If you're anything like us, you'll be doing as much of your holiday shopping as possible online — and that means lots and lots of boxes. To get all of those open with minimal effort and permanent scarring, we suggest the Slice Box Cutter ($20). A 2011 red dot Design Award Winner, the Slice sports a hand-sharpened, retractable, adjustable-length ceramic blade with a rounded tip to safely and quickly cut through tape and cardboard — but hopefully not the contents — while the unique design ensures your hand stays out of the way. [Scouted by Jerry]
We just came back from alligator country and I saw the USN Catcherman on the Spyderco site and had to post it because it reminded me of the gator shapes. The ‘toxic green’ color on the handle with the black blade is a great combination.
This thoughtful design is the result of an observation into human routine and our unique desire to organize objects. Certain objects like the dustpan, broom and waste-bin often get thrown in odd places or awkward corners, giving them a “homeless” feel or appearance. This combo solution focuses on the relationship of these 3 items, combining them into one codependent unit that looks as good as it is useful. Trust, it’s genius.
Designer: Hsiang Wang
The C.H. Hanson Pro-Sharp Finishing Pencil Carpenter fits any drill and 1 4" quick change system, and is a "chuckable drill powered pencil sharpener" and "produces a fast, consistent pencil point every time".
The reviewer on Amazon went through 144 pencils in less than 15 minutes. Cool Check out the video of it in action after more.
It’s a toss-up which would be worse, getting caught by the enemy or having the cap on this rectal escape kit pop off unexpectedly in a spy’s caboose. The kit was issued by the CIA in the 1960s.
Designed to be more approachable, NEUTRAL is a reassessment of the traditional power drill to make it easier for non-handy people like myself. No complex dials or switches – just an intuitive slide mechanism that automatically adjusts settings based on the desired depth of drive. The hand guard helps with screw stabilization, houses a stud finder and a laser guide to project plum lines and assist with leveling.
NEUTRAL Power Drill is an iF concept design 2011 entry.
Designer: Tim Bennett
The new Victorinox Tomo, designed by Abitax of Japan, is a departure from the standard oblong and rounded corner silhouette of the standard Swiss Army knife. A little less conspicuous because of the orthogonal shape, it would go along in any pocket or clipped on a keychain almost without anyone noticing.
The Floral Knife from Victorinox is super simple and clean - one blade, one color scales, a little brass detailing. It looks like a better fit for a suit jacket than an apron.
Soft Screwdriver is a very easy to carry set of tools that is cleverly packaged. Ten different screwdriver shafts are housed in a strip made of plastic and rubber, which can be rolled to form the driver-head. Simply affix the right-sized tool you require into the middle of the driver-head and you’re ready to go! Folded like a bamboo mat or unfurled, I like the compact design.
The cool gift for the wine lover! The Bosch IXO Vino($40) comes with an exclusive corkscrew attachment for quick and easy opening of wine bottles, and it's also a cordless screwdriver with 10 screwdriver bits.
The Style by Leatherman is pretty compact and unobtrusive for keychain or even coin-pocket carry. I'm a big fan of the non-obtrusive toolkit, no one wants a pound of metal crowding their pocket. Pink may not be for everyone, so it comes in different colors too. And their tool manual is pretty cool looking too:
makoto orisaki has developed 'or-ita', a special shaped blade which fits inside any rotary cutter. with this tool one can perforate cardboard or any other dull material, and then fold it just like paper, sculpting the chosen medium in their own way. the young japanese designer has created a limited edition of these self-made cutter blades, which he is selling in order to earn enough money to start mass producing them. using this new tool, six designers have created three-dimensional works made of cardboard, demonstrating the blade's capabilities. the have been presented in an exhibition entitled 'cardboard high', curated by designboom friend eizo okada (publisher of http://www.dezain.net), and was on show at claska gallery&shop in tokyo,
during tokyo designtide 2010.
for his piece, makoto orisaki repeatedly folded a large sheet of cardboard, working the material for 15 hours
to create an origami magic ball. the object explores the functionality of origami through the medium of cardboard.
Or-Ita is a revolutionary new tool used for sculpting cardboard. It performs an incredibly simple function – perforation – that transforms an incredibly dull material (cardboard) into one that can be freely bent and sculpted as if it were origami. It was invented by self-described “Inter Design Artist” Makoto Orisaki.
To celebrate the invention of this device (it’s not every day that such a simple yet high-demand tool gets newly invented, says the curator Eizo Okada) 6 designers have come on board to create works to experiment with, and demonstrate the capabilities of, this new tool. The show, which just opened over the weekend at CLASKA, is part of Design Tide Tokyo.
If you aren’t familiar with the name, Makoto Orisaki has worked, domestically, with Kenya Hara, and for Philip Stark, who invited him abroad. He also spent a year with UK retailer Habitat and is a force to be reckoned with in the design scene in Japan. Some of his exemplary works include Line Works, Pallet File, and Inter_Box.
via architecture photo
