Personal Design Inspiration & Must Have Shop Tools

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Elizabeth Cleaver

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Spring is in the air and we here at Tomorrow Lab and the GMDC are ready for two things: getting back to exploring our city and some spring organization! Last fall, in part one of this little series, we asked some of the Tomorrow Lab staff two questions, and we are back again to follow up with the rest of the staff’s answers. The questions are:

1. What are your top NYC locations for design inspiration?

2. What are your must-have tools for your at-home shop?

We always find enjoyment in these kinds of light discussions and giving our brains a reprieve from our daily engineering tasks to share some personal knowledge!

Design Inspo and Tools

From Left to Right: Printed Matter & Coming Soon & Schaller & Weber 

Image Credits: Printed Matter ; Coming Soon ; Paul Quitoriano for the NY Times

First up, Pepin Gelardi, one of Tomorrow Lab’s partners looks to some of NYC’s best design stores, book stores and international grocery stores for inspiration. Gelardi explains, “In a design museum, everything is 10 feet away or behind glass. In a design store you can pick it up and even own it! Plus design stores are usually laid out in fun and refreshing ways.” Teak has many fun, and affordable objects and Coming Soon always has new wares that often challenges and pushes our tastes. For book stores, Gelardi often frequents Printed Matter, Mast Books, Rizzoli and Aeon in NYC. “Everyone has room for a gorgeous book. Pop by Mast or Rizzoli for a very nice hunk of paper or visit Printed Matter or Aeon to find something really different or handmade. We have a whole shelf dedicated to zines – they are like little prototypes, very personal design experiments and make you feel so connected to the maker,” explains Gelardi. And if you are really stuck, Gelardi recommends visiting your local international grocery stores for a jolt of inspiration. In NYC he likes Kalustyan’s, Buon Italia, Schaller & Weber and the street of East Broadway in Chinatown with all its vendors. “You can see new things, smell new smells, buy a new ingredient or spice and figure out how to cook with it. Walk down an aisle of sauces and think about how all these bottles and labels differ from the ones already in your fridge. What is different about the information, the colors and the way the brands show flavor and freshness,” Gelardi challenges others. Gelardi’s background as an industrial designer is really shining through here in these awesome suggestions! 

Gelardi wears just as many hats at Tomorrow Lab as his partner, Ted Ullrich does, as they are both interdisciplinary designers and engineers tackling all sorts of challenges every day. Gelardi shares with us an extensive list of his must-have tools for any home shop and why he finds them so useful, while also showing off his humorous side! 

  • Mitutoyo Calipers – A lot rides on the accuracy of a design, so we don’t mess around with cheap calipers and neither should you. There’s a reason a set of Mitutoyo’s are on every engineer’s desk.
  • Bambu X1-Carbon – Also an obvious pick. For a designer, any Bambu printer is well worth the price – but at a thousand bucks, you can have drama-free prints with unparalleled speed and quality. You’re worth it.
  • Swiss Files – I keep a set of needle files with a #2 finish around, as that size works well for most plastic and aluminum parts. It’s great for dialing in a hole, removing burrs or smoothing build lines. A quality set will last you forever – if you avoid using them to pry things open.
  • Deburring Tool – Speaking of burrs, you’ll be shocked how useful and fun a sharp deburring tool is. Great for those edges that stick out, or that overbuilt bit that keeps two parts from fitting. Just a quick woosh – and magic, better parts.
  • HOTO Multitool – This guy has a bunch of torque and is excellent for sanding, grinding and cutting. Still haven’t used the pet nail trimmer it came with…
  • Surebonder – If you do bigger builds or make costumes, hot melt is awesome for quick, rough making. This is my favorite glue gun, as it heats up in its cradle and holds enough thermal energy that it can lay down glue for a few minutes. It’s a great compromise that makes it cordless and battery free and it’s only 20 bucks.
  • DC Regulated Power Supply & Multimeter – Having a stable DC power supply is essential for the early stages of any electronic project. Along with a multimeter, you’ll find it’s also amazing for diagnosing household repairs.
  • Aliexpress IR Camera – It’s amazing, you can get a real thermal camera for two hundred bucks. There are many ways to measure temperature, but this is by far the coolest. Great for checking the temperature of components on a PCB or finding gaps in your home insulation. Now that’s versatility!

    • East Broadway & The SoHo MoMa Store

    Image Credits: Andrew Prokos & the MoMa Design Store Website

    Next, our newest staff member, Ginger Lau joined our team in late 2024 as our Shop Tech and we are thrilled to have her on the Tomorrow Lab team! Ginger is a multifaceted designer with a background in both product design and mechanical engineering. She has even built a bike from scratch! Lau often finds inspiration from her childhood and still current NYC neighborhood of Chinatown. “As someone born in America with Chinese heritage, I feel both a connection and a curiosity about its cultural quirks. Walking through the streets, I am fascinated by the small businesses and the resourceful “fix-it” culture. Whether it’s a fruit stand using a piece of wire to repair a scale or a restaurant using scrap wood to make menu signage, there is beauty in these unexpected, ingenious fixes. They breathe new life into objects that might otherwise be discarded and emit the sense of not giving up on things, even if they feel or look broken. Being immersed in this community has helped lead my design and moral principals in sustainable design,” explains Lau. The New York Times did a lovely walking tour story of Chinatown back in 2020 and is worth a digital visit if you cannot visit in person. 

