NY Design Store Map

I'm putting together a map of cool design stores in NY using Google maps. It's a work in progress and focused on Soho right now, but I'll be adding to it over time so if you have any suggestions, let me know. It's probably only 20% done at the moment but includes enough

glow. wing.

Soner Ozenc & John Wischhusen created a beautiful light in their Glow Wing, which also has one of the most fitting names I've come across. It's made from electro-luminescent plastic and can run either on four AAA batteries or on a 110V line, but is only available in blue. Each Glow Wing kit comes with wings, a body, a cable, an inverter and, if you live in Europe, an adapter. Costs $139 but that includes shipping in the U.S. and Canada.

yum. brella. bowl.

Benjamin Hubert sent me a link to his recent work and, as you can see from the Yum brella bowl, he's a mad genius of design. This particular piece is a ceramic fruit bowl with a built-in banana hook, but I suggest you swing by his site to see what else he's working on. It's all amazing. My other faves are the Puff out light and the Cast candelabra. (Sorry, no direct links as it's a Flash heavy site.)

soop. plate.

Rebelling against the axiom that kids (and adults) shouldn't play with their food, Soop created a plate that turns your meal into a game. The $27 plate looks like a game board and comes with a booklet of games (although I imagine you can figure out your own pretty easily). If my parents had had this for me when I was little, maybe they'd have been a little more successful getting me to eat my peas. Well, maybe not....but at least I'd have enjoyed not eating them a bit more.

shin. tanaka. paper. robots.

Shin Tanaka is a designer who creates robots out of paper, then takes the blank design template for the robot and invites anyone interested to design their own version. He then posts pictures of his and your robots on his Web site in a sort of mega collaboration gallery. He's got a bunch of robots online right now, including one sort of Tokyo hop hop version that has a hoody! I can't tell from the site if he actually sells any of this stuff or not, but he does display them at shows.

eat. drink.

David-Louis loves aluminum, lists industrialists and designers like William Morris as influences, and likes to create products that will stand the test of time. Check, check and check for Eat Drink, an aluminum placement and coaster set that adds a bit of fun to your dining experience. It's a pricey adornment for your table at £114 (that includes VAT and shipping if you live in the UK though), which works out to about $157 for U.S. residents not including shipping, but at least you know it's going to last.

cuboluce.

Franco Bettonica and Mario Melocchi designed a very literal lightbox when they created Cuboluce. It's a small (4" x 4" x 4.5") box that lights up when opened. You can angle the reflection of the light by opening the lid a little more or a little less. Although this probably falls under the category of "decorative" rather than "task" lighting, I think it would work great atop a bureau or writing desk, on that hard-to-reach shelf that always seems to be in perpetual shadow. So for me it's a "mini task" light. Cost is $145.