The purpose of this page is to display some of my personal favorite products and designs that currently exist in the industry. As a student of design I have come to appreciate and recognize a well designed product.
"The Oru Kayak is an incredible, high-performance boat that folds out of a compact case. Inspired by origami, this innovative kayak transform quickly, easily— and almost magically. "
I first discovered the Oru Kayak watching the ABC television series Shark Tank. This show is a platform for entrepreneurs and inventors to pitch their business to a panel of multimillionaire investors with the hopes of securing an investment. Oru Kayak received a $500,000 investment from Robert Herjavec. The product was also very successful on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter, where it raised $444,000 in 2012. The video to the right was used in their Kickstarter campaign, and does a good job of describing the product. This product immediately appealed to me for two main reasons, first I thought the integration of Origami technology was extremely innovative and novel. Second, the product is aesthetically pleasing while remaining functionally brilliant. This combination is the hardest to achieve, and produces beautiful products. The Oru Kayak has also cultivated a new market: "the urban adventurer". Because of the revolutionary portability of this product, city dwellers can become explorers of their natural environment. http://www.orukayak.com/ |
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"Hövding is an airbag cycle helmet, providing the best shock absorption in the world. The airbag also protects more of the cyclist´s head compared to traditional helmets."
When this product first surfaced online I was skeptical in terms of the effectiveness of this product. Once I researched the product, I realized how much of an engineering and design marvel it actually is. This company did a complete redesign of the most traditional bicycle safety product: the bike helmet. In doing so they created an ingenious and inventive solution to a very serious issue: bicycle safety. Hövding is a Swedish company that started as an industrial design master's thesis. The idea of developing a new type of bicycle helmet was a response to the introduction of a law on mandatory helmet use for children up to the age of 15 in Sweden, which triggered a debate on whether cycle helmets should be mandatory for adults too. After discovering the motivation for this product, I was extremely impressed and inspired. The fact that the founders of this company solved a social issue through design is absolutely exhilarating. Personally, their is no greater satisfaction then creating something that has a positive impact on a community. http://www.hovding.se/ |
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