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 attended this show last weekend and was able to witness a variety of great designers, some established, and some right out of Pratt Institute. Here are some of my favorites from the show…

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Have you seen this yet? It’s a manilla folder for the new MacBook Air. Basically Steve Jobs pulled the new ultra slim MacBook Air out of a manilla folder to prove how thin it was. So a team of artists made this manilla folder looking sleeve for the new laptop and called it AirMail. If you go to the “All you want to know” part of their new site it exlpains what it is made of.

“The AirMail laptop sleeve is handmade out of durable upholstery-grade vinyl, and lined with fuzzy, soft fleece.”

Did they just say fleece?�The last time I took off my fleece pull over I was cursing up a storm about how much static electricity it creates and I couldn’t get rid of it. I even zapped my wife and I still had it.�I am no electronics expert, but I am pretty sure static electricity and electronics� don’t play well together.� I guess laptops are protected from occasional zaps but generating static on the laptop each time you remove it from the sleeve just can’t be good?� Can it?

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I just saw Adam Matta and his friends perform last night at the New Museum here in NYC. Not only is Adam able to reproduce realistic sounds of the city and hip-hop-techno-scratching sounds with nothing but his vocal chords and a microphone - he also has some cool gadgets. This combination of creativity and ingenuity earns him some time on this blog. As a product designer and hacker I think it is healthy to get inspiration from other creative areas, especially music. Guys like Adam remind me that people are capable of great things. And I think there are a few things you and I can learn from him, if not be inspired by:

If you check out the video below you’ll see him spin this bicycle wheel he has propped up on a stool back and forth. He uses it to make turntable style scratching sound effects. He moves the wheel back and forth just like a DJ scratches a record. You’ll see a close up of the device at the beginning of the clip at 6seconds.

Isn’t he just some Beatboxer artist dude? Where did he get that? Did he make that himself? — Yes. Yes he did!

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I took a little break from making gadgets to go to this Fuerzabruta show in NYC. It’s standing room only in this very tall yet small black space and you get moved around as the contraptions and gadgets are moved around the area near you and above you. It’s basically like you are in the middle of someone elses crazy dream. There is an actor on a treadmill in front of you running as fast as he can with walls of paper boxes being hurled at him. There is wind generators, flying paper, treadmills and water. It was unique and interesting and I have to admit I was distracted by all the gadget to really absorb the art of the show except for the ladies of course.

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