At first, you may think a laser grid for your bicycle is weird — but once you ride down unlit roads in the pitch of night, you immediately understand its purpose. The world is loaded with millions of similarly bizarre products that bend the limits of your imagination. And if you think you have already seen it all, from genius product design ideas to plain weird ones, you’ve barely even scratched the surface.
To show you what we mean, we introduce you to one entertaining corner of the internet called the ‘OddityMall’ project. This web magazine is dedicated to unique and unusual gadgets, odd devices, quirky design decisions, and downright strange solutions you’ll ever have eyes on. Featuring heaps of useful and utterly useless products, the news outlet shows that our hands can create whatever our minds dream up, leaving us entertained and inspired.
Our design-loving team at A&D has gone through their feeds and gathered some of the most noteworthy items you can buy, but should you? Well, we’re not here to judge! Continue scrolling to see the newest batch of pictures down below, upvote your favorite ones, and let us know which of these products you loved and hated most in the comments.
More info: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Odditymall.com | (H/T)
01. This Is Too Good!
02. I Need One Too, Grandma!
03. Dogs Vs Cats Chess Set!
The ‘Odditymall’ project was founded in 2012 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since then, it has grown into a popular news outlet that focuses on the newest brilliant inventions, odd gadgets, unusual product designs, and weird contraptions that appear across the web. As it states on their website, as long as the product is obscure, unique, interesting, or excellent, “you will see it featured on Odditymall.”
The web magazine has branched out to all the major social media channels and has gained a strong foothold there. For instance, it has amassed nearly 3.2 million followers on Facebook and 198,000 devoted fans on Instagram.
‘Odditymall’ continues to surprise every design enthusiast by consistently gracing them with the strangest products that can be purchased online. It’s safe to say that weirdness clearly sells and wins over many internet users’ hearts.
04. I Love This Idea!
05. Genius!
06. Yes, Please!
This social media project also shows that the global marketplace is a crowded, noisy arena. To succeed in the chaos, designers believe they must craft and build products that stand out. For the end users, there’s plenty to choose from. And for the creators, competition is at every corner.
A brief scroll through this list will prove that creators can achieve their goal — even when they do it in a not-so-conventional way. Sometimes, they get so focused on developing a unique product that function, purpose, and aesthetics become more of an afterthought than a critical part of the product development process.
07. This Is Brilliant!
08. Looks Amazing!
09. Wow, The Cat Tree!
But by now, we are used to well-thought-out products. When we think of great design, items that look good or work well immediately come to mind. We have high expectations, from our phones to our cars to our everyday appliances. After all, companies are investing time, money, and other resources into developing solutions that cater to users’ needs. To make our lives easier. To solve problems we didn’t even realize we had before.
This is just one reflection of product design. A blog post on ProductPlan defines it as the process of imagining, creating, and iterating objects that solve users’ problems and address specific needs in a given market.
“The key to successful product design is understanding the end-user customer, the person for whom the product is being created. Product designers attempt to solve real problems for real people by using empathy and knowledge of their prospective customers’ habits, behaviors, frustrations, needs, and wants,” they explained.
10. Too Good!
11. This Is Brilliant!
12. I Love This Look!
Design thinking means approaching innovation by drawing from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the client’s needs. “Ideally, a product’s design execution is so flawless that no one notices; users can intuitively use the product as needed because product design understood their needs and anticipated their usage.”
While good design should include a balance of form and function and solve our problems, it can be fun. After all, the debate on creating valuable and completely irrelevant products is a never-ending one. Still, at its core, good design isn’t just aesthetics and usefulness — it should also communicate well and push the boundaries.
What do you think of these unique and unusual gadgets featured in this list? Which ones caught your eye the most? Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments.
13. Awesome Idea!
14. Brilliant!
15. This Is Too Cool!
16. It’s Glorious!
17. These Looks Incredible!
18. This Looks Pretty Awesome!
19. This Is Brilliant!
20. It’s Beautiful!
21. Genius!
22. These Look Amazing!
23. Omg
24. Too Good!
25. Amazing!
26. It’s True!
27. These Should Be Everywhere!
28. Wow! Warm Glazed Donut Ice cream Sandwiches
29. Amazing!
30. Oh, No
31. Awesome Idea!
32. Want
33. Brilliant!
34. Want!
35. Awesome For Tiny Homes
36. The Perfect Napping Spot!
37. Genius!
38. It’s Very Sofishticated
39. So Cool!
40. It’s Glorious!
41. This Looks Too Fun!
42. This Looks Amazing!
43. I Love This Idea!
44. I’d Never Leave!
45. Innovation At Its Finest!
46. Wow!
47. Yes Please!
48. No More Mess!
49. Such An Awesome Idea!
50. This Looks Amazing!
51. This Is Awesome!
52.
53. Amazing!
54. Thanks, I Hate It
55. Brilliant!
56. Nice
57. Wow!
58. Excellent Way To Save Space!
59. I Need It!
60. This Has To Stop!
61. This Is Genius!
62. Finally!
63. Amazing!
64. A Must For The Man Cave!
65. That looks About Right!
66. Awesome!
67. I Need Them!
68. What A Time To Be Alive!
69. Want!
70. Why?
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