Party Platter

This is a party platter that is designed with a spiraling bowl so that more items can fit into the bowl and be organized at the same time with a small bowl in the middle for dip or sauce. It's supposed to organize all the items being served into one plate. The problem it is solving is to save space. There is no need to find more plates or bowls to fit all the snacks, you can fit them all into one bowl. It's great for small apartment spaces that host small dinner parties. 

Mouse Shaped Pens

These are pens and pencils in the shape of the popular Disney character Minnie Mouse. One is black, which is the pen, and the red is the pencil. These writing tools are meant toward girls and young women who love the Minnie Mouse character. It's something you would not find in a professional setting such as an office or a waiting room of a business building. These are more meant for small writing assignment purposes such as doing your homework, doodling in your notebook or writing in your journal or diary. It's meant more for decoration than it is for an actual tool. The pen might not be so much as a problem as the pencil would be because in the picture it shows that eraser for the pencil is curved all the way at the and of the sphere of Minnie Mouse's head and so it looks difficult to even erase something so that is a big design problem. A solution to this would be to only stick with pens. For a form this complex it looks inconvenient to place an eraser that would actually erase. 

Solar Powered Phone Charger Keychain

This keychain is a solar powered phone charger that is great to carry with you around when you're on the go. It's a keychain so you take it everywhere you go or everywhere where your keys would go. It's  solar powered so there are no batteries needed. The problem with this design product is that it is small so the charger could probably not carry out a whole lot of charge to your phone. It's also solar powered so it wouldn't work in dark places such as the inside of a movie theater or on a cloudy day or at night. And because it is a keychain it is more vulnerable to getting damaged quicker since we tend to just sometimes throw our keys around. It would make a great stocking stuffer but I wouldn't depend on expecting this product to last very long. 

We Want Tsum'more

Disney Tsum Tsum (soom-soom) is the new accessory phenomenon that the Disney company has released. These plush dolls are the newest trends that are selling out of Disney Stores around the world. These plush toys aren't necessarily meant for playing but more or less meant for collections. They come in "mini" size, medium size and large size. They come in many different types of Disney characters and some Disney characters are even special edition or limited time seasonal or holiday special sets. It's main audience are targeted toward Disney collectors, of all ages. This is a very adorable collection and is a great gift for anyone who love Disney because it's small and can be placed almost anywhere even for the large sized Tsum plushes which are usually decorated as throw pillows. 

USB drive with a screen

Ever been in a situation where you needed to locate a file that you have on your USB drive but wasn't sure it it was actually there and now you need to find a tablet or laptop or computer to plug it into in order to see if it's actually there? With the new touch screen USB drive there is no need to have to plug in your drive in order toes what is actually there. Just press and swipe through your files and now everything that is inside your USB drive is visible at the touch of your finger tips. The problem with this device is that it is probably not compatible with any files that require Adobe in order to see its content.

Portable Phone Charger

This is a portable phone charger. It's meant to be taken on the go. It's meant for people who use their phones all day and their battery runs out but still need to use it. They take it out, plug it into their phone and it charges. It can fit in a bag or in a pocket. The problem with this device is that in order to charge your mobile device, the portable device itself needs to be charged too. You have to make sure that there is energy inside in order to charge whatever it is that you are charging. 

Capabunga

This wine sealer comes in a set of two caps, one in violet and the other in olive green. Once you've opened a bottle of wine it's almost impossible to put the cork back into the bottle. This wine sealer fixes that problem and keeps your bottle from getting air and from spilling over too. The cap fits tightly on the the top so you can lay it down on its side in the fridge without it leaking or spilling over. It's also easy to remove the cap so you can enjoy a glass of wine any time you want. This device is intended for people who like to open a bottle of wine when they have guests over or for dinner but sometimes we don't always finish the entire bottle of wine and we don't want to throw it away or want it to go bad just because we can't find a way to reseal the bottle. The material used is silicone caps which is made "to resemble the bungs used to seal barrels during wine making." Reading some of the reviews on isabellacatalog.com, some consumers have claimed that the cap does not fit all wine bottle sizes in terms of the neck and that causes a problem of it spoiling or spilling. To improve this problem, the package should come in different sizes to fit all bottles. Many variations of resealable bottle caps have been made before but this design has had many good reviews so it seems that it works well and is worth your money. The material looks water resistant so you won't find any leaks.

