30 Times A Clever Design Choice Made All The Difference

You don’t have to go to some fancy design school to know something is cool and clever and useful when you see it.

You might have to go to a fancy design school to figure out how to make that cool and clever and useful stuff, however. But the people who do are unsung heroes, because they make our lives better so subtly that sometimes we don’t even realize it.

One workplace switched out the wheels on their chairs with inline skate wheels.

And on those floors, it must make a huge impact on the amount of sound in the workplace. Probably more fun to roll around on, too!

There’s little doubt about which one of these bags of coffee won’t keep you up at night.

Green is the universal indicator of decaf on coffee labels, but just in case you miss that clue, this company gave its decaf owl half-lidded, sleepy eyes, too.

You never want it to be too obvious that it’s time to replace your tires.

You car will find a way to let you know eventually, but if you’re sliding off the road, it’s already too late. So these tires built in an easy-to-follow wear gauge.

You don’t have to live in a studio apartment to appreciate this table.

All four chairs that fit seamlessly underneath the table, are you kidding me? I mean, I would still find a way to stub my toe/bash my knee, but not my hip, finally.

What a difference a lampshade can make.

This particular lampshade was 3D printed, and while I’m not sure if it would get annoying over time, at least at first it would be novel enough you’d just want to lay on the couch and stare at the ceiling for a while.

These must be some well-designed wine bottles.

The way they fit together to stack so perfectly is mind-boggling, as is the thought of all the work that must have gone into stacking it all.

I’m both impressed and worried about this hotel’s fruit-infused water dispenser.

Sure, it’s absolutely gorgeous, but wouldn’t you be a bit hesitant to actually drink any for fear of ruining all that work?

This is the calling card left behind by a dedicated water fountain specialist.

And you have to admit, while this would definitely be pricier than a business card, it’s about a thousand times more memorable.

Likewise, this is a dentist’s card, which includes a floss dispenser.

Again, it’s memorable, and entirely on brand, despite being more expensive than your typical business card.

Once upon a time, this was how you might lock a door.

This is a keyhole on a door on the side of Bordeaux Cathedral, a famous World Heritage site in France. Parts of the cathedral date back to the 11th century.

No, this isn’t just a well-timed picture.

It’s a menu, of a sort. In Asia, many restaurants create 3D plastic displays of the food they serve so diners know exactly what to expect.

This one has a bit more flair, and you have to think it draws in some hungry bellies.

Not content with the standard colors, someone made their own Lego blocks from jewelry resin.

And now I’m super interested in seeing what sort of crazy shiny thing you can make with them.

Workers in this office looking for a mid-day getaway from their desks can kick back in this airplane-styled break room.

Okay, so it’s not exactly a flight to Aruba, but it doesn’t cost as much, either.

Yep, that’s a clever way to direct customers to the right restroom.

Or the straight ahead restroom, badum tss . I’m here all week.

When the public bathroom has your back.

You have to wonder how many first or second dates they’ve stopped from ending early just by hanging a sign.

This brewery styled its light shades after hops.

You know, just in case you forget where you are, but not what hops look like. Honestly though, it’s a nice, attractive, thematically appropriate touch.

Although some folks can pretty creative with toilet paper tubes, this seems like a much better use of the space.

We can always use more toilet paper and having a little extra when it seems like you’ve run out can be a real lifesaver.

Close contact is obviously not something people want right now, so this burger joint has a game-changing solution to serve customers.

Thanks to the addition of these two slides, they can send in the cash and the employees can send down the food without getting anywhere near each other.

The only thing is that I’m not sure how long that duct tape will keep it from sliding off.

These little dog houses are outside of a grocery store in Sweden and give pups a comfy place to wait for their buddies.

They’re apparently controlled with an app and feature heated floors, an automatic fan system, and a UV light sanitation system.

This plastic cup wasn’t offering as much protection as this octopus may have thought, so a diver convinced it to trade this space for a seashell.

That may not sound so impressive, but I should emphasize that the octopus apparently needed a lot of convincing. It turned out at least three shells before it seemed to decide that this one met its standards.

Apparently, all this guy needed to do was ask a question and boom, he’s responsible for the creation of a whole new product.

Granted, he even makes it clear that these “double nutty” cookies are just transplanting the concept for Double Stuf Oreos, but I’m sure people were happy with what he brought them all the same.

It may not look like it, but this is the exact same art piece.

Somebody figured out a way to arrange these metal tubes in such a way that they evoked both a clear picture of somebody meditating and a DNA strain. That’s super impressive.

When this person discovered that their recently acquired jeep had stripped threads, they had to get creative to make it to the hardware store.

And so, they found a way to tie down their starter with a quick and clever temporary solution. Is there anything that zip-ties can’t do?

This Raspberry Pi radio will soon come with a matching speaker, but this person really couldn’t wait for it.

And so, they’ve managed to make an improvised one by putting the right components in a tea box.

They also insisted that it “doesn’t sound as bad as it looks.”

When the handle on someone’s pepper mill broke off, they thought of a lowkey brilliant idea.

It definitely seems like this setup should give you all the pepper you could ever want on something in a flash.

At worst, it’s a bit noisy.

Since this person can’t go to the gym anymore, they felt the need to improvise with some homemade “weights.”

All they had to do was add some duct tape to these 11-pound water bottles and presto! They’ve got themselves some dumbbells.

Some L.L. Bean labels show that they’re intended to turn into hand-me-downs.

Which tells you a lot about the faith they have in the longevity of their products. It’s pretty much the opposite of planned obsolescence.

Anybody can slip a few bills into a birthday card.

And hey, they’re always welcome! But it’s definitely different and cool how someone’s grandfather made them a money pizza instead.

In this city, you can find little rings along the curbs.

They’re not as useful as they used to be, but in a nod to the city’s history, the rings once used to tie up horses have been left in place.

It’s a nice gesture, and kind of a cool conversation piece, even as they tempt toes to slam into them.

Hot metal looks like cold metal, so this pan has a patch that turns red to show when it’s hot.

Because sometimes we think the pan has cooled off a little more than it actually has, right?