45+ creative designers who deserve an award for their clever designs

Many people, who create designs within society, such as for a business or product, need to be creative in their outlook. This creativeness has led to some great improvements upon current designs, including maps on buildings of the local area, uniquely designed handicap access, and trivia that keep you awake on long road trips.

Whether trying to implement a wanted feature into a current design or improve upon a tried and true method, the ability to think outside of the box can mean the difference between an average and a great designer. As a matter of fact, the best designers make improvements that many don’t even realized are needed.

Often, you might not even realize just how ingenious a design is until you see it in action. Here are some designs from wildly creative designers that will blow your mind.

1) Area Map

This first design is so helpful that I do not know how someone didn’t come up with it sooner. Imagine a map on the side of a tall building of the local area. Now, instead of trying to navigate using a small map, all you have to do is find your current location on the large map and go from there. Hint: the building with the map on it is clearly marked on the large map.

2) Cosmic Lamp

Not only does this lamp light up, it actually opens up when you pull the cord. As the lamp opens, the light bulb inside reflects off of the reflective surface on the interior of the lamps walls.

https://gfycat.com/remorsefulglossyfairyfly

3) Handicapped Access

The innovative design of these steps gives easy access to handicapped and elderly individuals while still imparting an aesthetic look. This is a great way to give easier access to public buildings by designers.

4) Christmas Chocolate

This candy bar mixes both white and milk chocolate. To make it even more appealing, and give it a holiday look, the individual squares of the chocolate are in the shape of a Christmas tree.

5) Wear Marks

It’s amazing the design ideas that inventors come up with. One example is the wear marks on this tire. Instead of marks on the tire that wear over time. the tire actually lets you know the percentage of wear by the wearing down of each percentage. For example, this tire has about 20 percent of wear on it.

6) Portal Staircase

This set of stairs looks like it is exiting into a portal into another dimension. The stairs are actually so well designed, leading up to the second floor that they seem to disappear into the walls around them.

7) Tissue Dispenser

This cleverly designed tissue dispenser is made to look like a whale coming up for air at sea. The tissue paper looks exactly like the plume of water and air that a whale would shoot out of its blowhole upon surfacing.

8) Plug Design

A problem with some plugs is that they hang straight down, making all but impossible to use the bottom outlet. This ingenious plug design allows you to still easily use the outlet below it when plugging it into the top plug.

9) Trivia Signs

These road signs in Australia ask drivers trivia questions on long stretches of road across the country. The idea is to keep a driver’s mind active so that they can stay more fully awake while driving. What a great idea!

10) Umbrella Holder

This umbrella holder looks exactly like a closed umbrella. The stands unique design also makes drying your umbrella easier than ever, meaning it is ready for use when it rains.

11) Brass Sink

Talk about a brass sink. This sink design uses a brass horn as a base. The water pipes extend down into the horn and into the wall. This gives the sink the illusion of water running into the horn.

12) Mini Coop Tail Lights

Did you know that you could get Mini Coop tail lights that look like the British flag? While many Mini Coops come with your standard, run-of-the-mill tail lights, you can special order s set to make the European car seem more British.

13) Construction Mailbox

This cleverly designed mailbox for a construction company is modeled to look like a crain. The mailbox even hangs down underneath the crane, making it appear that the crane is holding the mailbox up.

14) Caffeinated Mints

These mint dispensers are designed to look like batteries. The position of the mints within make it appear like the charge bar that represents how much power a battery holds. In this case, the energy in the fake battery equates how much energy, in the form of caffeine, remaining inside.

15) Library Seating

This creative person took some old library books and turned them into comfortable stools. I wonder if these are in a public library or in someone’s home. I’m assuming they are in a home as many librarians would have a fit if books were treated in this way.

16) Plant Slippers

If you are a Super Mario Brothers lover, then these slippers are for you. Designed to look like the man-eating plants that pop out of the large pipes in the game, these slippers even come with their own plush storage pipe, I mean case.

