Tag Archives: design

Write On

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While reminiscing about your childhood I’m sure you have fond memories of digging through the biggest Crayola box to find that perfect color. Now, as an adult, you may not be digging through that same crayon box, but if you’re a designer we’re sure you wish you could.

Scribble is the pen that changes how we interact with color. All you do is hold the back of the pen up to a surface and the pen will scan and reproduce the color within seconds. Most graphic designers would love this capability to be digital in order to replicate the color onto their computer rather than paper. No problem, there is a scribble stylus that functions the same way to easily translate the colors from the world around you, digitally. This pen makes designing and recreating colors easy. The scribble also has an associated app where you can find colors you previously scanned to use again, or share with others.

The Scribble recently started funding on Kickstarter, so if you’re ready to bring some more color into your life, go ahead and contribute.

What Sparks our Fire: A great design tool that is fun and easy to use.

What’s your favorite color?

Sleep Tight

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Buying a new mattress? While it may not be something that you have to take care of regularly, it sure is a hassle when the time does come. Retailers carry a large amount of slightly different mattress, which you can go and sit on for about 10 minutes at a time to try and then you pick one that you will sleep on for a few years. Not to mention the difficulty of getting it delivered and brought into your house or apartment to the bedroom.

Casper is a new startup based in New York City that sells just one mattress in five different sizes. What makes Casper special is the convenience factors that they easily provide. First off your mattress comes with in five days anywhere in the US – and same day delivery in New York City – packaged up the size of a mini fridge. And once you set that bed up, you have up to 100 days to try out the mattress, and if you’re not satisfied you can send it back for a full refund.

The reviews of the product also point out that the bed is exceptionally comfortable – which is highlighted by the fact that Casper did over $1 Million in sales in just their first month.

What Sparks our Fire: Innovators making turning a rigorous process into something hassle-free

What other industries need someone to step up and make it hassle-free?

The Future of Charging

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Just last week we shared a post on a new portable phone charger that can charge your device quickly and easily. The Ultra-X is a great look into where we are today with charging. Meredith Perry and her company, uBeam, are looking past today and into the future of charing technology.

uBeam will allow you to charge any device completely wirelessly – no plug, no pad, just a receiver attached to your laptop or phone. The device is capable of transforming electricity into sound waves, that are then distributed and turned back into electricity by the receiver. The only catch, the technology is not capable of charging through walls. But, the ease and accessibility of being able to fully interact with a laptop or phone while in the same room as the wireless charging station is a huge improvement. No more holding your head down towards the outlet in order to be able to talk on a dying phone. uBeam announced today their prototype is fully functionally and plans to be ready to hit the market in 2016.

What Sparks our Fire: An entrepreneur pushing the limits of wireless technology.

Do you think uBeam is the future of charging devices?

Wake Up!

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Nothing wakes me up in morning better than the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Unfortunately, that requires me to get out of bed and head into the kitchen. Well, European industrial designer, Josh Renouf, is currently working on an innovative solution.

The Barisieur is a bed-side coffee pot that also functions as an alarm clock. The noise from the stainless steel ball bearings that boil the water through induction heating plus the smell of the coffee will gently wake you up, as opposed to the ringing of an incessant alarm clock. It features compartments to store coffee beans, sugar, and milk. By preparing it all before bed you can ensure your coffee will be fresh and delicious as it wakes you up in the morning. Prices are estimated to be between $250 and $420, and you can sign up now to receive updates as to when it will be officially for sale.

What Sparks our Fire: Starting the day off right – with a cup of coffee.

Do you love our posts about coffee products as much as we do?

Keeping Cool

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A few weeks ago we wrote about The Coolest, a cooler that does just about everything you’d imagine a cooler could do. Well, we were wrong. The IcyBreeze cooler doesn’t have all of the features of The Coolest, but it does have one that sets it apart.

This cooler doesn’t just keep your drinks cold, it also cools you with a built in air conditioner. Now when you’re enjoying your summer weekend on the beach you can easily cool off without having to get wet. Simply fill the cooler with two quarts of water, ice, and beverages and the rechargeable battery will keep you cool for up to seven hours.

This summer the cooler really seems to be the center of everyone’s attention. The Coolest is now the third most funded Kickstarter project ever hauling in over $7.5 million dollars as I write this with 31 days left. The IcyBreeze isn’t fundraising and is the basic cooler ($279) is available for pre-order.

What Sparks our Fire: Even more innovation in an area that has lacked for decades.

Which do you prefer – The Coolest or The IcyBreeze?