Inventor reveals 9 design secrets that will forever change how you see everyday things
Masters of design are like magicians. They have a beautiful gift of being able to manipulate our movements, thoughts, and emotions without us even knowing. Their clandestine work is all around us but only those who practice the arts can see it in action.
One such master is Svilen, an inventor, designer, and futurist originally from Bulgaria who's since moved to the Washington, D.C. area. According to his Medium page, he invents "concepts for products and experiences ranging from reimagining the mundane, to protecting fundamental human rights."
In his downtime, he's created a TikTok page where he reveals the design secrets behind everyday things that we take for granted. He has nearly 600,000 followers and his videos have received 5.6 million likes.
Here are nine of his most popular videos that reveal the hidden secrets behind everything from kids' cartoons to snack foods.
1.) Why do old cartoon characters wear neck collars?
"By giving characters something to wear around their necks, it meant that animators could keep the exact same body position and only animate the head while it was moving and talking, which not only meant that the frames required for a 7 min cartoon were reduced from 14000 down to just 2000, but this move is actually credited with saving the entire animation industry."Why are the interiors of movie theaters red?
@designsecretsss Why old #cartoon characters wear neck collars #designsecrets #animation #anime #design #fypシ
2.) Why are movie theater interiors red?
"If you ever noticed that in theatres curtains and seats tend to be the color red, that's no coincidence, that's by design. And that's because the color red is the first color that the human eye loses sight of in dark and low light conditions, making it easier for you to focus on the performance or movie screen and not get distracted by the surroundings."
@designsecretsss Why movie theater seats are colored red #movie #design #designsecrets #ux #color #learnontiktok #fypシ
3.) Why do snipers wear their watches upside down?
"The reason snipers wear their watches upside down like this is to avoid the sun or moonlight from reflecting off their watch face, into the enemies eyes and therefore, giving away their location."
@designsecretsss #watch #design #time #designsecrets #ux #fypシ
4.) Why are Pringles shaped that way?
"Pringles enlisted the help of supercomputers to come up with an aerodynamic shape for the potato chips known as a hyperbolic paraboloid, so the chips don't fly off of the production line."
@designsecretsss @pringles #designsecrets #food #design #manufacturing #fypシ
5.) The mysterious power of Baker-Miller pink
"[Alexander Schauss] discovered that this very specific shade of pink had a very profound calming effect on people. It would make them relax, lower their heart rate, breathing, and even curb their appetite."
@designsecretsss #color #psychology #design #designsecrets #ux #learnontiktok #fypシ
6.) How an airport reduced complaints at airport baggage claims
"The Houston Airport in Texas was experiencing an extraordinary amount of complaints regarding the baggage claim wait times. ... Upon further investigation, they found out that it only took passengers 1 minute to walk from their arrival gate to baggage claim and then 7 more minutes for their luggage to arrive. ... They moved baggage claim as far as possible, so now it took passengers 6 times longer to get to it. And just like that, overnight complaints dropped to nearly zero."
@designsecretsss How an #airport reduced complaints #travel #trip #plane #psychology #design #designsecrets #learnontiktok #fypシ
7.) Why do London pubs have weird names?
"Since many of the pubs in Britain are hundreds of years old, back in those days, a lot of people were illiterate, which meant that they couldn't easily identify and discover businesses. So business owners got creative and instead of using letters, they started using pictures of easily identifiable and recognizable objects in their logos, so that even people that can't read can still find the business easily."
@designsecretsss Why #London pubs have weird names #designsecrets #pub #london #uk #graphicdesign #learnontiktok
8.) How does blue lighting stop drug use?
"The blue lighting makes it impossible for the drug user to find his or her veins because they're also colored blue; therefore, it elegantly prevents them from injecting drugs in the first place in a non-confrontational and cheap fashion."
@designsecretsss Preventing drug use with blue light #designsecrets #design #interiordesign #learnontiktok
9.) What secrets are lurking in your elevator?
"Moving down to the lobby, you will notice a lot of mirrors and reflective surfaces. It could be the elevator doors themselves or just decorative mirrors hanging around. And those are there to actually distract you from the fact that the elevator is taking a long time."
@designsecretsss Secret user experience design of elevators #ux #design #designsecrets #learningontiktok
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An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
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Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie?
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."