All posts filed under: Things for Creativity

Osuza Canvas Backpack

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The Osuza Canvas is a backpack made for folks who like to make things. The premium black canvas backpack is intended for painters, photographers, architects, designers — basically anyone who needs to safely and securely carry random tools and gear with them on a regular basis. Inside mesh pockets and multipurpose molle loops keep your things where you want them. The backpack is expandable up to 40 liters, has weatherproof closures, and can be customized with patches and pouches to express your personality or promote your brand.  $349.00 (Free shipping in the U.S.) All images courtesy of OSUZA.  

Grids & Guides Drawing Pad & Tracebook

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Princeton Architectural Press has added two new products to their popular Grids & Guides series of tools for visual thinkers. The Grids & Guides Drawing Pad is a large-format drawing pad for the desk, drawing table, job site, or on the go. Fifty pages of extra-large graph paper are bound to a black board and perforated for easy tear out. Each sheet of classic blue graph paper offers more than 100 square inches of space to draw and sketch your next amazing idea. $16.95 Also new from PAP is the Grids & Guides Tracebook set, which includes two notebooks filled with 60 pages of tracing paper. The cover flaps fold inside the book, providing handy structure for sketches, designs, or lists. Remove the flaps, and the design remains, while the grid disappears. The tracing sheets are also perforated. $18.95 All images courtesy of Princeton Architectural Press.

Rollbe Compact Rolling Ruler

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Rollbe is a super compact measuring tool around the size of a quarter that comes in a small leather carrying pouch you can slip in your pocket. Does the market really need another ruler? Well, Rollbe has been on Kickstarter for just a few days and has already raised almost $20,000 – far beyond the initial goal of $6351. I’d say there’s a huge market. Designed for both the Metric and Imperial systems, Rollbe’s rolling design allows it to measure both straight lines and curved surfaces by rolling from point to point. It’s handy for home owners, architects, engineers, interior designers, fashion designers, decorators, art students, or anyone who needs to precisely measure irregularly shaped things on a regular basis. Rollbe comes in two versions, the coin-size 4”  ruler and the 8” ruler for more professional use. To use it, you simply place the start mark on the starting point of the surface or line you want to measure, and then roll and count full rotations by following the ”radius indicator”, then add remaining units. …

Little Free Library Design Competition

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A competition to design a new version of the Little Free Library touches on two of my favorite things in the world — product design and books. If you aren’t familiar with Little Free Libraries, they are small containers that are installed in front yards, community centers, and public spaces all over to world to help people exchange books for free. There are nearly 40,000 of these structures worldwide, and Chronicle Books. Little Free Library, and AIA SF are inviting architects and designers to rethink the structure and solve some problems cited by users in the field. Challenges that the new design should try to overcome include keeping the doors shut, making it accessible at night, keeping it water-tight and heatproof, and perhaps my favorite, serving small children and tall adults alike. The jury includes architects, editors, and designers, and the prizes include an architecture library from Chronicle Books and other goodies. If I designed one, I’d love a little solar panel on top that lights it up at night when the door opens and …

Back-to-School Gift Ideas from Kikkerland

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Labor Day has come and gone which means it’s back to school  – a bummer for most kids but a massive relief for most parents. Kikkerland, known for their quirky gift designs, has put together a round-up of some of the best new products for making back-to-school a little more joyful, including a range of fun options for lunch time. Here are a few of my favorites:     All images courtesy of Kikkerland.

Book Signing at Brooklyn Designs!

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On Friday May 6th at 7:30 I will be signing copies of my new book on erotic product design, Objects of Desire, at Brooklyn Designs at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint! We are excited to support Brooklyn design and the designers featured in our book who are based in the borough, including HEFF, Wonderpuss Octopus, and Dame Products. Brooklyn Designs is part of NYCxDESIGN, a world-class design festival which takes place May 3-17 throughout New York City. The three-day event kicks off on Friday at 10:00 am with “Kickstarter Office Hours” to present your ideas to the Director of Design and Technology Outreach at Kickstarter, and wraps up Sunday at 5:00 pm with a Maker’s Lab to teach designers how to promote themselves. In between are installations, pop-ups, seminars, and other fun events. I will be participating in the Opening Night Party from 7-9 pm, hosted by The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Metropolis, and Benjamin Moore, and sponsored by Broadway Stages. There will be food, drinks, music, and a cornhole tournament featuring one-of-a-kind boards from …