Hey mates, how have you been doing?
The Sparkmate Tribe is pretty excited: we’re having a global off-site trip in a few weeks - and we can’t wait to see the Hong Kong, Paris, Sydney and Bucharest teams come together! 🎉
Anyone want to take a bet on where we’re going? (Nobody but the founders know either!) 😉 Feel free to just reply to this email 🌎
Here’s what we’ve put together for your weekly Spark reads:
Zeda.io launches on Product Hunt 😸
The After Effects + Canva of motion graphics (and it’s free): Motionity 🎭
MIT develops wearable, wireless skin-like sensors ✊
3D printed homes using recycled plastic 🏠
Give the Spark: Latest recording now available in the Vault 🎥
💙 NEWS FROM OUR MATES
Zeda.io launches on Product Hunt 😸
Our mates at Zeda.io have been hard at work building their super app for product teams, and have launched on Product Hunt! Another app we had been waiting for - go ahead and support them!
So to help you develop the best product, their platform allows you to collect feedback, define goals and initiatives, plan your roadmap, and write clearly-defined specs in the ways your dev and design teams can execute.
They’re giving 70% off for 12 months using their Product Hunt code. If you’re looking for a tool like this, go ahead and grab it!
🤸 FUN PRODUCT WE LOVE
The After Effects + Canva of motion graphics (and it’s free): Motionity 🎭
It takes a lot of time and expertise to create motion graphics.
As it was with graphic design… until Canva came along.
Now, motionity has come along and it’s if After Effects (what most professional designers use) and Canva (making it easy through drag-and-drops, templates, etc.) had a baby. Allowing you to create tons of animations for a fraction of the time it would’ve taken!
Features:
🌐 Browser-based
⚡️ Keyframing with custom easing
🎚 Image and video filters (adjustments, blur, chroma key...)
✂️ Trim and cut videos
👀 Layer masking
🔊 Audio support
🔍 Search for images, videos, shapes and more
✨ Text animation (typewriter, scale, fade...)
💥 Lottie support
🧩 Pixabay integration
Who it’s for: Anyone needing a motion design/animation
Price: FREE with no sign ins even needed - you go straight to the app
Support the maker here, she makes a lot of free tools for anyone to use!
💭 TECH FOOD FOR THOUGHT
MIT develops wearable, wireless skin-like sensors ✊
Never mind your smart watches. This one is a skin-like sensor that doesn’t need bluetooth chips, or batteries 🤯
MIT researches developed this “e-skin” that can monitor health markers (like your blood pressure, heart rate, sweat) and keep you updated through your phone wirelessly.
The skin is as thin as tape and is made with an ultra-thin, high quality film called gallium nitride - a material with piezoelectric properties = can both produce an electric signal in response to mechanical strain and mechanically vibrate in response to an electrical impulse. The next gen of wearables is here!
🌱 TECH FOR SUSTAINABILITY
3D printed homes using recycled plastic 🏠
PLA is the 3D printing-world’s most used material.
It is also plastic (unfortunately).
And with all the plastic waste, what if you could recycle and upcycle them again for 3D printing?
You can, and startup Azure is already making fully 3D-printed homes with recycled plastic (just like the photo above). Most of their materials consist of the waterproof plastic polymer mostly found in plastic bottles and packaging, and are using that to develop house models ranging from a backyard studio to a 2-bedroom home.
How awesome is that? They even pride themselves in building homes 70% faster and 30% cheaper than traditional home construction methods!
💥 WHAT’S ON @ SPARKMATE
Give the Spark: Latest recording now available in the Vault 🎥
A few weeks ago, we invited one of France’s best designers Pierre Garner, Co-Founder and CEO of Elium Studio, to answer everyone’s questions about product design - as well what makes a design timeless.
We recorded the event for anyone who couldn’t be there, and the highlights are ready for your viewing! 😉
You can find it here in the Sparkmate Vault (Dashboard > Events > Past) - our platform for entrepreneurs, makers, hackers and designers to access countless resources, perks and connect with each other.
PS: We’re also posting shorter versions of it on our social media! Check it out on Instagram.
Exciting things are happening every day ⚡️ Follow us on social media to stay tuned!