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Here's what we looked at this week:Handsome, stackable cork storage boxes by RelvaoKellerman.Innovations in home lighting: Smart outlets vs. smart outlet covers. A paradigm "shift:" The QwertyMax keyboard updates a 150-year-old UI, adding a dedicated symbol row, instant emoj

San-Francisco-based Volley Automation creates automated robotic parking systems. To refine their robot parking valet, which increases the amount of parking space available within apartment buildings, they turned to industrial design consultancy Mighty Studios.Volley AutomationAutomated Robot Parking System

The Rail is by Cleveland-based product designer Brian Hendricks, a/k/a Lofted Goods. It's a rail-based, wall-mounted planter system consisting of a wood dowel and 3D-printed components.

Here's a low-tech mug design for those who drink looseleaf tea. The Cuptone Teacup lets you ditch the strainer, as it's got one built-in:That said, this doesn't look like a great fit

When Lindsay Yazzolino was young, she made an origami Christmas tree out of a one-dollar bill. Impressed with how sharp she'd made the topmost point, she urged her mother to examine it for herself. Although her mother assured her that she could see the paper, Yazzolino insisted. Upon touching the point, her mother yelped in pain."And I said: 'See, I told you!" Yazzolino recalls. "It's just a different experience."Blind since birth, Yazzolino didn't expect to make her professional career in tactile graphics. But since graduating from Brown University in 2011 with a degree in cognitive science, and after many subsequent years spent in neuroscience labs, Yazzolino has been leveraging her invaluable expertise to design "hand-catching" experiences that put one of humanity's least-acknowledged senses front and center.

This Air Pump Pocket, by Chinese tool manufacturer Hoto, fits well within the brand's designey aesthetic. Sleek and elegant, the diminutive object measures just 3.66" × 2.28" × 1.50" (93 × 58 × 38 mm) and weighs 0.56 lbs (255g). Small size aside, it'll inflate up to 150 PSI, and has enough oomph to fill a 55-80 PSI tire in under 30 seconds.

We live in an age of shitty product design and no customer support. Stuff breaks because it's poorly made, and then you have no recourse but to throw it into the trash, because it's unrepairable. If you try to get someone on the line, it's endless sub-menus before you finally get a live person overseas, who struggles with the language and has not been empowered by their bosses to actually solve your problem.Here, however, we have a product design failure that was handled masterfully.I think Peak Design, which designs and makes travel gear, is a great company. I own two of their bags and they've never let me down. They're also a B-Corp and an employee-owned company, which I like. I was excited to learn they'd expanded from bags into carry-on rollers, as I think there's a dearth of good desi

Business executives seeking to level up can enroll in an MBA program, but there's no equivalent for industrial designers. Future London Academy, a UK-based executive education organization, aims to change that. They're offering an Executive Programme for Design Leaders, as well as a Design Impact Scholarship to cover the £45,000 (USD $60,627) tuition.The Executive Programme for Design Leaders

In America, the phrase "Now we're cooking with gas" was slang for "Now we're really operating efficiently." It originated as a marketing slogan in the 1930s, created by the American Gas Association to push newfangled gas-fired ranges and ovens. And back then, gas stoves were indeed a step up from its predecessor: The wood-fired stove. Times have changed. We now know that "cooking with gas" could be likened to "playing with fire," in terms of our health. "You wouldn't stand over the tailpipe of a car breathing in the exhaust from that car. And yet nearly 50 million hous

Here's a rock sitting on what appears to be a mirror. In fact, beneath the mirrored glass is an LED panel.Called Umbral, the art piece was created by Barcelona-based artist Six N. Five, a/k/a Ezequiel Pini."Umbral (2025) is an intention to continue exp