High-quality 3D printing at home has just come one step closer. Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria have presented the smallest 3D printer to date. At the size of a carton of milk and weighs 1.5 kilograms, it currently costs around €1,200 but the makers expect the price to drop quickly.

The printer uses stereolithography: it hardens layers of synthetic resin by an intense beam of light of only .05mm wide. So not only is this printer small and cheap, but it also prints at a very high resolution!

Source: Shapeways

Janet Echelman builds living, breathing sculpture environments that respond to the forces of nature — wind, water and light— and become inviting focal points for civic life.

Exploring the potential of unlikely materials, from fishing net to atomized water particles, Echelman combines ancient craft with cutting-edge technology to create her permanent sculpture at the scale of buildings. Experiential in nature, the result is sculpture that shifts from being an object you look at, to something you can get lost in.

Recent prominent works include “Her Secret is Patience”, which spans two city blocks in downtown Phoenix,  “Water Sky Garden”, which premiered for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, and “She Changes”, which transformed a waterfront plaza in Porto, Portugal.  Her newest commission creates a “Zone of Recomposure” in the new Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport. Upcoming projects include the remaking of Dilworth Plaza in front of Philadelphia City Hall — turning it into a garden of dry-mist.

“Matching artistic vision with technical innovation, Janet Echelman offers new ideas for public art.”

Architectural Record

5/12/2011 – The Pawfect Suds paw print shape for our silicone mold finally arrived today from Shapeways! We’re really excited to get some OOMOO silicone compound and start experimenting with making actual “negative” silicone molds from this “positive” soap shape. Once we do, I will update this post with more info and new photo’s.

5/18/2011 – OOMOO Silicone arrived yesterday! I played around with the compound for a few hours and created a circular mold cavity from a 3″ rubber plumbing clamp cut down to the proper height. After a test run and minor adjustments, I managed to create a perfect “negative”  silicone mold. Now we just need to make  more molds and finally start making some new soaps!

5/21/2011 – After making a few more silicone molds, we’ve finally had a chance to make some soap. The project has turned out great and Pawfect Suds now plans on opening it’s online store within the next two weeks. On a limited budget we’ve managed to create a home made, yet very professional grade soap for dogs that can be produced freshly per demand.

Jen popping one of her first Pawfect Suds soaps out of the silicone mold.

This really shows today’s capabilities when combining quality 3D printing technology, easily available silicone compounds and an unique dog soap recipe. A successful natural product overhaul.

This is the Pawfect Suds Pumpkin Spice soap bar, enriched with lathering Shea butter and Vitamin E for a healthy and moisturized coat.

The essential Tea Tree oil benefit those pesky bugs and irritating hot spots. Infused with refreshing scent, this  bar will leave your dog smelling fresh and skin soothed.

The Oatmeal N’ Honey bar is unscented and great for dogs with allergies and sensitive skin.

The Lavender bar gives your dog the sweet aroma of gentle Lavender with the soothing effects of Shea Butter and Vitamin E for a super soft and shiny coat.

Theo Jansen talking about reproduction of his Strandbeests, 3D printing and the Animaris Geneticus Parvus, a small 3D printed Beest. the AGP is printed already assembled and works right after birth from the machine! No other production method can do this!

Theo Jansen at Shapeways

For those of you who want’s to see the original creation of the Stransbeest, this feature from BBC is increadible:

Home workshop projects used to start with a jigsaw, some screws and a big bottle of glue. But during the last year or two, we’ve seen an incredible new development described as the “Maker Movement”. Do it yourself has gone digital and projects now begin as bits that are transformed into atoms.

Almost every Industrial Designers these days use CAD (Computer Aided Design) software during the development of their products or designs. Once the development is complete – the designer have created digital, 1:1 scaled versions of all parts and components within that CAD file.

Until recently, only well funded projects reached the prototyping stage since the cost associated with rapid prototyping or 3D printing has been quite significant. The available options of capable prototype makers due to high equipment costs have also been sparse, which contributed to higher prices and market monopoly.

Today, we can design and fabricate just about anything with bewildering technologies such as 3D printing, CNC machining, Arduino and other inventive additive manufacturing processes. It might sound complicated, but it’s actually very simple and it can also be easy on the wallet. Enthusiastic creators in garages worldwide have built their own production capable CNC’s and/or 3D printers. Home made “maker machines” – inspired by the growing numbers of completely free open source communities with step by step instructions and all the downloadable content you would ever need.

