Time Less - Alba Riki Watanabe AAAA101

This watch is a strange blend of Japanese and Bauhaus design, wrapped tightly around the venerable 7s26 Seiko movement. It's tiny, but wears large. It mixes minimalist industrial design with the zen of a raked gravel garden. It has cantilevered, diving board hour markers!

Wii U Fight Stick - Part 4

Continued from Part 3

After a solid day of curing, it was finally time to take the wraps off the case.

Wii U Fight Stick - Part 3

Continued from Part 2

The very literal "make or break" part of this project was always going to be in curving the plywood skin over the skeleton. A 50mm curve is pretty tight for 3mm ply, and the risk of splitting is very real. But after an overnight soak in the bath tub, and fifteen minutes of slowly forming the bend, i managed to get it tight against the ribs and clamped down.

Wii U Fight Stick - Part 2

Continued from Part 1

I've been getting home late from work this week, and all of my neighbours seemingly have newborns. This has seriously dented my ability to run my table saw without feeling like a massive jerk. So i went oldschool, wasted a huge amount of time, and did things quietly with hand saws... and so many clamps!

Wii U Fight Stick - Part 1

Since picking up Pokken Tournament, i've been meaning to get a fight stick.  But since the Wii/Wii U specific ones are impossible to find locally, generally small, and a bit cheaply built, i've decided to take matters into my own hands. Compared to things like my MK8 Pro Controller this is tame, but ultimately more practical!

The Artist's Headboard - Rental friendly, real velour

When i moved out of my last apartment after several years of tenancy (i don't. do. moving.), the wall behind my bed was looking worse for wear. While repainting the entire apartment more than addressed the problem, i vowed to class it up at the next place.

But when you're renting, and your bed frame is a two-piece ensemble, how do you make a headboard work without damaging the wall? Like most renters, i just went crazy with Velcro command strips!

Amiibo-rama - Wii Fit Trainer and Samus

If you've ever come across #fitspo on Tumblr, this one is for you.

Amiibo-rama - Star Fox and Kirby

When Amiibo launched i was given one as a present. That gateway figurine started a fairly horrible obsession, but unlike most lost souls i relished removing mine from the packaging. Then i decided put those two units of product design photography i took in university to use, while also testing the critically panned camera of my HTC One M8. This is what came of that:

Amiibo-rama - Bowser and Captain Falcon

The Bowser Amiibo is really, really good! It has good detailing, the modelling is spot on, and it weighs a tonne! He's a boss.

Amiibo-rama - Pikachu

The themed photos continue! This time i wanted to capture my entire play-style with Pikachu, which is spamming thunder relentlessly until i'm knocked out.

Prototyping - Wii U Zapper

This is an archived repost of an article i wrote for Nintendo Enthusiast in May 2013. Since then, we've seen the New 3DS adopt the head-tracking mentioned, and Splatoon proved that gyro aiming is indeed fantastic!

The Wiimote was a revolutionary controller. It broke gaming free from dual analogue control, provided a gateway for “non-gamers” to enjoy the pastime, and managed to advance the gameplay of many genres. With the introduction of the Wii U, the lack of a pack-in Wiimote means potential support is diminished, but could the gamepad possibly fill some of that void?

Time Less - Seiko SKX009 "Planet Seiko"

As a child i was crazy about cars, and i would pore over every car magazine my dad would buy. I would re-read decade old issues, and ended up with a collection of a few hundred issues of CAR and Evo.

I also relished the fancy watches, advertised alongside all of that hot metal. One of the few really sunk its hooks into me was the orange-bezzled Omega Planet Ocean. It screamed sporty, overt masculinity; to me it was the Lamborghini of watches. I would later go on to incorporate this theme of orange and steel blue alongside metallic neutrals into my industrial design degree theory as "man colours".

Of "man colours" and men's shampoo

In the olden days of industrial design, before everything was drawn digitally, you had to use coloured markers to draw concepts. Expensive coloured markers. And as most design students have no money, you had to very slowly, very carefully add to your box of tools.

Time Less - Seiko SNZH57 "Fifty Five Fathoms"

"Time Less" is about the reasonably priced, incredibly well built and designed watches i've collected and modified over the years. While i do fawn over things like a good Omega or Panerai, there's just something more personal about these cheaper offerings.

The Guillotined Expedit - Sound system hide'n'seek

This was the first stick of Ikea furniture i bought for the new house, and a fitting swansong for the almost extinct Expedit. Off with it's head!