20 Cool Ideas That Showed Some Real Creativity

I'd love to see one of these glasses in the real world, because the prospect of creating a rainbow every time you take them out is certainly appealing. That said, the design does reduce how much drink they can hold.

Some water bottles just don't want to cooperate when it comes time to refill them. I like the idea of these bottles, though I'd like to see how the design plays out in the real world.

There's no practical advantage to painting a skyscraper in these bright rainbow tones, but it sure is more visually appealing than the standard greyscale tones you typically see on tall concrete buildings.

War memorials run the gamut from straightforward to abstract, and I'd say this one falls somewhere in the middle. It does a great job of expressing the hole that's left behind when someone dies.

I'll always be a big fan of simple, clever designs like this. I really dig the minimalism, too. There are no words or branding of any kind, yet you immediately know it's a bag for glasses.

I'm not sure why this milk brand has doubled down so thoroughly on the cat theme, but it's not like I'm complaining. I especially appreciate the fact that there are multiple possible cat designs.

Here's another example of something with minimal wording nonetheless communicating something definite. Jeeps are known for being rugged, off-road vehicles, and this add shows a Jeep erasing the rugged contour lines on a map of the Continental Range.

After looking at this for a few minutes, it's still a little hard to get my head around. I think there are stairs off-camera in the top right that connect to the main staircase, but I'm not sure.

There's nothing more stressful than getting to the airport and realizing that your baggage is overweight, necessitating a frantic reallocation of all your stuff. This suitcase solves that problem in a truly elegant way.

I'm not sure if you'd call this typography, letterforms, or just fonts, but it's always interesting when a letter can be made abstract, yet still identifiable. It's really cool that each letter is the same shape, just rotated.

I gave up on using a ladle to scoop out stuff that's hard to get years ago. Little did I know that the ladle of my dreams apparently exists. I seriously need to figure out who sells this model.

Apple never made a flip phone, but it's incredible how much this design looks like the flip phones that would follow. This design is at least a decade ahead of its time, especially considering cell phones of the time were big, clunky bricks.

This explains why 2020 was such a lousy year: the top of each character is a frowny face.

Unfortunately, this also means that every year for the rest of the decade will have at least three frowny faces.

When you look at something like this, it looks like concept art, or something out of a video game. But no, this seemingly impossible ski hill is a thing that actually exists in Copenhagen, where it's known as Amager Bakke.

When someone has a stutter, the last thing they need is for someone to try to finish their sentences, no matter how well-intentioned they may be. This ad communicates this in a clever, effective way.

This is where form meets function: the timer is shown in a place that's easy to spot and hard to miss, and it also looks way cooler than a conventional appliance display.

It almost feels like this bannister design defies gravity. I wonder how many floors this continuous design extends to. It isn't just eye-catching, it also looks like it's totally functional as well.

The best ads make you think a little bit, but not too much. Here's a perfect example: the seatbelt crosses out an earlier date of death, which effectively communicates why people should wear seatbelts.

It might not feature the traditional sunken table design you often see at sushi restaurants, but what it does offer is an intriguing hybrid between that design and more conventional restaurant seating.