Another leading factor to the booming maker movement is the increased availability of creative new service suppliers online. Inventive new distributor methods and user driven e-commerce outlets have also contributed to added exposure options for those who actively strive to design and sell their own products:

• Etsy promote anything home made and offer easily maintained web shops for designers that are well exposed to the world.
• Kickstarter gives average Joe with a good idea a chance to be seen, heard and financially supported through potential pledges from thousands of supporters around the world.
• Quirky allows designers, entrepreneurs, artists and inventors to share their ideas and create a socially developed product through collaboration with others.
• Shapeways offers 3D printing in dozens of materials never before heard of in 3D printer circles – silver, stainless steel, recycled glass and alumide… What stops a designer from producing his own reasonably priced custom products on demand through his/her own Shapeways store? Besides time and an overflow of creativity – absolutely nothing.

An Industrial Revolution on the Horizon?

With affordable and accessible 3D printing machines now capable of producing individual products on demand at low costs, I don’t see what would prevent a future industrial revolution. Although the 3D printing technology is much slower than traditional plastic injection, there’s are many strong benefits with this new production method:

• 3D printing is an additive technology in which objects are built up in layers. This process does not require injection tooling and saves $10,000-50,000 off your standard product development budget. It will also save you 1-2 months of valuable production time.
• Developing new 3D printing technologies allow materials to be mixed and printed together at any ratio, anywhere in your product – which allows the benefit of different material properties throughout one part. This is really beneficial when creating live hinges or even when you’re printing a human kidney.
• Which brings me to another very strong advantage in 3D printing vs other production methods. The endless possibilities of imaginable materials. Scientists have successfully experimented with 3D printed transplant organs in human patients for over 10 years. Builders are now using large scale ink-jet technology to print 1:1 scale concrete floor plans. Some people out there print sugar and/or corn based eatables. You could potentially print with any material that has the ability to be injected or gravity fed through print heads or syringes and binds and cures quickly.
• 3D printing also eliminates another common difficulty with traditional methods. After plastic injection, the plastic part has to come out of the steel mold without getting stuck. When injecting complicated plastic parts, this limitation either increases price or keeps us from designing products the way we want in an effort to minimize cost and make our designs producible.  That is not a concern with many 3D printing technologies. In fact, you can print a fully assembled product with lots of inner workings in one print cycle.
• How about producing products on demand vs keeping inventory? In the future, we could see sales reps at your local Foot Locker measure your feet and weight. One hour later you pick up your custom printed shoes, specifically tailored to your special or preferred needs.

MakerBot Industries – Thing-O-Matic

Today, open source friendly companies like MakerBot Industries offer their Thing-O-Matic 3D printers for $1300, utilizing fused deposition modeling to melt a plastic filament layer by layer – the same technology seen in $30,000 equivalent commercial 3D printers such as Dimensions. The only kink is that they have taken the IKEA route and you have to assemble the machine yourself. In my opinion, that’s well worth it.

Fab@Home

Then there’s Fab@Home, an open source personal fabrication project out of Cornell University’s computer labs. Co-founders Hod Lipsom and Evan Malone are determined to change the way we live.  Their own platform of printers and programs can produce functional 3D objects for even less, perhaps even half the cost of a Makerbot printer. Being completely open sourced driven, they offer a complete parts list with tool requirements, downloadable 1:1 scale blueprints and precise direction of how to build their 3D printers completely from scratch. The newest version, Model 2,  is designed to fit on your desktop and within your budget. Fab@Home is supported by a global, open-source community of professionals and hobbyists, innovating tomorrow, today.

RepRap

Last but not least, there’s the RepRap machine. RepRap is a free desktop 3D printer capable of printing plastic objects. Since many parts of RepRap are made from plastic and RepRap can print those parts, RepRap is a self-replicating machine – one that anyone can build given time and materials. It also means that – if you’ve got a RepRap – you can print lots of useful stuff, and you can print another RepRap for a friend.

Home Made CNC Machines

If a 3D printer is not for you, then perhaps a home made CNC is. The capabilities of CNC machines are endless and they vary from $1000 to hundreds of thousands. But what differentiate them from a 3D printer is that they can receive geometric G-code from CAD CAM software on your computer and carve your parts out of a variety of metals, anything wood, foams, plastics, wax or even stone. Tom McWire posted a great DIY article on instructables.com of how to build one from scratch with parts from your local hardware store:

Determined to make something happen,

I cleaned out my garage last weekend in an effort to make it into a work shop. I’m going to build my very own maker machine. I setup my miter saw, drill press, organized all my tools and made space by cleaning out unused clutter material.  My ambitions is set high, but I know I can do it.

