Summer is a time for cocktails and lemonade on the lawn or deck, not doing dishes.

Happily, the designers at THE WAY WE SEE THE WORLD have come up with a solution to the paper vs. plastic debate.

Jelloware cups are made of agar, cast in an assortment of flavors and colors.

Yes, agar-agar is that substance you used in bio lab to grow bacteria on petri dishes. But that’s because it’s completely organic, made from algae.

It’s also been a common ingredient in Asian desserts for quite some time, and is a staple of modern cooking techniques.

Jelloware cups come in lemon-basil, ginger-mint, or rosemary-beet, and are completely edible and biodegradable.

When you’re done with your drink, chomp on your chalice, or just tear it to bits and sprinkle it on the lawn: agar actually nurtures the growth of plants.

High heat or high alcohol content may make for a relatively short lifespan, so be sure to drink up!

Concept photos from the 2nd annual Jell-O Mold Competition have recently made the blog rounds, but there’s no purchase link to be found. Anyone know how to get?

[via @brainpicker and @treehugger]

The common thread? Ceramics.

For the retail consumer, advanced ceramics offers ultra-sharp, precise kitchen knives.

Unlike metal, ceramic blades (usually made from zirconia) will never rust, and their edge will stay sharp up to ten times longer than steel.

Chemical inertness makes them impervious to smells and stains.

Additionally, ceramic weighs much less than metal, resulting in a knife that is easy to wield with precision.

On the other hand, some feel they are more trouble than they are worth.

Sharpening can only be accomplished with diamond-based sharpeners, and the blade is extremely brittle.

The knife will shatter like glass if dropped on a hard surface. Attempting to cut through bone or frozen materials can cause splintering. Using the knife in a twisting or prying motion can cause it to snap.

Black blades that have gone through an extra hot firing process are somewhat tougher (and very elegant).

Though more expensive than traditional knives, the accuracy of ceramic knives makes them downright fun to use.

And at only $25, there’s no excuse to skip the mandoline for easy homemade potato chips.

Whether you’re relaxing on the beach or just on the lawn, the Yosemite Valley Gear foldable hammock is bound to make you smile.

The steel frame is light but strong, and the nylon hammock attaches with easy-swinging hooks (touted as “high-grade Japanese bearings”) at each end.

Best of all, assembly is easy. And not “Ikea easy,” but actually simple.

If you can uncork a bottle of wine, you’ll be able to set this baby up in under 5 minutes.

This $60 accessory is perfect for carrying to the shore instead of a beach chair.

Great if you’re trapped indoors working and want to spend your lunch hour truly relaxing on your roof or deck.

Or maybe even — on late summer evenings when stomachs are full and brains are buzzing — for unexpected house guests.

h/t @toofeets, bottom photo by @phillygrrl

The beauty of these Swiss-made toys lies in their relative simplicity: interlocking shapes that can be rearranged and stacked into infinite patterns.

Seemingly basic pieces allow children to explore the physics and visual cues of our world, having fun as they discover new relationships of shape and color.

The elementary designs leave room for the imagination to roam, uninhibited by a connected brand or cartoon story.

Adults hands will be itching to play, too. The array of available configurations sparks thoughts of malleable table art.

Indeed, the price tag on many of the items suggests more artwork than plaything, with averages between $150 – $300 per set.

Famous Swiss workmanship does go into each piece: most are handcrafted and quality-inspected to within a millimeter.

Also worth noting is that each knickknack was created by a specific designer, including authorized replicas by original Bauhaus members.

There’s even an annual contest held to find creative new arrangements for certain sets, held in Japan, where Naef has had a strong presence for decades.

In 2005 Naef USA was launched in Winchester, Virginia and is going strong. Perhaps we’ll see greater spread of these decidedly un-quotidian blocks here in the near future.

Designer Adin Mumma‘s surprisingly elegant Wobble Chess Set adds a touch of whimsy to the serious game.

