This visual is a bit of a throwback to the design of the late nineties and first decade of 2000. Kinekt Design launched in 2010. For the next ten years, I observed how creativity was being systematically stamped out by cultural, economic, political, and technological forces. On the Internet, it seems as if there's no creativity to be found anywhere. And I'm not talking about actual creativity... just the narrative's take on what it should be.

I don't believe this though. It's there.. hidden underneath the surface. Once it finds its way to break through, the green life will explode like living projectiles shooting up from the earth. 

First we had a website. Then we had an Instagram (against Glen's wishes). Now we have a blog. You read that right. We're returning to the Internet when it made sense.

To celebrate the launch of this not-so-new digital communication tool, we're having a contest. Create an image (1000 x 1000) relating to Kinekt Design and then submit on over to us. It can be a graphic. It can be a photo. It can be a text. It can be a graphic-photo-text hybrid. It can be anything you want as long as Kinekt Design is the theme. Sign your name if you're feeling artsy. 

We're going to pick five of our favorites of which we will post over the next few months from the blog on our site. All five winners will receive a $100 gift card good for anything in our Shop (except more gift cards). Have fun!

There's a lot happening at your favorite small business, Kinekt Design. Sketches are being penciled onto paper. 3D data is being input into machines. Parts are being made out of various materials. Prototypes are being assembled with care and precision. And hopefully when all of the smoke clears and the dust settles,  there will be some new things that will have come into being.

That's a weird word.. right? Being. We like it. It means process.. and the never-ending nature of it. 

- G.

We have an official Kinektee. Kinektors. #10. Who is this mysterious player? No goals or home runs. No medals or trophies. But when it comes to the sport of design, he envies no man.

Support the unknown hero. Support #10.
Available exclusively at the Kinektshop. 

I realized that in the plus ten years that Kinekt Design has been in business, we've never had a mission statement. I never bothered to come up with one because I had felt that they were forced and hypocritical.. sounds good on paper, but total bs in practice. 

In response to the dark path that humanity has had to feel its way through over the last two years (much longer than that actually), I decided to ask myself a difficult question. What do we stand for?

The answer is very simple; creativity and the pursuit of creative freedom. That's it. None of the political posturing and virtue signaling that has become so prevalent in our society today. We're not interested in any of that. We're not interested in telling people what to think or what to do. Let me be me and I'll let you be you.. just don't hurt anyone in the process. And then we'll go get a beer and laugh about how serious everyone is but really should be making fun of themselves.

The flag that we choose to raise is the one that enables us to pursue our dreams. And that is a flag that everyone of us should be able to raise with pride. 

Happy holidays to all you Kinektors out there!

Now I understand why no one makes clocks anymore. They're incredibly difficult to make. With all of those tiny intricate parts having to work together in unison, you'd think I was crazy to attempt such a feat. And after seven years of working on the thing, I started to think I was a bit crazy myself. 

Technology (and those obsessed with the idea that technology is everything) hates simplicity and treats the clock as a relic from some antiquated period of long ago meant to be displayed in a museum behind glass as opposed to the centerpiece of your bedroom wall. I saw it as a great opportunity to return us to product design (which is quite different from software design and should not be confused by the linguistics and / or semantics of the day). Don't let them fool ya. 

The Time Machine is an embedded system at its finest. It reveals its inner workings to us in plain sight. I'd argue that this is what good design needs to be. We have way too many things that try way too hard to do too much and end up giving us nothing in return. 

Who needs yet another screen when you could have a beautiful object that does one thing and does it well? Cut the cord, slow down, and let the time pass as intended. And if you want to speed things up, just release the manual brake. 

- G. 

Prototyping the Gear Ring involved figuring out how to design engineer tiny parts for a complicated assembly keeping the profile slim enough to wear comfortably while simultaneously allowing smooth kinetic movement to work in a rotational way. 

Traditionally, static jewelry involves casting in soft metals like gold and silver. But the product demanded stainless steel for the everyday wear and tear these guys would soon endure from hours of spinning. Trying to micro precision machine the parts without having a firm understanding of its assembly would have been expensive and tricky. So, I learned about 3D printing (which was still a relatively "new" technology at the time) and the opportunities that additive manufacturing could offer during the prototyping phase. It proved to be an essential step in figuring out how to take the concept from a 3D model to a functional prototype to a finished piece ready to spin. Once I was able to assemble the parts in plastic, making the transition to stainless steel for production machining became a possibility. It's like creating the parts for a puzzle and then assembling. It's a bit weird and incredibly frustrating, but very satisfying once everything finds its place.

I love these plastic prototypes. I keep them hidden away in the McMaster jar that was once packaging for the screws that went directly into the core part of the ring. These were the first of many to come.

- G.

Gear Ring for sale!
Get your Gear Ring here!

Do you suffer from ADD, ADHD, anxiety, boredom, confusion, depression, irritability, lack of enthusiasm, lethargy, low self-esteem, malaise, mediocrity, restlessness, and or / any combination of those mentioned?

I have the magic cure-all and it takes the form of a small hand-worn gadget. One spin of the Gear Ring is all you need. It’s the spinning salve, rotating rejuvenator, mechanical meditator, and faithful friend you never knew you needed, but now can’t live without..

There's only one place in the world to get this amazing contraption and it's through me, folks. So if you want to spin like the best of them and leave the rest of them behind, get yourself a Gear Ring today. 

- Kinektorman