While sorting through some storage bins I found my almost forgotten Brio toy pieces from my childhood. Those were definately keepers and it really got me thinking – I needed a constant reminder of my plan of action and something to drive me towards finding the extra time to making this project really happen.

I decided to build myself a Brio version of my 3D printing machine. By almost utilizing every piece of Brio I had, I managed to build what finally looked like a 3D printer (top picture). It was at perfect scale and I sat it right on the desk where the future machine will sit. Besides having spinning wheels connected by rubber bands, my little “maker movement”-dummy is more symbolic than functional. It will however keep me driven towards achieving my goal.

Surgeon Anthony Atala demonstrates an early-stage experiment that could someday solve the organ-donor problem: a 3D printer that uses living cells to output a transplantable kidney. Using similar technology, Dr. Atala’s young patient Luke Massella received an engineered bladder 10 years ago; we meet him onstage.

(Recorded at TED2011, March 2011, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 17:24)

Today, one year later, we’re eager for the next steps in the development of Jen’s new dog soap brand. You’ll be able to follow the development progress here on our blog and on the official Pawfect Suds website.

One of the first things already accomplished – we’ve finally ordered our custom soap molds. Or should I say, the plastic part that we will use to make silicone soap molds out of. Please see a 3D rendering of the part below:

We decided that silicone would be the best material for our molds. Since it’s the first time we’re dealing with silicone molds, we asked for advise from one of our collaborators Nathan Gabriele. When he makes silicone over-mold prototypes at Lifetime Brands, he uses Smooth-On – a leading manufacturer of silicone and other mold making compounds. After a few hours of investigation, we decided to go with their OOMOO line of 1:1 mix ratio silicone rubbers. The OOMOO line cures faster and provides high detail without the side effects of air bubbles (without need of vacuum chamber) in the final mold.

GAME PLAN: Once the high detailed plastic soap part comes back from our prototype supplier, we will cut a PVC plumbing pipe to an appropriate height to where the plastic part can hang on the top edge without hitting the bottom (allowing a 3-4mm bottom gap).  The PVC pipe will then be adhered and sealed with silicone onto a plywood board. We will pour the silicone into the PVC cavity (gap in between soap part and PCV pipe and apply downward force to the soap shape. Hopefully, the silicone will fill up to right below the inner rim edge. The silicone will cure for 6 hours and should leave us with a circular silicone mold with a Pawfect Suds soap shaped cavity. We will then dublicate the process until we have enough soap molds to make one full batch of soap.

Please stay tuned for our Pawfect Suds soap making progress here on the blog by subscribing to our newsletter.

A couple of engineer buddies have designed the latest must-have accessory for the coffee drinker. Joulies are metallic beans you drop into your hot cup of cofee to make it exactly 140 degrees. They haven’t even been manufactured yet, but already the project has accumulated some $305,000 in Kickstarter cash. I guess a lot of people are tired of blistered tongues.

Each Joulie is a small metal shell filled with a phase-change material that melts at 140º Fahrenheit. (Some people might prefer 155º — perhaps there will be a version for us.) So the Joulies absorb heat from the coffee till they reach 140º, and then start emitting heat. The effect (if you put in enough Joulies for your volume of beverage) is to maintain the coffee at the desired temperature for long enough to savor it. Using an insulated cup is recommended also.

Tech Specs:

Shell Material: Polished Food-Grade 18/10 Stainless SteelInner

Material: Proprietary Phase Change Material (PCM), melting point 140°F

Displacement: 0.75 oz (1.5 Tbsp) per bean

Coffee Volume Per Bean: 5 oz including bean (4.25 oz without bean)

Coffee Volume Reduction: 15%The “Right”

Temperature Range: 140°F to 130°F

From the inventor: “This amazing feat of thermodynamics happens thanks to a special non-toxic material sealed within the polished stainless steel shell. This material is designed to melt at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and absorbs a lot of energy as it melts. This is how Joulies cool your coffee down three times faster than normal. Once it reaches this temperature, the special material begins to solidify again, releasing the energy it stored when it melted. This is how Joulies keep your coffee warm twice as long.”

