I New Idea Homepage

The Bank of Canada has decided to release new $100 bill made of a plastic polymer all over the country. Due to its special material, the new bills are harder to counterfeit, longer to use and cannot be destroyed by liquid. These plastic bills are expected to be used for up to 22 years, which is 1.5 times longer than paper bills. As the $100 bills are widely accepted by Canadian people, the bank announced that $50 bills, $20 bills, $10 bills and $5 bills will also be released by the end of 2013.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

It seems like a smart container, what do you think the item is used for?

[Read the rest of this entry...]

A bigger scissor? Of course not, as the gadget is actually a laptop stand that is both affordable and portable. Dubbed “Prop”, the stand can lift your laptop off the table, thus to create better airflow and cool your laptop’s temperature down. Well designed, the Prop can fit nearly all sizes of laptops up to a size 17″.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Of course it seems like a handbag, but what could this be, if it is something else? Exert your imagination and leave me a possible answer.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Summer is already here… Wear your iPhones these colorful slippers so as to let them live a cool season as you do. [Read the rest of this entry...]

If you want a lightweight shoe rack that can be folded flat for an easy transportation, then you have the option of Stepper. It is made from plastic and therefore is lightweight enough for taking around. It is functional, as the shoe rack can store up to six pairs of shoes. Besides, the Stepper is also easy-to-store: simply fold it flat and you can put it anywhere- under your beds, your tables, or inside your cabinet. [Read the rest of this entry...]

New Zealand businessman Peter Lewis has created an innovative machine that can transform discarded plastic like bottles and bags into building blocks. Believe it or not, such bricks can be used to build emergency houses or landscaping walls and they’re more durable than you can imagine, as each brick is comprised of an estimated 10kg (22lbs) of plastic. So you needn’t worry they’ll be blown away by the wind. [Read the rest of this entry...]

The smart Bottle Cap Punch is designed to cut holes in the metal caps of soda-bottles, so you can suck in cola via a regular plastic straw without having to open the caps. And more importantly, you needn’t worry that the beverage would spill out and leave a mark on your trousers any more. [Read the rest of this entry...]

The colorful summer days are filled with colorful articles, say the bright-colored skirts, green flowered T-shirts, flowery hats and these beautiful shoes designed by Gaetano Pesce for Brazilian brand Melissa. They’re all made of plastic discs, enabling the consumers to create new styles by cutting circles away from the edges. The MELISSA + Gaetano shoe is available in six different colors: transparent, off-white, translucent orange, black, red and blue. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Who says we always have to pick up the bottles to pour the water into the cups? Surprise them with the Soft Bottles, or more exactly, these plastic bags with a long mouth. Simply pull the mouth of the bag aside, push the soft bags and then you can enjoy the refreshing beer! Isn’t that interesting? Well, also weird. [Read the rest of this entry...]

“Made of plastic” is not the only characteristic of the Izzy Plastic Urban Bike, a collaborative project between Omer Sagiv and Uri Sadeh. One would expect a fragile vehicle but the bike is actually quite firm to bear the weight of two adults. Best of all, its frame is recyclable, which means that you can have the damaged frame replaced at the store. To top off the cool concept, the bike also incorporates 2 free standing locking systems, three-dimensional illumination, and the integrated rear suspension. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Who says printers only use paper to print documents? Surprise them with the PrePeat Printer then. Different from conventional printers, PrePeat adopts a thermal head to print on specially-made plastic sheets. These plastic sheets are not merely water-proof, but could be easily erased when you no longer need the temporary documents. Also claimed by the manufacturer, such one sheet could be used up to 1,000 times so that you’ll no doubt reduce your expenses on paper.

The printer measures 37cm ×23cm ×30cm (W× D× H) and weighs about 40 kg. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Made from durable high-density plastic, the golf club is actually a beverage bottle which can hold 54 ounces of beverage at one time. Either hot or cold beverage you may want, the device could always satisfy you as it can maintain the temperature for up to 5 hours. [Read the rest of this entry...]

‘Aqua Jar’ is one of the attractive products exhibited at Valencia Design Week in October. It transforms any plastic bottle into an easy-pour pitcher, therefore allowing water to be served without sprinkling. Moreover, ‘Aqua Jar’ is made from biodegradable and recyclable plastic, eco-friendly to the environment.

Dubbed as “GoGoStand”, the plain plastic card may be a great help in accidental conditions whenever you need to free hands and find something to hold your phone, PSP, or MP3. When not in use, it could be collapsed down and stored in your wallet, just as easily as your cards.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

The sticky nips we used in daily life are usually kinds of combination of plastic hooks and wool mat. The hooks will be able to catch on floss automatically when they are ranged on a semi-sticky film clip and affixed with brushes on the other side. Now, scientists have invented ”Velcro” – a kind of sticky nips based on the improvement of plastic products, which greatly augments the load-bearing and heat capacity of sticky nips. Amazingly, Velcro of one square meter size can hold up to 7 tons and withstand heat at about 800 degree Celsius.

