The hole in the umbrella

A hit in Japan, designed by German industrial designers.

The hole is in the handle of the umbrella, a convenient opening for attaching trinkets. As if gadgets were not enough, if we believe the German press and our limited personal experience, a gadget with trinkets is the way to go in Japan.

From wooden USB sticks to bathroom fixtures, via cars and computers, German industrial design has clout around the world.

When German industrial designers say computer, they mean, of course, Apple. Apple is a neat example of the "function meets art" aspect of industrial design.

The K-landnews thought of the day: modern technology gives an edge to designers with its vastly better tooling (computers and 3 D printers) as well as more compact components and flexible materials.

For example, you can build boxy, square cars today but they won't sell. The only cool boxy car is a Model T, period.

This being said, we have been watching the invasion of the KitchenAid mixers. Their design, unchanged for decades, not only looks like home to us, we liked their sturdy versatility.

But at a minimum of about 600 euros (around 800 dollars), we had to say thank you, but no thank you.

The give and take between design and function can result in very pretty and very functional objects.

Like any venture, there are what we at the K-landnews would consider failures.

Examples are easy to find in the furniture, not sure why, but so it is.

However, it could just be that the chair with a triangular seat is made for the advanced next step in evolution, when humans will have triangular butts.

Which, like square tomatoes and melons might revolutionize transport, too. Irish airline RyanAir, who sounded out about standing room on their planes, may be the first to embrace triangular-butted passengers in the distant future.