industrial design

HP Innovates The Staid Workstation PC Into A Shiny, Happy, All-In-One Machine

BY Kit Eaton | 04-18-2012 | 9:30 AM | INNOVATION

Professional-grade workstation computers are usually powerful but boxy and aesthetically dull. Not HP's Z1.READ MORE›

Fast Company Is Seeking A Design Intern

BY Erika Schneider | 02-13-2012 | 3:27 PM | DESIGN

Mansueto Ventures is seeking a web design intern to work in the online department of Fast Company magazine.READ MORE›

The iPod's Inventor Strikes Out On His Own, And Invents...A Thermostat?!

BY John Pavlus | 10-25-2011 | 4:38 PM | NEST LABS

Tony Fadell invented the iPod. Okay, he didn't do it singlehandedly--but the former Apple executive conceived it, got Apple on board, and then went on to shepherd the development of 18 (!) generations of the company's signature ... READ MORE›

A Surreal Warehouse Filled With 110,000 Old Package And Product Designs

BY John Pavlus | 10-11-2011 | 3:53 PM | NEWPRODUCTSWORKS COLLECTION

Do you ever wonder if there's a heaven that obsolete package designs go to when their parent corporations do a brand refresh? Okay, fine, only a design blogger would wonder that--but as it turns out, there actually is such a place. ... READ MORE›

A Hurricane Weather Probe Designed As A Kamikaze Drone

BY John Pavlus | 10-10-2011 | 11:59 AM | NOAA

We need to get better at predicting the paths of hurricanes, because god knows we're only gonna see more of them as the 21st century wears on. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that "anthropogenic warming [i.e., ... READ MORE›

The Ultimate Lessons From Steve Jobs, Teacher

BY Adrian Slywotzky | 10-06-2011 | 4:53 PM | DESIGN

The well-deserved attention paid to the design of Apple products has tended to obscure the creative energy Steve Jobs invested in designing other elements of Apple. So what can we learn from Steve Jobs, Teacher? He was a great designer, all right. But his talent only began with the design of the product. READ MORE›

Start An Education Revolution In Seven Steps

BY Tread Project | 08-12-2011 | 4:17 PM | BIG BANG DESIGN

First, a little background: We’re three undergrad industrial design students at the University of Cincinnati who teamed up for an experiment in education. We set out to partner with our university, a high school, and several ... READ MORE›

An Ultra-Simple Vacuum Kit, Designed For Easy Repairs

BY Belinda Lanks | 07-20-2011 | 11:15 AM | BROOVER

I adore my vacuum. It might seem strange to express affection for an unsophisticated piece of technology -- it’s no Dyson after all -- but it’s served me well for more than 10 years. Should it break down, however, I wouldn’t ... READ MORE›

A Hair Dryer That Speaks Volumes About Current Design Problems

BY James Gaddy | 07-15-2011 | 3:38 PM | TOMAHAWK

Maybe it takes something as banal as a hair dryer: Why do they all look the same? The sturdy handheld bathroom standby has undergone endless iterations of the same plastic-handled, round-backed and -barreled device since it was ... READ MORE›

Why Should Red Cross Emergency Gear Look So Sexy?

BY John Pavlus | 06-07-2011 | 7:39 AM | EMERGENCY GEAR

During a blackout, earthquake, or other scary emergency, aesthetics are likely to be the last thing on your mind. But that doesn't mean they don't still serve an important purpose, as Eton's Turbodyne series of American Red ... READ MORE›

SketchChair Lets You Doodle And Print Out Flat-Pack Furniture

BY John Pavlus | 04-06-2011 | 10:08 AM | TIAGO RORKE

Amateur Charles and Ray Eameses of the world, rejoice! A pair of designers calling themselves Diatom Studio has created an open-source app called SketchChair that lets you conjure up the chair of your dreams -- and fabricate it in ... READ MORE›

A Lamp That's (Almost) as Cute as WALL-E

BY Suzanne LaBarre | 02-08-2011 | 4:33 PM | FROG

Jinseok Hwang, a senior industrial designer at Frog, has sent us images of a great personal project: his impossibly cute Lobot task lamp. A skinny anodized aluminum body topped by a pair of LED-studded eyes, the lamp was ... READ MORE›

Mobi, a Super Flexible Desk for Today's Shifting Workplaces

BY Suzanne LaBarre | 02-08-2011 | 3:15 PM | MOBI

Office-furniture designers love to talk about their products as if they were competing in floor exercises at the Olympics. We hear about "flexible desks!" and partitions designed for "ultimate mobility!" All of which is clever ... READ MORE›

A Mega-Portrait of Steve Jobs Depicts His Outsized Legacy

BY John Pavlus | 01-19-2011 | 9:45 AM | PHOTO COLLAGE

Steven P. Jobs is sick again. Which reminds us that even titans of industry are, yes, mortal. But in the meantime, designer Charis Tsevis has built a graphic monument to Jobs that hammers home his giga-influence on computers and ... READ MORE›

The Definitive History of the Eames Studio, and Its Works of Genius [Slideshow]

BY Cliff Kuang | 01-10-2011 | 9:58 AM | THE STORY OF EAMES FURNITURE

Even if you've got a passion for modern design, it can be hard to see anything new in the works of Charles and Ray Eames. Endlessly imitated, knocked off, resold, and referenced, their genius hides in plain sight, thanks to its ... READ MORE›

Industrial Designer Christopher Stuart Turns Plasti Dip And Cable Ties Into Creative DIY Projects

BY Margaret Rhodes | 01-09-2011 | 3:31 PM | MAGAZINE

Industrial designer Christopher Stuart on his essential DIY tools.READ MORE›

Inventables: The Superstore That Sells Sci-Fi Materials to IDEO and Nike [Slideshow]

BY John Pavlus | 01-07-2011 | 9:13 AM | SLDIESHOW

Somewhere deep inside every creative professional lurks the spirit of a Willy-Wonka-style nutty inventor or Dr. Evil-esque mad scientist. (Or both.) And Inventables.com -- an online warehouse of weird materials like "shape memory ... READ MORE›

Winners of the 2010 National Design Awards Announced

BY Cliff Kuang | 06-17-2010 | 11:43 AM | U.S. GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL

Today, the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum announced the winners of the 2010 National Design Awards. Just over a decade old, the awards are the closed thing the country has to a Nobel Prize in design; the nominees were drawn ... READ MORE›

3-D Printing From Beyond the Grave: Household Items Made From Dead People

BY Suzanne LaBarre | 06-16-2010 | 12:52 PM | DESIGN

From the Dutch design firm Studio Wieki Somers come household objects made out of human ashes. Yes, human ashes. As in John Steegman (b. 1939, d. 1985), who is now a vacuum cleaner:Pietertje Vos (b. 1942, d. 2007), now a scale:And ...READ MORE›

Xbox 360 Slim Designer Scott Wilson Is Also Making Conference Tables More Fun

BY Alissa Walker | 06-16-2010 | 9:03 AM | DESIGN

No, it doesn't have built-in Kinect, but these tables are smart and real pretty.READ MORE›