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Will you conserve more electricity if the light is as precious as time? Combining the hourglass concept with lights for public places like staircases, Jia Wen Chen and Wei-Ting Chen have collaborated with the Flat Light that will time your lights. Once the LED grains all reach the bottom, the lights will then go off and the time limit is merely about 30 seconds. So our conclusion is, cherish your time and treasure electricity resource. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Time again we’re convinced on I New Idea that small changes will result into a better life. Just have a look at the wine stopper designed with a twist by George Lee. Made from a food-grade stainless steel and silicone, the new stopper has a sleek and elegant look and also adjustable date rings which can help the users to remember when the wine bottles were opened. Then you’ll never miss the date with your wine. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Open the seemingly delicious sandwich to enjoy your real nice sandwich… Will this become another fashionable trend of lunch boxes in 2010? [Read the rest of this entry...]

Though flax fiber is widely used for suits, have you ever thought of making a bike with the same material? Actually, the world’s first bike has already won EuroBike Gold Award. Built from biodegradable flax fibers, the bike is durable and lightweight, and it performs well at absorbing and dampening road vibrations. It’s also built with a battery-free lighting system that is powered by a dynamo in the front hub, making it a stylish and eco ride. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Called Funnel Vase, the ceramic vase designed by Roger Arquer features a simple but meaningful change: a funnel on the side allows the users to change water without having to remove the flowers. Also deemed as an art piece, the Funnel Vase will be on show at the ‘Translations’ exhibition during London Design Festival later this month.

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The action of pushing in or pulling out a plug seems really simple but not that pleasant, coz times and times again there’re people getting shocked when plugging in and out. So to save your fingers from electrified discomfort, designer Luofang Jun has come up with an innovative and practical plug that has a collapsible coat at the end to keep your flesh away from the metal prongs, and still ensuring you to easily have the plug in or out. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Among over 3000 bicycles designed for the ‘Seoul Cycle Design Competition 2010′, the Sideways Bike by Ireland based Michael Killian has successfully left everybody a deep impression, as the design has pointed out a totally different way to ride a bike. Built with two independently steerable wheels, the bicycle would travel sideways on the road just like a snowboard do, therefore to offer you more fun and excitement. [Read the rest of this entry...]

What could also control your cellphones except for you fingers and sound? Right here the XWave headset gives us an exciting answer: your mind. After having picked up tiny electrical signals that change along with your thoughts, the XWave then turns them into signals that can control your phone. But will you be able to control others’ iPhones when wearing the headset? I am much more concerned to know that. [Read the rest of this entry...]

We humans are really clever: we put our foot into the waste basket to compress the discarded paper, so as to make room for trash. But apparently the designers are much clever, as they’ve collaborated with a flexible waste bin that allows the users to make room for trash much more quickly and neatly. When the basket is almost full of paper, you simply need to get its mouth together and compress the trash, and you’ll find more room is made once you release its mouth to let the bin will then go back to its original shape. Fantastic!

Dubbed Push Up, the flexible waste bin is an iF Concept Design 2010 winner. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Though what you’ve seen from the Seesaw Faucet is mainly fun elements and a distinctive design, Chanhee Han actually cares more about the environment and water energy. As the faucet acts up and down to dispense water from the left side and soap from the right, you’ll no longer have the water keep running when you’re using the soap. In other words, the Seesaw Faucet offers either water or soap at one time, but never both two. [Read the rest of this entry...]

What wonderful good fortune kids today are enjoying, they can even own a classic luxury car as the adults do! But certainly the luxury cars for kids are only half scales. Designed for children over the age of 6 and small adults, these delicate cars are powered by 50cc gas or a racing kart engine, and all of them have an electric start, disk brakes and reverse gear, etc. Well, I can imagine how cool it would be to see my niece and her mother driving in two look-alike cars around the city! [Read the rest of this entry...]

Everyone would need a multifunctional scissor like this. Ergonomically designed, the innovative scissor can be used both left and right handed, allowing the users to easily cut paper, open bottles and crack nuts. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Designed by Estelle Sauvage, a graduate from Ecole Nationale supérieure d’Art et de Design de Saint-Etienne, the new kettle can heat water to 90°C using a light bulb. But of course the bulb is not directly placed into the water! Mounted on a wooden base, the incandescent bulb is actually separated from water by the recess of the glass jug for safety. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Having noticed that people seldom walk straight through regular pedestrian crossings, Korean designer Jae Min Lim designed the ‘Ergo Crosswalk’ that features an arc shape to help the pedestrians take a much faster shortcut. [Read the rest of this entry...]

What would a coffee cup look like when it is placed in zero gravity? To find the answer, you need have a look at this mug. It can be tilted in place when not in use, as if it is trying to free itself from gravity and fly up into the sky. But when in use, the coffee cup can still stand vertically like regular mugs do. [Read the rest of this entry...]