Product Design
As motherhood inches nearer, I find my mind is preoccupied: where to put the crib, what to put on the iPod for our (hopefully short) stint in the birthing wing of Roosevelt Hospital, whether little Pipsqueek will be as boisterous as his/her cousin Lir, the baby’s college fund, where we’re sending the little munchkin to preschool…
The kitchen is such a happy place in our house: full of anticipation, tempting aromas and (mostly) great results – thanks to head chef YZ. I’ve always had quite the weak spot for kitchen supplies but, with my klutzy husband breaking most of the japanese glassware and ceramic treasures of my past life, I realize that my attention should now turn to accessories of a less breakable nature. Already a big fan of beautiful wood objects, cutting boards are a great culinary object to focus on.
As a design geek living with a music geek, I spend my days lost in an endless gaggle of wires: nests of audio-cables, tangled mouse-cords and — what the heck does this attach to!? Three cheers, then, for Pasadena-based design firm Bluelounge, who are single-handedly cutting through the technological gordian knot with a range of savvy clutter solutions…
“Each year, nearly 1.5 million barrels of oil are used to make plastic water bottles. Most of those bottles end up in our landfills, in our oceans, littering our sidewalks.”
With stats like that, the fact that these water-filtering bottles are so slick is superfluous.
Totally useless? Perhaps. The envy of any desk trinket collection? For sure. These custom emoticon stamps from Tokyo-based company Gung are ready to crank out more than 2000 Japanese-esque smilie faces…
For some of us, the holiday season is about one thing and one thing only. Ok, two things. Ok, a bunch of things—all nicely wrapped and book-related. Because there is nothing more satisfying than winter reading, whether it’s the classic you know almost by heart, the novel everybody else already read six months ago, or the thriller you’ll never admit you couldn’t put down.
We’re big into the innovative projects happening at Kickstarter. It’s truly a blast pledging for our favorite ideas and seeing them come to life. The TikTok and LunaTik >iPod Nano watch kits by MINIMAL have got to be the coolest gadgets of the year — certainly our favorite Kickstarter product to date…
On a jaunt to the Far East this summer, Lo’s List discovered Line’s Lab. Based in Macau, China, Line’s Lab is a multi-disciplinary design hub innovating fashion, products, furniture and events. Founders Clara Brito and Manuel CS arrived from their native Portugal in 2006. With its Portuguese heritage and access to textiles and production houses in mainland China, Macau seemed like the perfect place to establish their biz. “China is evolving so quickly and creatively,” Brito gushed at her studio. “To witness that and be a part of it is really inspiring.”
“Silver is the best material we have. And silver has this wonderful shine like moonlight…a light taken straight from a Danish summer’s night. When covered by dew, silver can look like magical mist.” — Georg Jensen
For ages now we’ve been singing the praises of powder-coated steel to anyone who would listen, and we love what Copenhagen-based designer Peter Johansen has been doing with this lightweight and flexible material…
It was at the local ice skating rink where I first battled Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde. I would feed the game’s coin slot with a bottomless pocket of quarters while destroying my pearly whites with Mike and Ikes and Hot Tamales.
Oooh, this lamp is too cute for words: perfect for a child’s room or just a corner of the house that needs a dab of personality. Meet Milk, a Daschund-shaped lamp by Wants and Needs that is sure to light up more than just a reading corner…
The rain is pattering down on Brooklyn today — not that I’m bothered, considering YZ & I will be in 74º-and-sunny LA by tomorrow noon… But on gray Mondays like these (especially if you have munchkins that need entertaining) it’s always nice to whip out the origami paper and mountain fold your way to a paper crane mobile or a very ambitious kusudama.
“Creatables is a company and network of engineers and designers that negotiate prices for industrial surplus materials from which we and our fellow designers develop nice consumer products. When you buy a Creatables product you reduce the effects of over-consumption and cast an important vote towards a sustainable development.”
Not that you should be tired of your fancy new iPhone 4G but, if you do have the patience of a newt and your device has lost its luster these lovely Scandinavian hard shells (with matching wallpaper and nifty stand/headphone wrap) from Focal Point Computers might just do the trick…
