Dedicated to inspiring designers, inventors & the creative spirit in all of us.

Shoes can be as simple or as complex as a designer’s imagination. Here are 10 unique ways to cover your feet that stand out from the rest.

These Fivefingers are a great way to wear shoes but still have bare feet. Made to wrap around each one of your little piggies, the shoes are made to fit over your feet like a pair of gloves.

These Mion’s have an anatomically shaped foot bed with a layer of foam that customizes to the shape of the wearer’s foot after 12 hours of use, resulting in a personalized fit. Not only do they conform to the user’s feet, but the lacing shoe strings wrap around the entire foot, making 360 degrees of snugness.

Umbrella shoes are the next best thing, right? These high-heeled shoes offer cover for your toes as you walk through light rain showers with class. Unique may be the only word to describe these feet pampering pumps.

Made of 100% recycled material, these lightweight Frisky shoes are made to be breathable as well as mold to the shape of your foot. The hoofed, closed toe design is a feature I have not seen before. It’s like a space-age flip-flop.

Not only do these kid’s shoes come in a variety of standard Kool-Aid colors, they smell like Kool-Aid too. These Kool-Aid kicks are a new twist on shoe design, with a scratch and sniff feature. Yeah, don’t read it twice, these shoes actually are infused with the fragrance of cherry, grape or pink lemonade.

Dada Speaker Shoes are a bit extreme, but who would deny wanting to wear a pair. Made to play music from your MP3 device, these sneakers have built-in speakers for broadcasting whatever sounds you like. I’m thinking either the Harlem Globetrotters tune while you shoot hoops, or maybe Mr. Roboto.

Giraffe high heeled shoes might be the only way to stroll around the zoo with class. Definitely a unique design in the world of shoes, I can truly say I have never seen high-heeled shoes with two legs before.

These cardboard Air Jordans are made from, you guessed it, cardboard.  What more is there to say?

These felt slippers are made to keep your feet nice and toasty, and they do it very well. I have a had a pair of these slippers for a few years now (a gift from my brother’s overseas travels) and can attest to how simple and comfortable they are. They will make your feet sweat on a cold January morning.

3M Canada hosted a design competition and the above are the winning entries, both from students of the Ontario College of Art and Design. The Scotch tape dispenser and post-it note dispensers were awarded the grand prize of actually going into production for the 2010 line of office products. I am in awe at how simple, yet clever the tape dispenser design is. Bravo to the winners!

This award winning design is called Ooob. Considered both a bookend and a doorstop, these colorful things can do whatever you want them to do. The soft, heavy, rubber-skinned design doesn’t leave any scuff marks on the floor, nor does it scratch your door. Completely rounded and weighted with a 1.2 kg steel core, this design will keep any door open and any stack of books upright.

This concept design is a heat wand that toasts your bread one side at a time. Ceramic by design, the inventor made it charge similar to that of electric toothbrushes. As you glide the heated wand over the toast the visual indicator appears to show you that your toasting is complete, this one with images of butterflies and ivy. Now that’s thinking outside of the box…or toaster, whatever. Expect this innovative concept to make it to market some time this year.

A glass artisan on Etsy invented a way to create a second life for beverage bottles. This seller turns any bottle with a painted label into a drinking glass using a unique process. What a great way to give bottles a second use, other than recycling.