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