Hasta La Ideas

Now we arrive at the most important video in our series on DIY webbing projects!

In Part 1, we covered materials and hardware.
In Part 2, we covered tools.
In Part 3, we showed you how to set those tools up for webbing.

Here in part 4, we finally show you how to start putting it all together. Don’t worry if parts of the video seem too fast or overwhelming; as always, I’ve laid out the relevant review points in text form that you can digest at your leisure. So dive into the video and start figuring out what you can make.

Hit the jump for the review points.

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Most of us are familiar with the basic mechanics of a digital SLR camera (that’s Single Lens Reflex for those of you with the Google search bar open), which essentially enables image capture through the use of a mirror and prism system. The real brilliance of the SLR is that is allows a photographer to see exactly what they are shooting and reproduce it with the click of a button—a far cry from the viewfinder cameras of yesteryear where you weren’t sure how your photo might turn out. So the idea of a direct reproduction is powerful… but what if you wanted to capture a smell instead of a sight? Enter the Madeline: an Analog Odor Camera.

Designer Amy Radcliffe employs a technique known in the perfume biz as ‘Headspace Capture’ to collect and record the things that emit odors. In traditional headspace capture (most often used by perfumers and botanists), a glass bell is placed over the odor of interest to create an airtight seal over the scented object. The air inside the bell is swept through a tube and into trap that is housed in the main unit of the Madeline by a small air pump. The Madeline then filters out the scent molecules from the air so that they can be analyzed. Just as a digital SLR captures light input for photography, the Madeline records an exact copy of the smell data for reproduction. Radcliffe writes:

If an analogue, amateur-friendly system of odour capture and synthesis could be developed, we could see a profound change in the way we regard the use and effect of smells in our daily lives. From manipulating our emotional wellbeing through prescribed nostalgia, to the functional use of conditioned scent memory, our olfactory sense could take on a much more conscious role in the way we consume and record the world.

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Australian designer Robin Bristow was in his kitchen and needed a funnel, but didn’t have one. So he hacked one up using the flat lid of an ice cream container. Rather than throwing it out afterwards he held on to it, and surprised himself by how often he used it.

After field-testing some prototypes with a local Meals on Wheels affiliate and refining the design, Bristow had batches of his Bigmouth Flat-Pack Funnel made in several different sizes, locating a local plastic supplier and laser cutting facility. Last November, he won a 2012 Sydney Design Award for his troubles.

Here’s the interesting thing: Although laser-cut, as you can kind of make out in this photo, the edge quality isn’t fantastic:

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First there was Etsy, the e-commerce site for handmade goods that launched in the mid-2000s. Then came Regretsy, the “Where DIY meets WTF” website launched by comedian April Winchell in ’09, which documented the absolute worst knickknacks, gewgaws and tchotchkes human beings are capable of creating and selling on Etsy. The venture was so successful that Winchell was able to hire staff. Then, earlier this year, Winchell shut it down because it had taken a toll on her schedule—and her soul. As she told Wired U.K.,

…This site was a time suck like you would not believe. There would be days when I would be on the couch with my laptop for 16 hours, just exhausted and in tears…. First, you have to find the stuff. And you have find great stuff. And that gets harder because the shock needle keeps moving. After a year or two you’re like, “Eh, another teddy bear with a vagina, who cares.” Bad crafts are like drugs; you have to keep upping the dose to feel anything.

As it turns out, there’s another Etsy curation site, this one aimed in the opposite direction from Winchell’s venture. France-based Melanie Beauvironnois’ A Cut Above the Retsy seeks out the best that Etsy has to offer, and brings us gems like Tel-Aviv-based Tesler Mendelovitch’s wooden clutches, pictured up top, Meriwether of Montana’s hickory and walnut coffee drip stand, Nostalgy Eyewear’s new, handmade-in-Italy eyewear, Fortune Fab’s handmade brass candlestick holders and more.

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Learning how to work with webbing is a useful skill, but many industrial design programs don’t cover how to work with flexible materials. And if you’ve ever seen a production facility cranking out say, MOLLE systems for military bags, it’s easy to get intimidated out of ever attempting to work with the stuff.

It is possible, however, for someone with average manual coordination to design and construct their own webbing projects using simple, affordable materials and a borrowed or thrift-store sewing machine that’s been set up properly. For the design student on a budget, or the industrial designer who wants to dip their foot into the webbing pool without investing in expensive machinery, we put together this series of videos to help you get started.

In Part 1, we cover some basic materials, hardware, and terminology you’ll need to know. Webbing comes in a lot of different types, and it’s better to know exactly what you’re working with. (It also helps to know exactly what the hardware parts are called, so you can Google for suppliers and variants.) Lastly we’ve included costs. Since local prices can vary, we’ve used the online supplier McMaster-Carr as a baseline.

Hit the jump for a review list with links to sources.

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