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Ever wonder how some of the stuff we use every day came to be? I think about it sometimes when Im at the stove with my favorite sauté pan, with its perfect trifecta of size, weight and performance. Or when Im struggling with the badly designed zippers on my otherwise-swanky new tote bag. Good design doesnt just come out of thin air. From the idea to the finished product, it can be a long road. One mind might have cooked up the product idea, but theres usually a slew of others who have a say in getting it to your store. At the beginning, every clever gadget and life-simplifying tool had an industrial designer who spent hours thinking about the components that make it so clever or life-simplifying. I talked to two of them, both winners of multiple design awards: Dan Harden of Whipsaw, a San Francisco-based firm thats designed all kinds of products, from water filters and home saunas to the little tags you stick on things you dont want to lose. And Scott Henderson, an industrial designer whose eponymous firm in Brooklyn, New York, designs products for brands youve probably got in the kitchen, nursery and bathroom. Moby spout cover for babies and tots If you have toddlers, you may have a little blue rubber whale, a Moby, on your bathtub spout. Henderson designed it for Skip Hop in 2008. Moby, made of a rubbery latex-free material called TPE, fits over the spout to protect kiddos from bumping into or touching the warm spout while theyre in the bath. Its tail can function as a hook, and the tubs water spout can be right where a whales blowhole would be. When Henderson is asked about his design favorites, Moby tops the list. I think it was a first-of-its-kind product that combined problem-solving innovation with an intrinsic soul and an iconic personality, he says. Pixar included a Moby-like spout cover, Drips the Whale, in Toy Story Toons. Working with boldface names in the kitchen Your OXO dustpan, T-Fal measuring spoons, Sunbeam Mixmaster and Chantal kettle also came from the imagination of Henderson and his team. If a product makes you smile, he says, it becomes easier to use. How do you get a blender or a spoon to make you smile? One approach I like is to design the object around one big idea, instead of 10 small ones. When someone can easily understand the purpose and the way to use a tool, thats a happy feeling,” he says. The experience is as much sensed as it is seen. The product makes them feel smart, and when they feel smart, they smile. A new kind of face shield for the pandemic During COVID’s disruption of the supply chain, many designers started 3-D printing personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospitals and essential workers. After brainstorming ideas with product development company ZVerse, Henderson and his crew had an idea: How about a face shield that attached at the neck instead of the top of the head a boon for food service workers, dentists and others? The ZShield was born. It also became popular for public appearances by celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt and Michelle Obama. The shield was produced in North Carolina, instead of overseas. We bypassed the supply chain backlog,” Henderson said. Creating something useful is a sublime experience Henderson says the creative breakthrough for a new product idea is the most gratifying part. “It’s a dopamine explosion. And when millions of people start buying it? Says Whipsaws Harden: Its awesome to see your design out in the real world succeeding and making people happy. It starts with a thought that makes your heart jump. Followed by a sketch, then a computer rendering, then a model. Seeing a concept come to life like thats a sublime experience. Hardens design oeuvre includes the FreeSip, a collaborative product with water bottle maker Owala, part of Trove Brands. The product made TIME magazines Best Inventions list in 2023, as well as The New York Times list of best water bottles in 2024. Whipsaw also worked with fitness company Tonal on a smart home gym that has fans like Serena Williams and Lebron James. Instead of a bulky set of iron, the Tonal system is wall-mounted, with digital weights powered by electromagnets, and an interactive screen for virtual training lessons. Then theres the Tile tracker, which attaches to things like wallets, phones, bikes, carry bags and sports gear. Whipsaw worked with Life360 on refining the design for easy attachment, and came up with fun colors to appeal to new tech adopters and families. Design is incredibly fun to do, but there are challenges, Harden says. Keeping a vision alive for the duration of a project is hard, since there are many opportunities for it to get sidetracked by things like cost, product requirements and making sure the concept fits the brand. People think a designer has the proverbial big idea in the shower and snap, its done. Its way more involved than that. Rethinking the piano Also an accomplished artist and musician, Harden says his design aha! moment came while listening to classical music on a long flight. He got thinking about how instruments like the harp, violin and trumpet were beautiful to look at as well as listen to. What each of those instruments looks like greatly elevates the listeners musical experience. But then theres the piano. Its a big black box held up with three chunky legs, with a sound-reflecting lid thats