Always the guy to delay personal projects in favor of office work and/or procrastination, building a lightbox was in the pipeline for the better part of a year now.

I finally kicked myself in the rear during the christmas vacation, and with fatherly help (tool supplier), built the thing in about two days. More details and some pretty resulting pictures after the jump.

The unassembled box

Below you can see what the box looks like when taken appart. The idea was to have something i can disassemble for easier storage. It’s still quite big though as it basically consists of two planks 24″x16″ each.

A piano hinge keeps both planks together. I initially screwed every holes but it created too much interference when closed. So i got rid of half of them, keeping an empty hole opposite to every screw.

The assembly

You might have noticed in the first picture a bunch of aluminum bars, those are 90 degrees 1″ angles. They play the structural role of holding everything together. The plastic part below is what holds those bars in place, there is one at every corner of the planks.

So the process here is to put every angle in its appropriate plastic receiver, as you can see in the next few pictures.

The interchangeable back round

I wanted my lightbox to accomodate any color of back round. So i came with the idea of using velcro. I’ve glued (and tacked) one long stripe on each end of the box, this way it can hold either fabric, a rounded cardboard, or just about anything i want, in any color.

Just sew the soft velcro side on the fabric (that was done by my sister in all fairness), and apply to the back panel.

Cover and lighting

A white fabric piece makes up the top and side walls of the lightbox, allowing light to pass through.

I’ve also bought two cheapish lamps (identical) that have the nice feature of being totally poseable thanks to a fully articulated neck.

The finished product

The end result

To conlude, i present you some of the pictures i took using my new lightbox. You can also visit my Flickr page if you’d like to see all of them.

It’s getting considerably harder to stay focused these days. With the constant evolution of internet services (Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, to name a few), videos games, movie and tv entertainment, every distraction is now just a click away.

To help you stay ahead of the curve, i have compiled a list of laws. Those can be applied at the office as much as at home. Knowing and understanding them will save you countless deadline misses and sleepless nights.

Pareto Principle

Also known as the 80-20 rule, it dictates that 80% of the results comes from just 20% of the work.

What can be done :

• Devote yourself to the core of your skillset.
• Get rid of the superfluous.

Parkinson’s Law

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

Cyril Northcote Parkinson

The reverse is also not true.

What can be done :

• Fix a “time budget” for each task.
• Impose yourself strict deadlines.

Laborit Principle

We spontaneously do…

1. What we like … before what put us off.
2. What is easy … before what is difficult.
3. What goes fast … before what takes time.
4. What is urgent … before what is important.
5. What we know … before what is new.
6. What others impose … before what we choose.

Carlson’s Law

Sune Carlson was a Swedish economist. In the 50′s he conducted research which demonstrated that an employee never work more than 20 minutes without being interrupted. Be it a phone call, a meeting invitation or a simple discussion between colleagues, any work that is interrupted would be more effective if done on a continuous manner.

What can be done :

• Group related tasks together.
• Plan ahead and learn to say no.

Murphy’s Law

Roughly, it states that “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”. Transposed in a work environment, everything will take much more time to complete than was previously planned.

What can be done :

• Integrate “buffer zones” in your planning.
• Split up important tasks.
• Do regular checkpoints.

Illich’s Law

Past a certain threshold, human efficiency decreases, to the point of becoming negative. Therefore, it is wise to know when to stop.

What can be done :

• Alternate between various kinds of task.
• Fight against perfectionism.

Fraisse’s Law

Time is subjective. This law states that for each individual, time seems to flow faster according to the level of interest in an ongoing task.

What can be done :

• Know your biorythm and its peak hours.
• Plan ahead – hard tasks during optimal mind fitness.

Conclusion

There you have it, with these simple and effective tools in mind you will be able to stay ahead of the game. If you have any other time saving trick to share please do so in the comments below.

Intro image source

Mother Nature is still the world’s greatest architect and designer. Since the dawn of time, mankind tried to replicate animals and plants most basic of functions. From the first flight by the Wright brothers in 1903 to scientists trying to duplicate the complexities of the human brain, Nature will never cease to inspire us.

I have listed below 5 recent technologies that were inspired by the ever evolving wonders of life. Some of them we use so often we never even think about where it comes from.

Speedo Fast Skin Shark Suit

Speedo spent 4 years researching and studying shark skin in order to develop this suit. Through scientific research, it was discovered that thousands of tiny “teeth” cover the surface of a shark’s skin and the shape and positioning of these vary across the body to manage the flow of water.

By mimicking this evolutionary pattern they developped a full bodyskin with different fabrics and textures on different parts of the male and female bodies, and even targeted to specific swimming strokes.

This revolution improved overall performances by 4% over any other available product. When the first model was introduced in 2000, 83% of the swimming medals won were by swimmers wearing the suit. The newest iteration called the LZR Racer®, gave Michael Phelps 8 gold medals in 2008.

Mercedes-Benz Bionic Car

To develop the bionic car, the engineers at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Centre and the DaimlerChrysler Research department have for the first time turned their attention towards nature. They based their design on the body shape of a boxfish, a cube-shaped fish found in tropical marine habitats.

