ProdMod ™

Just got back from the NY international Gift Fair at the Jacob Javitz Center as well as Pier 92 and 94 in NYC. There was only a few sections openned today including Handmade, Studio and At Home. Here are a few products that caught my attention.

As I passed the SETGO booth the cool style bags and wallets reminded me of Tumi, a favorite designer of mine. This company was started by a young man in NYC and the products are tailored to an urban consumer. The coolest product is a shoulder Transport that has a place for your phone, ipod, metrocard, and a larger compartment for a book or a magazine. They have already been reviewed by Thrillist, Josh Spear, and hauteconcept so they probably dont need my help. But I do like what they are doing with their stuff. I want to try that shoulder strap for myself.

Another cool product was an inflatable seat slash ottoman called lojoball from LOJO. I liked it because it was unique and when you sit down it feels very firm and sturdy. At first I didn’t know it was inflatable but that is what makes it feel so much better than a bean bag, it really supports your body. They said it took a lot of prototypes to figure out the best combination of materials to get it right.

When I first saw this next product I thought it was a simple gimmick toy, but it was explained to me that this makes using cellphones and VOIP a bit easier for some people. It is an old fashioned looking headset that plugs into your phone or computer. It is called YUBZ. I think the best part is that you can choose from a variety of colors and patterns that were designed by artists from around the world. You can buy an adapter for the phone you have to ensure a proper fit. They even have bluetooth. I think this is a company to keep an eye on. Something tells me there are more products to come.

Here is an artistic lamp worth noting. I always like the idea of putting light behind a cool artistic design. This designer from France takes her art and places it on a variety of objects. joannagregores

I made some improvements to my ProdMod Camera Light a while back but never got around to writing about it. Mainly I added a 1W LED in place of the 4 standard LEDs. And I added nut coupling which allows me to use the light with a camera and tripod simultaneously, as well as use a bracket to place the light off to the side. Here are some photos to give you a taste. If you want more assembly info just leave a comment below.

A picture taken with the 1W ProdMod Camera Light

The bracket below lets you move the light source over to one side

The picture below shows the effect of side lighting

Here is a video of the 1W LED Camera Light in a bathroom.
You’ll notice it fills more of the screen with light than the original 4LED Camera Light.

ProdMod 1W LED Camera Light - Bathroom from ProdMod on Vimeo.

here is a video of the standard 4LED Camera Light for comparison.

ProdMod 4LED Camera Light - Bathroom from ProdMod on Vimeo.

I haven’t written a product review in a long time, but I am compelled to write one today. At the end of the entry find out how you can earn money by making one of your own.

I have been looking for some sort of non-electronic tablet that will allow me to easily sketch out my ideas and erase them with ease. Something compact and simple. I have considered a large dry erase board but I am not good at sketching on a vertical surface. As I browsed the aisles at Container Store in NYC I decided I might buy a small dry erase board and just use it on my lap. I found a simple rectangular aluminum one that was also magnetic made by Bi-silque. I love the magnetic eraser that doubles as a holder for the marker. Looks very convenient but I am not sure how it would work sitting on my lap.

Next to it I saw another product that was specifically designed as a portable dry erase board. It is called slate and is from Cocoa, LLC. What a great idea! It isn’t magnetic but I probably wont use a magnet if its on my lap anyway. It is made of clear plastic and has a slot that accepts paper so you can change the background to a grid or a calendar etc. So it can be anything you want it to be. The body is clear and can be written on both sides. When it was still in its blister pack it seemed like it was made of two halves of very rigid heavy duty plastic riveted together. But when I removed it from the packaging Read more »