Thinking of products

The KUG

2010-05-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

This product was designed for people with arthritis and is becoming more popular among people with out it. Ben Millet and Alan Harrison designed the KUG for their design class in Ireland. The KUG combines the kettle and the mug. The mug part of the product connects to the port witch is plugged in. When the two connect it brings your beverage to a hot temperature, while still maintaining the ability to hold it. So when your in hurry grab your KUG and go!!!

Interactive Augmented Shadow Environment

2010-05-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Creator Joon Moon crates an environment with encoded cubes that generate light and shadows. It's a table top interface where the user controls the light source and the surrounding environment, which has an effect on the beings of the program. You could be glancing at the future of games like the Sims, with crazy physics engines like this.

Redesigning Barbell Weights

2010-05-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

All gyms are different, most of the time each gym has a different style of barbell weights. As everyone knows they all go on the bar the same way, which is you lift it up and slide the weight on to the bar.

As designer Sun Ho Sin shows in his concept the weight has a clamping mechanism which opens and closes when lifted by the handle of the weight. I frequently go to the gym and use barbell weights a lot. In my opinion this design is illogical in a couple different ways.

First, one has to think about the mechanism parts within the weight, this with out a doubt will raise the price up. Secondly, the majority of the time when using a barbell its mostly already racked at waist or chest height. Every time I want to put one of these new weights on I would have to lift it higher than I need to. Also one would have to consider the pinching aspect of the weight, I know I wouldn't like to get my finger pinched in there. Overall I would be fine sticking with the good old fashioned slide on slide off weight. Sometimes redesigning a simple product isn't always necessary.

There's more to your Droid phone than you really think.

2010-05-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

You think your all your phone can do is make calls, text, play videos, and check your e-mail. Well now it can solve that dusty old Rubik's cube thats still laying in your junk drawer. In this featured film Motorola's Droid phone can solve your Rubik's cube in a mind blowing 24.02 seconds. Thats faster than... well thats fast. So pick yourself up a Droid phone and show people what you can do with it.

Alarm Clock with no Clock

2010-05-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

This alarm clock unfortunately has no clock but guarantees that you will wake up when it goes off. That was the intension of designer Natalie Duckett for this conceptual clock.

One Room Turns Into 24 rooms

2010-05-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

In America people usually live in decent sized apartments even in bigger cities like NYC, San Fransisco, LA and even Chicago. Just enough room to get the majority of their belongings in and stored away. In other more densely populated cities like Hong Kong China most people don't have such luxury.

Architect Gary Cheng changes his 330 sq ft. apartment to a space where one room becomes every room calling it the "Domestic Transformer". Just by sliding walls and panels Gary Cheng is able to have 24 different rooms. Not only does he pay attention to space but how each space gives off it's own mood lighting. Now thats what I call "Thinking within in the box."

See Your Toast Getting Toasted part 2

2010-05-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

When looking at this somewhat oddly piece of ceramic I was wondering if this was a toaster at all. I looked at it and thought to myself "The shape, color, the bulkiness was not there. How could this thing be a toaster?" After another glance i started to laugh, it reminded me of a fax machine.

In this toaster concept the "GLIDE", the piece of bread is fed into the slot which is then rolled or GLIDE through and comes out as a piece of toast. It's intricate sculptural ceramic body is made from a slip molded bone china, which also provides product longevity. I surely can't wait to get my toast on one of these!!!

See Your Toast Getting Toasted

2010-05-03T01:12:00.000-07:00

If you thought toasting your bread was fun before wait until you get your hands on ones of these. It's the Magimix Vision toaster. Experience toasting like you've never seen it before. You have four spectacular options to choose from toast, bagel, reheat, and frozen. You can also add in there extra wide slots, four quartz heating elements, and durable stainless steal construction. If you like to get your hands on one these babies your going to have to shell out $300. Jam not included.

Honda's U3-x

2010-04-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

First there was the bicycle, then the unicycle, and then there was the Segway. So, what happen when you combine the Segway's counterweight components with a unicycle? You get the Honda's new personal mobility device, the U3-x. Just imagine yourself cruising around the office on this contraption.

If we do start seeing the U3-x in and around the office building, we'll have to start making traffic lanes. Besides the aesthetically pleasing curves and its compact size maybe they should think about adding blinkers on them as well.

