A wood dining table that weighs less than 20 pounds is one of the nominees for Designs of the Year 2014, as just announced by London’s Design Museum. Selected as one of 6 nominees in the furniture category was Benjamin Hubert’s super skinny, ultra-light Ripple table, which was launched at — Continue reading
‘Artisan’ chocolates are so yesterday; it’s time to move on to ‘couture’ indulgences. Enter Seattle’s JCOCO chocolates, which, in addition to super smart recycled packaging in a range of vibrant monochromes, has adopted a fashion-centric hook as its visual identity. Owner Jean Thompson has imbued her chocolates with the kind — Continue reading
Anyone accustomed to absently keeping water running whilst brushing teeth can count on a daily scolding from STOP THE WATER WHILE USING ME!, a German brand of personal care cosmetics that aims to keep the issue of water conservation front and center. Organic ingredients and (pseudo) generic black-and-white packaging reinforce — Continue reading
Useful objects made from recycled plastic bottles aren’t necessarily novel, but beautiful objects that nakedly expose those raw materials are. The Brooklyn design studio Souda (a Japanese word that Souda claims translates into “oh, yeah!”) has designed and fashioned a sparkling chandelier made entirely of post-consumer PET bottles without bothering — Continue reading
Obsessive writers and doodlers (count us in) know the value of a good notebook, and the notebooks designed by Brooklyn-based Public-Supply have a double dose of goodness to recommend them. To be sure, we like their austere, utilitarian beauty, and we always appreciate a superior, responsibly-sourced, American-made product; but it’s — Continue reading
We’ve written about the lovely glass carafe and sustainable water filter designed by San Francisco-based Soma in a previous post, but it’s worth noting their current collaboration with Charity: Water, the non-profit group which has made clean drinking water for everyone its goal. Soma has launched this limited edition yellow — Continue reading
Few things are as drearily generic (and as devoid of aesthetic value) as that staple of school auditoriums and recreational halls: the tubular metal folding chair. Which is why this DIY project over on Design for Mankind got our attention immediately. Ordinary materials, a dose of determination, and a finely — Continue reading
Rotterdam-based designer Reinier de Jong has designed a bookshelf for children that can expand along with their book collection. The REK Jr. bookcase is a scaled-down version of de Jong’s original REK bookcase, designed several years ago, which was comprised of five interlocking components designed to slide together for more — Continue reading
Skeptics who think recycling is a well-meaning concept with an unfortunate byproduct—inferior design quality—may need to give the Emeco 111 Navy Chair a second look. The Pennsylvania company’s collaboration with that other all-American brand—Coca Cola—has been a bona fide ecological and esthetic triumph. 111 recycled PET Coke bottles (65% of — Continue reading
If proponents of conservation need a poster child—both visually and technologically speaking—they need look no further than the Clamp FS Task Lamp by Pablo Lighting, the embodiment of designer Dana Cannam’s desire to create a lamp of “understated beauty and an uncompromising level of utility.” Which is to say, a — Continue reading
Whether used as decoration, room divider or privacy screen, the modular system known as Nomad is an admirable invention. Made entirely of recycled double-wall cardboard, Nomad, one of many sustainable offerings of the Philadelphia-based company MIO, is sold in flat packs of 24 modules, which can then be assembled, without — Continue reading
Dutch design studio Smool, which introduced an interesting television prototype that we showcased on this site earlier this year, has created an electric scooter concept for Amsterdam-based bicycle and scooter brand QWIC. Called The Q, the lightweight scooter is being billed as “sustainable, personal transport,” or a green alternative to — Continue reading
Any notions about ‘upcycling’ being a desperate attempt at retrofitting can now be dispelled by these genuinely lovely pendant lights, crafted from a primary component of discarded washing machines. The brainchild of Dutch-born, Helsinki-based product designer Willem Heeffer, each light is comprised of a washing machine drum, painstakingly extracted from — Continue reading
Yes, well, who wouldn’t want to look down at pencil shavings and find rainbows? British-born, Tokyo-based designer Duncan Shotton has conceived of this fanciful notion with the invention of Rainbow Pencils, currently seeking funding via Kickstarter. “I was looking at ways in which, without interfering with its basic function, I — Continue reading
Befitting its name, the Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum, located in the Shikoku region of southern Japan, is both a bridge and a museum. Designed by architectural firm Kengo Kumo and Associates in 2010, the structure connects two buildings otherwise separated by a road, and also houses artist-in-resident programs and workshops. — Continue reading
As far as a eco-sensitive products go, SodaStream Source, a countertop appliance which turns plain tap water into a carbonated drink, is a pretty smart one—rendering bottles and cans obsolete, while saving transportation costs in the process. A collaboration between home soda maker SodaStream and Yves Behar’s Fuse Project, Source — Continue reading
It’s not just the name Hand in Hand, the pretty packaging, or its commitment to environmental responsibility that we like about this soap company, but the commendable goal that lead to its inception. Seeking “a household product people use every day that had the power to save lives,” a pair — Continue reading
In some measure, David Trubridge’s personal story—boat designer, self-taught wood worker, adventurer, environmentalist, toast of the design world—is evident in his signature lighting designs. Inspired by the natural world, referencing indigenous cultures, with a carbon footprint as light as their ethereal forms, Trubridge’s hanging lamps are both instantly recognizable and — Continue reading
As far as debuts go, it’s the most photogenic one we’ve seen in a while. In introducing its V60 Plug-in Hybrid, an impressive new diesel/electric vehicle, Volvo added a little accessory that showed the car off to memorable effect: a diaphanous, startlingly pretty solar-powered car charger created by Synthesis Design — Continue reading
The XO Tablet, designed by Yves Behar and FuseProject specifically as a learning tool for children, goes on sale at Walmart this week for $150. If an inordinate amount of attention is being paid to the unveiling of this device, it’s because this is the fourth iteration of a low-cost — Continue reading
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