For an item so ubiquitous, tossed without a care, and that costs only pennies to make, a ton of engineering and thought has poured into the design of the plastic coffee cup lid. Take a moment to look down the next time you grab a cup of Joe and see which sort you have before you, as there are all manner of species for all manner of purposes. [More]
Instead Of Returning Stuff That Doesn't Fit In, We Buy More
By April 11, 2011
We’ve all been there. That purple end table that looked so fetch in the store is woefully out of place when you bring it back to your abode. The rational thing to do would be to return the item. According to a new study, instead, what we do is go out and buy more things like it to make it fit in. [More]
Gold Pills Makes You Poop Gold
By December 14, 2010
Now you can make your own Golden Poo trophies at home with the line of Gold Pills by Citizen:Citizen. For just $425, these 24k gold leaf filled capsules will “turn your innermost parts into chambers of wealth.” [More]
Smart Wallets Get Harder To Open As You Spend More
By December 7, 2010
An MIT Media Lab team has developed a series of wallets that physically react when you electronically spend. [More]
Hide Lunch From Office Thieves In Healthy Meal Boxes
By September 30, 2010
Here’s a potentially even better idea for protecting your lunch from thieves in the office than the fake moldy ziploc bags. Commenter Snaptastic suggests that you stash it inside a box of “healthy,” i.e. “gross,” food like a Weight Watchers, or, as commenter Murph1908 recommended, a Hot Pockets. [More]
Anti-Theft Lunch Bags Make Thieves Think Your Sandwich Is Moldy
By September 29, 2010
You’ve gone to the trouble of being frugal and making your brown bag sandwich at home, then you open the fridge to discover some scoundrel has snatched it. Now thieves will pass over your food if you put it inside an Anti-Theft Lunch Bag, a ziplock bag with green splotches printed on the side. The bandits will think you sandwich is moldy and move on to the next prey. The website says they’re out of stock, but they don’t look too hard to make at home. [More]
To Make A Good Lady Logo, Choose A Squiggle, Tree, Ribbon, Or Spiral
By September 22, 2010
If you’re going to make a logo for some kind of lady group, you have four leitmotifs to choose from: squiggle, tree, ribbon or spiral. In her entirely .jpg-based essay, artist Shana Moutlon looks at how we reinforce gender stereotypes through bad logo design. [More]
American Airlines Fires Web Designer For Helping Customer
By November 17, 2009
Dustin Curtis complained to American Airlines about its poor website user interface. A designer within the company reached out to him to apologize, say how it was hard sometime to design well at a large company, but that better designs were coming down the pike. American Airlines then fired the designer. Authenticity can be a hazard to your job health.
Copycat Company Sues Original Artist To Void Copyright Claims
By October 28, 2009
It’s a natural impulse to want to support the little guy, the David who faces down a powerful Goliath. That’s why it’s easy to get behind this guy’s claims that a copycat business is suing him to force him to abandon his own copyrights. Wtf!, you might say when you read something like that. Is that even possible? It is, and the story is more nuanced when you look at both sides, which makes it a good example of why it’s sometimes hard to be a “good consumer” when deciding where to spend your money.
World's Worst Logos
By October 2, 2009
As part of our stand against Christmas Creep, we want to celebrate the actual upcoming holiday by lobbing some pretty frightening images at you from the website Your Logo Makes Me Barf. Take this alarm sign, for instance. The obvious chills come from recognizing what they’re walking into, but then you notice the kid figure and the term “young alarm” and, wait, wtf?
50 Cool Billboards
By September 29, 2009
Most billboards are either ugly jumbles of giant text, or unfortunately memorable things like this. Here’s a list of 50 mostly cool ones (we think the Texas one is ‘shopped, and the anti-American one can suck it). Hey, if you’re gonna advertise on a billboard, you may as well make it entertaining.
Do We Really Need To Market Beds Specifically To Guys?
By September 24, 2009
The Wall Street Journal has some ridiculous looking photos of beds designed for the male shopper. Apparently guys want built-in coolers, safes, TVs, and iPod docks in their beds. Sorry, we mean “man caves.”
iPod Shuffle And Your Sweat Don't Mix
By August 3, 2009
Reader Michael writes to let us know that the latest iPod shuffle, an mp3 player whose small size makes it an attractive exercise companion, tends to break when used as an exercise companion.
Handwash Small Loads With The Laundry Pod
By March 24, 2009
This is pretty neat, The Laundry Pod, an ecofriendly, oversized, salad-spinner-like device that you use to handwash your small loads. And, presumably, make a salad for 30. [Dexigner] (Thanks to c-side!)
By June 9, 2008
Wal-Mart is cutting down its inventory (fewer clothing styles) and remodeling its older stores (lower shelves and clearer signage) to spur more shopping. [Reuters]
All Saints Apparel Plagiarizes Shirt Design From Gaming Site 4 Color Rebellion
By February 23, 2008
Posh London retailer All Saints Apparel plagiarized a shirt design from the gaming site 4 color rebellion. The site originally unveiled the ‘You Complete Me’ tetris-heart figure for Valentine’s Day in 2006. Designer Mitch was surprised to find that All Saints had plastered the exact same design on a shirt selling for £40—that’s like, $90! Mitch asked All Saints for an explanation, which was enough to prompt a decent resolution.
Companies Respond To Wrap-Rage, Design Packaging That Isn't So !@$% Difficult To Open
By January 20, 2008
Companies are starting to use tamper-resistant packaging that doesn’t cause wrap-rage or puncture wounds. Retailers love those maddening plastic supermax containers for the theft-deterring frustration factor, while manufacturers just want consumers to see the eye candy within. What’s the compromise?
