#HTE

An Example of Smart, Humble ID: Can You Guess What This Object Does?

At your average nuts-and-bolts industrial design firm, any of us might be tasked with designing something like this:

Answer:

While there’s nothing particularly Japanese about it, it is common in Japan for stores to put signs like these out front with some sort of ballast.

I imagine that once filled, this object is never emptied by the storeowner, and is stored just inside the front door at closing time. My guess is that the object is designed to use water as the ballast simply to reduce its shipping costs.

I like quiet, intelligent and unsung designs like these. The designer is Ryosuke Fukusada.