kind of a functional afterthought, he said. Further, a pianist is watched in profile, so you miss much of the emotion on their face. So he started sketching out a sleek, smaller, front-facing piano that showed off its strings and mechanism to the audience within an evocative, wing-like silhouette. By the time I landed several hours later, it was conceptually worked out, and that soon became the Ravenchord piano,” he says. There’s more where that came from If these designers could redesign anything next, what would it be? Henderson would love to make city water towers more attractive; the standard silo with legs doesnt do anything for the look of the building it sits on, he says. Hes also bothered by the unsightly orange construction barriers that beleaguer cityscapes, and sees those as ripe for redesign. Harden thinks the common walking cane could use a rethink. Or really any product that serves our aging population, Id like to design,” he said. Creativity is the most precious of human traits, and theres no better life pursuit than to study, practice and actualize ones creative expression. Kim Cook
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E-Commerce
Sean Duffy, the new transportation secretary, is facing his first major crisis just hours after his swearing-in. Duffy, who was confirmed by the Senate Tuesday, quickly emerged as a public face of the federal government’s response to the deadly plane crash at Reagan National Airport, the closest airport to Washington, D.C. An Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members Wednesday night while the plane was landing, sending it careening into the frigid Potomac River. All onboard are feared dead in what is shaping up to be the deadliest U.S. air crash in decades. Our new Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy his second day on the job when that happened. Thats a rough one, Trump said as they appeared together during a White House briefing Thursday. Great gentleman. Just started. Its not your fault,” he later said. Here are some things to know about Duffy: He was on scene at the airport and by Trump’s side at the White House Duffy appeared alongside Washington, D.C.’s mayor and other local officials at airport briefings overnight and early Thursday, representing the administration. And he joined Trump in the White House briefing room Thursday, where the new president offered prayers to the victims and lamented the tragedy, but also made a series of politically charged accusations that he acknowledged were not based on fact. Duffy began his remarks by complimenting Trump, saying his leadership has been remarkable during this crisis.” And he assured victims’ loved ones that he was committed to getting to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible. While Duffy did not explicitly echo Trumps claims that diversity hiring and lower standards were somehow to blame for the tragedy it is still unclear exactly what happened to cause the crash – he also did not refute them. When we deal with safety, we can only accept the best and the brightest in positions of safety that impact the lives of our loved ones, our family members, Duffy said. We are going to take responsibility at the Department of Transportation and the FAA, to make sure we have the reforms that have been dictated by President Trump in place to make sure that these mistakes do not happen again.” He’s a former reality TV star, lumberjack and congressman from Wisconsin A former Republican congressman from Wisconsin, Duffy’s résumé includes stints as a lumberjack athlete, reality TV star, prosecutor and Fox News host. He was featured on MTVs The Real World: Boston in 1997 and met his his wife, Fox & Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy, on the set of MTVs Road Rules: All Stars in 1998. Duffy later worked as a special prosecutor and the district attorney of Ashland County in northern Wisconsin. He won election to Congress as part of the tea party wave in 2010. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who succeeded Duffy in Congress, said he first knew of Duffy when he was a lumberjack in the 1990s before either of them entered politics. Hes got a big job ahead of him here, Tiffany said. Its jumping right into the frying pan with a situation like this. An underdog who served nine years When he first ran for Congress, Duffy was considered an underdog. But he attracted national attention with his campaign ads, which featured him dramatically chopping wood while donning a red flannel shirt. He told voters he came from a long line of lumberjacks and would bring his axe to Washington. