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.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the Japanese design firm Nendo has announced their latest venture into chocolate. Following their recent experiments with chocolate made in different textures and in the form of a paint set, Nendo’s chocolamixture consists of little flask-shaped chocolates that come with five different flavors in miniature-sized test tubes: freeze-dried mango, freeze-dried raspberry, a popping candy that bursts in your mouth, three colored heart-shaped sugar candies, and chocolate puffs. Even the lids of the chocolate flask are made of white chocolate that has been smoked to develop a cork color. As with many of Nendo’s edible delights, these chocolates are unfortunately only available for purchase in Japan. Photos by Akihiro Yoshida.
Two new Bluetooth-enabled speaker skateboards from the San Francisco-based audio technology maker Boombotix and the Australian board brand Globe were designed to help eliminate the isolation of skating with headphones and let users more easily share their music with others. The GSB Blazer, a mini cruiser board and GSB Pinner, a long board, are outfitted with a custom wireless speaker module that plays continuously for two hours with a full charge and at full volume. At 70% volume, the music lasts for up to six hours or more. The dust, water, and standard-impact resistant boards were engineered to retain their rigidity, while allowing for the audio components. The boards feature a vibration easing system and a high-impact ABS construction. They charge with a 6′ USB cable and work with any Bluetooth-enabled device. A custom 5W amp with an integrated passive radiator lets users feel the bass as they ride. Can speaker-friendly snowboards or surfboards be far behind? $249.95, Blazer; $299.95, Pinner Images courtesy of Globe.
Walnut Studiolo‘s line of handmade accessories and games are produced in the company’s Portland, Oregon workshop. The latest addition to their growing line of travel games is a lightweight, portable set of dice ideal for players of any game using six or less die. The dice are secured inside the brass tube with a brass-beaded chain that can be worn as a necklace or carried as a keychain. The solid brass square tube perfectly houses six (6x) 7mm travel dice. A chain secures the dice in the tube at one end, and inlaid walnut wood closes the other end. Over time, the brass will develop a patina from hands and scratches. The die are available in either white or black and the chain comes in two lengths. $25. All images courtesy Walnut Studiolo.
There is something very satisfying about folding the paper jewelry from the Paper Punk Jewelry Fold kit. Designed to make 3D necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, the kit includes easily foldable punch-out shapes with tabs that are inserted into numbered slots. These create geometric forms in a sort of instant-origami that you can then stick to paper bases and decorate with stickers. While the kit says the recommended age range starts at six, I think that eight would probably be a more likely age that kids would more easily begin to master the tab-insertion process. Inside every kit are punch-and-fold shapes (in either triangle or square options), glitter stickers, gloss stickers, metallic stickers, adhesive dots, and an instruction booklet. The best part is you don’t need any glue or scissors for the kit— everything you need to go from a flat piece of paper to a 3D piece of art is included. You don’t even have to be an arty person to successfully get the final result – it’s pretty foolproof, even for someone like me. $19.95 Back of the box. …
Designer Jeff Woolf knows the importance of having a helmet on when biking — he nearly smashed his head open on a curb after getting hit by a car. Woolf created the Morpho Helmet after noticing that folks using bike share programs (such as in London) tend not to use helmets because they were too cumbersome to carry around all day. It was a design problem he wanted to fix — he knew if he could create a helmet that could fold flat, then he could save lives. According to the makers of the Morpher Helmet, the number one reason people don’t wear helmets when riding a bike is that the helmet is too bulky to carry around all day, and while 92% of bike scheme cyclists don’t wear a helmet, 83% say the reason is due to lack of portability. Woolf’s new folding bike helmet design will let you ride to work or school safely, and then easily slip your brain-saving helmet into laptop bag or backpack. Although Morpher folds and unfolds quickly, it was also designed to surpass all relevant safety standards. Currently aimed at all cyclists, the …
