Design

Inspired by the folder icon in macOS, David Delahunty originally teased their concept design for the FolderDrive on X a few weeks ago, but there was enough positive feedback for them to partner with Super Fantastic to make it a real thing.

Launching 22 years after its last major update, the latest PNG spec now includes native support for HDR, APNG animations, and Exif metadata for embedding information into image files. W3C PNG Working Group chair Chris Blume says Chrome, Safari, Firefox, iOS, macOS, and Adobe Photoshop already support the new standard, and that upcoming updates will improve compression and dynamic range support.

When I first saw the Robotaxi wordmark, I assumed someone had already vandalized the car like a Waymo caught in a protest. The creative experts consulted by Fast Company are even more critical of the cyberdork aesthetic:

The ex-Apple designer, now working on AI hardware for OpenAI, just joined the British Museum’s board of trustees. The London museum is going through a huge redevelopment, ominously dubbed “The Masterplan,” and it sounds like Ive will give guidance on how tech could be a part of that. No word yet on who he thinks should have the Parthenon sculptures.

The collaboration between Koons and Lexon Design sees the artist’s most iconic creation turned into a wireless speaker with touch controls delivering 360-degree sound and a lamp that uses tubes filled with color-changing LEDs to recreate the appearance of neon lighting.

I hear you like your Nokias... blung? Listen, it’s early and I’m not Kendrick. However, behold this iced-out Nokia phone and wallet chain that jeweler Alex Moss made for Drake’s Some Sexy Songs 4 U album. Hypebeast has the details but apparently this project took four months to complete and has over 150 carats of diamonds.

One of 2024’s best — and most cryptic — games, is getting a big ol’ design book courtesy Lost in Cult. It’s not releasing until next summer, but the publisher promises that the tome will be “a deep dive into the intricate world of Animal Well.” Pre-orders open later today.

How about 108 billion instead? Following up the previous 10 gigapixel scan of Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring painting is a new version that ups the resolution significantly, while also letting you explore the art in 3D. It’s so big there’s even a minimap to help you navigate.

Serene Industries is following up on its massive wedge-shaped Icebreaker keyboard with a smaller, lighter alternative called the Cleaver. Available for preorder now for $850 it’s also cheaper, but by no means cheap.

Depending on your age, there’s a good chance Microsoft Paint was your first introduction to creating digital art. The app’s capabilities have improved over the years, but Drought’s new MS Paint Mirror captures the charm of the limited toolset included in the Windows 95 version — just supersized and a lot easier to use.

Available for preorder today for $59.99 and shipping on May 1st, 2025, Lego has announced a 700-piece buildable version of the iconic Star Wars logo created by graphic designer Suzy Rice.

Google recently showed off “a cinematic vision so surreal, so ahead of its time, that it proved impossible to produce.” Giraffes on Horseback Salad was originally conceived by Salvador Dalí for the Marx Brothers, but was too weird (and not funny enough) to be actually made. Using Veo 2 and Imagen 3, an ad agency and a museum were “finally capable of transforming surrealism into film.” (Unlike... Luis Buñuel? David Lynch?)

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.