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years. He was member of the Financial Services Committee and chair of the subcommittee on insurance and housing. Fox News defender After leaving Congress in 2019, citing the need to care for his growing family, Duffy became a contributor to Fox News and one of Trumps most visible defenders on cable television. He served as co-host of The Bottom Line on Fox Business before being picked for the new administration. He was one of several Fox personalities that Trump chose to fill his Cabinet, including Pete Hegseth, the new defense secretary. A father to nine Duffy has nine children, the youngest of whom was born with a heart condition. In announcing his pick, Trump noted that Sean knows how important it is for families to be able to travel safely, and with peace of mind. Because of his large family, Duffy will have empathy with the relatives of crash victims, said Mark Graul, a longtime Republican operative in Wisconsin who has known Duffy for more than 25 years. When you have the size of family he has, empathy is part of the process there, Graul said. Hes going to want to bring certainty to everyone who is hurting from this. Graul said Duffy is an incredibly decent person and very approachable, which will aid him as he navigates this crash. His family is the center of his universe and more than most politicians he cares a great deal about being successful, Graul said. He doesnt want to just do things to get attention. He likes having success. A sprawling agency The Transportation Department oversees the nations complex and aging transportation system, including its highways, railroads and airspace. It sets safety standards for trains, cars and trucks. The department regulates the airline industry through the Federal Aviation Administration, which has been grappling with a shortage of air traffic controllers. The agency also includes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates automakers and sets fuel economy standards for cars and trucks. In his statement announcing the pick, Trump had said Duffy would prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding Americas highways, tunnels, bridges and airports” and said he would “make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers. DEI refers to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which Trump has worked to bar through federal action since returning to office. In his first act after his swearing-in, Duffy rolled back fuel mileage standards put in place by the Biden administration. His confirmation hearing During his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Duffy had promised to scrutinize Boeing s safety issues and restore global confidence in the beleaguered company, as well as to hire more air traffic controllers amid a national shortage. (The plane involved in Wednesday night’s collision was a CRJ-700 manufactured by Canada-based Bombadier.) Duffy also said he would cut DEI programs at the agency and create federal rules for self-driving cars instead of leaving that to a patchwork of state regulations, a key priority of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is running Trump’s government efficiency effort. Duffy assured lawmakers that he would not interfere in ongoing agency investigations into Musks electric car company over the safety of Tesla vehicles. He was approved by a bipartisan 77-22 vote. Jill Colvin, Associated Press Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report.
Category:
E-Commerce
Has anyone checked in on Hawk Tuah girl? When are we getting a new Talk Tuah episode? Were starving for more Talk Tuah, one X user posted yesterday. Where is hawk tuah girl. Is she safe. Is she alright, wrote another. Hailey Welch, better known as the “hawk tuah” girl, has been radio silent online since the end of 2024. That was when her cryptocurrency bombed, leaving her with a lawsuit and a lot of angry fans. Welchs last post on Instagram, where she has 2.6 million followers, was five weeks ago, her last X post was December 20, and the last episode of the Talk Tuah Podcast aired December 3. Ironically enough, it was titled How To Avoid Getting Cancelled. Welch shot to viral fame when she was interviewed by TimmandDeeTV in Nashville, Tennessee, last year, and responded to one of their questions with the now iconic “hawk tuah” catchphrase. The 22-year-old then parlayed her 15 minutes of fame into a business empire, launching her own merchandise, a successful podcast, and a Gen Z targeted dating app called Pookie Tools. She was everywhere. Then she got involved with cryptocurrency. In early December, Welch announced she would be releasing her own cryptocurrency memecoin called $HAWK, telling Fortune that the effort wasnt just a cash grab. $HAWK token was publicized heavily and quickly rose to a $490 million market cap when launched on December 4. It tanked just as quickly, and its value plunged $440 million in just 20 minutes. Due to how quickly the Hawk Tuah memecoin plummeted in value, some investors claimed Haliey Welch carried out a rug pull (wherein the creator will hype and pump a new token through social media and just when it reaches an all time high in value theyll abandon the project, with all the investors’ funds). This is one of the most miserable, horrible launches Ive ever seen in my life. Ive been tracing it on chain for a while. You guys generated over $1M in fees while yall fans got rug-pulled, said YouTube investigator CoffeeZilla. This is the worst tokenomics Ive ever seen and it is a scam. Last month, Newsweek reported that investors have filed a lawsuit against the people behind the project. Welch’s last post addressing the controversy, posted December 20, said: “I take this situation extremely seriously and want to address my fans, the investors who have been affected and the broader community. She continued, “I am fully co-operating with and am committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals impacted, as well as to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable and resolve this matter.” Underneath the post, one X user wrote, Talk tuah lawyer.
Category:
E-Commerce
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