The Strawberry Cutter

This hand held strawberry cutter makes cutting strawberries easier, faster and safer. No more cutting your fingers or cutting uneven slices of strawberries. Just place the strawberry between the blades and the claw, squeeze the handle and the claw pushes the strawberry into the blades slicing it into pieces. This is intended for all types of households and kitchens and is intended for anyone to use who is old enough to handle a blade. Kitchen and cooking efficiency tools are meant to appeal to consumers to help them to eat healthier. When a tool is designed to make cooking faster and easier it motivates people to cook healthier meals now that they have to tools to help cut the cooking time in half and it makes cooking less work. The problem with this design piece is that it is probably only meant for strawberries. Grapes and blueberries are too small and too round to be successfully cut, when you squeeze the claw the fruit will just squeeze out instead of being cut because it's so round. An apple or an orange wouldn't fit because those fruits are too big.

Water Fountain

This sink accessory now makes brushing your teeth easier and cuts time and water waste as well. When placed around the faucet the water runs through at the bottom. When pinched at the bottom, the water runs up and out of the top hole turning it into a water fountain so it's easier for you to drink the water from the sink instead of having to open your mouth under the faucet causing you to strain you neck and probably not even getting any water and it's much easier than having to turn your hand into a cup to get some water. This device can easily come on and off so you can take with you anywhere you'd like. This is meant for anyone and everyone but it would make brushing teeth much easier for younger kids without them having to make a mess trying to get water into their mouth. 

Manatee

Ever wanted to watch a movie on your iPad from the comfort of your bed but had no way of finding a convenient or comfortable way for you to lay in bed and watch from your tablet without having to hold it up for you to watch? It can be very uncomfortable and unenjoyable but now that problem is fixed with the Manatee for the iPad. The Manatee stands 4 feet high with legs holding the stem up with a neck that can turn 360 degrees. It has a claw that holds the iPad from all four corners and can hold one with or without the iPad case. You can even adjust the neck to make it taller or smaller. It's light, only weighing 7 lbs, so you can take it anywhere around the house. It's intended for kids, adults and anyone who wants to sit comfortably on the couch or on the bed without having to hold up the tablet. It can even be used in the kitchen to read recipes off of. The only place I can imagine it is not meant for is for anyone sleeping on the bunk bed since it only reaches 4 feet tall and most bunk beds are much taller than 4 feet. A smaller version would be a good solution to those on bunk beds but perhaps one that has legs that can wrap around a bed frame. The problem with it standing on legs is that it can be knocked over by anyone who just pushes it or by a big gust of wind causing the iPad to be in danger or breaking. A manatee that has legs that wrap around would be the best solution that way its much smaller than 4 feet. 

Iron Board Mirror

What a great way of combining two things into one to help save room in your house. First you iron your clothes on your ironing board, you put your clothes on then you flip the iron board back to where the mirror is facing you and now you look spick-and-span! My two concerns for this design is, number one, what if there is more than one person living in your house and this is the only vertical mirror in your house, what if someone wants to use the mirror but the other person is busy using the ironing board. Hopefully there is more than one mirror in this house that the other person can use and not have to wait for the other person to finish ironing in order to use the mirror. My second concern is if there is enough padding or material between the iron board and the mirror because wouldn't the mirror break if it gets too hot? Maybe it won't and maybe it will. It's a fine idea combining two things into one but it seems unnecessary. It would be fine if it were for a single person living on their own with no one to share mirrors and ironing boards with but not for families. 

Let's put a smile on that face

This is a smile-detecting alarm clock. The only way for you to turn this alarm off is to look into the camera above the screen and give a big-o smile. When the camera catches your smile the sound will turn off that way you start your day with a smile. The picture above states, "according to an article, even a fake smile is good for our mental health."

This alarm is intended for adults and young adults who wish to just simply start their mornings better off than just snoozing an alarm and rolling out of bed and starting off the day in a grumpy mood. It's better for our health to start off our day on a positive note and with that it can possibly send us off to a good day.

