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

Dahon has debuted an ingenious gadget for bicycle riders at this year’s Eurobike Show. The Biologic FreeCharge, a kinetic powered bicycle adapter, harnesses the energy created as your wheels turn while you ride. This is a means to an end for diehard cyclists who travel great distances and want to avoid having to charge GPS, cell phone or electronics at hotels or public places after a long day’s ride. Available in 2010.

Simple ideas are the best, and this is an example of one – a reusable lid for plastic bags. Buy in bulk, or cut open a bagged package of food and then use this to snap it closed without a twist tie or chip clip. Copoc Bag Clips can be used on big bags of M & M’s, bulk grains, sugar; the possibilities are endless.

A shower in your pocket? A pontoon on your back? A fold away grill? Camping is a little more compact these days. These three designs make packing up your gear a little easier, and smaller, to boot.

Scottish-born Robert Gair invented the corrugated box in 1890; that is, pre-cut flat pieces manufactured in bulk that folded into boxes. Gair’s invention, as with so many other great innovations, came about as a result of an accident. Gair was a Brooklyn printer and paper-bag maker during the 1870′s, and one day, while he was printing an order of seed bags, a metal ruler normally used to crease bags shifted in position and cut them. Gair discovered that by cutting and creasing bags in one operation he could make prefabricated paper boxes. Applying this idea to corrugated boxboard was a straightforward development when the material became available. By the start of the 20th century, corrugated boxes began replacing the custom-made wooden crates and boxes previously used for trade.
(Information taken from Wikipedia.com)

Corrugated cardboard is what Lincoln’s famous top hat was made from, along with beaver fur. Everyone has had pizza delivered in a cardboard box. Amazon’s ever-present brown box with smiling logo is corrugated cardboard at its best; shipped worldwide thanks to the lightweight design and structural integrity of this recycled paper wonder. And as you just read, invention can be stumbled upon and its effects can change industry as we know it.

Whether it’s lounging around the lawn or poolside, grilling out or keeping up on lawn care, summer always brings out the best gadgets. Here are a few product designs to get you excited.

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Simple and safe is the way to go with this lighter-fluid-free fire starter. Just load this chimney starter with charcoal, light paper from beneath and then dump out red hot coals within minutes — without the lighter fluid taste! 

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Can’t wait to start your fire? Try this 60-second charcoal starter that uses heat-focused technology to reach temperatures of over 1,200 degrees in seconds! Also a lighter fluid-free design, this electric alternative can have you barbecuing in no time!

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Urban sun bathing can be uncomfortable if you don’t have a lawn, but this grass lawn chair makes it a little more pleasant to soak up some rays atop the concrete.

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Growing a chair is a clever way to create seating in the backyard, too. This simple to assemble design is made of cardboard and then filled with soil, topped off with grass seed and will eventually biodegrade into the earth. I think these would be great built into a circle around a fire pit for a nighttime summer bonfire.

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This roving lawn chair is for moving around the yard to have it made in the shade. Based on the wheel barrow design, the handled chair goes anywhere you want to lounge.

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So, how can you maintain that beautiful landscape? Try using one of these Hovering lawnmowers. They are nothing new; older diesel versions were available in Europe decades ago, but they are still an awesome design.

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Why not extend cool yard design products to man’s best friend? This doggie peeking window is a nice way to allow your dog to see outside of a fence — might even keep him from trying to run through or paw at the gate.

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Keep your garden green by going green. This compost tumbler is a quick and smart way to reuse food waste by composting using an easy spinning action.

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What good is being outside on a hot summer day if you don’t get in the water? Try this underwater pogo stick, the only one of its kind, to make pool time fun.

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Not everyone is game for going under water, so this floating ping-pong tabletop game is a great alternative. Almost anything that is designed to float in a pool goes up a notch on the cool-o-meter, if you ask me.