The maple and walnut pieces are finished with rounded chrome zinc bottoms that sway when placed in the concave spots on the polished wooden board.

Many will recognize the inspiration for the set’s design as the Weebles, Hasbro’s roly-poly toys that were common in the 1970s. “Weebles wobble, but they won’t fall down!”

Unusual chess sets abound, from one etched from Waterford Crystal to LEGO playing pieces to Givan’s custom-constructed vertical board, found in high-profile venues such as Jay-Z’s 4040 Clubs.

In adding quivering motion to this refined pastime, Mumma has created something new. Thoughts of Lewis Carroll cannot be far behind.

[via Little Clock Shop]

The cube can be an elucidatory shape, such as in The Emperor’s New Mind, where physicist Roger Penrose falls back on the familiar cube to explain higher dimensions, as does Carl Sagan in Cosmos.

[Viz: if we recognize that a two-dimensional line drawing of a cube really shows us a "shadow" of the actual 3D cube, we can think of the 3D cube as a "shadow" to imagine the 4D version, and so on up the dimensional ladder.]

The cube can also be a form that connotes mystery and intrigue, such as the Bene Gesserit‘s pain box in Dune, or the puzzle box in Clive Barker’s Hellraiser.

Manufacturer Arca-Swiss has a cube that’s a bit of both. A few years ago, the company, which is well-known for ball-head tripod attachments, released the C1 cube [PDF], which “simultaneously achieves mastery of control with an appearance approaching the status of jewelry.”

The elegant C1 is a precision geared tripod head that can hold and position heavy, professional camera rigs, and weighs less than 25% of anything comparable.

Outfitted with bubble levels, the head adjusts on two sets of x-y axes, and allows for tilt and pan, all while keeping the image plane — or lens nodal point — in pretty much the same spot. (Jack Flesher has a great review with more details from a photographer’s perspective.)

The only drawback to this cube is that Arca-Swiss appears a bit snobbish. The company eschews an online presence, having no website and contact emails with addresses like aol.com and swissonline.ch. And, the price tag: yours for only $1,699.

But compared to $5000 for an ugly, large, mechanized auto-adjusting tripod head, the cube seems a better choice. And as Swiss-designed tabletop sculpture goes, it’s probably quite cheap.

[h/t Shao for reminding us this particular cube is on our wishlist]

A limited edition of 250 Cannondale OnBikes are now available.

The erstwhile high-end bicycle manufacturer went for clean lines and unorthodox profiles for this $6,150 transportation statement.

From the Cannondale website:

Form meets function: Every millimeter of the onBike has been thoughtfully crafted to create a work of art. Ride it and then hang it on the wall. It’s a masterpiece on the road and the gallery.

Available only in black (matte), the cycle’s drive and gears are whisked out of sight, enclosed in a sleek billet-carved sheath that becomes part of the structural frame and connects the rear wheel.

All of the brake cables are also enclosed, and run down the front wheel on a single side, counter-balancing the chain case.

The casing around the drivetrain should keep out dirt, avert misalignment and provide better performance over time.

Perhaps we could get a bicycle loan for this one?

[h/t @aleiter via Gizmodo]

It’s always disappointing when something looks wonderful, but does not perform.

This stainless steel tea infuser from Kitchen Craft, for example, seems like it will be pretty cool.

It sports an attractive, sleek shape, and the way it opens — by pressing down one end so the tea-holding ball slides in half — is fun. But it completely fails at its intended task.

When you release the tip to close the ball after dipping in loose leaves, the halves slide back over one-another, pushing out a good deal of your tea.

When you want to empty the used tea, you discover that even when you push the spring-end as far as it will go, the two hemispheres don’t completely separate. Much of the dredge is stuck in the ball. It takes a few uncomfortable swipes of the finger to clean it out.

“Form follows function” has been a popular credo of modern design movements, from architecture to products to programming. The idea and phrasing is usually attributed to Louis Sullivan, who in the late 1800s designed the first modern skyscraper.

