KEEP IT SIMPLE: A DESK’S LIFE

A couple of month’s ago, I took a visit to RISD Works, a collection of books/art/music from Rhode Island School of Design alumni for sale in my home state of Rhode Island.  On this trip, I picked up a book entitled The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda, future president of RISD.  The book was a fairly dry read but the overall theme is incredibly intriguing to me given the success of technology meets simple design as demonstrated in the Apple iPod.

 
Law #1: REDUCE

The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.

 
This brings me to my most recent quest: searching for desk paraphernalia which serves a function and initiates rampant smiling.  Function meets design.  The standard 9 – 5 can get pretty monotonous.  How about a bubble-headed tape dispenser to liven things up?

 In my search for animated items for my home and office, I came across 3 sites devoted to offering unparalleled products.

 
The Winner’s Circle

 
Third Place

The tape dispenser above was purchased at a site called DailyPlanner.com.  I stumbled across this site in one of my weekend meanderings on the hunt for my favorite grid paper notebooks. 

 
Products for sale are categorized by the following themes:

 
Along with my favorite tape dispenser above, I have also purchased Miquelrius notebooks (for those of you who share my obsession with grid paper) and a Tiki tissue box (below).

This site is devoted to simple well-designed items intended to draw a smile from even the most serious among us.  One design-flaw to note on this tissue box.  Let’s just say, tissue flow needs to be improved on this item.  I have to re-thread the tissue after every pull.  On the function end of the scale, my tissue box is not sending a steady stream.

 
Second Place

 
Unlike the online store above, this store does not sell a collection of items but instead only one, in a variety of designs: the purse hook.  Yeah.  Yeah.  You’ve heard the story before.  They’ve been highlighted on all of he morning shows.  Etc.  Etc.  But there is indeed a difference between this:

And this:

 
Luxe Link is a Santa Monica-base company founded by former NYU roommates.  The difference between the boring functional item on top and the Luxe Link on the bottom is in the details. 

 
Design:

The Luxe Link comes in a variety of colors and patterns, all focused on providing an added design element to the already well-designed handbag.  For the egoist like myself, I chose one with my first initial on it.  Unlike the traditional purse hook on top, the Luxe Link can be attached to hang off of your purse handle offering easy access when entering a restaurant or bar.

 
First Place

Genius Things is a Portland, Oregon-based company focused pthe intersection of design/function/simplicity in its products.  The online store offers a collection of products but unlike DailyPlanner, our third place winner, the selection is much lighter.  Much like entering your favorite wine store with only a few bottles of meticulously hand-picked items, this online store only offers a few well-selected products.

 
Introducing my new office lamp that I haven’t set-up yet:

Designed by Artecnica, currently featured in the Rococo exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in NYC, this lamp can be molded to your own design aesthetic allowing for continuous shaping according to whim.

 
Offering three categories of products rather than several, Genius Things offers a few quality products rather than many.  This is the first and last time I have responded to direct marketing heading to the site after receiving a 4” x 6” postcard in the mail.  The title of the company drew this little genius-wannabe in. 

 
One con to point out in ordering: after three attempts at posting an order through the e-commerce site and receiving error after error … I had to [gasp] CALL.  Seriously?!?!?