Every year the design review staff decides on some of our favorite articles from the year that may have been overlooked or just didn’t quite make the top-ten most read articles. These are some great articles that will help you be a better designer.
Most Read Articles of 2021
As 2021 comes to a close, and we reflect on the list of the most read articles of the year we see articles as varied as the rollercoaster of 2021. We see articles about great designs, things to move your career forward, inspirational people, and lessons from history.
Design in Christmas Movies: Elf and the Forced Perspective
Have you seen the movie Elf? If not, you’re missing out on a good story with some neat applications of forced perspective. The designers of the film did some good design.
Year in Review of the BYU Design Review - 2021
We want to say thank you for being a part of the BDR community and supporting us! The BDR continues to grow and we hope to make the BDR even better in 2022 to help you be a better designer.
Shigeru Miyamoto: Nintendo’s Super Power
Discover six ways to emulate the world’s most respected video game designer. Whether you’re an engineer, and artist, a coder, or an entrepreneur, these universal designer attributes are sure to power up.
Scissors Design Competition Winners
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Second Annual BYU Design Review Competition! We had some great entries that solved a variety of different pain points for different types of scissor users. Without further ado, the winner is…
Christmas Gift Ideas for Design Engineers 2021
Welcome to the holidays! As exciting and festive a time of year this is, this time of year also heralds end of year reports, final exams and projects, and unforgiving deadlines. We hope this list inspires you to give the gift of creativity to a friend, associate, or family member.
The Tenth Face of Innovation: The Storyteller
The Tenth Face of Innovation is The Storyteller. Life is full of stories and being able to tell a good one can make all the difference in the world.
Good Design: Fender Precision Bass Guitar
The Fender Precision Bass Guitar has been a best selling bass for 70 years. What made this design so good?
What the Music Industry Teaches us About Creative Collaboration
The music scene is one of the most collaborative and communal industries - from writing and performing to producing and touring. Such collaborative products have proven that “the [chord] is greater than the sum of the [notes]”.
The Problem in Pursuing Your Passion
“Follow your Passion.” Is that good advice or not? Like most things, the answer might be a little more complicated.
What is the circular economy? How do I design for it?
At the rate humans are using ecological resources, we would need 1.7 earths to achieve sustainability [1]. The major problem here is that we only have one earth. The circular economy aims to reduce the need for the extraction of new resources.
Getting the Most Out of a Career Fair
Welcome to Autumn! The Fall is the season for trees changing their colors, warmer jackets, and career fairs. Don’t miss out on learning about, and preparing for, an important step that can set you up for an amazing career.
Design Thinking Part 3: Design Thinking as a Mindset
This part of the Design Thinking series describes the mindset of expert designers. The article argues that the mindset of Design Thinking is enabling and freeing because it represents the beliefs that the designer uses to choose good design actions at appropriate times given the unique characteristics of the problem being solved.
Understanding the Impact of Products: An Introduction to the 11 Social Impact Categories
Every single product that has been made, is currently being made, or will be made has economic, environmental, and social impacts. How can we design to have better impacts and what are social impacts? Read on to find out.
Second Annual BYU Design Review Competition
It’s time to design. Again!
5 Articles to Help You Have a Successful School Year
Another academic year is starting. COVID-19 continues to impact the world of engineering education, but certain things will always remain like CAD, Hooke’s Law, and projects that may seem enormous (Pro tip: start on them now!).
Inspiration from History: Design in the Wilderness
I am often inspired by design triumphs in history, but there is one design that has particularly influenced me. It is a humble design: an odometer made from wood for covered wagons that was never put into mass production. Part of what makes it interesting is that it was done under harsh conditions with the goal to help other people and it would become a legendary part of an epic exodus and the settlement of the Western United States.
Design Thinking Part 2: Design Thinking as a Step-by-Step Process
Design Thinking is not new. It’s been around for decades. The first attempt to turn it into a process was in 1969. Contemporary forms of that process still exist today, the most popular being the 5-step process introduced by the Stanford Design School in 2005. This article describes that process and other techniques that will help you try-out Design Thinking.
Design Lessons from the Olympics
The Olympics are an amazing event everyone should enjoy. But the Olympics are also incredibly hard to design for and offer a couple of lessons we can all transfer to our other projects.