17) Smart Pill Bottle Lid

This smart pill bottle lid lets you know when you last opened it. Now if I could just get someone to invent an easier way to open my pill bottles I would be set. The purpose behind the lid is to keep you from unintentionally overdosing on your medication by letting you know when you last opened the bottle to take it.

18) Car Umbrella

Here is a neat little mechanical device. Sitting on top of your car, the umbrella automatically opens when you push the button. Its purpose is to protect your car from rain, hail, and other weather phenomena.

19) New No Smoking Sign

These helpful signs are for countries and states that allow cannabis for recreational use. You had to know it was only a matter of time before people started smoking marijuana in areas they aren’t supposed to. Now, officials can easily let them know exactly where not to smoke it.

20) Glass Sink

Here is an interesting design. The architect of this building put in a glass sink. Not only does it give the area a cool, modern design, it also holds water, fulfilling its intended purpose. Of course I assume the drain is just out of view on the other side of the base.

VictorVasileva.com
Source:

VictorVasileva.com

21) Fahrenheit 451

It looks like the designer of this mural is in tune with the subject matter. For those who don’t know Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a book about a future society where books are banned. In addition, firemen seek out and burn any that are found, making the fire extinguishers placement very apt.

22) Bread Truck

I wonder what this box truck carries. If only there was something to signify its contents. This truck is so well designed that it looks like the bread is sitting in a hollow interior. I wonder if this company’s bread is as delicious as it looks.

23) Heated Mirror

This cleverly designed mirror at a hotel heats the mirror in the middle. This means that no matter how steamy the bathroom gets, the mirror should stay clear. I honestly feel like this great idea should have been placed in all homes long ago.

24) Child Bike

I wonder if this is truly a child’s runner bike or is a work of art. The purpose of a runner bike is that a child sits on it and runs along the ground, as opposed to making it go via pedaling and turning a chain.

Airfreshener.club
Source:

Airfreshener.club

25) Outdoor Seating

This restaurant has come up with a great idea for outdoor seating. Each table sits within a concrete pipe. The seating areas also contain a fan for keeping cool and the table which suspends above the seating area below via overhead cables.

26) Bike Parking

This bike parking area is conveniently designed to look like locks. I guess it doesn’t matter what it looks like as long as it serves its purpose. In this case that would be helping to keep someone’s bike safe from potential theft

27) Blue Light Prevention

This public restroom has been enhanced with blue lights. The reason behind this is to reduce drug use as it is virtually impossible to find a vein for injection in blue light. This idea could actually save someone from overdosing, at least in this area.

28) Cruise Ship Pool Table

What an ingenious way to play pool on the rolling deck of a cruise ship. This pool table moves according to the tilt of the ship, always staying level. Hopefully, they catch any balls they knock off the table before they roll off the deck of the ship and into the ocean.

http://i.imgur.com/7KK7QFA.gifv

29) Company Logo

This beautiful pet shop logo design incorporates five different animals into it. Of course there is the dog and the cat. If you look closer, you can also see a bird and a fish. Though hard to see, the bottom of the logo also has a snake.

30) Bamboo Sink

While not practical, this bamboo sink does look pretty. I am curious how it drains though, as I see no drain at all in its surface. At least it will be easy and cheap to replace when the bamboo goes bad from water damage.

31) Cat Print

This veterinary clinic has found a great way to remember a lost pet. They make an impression of a dying pet’s paw and fill the cast material with wildflower seeds. Then, when springs come, the wildflowers bloom, fondly reminding the owner of their lost pet.

32) Can King

These cans stack, creating the image of a king. In addition to a king, you can also find stackable cans which form The A Team’s Mr. T, a Freak on a Leash, and a steam punk woman.

33) Emergency Escape

Here is a great idea to help when evacuating due to a fire at this hotel. The owner has smartly place evacuation instructions along the baseboards. Then, if a fire breaks out, occupants can more easily follow the evacuation plans as they crawl along the floor to avoid the smoke above.

