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52 Outside-of-the-Box Design Solutions Spotted in 2021
Unexpected, surprising, clever, funny or cringe-y
It's been an absolute crap year for many of us. So I'm ending it with a roundup of 52 unexpected, surprising or clever design solutions I saw this year, the ones that really made me smile. Well, and at least two that made me cringe, take a guess. Enjoy!
Clever Bridge Design Lets Horses Pulling a Barge Cross the Canal Without Untying Them
"Anti-Gluttony Door" Sized to Prevent Monks From Eating Too Much
Image: Inazumaryoku
"Endlessly Clever" Design for a Garbage Can With an Endless Bag
A Clever German Toymaking Method of Using a Lathe to Make Non-Circular Objects
A Freestanding Spreading Knife that Suspends the Mess
A Liquid-Based Display That Uses Bubbles for Pixels
A Retractable Rolling Shower Screen
A Small Design Change Yields Better UX for the Cardboard File Box
A Styrofoam Substitute Made from Popcorn
An Innovative Game Controller with Swappable Physical Interfaces
Better UX for Cremation: Turning Ash Remains Into Smooth Pebbles
A Dual-Swing Refrigerator Door
Clever Construction System: Build the Roof on the Ground, Then Lift It
A Canoe Paddle With a Built-In Bilge Pump
Cool Intermodal Transportation System from France, Circa 1844
Image: Mattes. "Stagecoach being transferred to a railway car with a simple Portainer. This is an example of early Intermodal freight transport by the French Mail 1844. The picture is exhibited in Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum, Munich, Germany."
Dekay King's Innovative Shop Furniture
Designey Ceramic Alternatives to Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
DoCoMo's Silent, Safe Balloon-Based Camera Drones
Ex-Toy-Designer of Transforming Robots Creates Electric Scooter That Transforms for Easy Storage
Expensive Solution for Short Driveway on Busy Road: Install a Turntable
Fantastic Industrial Design Thesis Project: The Cercle Bicycle Camper
From Spain, a Creative and Eco-Friendly Way to Beat the Heat
German Robotics Enthusiast's Solution to a Broken Clock
Improvised Design from a Prison Cell: Illustrated "Prisoners' Inventions" Book
Improvised Objects and Solutions, from Redneck Engineering
Japanese Company Purposely Designs Dull, Boring Toys
Kid Imagines Rubik's Cube Made From Tiny Screens. Dad Invents it
Making Knobs from Plastic Bottles, a Random Object and Some Heat
Pencils That Visually Indicate Their Line Weight
Pop-Up Prison Design with Open Cubicles and Touchscreens
Products Designed for Shabbat Let You Perform Certain Tasks Without Technically Performing Them
Qarnot's "Computing Heater" Uses Cloud Computing to Heat Individual Spaces
Rony: A Dual-Headed Flashlight Provides Better UX, for Bike or Hikes
Silicone Straws that "Unzip" for Easy Cleaning
Smart Design for a Gate That Automatically Opens and Closes, No Power Needed
Sony's Tetris-Like Packaging Solves a Shipping Dilemma
Swiss Mile's Incredible Four-Legged/Wheeled Robot Can Do it All
The Bora X Pure Downward-Extracting Induction Cookto
The Landscaper's Equivalent of a Standing Desk
The Luno Front Cab Air Mattress Fills the Ga
The Pocket Piano: A Full-Size Keyboard Made from Magnetically-Connecting Segments
The Trailerduck: A Self-Powered, Auto-Following Bike Trailer
There are Sinks Designed Just for Vomiting Into
These German Swarm 'Bots Unload Packages by Intentionally Crashing Into the Loading Platforms
Transforming Unrecyclable Potato Chip Bags Into Sleeping Bags for the Homeless
Vintage Radiators with Built-In Plate Warmers
What the Amish Use as a Light Switch
Wheelchair of the Future? The Ascento Pro, an Amazing Two-Wheeled Robot
Who Knew? They Make Silent Tape Guns
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Wife Complains of the Views, so Husband Builds Rotating House
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Window-Based Clotheslines That Slide In and Out on a Track
That's it for me, folks. Have a great New Year's!
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