IDFuel, the Industrial Design Weblog - Post details: The Perfect Chord (cord)

The Perfect Chord (cord)

12/08/04

With the all too rapid proliferation of electronic what-not cluttering up your tiny studio apartment (What? Not everybody's living like us?!) you may be thinking about some new cord management. And after hearing about that ring plug winning all the acclaim earlier this year, you were probably asking "Hey, there's got to be something more than that...". Well, we think we've found it.
Oscar

Despite the growing waves of battery powered and "Wirelessly" connected devices, the fact is that in our homes, things get plugged in. A lot. If you live in an older home, you are probably strapped for wall outlets. One our places has one plug free which is used alternately for the iron, mixer, and battery charger.

That's where French design group Hotchoz comes in. Their proposed line of power management accessories try to address the problem in an entirely different way; in addition to allowing you to use other devices, their Centfils (French for 1000 cords. Cute.) line become objects of desire that you want to display.

The line is composed three "siblings" each of which performs a specific task.

Odile is a table-top "bucket" of plugs which provides a child-safe enclosure for cellphone, battery charger, pda, and other small power supplies. The plugs are arranged to accommodate a wide variety of plug configurations (which are a European standard, rather than the 2-prong US version)

Octave offers eight plug receivers on flexible stalks in a plastic, child-safe enclosure. It sits on the floor off to the side of the wall and acts as a sort of incredible extension cord/powerstrip combo. Plus it looks nice enough to fit in any Mies apartment.

Our favorite though is Oscar. He looks like a little octopus, and has five plug receptacles under his little ruffled skirt. Like the others he has a child proof seal over the chords. And little lights to indicate on-ness. Such a cutie.

All these concepts are fed by a novel spool of strip-type power chord (incidentally featured in Inventables a while back) which allows minimum cord left lying around. This might be the only sticking point of the design. We're not quite sure what it would do, but having a big, tight coil of cable with AC current going through it would act as an inductor or choke, and would probably heat up like crazy. Again, we're not entirely sure about this, but it's probably something the guys at Hotchoz should look into.

Other than that, it's a great example of something we could all learn to think about a little more: It doesn't matter how mundane the task or piece of equipment that performs it. Design has the potential to make everything into something that delights and makes people feel proud to own it. Sure, there are lower cost options out there, but since you're making it, why not go for quality.

Emotional, sturdy, functional design is where it's at. All the rest is just filler.

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The Perfect Chord (cord)

12/08/04

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