Whether it's a suitcase, a lamp, or a pair of flip flops, the best designers can seamlessly blend form and function to make their products truly unique.
These folks balance creative, conceptual, freeform thinking with the practical, industrial constraints of actually getting things made, and when they succeed, people notice it as much as when they fail. Especially the members of this particular subreddit.
Sharing pictures of the best concepts they can find, this online community has shown time and time again that while money can't buy you happiness, it can get you a lot of cool stuff.
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This Business Card
Simple And Well Executed
We regular users who get to experience a product only after it's finished often don't even realize how much effort people put into producing it.
Preparing an older design piece, we contacted Nicole Phillips, a creative working in the industry since 2005 with a background in fine arts and advertising. Phillips specializes in logo design, branding, and package design for food & beverage, beauty, health, and interior design clients, and she said that design is a process that requires research, experimentation, and even a bit of psychology.
"When I feel frustrated with the process, I remind myself to take a step back, have fun, and play," Phillips told Bored Panda back then. "It's those moments of play and experimentation that usually create the best results, but it's those hours of research that help build the foundation for the final result."
"My clients are not paying me for my time, they are paying me for my many years of experience, so if I am able to complete the design process in 5 hours rather than 5 weeks, this is a sign of my years of experience and knowledge, this is valuable," she added.
This Plug That Doesn’t Bother Other Plugs
Soy Sauce Dishes That “Reveal” A Painting Once You Fill Them Up
This Notebook Has Hexagonal Paper For Taking Notes In Organic Chemistry Class
When people are trying to figure out if a particular design is any good, they often turn to Dieter Rams and his '10 commandments.' According to Rams, good design is innovative, makes a product useful, is aesthetic, makes a product understandable, is unobtrusive, is honest, is long-lasting, is thorough down to the last detail, is environmentally friendly, and involves as little design as possible.
Nicole Phillips agrees with the German design legend.
"Good design includes a good balance of function, form, and fun," Phillips said. "The user shouldn't have to try too hard to get what they need from the design. Good design isn't just aesthetics, it should communicate well and push boundaries a bit. Good design solves problems."
Cracked Log Lamp
Partially Submerged Hippo Table
This Customizable Table Lamp
Motivational Gym Shirt
An Air Less Tire
Dog Cards
Incredibly Accurate Death Star Firepit
L'orange Perfume Bottle Set. Parfums De Marcy, 1925
To The User With The Dancing Cat, I Raise To You My Own Dancing Cat!
These Measuring Cups Are Designed To Visually Represent Fractions For Intuitive Use!
Grandfather Clock
A Highlighter Which Doesn't Block Your Vision
It's A Mug That Stops Coffee From Running All Of The Way Down
Pop Out Outlet
This Corner Light Makes It Looks Like Your Wall Is Peeling Away And Revealing Something Behind It
Typewriter For Music
This Banana Peel Safety Cone
Suitcase That Displays Its Own Weight
This Light Up Stick Figure Costume
A Built-In Watering Hole For Your Pets
Groot Pot
Thor's Hammer Toolbox
The Omoshiro Block: A Memo Pad That Reveals Objects As It Gets Used
This Carpet
Norwegian Shoe Drying Machine. For Those Who Live In Wet Or Snowy Environments, Must Be A Trouble Saver
This Ceramic Coffee Mug That Looks Like It's Made Of Cardboard
This Crab Multi Tool
This Viking Longboat Conference Table
Come On Little Buddy
Dang that looks cozy. I want a giant snuggle pod to be carried around in now.
A Lounge Chair Built Into The Dock
This Hanging Lounger Swing
Beautifully Stacked Bowls
I love stacking stuff due to lack of space we have, alright for me, but hubby calls it “the jinga house “
The Best Maternity Shirt Ever
Pretty Sure All Horror Novels Should Come With Covers Like This
Minimal Playing Cards
Absolute Unit Of A Couch
Fold-Out BBQ For Space Saving
More points if it looked like the computer from SG1 that caught Jack O'Neill's head
Bulbasaur Pot
Sainsbury's have started selling dinosaur pots - we have a brontosaurus. :D
we had a t-rex tha we got from target, but my (older) brother dropped it (it shattered from freezing) and made it unfixable *insert sad face here*
Load More Replies...That's because they are Pokémon. That's Bulbasaur.
Load More Replies...This is all I can think of: https://youtu.be/i4PKHk0LL4Q. :)
This Jar Is Shaped To Look Like A Ziplock Bag
Lamp From IKEA
This is at my local IKEA I’d get one but £30 quid for a light shade I think I’ll stick with my recycled wire bin thanks
Inverse Of An Hourglass
A Resin Orb I Made
This Guy Lurking In The Living Room
Color Changing Mat Which Turns Red When Wet
There's a matching shower curtain and towel set to this. You can make your bathroom look like bloody murder
Someone Made Trump Tweet Flipflops
My husband and I just got an alarm clock that gradually becomes brighter as your wake up time approaches. By the time your alarm is reached, it's like the sun is pouring into the room. You can also set it to have birds chirping at louder intervals as you go along. Much more relaxing wake up than a screeching alarm or a loud radio.
I see y'all put this out just in time to help with my Christmas list to Santa.
Some clever ideas, but mostly novel gadgets that people get tired of or that get outdated and end up in a landfill. In our desperation for a dopamine ping, we're killing our planet and wasting our resources making all this stuff. I hope that more people start to understand how the human brain works, and how we're pushed and pulled around by instinctive desires that we're cultivating to be totally out of control.
Agreed, although some have a "buy now" button. Not all of them do though, so I agree
Load More Replies...I would never buy through Amazon but I have to give kudos to BP for adding the links to buy them. I'm sure it's a nice revenue boost for them.
My husband and I just got an alarm clock that gradually becomes brighter as your wake up time approaches. By the time your alarm is reached, it's like the sun is pouring into the room. You can also set it to have birds chirping at louder intervals as you go along. Much more relaxing wake up than a screeching alarm or a loud radio.
I see y'all put this out just in time to help with my Christmas list to Santa.
Some clever ideas, but mostly novel gadgets that people get tired of or that get outdated and end up in a landfill. In our desperation for a dopamine ping, we're killing our planet and wasting our resources making all this stuff. I hope that more people start to understand how the human brain works, and how we're pushed and pulled around by instinctive desires that we're cultivating to be totally out of control.
Agreed, although some have a "buy now" button. Not all of them do though, so I agree
Load More Replies...I would never buy through Amazon but I have to give kudos to BP for adding the links to buy them. I'm sure it's a nice revenue boost for them.