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!)
design
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Fun weekend project: make your own homemade font for free. [CoolTools]
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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
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
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?
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Bad Redesign: Intrepid coffee drinker is forced to return his brand new (replacement) Starbucks travel mug because it’s too painful to use. “My first sip, as expected, was a little awkward. I adjusting to the vacuum seal lid. But the second sip was painful as was the third. I realized that the design of the lid thrust my upper lip directly into the stream of the hot coffee.” Weird. [NowPublic]
Take Your Brand And Shove It
Muji is a Japanese store that is, um, all the rage in NYC right now, apparently.
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British retailer John Lewis is selling the world’s most unintentionally disturbing baby bathtub ever. At least we hope it’s unintentional. [BoingBoing]
Del Monte Dog Treats Are Highly Inappropriate
Or as Alex put it so pithily in an email to us, “These dog treats are shaped like c*cks.” (Now you can’t tell what that word means!)
Mattel Announces Recall Of 155,000 Toys
Today Mattel announced a recall of 155,000 Mexican-made toys being sold in countries throughout Europe and the United States. There’s no lead contamination this time around; the recall was announced “due to concerns that small pieces could detach from the toys and cause children to choke.” The product is the Laugh & Learn Learning Kitchen Toy, part of the Fisher-Price range.
The Unpleasant Truth Behind Mattel's Unexpected Apology
Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologises personally to you, the Chinese people and all of our customers who received the toys. It is important for everyone to understand that the vast majority of these products that we recalled were the result of a flaw in Mattel’s design, not through a manufacturing flaw in Chinese manufacturers.
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A photoblog celebrating the grocery stores of yesteryear. The site’s author says he would, “be happiest if supermarket evolution had ceased around 1968 or so.” [Groceteria via Your Daily Awesome]
Slideon: The Mp3/Video Player With Sliding iPod Killer Controls
This audio/video player designed by Consumerist Flickr pool member unleashedlive features a sliding control panel that hides under the playing screen, just like with a slider cellphone. The maker of this 3d rendering says it would use flash memory and be chargeable via the headphone jack.
Viking Customer Still Hot Over Knobs
The guy who complained about his Viking knobs wrote in again. His letter, inside.
Controlling Shoppers Through Architecture
A short A-Z compendium of design tricks stores use to get you to spend more. We like T, for Tiles:
Your Online Source For Gold Pills and Coke Spoons
Your Online Source For Gold Pills, Coke Spoons, More…
Portable Cellphone Booth
Mobile privacy booths for cellphone users. Inextricably set to an Aphex Twin track.