Studioclues

Some sketches today of earbuds. I have been snowed in all night and have been doodling. Music is one of my favorite things. Headphones and earbuds get it to me.

Some simple tips on sketching via Industrial Designer Michael Roller. Michael is an Industrial Designer and design strategy blogger. You can check out his blog here.

The tilt internet radio is an icon of simplicty. No buttons. Users pre-program the radio with four internet radio presets via a single USB port on the back. When the device is charged it then streams  the pre-programmed stations via wi-fi . The four channels are then cycled through by rotating the cube on it’s sides. The volume is controlled by tilting the cube fowrard and backward. That’s it. And 14 hours on a charge! A nice little product to throw on my desk.

Check out more at http://www.random-good-stuff.com/2011/01/22/cube-wifi-radio-no-buttons/

Probably the biggest advancement in waste removal in as long as you want to remember. The Bagster bag is a significant advancement in user experience. You do not have to live with a smelly old dumpster in your front yard for 6 weeks while you tear apart your kitchen. The Bagster can be purchased at your local home improvement center. When you are ready to start tearing apart your home, you simply lay it out outside and unfold. Instant dumpster that can hold up to 3300 pounds.The one downfall is that Waste Management will not reuse bags. They are discarded after one use (or hopefully recycled). I assume this is due to the unknown structural damage you may have caused when you threw your kitchen sink in there.

Waste Management’s Bagster

Recently, the online concept art community, Deviant Art, released from an  web based HTML 5 drawing application called Muro. This is the first browser based drawing application that I have come across that works with an installed Wacom tablet on the users hardware. This means it is pressure sensitive just like Photoshop and Sketchbook Pro. The HTML application accesses the Wacom data through a browser plugin that was probably added in a previous driver update. But if not the plugin is availabale for direct download here.

After using Muro for a few minutes I wouldn’t say it replaces Sketchbook Pro. But being that it is based in the cloud allows for ongoing feature enhancements and streamlined feedback to the developers. I hope to see a tag team feature where multiple users can draw on the same canvas. Sketch blitz in the cloud!

Deviant Art Muro

Sometimes merging the old with the new can create magic. The Nano slap bracelet from Griffin is an new twist on an old classic.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/slap

Quirky is a different little product development company.  It provides a forum for users to submit ideas and have other users to vote on feasibility and design execution. The firm then designs the products themselves. Until now they have only sold the products via their website. But apparently they have made it into retail.

Via Josh Spear

Capacitive finger tips for use with smartphone

http://www.quirky.com/products/37-Digits-Conductive-Glove-Pins

What will it take us to realize that creating complexity in everything cost us time, money, and efficiency? I constantly hear of more tax laws, more product skus, more options, more of everything. More of everything and more options and decisions that that needs to be made cost us money, time, and aggrevation. Americans spend 600 billion hours a year understanding and preparing their taxes. NPR had a story today about the how complex the U.S. tax code has become. It has become so complex and difficult that %60 of Americans now use a third party to process their taxes. It then costs the IRS about 1 Trillion dollars processing your taxes.

My take on the subject is that if government sat down and just said everybody pay a flat tax and that’s it, the government would save billions and an entire industry would suffer (Tax accountants).

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/13/132711176/can-washington-break-its-tax-break-habit