The Chindogu Society is a great collection of bizzare and quirky inventions. Pictured above is a baby suit mop!!!….yes, keep laughing, but take it as inspiration for why it’s so funny, wrong in some sense, and also why it’s such a great idea starter.
I love these books and anyone looking to get some creative juices flowing in a brainstorm meeting should buy these!!! Getting goofy brings the best out of creativity! Buh-Yeah!!
fun
I’ve noticed a growth in mainstream “Create-It-Yourself” products. Usually I’d only see these options in a hobby store, but it’s nice to see some hitting the mainstream with style. It’s a definite question of “mass customization”, success or a mess. Are consumers willing to pay more for a blank canvas and a sense of individualism? Do they want to do more?(Betty Crocker Egg Cake Case)
Puma Mongolian Grill (Desgin your own shoe)
Bytrico Chalkboard Shirt
Adicolor Shoes, via SneakerFreaker
Timbuk2 Artist Canvas Bags
Sketch On Munny Vinyl, Kidrobot
Did it fool you? It fooled me! It’s amazing how the smallest details trigger your perceptions. These cute pincushions by Alesina Design appear to be inflated by air, but are in fact filled with polyester fibers. Can simple elements within a design, such as these air valves, entirely change your perception of an object? For sure! I’d love to see more examples of visual triggers like this one. As far as I know, these colorful soft objects might be hard painted pieces of concrete, but who knows.Alesina Design
update: seems you can buy these through this company, kikkerland.
I love it when design integrates opposites together. Molodesign brings to us “felt rocks”, the soft and pliable rocks that are irresistibly playful. It’s great how kids today are hugging ugly dolls, talking sponges, and now theses soft rocks! I’d buy a truck load of theses felt rocks to throw around my office for brainstorms!via notcot
molodesign
You think Google Earth is cool? Well, get ready to be blown away by Spore, a PC game by Will Wright, creator of The Sims and Sim City.
I’m not sure what kind of cpu power this game will require, but you pretty much create and affect every single element within a galaxy and let time happen through “procedural” content development.
The magnitude of this game is ridiculous and you feel like a god of a god! Check out the video of Will presenting Spore at the 2005 Game Developer’s Conference!Google Video of Spore
GameSpy Article
Yugo Nakamura creates some of the most facinating, inspiring, and amazzzzing interactive systems in digital and networked environments. His artwork spans from engaging interactive interfaces to breathtaking displays of pure creativity and ridiculous coding.
I’d keep typing, but his work speaks for itself.Yugop
Interactive Lines (use your cursor)
Tokyo Plastics at it again with some great animated videos to promote their new “Opera Dude” Vinyl. Check out their website, have your sound on, and get mystified.Opera Dude Video
Buy Opera Dude
Tokyo Plastic
If your seeking a physical materials collection of the coolest and most innovative mechanisms, electronics, and materials to get your hands onto, then check out Inventables! Their wonderful quarterly sample kits are filled with several inspirational objects that will likely wow you.
Inventables
Ursus Wehrli presented at the TED conference recently and I have to admit, his book on “Tidying up Art” is a virus. The basic principle is to take great masterpieces in art and destructure them to the simple elements that they are mad up of. A signiture becomes 30 broken branches, a painting of a person becomes 15 fruit shaped objects, etc. After seeing him lecture and glancing through his book, I’ve been infected and try to tidy up everything I see now.
Buy here
Want to tumble down a steep hill at 30 mph while soaking in a swirl of spashing water!! If so, give the ZORB a try.
I’ve always wanted to give these spheres a try, but I never knew where. Besides New Zealand, there seems to be a place in Austin you can give these wild orbs a spin. Let me know if you get the chance to.
Sandscapes is addictive simulated tangible interface designed to help users understand landscapes through a projected surface of sand. Simulations range from height, slopes, contours, shadows, drainage, and also has the ability to interact with physical models such as buildings cars or whatever else you program into it.
I’ve played around with Sandscapes and its pure joy. Swing by the MIT MediaLab when you have the chance to check out their other great projects!
MIT MediaLab(Tangible Media Group)
SandScapes
Want to see the other side of the Natalie Portman…well, hold tight, this rap rappin video on Saturday Night Live throws a real curve ball into the sweet, elegant, cute, and sexy queen of Star Wars.NBC
via BoingBoing