Despite being boxy and cube-shaped , the boxfish is in fact outstandingly streamlined and therefore represents an aerodynamic ideal. In order to use this great potential, designers first created a 1:4 car model whose shape was substantially based on the boxfish. Tests in the wind tunnel generated a drag coefficient of 0.095, a result previously unheard of in automotive engineering.

The fully functioning and roadworthy bionic compact car has a drag coefficient value of just 0.19, making it one of the most aerodynamically efficient in this size category. This technological breakthrough permits 20 percent lower fuel consumption.

DaimlerChrysler researchers also examined the bionic structure of the boxfixh, whose skin consists of numerous hexagonal, bony plates. This structure provides maximum strength with minimal weight. They transferred this principle to the Mercedes-Benz bionic car and achieved up to 40 percent more rigidity. If the whole car was made according to this principle, one third of the weight could be shaved without losing any strength.

Gecko Tape

The toes of the gecko evolved in such a way that allows them to adhere to most surfaces without the use of liquids or surface tension. Every square millimeter of a gecko’s footpad contains about 14,000 hair-like structure, called setae. Those create a Van der Waals attraction to the surface the little creature walks on.

By duplicating this phenomenon, scientists are developping a material that uses nanoscopic hairs to cling to sheer surfaces. They hope one day to be able to create a full body suit using this material. Enabling the wearer to cling to walls or even walk accross ceilings, Spider Man style!

Velcro

Everybody knows Velcro, we all used it at one point in our lives. But do you know how it was invented?

Velcro came about in 1948 from a Swiss engineer, George de Mestral, after he noticed how the hooks of the plant burrs stuck in the fur of his dog.

Observation of this under a microscope showed numerous tiny “hooks” that belonged to the plant. Shortly after his invention, he was disappointed that fashion designers were not interested to adopt his product. Most likely because of that ripping sound.

In fact, amongs the first users of the technology was the NASA, who sent Velcro to the moon on astronaut’s boots, suits and inside helmets as nose scratchers.

Turbine Blades

The flippers of a humpback whale are incredibly efficient, allowing to propel such a large animal despite its massive size is no small feat. Using a wind tunnel, researchers have found that said flipper is a more efficient wing design than the current model used on airplanes by the aeronautics industry.

The tubercles (bumps) of the flippers are the reason for this hydrodynamic efficiency. This newly discovered feature was incorporated on Wind Turbine blades and it was observed that they produce more energy and less noise at lower speeds compared to their normal smooth edged counterparts. The improvement is almost two folds, the newly designed turbines generating the same amount of power at 10 miles per hour that conventional turbines generate at 17 miles per hour.

Share yours

There you have it, nature will always trumps us. And that was only 5 exemples, there are litterally hundreds of them! Do you know of any other product that was inspired by nature? Let me know in the comments.

Every designer dreamed one day of creating his own supercar, and many wish they worked in the car industry. It’s very hard to enter in the field and only the cream of the crop manage to get their foot in the door, let alone actually signing the design.

So for all of you Chip Foose’s and Chris Bangle’s of the design world, I’ve selected some of my favorite dream cars to inspire you in your sketching and modeling.

Acura – Advanced

Aston Martin – One 77

Audi – Exo

Audi – RSQ

Bertone – Mantide

BMW – ED Vision

BMW – M1 Concept

BMW – ZX6

Bob Romkes – Equilibrium Car

Buggati – Veyron

Citroen – GTbyCitroen

Dodge – Challenger

Ferrari – Aurea

Honda – FC Sport

Hyundai – QuarmaQ

Iman Maghsoudi – Monza

Koenigsegg – CC Edition

KTM – X-Bow

Lamborghini – Miura

Maserati – Birdcage

Maybach – Exelero

Mazda – Taiki

Mercedes Benz – F-Cell Roadster

Mitsubishi – MMR25

Nike – One

Panthera – Concept

Peugeot – Flux

Ronn-Motor – Scorpion

Sabino – Design B3

Smart – Roadster C

Spada – Codatronca

Spyker – C8 Aileron

Tesla – Model S

Tesla – Roadster

Toyota – FT-HS

TVR – Sagaris

Vauxhall – VX

Venturi – Volage

Volkswagen – 2028

Zento – ST1

I had to revamp a logo for a friend of mine lately and he is much into the grungy look. Being in a hardcore metal band probably influenced that. So my first thought was “rusty and old”. Turns out he loved it!

I will now show you how i did it. It’s actually pretty simple and only really involves some layer styling. This tutorial requires a basic knowledge of Photoshop.

Setting up the background

Begin by creating a new document , i always start out with a 1680×1050 resolution, but that’s just me. We will start this off with a background. Grab this amazing wood planks picture and paste it in your document, then center it.

Add a new layer and using the paint bucket fill it with a dark grey, i used color #323232. Then apply a soft light blend, it should look like this.

Add another layer. In this one we will darken the edges, to add more focus to the image center, where our text will be. Toggle to Quick Mask Mode by pressing “Q” on your keyboard with the desired layer selected. Then draw an oval reaching the four edges of your document.

Apply a gaussian blur of approximately 200px to the mask.

