Hold a fluorescent light bulb near this table, and the filament will suddenly flicker on. It looks like magic, but it’s simple science: An embedded circuit produces an electromagnetic field that acts on the mercury gas inside the bulbs, making them glow as if they’re plugged in.
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Most pieces of technology—like smartphones, TVs, and even computers—are replaced by new models every six or twelve months. Game consoles, on the other hand, are meant to last for at least five years. Which means that every generation is a true milestone of UI, gaming, and industrial design. So what does the latest crop tell us about the state of the console?
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Commercially successful video game consoles—your Game Boys and your Playstations—are iconic pieces of product design. But they’re only part of the story. There are dozens of other machines that either didn’t catch on or failed miserably—and Evan Amos has devoted himself to cataloging them all.
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When "invention machine" Quirky launched in 2009, it made a name for itself hocking plastic utensils and cord organizers—designed by you, for you. But over the past year, it’s made a play to move into turning your home into a Jetsons-worthy utopia. And it’s got the means—and brains—to do it.
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When Adobe unveiled its first attempt at building hardware tools—a stylus called Project Mighty and a digital ruler called Project Napoleon—last April, the company was careful to describe the devices as experimental projects, dancing around whether we’d ever be able to, you know, buy them. But today, Mighty and Napoleon are real: Adobe has announced that both devices will likely ship in early 2014.
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To mark the 100th anniversary of Chevy’s logo this year, the car company has created this graphic charting the evolution of the iconic bowtie. But did you know that the origins of the slanted cross are vague at best?
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Despite the strong feelings Don Draper harbors for them, projectors have never been particularly moving pieces of technology. LG’s new portable projector, though, has charisma. This elegant little device looks more like a 1950s camera than a gadget from 2013.
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The history of baseball equipment—just like the game itself—beats a meandering path, full of eccentric characters and bizarre details. That’s partially because many parts of the game—from gloves to bats—were left up to the design of the players themselves.
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There’s one in every family or group of friends: A photographer who—willing or not—spends most of their time behind the lens, and ends up conspicuously absent from nearly every photo. It’s inevitable. Well, not anymore. The Duo, a working concept camera, splits in half to capture both photographer and photographee at the exact same instant.
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The Chupa Chups packaging is uncanny—you could spot the swirly, colorful wrapper from a mile away, and you’d instantly know it was the most famous Spanish lollipop in the world. David Airey, an Ireland-based graphic designer, put together this illustration that shows the evolution of the Chupa Chups logo since it first arrived on the scene in 1958.
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