Atlantica - 01.09.2007, Page 15

A T L A N T I C A 13
In Carpet We trust
Gone are the days of duct taping your cords to the floor. Or using
twist ties, rubber bands or any other cheap and ugly reparation
to pretend-hide the awful electrical cords snaking from behind
your TV-DVD-XBOX-computer toys. Enter German designer Britta
Boehne’s Cable Carpet, which actually makes cords cool by
integrating them into plush white pile. In doing so, the cords
themselves become the design piece. Silicon attachments in
the rug allow the cables to click in and out in a cinch so you can
change them as often as you want. You just won’t want this to
become your black lab’s new dog bed. In production now and will
be available for purchase soon. brittaboehne.de
Hi and Lo
Feats of design and technology from around the world. Compiled by Sara Blask.
Get nosy
Okay, so the enviros at your bbq might turn their noses up at the paper cups stacked
next to the keg, but not since Elmer Krueger invented the first decorated, scalloped
paper napkins has dining been so entertaining. Each of these 12-ounce photo-
realistic paper cups come emblazoned with a new nose. Yes, a nose. So save yourself
the plastic surgery and drink to your health instead. Not to mention that the 24-
pack is evenly divided between male and female so feel free to pick your nose, just
preferably not when we’re all eating. USD 7.50. perpetualkid.com

squared aWay
The design concept behind TV packaging hasn’t
exactly been sexy—or eco-friendly—over
the years. Until now. Unpretentiously termed
the TV Packaging stand, its purpose is just
that—a packaging system for a television that
transforms into a TV stand. Made from expanded
polypropylene, which is far better for the planet
than the Styrofoam of yesteryear, British industrial
designer Tom Ballhatchet’s aim was to design a
product that breaks the “familiar cycle of ‘use and
dispose.’” A few of the stand’s highlights include
wheels on the bottom of the package for easier
transport, grooves in the polypropylene shell
(to protect the television screen) that double as
shelves once the TV is removed, and holes in the
shelves through which power plugs and audio/
video wires can be fed for organization. And this
all comes with the added bonus of less garbage
in the landfill. Unfortunately, the stand is still in
prototype stage but a patent is pending. Stay
tuned. tomballhatchet.com