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H2O Visions
Re-envision your water, your world.
Blending efficiency with high function requires vision. H2O Visions, brought to you by Kohler, highlights smart, sustainable design, and examines how it enriches our lives. Join the discussion!
www.designmom.com

A Smart Bathtub For Small Spaces

When I first saw the Puj Baby bathtub, I felt like I was witnessing a giant leap forward for parent-kind. Bathing a new baby can be difficult. A newborn can’t sit up yet, so a bathtub where the baby can lay down is essential. If possible, it’s also easiest to bathe a baby at counter height so you don’t have to double over to reach him or her. But traditional baby baths have 3 irritating problems built in.

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core77.com

Muv Over Brick and Mortar

muvbox

A self-proclaimed “Solar Powered Lunch Box”, Muvbox transforms from a closed shipping container to a gourmet fast food destination in a flash of 90 seconds. The spotlight is now on food service, shipping container architecture’s newest adaptive darling, following in the footsteps of retail shops, prefab residences, and mobile clinics. The boxy trend is gaining momentum with a seemingly endless list of ways to transform retired shipping containers into minimally foot printed, self-contained urban hotspots like Muvbox. read more

www.designmom.com

This One World Futbol Is Worth Kicking Around

Here’s something awesome for anyone that’s feeling homesick for the World Cup. I think this product is pretty rad. According to many happy children all over the world, the One World Futbol “never needs inflating, requires no pump or needle, and will never go flat or lose bounce, even if punctured.” How cool is that? read more

www.inhabitat.com

Bobble” Portable Water Bottle by Karim Rashid Filters Tap Water

Even the most environmentally conscious of us have found ourselves tempted to quench our thirst by buying (gasp!) bottled water when we’re out and about and can’t find a place to fill up on clean, drinkable H2O. So wouldn’t it be wonderful if your reusable bottle could also purify tap water from your office, gym or public water fountain, making it infinitely easier for you to avoid purchasing costly and wasteful plastic bottles? Well, that’s exactly what Bobble does — it’s a reusable water bottle with a built-in water filter. Conceived by product design mastermind Karim Rashid, the colorful, modern Bobble is made of recycled plastic, and if that doesn’t impress you, maybe the $9.95 price tag will! This is a great example of smart design — solving a ubiquitous problem that plagues us all.

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mocoloco.com

For The Birds Lampshades by Florian Kräutli

For The Birds, a series of food-based lamps by Florian Kräutli, came about when the young designer was left to make decisions about a previous tenant’s belongings following a move. The pieces that Kräutli liked became his; the others ended up as garbage. This arbitrary approach led him to the realization that products that are no longer owned by anyone are, in fact, anyone’s. He says, “But it is our concept of value, which makes them garbage or (precious) objects. Often there are chairs standing on the street as bulky waste which only shortly before were inside a house and were valuable objects.” read more

behance.com

Pendant Lamp

This conceptual pendant lamp, titled Nissyoku, combines a streamlined, “galactic yoyo” aesthetic with sustainable construction. The piece features tilting, sliding orbs that can be adjusted to change the way your space is illuminated. The design team explains that they were inspired by a solar eclipse, and in a darkened room, the lamp perfectly simulates the the effect of a glowing, shifting sphere. Depending on how you arrange the orbs, different stages of an eclipse are highlighted. Not only does this concept offer a contemporary, unobtrusive lighting solution, it’s a multi-faceted lighting solution with the ability to function as a wall, table, or hanging lamp. read more

core77.com

Iain Howlett’s Paper Pulp Furniture

Iain Howlett has come up with a new, fun and practical application of the kid-favorite papier-mâché. Paper pulp is molded into table surfaces; these are held up by minimal wooden legs sculpted from stick lumber and hardwood dowels.

Though lightweight, the tables are very strong and can be used on a permanent basis. Structural cues have been taken from industrial paper pulp packaging, used to ship eggs, electronics, and other industrial parts. To prove the robustness of these pieces, the designer stood on an overturned paper bowl, which didn’t give way at all. read more

www.designmom.com

Clipa. The One Ring To Rule Them All.


About a year ago I was introduced to my first purse hanger. Was I late to the game? Did everybody else know about these ages ago? Who knows? All I can say is it was mind-blowing-ly innovative to me.

When I was first handed the purse hanger, I had no idea what it was. It sat in my palm, a flat disk with a metal ring around it, and a sponsor logo featured in the center. I thought, “Hmmm. What an odd piece of swag. Is it a not-very-good paper weight? I hope they didn’t spend much money on it.” And then, someone demonstrated the function to me and I pretty well gasped. read more

mocoloco.com

Sololá Purses by Grain

grain_solola_small_multi

While students at the Rhode Island School of Design, Grain designers Chelsea Green, James Minola, and Brit Kleinman participated in a career shifting course led by designer Mimi Robinson entitled Bridging Cultures Through Design. This six week program connected the design students with groups of artisan communities and exporters in Guatemala. The goal was to create unique textile products to bring to US and international markets that celebrate Guatemalan artisan techniques and traditions while building sustainable incomes for the artisans. read more

www.designmom.com

Skin Collection

Here’s the truth. The idea of maternity clothes is more fun than the reality of maternity clothes. (I write this confidently, in the middle of my 6th pregnancy.) A 9-month pregnancy lasts through 3 seasons and is accompanied by at least a dozen changes in clothing size. There are few women in the world with the time and money it would require to dress themselves perfectly through a pregnancy — to shop for clothes on an almost daily basis that are size and weather specific over 40 weeks. read more