All posts filed under: Things for Fun

The Dreamball Project

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Sports help to keep kids out of trouble, while giving them the opportunity to exercize and socialize in a positive setting. Football (the soccer kind, not the American kind) in particular has international appeal — anywhere in the world, kids know the game and the names of the top-tier teams and players. Designed by Kyungchan Hwang, Songkyou Jin, Haksu Lee, Minhyun Han, and Jin Jun, of the Korean design firm Unplug Design, the Dream Ball is a football made of recycled relief boxes. One of the finalists for this year’s INDEX: Award, the project team has redesigned relief packaging with a pattern so that it can be turned into different types of balls depending on the size of the box. Instructions inside of the box guide relief workers who create the origami-like balls. The rest is child’s play.

The New English China

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Although it’s from the land of Wedgwood and Royal Doulton, The New English is not your grandmother’s china. With designs featuring anatomical drawings, skulls, and insect montages, it might not be yours either, but I find them really striking. So many china patterns are exactly the same, why not have one that no one will ever forget, even if it sparks a nightmare or two? Available in the U.S. at Inheritance Shop in Los Angeles.

The Tote Bag Book

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  Although some of us already have more tote bags in our possession than we will ever require, we still can’t resist collecting them. The fact is, they don’t take up much space, they don’t cost much (or are giveaways), and they are more sustainable shopping partners than plastic or paper options. Tote bags also serve as a surrogate T-shirt, and let you express your mood through whatever design you pick that day. The Tote Bag, a new book by the London-based illustrator and designer Jitesh Patel, was inspired by Patel’s blog dedicated to cutting-edge tote bag design. Featuring the work of more than 120 designers and illustrators, the book seduces its prey through its packaging — it is actually wrapped in its very own tote bag. Published by Laurence King Publishing, The Tote Bag is a 160 page paperback available for $24.95. In the U.S., you can order a copy through Chronicle Books.

Nogg Chicken Coop

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Handcrafted in the U.K., nogg is intended to appeal to domestic farmers who can afford to keep their chickens in something more stylish than a wooden box. When I first saw this egg-shaped chicken coop, I had a serious discussion with my husband about the feasibility of raising chickens in our New Jersey backyard — but we decided we couldn’t tolerate moving them into our basement for the winter. What’s great about the nogg though, is that you can almost justify getting it just for its sculptural form alone; the chickens can come later. Built to house two to four chickens, nogg is handcrafted in batches of 20 from sustainably sourced cedar. A collaboration between furniture designer Matthew Hayward and creative director Nadia Turan, this chicken casa is fox-proof, offers easy access to the removable base tray inside, and sports a glass roof that twists and lifts for easy ventilation. At nearly 2000 british pounds including VAT (over $3000), nogg is certainly a luxury (and one that animals are going to poop on after all), but think about it …