Forgetful people are always bothered by various things, for example, they are not sure whether or not they have locked doors. That’s the main reason why ‘Smart Key’ is invented, and it can help to resolve such problems effectively. The key is pasted with a plastic piece to show the state of the lock. When you tend to lock the door, simply circumgyrate the key to the end and the plastic piece will be twisted to show information like ‘door locked’ on it; correspondingly, both the plastic piece and the information cue will then change as you use the key to open the door.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Obviously the design of the gorgeous home decorations that are made of recycled plastic bottles is the best action to the term “recycle”. Lamps, campanulas, chandeliers, etc, a series of dazzling styles have weakened the sharp lines of plastic and ensure the bottle lamps to be exquisite in warm light.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Plastic drink bottles are usually treated as waste. But designer can change them into good decorations. The central part of the lamp is a sphere whose surface is full of holes and you can screw plastic bottles into the center sphere threaded holes to make a gorgeous lamp. Turn on the light! It’s beautiful. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Normal wall lamp seems too ordinary to meet our requirement, and so some new innovative designs are necessary. This one is a good example. Plastic leaf comes with LED to form an elegant atmosphere. [Read the rest of this entry...]

This is a weird dog designed by artist joshua allen harris. The dog will start to move like a real one by using the air flow from subway grates. Although it will not as sexy as Marlyn Monroe, it is still pretty funny.

Video after the break.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

The remade concept is the most eco-friendly cellphone. The metallic body is made from recycled aluminum cans and the chassis contain plastic from drink bottles. Moreover, the rubber key pad is made of old tyres. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Although there has been many foldable mouse, you still can’t take it like a piece of paper. This concept design might be a good alternative.

All the electronic components are all fixed on a single flexible board, and the body is actually a inflatable soft plastic. You could blow it up just like a balloon, and deflate it while not using. [Read the rest of this entry...]

In order to have a better balance, most vase is made from rigid material. However, if it is a vase as thin as a paper, and could even be collapsible, what do you think?

This unique vase from Jill-able is made from plastic. After being filled water, it could stand still to support itself. Cause its collapsible design, if you don’t have any flower, it is easy to be storage. [Read the rest of this entry...]

A 22-year-old student has developed this new cooling device whose cooilng capability is four times than normal ones.

Actually the since is very easily, which described as “You have plastic cooling cells which are pressed down into the dock which houses the liquid carbon dioxide. The liquid CO2 expands and is pressurized into dry ice in the base of the cooling cells … in a moment” [Read the rest of this entry...]

This reading light is made from plastic with FOLED embedded. With this light, it gonna be more convenient of reading in the dark. By the way, MARK won the Red Dot Award for best design concept in 2007. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Researchers from University of Michigan have created a composite plastic which is made from layers of clay nanosheets and a water-soluble polymer that shares chemistry with with glue.

It is a fantastic new material which could be widely used in many area. [Read the rest of this entry...]

This new crutch must give your more comfortable by its unique design. In addition, it’s made of plastic, rather than wood, and are even recyclable. They would also come with exchangeable parts and optional accessories for pimping out your injury-ware. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Nulethics have developed a new way to produce sport wear. This new fabric is made from bamboo and plastic bottle. They claimed that this new process could be more eco-friendly than normal one. [Read the rest of this entry...]

This abnormal shape chair is made from nature fiber. This kind of design could give you different feeling while sitting on it. [Read the rest of this entry...]

This weird skeleton is made of plastic yellow tube, it is driven by wind. I have to say, it’s really fantastic. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Made from fabric and plastic, this display could give you magic image. It is driven by mechanical pistons blow the surface. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Hey, you know what is this frog use for? Just come in…

[Read the rest of this entry...]

This 2.5-inch full color flexible OLED display is only .3mm thick. It’s pretty cool. You can even blend it like a plastic piece. Video after the jump. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Can you imagine you gonna be injected blood from plastic? No, it’s not fiction. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Scientists from NEC have developed a new technology to make material like plastic from corn. In this way, our plastic device, such as cellphone, MP3 player and so on, will be more eco-friendly and low-cost. [Read the rest of this entry...]

This might be the world’s lightest RC plane. With transparent plastic wings and carbon fiber skeleton, it’s only weight 3.6 grams, which is less than a sheet of paper.

[Read the rest of this entry...]