This alarm appears to be touch screen, where you would be able to set up the settings to your alarm, such as alarm time, days, and alarm ring tone. The time appears on the screen and the camera is located at the top. The device sits on what appears to be a charging station or a holding station for the alarm. At the bottom there is an opening with a blue light glowing. When the light turns blue, it indicates that you have successfully silenced the alarm. The red light indicates that you need to smile bigger and the yellow light indicates that you are almost there (you need a bigger smile).

The problems with this device is that it imitates an Apple product, such as the iPod touch, and that can cause some confusion to some people who purchase it, expecting that this alarm clock can do more than just set an alarm and detect a smile. Another problem that could arise is if the camera will be able to detect a smile if the room is dark. Hopefully most people sleep in the dark with curtains closed and some people wake up before the sun rises so would the person have to turn on the light and then look into the camera? I might also be a solution forcing the person to physically get up out of bed, move around to turn the light on and then smile. Once the person is up and about and moving it's difficult to go back to sleep. With that being said it's a great gadget to have in the house so people can wake up in a happy and healthy way every morning.

From the Wall to Window

This new outlet is a new way of conserving energy and using the most out of the suns energy instead of using up the Earth's limited resources to use our everyday products that require electricity. It would help lower the use of electricity which would lower electric bills as well. The problem with this is that the designer would have to make multiple versions of this outlet since most countries have different plugs and outlets around the world and to make the most out of this outlet and available to everyone there would have to be multiple versions for every country. Another problem with this is that it probably won't work if there is no sun, like during the night or in places where there is not a lot of sun like Washington and London. It would work a lot better in places like Southern California where 340 days out of the year is sunny. It should be meant for everyone to use and not only for people who wish to conserve energy because at this time everyone should be concerned about conserving energy. This device is meant to be used everywhere but especially where there is no outlet available.

There has been a new phenomenon at the Disneyland Resort in the past couple of years. A new trend and a new obsession with custom made Minnie Mouse ears created by guests and fans of Disney has emerged almost out of nowhere. These Minnie Mouse ears are replicas of the original Minnie Mouse ears sold on the resort, which was first created in the 1980's and was inspired by the Mouseketeers ears created by Roy Williams which was featured on the Mickey Mouse Club television program in the mid 1950's. Since then, Mickey and Minnie ears have become an iconic must have product for all guests of all ages for the Disney Resorts, in California and now all over the world. 

The purpose of these Minnie Mouse ears is simply to express oneself while visiting the Disneyland Resort. Minnie Mouse is mostly intended for girls and women of all ages. When Walt Disney created his theme park, he wanted to create an environment where kids and adults can have fun. Its meant to bring out that inner child in everyone and to escape reality and just be a kid again and to live in the dream of fantasy, the future and in the adventurous wilderness. When we put on these Minnie ears, we are playing dress up and make believe just as little girls would and its bringing out our inner child.  

All four of these Minnie Mouse ears below are created by the designer, Jessica Gochman, who is the House of Mouse Shop owner of an e-commerce website dedicated to assist designers sell their handmade crafts such as these below. The designer creates different types of personalities, emotions and even Disney characters represented in the form of Minnie Mouse ears.  

"Hand made sunflower mouse ears. The front of these ears are covered in artificial silk sunflowers. 

The back along with the bow is either a satin black glitter fabric or a matte satin black or a red bow with a matte black backing The headband is a black satin covered band, fits most all adults and children 5 and up." 

The personality being portrayed through these sunflower Minnie ears is warm and happy and something that a girl might want to wear on a warm and sunny summer day. The black head band and bow really compliment the yellow sunflowers and creates a simple look. 

"Peter Pan inspired Mouse Ears. Shiny green ears and your choice between a lace/ glitter tulle bow or a solid red bow. A red feather sticks out of the back of the bow just like Peter's hat! White sequin trim. Green headband. Fits adults and children."

This pair of Minnie Ears replicate the Disney character Peter Pan. The green manipulates the same green earthly color that Peter Pan is seen to be wearing. The red feather comes from the same feather Peter Pan wears on his hat from his costume and the red bow is an addition to the set of ears to make it feminine. It's another simple creation that Jessica has put together.

"Glittery sweet heart mouse ears with a pink bow. Perfect for a disneyland date on Valentine's Day!"

These pair of Minnie ears represents the lovers holiday Valentine's Day. The printed clothe used for the round ears displays the Sweetheart Candy with is a popular Valentines Day candy. The light Pink bow is the perfect finishing touch to this set of ears. 

