Whyfore

Design Inspiration for the Inventive Mind..

October 31, 2013 By Zog

Watermelon Carving – Jack (Frost) o’ Lantern

 

So I went to the store in search of Halloween supplies, and what do I find? Aisles and aisles of Christmas stuff. This year I just decided to roll with it. I put up the Christmas lights, and we dressed up as Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the Grinch, and handed out candy canes to the trick or treaters, blaring Christmas music.

Of course, no Halloween would be complete without carving a Jack o’ Lantern.  I skipped the pumpkins and hit the melon aisle, choosing out a watermelon, a honeydew, and a mini watermelon. After removing the skin they were a nice snowy white, with Christmasy red and green interiors. I stacked ’em up and carved a wicked snowman, complete with carrot nose and twigs for arms, and then packed him with Christmas lights. The results were pretty awesome for how easy it was. Of course now the neighborhood thinks we’re crazy, but I can live with that.

Christmas Halloween watermelon carving

For the Christmas lights, I used a string of these fairy lights I found dirt cheap on amazon.  I’m super impressed with them. They are LED, so they are cool and low energy, the string is really flexible, the lights are really tiny and bright, and it has a controller with several different blink/steady burn options. These melons can’t handle the heat of a candle. This isn’t the first time I’ve tried this. I’m pretty proud of my previous watermelon skull and brain carving.

See all my previous watermelon carvings here.

Filed Under: Design Inspiration, Ideas Tagged With: Art, Design Inspiration, DIY, Funny, Idea, LED, Watermelon Carving

October 17, 2011 By Zog

Ninja Turtle Nose

Ninja Turtle Nose Ron Paul

This is one of those ‘once seen, cannot be unseen’ kinda sites. Draw a ninja turtle nose on a picture and send it in. My submission above, freedom ninja Ron Paul. Check out the Teenage Mutant Ninja NosesTumblr here.

 

update: Well, it looks like the Ron Paul media blackout is moving to the internet as the picture was never posted on their site.

Filed Under: Design Inspiration, Ideas Tagged With: Art, Corrupted, Design Inspiration, DIY, Funny, Idea, Involuntary Collaboration, URL

February 3, 2011 By Zog

Green Advertising with Reverse Graffiti

Reverse Graffiti Advertising

Eco friendly marketing is a rapidly growing field, as it should be. With an ever growing number of consumers taking such things into account when choosing which companies to support, a marketer needs to as well, or see their market share go to their competitor.

Now this method in particular isn’t for everyone, as it has social implications from being a bit radical, but some companies have taken to power washing their logo onto dirty sidewalks. It’s hard to prosecute someone for only cleaning part of the sidewalk, and if anyone wants to remove the branding, they have to finish the job. It’s win-win.

See Also:

Reverse Graffiti

(via DudeCraft)

Filed Under: Design Inspiration, Ideas Tagged With: Art, Corrupted, Design Inspiration, Funny, Idea, Involuntary Collaboration

January 31, 2011 By Zog

I Made You a Wig

Knitted wig - Elvis

MrsWoman knitted her husband a wig. An Elvis wig.

Why? Well, if you need to ask that, you’re on the wrong website. If I ever go bald, I’m gonna have me a closet full of knitted hair.

(Via the PreSurfer)

See also:

I Made You a Beard

Filed Under: Design Inspiration, Ideas Tagged With: Art, Biomimicry, Design Inspiration, DIY, Funny, Idea

January 17, 2011 By Zog

Getting Through Math Class With ADHD



If you are anything like me, math class was only good for one thing: Quieting down that analytical part of the brain long enough to get in some good doodling, which is why, in order to pass a math class, I had to stop bringing paper and just hope I could absorb something from the lecture before passing out from boredom. Now I find I just had the wrong teacher. If Vi Hart were my teacher, I think I would have learned at lightning speed. Check out the videos above for a sample.

Here’s another:

If you like the concept of learning math, but don’t relish the slogging through textbooks, I highly recommend her site. I actually learned some very helpful things in most of the videos I’ve watched so far, and I enjoyed it. http://vihart.com/

Filed Under: Design Inspiration, Ideas, Innovation Tagged With: Art, Design Inspiration, Design Tool, Funny, Tutorial, Video

January 16, 2011 By Zog

3D Alternative to Glasses

Johnathan Post has a very impressive new method for seeing 3D content on video screens without shutter glasses. While there are some obvious reasons why this particular method isn’t going to catch on, I really am vastly impressed with his ingenuity.

Filed Under: Design Inspiration, Electronics, Ideas, Imperfection, Innovation Tagged With: Corrupted, Design Inspiration, Electronics, Funny, Idea, Imperfection, Interface, Persistence of Vision, Video, Virtual

December 12, 2010 By Zog

Rooster SteadyCam

Chicken mounted camera

If you want to avoid shakycam footage, there are a ton of ways to stabilize your camera, ranging from DIY projects, to a huge variety of devices (see here) ranging from simple and affordable, all the way to professional units where if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford them. All these options weren’t enough for this guy though, he’s taken the DIY approach to a new level, giving his rooster a helmet cam. If you’ve ever picked up a chicken, you know that when you move their body, their head stays in the same place (vestibular ocular reflex).

Why buy a fancy steadycam, when you can just carry a chicken? Video below.

It seems to me he has the camera pointed the wrong way. Chickens don’t look straight ahead, they look to the side. The real challenge here is to keep the chicken interested in looking at what you are filming, which could be a good way to make movies for people with short attention spans.

(via Hackaday)

Filed Under: Design Inspiration, Ideas Tagged With: Animals, Biomimicry, Design Inspiration, DIY, Funny, Idea, Interface, Video

December 10, 2009 By Zog

How to Put an End to the Pen Thievering

stolen pens

I’ve got a problem with people wandering off with my pens. I can’t stand those awful bic pens wihth their gummy ink and tendency to fail at crucial moments, so I buy good pens. Functional pens. Pens that disappear long before they die. When I find them, their new owner always says something like, “Oh, I don’t remember where I got that”

It’s Payback Time.

Filed Under: Design Inspiration, Ideas Tagged With: Design Inspiration, Funny, Idea

December 4, 2009 By Zog

Fluteboxing: Instrumental Beat-boxing

Music has continued to be re imagined at an ever increasing pace throughout the ages. With the advent of social media, every nut has their own personal stage. Combine the two and throw out the inevitable million monkeys trying to write Shakespeare, and you are left with some real gems, like Greg Patillo, the beat-boxing flautist. Give the video a watch, he is genuinely entertaining.

Related Post:

Flute Hero, Flute as Video Game Controller

Filed Under: Ideas, Innovation Tagged With: Funny, Idea, Innovation, Music, Video

November 14, 2009 By Zog

Garden Jawas

garden-jawas

Want to make your favorite landscaper green with…wait, thats envy, right? You aren’t just going to be sick on my shoes? Well, never mind then!

If you have a rather tacky nerd in your life who has everything, surprise them this Christmas with a garden jawa. Crafted from sturdy, solid, painted resin, this little guy is sure to find the droids you’re looking for.

Unfortunately only available at the Star Wars store, because Lucas is stingy that way.

Filed Under: Design Inspiration Tagged With: Art, Design Inspiration, Funny, Idea

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