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Capsule Collection of Travel Gear by Tom Dixon for Adidas

Published by designy things

For his first collaboration with Adidas, British design icon Tom Dixon created a collection of clothing and accessories intended to double as a “survival kit” while you are traveling the road for business or pleasure. Called The Capsule, the unisex collection centers around two types of luggage (one hard and one soft) that each unzip to reveal layers of clothes and accessories for a seven day stay. Included are pants, shirts, jackets (including a parka that turns into a sleeping bag) and three types of shoes, all with lovely details such as copper shoelace tabs and bag zips. Good news for the shorties out there like me: hemlines on the pants and shirts can be cut to size and do not require further sewing or tailoring.

Monbento Bento Box

Published by designy things

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 dishwasher-safe (I tested it and it came out fine on the top shelf), microwave-friendly, and has a 1-liter capacity.

The box sells for $36.00. Available accessories (sold separately) include foldable chopsticks, a cutlery set, sauce cups, and an egg mold. All come in a variety of colors, including the vibrant purple everyone is talking about.

P.S. To see some other new products that are using the color Radiant Orchid you can check out my report on Architects-Toybox.com.

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Detail of silicone cap that creates the airtight seal.

A think elastic band keeps the box together.

Images courtesy Monbento and Pantone.

24 Share it Gold by Tomorrow Lab

Published by designy things

When the product designers at the New York City-based firm Tomorrow Lab discovered that the key fob for New York City’s Citi Bike share system could be cracked-open, they decided to transfer the key’s tiny RFID tag into a new container. Given the demands of the antenna position, the team could not stray too far from the original fob shape so, with design support from architectural journalist Laura Raskin, they came up with an elongated badge-like pendant shape that can be worn like a piece of jewelry. The on-demand 3D printing service, Shapeways.com, allowed Tomorrow Lab to create a gold-plated, stainless steel version of the product. Now if they could do something creative with all of those small plastic loyalty cards on my keychain.

Chocolate Paint Set by Nendo

Published by designy things

Maybe it’s because it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow but desserts are on my mind this week. Nendo just released this new limited edition of chocolates in the form of a set of oil paints for the Japanese Seibu department store. The tubes, which are made of chocolate, each have a different colored wrapper to keep fingers clean and indicate the flavor of the syrup within. The 12 flavors range from the expected (rum, vanilla, caramel) to the surprising (honey lemon, blueberry, and melon).

All photos by Ayao Yamazaki

HipPops Handcrafted Gelato Bars

Published by designy things

I don’t usually cover food on this blog but I couldn’t resist sharing the cleverly named HipPOPs brand of handcrafted frozen desserts, including gelato bars, sorbet, and frozen yogurt (Disclaimer: Unfortunately I have not tasted the desserts so I can’t vouch for the flavor). Introduced recently into the Florida market, HipPOP founder Anthony Fellows hopes to eventually franchise the concept. At the core of HipPOPs are natural, gluten-free, kosher frozen pops on a stick that are made from small, handcrafted batches at the company’s micro-creamery in Dania Beach, Florida.

While I have not had a chance to actually taste the pops, I like the aesthetic of the truck and the pops, particularly how the dip doesn’t cover the entire pop so that you can peek at the flavor beneath. HipPOPs makes more than 100 flavors, 15 to 20 of which are featured daily on their truck. Customers choose from gelato, sorbet, or frozen yogurt, and three kinds of premium signature Belgian chocolate dips and several crushed-nut “poppings”, including finely crushed pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans.

Brdi Bird Feeder

Published by designy things

This is a great little project to do with little kids (or other adults that aren’t too crafty). Made from aluminum in a range of colorful weather-resistant finishes, Brdi arrives flat with pre-punched dotted lines and folds together easily by hand in minutes. It comes with a hardwood perch and 6 feet of braided cord line which you lace through holes on the top to suspend the feeder. The punched fold lines on the bottom of the feeder also cleverly act as drains to keep the seed dry. Brdi, which is from the new product design brand Onehundred, can be pre-ordered and backed on Kickstarter until December 18, 2013. Once available, it will sell for $25.