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Clinking Bottles No More

A drinks caddy need not fall under ID but a functional twist to the design, definitely warrants a mention. I’m talking about the W310 WAVE Drinks Caddy, an ideal basket to transport your precious bottles of sodas and wine from point A to point B. The outer wave structure makes it easy to fit the basket in the boot of a car. However the coolest part is the inner bottle-separator that holds each bottle in its place, therefore no clinking, clashing of glass.

Designers: Ante Vanilla

Someone Shaved My Seat Tonight

I was looking at this project and thought, wowie! That’s cute! It’s a stool made of birdseed, I wonder what happens when the birds get done eating it? But then I realized that ITS MADE OF SAWDUST. The environmentalness and green-ery of this project makes my eyes bleed. Bleed right out of my head!

And I love resin!

Designer: Toav Avinoam

Enjoy the Arc

The beautiful Arc is a shower system that transcends from the normal “shower mode” to the “energy-saving mode”, effortlessly. In the eco avatar, it recycles the warm shower water on the spot so that you feel less guilty for indulging in a hot-luxury-rinse. What I don’t get is the hue and cry people make over wasting water in the shower, when we have film-makers squander precious liters in a parched city just to shoot a Tsunami scene, now that’s criminal wastage!

Designer: D.K. & Wei Design

Growing Pot, No Not That Kind

EINTOPF is a growing pot. It starts off as a shallow sauce pan but extension rings and a flexible outer shell can increase the pot’s volume by almost 3x. The rationale is simple. Sometimes you start with a smaller pot just to sear. You want heat convection to be fast so there’s no need to start with a larger pot. However, stage 2 of the recipe calls for other ingredients. This is where EINTOPE shines because you just add an extension ring and continue cooking all in one pot.

Designer: Barbara Ott

I Got Steam

Steam999 is a conceptual exhibition recognizing the by gone era of trains with approbatory glee. Before planes and cars, the locomotive dream was fulfilled by steam trains. They quickly evolved from their industrial workhorse roots to pieces of marvelous mechanical engineering. The exhibition calls for a real working train built in an ecological way servicing an exceptional geographic site. The twin stack machine is elegant and represents the pinnacle of  steam engine train design.

Designer: Loic Lautredou

Ten Innovative Designs To Help The Sight Impaired

Off late we have seen a flood of designs which bring out ways to make life easier for the sight impaired. A few good examples are the Braun Bell Mug, Touch Color Digital Braille Drawing Board, and The Universal Phone. These designs inspired me to compile a list from YD’s archives, dedicated to the Blind. Here’s a look at Ten Innovative Designs To Help The Sight Impaired.

Designers: Various

Truths about Creativity

I have been thinking about the relationship between creativity vs. design vs. where it comes from. I have also thought and wondered why some people, not just designers, are more creative than others? Here are some thoughts on creativity that may help you understand what it is and how to get it going for you.

Editorial: Brian Ling

Let’s Play The Guessing Game

We have NEVER done this on YD before, but we’re gonna play the GUESSING GAME right now!

Just by looking at this Pre-Picture can you guess what the item is? The explanation is in the Permalink, but be honest with yourself and tell me what exactly did you think this was?

Sorry no prizes for guessing the right answer, this one’s just for FUN! :)

Funstackabletastic!

These lovely little stools are stackable. In fact, they are so stackable that they are FUNstackable. That’s what they’re called, too; Funstackable Stools. They’re made of wood (imagine that!) and only wood. Every stool has 11 holes drilled in at different angles. Several of those holes are reserved for the stools pegs, while the other several are for OTHER stools pegs. It’s basically all wood and holes.

Designer: Hafsteinn Juliusson

Coffee Cup Plant

Y in Cup is a project that has good intentions. It wants you to re-use your disposable coffee cup (yes the Starbucks variety) to grow more plants. I mean tiny plants that can dot your home, office or wherever. A combo of seed and fertilizer disk comes attached to the bottom of the Y Cup; simply tear open the package and empty the contents in the rinsed out cup. Add some soil from your backyard and you’re good to go.

Designer: Joon Kim

Total Beach Bum!

I have a confession; I’m a total lost cause when it comes to recharging my phone, iPod and camera. Three gadgets I can’t leave my home without and somehow, I always leave it till the last moment for recharging! Needless to say, I manage just some amount of power on them and carry their wires with me, and plug them in the next available socket. Dandy, but what do I and others like me do, when we hit the beaches? Carry the Solar Tree of course!

Designers: Jun-Se Kim, Min-Goo Kim & Dong-Eon Kim

Vintage Nixie Tubes That Tell Time

Scores of you are going to drool over this unique time-telling machine! Called the Nixie Concrete Clock, its full-on retro with shiny orange Nixie tubes in a reinforced rough concrete body and can be wall mounted as well. Inspired by the vintage Z560M Nixie tubes, used in former East-Germany, this one’s got 6 different tubes that keep you occupied with its shimmy looks and time telling techniques. Check out the movies on the Nixie Concrete website and learn more on this fully functioning prototype.

Designer: Daniel Kurth

Balance Mein Freunde

What do you do with an unused hanger, early in the morning? This right here is the worlds newest reinvention of the clothing hanger. In a very basic swift move of the hand, our super friend Mac has created the possibility for installation art in every home in the modern world. It’d make Alexander Calder proud to see and experience what Mac calls the “Mobile Hanger.” Not for playing with, kitty!

Designer: Mac Funamizu