I was at a local weekend community market. There were several things there made from recycled objects.
I was wondering if anyone had examples of Found Object Designs that were supplemented with a new piece to bring the product back to life.
e.g. I saw an old whiskey jar that was tweaked with a few pieces to make a humming bird feeder.
My parent’s run a small business making drink coasters from old vinyl albums.
I don’t know if those coasters are super cool, or heart breaking. I love them, but hate seeing old albums being “destroyed”.
I might need to be more clear. That Rewind site has some neat stuff, but I am looking more for products that someone can buy to add to an existing object to make it something else. Ideally on the mass market, or at the very least, can be bought with relative ease.
Another example, a cap you can screw onto a 2 Liter bottle of water to make it a slow drip hose for plants (just coming up with something off the top of my head). So the bottle is readily available around the house, but you buy the cap and a stand for the bottle.
That idea reminds me of the dog dishes that use a 2 liter pop bottle to automatically fill the water
fyi - 85% of the records are in unplayable condition (scratches and skips on the vinyl). They sell the records if they are still in great shape.
I’ve always been impressed with McEwen Lighting when it comes to incorporating found objects into new designs. In my opinion, he does it nicely.
Contexture Design has done some interesting stuff with found objects. Ipod Nano case made of old cassettes, Mobiles made of topographical maps.
Yes, this is exactly the kind of stuff I am referring to. Less, “found object” design. More making-a-widget-that-uses-a-found-object-to-complete-it design.
I don’t know if this is what you are talking about but I found this DIY on making this munny (by kidrobot) doll speakers which I love.
It was on http://www.instructables.com/ which is an awesome DIY site.
Forgot these ones as well. The first one is an IBM typewrite ball-turned necklace and the second one is a Harmon Kardon subwoofer-turned floor lamp.
Great topic. I have interest in this as well: http://blog.coloured.net/tagged/platform
I think Coffee Legs ( Product Design Company Newcastle | Cohda Design ) are a great example. A high-end one might be USBTypewriter.
http://www.usbtypewriter.com/ and a little meta is Ikea Hacker: http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/
How about these jar tops from Droog. I always thought it was a great idea, but I’m also used to drinking frosty beverages straight from a mason jar 
YES!
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