Bunch Of Small Ideas
I haven’t been posting nearly as much as I would like the past few months, as other projects have been consuming my time. So in no particular order:
1. Zelda Candle Holders. For the romantic geek! This would hold those little disc-shaped candles. Read the rest of this entry
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Audio Controls For Internet Browser Tabs
UPDATE (Feb 11/2014): Looks like Chrome now has this feature. Not sure about other browsers though. Original post as follows:
It happens to everyone. You’re surfing the web and you have several pages open when SUDDENLY a loud autoplay ad starts up; it’s invasive and you’re scrambling to find it and shut it down. Another scenario is when you accidentally hover over an ad and you are bombarded with sound, and you cannot mute or lower the volume. Drives me crazy.
I propose that all browsers incorporate a feature that will detect audio in each page and allow Users the ability to shut it off. How it would work:
When you have a page open and audio is detected this icon appears in the page’s tab:
You then click on it to mute, simple as that (see 1. in the image above). This would mute all audio coming from the offending page.
Perfect for autoplay ads, audio ads you accidentally trigger, pages with ambient audio, or times you need a quick mute for YouTube or Soundcloud.
To take it a step further you could include play/pause and volume controls in the tab as well, should you need to pause playback or adjust the volume on the fly (see 2. in image above). For sites with playlists the skip forward and back buttons could also be added.
Here’s hoping the overlords at Firefox, Chrome, IE, Safari, etc. decide to incorporate something like this in their browsers going forward.
NOTE: When the audio is no longer detected the audio icon would disappear, so you could wait out an autoplay ad prior to playing a video or audio clip in the same page. Starting a video or audio clip would override an active mute setting. However it would be nice if the browser was able to smartly isolate different audio sources, killing unwanted audio ads and permitting what the User wants (like a Youtube video).
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Ghostbusters Nightlight
Earlier today Gizmodo featured these cool Avengers-themed nightlights. They look great, fully earning their “wall art” nickname. Better yet they run on batteries, so you can place them anywhere on the wall (instead of plugging into a power outlet, which is often the norm for a nightlight).
And that brings me to the design seen above. A nightlight based on the Ghostbusters sign seen in the films, in the exact same vein as those neat Avengers nightlights. This would be an affordable way for GB fans to procure an illuminated sign, I tell you whut.
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LED T-Shirt Designs
A few years ago I scoffed at the idea of embedding LED lights into a T-shirt. Tacky was the word that came to mind. But then Tony Stark made it look cool, so now you can buy T-Shirts that mimic the appearance of an Arc Reactor beneath the surface of the shirt.
I believe that approach can be applied to a few other designs. Seen above are a few examples:
1. The Incredibles. I thought it would be fun to include the “homing beacon” light seen in the film. Ideally it would only go off once per hour, which would be great for battery life. If it were also feasible I’d have it link up with your phone via Bluetooth, so the light would blink when you got a call or text.
2. Razer Electronics. Okay I’m a bit of a Razer fanboy. I dig their use of ambient LEDs throughout their PC peripherals and laptops. Their logo was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the Arc Reactor t-shirt.
3. The Tardis. The single light on top of the Tardis would make this an ideal candidate for an LED tee. Sound effects are a possibility.
That’s it for pictured designs. A few other designs that could apply (on the basis of using a single LED light): The Autobot Matrix of Leadership, NHL ’94 goal light, R2D2, T-800 (single red eye), and Cyclops from the X-Men. Anything else you’d like to see?
If you like these please check out the full-zip hoodies I designed a while back. I also have a designs available for purchase.
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Watch This! Part 8: Super Mario World
This is not a watch or clock design exactly, just a clock face design that can be applied to a clock or watch. And this face design uses the ten Boos that flew in a circular pattern in a Ghost Castle level in Super Mario World (SNES). Filling in the void is a question block and Mario himself. Read the rest of this entry
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WALL-E Blu-Ray Case
Whenever possible I like to use film props as the basis for a Blu-Ray special edition cases, and for WALL-E I thought I’d use a simple but striking prop seen briefly in the film, the recolonization manual (or Manuel, as the captain called it). It’s a cool-looking book with an illuminated leaf emblem on the cover. Read the rest of this entry
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Geeky ATM Machine: The Bluth Banana Stand
You probably remember the phrase “There is always money in the Banana Stand” from Arrested Development, a reference to the large stash of money hidden in its walls, not the stand’s revenue potential (as initially thought). So I felt the Banana Stand would make for a neat piggy bank, but alas other geeks have already thought of that.
So I propose an ATM machine design instead! This way it would be close to the size of the actual Banana Stand seen in the show, and would be in keeping with the aforementioned phrase.
It could be a standalone Banana Stand or one that is integrated into a wall (like the one you see above).
Hopefully a major bank with a sense of humor would do something like this. Admittedly it might be too garish for a bank branch but would be cool in a mall or a store.
Also kudos to Netflix for creating a few real Banana Stands to promote the show’s impending 4th season, which I am very much looking forward to. I’d like to think most of Canada is psyched for the show as well, as it was nationally broadcast on CBC for years after its cancellation (it was how I got on the AD bandwagon). I’ve yet to meet anyone who hasn’t seen the show.
