The bird fountain

[mklotz]

Where do you even begin to design something like that?

Probably the way many of us "design" the tools we make. One starts with a vision of how the tool will work, identifies key required substructures, then whips out the fag-packet and pencil stub and cobbles something together. Many iterations later, the substructure works and it's added to its mates. At this point its failings become visible and the process repeats itself.