All posts filed under: Things for Working

ClickTape Tape Dispenser by Derk Reilink

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Dutch designer Derk Reilink has a reason to be in a good mood. Having just exceeded his Kickstarter campaign goal by a thousand euros, Reilink will finally see his dream of bringing his ClickTape tape dispenser concept to market — a process that first began back in 2006 — with production starting at the beginning of August. Retailing for $14 (including the tape) ClickTape has reduced the dispenser to its bare essentials. A flexible plastic ring, made of 12 grams of plastic, allows a role of tape to be easily clicked into the dispenser, eliminating the need of a plastic roller used in traditional tape dispensers. A durable stainless steel blade matches the curvature of the ring shape of the dispenser and a special indent above the blade makes it easy to grab the end of the tape (something that is tricky for young kids and those with disabilities to do). ClickTape will come in black, blue, turquoise, and green and is sleek enough to earn a coveted space on even the most minimal of desks.   All images courtesy …

Monbento Bento Box

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When the folks at Monbento asked me to pick one of the colors to test out their new bento box design, I selected the purple one. And as it turns out, I’m quite the color expert. Last week Pantone selected a bright purple named Radiant Orchid as their choice for color of the year, and the color is very close to the color of my Monbento. The new Monbento Box consists of two airtight containers, one internal separator, a lid, and a thick rubber band to hold them all together. To create the airtight seal for each compartment, the silicone cap must first be pulled up. Then you place the lid on the container, press firmly until it is secure, and then close the silicone cap to remove any remaining air. The cap should also be opened to microwave the box (the manufacturer suggests you keep it under three minutes however). The most appealing characteristic is a BPA-free, soft-touch plastic coating that makes the Monbento feel like silk. The airtight and insulated lunch box is …

Trays, Tea Towels, Rulers & More from kukka

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The design brand kukka was established in 2010 by Israeli and British designer Rona Meyuchas K. The products include lamps, trays, tea towels, and accessories for the home or office. I like the colorful Robots and Tubes collection of trays and tea towels designed by British illustrator Will Haywood. The dishwasher-safe trays are individually handcrafted in Sweden from a single sheet of sustainable birchwood (Robot is 12” in diameter and Tube is 15”). The matching British-made tea towels, part of kukka’s illustrated range, are screen printed on 100% cotton. Other great gifts in the collection include Balata, an 8” ruler made from reclaimed high-quality Caesarstone, and My Homes, a set of three house-shaped clothes hangers that are traditionally crafted from maple wood with no glue and finished with linseed oil. Kukka’s designs are available at design shops worldwide. All images courtesy of Kukka. 

Studio Visit: Black + Blum

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It was a bit ironic that my first visit to the London studio of Black + Blum was during the summer edition of the New York International Gift Fair. It was during that show several years ago where I first encountered the company’s quirky, functional gadgets. During a trip to London in August, I sat down with Martin Blum at the Black + Blum studio/shop located in the OXO Tower on the south bank of the Thames. Blum was holding down the fort at home while his business partner Dan Black introduced new products at the Javits Center in New York. Blum and Black first met when they were design students at Newcastle University. After working well together on a few group projects, “we realized that we had something going,” says Blum. “It’s quite rare to find someone you can work well with.”  A few years after school the two got together and started a firm in 1998. After operating as a design consultancy for two years, they had a literal “lightbulb” moment after designing …

WakaWaka Blackout Emergency Kit

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While I really could have used this little device after Hurricane Sandy, when my family and I were without power for 10 days, it is the potential it offers for those with homes that are always off the grid that is even greater. The WakaWaka Power (you have to try to get past the image of Fozzie the Bear from the Muppet Show, if you can) is a solar-powered LED lamp and mobile charger in one. This is a product with a huge demand at the moment — the Dutch company Off Grid Solutions launched it in December on Kickstarter and within a week became one of the most funded projects on the site (the campaign ends on January 12th and to date has raised almost $275,000 U.S.). The iPhone-sized kit weighs seven ounces, delivers up to 60 lumens of bright, safe reading light for more than 40 hours on an eight hour solar charge, and can charge mobile phones from all brands. The battery will stay fresh for more than a year — users should …

Empty Memory USB Collection

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I met designer Yoo-Kyung Shin last May at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City, where she was displaying a stunning collection of 4GB USB memory sticks that double as jewelry and objets d’art. Shin founded the London–based design studio Logical Art with Hanhsi Chen after their graduation from the Royal College of Art. The pair’s Empty Memory collection features two designs, Structure and Transparency, that contain “a physical emptiness in its sculptural form” that you can fill with your own “memory.” Structure’s geometric form can only be made with the lost-wax casting method that is normally used for industrial components. Transparency expresses its emptiness another way — it is 50% clear acrylic. After a long search for the right production partner, the designers located a manufacturer in Taiwan that is now producing pieces for the studio. Each piece is cast in high-quality, 316 stainless steel, then hand-polished by craftsmen, and finished in various colors. The Structure version an extra benefit — you can thread a chain through it and wear it as a modern pendant, or …