Over the years, Nendo has designed everything: doors, furniture, suitcases, dishes, even rubber bands, and Post-It notes.
All those designs had one thing in common, though: They were designed for humans. And while Nendo had tinkered with a pet bed once, the studio is branching out to design a whole line for dogs. The Japanese design house has just announced a collection of pet accessories designed for small apartments called Cubic Pet Goods.
Most products designed for dogs and cats are plush, round, and cute. Nendo doesn't have any problem with plush and cute—but round is a problem, because our homes are made up of straight lines and square angles. That means that something as simple putting a round dog bed in the corner, or, for that matter, storing it away, leads to a lot of wasted space.
Nendo's answer to this problem is to think square. Although still plenty cute and plush, the new line is all about space efficiency: a plush square dog house with a top that can be squashed down to form a bed; a square-shaped food bowl with contour lines inside that make it easy to check how much food or water your dog is consuming; a soft toy that's almost like Tetris for dogs, folding up into a small cube when it's not in use; and a ball with square holes that store kibble, creating an engaging challenge for playful dogs to shake out.
Sadly, like many of Nendo's designs, the Cubic Pet Goods line is only available in Japan for right now. Good news for Akitas and Shiba Inus, but design-loving Golden Retriever or Black Labs and their American owners are out of luck.
All Photos: Akihiro Yoshida/Nendo