"Handmade mouse ears inspired by Princess Jasmine from Aladdin. These ears a light blue to match her outfit, with a matte gold sequin trim along the edges. The bow is a shimmery gold with white lace back bow and has a blue gem with tiny blue crystals in the center."

It's difficult to match the exact hue of color based from a character but I think this color has been missed just by a hair. There is also not enough detail to suggest that these ears represent Princess Jasmine. Princess Jasmine does not wear any lace material as part of her costume so it is unclear why there is white lace used here in these set of ears. The golden bow and the blue gem is the only good choices made in these ears.

The problem with these designs is that the materials used are probably very light and flimsy, due to the fact that a designer probably has a small budget to work with and cannot afford to acquire better material which would be more expensive as well. These simple materials and design insists that these ears are not meant to last very long. Since they are not meant to last very long they're also not meant to be worn everyday, wearing them everyday would wear them out faster. The great design of these is that they are very girly and the colors are very bright drawing more attention to them from costumers and unique so they are a great sell for girls and women of all ages. 

Designer: House of Mouse (Jessica)

Sources: http://www.mickeymouseears.com/history-of-mickey-mouse-ears.html

R2D2 Backpack

Designer: Shelby Springer

"White Jansport backpack hand-painted to resemble R2D2. This is not a stencil, it is 100% hand painted, my own design. Great quality backpack, great for trips to Disneyland, Disney World, and everywhere in between. Fabric paint on canvas makes for a long-lasting design, even for kids.
as
Please keep in mind that all items are hand painted to order, and need time to be perfectly painted"

(Reference: Etsy.com - StarWarsHandmade)

This hand painted backpack inspired by the popular character from the Star Wars saga R2D2 is a great example of craftsmanship and true dedication to a project and is a great reflection of putting your heart into designing a product for consumers who share the same interests as yourself, which in this case is the love for Star Wars. This  product is intended for kids, teens, moms, fathers, and all in between; basically its for anyone who loves Star Wars. You can use it for Disneyland/Disney World vacation trips or for school or just to take a trip to the park or to the beach. The designer took a Jansport backpack that is plain white that way it is easier to create any design she wished to make, like painting on a white canvas, free to paint limitlessly. The problem with a white backpack is that it gets dirty easily and quickly if not cared for carefully. 

iDuck

"iDuck: Plug your iPod into the egg, then the duck plays your music in the shower wirelessly (and it's waterproof)."

This product is intended for those who cannot and will not shower without listening to music. It's a great product to have because it's difficult to find a product out there that is accessible to have in the shower and that would be waterproof. Most people would just plug in their iPod's into a speaker device but we can't hear the music all that well when it's far away from us and when we're in a shower covered by glass doors or walls. It's a good replacement for other material choices because it's waterproof other products won't het damaged. 

No more milk spills

This milk dispenser allows you to pour milk into your cup or bowl without having to lift the gallon of milk and during it out. You place the dispenser onto to the cap of the milk and you turn the nob to dispense the milk and turn the nob back to stop dispensing. It allows you to easily remove the cap from one milk gallon to the next while keeping your milk fresh. It's mostly intended for families who having younger children, according to the caption in the photo, "so kids can get their own milk without spoiling". Younger kids tend to spill and waste milk when trying to pour milk into their own glass. It is an effective solution because when we waste milk we are wasting money and milk is getting more expensive these days and we shouldn't be wasting any money on things that could easily be avoided from wasting.

Patty Cake, Patty Cake

The Adjustable Alphabet Cake Pan

This pan comes with removable block pieces that allow you to create a letter, number, or shape when pouring the cake mix into the pan. It's a great tool to have in the kitchen for anyone who loves to bake and for anyone likes to take that further creative step into designing an extraordinary cake. The problem with this pan is that you are limited to bake in square and rectangular shapes and forms. The pan only comes with blocks that only allow room for straight edges and no curves for you cake. Your letters and numbers will come out in only a square form. I would suggest including blocks with curves and angles that way the cook can create circles and letters and shapes. Even with its limitation of shaping a cake, it's still a great thing to have in the kitchen because it takes that ordinary and boring cake into something better. The example shown above of a completed cake after using this pan, has taken a normal, rectangular cake into a special and memorable cake. It shows the person, to whom you are giving the cake to, that you took that extra step into making their cake into a special and one of a kind cake that is only meant for them. 