Source: PopSci

This item was concepted, rendered and modeled in 2005. A plastic container that mimics the treasure chest shape of the chocolate treat itself. Rendered in 3ds Max with Splutterfish Brazil. This packaging concept went into production, although the final version was a laminated 4-color cardboard box and not plastic per the rendering.

This brings back good ol’ memories! Back in the day, we had a lot of fun with candy dispensers and ended up producing a bunch of fun and colorful things. This SweetTarts candy plumbing dispenser was pitched to Nestle’s “Sugar Division” in 2005. The idea was that you could collect a bunch of tubes an build structures out of them. Sweet and green!

Here’s another concept rendering in the initial stages of development. We pitched this to Kellogg’s in 2003. They were more into smaller toys for within the cereal boxes at that time. I still think it’s cool and it should have been made by now.

Concept 3D rendering of a Skittles candy dispenser. I designed this for Mars Incorporated (makers of Skittles, Snickers etc) in June, 2003. I can’t tell a green gummy bear from a red one – I just chow a bunch in my mouth and enjoy as a whole. This is more for those delicate taste buds out there who likes to enjoy one at a time… Aren’t green Skittles suppose to improve womens sex drive? Or was that green M&M’s? Since Mars Inc. makes both

I recently have been going through 1000′s of my concept renderings from the last decade and picked out a bunch to showcase. I will post them here on my blog every couple of days. Check in again for more product ideas.

Bananas are good for a lot more than just potassium. They can remove toxic metals from waterand be used to make maxi pads for women in developing countries or underwear for men. Now a group of scientists from Sao Paulo State University have developed a way to use the fibers from bananas, pineapples, and other fruits to create incredibly strong, lightweight plastics. The nanocellulose fibers make a plastic that’s up to four times stronger and 30 percent lighter than petroleum-based plastics.

In a statement, the lead researcher, Alcides Leão, said that the fruit-based plastics rival Kevlar, a plastic used to create bullet proof vests. It’s also more resistant to heat, gasoline, and water, making it the perfect plastic to use in cars and other vehicles. Not only would the plastic be less likely to catch fire in a crash, but the product’s light weight would equate to better fuel economy. Plus, the plastic is made entirely from renewable materials and is biodegradable.

1. Show off your best work

It’s truly important that your website has fresh case studies and a portfolio showing the type of work and services you’re aiming to provide potential clients with. But it’s also important that you spread your ideas and products elsewhere. Writing an email to the editor of popular product review blogs such as Engadget or Gizmodo is one way of getting the word out there. The type of blog you contact may depend on what type of product or brand you’re attempting to promote. Since I’m a designer, Coroflot is the obvious choice for showcasing any type of creative work. It’s a designers best bet in getting their work recognized. Hundreds of hungry journalists, blog writers and even investors scout Coroflot daily for the next big idea.

Since I created my Coroflot page three years ago, I’ve had 80,000 profile views.  Even if you’re not a designer yourself, I’m sure you work with one or several creative individuals. Take advantage of that and ask them to upload their portfolio and link all the good work they’ve completed for you directly to your site.

Examples:

Those little USB Scent Flowers would never have happened, had I not shared some of my initial concepts on Coroflot. Since January, 2009 and after filing 3 patents, we’ve had thousands of visitors per month on the official website. Surprisingly, the word spread to 122 countries around the world and we have distributors in over a dozen countries. We have delivered them across the globe from Alaska to New Zealand. Not to mention that hundreds of sites and printed magazines have written about our product. (click here to see what Google picks up)

Another Coroflot success is the Wall Mounted Computer Case that I designed back in 2005. It only takes 5 minutes to upload a great idea on Coroflot, and this portfolio piece averages 1,000 views per month. Not to mention that PC World dubbed it one of  “The Worlds Most Outrageous PC Cases”. Once the word is out there, it spreads like a wild fire: (click here to see what Google picks up).

2. Start Blogging

If you don’t have a blog for your company, now is the time to get one. Social media networking is a very efficient marketing strategy and the blog is the best place to start. If you want a blog but don’t know where to start, we can help you set one up that matches your company profile.

Once the blog is up, start sharing your experiences. This is even better than a portfolio page or getting noticed by other blogs or publications since you get to explain and describe your work with your own words. It’s also really easy to automatically share your blog entries through other social sites as soon as they are published. At The Product Farm, we share each blog post via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in this fashion, without any extra effort at all. It’s the ultimate social media outlet.

