August 26
These dudes are making a WOODEN Supercar.  Unreal.  Check out these photos and these videos. From the site: “We aren’t really all about mission statements around here; too often, they are phoney and superfluous. That said, here is ours. We are building a high-performance, mid-engined supercar from wood composites as a graduate project at North Carolina State University. Wood will be used whereever possible, including the chassis, body, and large percentages of the suspension components and wheels. The car has a target weight of 2500lbs and a power goal of over 600 horsepower. We aren’t trying to sell anything; we aren’t trying to save the world, and we aren’t advocating that everyone should drive a wooden car. This project is a scholastic endeavour in which are simply trying to explore materials, learn, teach, share ideas, and stimulate creativity. This section details who we are and what we are doing. We hope you enjoy checking out what we are working on.”

These dudes are making a WOODEN Supercar.  Unreal.  Check out these photos and these videos.

From the site:

“We aren’t really all about mission statements around here; too often, they are phoney and superfluous. That said, here is ours. We are building a high-performance, mid-engined supercar from wood composites as a graduate project at North Carolina State University. Wood will be used whereever possible, including the chassis, body, and large percentages of the suspension components and wheels. The car has a target weight of 2500lbs and a power goal of over 600 horsepower. We aren’t trying to sell anything; we aren’t trying to save the world, and we aren’t advocating that everyone should drive a wooden car. This project is a scholastic endeavour in which are simply trying to explore materials, learn, teach, share ideas, and stimulate creativity. This section details who we are and what we are doing. We hope you enjoy checking out what we are working on.”

August 24

Miroslav Tichy, a Czech photographer

“Photography is painting with light! The blurs, the spots, those are errors! But the errors are part of it, they give it poetry and turn it into painting. And for that you need as bad a camera as possible! If you want to be famous, you have to do whatever you’re doing worse than anyone else in the whole world.”

— Miroslav Tichy, a Czech photographer

This is one of Tichy’s homemade cameras, fashioned from cardboard tubing, string, and thread spools:

Here’s a photo taken with one of his homemade cameras:

August 23

can design save your leadfoot? meet ecopedal


Nissan’s new “ECO pedal” has been engineered to encourage good fuel economy with a servo-actuated gas pedal that will push back on the driver’s lead foot when on-board computers… Read on at MWC
August 20
Our friends at Think Coffee just near POKE in NYC make some pretty neato designs in their espresso… via My Flickr Profile

Our friends at Think Coffee just near POKE in NYC make some pretty neato designs in their espresso…

via My Flickr Profile

August 20

Hokay soh, I’m not much of a fan of virtual worlds though I’ve dabbled here and there. You prolly already know this. But  recently discovered Stephanie Rothenberg’s latest project doublehappinessjeans, a Second Life sweatshop that produces designer denim by the underpaid labor of virtual avatars; producing the goods in both physical and digital form. Wait.  What?  Yeah.  Watch.  Read the full post at MWC
August 20

The first music video ever shot with a 360 degree panoramic lens. A tripped out journey into the track

videomusic on Vimeo

August 16
According to the Senate Judiciary Committee, three out of four women in the United States will be victims of one violent crime during their lifetime. The No-Contact Jacket is a wearable defensive jacket created to aid women in their struggle for protection from violence. When activated by the wearer, 80,000 volts of low amperage electric current pulses just below the surface shell of the entire jacket. This exo-electric armor prevents any person from unauthorized contact with the wearer’s body. If an assailant were to grab hold of the wearer the high voltage exterior would interrupt their neurological impulses which control voluntary muscle movement. The neuromuscular system would be overwhelmed causing disorientation and loss of balance to occur and of course pain. The pain experienced is non-lethal but is enough to effectively and immediately deter contact with the wearer and provide a critical life saving oppurtunity for escape. From No-Contact

According to the Senate Judiciary Committee, three out of four women in the United States will be victims of one violent crime during their lifetime.

The No-Contact Jacket is a wearable defensive jacket created to aid women in their struggle for protection from violence. When activated by the wearer, 80,000 volts of low amperage electric current pulses just below the surface shell of the entire jacket. This exo-electric armor prevents any person from unauthorized contact with the wearer’s body. If an assailant were to grab hold of the wearer the high voltage exterior would interrupt their neurological impulses which control voluntary muscle movement. The neuromuscular system would be overwhelmed causing disorientation and loss of balance to occur and of course pain. The pain experienced is non-lethal but is enough to effectively and immediately deter contact with the wearer and provide a critical life saving oppurtunity for escape.

From No-Contact

August 16

Lego machine made of Lego parts builds Lego cars.  Awesome.  This shows the engineering and design know-how of everyday intelligent individuals. I have always been into robotics, and marveled at the complex machines in the electronic manufacture industry. I always wanted to make something so complicated, but most of the building materials for big machines are way too expensive, or hard to work with. Kudos to him for using Legos, a cheap and widely available resource. I might have to look for the thousands of Legos, K’nex, and erector set pieces I owned as a child.
August 16
This wheel mounts a 25cc two-strokes gas powered engine and it could be put on the front of your bicycle. All you have to do is just select a common bike (with 26″ wheels, possibly) and replace the front wheel with this cool invention. Your bike can now travel for about 200 miles per gallon at a top speed of 20 mph. Price: $400
This wheel mounts a 25cc two-strokes gas powered engine and it could be put on the front of your bicycle. All you have to do is just select a common bike (with 26″ wheels, possibly) and replace the front wheel with this cool invention. Your bike can now travel for about 200 miles per gallon at a top speed of 20 mph. Price: $400
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Who.

i’m tom ajello. i live in CT, work in NYC, munch on tasty digital cookies, collect lunchboxes, take lots of photos and buy lots of t-shirts. mmm…cookies. Drop me a line, or subscribe here.

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What.

I only kinda designed this site. This theme was originally created by Mirza R. I made modifications to it (with the help of this guy). Also, some of the artwork is from this guy's tutorials. The site is energized by an amazing simple service called Tumblr.

Why.

Design is a way of life and a struggle all around us. This site is dedicated to effortless design - in all its forms - and how incredibly "effortful" an effortless design really is. – tom ajello

Don't Give Up..