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We started off with a clear goal - how to make eyecare at home easier, more comfortable, and effective. We were working on a product family of eye-care masks — the Hydrating Sleep Mask (2nd Gen), the Moist-Heat Eye Compress, and the Rechargeable Heat Mask — each built with a specific function in mind.The Hydrating Sleep Mask creates a soft, sealed environment that helps your eyes stay moist overnight. Designed with thoughtful materials - soft silicone eye cups, adjustable parts, and a knit fabric exterior to stay comfortable in any sleeping position. Small vents ensure a pressure balance while still maintaining a seal, and the whole system is adjustable . It's lightweight, breathable, and designed to disappear on your face.The Moist-Heat Compress is a simple, single-use warm compress for moments when you need quick relief. It's ea

IDD Cologne 2025 premiered this fall as the new interior design event to complement the long running trade fair mothership of IMM in January and its alternative urban off-show, Passagen. Whilst organized by Koelnmesse, the century-old giant of Germany's expo world, IDD itself is a new decentralized urban affair, held at design locations throughout the city and focussing on premium brands.I spent some time at Design Post, the show's unofficial nerve center, where a few refreshingly interactive pieces where on show, and lectures, panels and workshops let the visitors get involved.

Last week we looked at Franz Kuhlmann's mid-century adjustable drafting table, which was drool-worthy. Here's another one from the same antique re-seller, Mid-Century Friends, which is a good deal sleeker:

Last year we looked at this $349 Tiger's Teeth invention, which resharpens oscillating tool blades. The company has since released a drill-powered version, which runs $149. Now there's a competing product from the Netherlands, called SharpTool. It's a lot smaller than the Tiger's Teeth gizm

When golf balls land on the putting green, they can leave a little crater, or divot. This disrupts the putting surface, and golf etiquette demands that golfers repair any divots they've caused. To this end golfers carry these divot tools, which look like some kind of Klingon artifact:You stick the prongs into the turf around the divot, then lever the handle towards the center of the hole to even out the surface. Plastic ones cost less than a buck, though you can spend $20 to $100 on

Here's what we looked at this week:Design Engineering student work: The Nozzlemate improves firefighter safety.The Granubot: An automatic screed leveler from Germany.Siso's unusual knockdown hardware for mitered edges.

In 20th century Germany, Franz Kuhlmann was an industrial equipment manufacturer. Nestler was a company that made drafting boards. In the 1950s, the two companies collaborated on this cast iron, steel and wood adjustable drafting table:

This line of bFRIENDS desktop organizers is by British industrial design firm Pearson Lloyd. They're 3D printed by British manufacturer Batch.Works, out of recycled plant-based plastic that was formerly packaging, and make for quite the vibrant deskscape.

Several years ago, British industrial designer Jake Naish designed this Forss bottle. The brilliant concept was that the interchangeable sections provide a thermos that you can easily clean, and adjust the volume of. Alas, it remained just a concept. But now an Oregon-based startup called Eureka is bringing a similar design to market.

When I think about AI and product design, I often go back to a simple, illustrative example: when we first put a camera on a mobile phone. At the time, something like that required a fifty-page document to capture the requirements. Today, I could ask an AI, "We're adding a camera to a phone—what are the technical considerations?" It would instantly generate a decent draft. That part of the process can be automated now. But what about the idea of putting a camera on a phone in the first place? That spark—that's human. That's the boundary I see with current AI. Maybe someday AI can propose those ideas too, but right now, that leap still comes from us.