Examples:

After writing a blog article about several 3D illustrations I did in 2001 for the Swedish ice cream truck company Hemglass, I posted the high res images that I used on the blog on Flickr and did a link exchange back and forward to The Product Farm’s website. The result was that my illustrations ended up in the top of Google’s image search results under the keyword “Hemglass”. This company delivers ice cream to 4 million households every week in Sweden alone, so it’s guaranteed that people search for them on Google. By doing this, I opened another entrance onto our site and increased website traffic. Each keyword associated with an article has a potential opening for more visitors to find your blog.

Kimberly Green, Executive Producer of NBC 17′s show “My Carolina Today” was looking for some interesting content for their gadget segment “Tech Tuesday”. When searching the local Google directory for individuals with experience in this category, they found me and asked if I was interested to come onto the show. A few days later, I was in the recording studio talking about my USB Scent Flowers. Google would never have linked them to me if it was not for the blog.

3. Create a Newsletter

One of the most efficient ways to guide traffic to your site is to spread the word about it via email. An email newsletter gives you an opportunity to periodically reconnect with past and current clients. It’s a great way to let them know that you’re still out there, eager to provide them with outstanding service and support. It also allows you to expose what you’ve been up to lately. Showcases on a blog or website can be very powerful when attracting both new and return business. Attract them with an inviting image and short description within the Newsletter and allow them to read more about it on your blog at their leisure.

Example:

CampaignMonitor is our preferred Newsletter distributor. We simply design a CSS style sheet to match your company’s corporate identity and then import it as a newsletter “themes” into CampaignMonitor. There are some samples above at the top of this paragraph. It easy to enter content and images. It’s also very easy to import your contacts from your address book. Once the email newsletter has been sent, you can track exactly who have viewed the email and which links they clicked (if any). You are provided with extensive statistics that will tell you who seemed more intrigued with your content than others. You will most likely also get feedback via email in response to the newsletter and some great potential sales leads.

4. Educate

It’s important to create interesting content, tailored for your intended blog or newsletter audience. This can fairly easily be accomplished by surrounding your content around what you believe is interesting to them. It will also generate search results hits on Google from folks that want to learn more about what you’re writing about.

Examples:

As I’m in the field of product development, I periodically share educational videos about how things are made. There’s an unlimited amount of videos available on YouTube, and tons of “How it’s Made” clips. I also share videos from inventors that have come up with something truly unique. Each time I share this type of educational material, it gives me an opportunity to add search tags that generate new traffic from Google.

I’ve also decided to play with open cards when it comes to how I work and how I gather research material etc. I know that other designers or inventors might pick up a few new tricks and knowledge from me which potentially could allow them to compete with my services at some point. But it’s more likely that I’ll providing really helpful content for my network of contacts. Especially if I tie this content to a periodical newsletter.

Check out some more educational knowledge articles here.

5. Inspire

Exciting and inspirational material is always appreciated and entices visitors to return in hopes of finding more interesting articles in the future. If you know your clients and their needs well, it should not be hard to imagine what they might have an interest in.

Examples:

Since I’m a designer with almost 15 years of experience, I’ve decided to dig into my archives and display designs and projects I’ve worked on over the years. At the same time I’m updating the renderings to give them a fresh look. I’m also adding them to our Flickr Photostream which is linked back to our websites portfolio gallery. The long term plan is to provide an “idea database” of concepts that can first of all inspire my clients when picking product ideas for their brands, but also showcase a deeper arsenal of creativity. The above collection of pill organizers is an example of this approach.

Another way to inspire is to take advantage of video clips from YouTube, Vimeo or other sources where acknowledged professionals and speakers tells their stories. If you’re interested to see a few examples of such videos, please click here.

I would also greatly encourage you to visit TED.com - it’s an outstanding website with content for all categories from highly acclaimed leaders of their industries, such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and many other great minds from around the World.

I hope this article has been helpful to you. Please check in again, we will share lots more.

Traveling to Burlington, Vermont, the Cool Hunting video crew visits Burton’s snowboard manufacturing center to learn about their handmade process and prototyping techniques. Chris Doyle, the brand’s “mad scientist” who’s worked with founder Jake Burton since 1996, gives a behind-the-scenes tour explaining what makes their snowboards industry leaders.

This weekly pill case (above) was designed and developed for patients with once a day medication needs. The pill compartments are accessed by rotating the top lid like a dial.

Above pill case features a programmable alarm built into the cover to remind you to take your meds.  To access the medicine, simply push the release button on the underside and slide the case out.  The living hinge of the lids are specifically placed to negate accidental openings.

