ProdMod ™

I received some catalogs in the mail this week showing off some products for this holiday season. I sometimes look through these just to see what’s new and maybe get some ideas for new products or stuff to modify. One catalog that caught my eye was Solutions. You can see all there stuff at Solutions.com.

I am going to list a few items that caught my attention either because they are so simple I wish I thought of it, or because they are handy, or just unique enough to post. I might also comment on a few that I think are dumb, poorly executed, or could be improved.

Since I am only browsing a catalog I do not own any of these and have not tried any of the items I am only commenting on what is offered. I am also not affiliated with solutions.com in anyway and do not receive any incentives for the free advertising I am about to give them. (but I wouldn’t say no to it).

Actually amazon.com has some of these things and usually for less. And I am affiliated with amazon.com so I will give you a link if it applies.

As I find other interesting products I will put them in new posts and categorize them under “gift ideas”. You can then see all related posts by clicking that category in the sidebar to your right. or just click here.

This first product is a Shadow Wall Light #82057.

This caught my eye because they basically copied Adam Frank’s lumen. The Frank Adam’s version is a real oil lamp with a real flame that jitters about and brings the image to life. This one at solutions.com however is an LED light and it sounds like it just projects a steady light no flickering, so there is no perceived motion in the projected image it is just static. I met Adam Frank this summer at a local Design Meetup in NYC he was nice enough to answer my questions about the design world so I feel I can at least help market his products when I can… The Solutions LED version is $29.95, but for a bit more - $48 - you can get the original lumen oil lamp from Adam Frank. So why buy the LED one? To avoid open flames? Well, my prodmod intuition is very skeptical of this “LED projector”. I don’t think the image will look too well and as you can see in their photo the edge of the focused LED light is visible, sharp, and artificial in the bottom area. Whereas the lumen is more.. organic. I know I sound artsy but how else would you describe it? Oh and the LED one is an ugly gold color and the lumen is a cool stainless steel. Is that better?

Here is a photo of Adam Frank’s lumen for comparison. His silhouettes artwork is a lot cooler too.

And I just found this video about the Lumen on brightcove.tv which originates from gifts.com.

The lumen is also available at the momastore in NYC and in the video they market it as a substitute Christmas tree. Hmmm perfect for a studio apartment.

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