But aesthetics are intrinsic to perception, and can play an important role in the success or longevity of an object. And as the New York Times noted recently, the digital age has allowed us to move farther and farther from the need to connect the two. The tiny iPod Shuffle is their premier example.

And sometimes it’s worth conceding a bit of practicality: the Cube Jigger was derided by a few bartenders as unusable for the quick pours needed in a restaurant setting. But for a home user, the cool look makes it a fair trade off.

Have you run into an object that sacrificed functionality for good looks? What was it? Was it worth it?

The Vapur™ Anti-bottle is a foldable 16oz plastic water bottle. It contains no BPAs — the chemicals in rigid plastic bottles that leech into liquids over time — so it’s completely refillable and reusable.

When full of liquid, the brilliantly-designed bottle stands upright. When empty, just roll it up and stuff it in a pocket, or even flatten it and slip between the pages of a book.

Vapurs are available in an assortment of colors, and come with a carabiner for easy carrying when full. They can be frozen for use as an portable ice-pack, and are dishwasher safe.

Lay your hands on one for the bargain price of $8.95, or a set of four for under $30. You can even buy extra screw or squirt caps separately.

Introduced in late 2009 by a California-based company, the bottles are manufactured entirely in the United States, and ship flat (taking up 90% less trucking space than comparable rigid plastic bottles).

Packaging is printed using wind power with soy-based inks on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. The company also participates in the 1% for the Planet program.

Compare that to the approximately 17 million barrels of oil it takes each year just to manufacture standard water bottles for the US market, and the fact that an estimated 30-40% of water is wasted while filling these bottles for sale.

Sure, you can use an expensive, bulky aluminum canteen instead. But why would you?

Get yours now & spread the word!

[via core77]

Twitter: @vapur

Crooked Neck has a circuit bent drum machine & 2 battery powered amps built-in. The speakers for the amps are behind the blue & grey circles on the body.

Or does your adventure choose you?

If you’re an artist, usually a bit of both.

Ben Simon makes wonderfully whimsical and unique handcrafted electric guitars and other instruments.

After growing up all over the East Coast, he landed for a time in the Carolinas — a region with a rich history in woodworking — and immersed himself in learning the craft at Burch Company Wood Studio.

As a musician, Simon noticed that some of the more elaborate cutting boards he was working on were reminiscent of electric guitar bodies.

Taking 2 and 2 apart, he deconstructed an electric guitar, did some research, and in 2006 crafted his first custom instrument.

He went on to twice tour Europe playing self-built guitars and basses with his band Get the People.

The instruments themselves have evolved over the years. One was made using 18 different types of wood.

The repertoire is also no longer limited to guitars; pieces have been built that incorporate synths, drums, speakers and amps.

Bass made with exotic hardwoods

A true artist, one of Ben’s goals is to teach, and spread his specialized knowledge and discoveries.

As a member of the Brooklyn artist community center 3rd Ward (which it so cool that it gives all of its members free bicycles — yes, free bikes), Simon has access to a full woodworking studio.

He’s working on an instrument building program for disadvantaged youth featuring small classes there.

(This should be very popular with kids, who will see tangible, usable results from their hard work.)

To own your own one-of-a-kind musical art piece, you can consult with Ben (bensimonmusic@gmail.com) and discuss types of wood, shapes, hardware and more.

Prices start as low as $500.

Check out more photos below after the jump, or on his Flickr stream.

The adventure’s just begun.

Busking with the Guitar2D2 - an instrument with a built-in drum machine, keyboard, effects and amps.

Guitar made from wood streaked by the ambrosia beetle as it burrows through maple trees, with a a semi-hollow body and little handpainted figures of people inlaid into the front. The word 'people' cut into the front acts like the 'f holes' on a violin.

Simon's first guitar, with 18 types of wood, has accompanied him to Europe twice.

Made for -- well -- Dave Simon.

Thunderstorm has a speaker built-in and a sound circuit that makes a thunder clap sound.

[via Thrillist]