Bettering yourself — that’s the theme of this crop of crowdfunding projects. From a water bottle that doubles as an exercise tool to a website that takes acts of kindness to a whole new level, we’re seriously in awe of the awesome ideas this month’s innovators came up with. While it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, learning about projects like these really helps to put things in perspective. Check out the game-changing ideas below to get inspired.
1. Furniture You Can Design in a Snap: We can’t say for sure, but this furniture looks way easier to put together than IKEA goods and has a modern vibe we are totally into. Basically, this furniture line consists of a bunch of various sizes of wooden boards and steel supporters (painted in an array of colors) that just snap on. Because you can easily take the pieces apart and refigure them, the same furniture item can be reimagined to be something completely different.
2. An Altruistic Online Community: Creator Zach Curtler’s “Give A Fish” idea takes the TOMS mentality to a new, modern level. He’s aiming to create a site where people can post what they need and can also give others what they need. One user may need a winter coat and another user can send that person one in their size. And that user may also need new snow boots so another user could see that and send him or her ones he or she has outgrown. Wouldn’t it be cool if this idea continued to evolve and we could just live that way completely?
3. Foam Roller Water Bottle: This is the first water bottle that can also be used as an exercise tool. How rad is that? The outside of the bottle — which is eco-friendly, by the way — is wrapped in carefully designed molded foam so you can use it to do a variety of foam roller exercises to strengthen your legs, hips and core. And now that it’s summer, a lot of people are trading their gym time to exercise outside, so having a dual water bottle/foam roller is an easy way to pump up your workout without carting around a bunch of stuff.
4. A Transformative Learning Tool: ThinkAgain is an app for students that aims to make their studying time more effective. Teachers come together to curate questions and highlight important learning moments for a wide variety of topics. For study areas that involve a bit of problem solving, there are text fields explaining the process of arriving to the correct answer. This is *so* much cooler than CliffsNotes.
5. Rechargeable Battery That Works With Any Smartphone: We’re glad innovators are focusing on improving today’s battery situation, because seeing your level at 10% is panic-inducing. The geniuses behind Better Re have created a battery pack that works with any smartphone without harming the environment. They’ve found a way to give used batteries a new life, and we are 100% on board. It doesn’t hurt that they look super sleek too.
6. Customizable Water Bottle: Another water bottle prototype we are totally digging is Zaza, which is customizable and eco-friendly. The inventors partnered with several up-and-coming artists to create a collection of different patterns that can be easily switched out. The water bottles themselves are made from a plant called Castor, which is grown in Asia. Using the plant as the raw material makes it completely “green.”
7. Day of the Dead-Inspired Playing Cards: Game nights are making a comeback, and we’d love for these sweet Day of the Dead-inspired playing cards to be mass produced soon so we can step up our poker game. Inspired by the Mexican political printmaker Jose Guadalupe Posada, each extremely detailed design is created in-house. How impressed would your friends be if you whipped out one of these decks for a game of Gin Rummy?
8. Must-Have Cooking Gadget for Butter Lovers: This little tool called The Butter Boss solves pretty much every butter-related dilemma. Once you pop your stick of butter into The Butter Boss, it essentially works the same way a glue stick does, making it easy to coat pans with butter or apply the perfect amount to your toast (or anything you want to put butter on) without making a greasy mess. You didn’t know you needed it, but now you absolutely must have it, right?
9. A Bag as Stylish as It Is Functional: You guys, someone has finally designed the perfect bag. You know how normally backpacks look juvenile? These ones from P.MAI look seriously chic. If you had told us that a backpack would pair well with a suit, we wouldn’t have believed you, but after seeing the photos, we get it. By keeping the designs classic and using a combination of leather and solid-colored fabric, the designs behind this line have really mastered the whole fashion-meets-function mentality.
10. Turn Your Bike into an Electronic Bike: If you commute to work by bike, you’ll love this one. An inventor on Indiegogo found a way to convert any regular bike into an electronic bike by adding something the size and shape of a water bottle. Hey, sometimes your legs just need a little break, right? Of course, the guy who came up with this idea lives in Europe, where biking is pretty much mandatory, so there are a few European bugs that won’t work for us across the pond. We’re hoping if this one gets funded he’ll tweak it for us here in the States.
Think any of these ideas are absolutely brilliant? Tell us in the comments.
