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Archive: Technology

March 16, 2010

Flashback: Computer Cursive

How cool would it be if every time you tippety tapped on your keyboard, the font that resulted was your very own unique handwriting? Pretty cool, if you ask me. If you haven't heard of Fonifier yet, read on to see how you can create your own handwriting font for under $10. This week's Flashback comes from the pages of CRAFT Volume 08 and the author is none other than the fine captain of our CRAFT ship, Natalie!

Create your own digital handwriting font.
By Natalie Zee Drieu

In my youth, I loved everything about the art of writing, spending hours improving my handwriting and even learning the art of calligraphy. Even today, I have nice penmanship, but oftentimes jotting down a quick note ends up as an illegible nightmare. I'm out of practice! Like most people these days, I spend way too much time typing on a keyboard rather than writing with a pen. But we are living in the digital world, right?

Enter the Fontifier (fontifier.com), where you can create a digital typeface from your own handwriting. For $9, you'll be able to add a personal touch to your digital photos and craft projects without lifting a pen. I'll be the first to admit my handwriting is no art form, like others I know, but it's mine with its own special curves and curls.

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Test Card Sweater

If this test pattern sweater is displaying correctly, you know your computer screen is adjusted properly. Creator specialsally's is responsible for this clever vest. [Thanks, Nathan!]

March 15, 2010

Typekit to the Rescue!

For those of you who have beat your head repeatedly against the archaic wall of finite system-only web fonts, relief is here. Tired of Arial? Bored with Times New Roman? Fatigued by Verdana? Insulted by Comic Sans? Me too. Typekit to the rescue!

Typekit is a San Francisco web app company produced by Small Batch Inc. They offer a flexible, subscription-based service which provides web-only linking to an extensive library of Open Type fonts, all neatly organized and tagged for your perusing pleasure. In other words, they handle the licensing, and you gain access to non-sucking letterforms, available with the mere insertion of a line of JavaScript. Finally, real fonts for the web. It's about time.

February 26, 2010

Book giveaway + project excerpt: 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer by Randy Sarafan

62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer by Randy Sarafan
Book site: deadcomputerbook.com
Buy on Amazon

We all have old, broken, or otherwise junk electronics stashed away in our closets. Randy Sarafan's 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer is just what it sounds like and much more, inspiring makers to repurpose mice, scanners, iPods, and yes, computers, to make high-tech housewares, newly-functioning gadgets, and accessories. The projects run the gamut of techniques, and with sections like fashion, pets, and music, there's something for everyone. Not only is the book full of DIY ideas, it also has excellent primers on electronics parts and the safety concerns regarding taking apart and repurposing tech-junk. Once you make your own upcycled projects, you can enter them in Instructables' Dead Computer Contest, where the deadline is March 7th.

Book Giveaway Time!

We're giving away 3 copies of 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer. Just leave a comment on this post, letting us know what kind of dead technology you have, just waiting to be transformed. We'll grab the winners' emails from your commenter account, so don't put your email address in the comment box! All comments will be closed by Noon PST on Monday, March 1st. The lucky winners will be announced next week on the CRAFT Twitter feed. Good luck!

Sample Project: Floppy Disk Wall Frame

Floppy drives have gone the way of the buffalo. Sure, you still might find a few roaming the desks of stubborn technophobes, but for the most part, they've gone extinct. So, as much as you may want to hold onto that shoebox full of floppy disks that is sitting in your basement, it's time to let go. I understand that those floppies are filled with countless wonderful electronic memories like your eighth-grade paper about oak trees, but if you haven't recovered the data by now, you are never going to. Besides, it's essentially irretrievable. You may as well forget about the data and use the disks to display more important memories: photos-- the kind of memory that is instantly retrievable. Unless, of course, like your floppies, you've got those buried somewhere deep in your basement, too.

Download the project PDF to make your own Floppy Disk Wall Frame!

Update: Thanks for entering! Comments are now closed.

February 24, 2010

Arecibo Scarf

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories is making good use of their new computerized embroidery machine, first up is this Arecibo Message scarf:

The Arecibo Message, one of the most famous messages transmitted as part of SETI, loosely translated, says: "Hi! We're intelligent! We're made of meat! Here's where we live!"

Binary designs like the Arecibo message are popular with knitters and cross-stitchers since they can be pixelated easily. We implemented the embroidered pixels as columns of satin stitching in a single color. The embroidery design is about 3.5" x 11.5". We're providing a couple of different embroidery formats for those with access to machines as well as a .pdf for cross stitch, hand embroidery, laser engraving, or whatever else you can think to do with it.

February 22, 2010

Personal Theater Kit

I love this clever personal theater kit, perfect for turning that sleek little media player into a magical movie theater. I'd love to customize it with little people in the seats! Not sure I'd want to watch a full movie on it, but it would be fun for kids or as a vivid decoration at a party. (Photo of the kit contents after the jump.)

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3D-Printed Shoes

John Baichtal @ Make: Online spotted these futuristic 3D-printed heels designed by Naim Josefi and Souzan Youssouf out of Beckmans College of Design.

Sewing Machine as Musical Instrument

Lara Grant's sewing machine is wired up to sense every time the needle is lowered through the conductive fabric swatch it sews, triggering a sound. I'm assuming it's hooked up to a computer program that's playing the sound, since it's capable of playing back melody loops. [via Fashioning Technology]

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February 19, 2010

How-To: Build an 8-Pack of Crayon Rockets

This project combines two of my favorite things: crayons and rockets. It may have taken John Coker 12 years to complete this project (hey, who among us hasn't had a case of lingering works-in-progress?) but the result was more than worth it. He's even included a step-by-step of how he made the rockets. The detail in matching the Crayola design is pretty impressive. I just want to know if he could find a way to add in that awesome Crayola smell. [via @DotatDabbled]

February 8, 2010

Felt iPad

Jason Guest has created a version of the forthcoming Apple tablet, rendered in 100% wool felt. The details are too awesome and my favorite is the little gear he cut and stitched for the settings! I've posted more photos after the jump, and here's a link to Jason's skeleton etsy site, so you can bookmark it and stay in the loop on his future work.

"I stuffed it with 100% wool roving, the felt is 100% wool as well. It took 4 or 5 hours between two days, working on it here and there. I make little felt gnomes and needlefelted animals, but this week I wanted to make something that didn't fit into what I thought was marketable or conventional. Having grown up with Macs, I couldn't resist getting their new gadget a month or two early. Kids do stuff like that- pretend they have a cell phone with a block of wood. Draw a picture of a website and a keyboard on a piece of paper and glue it to a tin container or something. Suddenly, they have a computer. The apps were a lot of stitching, but well worth it."

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January 28, 2010

Perler Bead QR Codes

Adam @ MAKE writes:

Looking for an easy way to generate QR codes capable of incorporating into an asphalt mosaic, John from mtoynbee.com found that Perler (aka melty) beads are the way to go. Not only can you position them in a grid, but they are also large enough to be picked up by a standard cameraphone.

More:

January 26, 2010

Computer Disk And Video Tape Art

Artist Nick Gentry creates stunningly beautiful artwork that incorporates discarded computer disks, video cassettes and other "obsolete" media storage items.

Each floppy disk used in the paintings has a history and story of its own. It represents the increasing pace of the modern life cycle, where objects are created, used and disposed of quicker than ever. To challenge this notion, as these personal artefacts of life are cast aside, the obsolete are now given new life and a renewed purpose by using them as a medium for art.

[via Share Some Candy]

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