Design is more than how it looks — it’s how it works. The Verge brings you the best of design from the web, the home, the software world, and architecture.
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.
Machined from a single block of aluminum, the Cleaver features Hall effect switches and swappable aluminum keycaps perforated with holes to allow LED backlighting to shine through. It’s USB-C only, and available with Windows or Mac layouts and clear or black anodized finishes.
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.
The black support structure supporting the yellow lettering is covered in detailed Lego greebling, while inside the letter T you’ll find a tiny hidden Star Destroyer pursuing the Tantive IV.
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?)
The result, so far, is just this trailer. It’s an eye-searing, sloppy montage of what this ArtNet breakdown by critic Ben Davis calls “chintzy sub-sub-Surrealist imagery has little to do with Dali’s original vision.”
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.
The Retrovision ‘85 is also made from 3D-printed titanium instead of plastic, and since just eight are being made, you can expect a steep price tag.
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.
From the manufacturing process where bottles are inflated like balloons to eliminate seams that could split under pressure, to the hemispherical curves on the top and bottom of each bottle that increase its strength.
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.
Each pair is priced at 990,000 yen, or around $6,817.
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.
Capri, which is grappling with debts and weak market demand, was previously blocked by the FTC from selling itself to Coach owner Tapestry for $8.5 billion in 2023. Offloading Versace, albeit without Donatella Versace at the helm, could help Capri turn things around.
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.
The Beosound Balance Natura speaker sits atop a tall pedestal made of materials like marble, quartz, or petrified wood. There’s no pricing details, which probably means it’s jaw-dropping expensive.
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.
Battery life is claimed to be up to eight hours, but availability is going to be a challenge. Only 100 custom-made units were released in Japan today, ranging in price from around $257 to $550.
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.
You can pre-order it through Kickstarter, but even early bird pricing is a steep $169, discounted from retail pricing expected to be closer to $270.
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.
These are original ‘70s units that have been hand-picked, restored, and updated by B&O with new cartridges and preamps. Only 10 of them will be available.
Meta has ditched the pink/purple hued design it introduced in 2020 and replaced it with a more boring version.
The new design looks similar to previous all blue Messenger logos, which may be part of Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to “get back to some OG Facebook.” Or perhaps this is the “masculine energy” he thinks we’re deprived of?
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.
[aresluna.org]
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Verge Score
Basically a Teenage Engineering greatest hits compilation.
The celebrated cartoonist talks anxiety, process, and the final installment of his Acme Novelty Datebook series.
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.
This includes a $500 set of non-mechanical pencils created by Graf von Faber-Castell that will come in a fancy box and be limited to just 500 pieces when available in February.
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.
The standout piece is definitely the $250 Power Shoes leather jacket featuring a detailed illustration of the Power Glove on the back and a set of non-functional controls on the right sleeve.
