Awesome Stuff: Cool Product Designs

from the design-matters dept

For this week’s awesome stuff, we’ve got three different projects that just caught my eye for being different and interesting in a design sense.

  • I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a few too many experiencing having to try to inflate an air mattress of some kind or another, and realizing what a freaking total pain it is using regular valves (not to mention the inevitable annoying emptying process as well). So I have to say that the Windcatcher project definitely piqued my curiosity. I don’t understand the mechanism behind it, but it certainly looks like an air mattress that you can fill with 4 or 5 breaths — and all without having to put your mouth on anything. It looks kind of like magic, so check out the video.
    These guys still have a bit of a way to go on the funding front, having raised only about a quarter of the $50,000 they’re seeking, but the product definitely has that neat design factor going for it.
  • There’s been something of a hipster revival in pinhole cameras lately, it seems, but the ONDU Pinhole cameras are definitely the nicest design I’ve ever seen. A nice wooden box with no exposed screws. A backplate that’s held on by magnets. It just looks cool. Also, bonus points for the cool music in the video (apparently this is the musician.
    This project has already surged past its goals, so it’s definitely going to get funded, and with another 25 days to go, it’ll likely end up much, much higher.
  • Finally, there are times when someone designs something and you wonder why no one else has done it before — or even why such things aren’t common. That was the feeling I got after seeing the Nuplug, which is basically an extension cord/surge protector/outlet that attaches to furniture. So, rather than having your outlets on the wall and behind furniture, you can connect them in a more convenient way. Given how much stuff folks are charging all the time these days, I could definitely see how this could be handy for many people.
    The one thing holding me back on this one, frankly, is that it’s a bit on the ugly side — in that it really stands out. Seems like something a little more subtle would be cooler. Maybe future iterations. This one also has a pretty ambitious $75,000 goal, and they’re only a little past halfway there with 18 days to go.

That’s all for this week…

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Comments on “Awesome Stuff: Cool Product Designs”

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16 Comments
Anonymous Coward says:

WOW World changers

These are going to change the way people do….. freaking NOTHING !!!..

Is this honestly the calibre of the things people want investment money for from Kickstarter ??

Are they the best examples you can find ?

Must be time for another Aaron Swartz article, or have you realised that no one cares about him either ?

Oh well, I guess it’s just Masnick doing his best…..

I don’t understand the mechanism behind it,

Don’t worry Masnick, we understand, you do not have much of an understanding of most things. Cant expect you to understand. We know “things” confuse you.

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: WOW World changers

OK Mr. Troll. If these things make people happy then they improve their quality of life. If people have happier more fulfilling lives they in turn treat others better and are more inclined to help out. They also won’t go around bitching at people as much.

So yeah, that’s better for society in general. It also puts money in the hand of creators and thinkers that will in turn spend it in their local economies to help their production as apposed to hoarding it.

Even if you don’t care about those scenarios it made Masnick happy to hear about them so that’s good for him. Just like being a hyperbolic asshole makes you feel better about yourself as you attempt to push his buttons to feel that fleeting moment of control in your life.

horse with no name says:

Re: Re: Re:

You’re on a site he does because he wants to, not for income.

Oh come off it. Two things here, first off if it wasn’t for money, there wouldn’t be any advertising or paid posts. It’s a business.

Second and more important is that the site is part of building brand Masnick, which means that even if he isn’t selling it here, he is still selling because of it.

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