Industrial Design News
Core77 Weekly Roundup (9-29-25 to 10-3-25)
Here's what we looked at this week:
Frank the Dogtopus is a smart design for a dog toy: It's low-tech, durable, eco-friendly and time-consuming. With this $400 ultrasonic chef's knife, 40,000 vibrations a second do the cutting for you. (Alternatively, you could learn to sharpen the knife you already have.)Succuc's handsome 3D printed vessels.
The Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro is an impressive portable outdoor theater with a 16.7' inflatable screen and surround sound.
Flos Design Space, featuring lighting design classics alongside contemporary models, opens in Chicago.
Industrial design case study (from a mechanical engineer): This beautiful, tiny Featherforged bike pump.
Charlotte, by Crest Robotics and Earthbuilt Technology, is a 3D printer that walks and lays walls.
Titaner's innovative take on the fractal vise.
Industrial designer Friedrich Gerlach's elegant Lecrase Stool is made of leather offcuts.
From Sweden, the Nomad Collection: Sleek, cast-aluminum power strips with plug-in lamps.
Fidlock's nifty variety of magnetic buckles.
Artist Sven Sauer's dazzling kinetic light installation brings a message of hope.
Nikon's compact indoor binoculars, designed for concert halls and museums.
The Stockman Trekka 01 is an Australian off-road camper trailer designed specifically for e-bikers.
An Australian Off-Road Camper Trailer Designed Specifically for E-Bikers
This Trekka 01, by Australian pod trailer manufacturer Stockman, is an off-road camper trailer designed specifically for e-bikers.
Rather than having an exterior rack for the bikes, the Trekka has a two-bike garage in the nose, keeping them out of the elements. Loading is made easier via a retractable ramp.
In the garage, the bikes can be charged while you're on the move.
Stockman offers an option for rooftop solar.
When it's time to set up camp, the trailer automatically levels itself.
The interior is well-appointed. The roof pops up to provide headspace and light, and there's a queen-sized bed in the back.
A bench seat and table by the entry provide space to dine or work.
The tabletop stows away when not needed (I have no idea where it goes, they don't mention it) and there's a small kitchen opposite the bench.
Fore of the kitchen there's a wet room containing a shower and toilet. This being a pop-up camper, the walls don't go all the way to the ceiling, but at least there's visual privacy.
Incredibly, this camper has two kitchens. The second one is an outside kitchen.
Other nice touches include a backup camera, an electrically-deployed entry step and a pull-out awning.
These are Australian-market only, and run about AUD $130,000 (USD $85,000).
Nikon's Compact Indoor Binoculars
Most of the binoculars Nikon makes are bulky, black, have a technical look to them, and are made for the outdoors.
But they also make this discreet, compact 4x10D CF pair, designed to not look out of place in indoor settings. Specifically, concert halls, theaters and museums.
The design is simple and basic: The only things you fiddle with are the central focus knob, and the two halves, which are hinged to adjust for your eye spacing.
They offer 4x magnification and offer a wide field of view, making them ideal for concerts. But the lenses are such that for museum use, you can use them to see details of objects as close as 3.9 feet away.
They come in three colors, a leather case is included, and they run $225.
DEVIATION: Artist Sven Sauer's Incredible Kinetic Light Installation Brings a Message of Hope
Visual Atelier 8 is an online platform that seeks to expose the general public to talented creatives. They presented this dazzling DEVIATION installation, created by Berlin-based artist Sven Sauer:
The piece is a direct comment on the divided state of today's world.
"The installation stretches across the room like a carpet of glass fragments, woven from shards collected worldwide. Broken glass often feels ominous: shattered windows before earthquakes, shards from riots, or jagged borders meant to keep people out. Today, it can seem as though shards are everywhere, and humanity doesn't always appear in the best light.""Based on texts by historian @RutgerBregman, DEVIATION reveals another truth: in times of crisis, people tend to move closer together, and acts of kindness grow. Negativity may be louder, but history shows cooperation prevails. From certain angles, the processed shards catch light and divide it a hundredfold, turning fragments of destruction into reflections of hope."
Above is a condensed version of Sauer's statement. The full copy is below, as well as credit to all of the parties that helped bring this installation to light, no pun intended.
Fidlock's Nifty Variety of Magnetic Buckles
In the mid-2000s, Joachim Fiedler was a professional cellist in Germany. A tinkerer by nature, he found himself frustrated by the bow holders inside the lid of a cello case: They were fiddly and required two hands to open, whereas Fiedler wanted to do it one-handed. He thus prototyped and refined a magnetic bow holder. Pressing against a latch released the bow.
Despite having played with the Berlin Philharmonic and having toured the world with different orchestras, Fiedler became obsessed with magnetic connections rather than music. In 2007, he hung up the bow and started Fidlock, a company that makes magnetic buckles for bags, helmets, tents, clothes and more.
For some examples of the actions, this SNAP pops open at the pull of a strap:
This 3-point JUNIOR is for baby carriages:
This magnetic ratcheting WINCH is for bags and outdoor gear:
This COINTRAP is for bike helmets, and is designed to be easy to use in cold weather, when one is wearing gloves:
You can see more of Fidlock's offerings here.