Of Ice and Toasters
The Toaster Project A Toaster made completely from scratch. Thomas Twaites' quest to build a toaster is a strange and wonderful tale of one man's obsession. Not content with buying…
Kitchen-Table Industrialists
An interesting piece in the New York Times Magazine about the maker revolution in electronics, focussing on small companies producing short-run kits out of improbable locations in Manhattan. The thrust of…
TapeScape
A really interesting children's interactive play installation at the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota that is described in detail here. This playscape made entirely of packaging tape and plastic shrink film looks…
Inventables
This site is an amazing cornucopia of odd-ball materials and devices. They bill themselves as "the innovator's hardware store", and it really is just that – a one-stop source for all…
Prototyping Part 3 – Functional Prototypes
This post is the third and final in a series of three dealing with prototyping. In the first instalment, I discussed why we prototype - the reasons are many, but…
Prototyping Part 2 – Visual Prototypes
This post is the second in a series of three dealing with prototyping. In the first instalment, I discussed why we prototype. This post deals with visual prototyping , probably…
Prototyping Part 1 – Why we do it
Rarely in life do we get to try out a big decision before committing to it. Wouldn't it be great to be able to try out some scenarios, take them…
Livesurface
An interesting niche player in the stock photography realm,Livesurface sells images designed to be transformed by signage, packaging, clothing, etc. designers into renderings. A smart idea that could be a…