Don't Be Afraid to Embrace Boring Ideas Kikkerland's annual design competition results in an unexpected bestseller.

Dutch design firm Kikkerland is known for bringing whimsy to utilitarian products -- say, a cocktail shaker in the shape of a maraca, or a portable barbecue in the shape of a suitcase. So it was surprised when one of its most successful products of the past year was a… cord organizer.

Related: The Simplest Ideas Can Be Extremely Profitable. Here's Proof.

The product, the Cable Loft, was born out of Kikkerland's annual Design Challenge, in which the brand partners with a retail company and a team of student designers, who submit problem-solving ideas for one particular challenge. For 2016, the challenge brought together The Container Store and students from the Rhode Island School of Design, who were asked to create a product for the digitally connected home. Students went through multiple rounds of presentations and critiques before final prototypes were submitted to buyers for consideration. Cable Loft -- an organizational home for a power strip and the many cords that plug into it -- was deemed the winner, and its student designer received a licensing agreement and a 5 percent commission.