Author: Joseph Weissgold

RestPhones

wowshotThese are the RestPhones. They are essentially two pillows that sit on your head like headphones and allow you to comfortably listen to earbuds while resting your head. They’re great for watching movies in bed when you want to use earbuds, or for falling asleep to music on the bus.

workshop materials

process

The construction is simple. Some (imitation) leather and velvet for the body, foam for the cushion, and some bent aluminium for the band. I initially had some difficulty getting them to sit right, but by the third construction I was happy with the look and feel.

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People are Serious about Pillows

Risk #1: Overtechify

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Can you believe the speaker pillow on the right costs almost $500? And the one on the left has a worse speaker than may cell phone from 2005. Pillowmakers, make pillows, leave the HQ music to the pros.

Risk #2: Take yourself too seriously

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Changing behaviors is a natural part of being a designer, but that doesn’t mean I won’t laugh at you if you walk in wearing a ponchillo. 

Risk 3: Make it do everything

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It does everything? Really? Just what I was hoping for, a pillow with more functionality! My pillows at home are sooooo booooring.

YES: Be honest and playful

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It’s what follows the “Ahh” or “Haha” that really counts: “Ahh, that makes so much sense” vs. “Ahh, I would never use that” or “Haha, that is so cute” vs. “Haha, what a kitchy piece of junk” is all the difference in the world.

ArchReader Pillow – Idea for the Final Project

When I imagine myself reading, I picture a few standard positions, none of which are particularly comfortable for my neck, back, or shoulders.

Reading positions by Kate Beaton

I wish I owned a thousand dollar recliner, but I don’t. So most of the time that I curl up with a book, I either tuck my neck into my chest as I lie on my couch, or I pop my shoulder up and around my ear as I support my body weight on my elbow in bed. It’s enough to make me want to trade in my library for a TB of audiobooks.

I’d like to make a pillow to let me lie in bed and read comfortably. (Further options: lights, sounds, collapsibility/portability, multiple orientations)

SoftLight – Plush LED Lightbulb

 

The SoftLight is a lightbulb shaped toy that actually lights up. Its soft plush body is in stark contrast to the normal ideas of lightbulbs as by definition fragile, very hot, and certainly not soft. The only hard bit on the SoftLight is the metal screw-bottom allowing the toy to be screwed into a lamp. It’s not as bright as a lightbulb, not by far, but it casts a soft glow that could serve as a small lantern, a nightlight, or a reading light.

Here is a video showing the finer points of the toy.

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