Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

UPDATE: Less than 24 hours left in their campaign!

If you relate to the Keymaker from the Matrix, you probably have too many keys. So until biometric authentication takes over and replaces all your keys with fingerprints and retina scans, we’re just going to have to solve your too-many-keys-but-nowhere-to-put-them woes using good-old industrial design!

The Key Wrangler is an outwardly simple product, but makes use of ingenious problem-solving techniques to not just segregate your keys, but secure them too. Most keychains feature either a ring to hold your keys, or a carabiner that you slip your keys into. The Key Wrangler features both! Merged together in a sort of “keychain remix” (say the creators), the Wrangler features a carabiner/clip that hooks onto your garment, bag, or zipper along with a key post that neatly holds your keys (and even the occasional USB stick) in an organized row.

The carabiner clip is a literal life saver. While keys tend to slip out of your pockets while seated, or get pickpocketed, the carabiner clip holds them firmly in place, preventing gravity from doing its thing, and deterring thieves from easily grabbing your keys. Having used a carabiner keychain for more than 5 years now, I can attest that the carabiner clip is by far the most useful feature of a keychain. Below the clip lies a slender knurled rod that acts as a hanging-bar for your keys. The rod makes segregating keys an absolute dream, because unlike those keychains with loops, the rod holds the keys in a fixed arrangement. So even in the dark (or if you’re giving the keychain to your friend), it’s easy to remember that your first key is the house key, the second key is the cupboard key, the third key unlocks your garage. That arrangement never changes (unlike in looped keychains), making referencing incredibly easy, especially if you have more than five keys (or bad memory). If you’re anything like the Keymaster, needn’t fear since the Key Wrangler holds up to 17 keys!

Even though the Key Wrangler takes on a complicated challenge, its design language echoes “Form follows Function” through and through. The piano shaped key holder keeps a low profile, and makes use of simple production techniques, allowing it to be not just functionally efficient but energy efficient during production too. A perfect addition to your EDC (every day carry) or even your home, the Key Wrangler does the job of a silent savior, not just holding your keys, but securing them as well as keeping them organized and always accessible!

Designers: Che-Wei Wang & Taylor Levy of CW&T

BUY IT HERE: $50.00 $70.00

Gaze is a fridge focused on making the process of finding food faster and easier… all without opening it! It features smart shelves and compartments that not only keep things organized in an intuitive way but also keep track of available items.

This information is displayed directly on a robust touch screen system on the exterior door. Here, users can actually see inside the fridge to view what items are available and review a detailed list of what’s inside whether it’s to cook or make grocery lists… all without having to open it which means less energy waste and prolonged food freshness!

Designer: Heejin Youn

One of the world’s most beloved anti-virus companies has just entered the IoT market and we are honestly impressed! With 30 years of safeguarding our computers, Norton now has the solution for the future. A jaw-droppingly beautiful internet router that sits in your house, guarding not just one device, but all the devices that connect to it via WiFi.

This pretty drool-worthy Ferrero Rocher-esque router (codenamed the Norton Core) doesn’t just distribute wireless internet… it distributes protected wireless internet using machine learning, deep packet inspection, intrusion prevention, and other highly advanced techniques to protect your home network from any threats. On the inside is a phased-array antenna capable of doling out speeds up to 2.5Gbps (let the 4K streaming begin!) with incredible range and reach, thanks to Norton’s advanced beamforming technology.

Interestingly enough, on the design front, the Core looks nothing like any regular router. However, its beautiful geodesic design is almost a hat-tip to structural integrity, implying that the Core is safe, reliable, and incredibly capable! Plus with the matte finish bouncing light gently off its faceted design, this isn’t a router to be hidden, but rather celebrated on your coffee table or your mantelpiece!

Designer: Norton

BUY IT HERE: $279.99

As puny as it is, PLUB packs a powerful punch to convert any wired headphones to wireless! It’s quite possibly the most affordable, lightest, and easy-to-use Bluetooth receiver out there.

