We've already written about Ponoko on two separate occasions, including its release earlier this fall of a tool to help shoppers and designers collaborate. Now, just a few weeks later, the New Zealand company has come out with another innovation that aims to make it even easier for consumers to get their creative ideas turned into real-world products.

Whereas Ponoko's original Designmake tool requires that consumers use vector art software (such as Adobe Illustrator CS, Macromedia Freehand MX, Inkscape or CorelDraw X3) or 3D modelling software to design their products, its new Photomake tool eliminates that requirement. Instead, users of the new tool can now simply draw their design using old-fashioned pen and paper and upload a digital photo or scan of it onto Ponoko's site. Then, as before, they can choose a material, get an instant price to have their product made and then send it into production.

Derek Elley, Ponoko's chief strategy officer, explains: "It's great for crafters, makers and artists. One of the cool things about Photomake is the quality of the result--it's truly hand-drawn. Because digital making is so very precise, every tiny bump in the hand-drawn creation is picked up and made for real. This gives a very natural and human feel to the things you make."

More than 10,000 consumers have already used Ponoko's original Designmake tool, the company says, and it's a safe bet that simplifying the process will expand those ranks further. Goodbye, barriers to entry--this is customer-made taken to a new level. That sound you hear is the global brain getting even bigger! (Related: More desktop manufacturing for consumers.)

Website: www.ponoko.com/photomake
Contact: www.ponoko.com/about/contact

Spotted by: Sven Ericksen

Bringing a sense of style to the Craigslist model, new online marketplace Lushpad aims to connect buyers and sellers of mid-century design. By taking users straight to what they're looking for rather than having them trawl through columns of irrelevant goods, the Canadian website hopes to capture a lucrative niche.

As the company's target customers are aesthetically sensitive types, they should feel more at home on Lushpad's well-designed site than looking through loud ads on eBay or perusing Craigslist's messageboards. Sellers have also commented on listing prices, which beat eBay by being free for items under USD 250, and USD 8-12 for more expensive items.

Described as part gallery, part auction house and part design magazine, the site aims to build a resource to draw customers to the site and keep them coming back, by generating content about design classics, profiling designers, architects and manufacturers and reviewing relevant books. Besides attracting enough buyers and sellers, the key challenge for Lushpad and other new marketplaces targeting niche audiences is to maintain a strong focus. Which means moderating and curating, and rejecting any items that won't appeal to the target audience.

Website: www.lushpad.com
Contact: www.lushpad.com/contact.php

Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen

Looking to move away from the ubiquitous coffee mugs and provide museum shops with more innovative products to sell, Release 1.0 is a design competition that offers winning contestants a fair deal. Unlike most other design competitions, winners are promised a percentage of sales revenue, as well as the traditional good publicity and international exposure. Not limited to a single museum, the winning designs will be stocked by spaces such as the ICA in London and Berlin's Deutsche Guggenheim as well as being sold online at culturelabel.com. Those lucky enough to be picked will receive 7% of the product's wholesale price, which compares well with the industry standard of 3-10% for commissioned designs.

Submissions are made via Release 1.0's website, with entries displayed on the website to whet the appetites of potential buyers. Entries currently range from a knuckle duster that measures spaghetti--Godfather-style--to a football scarf that can be turned into a soft sports ball.

It's a fine example of how to tap into the talents of Generation C(ash)--those gifted members of the public who want to be rewarded for their creative output--and a reminder to other retailers that it's never too late to get your customers involved in your production process.

Website: www.releaseonedotzero.com
Contact: www.releaseonedotzero.com/contact.php

Spotter: Mark Wilson

There are many statistics out there to inspire and motivate the eco-minded consumer, but one that should be particularly shocking for parents of school-aged kids is the fact that the average elementary student generates between 45 and 90 pounds of plastic, foil and other garbage in school lunch programs each year. That sobering fact comes from the Center for Ecoliteracy; hoping to do something about it, Kids Konserve recently launched a reusable, waste-free lunch kit that does away with paper, plastic and foil altogether.

Priced at USD 40, the waste-free lunch kit includes a recycled cotton sack, cloth napkin, 16 oz. stainless steel beverage bottle, "food kozy" sandwich wrapper and two stainless steel food containers. Each component is also available separately from San Francisco-based Kids Konserve, as are a selection of products including reusable cloth gift bags, drink lids and stainless steel food savers. Kids Konserve also offers its lunch kits as a fundraising opportunity for schools, enlisting parent representatives across the country to help educate schools and build its "Fundraising Through a Waste-free Lunch Program" nationwide.

"With waste from snack and lunch breaks at an all time high and recycling knowledge and budgets still too low, Kids Konserve is empowering parents and kids with information and a reusable product that will help participating schools make the grade when it comes to decreasing waste in community landfills," explains company cofounder Chance Claxton.

An admirable goal that will no doubt appeal to green consumers around the globe. Kids Konserve currently sells its products only within the United States--one to partner with in other parts of the world....? (Related: Happy healthy meals.)

Website: www.kidskonserve.com
Contact: reuse@kidskonserve.com

Spotted by: Claudia Allwood

Conference and meeting rooms around the globe are typically bland and uninspiring affairs, contributing little to participants' creativity or the quality of the results. A new series of meeting facilities gearing up for launch, however, aims to redefine the concept with a creative and upgraded approach to conference spaces.

New York-based Meet at the Apartment is a two-story, 2,500-square-foot, open loft that has been outfitted with idea-generating amenities not found in typical hotel meeting spaces: a library stocked with art, design and photography reference books; a kitchen pantry filled with snacks; and lavishly furnished breakout rooms. An upstairs area spans 1,300 square feet with windows on three sides and curtains to divide the space into four sections. Breakout rooms feature lounge furniture, phone chargers, iMacs and high-definition presentation screens; the open loft kitchen includes a "kitchen table" large enough to accommodate 10 people. Overall, the space can accommodate 35 for sit-down presentations or 100 for product launches and premiere events.

Downstairs, meanwhile, is a 1,000-square-foot conference room featuring a Vitra conference table accommodating 18 in Vitra Worknest chairs, a mobile presentation screen, whiteboard walls and a computer, TV and telephone. There's also a Green Room offering added space for privacy. Mornings at Meet typically begin with fresh fruit smoothie shots; at mid-day, fresh fruit and fresh-baked cookies keep the creative juices flowing, followed by wine and cheese at day's end. Eschewing the a-la-carte pricing used by most hotel meeting spaces, Meet at the Apartment employs a flat-rate scheme that ranges from USD 5,000 to USD 10,000 per day including staffing (concierge, server and on-call A/V tech), audio-visual components, meeting facilitation supplies and unlimited beverages and snacks.

Sara Schiller, Meet cofounder, explains: "If ever there was an industry in need of a ground-breaking idea, it is meetings. Most meeting spaces are mind-numbingly boring. They're the ugly stepsister of event planning. With Meet at the Apartment, we entirely reinvented the concept of meetings and infused it with energy and creativity that currently doesn't exist anywhere in the world." Meet will officially launch next month in New York; after that, work will begin on similar facilities in London and Dubai, Schiller says. One to launch in other cities? And how about a chic & cheap version, for style-loving brainstormers on a budget?

Website: www.welcometomeet.com
Contact: hello@welcometomeet.com