It's fun to watch big-name designers tackle big problems. But we wanted to shout out the masses of humble industrial designers, DIY'ers and inventors who will receive no glory but still design little things to solve life's minor annoyances. Here are some examples we saw in 2022.
No one avoids buying a table simply because it doesn't feature a place to hang your bag. But designer Hajime Kumazawa designed a bag hook into the legs of this DTN Table anyway.
If you've ever had to move a fully-laden clothes drying rack, you know that it's impossible to get it through a doorway. So German manufacturer Juwel's Twist 140 rack is designed to fold, even with all the clothes on it, so you can easily transport it.
Dan Stevenson designed the Bago, a hilarious object designed to keep bags upright on the floor of a car.
Greg Brault designed this 3D-printed gizmo to prevent dogs from knocking the garbage can over.
The Krapp Strap makes it easier to poop in the woods.
From Sweden comes the Zlider, an innovative zipper slider that makes it easy to repair a broken zipper.
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Industrial designers Lars Wettre and Jonas Forman invented the CableCup, a ceiling cup you can turn inside out to ease installation and fitment of ceiling fixtures.
This windproof flip-lid Plasma Lighter XR has an extendable neck to increase reach and prevent you from burning your fingers.
For those living in icy climes, the FrostGuard Plus is designed to free you from scraping ice and snow off your windshield.
Inventor Roy Gelesh's Trash Can Trailer Hitch allows you to tow garbage cans up long driveways.
These ZaVarge Bedding Clips were designed to prevent comforters from wandering around inside duvet covers.
Ryosuke Fukusada designed this easy-to-carry plastic tank for shopkeepers. You fill it with water, then it becomes the ballast to hold storefront signs (common in Japan) in place against the wind.
The Wonder Winder provides an easy way to deploy, then wind and tidily store extension cords.
The Moki Door Step uses your car's existing door latch to make roof rack access easier.
Studio Extrude creates replacement parts for commonplace objects: Bicycle mudguard brackets, feet for laundry drying racks, the knot cover for the cord on window blinds, etc.
And as a side gig, industrial designer Peter Szucs 3D-prints and sells hard-to-find replacement Ikea parts.
If you've got more examples like these, please let us know in the comments and we'll write them up in '23.
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Comments
Love some of these! The Polestar 2 has something dubbed the "Curry Hook" that allows you to hang a togo bag from the glovebox door.