#HTE

The Anarchist’s Design Book and A Tiny Weapon That Doubles as an Accessory

Core77’s editors spend time combing through the news so you don’t have to. Here’s a weekly roundup of our favorite stories from the World Wide Web.

The Anarchist’s Design Book

I’ve just started reading Christopher Schwarz’s book, which focuses on the common furniture that everyday people actually made over the past centuries, as opposed to the fancy rich-people’s-furniture that we see in museums. The description of the book sold me:

“Most of the American furniture we celebrate as the pinnacle of design is overbearing, over-embellished and a monument to waste and excess…. There are historic furniture forms out there that have been around for almost 1,000 years that don’t get written about much. They are simple to make. They have clean lines. And they can be shockingly modern. This book explores 11 of these forms – a bed, dining tables, chairs, chests, desks, shelving – and offers a deep exploration into the two construction techniques used to make these pieces that have been forgotten, neglected or rejected. You can build an entire houseful of furniture using these two methods – what we call "staked” and “boarded” furniture. They are shockingly simple for the beginner. They don’t require a lot of tools. And they produce objects that have endured centuries of hard use.“

The physical book, by the way, is beautifully bound. The construction of the book alone ensures I will hold on to this one.

—Rain Noe, senior editor

How to Appeal to Dude Investors? Tell Them Your Start-Up is For Men

Slimfast or Soylent? Personally, I have no interest in adding either to my diet, but I did enjoy this read from Ann Friedman on the struggles of getting investment for startups geared towards women. Friedman shares some pretty sobering stats on the status of identifying females seeking funding in a male-dominated VC-market. Her advice for appealing to dude investors? "Just hike the price, change the language, and sell it to young men.”

—Carly Ayres, columnist, In The Details 

Letter of Recommendation: Looking Out the Window

A humble argument for the merit of looking away from the screen and out the window every once in a while (something many of us probably forget to do more often than we’d like to admit).

—Allison Fonder, community manager

Inside the Brain Machine

IDEO designer Neil Stevenson stepped inside an MRI machine to take part in a study led by the Imagination Institute and stepped out with a new understanding of creativity: “Creativity is a mode, not an identity. Rather than being stuck in one mental mode, we should be thinking about how to shift gears between them.”

—Alexandra Alexa, editorial assistant

The Petit Protector Ring Guns: The Ultimate Ring Pops

These rare and truly tiny guns doubled as dangerously stylish accessories. A Petit Protector might not win any gunfights, but with ammunition the size of barley grain and a compact carrying case, what savvy 19th century dweller could do without some bang in their bling?

—Kat Bauman, contributing writer