1. Transparency & depth in looks
These pendent lights have block of transparent PC (polycarbonate), rotational moulded (check rotational moulding) and surface-dimpled so the finished piece look hand-blown glass from any distance over two metres.
We've broadly played on the silhouette and colour to give our devices the unique look they have today and we mostly preferred ABS for the premium finishes. Most recently IML on PC parts. These lamps give some strong ideas to pursue for the next line-up of products and especially, how to approach CMF from the get go of sketching shapes.
2. A fun memo-holder
Looking at this instantly reminded me of the popular crotchet flowers. This is similar. A cactus memo holder you would happily keep at your desk. The core-internal body is foam wrapped in wool felt. The competition is basically a standard cork-board without any memorable design language.
This is a good idea that goes in my notebook for a desk object for the team.
3. Dreame's FP10 pet purifier captures fur before it clogs the HEPA
If LG's tower air purifier and R2-D2 had a baby, it'd be this. Typically, pet fur would choke the HEPA filter in an air purifier but Dreame put a motorised rotating bristle brush mounted at the inlet which catches almost all fur before air reaches the HEPA filter, extending filter life from 6 months to 18 months (according to their internal tests).
This is something to keep noted whenever we need a separate mechanism to do the heavy-lifting to safeguard the core filters inside.
4. Xiaomi Titanium steel electric kettle
Got this for our folks earlier this year. They loved the previous generation kettle we have at home from Xiaomi and they like this as well. The thing is, in India, you get electric kettles and they are a simple device but the ones by Xiaomi feel more premium and are fairly cheap and unique looking in an Indian household with the matte finish white. There are two buttons - one to start and stop heating, the other to hold the temperature.
5. Nailed it
I mean… look at this. Nail is possibly the last object one would consider re-designing, right? A designer used a self-developed, bespoke in-studio casting method and created some phenomenal takes of nails. Yes, nails. She demonstrated these in her show "Heroes and Protagonists."
You could question if that's worth it. But the right way to look at this example is deliberate, curious practice. There are 40+ components that nobody on the ID team has ever designed; from the screws to clamps, to the gasket rings, cam links, and many such. Pick one component the team has been buying as a commodity, redesign it from scratch as if it were the primary object. In the year 2030, when you look back, the brand grammar would run all the way down to the screw head.
