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

Having seen many induction stovetops, I was excited to see the Caso portable induction plate. This version, priced right and portable, makes induction cooking possible for anyone. Though this hot plate can reach temperatures of up to 428 degrees Fahrenheit, don’t be intimidated. Its built-in safety features include the ability to sense pans on its glass top surface. It also has a 180-minute timer and 10 precise power levels. Well designed and beautifully functional.

The Coil Lamp, created for an exhibition of conceptual furniture in Chicago, has now found its way to your living room. The one of a kind lamp is made from wrapping an orange, 100 foot cord around an acrylic skeleton to create the form of a lamp. Bright idea? Sure.

This design is an award winner from Japan’s Ryoji Takahashi that offers a new look and feel to shredding. The tube-like paper shredder can be held over a waste basket and is less obtrusive than the traditional rectangular electric paper shredder. Seems to be a desk-friendly redesign; now we have to wait until it comes to the States.

Travel friendly design has been extended to man’s best friend, thanks to the Travel-tainer. Conveniently compact and smart for travel, this container has pop-off water and food dishes with an air-tight container for dry pet food. I guess it could work with cereal and milk too, if you prefer.

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 earphone concept, Y I Sound Invention, features a zipping action to keep ear bud cords from tangling up when not in use. This ingenious design includes a volume control and brightly colored zipper teeth to help form follow function. When users are finished listening to their sound device, they simply zip up and put it away. Smart design for sure!

In a time long, long ago, I had to make mix tapes. I would spend hours mixing albums and shuffling songs from all of my CD’s, then buy a pack of cassettes to begin recording. Once complete, I would cut up stickers and personalize my cassette so it could go everywhere I went; my car, my Walkman, my boom box. But times have changed. Now everything is digital, play lists take minutes to create and people aren’t caught dead with a cassette player in their hand. Until now.

This player lets you fast-forward or rewind a song manually by rotating the spools with your finger, then play by sliding the play button. Outta battery juice? Just rotate the spools; rotating the second hole of the tape charges it with kinetic energy. An LED indicates the power status showing green for fully charged, amber for half-charged and red for nearly dead. Available in 45/60/90 minute varieties, this device also hides a USB plug.

It’s actually an overall cool design. Now I’m just waiting for some Etsy seller to make a cool carrying case, maybe a little cassette case for storing all of your play lists in a library.