This pen and gun barrel inspired pill dispenser opens by pushing the blue barrel. Spring loaded mechanism safely seals the chamber shut, which is capable of storing 4-8 pills or capsules – depending on size. Fits well in pant pockets and convenient to bring around.

Unfortunately, sometimes medications needs to be administrated every 3 hours. That’s 8 times a day, which is why I was asked to design a suiting pill vehicle that conveniently would be refilled once daily.

This version pill case with timer also offers an internal collapsible pill cup. Simply makes the daily medication more convenient.

Rather than the collapsible water cup fitting inside the pill case, this design snaps the pill dispenser into the collapsed cup. More water volume = easier pill administration.

In mild to moderate Alzheimer patients, a new medication offers treatment via a adhesive skin patch along with twice daily pill consumption. That’s why this pill dispenser tray design was visualized and considered.

These pill dispenser designs were crafted to suit a female audience. The outlook was that many standard pill dispensers are plain and boring. Although I always aim to prove them wrong, in general I do agree with that statement.

If you only need that one pill at lunch time, then perhaps this cylindrical key chain pill dispenser is something for you or your patients. Barely noticeable, but there for you when you’re down for the count.

If you need to fit a few more pills in your daily pill case, this fun design might work better for you. Noticeable and vibrant – a good reminder to medicate on time.

This little suction cup enhanced desk set started as a promotional concept for a pharmaceutical drug treating anemia due to chemotherapy. Ironically, the marketing brand team were focusing on the “stability” of the drug in advertising campaigns. Years later, the drug is now pulled off the market. The FDA have banned Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents (ESAs) in medication after studies proved it increased tumor growth and actually shortened the life of patients with cancer.

The marriage of this pharmaceutical remedy and cure of disease was false belief, it never happen. Although never put into mass production, this little family of desk items still survived it’s forefathers. Happy, cheerful and on firm feet.

Designed by Fredrik Perman, January 2006.

This kind of thing clearly isn’t for everyone. Hartman, who lives in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., is a professional stuntman who enjoys sky diving and, bungee jumping and other extreme pursuits. The jet pack he uses was built for a rigid sky-diving wing he recently developed for flying after jumping out of airplanes. “I cannot lift off and fly with it by itself,” he says of the jet pack. “But I am developing another wing, different from the sky-diving jet wing, to do just that.”

During testing — the video footage was shot at Sierra Meadows Ranch near Mammoth Lakes — Hartman has become somewhat of a spectacle and has been invited to give demonstration performances at various ski resorts, within areas set aside for safe exhibitions.

Hartman also is exploring various peak ascents beyond resort boundaries which, of course, would enable him to ski down virgin snow without making a long, arduous climb. “One thing that everybody wonders is what’s powering it,” he says. “There are two ‘UAV’ jet engines designed for military drones. Runs on standard ‘Jet-A’ fuel.”

Like we mentioned, this type of thing is not for everyone.

Source: GrindTV.com

Does this friendly, unassuming typeface deserve the myriad bad raps it has provoked, or is Comic Sans just an unlikely victim of its own success? Here is the backstory, directly from Connare, who also designed the popular web-safe font Trebuchet.

How did you come to design Comic Sans?

A I designed Comic Sans while I was working at Microsoft. I had been given a beta version of Microsoft Bob, a comic software package designed primarily for young users. The package featured a dog called Rover, with message balloons set in Times New Roman — a system font oddly unsuited to the comic context. My inspiration for Comic Sans came from the shock of seeingTimes New Roman used so inappropriately.

Q So, who was the target market for Comic Sans?

A When I designed Comic Sans, there was no expectation of including the font in applications other than those intended for children. But Comic Sans could not be made ready in time for the release of Microsoft Bob, so in August 1995, the font was released in the Windows 95 Plus Pack. Later, it was included as one of the system fonts for the OEM versions of Windows 95. It was also used for a comic movie program called 3D Movie Maker. It currently ships with both Windows and Mac OS.

Q Why do you think it gained such popularity, and with whom?

A Back in 1994, Microsoft was making software in anticipation of the day when there would be a computer in every office and in every home. Today, in fact, people have computers in their offices and homes, and in their pockets and purses. Regular people who are not typographers or graphic designers choose Comic Sans because they like it, it’s as simple as that. Comic Sans isn’t complicated, it isn’t sophisticated, it isn’t the same old text typeface like in a newspaper. It’s just fun — and that ‘s why people like it.

