Firefly Drinks

Just a quick post to say that Firefly drinks are on to a good idea with the packaging. For each of the drinks in their range they feature a photo on the front of the pack that sums up the mood that the drink is intended to generate. For “Wake Up” below the picture is of a bloke jumping with energy…

The photo was taken by someone called Phillip Spears

What a stroke of genius from Firefly. Simply take an inspiring photo that sums up the mood that their drinks are trying to evoke, send it in and if they think it is better than what they already have they use your picture instead. Great marketing idea. Basically it is a much better version of what Jones Soda and Veddett beer do. I can imagine it working really well for Sharyn Wortman’s Today was Fun teas.

Cool Chocolate Calorie Counter

I love this. Would it work for any other product I wonder?

This is from El Manco

““Rompibollo” is a chocolate board which can be easly divided in pieces of different dimensions. On the relief of each piece, it’s shown the caloria count of chocolate.”

Self Stirring Tea Cup

From the Telegraph – that bastion of tea drinking:

“The teaspoon could become a thing of the past after the invention of a mug that can stir liquid by itself.

All a drinker has to do to work the clever cup is gently swirl it. This sets in motion a ceramic ball positioned at the bottom of the mug that stirs the contents.

The device was invented by two French designers, who recently displayed it at the London Design Festival. Florian Dussopt, 23, said: “The cup aims at introducing a new way of drinking tea or another warm drink without using a spoon.

“The ball is put into a slightly protruding base to keep it in place when stirring and drinking.

“Users gently move the cup, like you would when swirling a glass of cognac, and the action pushes the ball around.

“The ceramic ball mixes all various sugars and milk at the same time, thus eliminating the need for a spoon. When you drink it the ball is blocked by the gravity in the recess of the glass. This eliminates the need for a spoon. Ceramic is a material that is hygienic and beautiful at the same time. The combination of glass and ceramic is aesthetically appealing in its formal interpretation of the traditional cup and saucer.”

Bad news for teaspoon manufacturers everywhere. Personally, I don’t see what’s wrong with mugs? They’ve got these clever inventions called handles that stop you from burning your hands. They come in lots of different styles and it could be argued that they are a British icon. So why do we need some sort of Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker device for our tea?

Chocolate Pencils

Amazing choclate pencils from Off the Meat Hook:

“I’ve been drooling over this photo of chocolate pencils from Le Chocolat de H, an arty, high-concept, high-end chocolatier in Tokyo.

They wanted to emphasize the shavings- which in a pencil constitute waste- as a positive product instead of a waste product, so they’ve included a handy dandy sharpener so you can shave your pencils on top of a dessert. Brilliant and interactive!

They don’t appear to be for sale online yet, so unless you are reading this post from Roppongi you may have a hard time getting your hands on a set.”

Awesome Chocolate Keyboard

Geeky chocolate. Nice.

From Gizmondo.

Can you believe it?

From Slashfood but originally from Trekking Mahlzeiten

“This makes as much sense as “hot dog in a straw” or “soup in a bag,” but it’s real and it’s ready to order: cheeseburgers in a can!

Yeah, I don’t know what the hell to think about this. First off, I don’t know if food like this is supposed to be in a can, and second, that cheeseburger couldn’t have come from that can. It’s bigger than the can is, and too put together and too neat. Then again, McDonald’s burgers never look like they do in the ads either.”

I’ve got a feeling this is for backpackers who couldn’t possible cope without a cheese burger.

Sentimental Chocolates

I saw these on Coolhunting and thought how awesome they are. Would make a great little valentine’s day pressie.

The only downside is that the only place that sells them seems to be in Austrailia called BaskaJon.

Scrabble Chocolate

This is brilliant. I really want this. Nerdy and tasty. Could it get any better? You can get it from Mary and Matt’s General Store.

I guess they’d better watch out that they don’t get sued like the guys who invented Scrabulous on Facebook. For more on the scandal read the Guardian aticle here.

Isn’t cooking exhausting sometimes?

I saw this and got really excited given my new found interest in cooking using a car! This design for an exhaust pipe modification that cooks things won an award for the best idea that we could all be using come 2015! This extract is from Inventor Spot.

“Designed by an Iranian team, the “Exhaust Burger” transforms the tailpipe of your car into a mobile grill of sorts. Wow. Now that’s creative, and also a little disturbing. The idea is that you stop the car when you are hungry, install the device (and pack some ground round into it – so hygenic) and you’re on your way to a delicious hamburger, ready for you at your next destination.”

The site also features some other brilliant ideas such as…

Wallet Cutlery

“Italian designer Alberto Ghiradello has come up with a creative solution to carting around cutlery. I don’t know about you, but somehow I tend to find spoons hanging out in my bag all the time, and it can get quite annoying, especially when there’s none in the kitchen drawer. This “Cutlery in a Wallet” set can be assembled whenever you need them, and then can be reinserted into the flat mold and housed in your wallet again, hopefully after a cleaning.”

Bubble Wrap Tableware

“I always like when everyday objects take on new life with a different function, such as this unique crystal “china” modelled after bubble wrap. “Bubble” is made of cast polyester resin and looks like it would be a real pain in the butt to clean. This was a collaborative effort by U.S. artists.”

And Musical Dining

“This piece, entitled “Musical Dining” was envisioned by Fumiaki Goto from the Netherlands and promises to bring some musical entertainment to your dining experience. It’s made like a marimba, so when you place plates, glasses or different items on it at various points, different tones will emerge, transforming dinnertime into a jam session.”

If you want to see even more weird and wonderful culinary inventions have a look here.

Fruit bowl to die for

I don’t buy much fruit. I should buy more. Cowie would appreciate it if I did!

But if I had one of these I wouldn’t be able to stop buying apples and oranges!

I found this on Treehugger and have fallen head of heals in excitement about it. It covers everything I like: food, design, green stuff, quirky things and the internet!

Slartibartfast was particularly fond of the fjords, but the whole world is covered in wonderful topography that one can read from contour maps with a bit of training, but cannot feel without being there. Until now, with Fluid Earth. This brings together so many ideas that we love at TreeHugger; mass customization, downloadable designs, creative use of the latest technologies to develop beautiful things. And what could be more beautiful than your favourite place on Earth?

“Fluid Earth bowls are unique works of art in the form of your chosen part of the earth. The beloved On-line Service Google-Maps enable you to quickly and easily design your own work of art. The world is truly at you fingers and can be filled with the fruits of the earth.”

You go online and find your favourite spot and fiddle with the scale and dimensions; (most contour models have to be exaggerated vertically unless you are in the mountains) and play with it until you are happy;

then add to your cart. “After ordering your bowl the Algodes software generates the required production files. This is feed into the computer controlled (CNC) milling machine that forms a block of wood into your personal Fluid Earth. Since every bowl is different the surface is sanded and polished by hand and finaly protected with a natural oil. To keep your bowl looking fresh and new, simply apply a new coating of olive or sunflower oil.”

Two weeks later you have your own little piece of planet Earth, preserved in wood. What a fabulous mashup of technology, art and design to make what must be the most creative use yet of NASA’s databases, Google Earth, CNC technology and online shopping. ::Fluid Earth via ::Product Dose