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Digital Tracing Paper on iPad

Instantly draw on top of imported images or background templates and circulate them around within a community for collaborative design and feedback. Morpholio Projects’ Trace app for iPad originally focused on architecture but new templates for automotive and jewelry designers means these toolsets are finally spreading to other design professions. Coupled with the numerous pen options available for the iPad, an affordable digital design tablet seems possible.

Deverloper: Morpholio Projects, Download for iPad

Steaming Up Foul Language

It’s almost impossible to monitor the kind of abusive and foul language kids use in online chatrooms these days. So when the analogy of difference in temperatures steaming up a window was explored, designers Kim Hyerim, Chang Hanearl & Kim Junhoe came up with the Steamy Window application. The system basically auto-detects abusive and foul language used during chats and steams up the user’s display window.

Designers: Kim Hyerim, Chang Hanearl & Kim Junhoe

Get Your News On, YD on Pulse

Have you heard? No, the bird is not the word. Yanko Design is featured on Pulse, an awesome news reader app available for iOS and Android. Already have Pulse? Make sure to add us. We look pretty good on there and bias aside, we’re pushing the best content in ID bar none. Right? RIGHT? Any current Pulsers out there? Raise your hand.

Designer: Alphonso Labs Get Pulse for the iPhone, iPad and Android

Favorite Mobile News Reader, The Flud

Its slick interface has the media gushing so we decided to give it a go. There’s a diverse collection of content already featured in the Flud ecosystem. Each one you subscribe to gets its own panel and regardless of said content’s CSS, the Flud app overrides it with its utilitarian, yet visually engaging interface. Want it? Act fast because it’s free to download both on the iPhone and iPad for a limited time. Android user? Don’t feel left out. Hit the jump and I’ll tell you a secret…

The Flud | @fludapp

Autodesk 2011 Roundup for Designer Folk

Use Autodesk products?  Yeah you do; if you don’t you’re gonna start missing out on some important tools.  If you didn’t know, Autodesk gobbled up Alias several years ago and some aspects of the acquisition are starting to bear fruit.  In addition to some steamy crossover plugin action, Autodesk has continued to develop Alias itself, birthing a brand new sketching application on top of some routine improvements to the core application.  Hit the jump for some quick summaries and links for more info.

Company: Autodesk

Monitors Your Health, Draws Blood

The  < yu: > enables real time biometric feedback – the kind of information that could revolutionize medical diagnosis. It’s a soft bracelet mesh that checks your vital signs and even draws painless blood samples. It interfaces with you computer and acts as an alarm clock by applying pressure. With a flick of the rest, the device tightens and takes real time biometric readings to be transmitted to a computer and physician.

Designers: Ewald Neuhofer, Talia Radford, Thomas Schiefer & Georg Milde

Confuse Time, All The Time, Every Time

If you live in the land of confusion, lemme confuse you more! Designer Johan Bisse Mattsson is testing my limits as a writer and yours as a reader. Let’s see if you can comprehend this: A clock, where the Second’s Hand rotates from the tip of the Minute’s Hand. The Minute’s Hand rotates from the tip of the Hour’s Hand. Confused? I know I am…so give it up for Einstein here and head over to the Hand in Hand Clock webpage, where you can experience this mesmerizing design first hand.

Designer: Johan Bisse Mattsson

Useful Tools in a Designer’s Arsenal

As a practicing architect, one of the difficulties I face is the pearl that is the English system of measurement that persists in the United States construction industry. It makes international projects difficult to jump to. It means you need scale measuring tools that have lots of weird markings on it, and are useless abroad. And it makes adding on a calculator impossible. Lucky for us inchcalc comes to the rescue.

Designer: inchCALC

3D Software and You!

One of the most important tools in a designer’s arsenal is software. We receive loads of questions about what software to use but like any other tool, it’s only as good as its master. There are a number of industry standards but we want to hear from you – what 3D modeling/rendering solution do you use? I started with Lightwave 3D in the 90′s, then took on the daunting task of learning Maya. Today I use Modo exclusively. Most of these packages have free learning editions students can download. What about free open source solutions like Blender? Any others?

All of the sites, none of the smells

Let’s face it, we live in a nearly virtual society. Just the fact that you are reading Yanko Design right now and experiencing objects of design through the magic of the intertubes is proof positive. Most of the items featured here on Yanko Design may never actually touch or be near in real life. Same goes for most places on this vast planet. I have been around the world many times and still have only seen a tiny fraction of it. Enter this truly amazing step in virtual tourism called “GeoSim”

Is all industrial design software the same?

Mike Hudspeth from Machine Design talks about what to look for in ID software. Today there are many. Besides Alias ($25,000), good packages include Rhino ($895), ICEM ($2,300 and up), NX (a lot, depending on what bundle you pick), and even SolidWorks ($3,995). So besides price, how do you decide? The only significant differences between programs are capability and interface. When selecting ID software, look for these capabilities: