Good Design that's not Sublime:

     Some of the most impressive design proposals and products are those that are so simple, yet are so versatile. I bet that if we were to take away these two products, that our lives would become significantly harder, and that is what makes these items so valuable. These two items are used as solutions for multiple problems and contribute to many different aspects of our life.

    

    Cork, so simple, yet the end use goes way farther than just closures for wine bottles. Cork oak trees are grown primarily in Portugal and Spain. Since they are able to be harvested every 9 years, these amazing trees allow for an almost constant of cork. Skilled harvesters use axes to easily separate the lightweight bark from the matured trees. It falls off easily and is then bundled into large sheets which are then transported to the factory for the boiling process. Boiling the cork bark softens it while also cleaning the planks. Then, after boiling them, they are graded based on quality and usability, and cut into useable pieces. The planks are just thick enough for cork stoppers to be hand-punched. The large sheets that aren't used as stoppers will then go through a process to become cork boards, used for schools, offices, and much more all around the world. Other planks could be used as a sustainable and cheap material for building. No matter what the end use is for cork, I believe it is such a simple solution for so many issues that we have every single day, without even realizing.

    

    Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral was walking his dog through the woods when he noticed that burrs were attached to his trousers. Being the curious man he was, he observed them through a microscope and saw the loop and hook pair allowed the burr to attach to his pants. And so began the invention of Velcro. He tested all kids of materials but ended up with nylon producing the best results. He started to produce Velcro in large quantities through the use of a special loom, which allowed him to perfect the right size of loops and hooks.

(Micro-Velcro)

    Today, Velcro is used everyday, since it was popularized by NASA in the early 1960's. While originally being thought to be cheap looking and ugly, Velcro is now a multi-use tool that has been used in surgeon gowns, footwear, airline seat cushions, and much more. Having the ability to bind things together and then tearing them apart again is a huge benefit that we all enjoy today.

Sources:

“How Cork Is Made: An Illustrated Guide.” Www.wineanorak.com, www.wineanorak.com/corks/howcorkismade.htm.

writer, Patricia Daniels is a, et al. “Who Invented Velcro?” ThoughtCo, www.thoughtco.com/the-inventionofvelcro4066111#:~:text=Velcro%20was%20the%20creation%20of%20Swiss%20engineer%20Georges.