1. Astiankuivauskaappi – A Finnish Dish Drying Rack

I’ve broken two glasses this week attempting an over-ambitious washing-up tower so this would have been very useful to me.

Instead of using up space stacking clean dishes beside your sink, you just put them straight into the cupboard, which has a rack for shelves and no bottom. The cupboard is positioned over the sink so any water drips will be caught.

It was developed in the Finnish Association for Work Efficiency around 1944-45 by Maiju Gebhard and is the standard design used in Finland where I first saw it (and was so delighted by it I actually took a photo of the inside of my friends’ cupboard).

David talked about good design being invisible last week, and I’m sure I wouldn’t be so impressed by this if every house in the UK had one, yet it is such a brilliant, simple design. It seems hard to believe it is rarely seen anywhere outside Finland.

2) Dimming light switch

A dimming light switch is great as it allows you to control the environment of your room for optimal function and mood.

This particular one is in the home I grew up in, and although I have never seen one like it, I think this is a nice design for these reasons:

•    Although it is a little unusual, its function is obvious from the way the shape and colour of the fitting mirrors a usual switch.
•    The rotating circle in the middle is slightly domed to fit nicely in the palm of the hand.
•    The dial is moved by putting the finger into the indented teardrop – the shape allows you to intuit which direction to turn it on (‘head’ rather than ‘tail’ first).
•    The movement around the dial is comfortable and pleasing and it looks a little more friendly than the usual twiddled style, which to me has more of a technical feel.
•    One full movement around takes you from completely on to completely off – I think its nice to be able to clearly see the connection between the relative position of the dial and the relative lightness/darkness level – somehow it’s more fun to use.
•    There is a satisfying clunking/clicking when you switch it right on or right off – I think the sound and feel can really make a difference to how nice it is to operate a control.

3. Playing Cards

The result of refinements made by many people over a long period of time rather than the work of an individual.

Any number of different games can be played and created with these, with different numbers of players and different levels of difficulty.

The cards themselves are also perfect for purpose:

•    A full pack fits neatly into the hand and is easy to hold.
•    The smooth card surface is easy to slide, and so shuffle, deal etc.
•    The rounded corners make it less likely a card will be bent, whilst the pattern over the back helps to hide marks – therefore it is less easy for cards to become identifiable from the back.
•    The simultaneous similarity in layout for numbers yet clarity in suit shape helps each card to be seen immediately for what it is.
•    The indices at the corner of the card allow them to be recognised when fanned out in one hand.
•    This double ended design allows you to view the cards both ends up whilst remaining a unified whole (in contrast to split designs produced prior to this).

In addition, the cards traditional design with imagery and symbolism of hierarchy, war, religion, and riches, adds a sort of interest and depth to games that don’t specifically feature any of these concepts.

For these reasons I don’t see how the design could be much further improved – despite the appeal that pictures of a variety of naked girls may hold for some.