Introduction to cuusoo An initiative of elephant design, cuusoo.com (meaning ‘imagination-life’) is a Tokyo based 20,000 member design collaborative community promoting the development and production of innovative products using a unique ‘design to order’ (dto) technology. Employing the principle of community based design, members are involved at the design stage to ensure that as ‘potential customers’ they get the products they actually want as opposed to what manufacturers think they want. When ideas gain enough popularity with members to be financially viable, either one of elephant’s designers or the 1200 designers’ part of the community will mock it up and post it online for feedback and improvement. Once there’s enough online support for a particular design it is then put up for sale via a manufacturer. Having established a collaboration with muji in Japan, elephant design has now appointed the-division as their first overseas designers to contribute designs, collaborate and advise on cuusoo.com projects. Introduction to products the-division will add to the range of products vying for consumer votes when they launch three new products on the cuusoo website SPAGHETTI - cable management system for small offices / home offices 415 - a wall clock with a difference SOLARNIWA - simple elegant utilitarian garden furniture Spaghetti Spaghetti offers a neat solution for tidying away excess cables and power bricks by retrofitting an everyday object – the waste bin – with power sockets and lid. It comes with a soft rubber cleat to guide cables neatly to your desktop. 415 415 offers a twist on the conventional wall clock, promoting two types of time keeping; a shadow describes the hour (as sundials do) and the digital minute display tells the precise time and allows you to measure the passing of time. Solarniwa Solarniwa set of garden furniture comprises a slatted wooden table allowing rainwater and crumbs to be easily cleaned away. The vertical slats are lacquered in a colour to complement the garden. The accompanying seats are lightweight and mobile made of polypropylene and fitted with solar panels so that they light up at night to create atmospheric dining. This project was developed in collaboration with 3D visualization specialists, Drive www.drivein.co.uk thank you and don't forget to vote: 415: www.cuusoo.jp/muji/user/000993/0001/ SPAGHETTI: www.cuusoo.jp/muji/user/000993/0002/ SOLARNIWA: www.cuusoo.jp/muji/user/000993/0003/