Dwell's Innovate It! Winners Announced
Phase II of Dwell's Innovate it! design competition has ended. Many Innovators from the Dwell community answered the call and submitted their redesigns for the three problem objects we chose in Phase I of the competition—the antiquated ironing board, the pants hanger that leaves a crease or fails to hold your garment in place, and a coffee mug that leaves rings on tables and paperwork. After reviewing all the entries, the Dwell jury has deliberated and the winners have been chosen.
Without further ado, the winners are:
Problem Object #1: Don't-Drop-Your-Pants Hanger
Winner: The Memory Hook by Marco Antonio Guardarrama Favela and Andres Felipe Carreño
What pushed the Memory Hook to the front was the simplicity of its design. The choice to use injection molded polypropylene—a strong, lightweight, cost-effective, and recyclable material—makes it easy to manufacture, and is a sustainable allocation of resources. And the simple flap design ensures that the pants aren't going anywhere. One concern is that the current design would still create a crease in pants. This could be solved by rounding off the plane that the pants rest on, and increasing the surface area. Ultimately, ease-of-use—you simply slide the pants into flaps—and sustainability carried the day.
Problem Object #2: Not Yo' Mama's Ironing Board
Winner: The Stironie Easel by Sejal Parekh
Sejal's design (the name is short for "steaming and ironing genie") is a completely new conception of the ironing board—turning the ironing surface upright creates the added functionality of a steaming platform, provides greater stability, and mitigates the problem of pesky electrical cords. With an eye on sustainability, the Stironie is constructed from the same materials that comprise existing ironing boards—no need to create costly new modes of manufacture. Though the size of the Stironie could be improved upon and the means of suspending the clothing may be an issue, this was the most innovative ironing board design.
Problem Object #3: A Great Coffee Cup that Doesn't Leave a Ring
Winner: The ëfuso by Toby R. Keeton
This category really struck a nerve in the Dwell community. It seems that people are sick and tired of rings from coffee mugs, and they demand justice. The ëfuso is an accessory to existing mugs that takes biomimetic cues from nature: It employs hollow channels and canals—similar to the xylem in plants—that take advantage of the cohesive properties of water to siphon off and store any liquid that leaves the mug, either from stirring or drinking. The design earned high marks for sustainability because it's made from repurposed tire rubber and it eliminates the need to replace existing mugs. Another advantage of the ëfuso is that it could be applied to all manner of hot-beverage receptacles—different size ceramic mugs, travel mugs, etc.
Congratulations to Marco, Sejal, and Toby! Each Innovate it! winner will receive a $750 cash prize from Volkswagen CC and two VIP tickets to Dwell on Design, the West Coast's largest modern design event, held in Los Angeles on June 26-28, 2009.
Thanks to all who put their time and energy into their submissions for this contest. We had fun with it, and we hope you did too.
Illustration by Tyler Johnson of Nomad Ink
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I'm trying to understand how the ironing board works.. I do all the ironing in our home, I even iron the sheets at times and I can't see myself doing it with this board... I like it, but not sure about it.
Ironing Board? HMMMMM interesting. Seems very problematic and doesnt solve storage issue, still seems to big. I like the coffee mug idea the best. Its simple and solves the problem, good job. To see another Idea for an Ironing solution please visite my coroflot page...www.coroflot.com/crowe24
hmmmmm interesting ironing board? I like the mug idea seems very simple and solves the problem. great job. To see another ironing solution visit www.coroflot.com/crowe24
I thought the theme for the cup was " a great COFFEE CUP that wont leave ring" and not an accessory for a coffee cup. Maybe it solves the problem, but i dont think it suits the theme that was given. Cheers
First rule of a great competition entry:THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX! Since sustainability was a major judging consideration, advocating throwing existing coffee cups out to be replaced by a new one isn't very efficient or green. Plus, the fact that recycled materials were used makes it even better. Good job.
wow. i really cant believe the ironing board winner is going to get a trip to dwell on design and $750 for that. seems like the entries were few and far between for that category, maybe you should have considered a second place for the category with the most entries instead of awarding something that makes this whole competition look bogus.
I think I didn't understand the goal of the compititons. In reference to the coffee cup, how can you have a "green" design if you are starting out with plastic? Even recycled plastic had to be melted to get to its final shape. As far as getting rid of your old cup, I am not in favor of trashing a good cup for the hot new thing, but even the best design eventually breaks.
Hey, if anyone would like to see my entry for the coffee cup redo, you can see it here: http://www.coroflot.com/public/individual_set.asp?from_url=true&individual_id=188031&set_id=343764&is_featured=-1& I had a similar concept to the one that won, except I thought mine offered much more of an incentive for a customer to purchase, and also not only prevented the ring problem but promoted being green by giving the standard coffee cup a way to be transported, thus preventing waxed cardboard coffee waste. Please check it out, I'd love any feed back! :)
I too thought it was supposed to be a COFFEE CUP! I started out with the same winning idea, and then thought it would NOT meet up with the description of the desired outcome. Wonder why it was an accessory and not a cup that won? Any explanation would be appreciated from the judge(s).
That coffee cup idea is amazing, i think they should take it into production. A lot of people complain about stirring or leaving a ring and this is an excellent idea!
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