Flash Light Design

For years flashlights have been very simple in design. Usually metal or plastic and cylinder shaped. These designs are more user friendly than the other tactical looking ones. The design is created for comfort and usability. The flash light also gives the user the ability to control how bright the light is. These designs are more targeted for the everyday consumer that buys the light just to have in case the power goes out or if you don't want to wake someone up. They are created with the user comfort and ease at mind.

Icon's Design Departure for Compact Flashlights

Hinges That Make Life Easier

As a college student who lives off campus, I move a lot of furniture from one place to another. One of the biggest problems I have ran into is that the furniture could not make it through the door and then we need to take the door off the hinges. A company called Duro-Med Industries make an expandable door hinge meant to help people in wheel chairs. This is a simple design that has a lot of potential, not only does it help the handicapped, it also can help a regular person on any day.

The Institute for Human Centered Design's Expandable Door Hinge

Portable Laptop Stand

As a graphic design student, I take my laptop with me everywhere. After using my laptop for awhile I decide it was getting too hot, so I went out and bought a laptop stand with fans built in. This is great for when I used my laptop at home, but doesn't help at all when I take it out of my home. The AviiQ portable aluminum stand is perfect for someone like me. It folds down to a small flat panel and when you want to use it, you simply fold it out and place your laptop on top of it.

Hylite: Aluminum With a Living Hinge

Travel Ladder

Many of my friends and family work with construction, maintenance, or realty. One of the biggest problems for most of them is getting their supplies from one place to another. Supplies such as tools, ladders, saws, drills, etc. The Xtend & Climb ladder looks like it could be a great help to both corporate and small construction businesses. This ladder is made of aircraft aluminum with steel connectors. When it is fully closed it is as small as 2 1/2 feet and can extend up to 12 1/2 feet in height. By this ladder having the ability to be as small as 2 1/2 feet it makes it easier to travel with and gives the user an opportunity to carry or bring more supplies with him/her.

Telescoping Ladder Design

Comfort Computer Chairs

As someone that already spends a lot of time in a computer chair and will most likely continue to do so, it is very important for me to be comfortable. I have only come across a few chairs that can solve this problem for me. Knoll's Generation chair looks like it would be another chair I could add to my list. This chair can change the height of its arms and the chair itself. It also is created out of a flexible material that allows the person sitting on it to sit in many different positions. The seat itself can bend for a more comfortable sit and the back is ultraflexible, allowing us to not only lean back, but lean over it. Over all this chair looks very comfortable and can help many designers, with the common back problem that comes from sitting in a crappy chair all day.

"Living With" Product Review: Knoll's Generation Chair

From Typewritters to Computers

Over the years we have made a transition from typewriters to computers, but what did it really take to make this transition? There have been many different versions of typewriters out there and different forms or mechanisms or even setup. Some typewriters even had a different set up on their keys. The way I view this is that, we would not be able to have the computers/laptops today if not for the trial and error or typewriters. They have been so many designs just as there has been computers, some very different and some very similar. Either way you look at it the typewriter paved the way for computers.

Early Interface Designs Make me Thankful for The Modern-Day Keyboard

Walt Disney Museum

Walt Disney has been apart of almost any Americans life, let alone the world. After over 30 years from his death, there is now a museum dedicated to the man's visions and contributions to the animated world all together. The museum is located in Presidio, San Francisco and is built on an old army barracks and two neighboring buildings. The museum concentrates on Disney's work and not his family life. There are original story boards and documentations from the beginning of Disney up to today. Although Disney owns most of the rights to these pieces, they have made arrangements to allow certain pieces and documents to be used in the museum.

Exploring the Man Behind the Animation

The Jointmaker Pro R2 is a new non electric table saw by Bridge City Tool Works. This saw uses multiple japanese blades and gives you the freedom to turn and place your wood anyway you want it, to get whatever look you are going for. Although this is a great product, it does take a little more time and effort, but it saves a lot in cost and you can use it anywhere! This saw has quickly become very popular and due to that reason, Bridge City Tool Works has put their product on backorder, but plan to have more waiting for their consumers very soon.

A Table Saw That Doesn't Need Power

Retro Headphones

As a part of this technological age, I listen to my ipod consistently. The hardest thing is to find a good set of headphones, that are comfortable and quality. The WeSC's retro-futuristic line of headphones seems to meet these requirements and create a retro feel to them also. The line includes circular headphones, inspired by turntables, and box like headphones, inspired by old school DJ's. These headphones also come in bright colors, such as oranges, yellows, greens, and more. Over time these hot colors have become popular and these headphone have definitly kept up with the times in look and quality. I will seriously be considering getting a pair of these headphones.

WeSC and Norra Norr's New Headphones Go Back to the Future

Airplanes of the Future

After skimming through the core77 website I came across a new interior airplane design from an inventor named Emil Jacob. He has created a design that gives each person a much more private and more comfortable flight, only carry on luggage, and increase passenger and luggage capacity. It has been a very long time since we have seen a change in passenger planes for a reasonable price. This design is created to help both the business and coach class have a pleasant trip. I believe after a lot of testing and redesigns, we may see this idea used in the future. Jacob has called this product the Flex-Seat and has already done extensive research intro its capabilities and saftey.

Sci-Fi Glasses

Ever see those sci-fi movies where they have glasses that project a screen? Well if you have you will love this invention. A design like this has been created by a man name Richard DeVaul. Richard DeVaul is a grad student getting his PhD at MIT's Media Labs. He has created a little project that connects to a pair of glasses and essential projects the picture onto the glasses. This may seem distracting to most, but surprisingly it doesn't bother most, and is perfect for reminders. It actually has a 63% effectiveness in helping someone recall or remember something. I am sure we will see more of this to come now that Apple has hire DeVaul. I can't wait to see what they come out with.

Apple Snaps Up Prominent Wearable Computing Expert

Collapsible Cargo Shell

Export and import are a huge part of business and economics. Most of those shipments come over seas in large cargo shells. A man named René Giesbers' has created a new collapsible cargo shell that can change the shipping industry. His shell is is about to be the normal size of a cargo shell when it is open or collapse down to a flat piece of metal where others can be stacked on top. This will change the shipping industry because it gives the ships an opportunity to have more space on their ships and take more shipments back and forth.

Shaped by Our Shipping, Part 3: The Cargoshell is Flat vs. Fat

Recyclable Sneakers

Many of us wear sneakers on a daily basis and because of this we buy many new pairs throughout the year. Most of us also do what I usually do, which is throw the old pair out. Nike has come out with a new program called Nike Grind. This is a program that Nike runs, where cities send back used sneakers from the community to Nike. Nike then grinds every piece of the sneaker to make different kinds of sporting surfaces. Personally I think this is a great idea for the community and for the environment. With the Go Green campaign growing everyday they are catching onto a trend that not only is helpful to the environment, but the community as well. I hope to see more sneaker companies doing the same.

Turning Sneakers into Sporting Surfaces

A Hospital You'd Live In

Most of use get creeped out or just a chill down our backs when we think of hospitals. PriestmanGoode is a company that has put their time into redesigning most uncomfortable situations for people, like airplanes or hospitals. Their hospital design, although not private at all, seems very tranquil and comforting. If the picture above was for recovering patients with minor problems, I think it is a great environment. For those who have illnesses that are more severe i think privacy is still necessary. This design almost makes me feel like I'm in a hotel rather than a hospital.

Getting Hospitalized Should be Like Flying First-Class