Heath Robinson
Ridiculously over-engineered device
Heath Robinson describes an absurdly complicated contraption designed to perform a simple task—machines with pulleys, levers, springs, and chains in elaborate sequences to achieve something straightforward.
Named for British cartoonist William Heath Robinson, whose drawings featured such improbable inventions.
That Heath Robinson arrangement of garden hoses and buckets actually waters the plants.
The American equivalent is Rube Goldberg.
Showing original thought
- cleverShowing mental quickness
- resourcefulSkilled at solving problems
- creativeProducing original ideas
- improvisedCreated without prior planning
makeshift · jury-rigged · cobbled together · homespun · DIY · amateurish · ramshackle · rickety
Mocking through exaggeration
- absurdistBeliever in cosmic meaninglessness
- whimsicalPlayfully fanciful or erratic
- eccentricUnconventional in character
- quirkyIdiosyncratically unusual
droll · fanciful · playful · tongue-in-cheek · deadpan · British humor · parody · caricature
Artist creating comic illustrations
- illustratorVisual artist for media
- pen and inkTraditional writing medium
- line drawingImage using strokes only
- crosshatchingIntersecting parallel lines for tone
sketch · Edwardian · technical drawing · labels · arrows
Unnecessarily complicated mechanism
- machinePower-driven working device
- gadgetNovel small device
- apparatusEquipment for a task
- mechanismMeans by which something operates
device · invention · contrivance · gizmo · widget · doohickey · thingamajig · whatchamacallit
Elaborately detailed, many parts
- elaborateComplex and detailed
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- overcomplicatedExcessively intricate or elaborate
- labyrinthineExtremely complex and winding
byzantine · roundabout · impractical · tangled · knotty · tortuous · circuitous · indirect
inventive
Showing original thought
- cleverShowing mental quickness
- resourcefulSkilled at solving problems
- creativeProducing original ideas
improvised · makeshift · jury-rigged · cobbled together · homespun · DIY · amateurish · ramshackle · rickety · precarious
satirical
Mocking through exaggeration
- absurdistBeliever in cosmic meaninglessness
- whimsicalPlayfully fanciful or erratic
- eccentricUnconventional in character
quirky · droll · fanciful · playful · tongue-in-cheek · deadpan · British humor · parody · caricature · lampoon
cartoonist
Artist creating comic illustrations
- illustratorVisual artist for media
- pen and inkTraditional writing medium
- line drawingImage using strokes only
crosshatching · sketch · Edwardian · technical drawing · labels · arrows
Rube Goldberg
Unnecessarily complicated mechanism
mechanism · device · invention · contrivance · gizmo · widget · doohickey · thingamajig · whatchamacallit · chain reaction
intricate
Elaborately detailed, many parts
- elaborateComplex and detailed
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- overcomplicatedExcessively intricate or elaborate
labyrinthine · byzantine · roundabout · impractical · tangled · knotty · tortuous · circuitous · indirect · meandering
- illustratorsillustrator, Norman Rockwell, Quentin Blake, book illustrator, Maurice Sendak
Heath Robinsonstreamlined
Made smooth and efficient
simple · straightforward · elegant · efficient · minimalist
Heath RobinsonBauhaus
Influential modernist design school
Scandinavian design · form follows function · Swiss engineering · German engineering · IKEA