fashion. Not literally, but meaning that there is a beginning and end to the exhibit hall. What most caught my eye is the final room in this sequence, this "Circular Me" hall: Within this space, designed by Cologne-based creative agency Facts and Fiction, "visitors reflect on personal choices, habits, and values. Through poetic imagery, thought-provoking questions, and a space that invites to pause, you're asked: 'What are you willing to change? What kind of future do you want to co-create?'" The space is an interesting twist on the sunken living room/conversation pit, creating intimacy through a depression in the ceiling rather than the floor. And while I'm getting away from the theme of the exhibition here, the following occurred to me: If the screen was divided into four quadrants all showing the same thing, and if a lenticular effect could be created such that someone sitting at 6 o'clock could only see the screen centered on 12 o'clock, it would make for a rather novel home cinema.

A display manufacturer called Aura has developed this Triple Boost 14" Pro, which adds three screens to any laptop. It requires only a single USB-C cable running from your laptop to power the thing, and an internal chipset—plus a software driver you need to install—runs the extra displays. A large kickstand at the rear supports the weight. The three 14" screens feature a 1920 x 1080 resolution and have matte screen surfaces. Housed in an aluminum frame, it folds into a briefcase form factor and weighs around 4.7 pounds. All three of the screens can be folded away from the laptop user, in a sort of presentation mode. Here's how you deploy the thing:The company's taking pre-orders now for the suspiciously low price of $469 and say it will ship later this month.