Snobject: Best Father's Day Gift Ever

Yes, I missed Father's Day this year--but if you missed it too, look sharp! This is the perfect gift to make it up to your husband, dad, or grandpa. Whiskey Stones, from Teroforma, are exactly what they say they are: little stones you use to keep whiskey cool.

Hold On! They're not just for whiskey. I don't drink whiskey! I use them in nice, girly framboise lambic, and alternately in lemonade. These little stones live in your freezer in a washable fabric bag. They are the RIGHT solution to keeping a beverage cool without diluting it. Ice cubes make your drink watery. Plastic ice cubes are, well, plastic. And warm drinks are yucky.

So grab some of these little (or big) stones for the man in your life, or for yourself. They're hand-crafted. They're eco-friendly. The packaging is ridiculously sweet, and the price is just right. Plus, they work. Whiskey Stones are awesome all around.

Sushi Lovers Rejoice!

Part of what's so appealing about eating sushi is it's appearance. I crave the cute little compact, colorful bites of deliciousness, and now with Rice Cube, I can make food have a similar appeal at home! Jazzed to try this one out! If you have, let us know how it went.

Snobject: Moleskine Coming to you in Color!

The Volant Collection from Moleskine offers beautiful vibrant colors - the black's a classic forever, but the new colors are a treat. The green and orange join a family of brightly colored books with great features - tear away notes, removable pages, the palest grid lines, and sticky tabs.  Moleskin continues to make the most delightful notebooks around.

Snobject: Weber Genesis E-310 Grill

Honestly, all I think when I look at this grill is "Yes, please!"  Seeing as it's the first day of summer here, I thought it only appropriate to highlight this perennial favorite - The Weber Genesis E-310 Grill.  It's relatively compact but boasts 3 burners and tons of grilling real estate.  Users report it's easy to use and easy to clean.  It's built for the long-run, though the longevity comes at a price. The biggest drawback is that it comes in a ton of pieces, but clear illustrated directions get you grilling asap.  And best of all, it's trimmed out like a classic car.  What is there not to covet?
Weber 6511001 Genesis E-310 Liquid Propane Gas Grill, Black

Snobject: SodaStream brings the Power of the Bubbly to you

My husband had a serious habit - he drank in the morning, throughout the day and the evening - he was and remains a seltzer fanatic. Then we brought the Sodastream into his life and now he's a changed man - he can make his own seltzer for a fraction of the cost and without tearing through seemingly millions of plastic bottles to get his fix. I highly, highly recommend it!

Also, for those of you wondering, the CO2 cartridges are exchanged at any store carrying the products - for $14.99 you get a recycled cylinder and yours is sent back to the company. That's $14.99 for ~65 bottles of whatever carbonated treat tickles your fancy. Again, highly recommended.

Snobject: Yummy Fiskars Mower just in time for SPRING!

A push mower to desire from Fiskars - The Momentum Reel Mower. Another great application of the basic fly wheel - I haven't gotten a taste yet but I'm eager to see if it delivers that effortless sense of power. Also, are those mainly plastic housings? Could be a concern for long-term durability, which is a mainstay of the classic push mowers.

Snobject: TAGA, and yes, I want one.

This is obviously created by and for mommies and daddies who hate looking like tools with the 5 million things they have to cart around for the kiddies. Thank you for simplifying the mess!

Snobject: Folding Bike, Brand TBD

RCA student Dominic Hargreaves' design for a folding bike:

According to Treehugger,

The Guardian reports that three companies have already shown interest in making a production model, which would make the Contortionist "one of those extremely rare items that move directly from design student project into the shops."

via treehugger

Snobject: Fruitscapes

Stefano Giovanonni's Fruitscape for Alessi. Shiny, swoopy and seductive. I can't resist the high polish and ambiguous form which incidentally holds fruit in place quite well.

Snobject: Trunki

Trunki brings great fun along on your child's trip. The UK company developed this fun rolling suitcase and has now rolled it out into a line of travel products. Yondi, a comfy padding pillow, finally puts an end to "broken neck position" on long car rides.

Snobject: Nutcracker by Bruno Christensen for Menu

Falling soundly into the category of desirable objects, this nutcracker by Bruno Christensen for Menu may also work well!

"makes cracking even the hardest nut fun and easy. made by bruno christensen, the unique design makes it equally easy to use. just place the nut on the metal plate and cover it with the rubber dome. give the dome a light tap and the nut will be ready to eat, with the shell cleanly removed and ready to be thrown in the bin. the solid stainless steel base, domed top in black rubber and non-slip rubber bottom to protect against scratched table tops, all bear witness to attention-to-detail for appearance, quality and practicality. the real genius of this nutcracker is the ribbed metal fitting on the underside of the dome that ensures that only a light tap is needed to split the shell."

Snobject: Blik Surface Graphics

I love vinyl wall decals. We have them in our son's room, and they were much much easier to put up than the pattern I painstakingly stenciled on our walls in Chicago years ago...check them out at Blik. This is Bunny Family Anomalies:

And, you can vote for new patterns based on Threadless original T-shirt designs, which for almost 10 years has offered a social venue for designers to submit their original shirt designs with the potential for a real pay-off.

