Design

One of the more obscure toys of the ‘80s was a line of digital watches from Japan’s Takara called the Kronoform that could transform into vehicles, creatures, and even a robot. Hautlence’s modern take trades digital timekeeping for a self-winding mechanical movement featuring a tourbillon to improve accuracy.

Doing what he does best, Bill Hammack, AKA The Engineer Guy, spends an enlightening 13 minutes explaining not only how two-liter plastic soda bottles are made, but also how their seemingly simple design incorporates some ingenious engineering.

If you’re headed to Star Wars Celebration in Japan later this month, Audio-Technica has announced a pricey souvenir for you, as spotted by Notebookcheck. Unlike its Star Wars-themed wireless earbuds, only 10 of these ATH-AWSW DV headphones, featuring wooden ear cups adorned with images of Darth Vader made using traditional Japanese crafting techniques, will be available.

Prada is reportedly set to acquire Versace from Capri Holdings for $1.38 billion, scoring a $200 million discount on the previous valuation of the deal due to global trade uncertainties.

The smart speaker was already available with an optional marble base that boosted its price tag from $3,300 (for a solid oak base) to $3,900, but Bang & Olufsen has now partnered with Italian marble company Antolini for an even fancier version, as spotted by Engadget.

If you’re on the hunt for a Bluetooth speaker not made of bright plastic or filled with flashing lights, JVC Kenwood’s WDS-01 is made of oak, cedar, pine, spruce, or walnut wood — including its 60-millimeter driver cone.

If you treat your wallet like a Swiss army knife, you may want to save a card slot for the Hancept Zero MK2. Made from aluminum and stainless steel, it starts out completely flat and barely thicker than two credit cards, but rolls and fold into a hexagonal emergency ballpoint pen.

I’ve spent the past week typing on an early unit of the Norbauer Seneca, a mechanical keyboard that’s entirely custom, from its Topre-like electrocapacitive switches to its astonishingly smooth stabilizers. I also spoke at length with its creator about the process of making the board and why it’s so damn expensive. Stay tuned next week, feel free to ask about it in the comments, and meanwhile: just look at this keyboard.

I’m delighted by the videos appearing in my social feeds of crowdfund backers who have received their adorable TinyMaker resin printer. The print speed and quality look resoundingly “meh,” but who cares about practicality — it’s palm-sized! It comes packaged in a tiny crate! And you can store it in a lunchbox with an even smaller wash and cure station!

France has unveiled the fifth generation of its TGV Inoui high-speed intercity trains. The gorgeous retro-inspired ‘Atomic Age’ design influence throughout the interior almost made me overlook that the seat power outlets are still USB-A. Something that will seem all the more dated when these trains enter service in 2026.

The Beogram 4000 series turntable is an iconic piece of ‘70s hardware that’s available once again through another collaboration between Bang & Olufsen and Saint Laurent. But while the B&O Beogram 4000C comes in a fancy case made from ziricote wood, your $35,000 isn’t getting you entirely new hardware.

Meta has ditched the pink/purple hued design it introduced in 2020 and replaced it with a more boring version.

And I’m here for it. The haute couture brand is launching a small cross-body bag in the shape of an iPod, complete with a little window that mimics an iPod screen. The LV emblem also acts as a faux scroll wheel and the zipper pulls are shaped like old school EarPods. The bag, along with two others shaped like cassettes, are part of the brand’s Spring 2025 line. There’s no official price, but it’ll be available March 13th and High Snobiety says it’ll go for around $1,500.

Marcin Wichary, the author of Shift Happens — an exhaustively researched, beautifully designed and photographed history of the keyboard — is back with a deep dive into Gorton, a font found on keyboards, intercoms, camera lenses, and engraved signs across the world, with a special focus on Manhattan. The article is classic Wichary: it goes very deep and is full of beautiful photographs and interactive elements. It’s a real delight after the week we’ve had.

After celebrating the 100th anniversary of its first 35mm prototype camera in 2014, Leica is now celebrating the 100th anniversary of the mass-produced version, the Leica I, with a bunch of wildly expensive merchandise.

Thomas Bulman’s Bull Airs brand has a new collection of sneakers and clothing inspired by classic consoles including the NES, the Sega Genesis, and the original Sony PlayStation, as spotted by Retro Dodo.

Finland’s Aalto University has just launched the free Nokia Design Archive featuring an online archive of photos, videos, interviews, and design sketches from the company dating back to the mid-’90s.

The National Gallery of Denmark is putting together a large-scale showcase of Michelangelo’s work by utilizing “brand new, high-quality 3D-cast replicas” of sculptures that are currently scattered around the world. According to the museum, the event will feature “the majority of Michelangelo’s sculptures in one place,” making it the most comprehensive exhibition of his work since 1875. If you’re in Copenhagen, things kick off on March 29th.

Areaware’s new 15-piece Blockitecture set was designed by James Paulius with hexagonal shapes and cantilevered features so you can build structures in Frank Lloyd Wright’s distinctive Usonian-style.

The auto manufacturers? The insurers? The NHTSA just fell down on the job? Could be that more people just drive with their brights on all the time. Personally, I think we should send all of them to the Hague to get this sorted out.

Casetify has a new collection of cases and accessories inspired by Salvador Dali’s artwork. The standouts include a $100 melting clock iPhone case and a $55 Apple Watch case based on The Persistence of Memory, plus a $65 AirPods Pro case that wraps the earbuds in a pair of red lips from Face of Mae West Which May Be Used as a Surrealist Apartment.

The company recently partnered with Kith for its Ultra Open Earbuds, but this time Ronnie Fieg is helping to redesign Bose’s 901 speakers which originally debuted in 1968, but were discontinued in 2016.