34) Key Holders

These cute little animal key holders open their eyes when you place a key ring in the slot underneath. To signify this, the eyes of the animals pop open. Upon removing the key ring, the eyes close once again.

https://i.imgur.com/yU2GMXY.gifv

35) Spatula Stands

This cook has come up with a great way to keep the spatula off the counter when not in use. I honestly do not know whether this device was designed for this purpose or was repurposed from something else. Either way, it’s great if you are a germaphobe.

36) Fridge Sounds

This helpful piece of paper came with certain models of refrigerators. The aim of this helpful handout was to let refrigerator owners know what the sounds they heard coming from their refrigerator were. This helped set their mind at ease when they heard these sounds.

37) Door Design

This door was designed to act as the door for both the main bathroom and the toilet area off to the side. In this way, anyone in the bathroom could have use of the full room, or confine themselves to just the toilet area if someone needed access to the bathroom.

38) Bruce Lee Clock

This interesting clock features karate master Bruce Lee in a variety of kicks and poses. Known for having unprecedented control of his body, Lee is perfectly embodied on this wall clock.

Designboom Shop
Source:

Designboom Shop

39) Library Topics

This list of tough topics to talk about was found in a library. The goal of the list is to allow those who seek information on these touchy subjects know where they can find books on them without having to go through the embarrassment of asking.

40) Bush Trim

The owners of this building turned the topiary outside into a creative masterpiece. I honestly can’t quite tell what it is, but I think it might be a train.

41) Rusty Pipe Map

Someone scratched a representation of the continents into the paint of this pipe, revealing the rust below. While this is very creative, why would someone do this? They must have a lot of free time on their hands.

42) Electric Wall Plug

This large wall outlet is on the outside wall of a Pacific Gas and Electric building. I wonder if they also have a giant light bulb or gas shutoff valve also sticking out of the building somewhere.

43) Chemistry Paper

Here is some hex paper used exclusively for working out the bonds between different chemicals. While interesting, I wonder if this has any practical applications outside of a chemical lab.

44) Barber’s Car

This barber’s car makes it look like he is cutting his own hair when riding around as a passenger. Ingenious to say the least, I wonder if he is good enough to cut hair while driving, or maybe he is a traveling barber.

45) Australian Tax Return

It seems the Australians know how to do taxes right. I honestly wish they IRS would give U.S. taxpayers an itemized breakdown of where their money is going each year. This might also clear up some confusion as to how much debt the government owes and how much is being paid on it, if anything, each year.

46) Coffee Cup Restrooms

These cute restroom signs use coffee cups to designate the gender of each restroom. The women’s room is designated by an upside down coffee cup that looks like a dress, while the men’s room is designated by a person wearing a coffee cup that is right-side-up.

47) Message in a Bottle

This helpful bottle holds a flash drive which you can use to transfer information to and from your computer. Simply unstop the bottle and plug the USB drive right in. When finished, replace the stopper to protect the flash drive.

48) Shadow Restrooms

The shadows created by these light fixtures create a perfect reminder of which room is the men’s and which is the women’s. This affect is created by the light shining onto the letter positioned underneath it, which creates an M or a W depending on which room it is for.

49) Coasterless Coffee Mug

Here is an awesome idea. A coffee mug which doesn’t need a coaster. This is because the bottom of the mug is suspended above the handle, which extends underneath. Now you can set the coffee mug on a wood surface without fear of damaging it.

50) Plane-Shaped Bench

The designer of this bench on the flight deck at the airport even incorporated an airplane motif into the benches. I just find it funny that someone would make the benches along the tarmac look like tiny airplanes.

51) Sad Cactus

If you have a pet, you should get them one of these cactus chew toys. Then, when they tear it up, they can feel bad because of the little sad cactus that pops out. Though the humor would probably be lost on them as I’m betting most pets do not have a sense of humor.

52) Mexican Pandas

So, this Mexican restaurant decided to get creative upon moving into what was once an Asian restaurant. Instead of painting over the art already in place, the owner had little sombreros painted on all of the male pandas and a panda with braids and a bow for what it assumed was the female panda.

If you are going to make something, and you want it to stand out, you need to be creative when doing so. That is why the previous designs are perfect examples of thinking outside the box.