Crowdsourced innovations have already claimed many pages here at Springwise.com, including everything from sneakers to customer service to restaurants. The latest spotting? A Finnish site that lets consumers submit and vote on new home-interior fabric designs.

Bon Bon Kakku, recently launched by Helsinki fabric and interior manufacturer Vallila Interior, lets creative consumers design their own fabrics and offer them to the crowds for voting, comments and--ultimately--purchase. Users begin by registering on the site and submitting their design, including metadata, thumbnail and preview images. Visitors to the site can then rate and make comments on new designs, helping to decide which will go into production. Based on voting results, Bon Bon Kakku chooses new fabrics to produce and sell; creators of selected designs win 6m of the fabric they designed. Other visitors, meanwhile, can buy fabrics from Bon Bon Kakku for EUR 25 per meter, plus taxes and shipping, in units 150 cm wide. Bon Bon Kakku's winter design competition, which kicked off last month, will be open for voting through Nov. 10.

Free fabric for winning designers is nice, but the next step for a business like this? Let consumers earn some cold, hard cash for their efforts in the form of a percentage of sales of the fabrics they design. This is Generation C(ontent) we're talking about, and it's filled with minipreneurs yearning to be part of Generation C(ash). Yes, we know--that's too much trend jargon for one sentence ;-) In plain English: thanks to the internet, talented consumers can share their creative efforts with the rest of the world, and increasingly expect to be rewarded for those efforts, or even to be able to make a living off their creative output. The sites that help that happen are the sites that last! (Related: Customer-made wallpaper -- Sticky car art with a crowdsourcing twist.)

Website: www.bonbonkakku.com

Spotted by: Julia Valle

Customization has already come to dresses and duvets, shoes and sleeping bags. For those who worried that there were limits on the products to which the concept could still be freshly applied, a new site out of Canada now lets consumers design their own swim caps, too.

SwimCapz offers a series of online tools to help users customize a swim cap or bag. After choosing the specific product they wish to create (latex or silicone swim cap, for example), consumers begin by choosing from a list of available colours. Next, they can create the design for their customized item by adding any combination of text, clip art and uploaded images. Users can place designs wherever they'd like on their item as well as changing their size and rotation. They also get to select the ink colours used to print them. The minimum order is 50 caps or 12 bags; pricing begins at CDN 2.27 per latex cap or CDN 18 per bag. Shipping is free worldwide.

Will consumers ever tire of having it their way? We think not. Keep the customization tools coming!

Website: www.swimcapz.com
Contact: management@swimcapz.com

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

In a world populated by gadgets with increasingly varied and complex capabilities, there stand out a lone few that do just one thing really well. The iPod is one classic example, and earlier this month another was released that may even have the potential to attain as devoted a consumer following, if the early blogs are any indication.

It's called Peek, and its creators say it's the world's first device designed for and dedicated to mobile email. Whereas email-capable smartphones can be bulky as well as complicated, the Peek's lightweight, slim design makes it easy to take along. Featuring a large colour display and full keypad, the device uses scroll navigation and can be used to access up to three email accounts. Peek offers nationwide coverage throughout the United States and is compatible with most major email providers. Perhaps best of all, using Peek involves no contracts, credit checks or activation fees. To get started, all users need do is enter their e-mail address and password. The device, available online and in Target stores, is priced at USD 99.95, with unlimited emails for USD 19.95 per month. Colours available include black cherry and aqua blue in addition to the more standard charcoal grey.

Multifeatured devices are all well and good for those with the interest and know-how to learn how to use them. But sometimes, simplicity is more appealing--everything in its place, so to speak, doing what it does best. Maybe it's time to let the iPhones and Androids of the world (or your industry's equivalent) duke it out while you quietly simplify, simplify. (Related: Phone for boomers and their parents.)

Website: www.getpeek.com
Contact: contact@getpeek.com

Spotted by: Matte Chi & Zena Hockley

Crowdsourcing and consumer design are trends we've covered on numerous occasions before, whether for sneakers, beverages or restaurants. It wasn't until just recently, however, that we came across a product innovation that taps the creativity of kids.

Australian Kideko, which launched last year, sells a variety of children's bedding and accessories featuring bright, bold colours and innovative designs. Now, the company is holding a contest to find a kid-created design to add to its collection. Creative kids begin by selecting from among a short list of Kideko's favourite themes, such as skateboarding, pets or camping. They then create a picture of their idea and submit it (with parental approval, of course) to the site along with their name and age. Entries will be broken down into two age categories--up to 6, and 7 and over--and prizes awarded accordingly. First-place prize winners in each age category will receive a Kideko bed set of their choice plus a 50-pack set of coloured "Smencils" (billed as "gourmet scented pencils"), while eight runners-up will receive just the Smencil packages. Winning designs may also be used on Kideko bedding, posters and utility bags. The deadline for entry is October 15th.

Time has shown that there's nothing like the wisdom of the crowds to show companies what customers really want, and creative members of Generation C become even more motivated to produce their best when rewards are involved. Why should it be any different with kids? Producers of children's products around the world: follow Kideko's lead! (Related: YouTube contest for eco-minded kids.)

Website: www.kideko.com
Contact: sales@kideko.com

We've covered a variety of innovations in the world of sustainable fashion. Now Worn Again--an eco-fashion initiative from UK-based Anti-Apathy--has teamed up with Virgin Atlantic to find a use for old aircraft seat covers and other materials.

For several years, Worn Again has been giving a new lease on life to old materials including car seat belts, prison blankets, bicycle tires, parachutes and firemen's uniforms. Now the company is working to help Virgin Atlantic meet its goal of halving the waste it sends to landfills by 50 percent by 2012. The airline has already reduced the waste it produces in its offices and ground operations, and now Worn Again has produced 2,000 limited-edition bags using materials reclaimed from approximately 1,000 airplane seats during a renovation. The Worn Again Virgin line includes two handbags, a messenger bag and a toiletry case, priced ranging from GBP 25 to GBP 65. All are handmade in family-run and small-scale workshops in Portugal and come with a list of the "ingredients" and sources used. The bags are available at Terra Plana and elsewhere.

Eco-minded consumers can only applaud the inclusion of another industry's waste on the sustainable fashion shelves, and the stories behind each product just add to the appeal. Sustainable designers: keep the innovations coming! (Related: District turns its own banners into bags -- Eco-chic entrepreneurs.)

Website: www.wornagain.co.uk/collections/wornagain-virgin-accessories
Contact: info@wornagain.co.uk

Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen