--- title: These Tiny Cubes Are Actually Rubber Bands description: The geometrical shapes make the bands easy to find in a drawer and easy to pick up canonical: https://time.com/3562018/rubber-band-cubes/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-06T17:54:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:08.981Z article:section: Ideas og:title: These Tiny Cubes Are Actually Rubber Bands og:description: The geometrical shapes make the bands easy to find in a drawer and easy to pick up og:url: https://time.com/3562018/rubber-band-cubes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Tiny Cubes Are Actually Rubber Bands twitter:description: The geometrical shapes make the bands easy to find in a drawer and easy to pick up twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # These Tiny Cubes Are Actually Rubber Bands > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=9c73c491-c602-4825-853c-d35f3ee39cad&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) by [Kenny Ong / Lost at E Minor](https://time.com/author/lost-at-e-minor-zolton-zavos/) ## Kenny Ong / Lost at E Minor Nov 6, 2014 5:54 PM UTC by [Kenny Ong / Lost at E Minor](https://time.com/author/lost-at-e-minor-zolton-zavos/) ## Kenny Ong / Lost at E Minor Nov 6, 2014 5:54 PM UTC  _This_ [_article_](http://www.lostateminor.com/2014/10/20/believe-tiny-cubes-actually-rubber-bands/) _originally appeared on_ [_Lost at E Minor_](http://www.lostateminor.com/)_._ Some items around the house have remained pretty much the same, serving us the same function over and over again. Take the humble rubber band, for instance. They have been around since the 1600s and were patented in England way back in 1845\. And they have always been circular. But not anymore. Tokyo and Milan-based design firm Nendo have designed a quirky cube of a rubber band. Oki Sato, the lead designer, said, “The geometrical shapes make the bands easy to find in a drawer and easy to pick up.” But there’s a price to pay for such style in something so utilitarian. A pack of three is sold for 1080 yen (US $10). (via [Spoon & Tamago](http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2014/10/14/a-cubic-rubber-band-that-youll-never-want-to-throw-away/#more-29883))  Cubic rubber band Courtesy of nendo  Cubic rubber bands Courtesy of nendo  Cubic rubber bands Courtesy of nendo  Cubic rubber bands Courtesy of nendo ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3562018/rubber-band-cubes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3562018/rubber-band-cubes/"},"headline":"These Tiny Cubes Are Actually Rubber Bands","datePublished":"2014-11-06T17:54:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:08.981Z","description":"The geometrical shapes make the bands easy to find in a drawer and easy to pick up","url":"https://time.com/3562018/rubber-band-cubes/","keywords":["Innovation","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kenny Ong / Lost at E Minor"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3562018/rubber-band-cubes/","name":"These Tiny Cubes Are Actually Rubber Bands"}}]}] ```