It’s really hard to improve on a good thing. But every once in a while, a product you have known and loved for a very long time gets a redesign or a tweak that’s genius in is simplicity. Here are seven examples of products that we took for granted, recently perfected by a tiny twist.
1) Folding Aviators
Ray-Ban has been making Wayfarers since the 1920s, and their popularity has ebbed and flowed. The sunglasses maker has tweaked the classic shades over the years, but the one that merged classically cool with convenient is the folding Aviators.
2) A more scoopable ice cream scoop
You might wonder how you could possibly redesign something so simple as an ice cream scoop. The answer is shockingly easy — just add a serrated edge. Enthused? Pick one up here for $US10.
3) A better bucket
You never think of a bucket until you actually have to ham-handedly use one of the cumbersome things. Enter the Leaktite Big Gripper bucket, designed by Herbst Produkt’s Scot Herbst with ergonomic improvements, as well as better grips, and a redesigned spout so it only pours when you want it to.
4) Zipper
I know what you’re thinking: a zipper is a zipper is a zipper is a zipper. It’s been the same for 100 years. Then Under Armour went and made it better, adding a magnet so you can XYZ with minimal effort.
5) Twist-off wine cork
Man, ain’t it just the biggest buzzkill when you have a bottle of wine that you can’t open because you don’t have a corkscrew? Fortunately, with the invention of the Helix twist-off wine cork, we’ve been promised a future where that problem will be eradicated. The Helix was shown off at a wine expo in Europe last summer, and we’re told it will be a couple of years before we’ll actually be using it for easy access to all that vino.
6) See-through highlighters
The see-through highlighter debuted last spring in a product category you could call Why Didn’t We Think of This Earlier?. I mean, being able to actually see the very text you’re highlighting? It’s subtle, but downright genius.
7) Reusable sticky notes
Regular sticky notes are a marvellous invention in and of themselves, but if you want to flip ’em over and use the other side, you sacrifice the stick factor. Not so with Ecostatic sticky notes. Instead of adhesive, they use static electricity, so you can use them over and over for weeks on end.