Q What do you think of Comic Sans’ detractors?

A I think most of them secretly like Comic Sans — or at least wish they had made it. Interesting fact: the main designer at Twitter tweeted that the most server space is used by complaints about: first, airlines; second, Comic Sans; and third, Justin Bieber. So not even The Bieber can beat Comic Sans!

Joking aside, in Simon Garfield’s new book, Just My Type, he devotes the first chapter to Comic Sans. It is listed in the book How to Design a Typeface by the Design Museum in London. It has been the subject of an article in every major newspaper in London. And it has been featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal — on a Friday!

Editor’s Note: Ilene Strizver, founder of The Type Studio, is a typographic consultant, designer and writer specializing in all aspects of typographic communication. She conducts Gourmet Typography workshops internationally. Read more about typography in her latest literary effort, Type Rules! The designer’s guide to professional typography, 3rd edition, published by Wiley & Sons, Inc. This article was commissioned and approved by Monotype Imaging Inc.

by Ilene Strizver [fonts.com]

“What’s life like inside the Moleskine factory? Every bit as timeless and beautiful as the notebooks themselves. Here’s a scrumptious look at how the debossing process works, deep in the heart of Moleskine.

What I love especially is how much is still done by hand—the brass die are machined, then finished by a real live human being. The pattern is then heat-pressed onto the cover for mass personalization. More of these, please! Many, many more.” [Brian Barrett, Gizmodo via Core77 via Wired]

Jason Fried has a radical theory of working: that the office isn’t a good place to do it. At TEDxMidwest, he lays out the main problems (call them the M&Ms) and offers three suggestions to make work work.

Jason Fried is the co-founder and president of 37signals , a Chicago-based company that builds web-based productivity tools that, in their words, “do less than the competition — intentionally.” 37signals’ simple but powerful collaboration tools include Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack, Campfire, Ta-da List, and Writeboard. 37signals also developed and open-sourced the Ruby on Rails programming framework.

Fried is the co-author, with David Heinemeier Hansson, of the book Rework, about new ways to conceptualize working and creating. Salon’s Scott Rosenberg called it “a minimalist manifesto that’s profoundly practical. In a world where we all keep getting asked to do more with less, the authors show us how to do less and create more.”

An entrepreneur since childhood, Cameron Herold wants parents and teachers to recognize — and foster — entrepreneurial talent in kids.

Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. At TEDxEdmonton, he makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish — as kids and as adults.

Giant egg?  Check.  Neoprene sack?  Check.  Induction charging dock? Check.  These are space age speakers.

This luxury speaker unit combines the practicality of a portable sound system and striking modern design to create the antithesis to the boom box.  From the cord trap/ ipod cup, to the dense rubber ring on the underside of the sack, to the CNC’d buttons, to the countersunk jack terminals, there are details for such a simple form.  Features include: one 6″ subwoofer, two NXT flat panel satallites, bass boost, universal 3.5mm input jack, neoprene carrying sack, and a wireless induction charging base.

Stanley Kubrick would be proud.

Injection molding (British English: moulding) is a manufacturing process for producing parts from both thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic materials. Material is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into a mold cavity where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the mold cavity.After a product is designed, usually by an industrial designer or an engineer, molds are made by a moldmaker (or toolmaker) from metal, usually either steel or aluminum, and precision-machined to form the features of the desired part. Injection molding is widely used for manufacturing a variety of parts, from the smallest component to entire body panels of cars.

The first man-made plastic was invented in Britain in 1851 by Alexander Parkes. He publicly demonstrated it at the 1862 International Exhibition in London, calling the material he produced “Parkesine.” Derived from cellulose, Parkesine could be heated, molded, and retain its shape when cooled. It was, however, expensive to produce, prone to cracking, and highly flammable.

In 1868, American inventor John Wesley Hyatt developed a plastic material he named Celluloid, improving on Parkes’ invention so that it could be processed into finished form. Together with his brother Isaiah, Hyatt patented the first injection molding machine in 1872. This machine was relatively simple compared to machines in use today. It worked like a large hypodermic needle, using a plunger to inject plastic through a heated cylinder into a mold. The industry progressed slowly over the years, producing products such as collar stays, buttons, and hair combs.