Snobject: CB Herb Keeper

Ok, this doesn't really qualify as a Snobject but I had to post it due to the sheer number of times I've tried to sell this idea. Now someone finally made it for Crate & Barrel - an herb keeper. Simple compact storage that keeps you from throwing away 75% of the fresh herbs you buy. Bravo!


-- Post From My iPhone

Snobject: Knoll Children's Womb Chair

Yes, please! In much the same way that dollhouse designer furniture is irresistible, the Knoll kids line offers much to covet.

Created for the ones we love, knoll kids™ is a collection of spirited, modern furniture scaled for a younger generation. Each piece reflects our belief in the utility of modern design and commitment to quality.

It's like crack for those of us who love modern design. Luckily, I have the sense to realize if I can't afford my *own* Knoll furniture, I can't afford it for my kids either. They'll have to settle for IKEA.

Snobject: Williams Sonoma Grill Pan

Got a promo for Williams Sonoma's new Mesh Grill-Top Fry Pan 29.95 and sent one to my brother-in-law to try out on his grill.

The mesh may turn out to be a challenge to clean, but I like the premise. Usually my lucky relatives with grill space, or a yard for that matter, use aluminum foil to create plateaus for grilling smaller items. But that tends to be a pain when you try to scoop them up off of the heated and fragile aluminum surface, especially if you didn't use enough oil. This pan's a pretty neat summer promo idea, let's hope it works!

Click here for more on the WS Mesh Pan Series

Snobject: Zibra Open-it!

Universal openers are treacherous territory. The have a tendency to become Frankensteins - ridiculous, awkward amalgams of too many functions and parts. The Zibra Open-it keeps its focus and provides a neat bundle of functionality.

The product is right in line with Zibra's product development philosophy - a user centric and solution based process. Discover the experience, Build the experience, Grow the experience, and Enjoy the experience....that's the Zibra mantra. They're not too preachy about it and they've followed through with excellent ID to realize their mission in the marketplace.

I'm curious to find out if they've had success with placement and sell-through. The Open-it! is very Black & Decker in its function and styling, and I wonder if you need that type of brand behind the product to communicate that it's "A Problem Solver." If this were a Black and Decker product every guy would own one.

Snobject: A Father's Day Gift...

Humor meets truth for Father's Day. These days the promotions calendar is one endless annual cycle. Well-designed and marketed promotions can improve consumers' lives if they highlight unmet needs when the user is most likely to notice them and seek a solution. I'd rather see well timed and priced promos than kitschy useless throw-aways, but usually its the same old fare with a seasonal image/message stamped on top.

Marketing usually throws promo concepts together independent of design influence - maybe that should change. I'd love to see promotions studied, explored, and created by the real problem solvers in product development. The promo challenge is unique, but that's what makes it fun to solve.

Snobject: Ankle Brace Air Cast

I've been a little too busy to blog this weekend. Hubby broke his ankle, but the good news is his air cast is pretty cool! Ages ago when I broke my own ankle, I got sealed inside a burgundy fiberglass monstrosity, which was only marginally improved by hand-painting the entire surface.

Luckily, today's soft tissue damage and stable fractures can be secured in these great air casts, which have been evolving over the last decade to be durable, practical, and not too shabby overall. Early versions didn't have the underlying skeletal structure and could be difficult to position - these are no-brainers and make showering a breeze. Next, I'll be eager to see casts that provide pockets for freezer packs so that you can reduce swelling while stabilizing the joint. Seems like that feature would be practical and affordable to integrate.
Hubby looks good, although Rose McGowan does dress it up a little better.

More info here

Snobject: New Metro Design's Beater Blade

Anyone who's every used a stand mixer has had this idea - it's a blade wrapped in a thin silicone flange that wipes the bowl sides while beating. There are even a couple of competitors on the market to boot. The BeaterBlade is interesting because it serves an obvious need that KitchenAid and others have for some reason forsaken. However, you won't find a clip-strip of these things anywhere near KitchenAid or Cuisinart stand mixers at retail. They're relegated to infomercial and internet promotions, although SLT is now promoting this SKU as a fan favorite.

Every designer I've ever known has a bank of these kind of ideas on the shelf. Clever, simple little products that would obviously make some amount of money, but without direct backing and distribution by the market leaders.....well, it's an uphill battle. Only so many of us have 500K to sink into our own little product venture, much less a good relationship with the buyers at BB&B (who'll ditch you in a heartbeat for a partner with hundreds of SKUs on the shelf).

Maybe, one day there will be an initiative that gathers up all of these orphan design ideas, centralizing them so that when companies realize they need a creative injection, they can browse and buy what applies to them. I'll try to get to that little project next week!

SLT link here
More about New Metro Design

Snobject: Beaba Babycook Line

This baby product line recently launched at Williams-Sonoma, and it's a hit out of the ballpark. Parent blogs are lighting up about the mini-cooker-processor and the line is expanding quickly to offer storage items and utensils. Haven't checked to see which baby outlets are carrying it, but parents are already seeking to buy lightly used ones--always a good sign that your product has made a real connection with consumer parents. Resale value is tracking at 50-75% MSRP.Find them here