Editorial Discoveries
484 articles
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A 1966 Pen Still Looks Like a Product Designed for Tomorrow
The LAMY 2000 hides nearly every decorative flourish, using a seamless brushed body and integrated clip to create one of the most enduring examples of modern writing-instrument design. — via lamy.com
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Polaroid Built Its Most Serious Camera Around the Same Instant Film
The I-2 brings manual control, autofocus and a sharper optical system into the familiar instant-photo format. It looks recognisably Polaroid while behaving more like an enthusiast camera. — via polaroid.com
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This Fountain Pen Uses Volcanic Lava in Its Body
Visconti's Homo Sapiens line is known for mixing basaltic lava from Mount Etna into the body material, giving a writing instrument a tactile link to geology rather than conventional resin or metal. — via visconti.it
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Man Ray Turned Chess Pieces Into Pure Geometric Shapes
Man Ray's 1920 chess design replaces familiar figurative pieces with a pyramid, cone, cube, sphere and other abstract forms. It is both a playable set and a piece of modern-art history. — via store.moma.org
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Sigma Removed the Mode Dial and Machined a Camera Body From One Block of Aluminium
The Sigma BF strips a full-frame camera back to a very small set of physical controls and a one-piece aluminium body. Its minimalism is the visual story as much as the specification sheet. — via sigma-global.com
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These Fountain Pens Are Hand-Painted With Techniques That Can Take Months
Namiki's Emperor line combines oversized ebonite bodies with elaborate maki-e lacquer work executed by specialist artisans. Each pen is closer to a miniature painted object than ordinary stationery. — via pilot-namiki.com
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Watch Clouds, Storms and Wildfire Smoke Move Around the Planet
Zoom Earth combines near-real-time satellite and weather layers into a clean interactive globe. It is both useful and hypnotic, especially when large weather systems are moving. — via zoom.earth
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Build Your Own Background Sound From Rain, Waves, Fire and Thunder
A Soft Murmur lets people mix simple ambient sounds into a personalised background for work, relaxation or sleep. The interface is modest, but the utility is immediate and evergreen. — via asoftmurmur.com
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Drag Four Cartoon Blobs Around and They Sing Opera Together
Google Arts & Culture's Blob Opera uses machine learning to let anyone create harmonised opera without knowing how to sing. The interface is immediately playful and recognisable. — via artsandculture.google.com
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NASA Lets You Fly Around the Solar System in Your Browser
NASA Eyes turns spacecraft, planets and mission data into explorable 3D experiences. It makes serious science feel much closer to an interactive atlas than a static agency website. — via science.nasa.gov