The industry expanded rapidly in the 1940s because World War II created a huge demand for inexpensive, mass-produced products. In 1946, American inventor James Watson Hendry built the first screw injection machine, which allowed much more precise control over the speed of injection and the quality of articles produced. This machine also allowed material to be mixed before injection, so that colored or recycled plastic could be added to virgin material and mixed thoroughly before being injected. Today screw injection machines account for the vast majority of all injection machines. In the 1970s, Hendry went on to develop the first gas-assisted injection molding process, which permitted the production of complex, hollow articles that cooled quickly. This greatly improved design flexibility as well as the strength and finish of manufactured parts while reducing production time, cost, weight and waste.

The plastic injection molding industry has evolved over the years from producing combs and buttons to producing a vast array of products for many industries including automotive, medical, aerospace, consumer products, toys, plumbing, packaging, and construction.

Source: WikiPedia

Unlike some of us, who enjoy a bit of over self medication, most people take the recommended dosage of cough syrup.  Especially when it comes to giving our little ones drugs.  This unique childrens cough syrup bottle was designed to do just that.  The user simply twists the base to unlock, fits the provided syrup cup onto the nozzle, turns over and pushes down on a counter to drop the cup while a predetermined volume of medicine is dispensed via a pump valve.  The correct dosage, every time.

Plastic bottles are made with a variety of resins, the most popular of which is high-density polyethylene (HDPE), Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are also popular resins used to make different types of plastic bottles. PET is most often used to make plastic bottles for water and soft drinks, and the above video will demonstrate the manufacturing process.

The plastic that eventually becomes a bottle starts out as a malleable resin, which can be manipulated into different shapes by blow molding. The resin is attached to a mold, which is blown into shape with hot air then left to cool. As soon as the mold cools, the bottle is ready to use.

The Hemglass account was a personal favorite for many reasons. I loved ice cream as a child and knew the Hemglass ice cream van’s schedule and neighborhood route by heart. My work was also delivered in all 4 million Swedish households monthly. It was that proud feeling the moments I could say “I made that ice cream!” and point to the flyer. Not to mention it was also printed on the back of the ice cream van!

The ad agency, Collaborate, confronted us with the challenge of taking quality images of ice cream. In a well lit professional product photo box, the ice creams visually melted within minutes. And another common concern of product presentation – the photos often portrayed a less appealing than satisfactory product.

The creamy “Glassbakelse” mini ice cream cake was the first project I did. It was a simple low poly 3D Studio Max project. The above image shows you the wire frame 3D model, previous product shot and the final 3D illustrated ice cream cake as it was used in the marketing material.

This “Dubbelnougat” was built as a 3D model to scale. The textures were scanned in and cleaned up and texture map material properties were modified to match the visual properties of the ice cream.

The twin stick cola ice pop was a great challenge in achieving that frosty and irregularly glossy surface texture. The “Doglass” dog ice cream was not even production ready when they needed to display it in the marketing materials. Often I was also asked to model promotional in-pack products (not available prior to 3D render), such as the summer mix drink straw.

The limited edition Poppis ice cream sticks were originally Simpsons branded, but Hemglass did not have rights to use the Simpson art in Sweden and renamed the product Poppis for “popular” in Swedish.

Finally, as you can see in these images (and also commonly known) Swedes has a weathered resistance to the cold. No matter how hot or cold (mostly cold), Hemglass ice creams remains a popular part of the Swedish culture by driving through each Swedish neighborhood every week.

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

Sir Ken Robinson (born Liverpool, England, 4 March 1950) is an author, speaker and international advisor on education in the arts to government, non-profits, education and arts bodies. He was Director of The Arts in Schools Project, Professor of Arts Education at the University of Warwick and was knighted in 2003 for services to education.

Originally from a working class Liverpool family, he now lives in Los Angeles with his wife Marie-Therese and children James and Kate.

Source: Wiki

If you’ve always wondered how glass bottles were manufactured, then check out this interesting “How it’s Made” segment. In all cases a stream of molten glass at its plastic temperature (1050-1200 Celsius) is cut by a shearing blade to form a cylinder of glass called a gob. Both of the processes start with this gob falling by gravity and guided by troughs and chutes into the blank moulds.

The founder of the Tinkering School, Gever Tulley likes to build things with kids. In this video, Gever uses engaging photos and footage to demonstrate the valuable lessons kids learn at his Tinkering School. When given tools, materials and guidance, these young imaginations run wild and creative problem-solving takes over to build unique boats, bridges and even a roller-coaster!

Learn more about: Gever Tulley’s Tinkering School and also check out his inspiring book: Fifty Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do) (cover below)