New and Improved

We all know who the Disney Princesses are and we recognize them because they are part of our childhood; most of us grew up watching Disney movies and the most popular characters, and the only other characters we associate the most with when we hear Disney (besides Mickey Mouse), are the Princesses!

These images below are design pieces created, most likely, by Disney artists and are meant to appeal to young viewers, probably leaning more towards little girls. It is meant to appeal more to little girls because you would usually find these figures on backpacks, notebooks, pencil pouches, etc. and what little girl wouldn't want their school supplies to be decorated in with their favorite Disney princess. A backpack with a Disney princess stamped on it would sell the backpack quicker and better than a plain backpack. 

So, we have each popular princess presented here but we have two images of each princess, to the left we have the original representation of the princess and to the right we have the "improved" representation, but why do we need an improved princess? Aren't they perfect just the way they are? Perhaps the reason for the makeover is the keep up with the trends of the new generation of girls. Lets analyze each image carefully and find the differences in the original and improved images.

(notice the order of princesses are in chronological order of oldest princess to the youngest princess in terms of their movie debut 1937-1999)

 

 Snow Whites body language has changed as well from the hands clasped together in front of her, giving us the shy and innocent feel to her character, to hands open and feet in motion as if she is dancing, and look, she even has a rose in her hand now. You can see the twirl in her dress and her left foot in front of the right foot showing us she is moving and no longer standing in one spot like the original image. Her dress now has sparkling glitter everywhere and she has romantic designs of swirls on the abdomen of her dress, and her bow is pushed to the right side of her head and no longer centered at the top.
Cinderella's dress design is almost completely different, its now brighter and flashier, even her headband is improved. The shoulder pads are now ruffled and she also has extra designs on her dress just like Snow White. She has strands of hair draping down the side of her face, it's now longer all gathered in a clean and classy updo, which is supposed to bring your attention to her neck.

Sleeping Beauty's body language hasn't changed, the only differences between the original and the improved is the dress, which now has more details, and her hair, which is now wavier. Her eyes also appear to be smaller and chinkier. 

Ariel is no longer wearing a pink dress, she's now wearing a green dress, with lace covering and sparkling star fish designs on the side and all of her hair is down, wavy, and loose, no longer swept to the side. The original Ariel seems more naive and innocent where as the improved Ariels seems more mature and grown up and it has to do with the color of the dresses. A pink dress reminds me of something a little girl would wear while green is a more sophisticated color. 

Belle's body language has gone from romantic is sexy. In the original image, Belle is smiling cheerfully at us, holding up a rose close to her face as if she's smelling the rose. Her arms are twisted to her right with her shoulders pulled back. Improved Belle has her back towards us, forcing her to twist her left shoulder back in order to see us; her face looking over her left shoulder exposing some of her back. Her hair is curlier and wavier and here again we see the strands of hair falling to the side of her face leading to her shoulders and back. The off-shoulder dress material is almost see-through showing us more of her shoulder. 

Ironically, Princess Jasmine is wearing a little more clothes in the improved image, but there are still differences seen here. Her body language is still the same, showing us how sassy she is. We see the single strand of hair again and now she's wearing hoop earrings instead of the big golden bell earrings. 

Pocahontas, being a selfless and non-materialistic person, is now wearing more accessories. She has on new boots and a new belt with a stone and feather on it. She's wearing a wrap around her skirt and she's wearing earrings with feathers on them. Her face even looks accessorized with rosier cheeks and darker lips and a tanner skin. 

Mulan has gone from a peasant farmers daughter to the Princess of China. She now wears a glamorous dress with nature designs with gold rimming and a long drapery dress. Half of her hair is tied up with an glittering hair accessory. 

So, it looks like the Disney Princesses are more grown up and sexier than ever before, because grown ups wear jewelry and hair accessories and beautiful dresses, not little girls. The improved images of the princesses are connecting to our generation of little girls. Younger girls these days and trying to grow up too fast, wearing clothes that grownups wear and experimenting with make up and learning about sex. The same way we see the Disney princesses is the same way we see our little sisters and daughters; innocent and pure and naive. So when we see the princesses all glamorized it's uncomfortable because we're so used to seeing them the exact same way since 1937!