Toggle back to normal mode (press “Q”) and fill the layer in black using the paint bucket. It should look like this.

Adding some type

Get the Optimusprinceps font if you want the same old-school feel i was looking for. And type in your text with a big font size, around 72 points.

Applying texture

The idea here is to use a texture to overlay on the text, and play with the colors so it looks like rust. I found a sweet looking wood image that serves the purpose just right. You can download the woodgrain texture here, it’s the 3rd one. Open it then paste a part of it over your text in a new layer. It must cover the text entirely.

Now we want to crop that wood grain so it has the same shape as the text underneath it. Hold CTRL and click the text layer thumbnail preview to select everything in it, then invert your selection (CTRL+SHIFT+I). Go back to your wood layer, and press delete. You should now have wood text.

Styling the layer

It’s now time to add some style to this new layer. Use the same settings as the next three images.

The result of these should look like this.

Duplicate the layer, and apply the Color Burn blending mode. You now have a rust effect!

The end result

Click on the image below to see the finished image.

I found Etsy a couple months ago, purely by accident, through Twitter. It’s on this amazing marketplace of handmade craft and jewelery that i met with Martha Ivanovska, commonly known as @martice. Upon seeing her work, and being a total Moleskine addict, i thought how cool would it be to have such a sleeve to protect my cherished sketchbooks.

Well it turns out she actually made me one, with custom colors to match this very website! I will say that i am very pleased with her service overall, shipping was fast and the product itself is spotless. You can see for yourself on the pictures i took below.

Yes you can even hold your pen or whatever you use for drawing with the little elastic band, and it holds pretty good. Will have to see how it behaves over time. Mine also sports my logo, printed and sewed to match the look of my website header.

I will most certainly do business again with her, and i recommend you do the same if you want a sleeve like this one, or for your macbook. She take custom requests.

Visit her shop here

Industrial design is an ever evolving medium. New technologies appear every day and existing ones improve so fast it’s sometime hard to even keep up. Product life spans are getting shorter as customers expect more from manufacturers. And amidst all that, a new desire for green design, recycling and sustainability is becoming the new driving force for designers.

We creative people often need to resource ourselves, get new ideas or just stare at beautiful renders. Below is a list of inspirational websites, blogs and galleries, which showcase what’s hot in the design world.

TechEBlog

This blog focuses mainly on gadgets and new technologies. You will find there all the latest news on cellphones, laptops and everything electronic related.

BoingBoing Gadgets

This blog’s content is as colorful as its amazing header. In pure Boing Boing style they cover everything tech related with great reviews on new or upcoming products.

Yanko Design

Great blog showcasing the work of new designers from around the world. Concept design is the main course here, and you can even submit your own stuff for everyone to enjoy. I visit daily.

Trends Now

French blog about everything trendy. It really exploded lately and now covers everything from fashion, architecture and even food, always with style.

Cool Hunting

This one has the distinction of having one of my favorite header design. Ever. Besides, it also features work from fashion, product, graphic and motion designers, to name a few.

Eco Geek

Now for something a little different, but still very relevent, Eco Geek talks about green tech. It’s more about the technologies themselves, and how to improve our daily lives and future. But you’ll come accross some nice and clean designs too.

Engadget

Engadget needs no introduction. And it’s a nice place to find daily design news about gadgets and techno stuff.

Gizmodo

The gadget and technology site from the blogging giant that is Gawker Media. A lot of daily news for technophiles.

Geek and Hype

Geek & Hype is an online magazine centered on the tendencies high-tech. Its main focus is on aesthetic and luxurious products. Out of reach but still so nice to look at.

DVice

Another one in the gadget family. Although this one seems to dig a little deeper than most, and showcase concepts you won’t find on mainstream blogs.

Fly Lyf

Run by a core group of designers and writers, Flylyf tracks the pulse of fashion culture to help its readers stay on top of the latest happenings in design, style, media, and technology.

Behance Network

Behance is a collaborative network of designers where you can upload your portfolio and share projects. It is a great place for inspiration, for all areas of design work.

Core 77

Industrial designers got-to destination on the web. Core77 publishes articles, discussion forums, an extensive event calendar, hosts portfolios, job listings, a database of design firms, schools, vendors and services.

Design Taxi

Another creative network but this time more global in range. Design Taxi maintains an exhaustive design competitions calendar, for those who like a challenge.

Industrial Design Served

This gallery brings you a steady supply of top quality creative work. They also serve other categories of work, and showcase only the best from established creative professionals.

Share yours

I would love to read about your inspiration ressources, so feel free to share them in the comments below.

Welcome to my website. This is my first post. I decided to edit it, then i will start blogging.

There is not much to see right now, but i will add content over time, you probably noticed a tutorial and freebie section on the menu up there. This blog will focus mainly on industrial design. My goal is to provide you with tutorials and free 3D files so you can perfect your cad skills over time. I use Solidworks.

Of course i have so many more interests and skillsets, so to add a little variety, you can expect webdesign, graphic design, and all kind of geek related articles.

So for now you can follow me on twitter, if you don’t already, by clicking on the little birdy in the top right corner. And content will arrive very soon.

Image source