    Her go-to spot for wandering around and letting her mind wander is the infamous MoMa Design store, with locations in midtown and SoHo. Lau exclaims, “back in college, I could never justify buying anything, but I would always snap pictures and think ‘I could make something like that,’ and I would head back to my dorm to stare at the images and CAD away until it came to life.” What Lau loves best is how the store feels like a museum in of itself, with a constantly changing carousel or art and design, each visit having something new to discover. 

    Tool recommendations for your home shop: 

  • Mitutoyo Calipers – Just like Gelardi, this tool take the #1 spot! I used to think any caliper would suffice, but then precision and reliability of the Mitutoyo calipers have helped to make my prototype much more accurate. 
  • A Flexible Neck Phone Mount and Camera – A phone camera paired with a flexible mount has become essential for me. Capturing the evolution of my projects, from initial sketch to final product is not only rewarding but also invaluable for reflection and improvement. This was my holy grail after college because I wanted to get into video making and process documentation. After visiting many studio open houses, I learned that sometimes the journey matters just as much as the final product – so true for engineering! 
  • Flush Cutters – As a shop tech, some of my time is spent post processing prints and amongst the plethora of tools available, the flush cutters are my go to. They are meant to be used to cut wires cleanly, however in a pinch (though perhaps not best practice) they can be used for picking, scraping, support removal, the whole nine yards. Sure, I could grab a pick, spudge or blade, but sometimes it’s just easier to maneuver a pair of these bad boys and call it a day. 

    • Image Credit: Nicholas Knight for the Noguchi Museum

    And next up, Jesse Klein our level III industrial designer shares three places he frequents for design insight. Klein enjoys the Noguchi museum in Queens, “his sculptures are fantastic inspiration for 3D forms and surfaces, and I love the quiet setting of the building itself.” Klein sometimes goes to the IKEA showrooms and peruses the interior decoration and lamp sections the most. And then there is the classic NYC Transit Museum in Brooklyn, and Klein likes thinking about city infrastructure and the history of the city through the design of the transit system. 

    Helpful at home shop tools: 

  • Bambu A1 mini 3D printer – This is the perfect hobbyist printer – it is affordable, fast and fun to use, which lowers the barrier to entry for bringing project ideas to life. 
  • A magnetic screwdriver bit set – I use this all the time to make small repairs to objects in my home or assemble projects I am working on – and it’s great to have a wide variety of bits in one place. 
  • Digital calipers – clearly a TL fav! I frequently use my 3D printer to rebuild or repair things I own that have broken (like a backpack buckle). With just a pair of calipers, it’s possible to replicate most objects accurately in CAD and remake or modify them knowing everything will fit. 
  • IKEA pegboard – Not exactly a tool, but I love being able to organize all of my tools and project materials in a way that keeps them accessible but frees up space on my desk. 

    • From Left to Right: iFixit Driver Kit & iPad in TL’s Cat.AI PG episode & MoMa NYC Traintrackr

    Image Credits: iFixit Website ; Potentially Genius ; MoMa Design Store Website

    And finally, Tomorrow Lab’s level III electrical design engineer, Dorian Fernandez also finds inspiration from the MoMa Store, “it’s my go to spot for unique electrical applications – whether it be functional or even just an art piece, there is always something that tickles my brain.” Walking throughout the city draws some serious creativity, as the city is filled with people coming up with creative ways to solve any and all problems. “For me, problem solving is woven together with design challenges and most buildings are ancient and people will find very elaborate ways to fix or workaround the ‘cracks,’” explains Fernandez. 

    Dorian’s must-haves for his at home shop set up:

  • iFixit Manta Driver Kit, 112 Bit – There is nothing I cannot take apart now! 
  • ToolkitRC P200 – this is a very compact power supply (and great for NYC living) but it packs a punch with a max 20V at 10A output (200W), and it can even charge your USB-C products at 65W!
  • iPad – While I mostly use this for YouTube learning for all things electronics, I also use this as a learning tool for woodworking, and custom builds from makers all over the world. And occasionally I use it for sketching ideas – just like how we do for our YouTube series, Potentially Genius. 

    • This is certainly making me want to get out in my own city and explore more! And perhaps pick up some of these tools to have at home, as you never know when they may come in handy! 

    For more design inspo, check out this excellent Wall Street Journal video featuring Ullrich about the future of smartphones! And of course, watch the many episodes of Potentially Genius on YouTube!

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