Hello all,

I just wanted to share the daily journal I kept on our recent trip to Taiwan. Rich and I arranged the trip to visit Jim, our agent/manufacturer of the ModKat Litter Box. Over the years Jim has become not only one of the most crucial aspects of our new business, but also a close friend and trusted partner. It had been two and a half years since our last visit to Taiwan, this trip was long overdue and we were anxiously anticipated it. Our goal for the visit was to discuss our next product(s) and to tour a few new factories for solutions and inspiration. We also anticipated some great food and many “Ganbei” or “down the hatch” as they call now with our translation. Jim, his small but strong team, hilarious friends and warm and welcoming family are always great hosts.

We stayed in a small town close to the city of Taichung (Central Taiwan) about two hours south of Taipei. The weather was perfect, about 70˚ with a nice breeze all week. Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, ModKat is for cats but it is also for people! Get the vote out! You decide! We promise change! Voting closes at 6:00 p.m. EST on October 12, 2010. On October 14 at 9:00 p.m. EST, the winner will be announced live at the National Design Awards gala in New York City. Vote Here.

Yes, sh*t happens to everyone, don’t fret… just slap a button on it! We originally designed these Sh*t Happens Buttons as a promotional item for our ModKat Litter Box and everyone keeps asking for them! Get your very own here!

We are honored to have received the prestigious 2010 red dot design award for the ModKat litter box, you can see it featured in the red dot yearbook 2010/2011, Vol.1 living. We are so proud to be in a book that is filled with only smart and beautiful products!

Spring is here, and once again it’s time for The International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) and NY Design Week. The ICFF is very meaningful to us as it’s where we launched the ModKat Litter Box in 2009, and received the Editor’s Award for Best Accessory. We will be at booth 841 and hope that you stop by to say hello!

The ICFF attracts the most talented and interesting designers from around the world and sets them loose in NYC during the NY Design Week. There will be amazing product introductions and parties around the city, here are a few venues we intend on visiting…

JONY and AREAWARE
Our friend Lisel Arroyo of The Jewels of New York will be there
thejewelsofny.com
Saturday, May 15th at 7pm
45 Great Jones St

Voos Satellite Store @ ABC Home
Our friend François of the UM Project will be there
umproject.com
May 16, 5:30pm
888 Broadway | Union Square

Modern + Design + Function Competition winners
DWR Flatiron Studio
Thursday, May 6, 7-9pm
903 Broadway

On Friday night I attended the premier of Vidal Sassoon The Movie at the Tribeca Film Festival. It’s a documentary about the “rockstar” of hairdressing and his road to infamy. He’s 81 years old, you won’t believe it when you see him doing yoga in the film. It’s an amazing story that brought me back to my childhood seeing those “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good” commercials that almost slipped from my memory. It’s an engaging story with beautiful graphics and an amazing soundtrack. Oh, and did I mention my brilliant brother (Craig Teper) wrote and directed it? Yes, I’m somewhat biased but it’s a great film, so go see it!!!

Brett just put together our new MakerBot! The MakerBot is an open source 3D printer, it makes almost anything 4″ x 4″ x 6″ and it is AWESOME. It is our new friend… I am going to try and teach it to say hi in robot. As we make more we will show more, stay tuned. Check us out on the World Wide Makerbot Map.

Well, they like the ModKat website anyway… Be sure to Pick up HOW’s April Issue: award-winning interactive designs, www.modkat.com is on the list! Thanks HOW!!!

It’s that time of year again! Come say hi to us and our acrylic cats at the NYIGF, Jan 31-Feb 4, Booth 3975.

Toshi Fukaya used to build motorcyles in Japan, in our book that is the definition of cool. He’s a product designer now and we were lucky enough to have him as our intern here at ModProducts. He just designed his own product called EMON, it is an amazing new concept for a clothes hanger and it won the DWR student competition-Go Toshi!!! This obviously makes you even cooler! Toshi is almost finished with his ID degree at Parsons, keep your eye out for this guy.