Dwell Design Competition Phase II
The time has come, folks. Phase One of Dwell's Innovate It! Contest is over and we've selected the winning submissions that will launch us into Phase Two. We chose three excellent suggestions for everyday objects that need an update and we now invite you to submit your redesign proposals to the Innovate It! Design Competition. Tell us how to make these objects better! And the winners are...
Don't-Drop-Your-Pants Hanger
"Why I continue to spend money for this ramshackle device is a grand mystery," laments winner Steven C. Brady, "They should call it the "dropper" instead of the hangar. Every time I reach into my closet for my nicely pleated dress pants I discover that they have mysteriously disappeared. Where have they gone? They are on the floor, crumpled up, lying haplessly along with my other pairs of misrepresented pants."
Surely there must be something better than the clip hangers that leave marks on a perfectly clean cuff or the bar hangers that add an undesired crease at the knee. Submit your redesigns for the imperfect pants hanger.
A Great Coffee Cup that Doesn't Leave a Ring
"Most of us love our coffee or tea, but the slightest spill rolls down the side of the cup and leaves a ring on the table," says winner Mark Lenox, "In fact, the whole table coaster industry sprang from this need!"
If you have an inspired idea for banishing circular stains from your furniture with a fresh cup concept, send it in.
Not Yo' Mama's Ironing Board
"The shape and functionality of our modern ironing board is pretty much the same as when it was when invented in the late nineteenth century," says winner Sejal Parekh, "Problems with the current ironing board design include the iron's electrical cord getting in the way while ironing, an unstable two leg support structure, board covers that don't stay in place, storage space issues in small homes, and an overall very dated and uninspiring look."
This laundry list of failed features demands attention. Draw up a proposal and share it with us.
What to do now
You have until June 10 to send in a redesign (illustration and explanation!) for one, two, or all three of these objects. Be sure to include:
- 3 images of the design concept, including a front, back, and side angle
- a 500-word explanation of how your proposal meets the criteria for the competition and improves upon the old design
- A new name for your redesigned product that suits its new and improved identity
Dwell editors and several experts will jury the competition and select one winner for each object. The three winners will receive a cash prize from Volkswagen CC and VIP tickets to Dwell on Design 09 in Los Angeles, June 26-28. See remaining details here.
Images: Mug, Ironing Board, Hangers
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Perhaps the cure for coffee dribbles has eluded the brave new world of modernist architecture, but for those of you with guts enough to open your parent's dinning room cabinets, it will be inside staring back at you. It is called a "saucer". Dare to go retro! You could even rhapsodize on your green virtues and the sustainability of it all-- no need for paper towels! Send the mugs back to the mugs.
Lesson learned, never enter a competition where no experience is needed. Why not choose some products that could REALLY change humans lives.
re: ironing board "Everything old is new again". I do not see the ironing board as the problem here, but rather the iron itself. Years ago the Coleman company made a gas iron, which was a big improvement over the heavy & awkward sat iron. In our "informed" times, where is the rechargeable battery operated iron or one that operates on the same butane tube that is used in some curling irons?
perhaps the ironing board thing is resolved with this product (I was researching egress windows and stumbled on a company that does more than just window wells...) http://www.summitcontractorsupply.com/lifestyle.htm
Here in Australia it is not unusual for people to have a Robinhood ironing centre see http://www.robinhood.com.au/ironings It has a timer and a cutoff so that it is safe. I'm certain it could be adapted from our killer 240 volts to your (less killer) 120 or so?
Hhhhmmmm . . . is it not accident that hangars is one of the finalists when the June Dwell issue compares and contrasts 5 closet systems? I'm definitely interested in the coffee cup and ironing board challenges. I think the ironing board design must have historical roots that ground it, like the wheelbarrow. Designed to carry construction material along steel girders for building high rises, it doesn't make much sense why they still sell at Home Depot, unweildy and center of gravity challenged as it is.
don't we already have hangers with clips and the ones with rods and a metal slide that swings back in to hold them in place? http://panthangers.com/hangers/207/pant_skirt_hangers/ http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1243304320/ref=sr_nr_n_1?ie=UTF8&rs=3744481&bbn=3744481&rnid=3744481&rh=n%3A1055398%2Cn%3A%211063498%2Cn%3A510080%2Cn%3A3610841%2Cn%3A3744411%2Cn%3A3744481%2Cn%3A16353531
And the winners of phase 2 are???
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