Though it’s been stripped to the bare essentials, the minimalist design delivers incredibly high-end audio quality. Imbedded with a CSR audio system-on-chip (SoC) solution with aptX audio codec, PLUB offers high quality stereo audio over Bluetooth. The quality is nearly indistinguishable from a wired connection!

PLUB also offers no-button control. By simply plugging in, PLUB will turn ON and auto-pair through Bluetooth 4.1 to the nearest smart device. Adjustments can be made through the existing button control on the connected headphone. Other handy features include an LED light to indicate charging status and sound alerts to indicate pairing, connection, and battery status. Just PLUB and play!

Designer: Kite Kim

Love an induction hob but hate that you can’t use it with your wok?! Amphi is the answer to your woes. Thanks to its cleverly designed drop-style hob, the design finally makes it possible to use this traditional Chinese cooking pan with induction cooking.

Due to the shape, it’s not only more stable but provides even temperature across the surface. Unlike other wok induction designs, its many layers make it a versatile chef’s tool that can accommodate almost any size wok.

Designer: Kim Myung Nyun

We may be having an open cockpit this year at the F1 races, but from the looks of it the next decade is going to show a transition towards closed cockpits. The designers at Renault definitely seem to be working towards that direction and they made that abundantly clear with the Renault RS 2027 Vision concept. Fresh off its high at the Shanghai Motor Show this year, the concept car aims at setting a design direction for the future of racing. Our bet is that with Renault having been in the F1 game for nearly 40 years now, Renault has enough insight to be able to pretty much accurately predict the future of race-car aesthetics and design.

Our primary focus is on the new aesthetic that deviates from functionally aerodynamic designs to beautifully fluid forms that still manage to evoke a sense of speed. Made mainly out of recycled material, the new closed cockpit will be 3D printed given its complex design, and will be completely transparent. The helmet of the driver is envisioned to be transparent too, not only improving visibility for the driver, but also allowing fans to get a glimpse of their favorite racers in action. Let’s just safely say that Renault definitely has us excited for 2027!

Designer: Renault

I guess times were just simpler when we had the landline telephone. Sure, they weren’t portable, but you wouldn’t have network problems, or battery problems, and they used to be such a dream to use! Now we have smartphones that are portable, and come with a rather advanced caller ID, but need to be periodically charged, have network issues, cost a fortune, and let’s not forget all those radio waves that pass through your head.

The NVX 200 is perfect for retaining the good qualities of the telephone, but allows you to use your existing smartphone just the same. Designed for offices that don’t want to rely on additional desk-phones, the NVX 200 is a state-of-the-art telephone hub that allows you to have a professional phone set-up in your office using your existing smartphone (or even a tablet). Resplendent in its receiver-and-twirly-cord glory, the NVX 200 works like a charm! Just connect your smartphone to it via Bluetooth as soon as you unbox it and you’re set for life. After that all you do is dock your phone in its slot and you have a brilliant landline phone that provides seamless service and crystal audio clarity for not just telephone calls, but even VOIP calls as well as video conferencing from third party apps like Skype, etc. The NVX 200 also works without docking the phone, as long as the phone is within 15 feet of the dock.

Perfect for every office-goer, the NVX turns your smartphone into the ideal desk-phone/conferencing-device with no hassle! Plus, doesn’t it feel better to have that mobile-phone away from your face??

Designer: Invoxia

BUY IT HERE: $187.99 $249.00

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Oftentimes, in the process of designing a product that saves lives, we forget one rather crucial part of the healing process. The product must make users feel better, not just through function, but also emotionally, and psychologically. While most medical devices aim to perform functionally, only some try to look fashionable, less intimidating, or break stigmas through good design.

A collaboration between Pensa and Jeff Dachis (the former co-founder of Razorfish), One Drop is a completely exhaustive diabetes fighting system that could easily be a part of any diabetic’s EDC kit. Designed with a homogeneous language that binds the three products together into a beautifully chrome kit that anyone would be proud to carry, the One Drop brilliantly bridges the wide chasm between medicine and fashion, empowering people and motivating them into keeping their health in check!

Designers: Pensa & Jeff Dachis.