A cable-tidying device called Sling Back (above) is the first product to be launched by Quirky, an new web-based service where product ideas submitted by designers are selected and developed by an online social community.
The Quirky community select one product per week from submitted ideas to take forward for development and eventually be sold in the online shop.
For the products that make it into production, thirty cents of each dollar made through their sale goes back to the collaborators involved in realising the product.
It costs $99 dollars to submit an idea. Where submissions are not taken forward for development, the originator receives the market research data obtained during the selection process.
Upcoming products are sold at a discount to guarantee enough sales are made before the product goes into full production. Quirky is the brainchild of American designer and entrepreneur Ben Kaufman.