Using the package

2010-03-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

Who needs turntables when you have cardboard? GGRP Sound has come up with a brilliant way to play records: with the record sleeve. The needle-embedded carboard package folds up to hold a 45rpm in place, making sound while you spin it with a pencil. Instead of outputting to a speaker, the vibrations go through the needle and into the cardboard. Thats what I call using the whole package.

Gloves For your Feet?

2010-03-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

Vibram Five Fingers has to be one of the weirdest products. I have to concur that I do like running naturally and bare foot. As I'm a person who likes to exercise I might have to try these sometime. But I don't think they have much protection against a falling weight at the gym

Researchers teach liquid to flow, uphill?

2010-03-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

Another day, another experimental CPU cooling method that may or may not come to pass. We've seen "thermal paste" from IBM and polyethylene from MIT, and now researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a method for coaxing water along nanometer-scale grooves carved into silicon. So hydrophilic are the patterns that water will even flow against gravity (and we've got the video to prove it). Not only are the structures so precise and nondestructive that the surface feels smooth to the touch, but they also trap photons, according to The New York Times, "so the grooved silicon appears pitch-black." And who knows? Maybe your next PC will be cooled by streams of water flowing freely inside the case. It's a nice image, anyways. Peep the video after the break to see it in action for yourself.

Rudy Heeman puts a new spin on the Hover Craft

2010-03-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

I was wondering if the hover craft would remain in the past. Good thing we have people like Rudy Heeman. Thank you for giving the hover craft a new way to get around. Maybe a new water on land sport could come out of this conceived concept.

Some weird and unusual products brought to you by Japan.

2010-03-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

One surely can't miss their eyes when putting in eye drops.
What if you blink? another feature that they'll have to think about.

I don't know whats worse walking around with a red nose and a pocket full of tissue paper or with a roll of toilet paper on my head.

Because regular water has those unnecessary nutrients.

I think I would get arthritis by the time I'm done eating.

What about those big puddles?

Apply to the fore head.

Don't you dare enter my space.

Warning I have narcolepsy.

Where's my Darth Vader toaster?

Gee I wish I had the other half to hug too.

Why reinvent the wheel?

2010-03-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard the expression "Why reinvent the wheel"?
I have to say it is one of the most annoying sayings ever.
But in this case the question serves a great purpose.

Sponsored by Michelin, Brian Russell, the creator of the "Tweel" has done just that, he has reinvented the wheel.

From now on the question will state "Why reinvent the Tweel"

Where engineering plays a helpful roll in industrial design

2010-03-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

Design products isn't all just drawing and making thing look pretty.
It also involves thinking and a great imagination.

I'm sure everyone has a had a time where they have had too many visitors at their house and need more table room for them to sit at. Well, in this video it does just that. This small table expands pretty big to accommodate your large party.

I'm sure it took a while to not only making the tables but also laying out the tracking system for each panel.

Combining Objects to get a New Product

2010-03-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

So, what do you do when its friday and work is over. You look at your watch and crack open a beer. Here is a great example of combining two different products, a bottle opener and a watch. When combine the two together you get a product called the "Happy Hour Time Piece."

Rendering a Concept

2010-03-08T17:16:00.000-08:00

Here is great example of how a designer gets his/her idea out on a page quickly.

The main thing to think about while drawing your concept is how to convey it in a way that anyone who looks at it can understand what function or purpose the product serves.

Thinking of products.

2010-03-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

When I was kid I had many thoughts and ideas, some of which were pretty good and some that were just plain stupid and dangerous. Some of those ideas would always start with the words "Would it be cool if":

wheels could pop out from shoes

a flash light doesn't need a battery

to put a match in an empty gasoline can

to digging a whole to china in the back yard

there was better way of picking up dog poop

theres a way to shoot a potato gun farther

to see how fast a scooter can go with two kids on it with no brakes

I had a robotic eye

to see how big of a flame can get when using W-D40, hairspary or any other aerosol can

we could see fireworks in the fog

I could able to see in the dark

The list can keep on going. My ideas today are a more reasonable and safer. Thinking of products that can people in their everyday lives. In this blog I'll be searching for already existing products that I think are an improvement or great concepts that we can use.