Today marks my 365th consecutive blog post relating to Industrial Design.

A year ago, I started Sage w/ Design for a few reasons. The biggest being that I wanted to think more clearly and to learn more about design. I enjoy reading and writing, so I thought this would be a good supplement to design work.

Honeycomb patterns are one of those designs that are always around and become more popular every few years; valued for both functionality and aesthetics.

Functionally, honeycomb patterns maximize space while minimizing material, offering surprising strength. This makes them ideal for applications ranging from lightweight performance materials to shock-absorbing packaging. Their versatility comes through in their scalability and adaptability, translating from microscopic lattices to bold architectural statements.

"We are all designers. We manipulate the environment, the better to serve our needs."

-Don Norman

Our tools might be fancy, but the instinct to shape our environment is universal.

The floppy disk lives on as a relic, an icon that serves a function far removed from its original form.

It's a testament to skeuomorphism, the design practice that once bridged the gap between the physical and the digital. Buttons had shadows, textures mimicked real materials and familiarity was the guiding principle.

Bad design isn't just ugly, it adds micro-annoyances that interrupt our daily lives.

I always notice an office chair that isn't comfortable compared to a good one.

Apple's Magic Mouse is notorious for being uncomfortable to use and inconvenient to charge.

Apple's Mighty Mouse was known for being uncomfortable, difficult to scroll with and tricky to right-click.

Apple's USB "Hockey Puck" is considered Apple's worst mouse design because of its terrible ergonomics, short cord and unintuitive orientation for cursor movement.

The National Park Service had specially designed, bear-proof trashcans installed at a park. Bears couldn’t get into them, but neither could some people, so visitors threw their trash on the ground.

"Design is intelligence made visible."

-Alina Wheeler

"Simplicity is not the absence of clutter, that's a consequence of simplicity. Simplicity is somehow essentially describing the purpose and place of an object and product. The absence of clutter is just a clutter-free product."

-Jony Ive

Overcomplicated design can often obscure the true value of an object (or the lack of value, as seen with the Juicero). This kind of needless complexity leads to frustrated users and devalues a product.

That's why the principle "less is more" remains popular for Industrial Design. Or as Dieter Rams phrased it, "One of the most significant design principles is to omit the unimportant in order to emphasize the important."

User experience design (UX) focuses on making products and services intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable to use. While a modern discipline, its roots can be traced back to ancient philosophies like Feng Shui, the Chinese practice of optimizing spaces for harmony and flow.

"Feng" meaning wind and "Shui" meaning water.

Dieter Rams was an architect before he was an Industrial Designer.

He's said many times that architecture influenced all of his design work. This isn't unique to Rams, other designers like Charles and Ray Eames, Marc Newson and Philippe Starck took inspiration from architecture for their product work as well.

iPod outsold all other MP3 players, despite having similar functionality.

Nike shoes are bestsellers, despite competitors offering similar support and longevity.

Ring doorbells are bestsellers in their market, despite Nest offering similar features and specs.

Apple Pippin was going to be a revolutionary entertainment hub, but it failed. Several years later, Xbox launched with a similar vision and last year the brand generated over $7 billion.

The Pippin's generic grey, boxy design didn't capture an exciting gaming aesthetic like the original PlayStation or other consoles at the time. It could easily have been mistaken for a generic VCR or office appliance at the time.

Ketchup bottles used to come in iconic glass bottles that reigned supreme in diners and homes for decades. The downside was getting the ketchup out.

The process could be stubbornly slow, then suddenly gush out without much force. In the early 2000s, Heinz revolutionized the condiment market with the upside down, squeezable plastic bottle. Or rather, it was the owner of a precision molding company, Paul Brown, who created it.

When avocado toast was trending, avocado slicers found their way in to many kitchen drawers.

A few years later, they sit buried at the bottom of the drawer, accumulate on Goodwill shelves or contribute to growing landfills. Overly specialized tools pop up in kitchens every now and then, only to be forgotten.

One of the few products I own that will outlive me is my cast iron skillet. If I threw my skillet outside for a year where it rusted in harsh weather because I didn't understand what seasoning it meant, a little elbow grease would bring it back up to par for cooking eggs within a day.

Tools like a hammer and wrenches will last me a lifetime as well, but everything else will need to be replaced within a decade or two.

Beyond function, screws offer subtle cues for interaction and contribute to aesthetics.

The material, head style and placement on a product's surface are deliberate decisions. Exposed screws can serve as tactile assembly guides, while hidden ones streamline visual design.