Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

A Prison for Photons

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 12:00 PM PST

Here’s a great example of how 3D printing really helps a designer unleash creativity. We spoke about the boom of industrial design with the launch of the 3D printer in our previous article and it’s such a coincidence that we’re now featuring an award winning 3D printed design here!

The LightCAGE is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of being a lampshade, it makes the attempt to cage light in a man-made 3D printed prison. Crafted from PLA, the lamp’s unusual design isn’t just a treat to look at, it casts a kaleidoscope of shadows that decorate the room. However, it still casts a spot of diffused light at the base, allowing it to be a functional as well as decorative lightpiece.

The LightCAGE was awarded the second place in the VModern Furniture Design Competition 2016.

Designer: Emmanuel Osorno

Fruits from Start to Finish

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 09:10 AM PST

Simply called the “Fruit Bowl”, this innovative packaging design makes it easy to transport fruit from the grocery store, home, and then to the waste bin.

Available at the store, users can pick one up and place their fruit of choice inside to carry home. Then, they can easily rinse the fruit by adding water and using the drain located on top. Store your favorite fruits or eat them directly from the canister. The convenient cap doubles as a place to temporarily throw your seeds or pits and makes it easy to dispose of them.

Designers: Orsan Berkay Tuluce & Ahmet Akbülbül

Design Factory on your Desktop

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 06:39 AM PST

The design community’s massive growth can be attributed to one major event in the recent past. The birth of the 3D printer. The 3D printer has not only enabled the designer to unleash absolute creativity, it has also brought prototyping abilities into the home, allowing anyone to set up their design and manufacturing studio virtually anywhere. That statement wasn’t completely true until recently. 3D printers may have been around for a while now, but they weren’t small, and they definitely weren’t affordable. The Micro by M3D is quite a game changer in that regard. Aptly named, the Micro truly is a consumer desktop printer… because it literally fits on your desk! The compact printer however isn’t a toy. Crafted with a carbon fiber framework, the Micro is more than sturdy. It even houses a ceramic heating system for the extruder nozzle that’s aerospace grade.

If you thought that was all, hear this. M3D’s micro is the smallest, and one of the only printers to work with carbon fiber. This means your prototypes get a next-level quality build that can withstand real-world applications, allowing designers to unlock serious potential… right in their own backyards!

Designers: Michael Armani & David Jones

Buy It Here: $369 $449

The Future Looks Quantum Clean!

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 03:00 AM PST

Designed with the European Unions goal to drastically reduce emissions by 2050, Quantum Levitate not only introduces an entirely new clean-energy cargo vehicle to the market, but an entirely new transportation system to be used by any type of road vehicle.

The vehicle itself bridges the gap between trucks and maglev trains – workable on both maglev lines and common roads. This, of course, calls for a next-generation road infrastructure with electric superconductor power lines, solar panel roads, and quantum magnetic lanes. A huge undertaking, sure. However, the end result is longer journeys without stops, unmanned vehicles, and clean, green power!

Designer: Michael Bedell

You’ll Flip Out for Flip-Discs!

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 11:36 PM PST

Businesses and brands are looking away from commonplace LED screens (basic!) for a new way to cover their walls in stores and offices… and sometimes that “new” something is revealed in an OLD way! The 55 year-old flip-disc tech gets a modern, modular makeover from BREAKFAST, a leader in the kinetic display space!

Today, they’ve unveiled their new Flip-Disc Display System – a modular system of Flip-Disc panels that can be customized and configured in a variety of ways. The displays are made up of thousands of small plastic discs which flip between two colored sides at close to 30 frames per second. Out-of-the-box, the system can easily display images, video, and text, while also featuring a 3D time-of-flight camera which lets those in front of the screen see and hear their actions play out via thousands of small flipping pieces of plastic.

The core innovation in this system are the F1 Flip-Disc Display Panels. These 17″ x 17″ modular panels contain 784 half-inch Flip-Discs each, and can be arranged into any overall screen size or shape. With 32 panels, you can design a 11′ x 5.5′ rectangular display, or a single row display that is 17″ tall by 45′ long. The Flip-Discs, as well as the casing which holds the discs, can be customized. for specific colors.

The Controller App is designed to get you up and running without the need for any developers, creatives, or engineers. Out of the box, the software allows any logo, image, text, or video to be displayed. It will also feature a scheduler, allowing businesses to program what content they’d like displayed when. Static images and text can be interacted with via the 3D time-of-flight camera. For those interested in taking it further, there is an API that gives full creative control of the entire screen and camera.

Designer: BREAKFAST

De’Light’ful!

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 03:07 PM PST

Broadening the definition of the word ‘Lamp’, the 3S9T is a sculptural art-piece that illuminates in the most unexpected way, giving you an element of surprise when it’s switched on for the first time. Based on the concept of tensegrity, the lamp involves 3 struts that have 9 tensile cables running across, connecting and binding the entire design together. The unexpected aspect of the 3S9T lamp is the fact that you don’t envision it as a luminary. You don’t see the obvious lighting, like an incandescent bulb, etc., because all the lighting is concealed within the strut. When the lights are switched on, they illuminate the tensile cables from one end to another, so you don’t see the light source, but something does light up, giving it an almost magical/mystical glow. How cool is that?!

Designer: Martin Wong Tuong Ying

A Hardcore Hard Drive

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 12:20 PM PST

All rejoice! The Porsche Design Hard Drive is officially the coolest in the world! Designed for professionals, the aesthetic of the hard drive does tend to match the tech you connect it to. Encased in anodized aluminum with a black plate on the top etched with the branding, this hard drive pairs perfectly with your Macbook. It happens to be one of the first hard drives to honor the USB Type C connection for more secure and faster file transfers. Speaking of file transfers, the Porsche Design Hard Drive has possibly the most needed features integrated into its design. The first innovative feature is the green LED strip on the edge. The strip lights up from start to end indicating file transfer progress. It’s just more convenient to know what percent of your files have transfered by just looking at the progress bar lit up on the drive rather than maximize and minimize unnecessary tabs. It even comes with a Force Eject button that allows you to remove the hard drive in a hurry. You can see the inconspicuous button right beside the Type C USB port. Its aim is to be your emergency resort, rather than a habitual function. Lastly, the hard drive comes with a gloss black dock that allows it to stand tall on your desk… because just like evolution made the humans stand tall, the hard disk must follow the same suit!

Designer: Paul Branson