Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

Style that saves lives seems so apt a title for this post too (it was used for a post done earlier this week). I feel it’s important that medical products that are more commercial than industrial should be given style makeovers, so they don’t become isolating elements, but rather elements that boost the confidence and healing capabilities of the people using them. We’ve seen wonderful work done in the prosthetic department as well as for casts that heal fractured bones. The Hue Inhaler is a step in that direction, bringing incredible CMF detailing to the otherwise mundane asthma inhaler. The Hue is completely 3D printed (note the transition from mottled color to transparent) and comes with a dazzling set of color combinations that are bound to break the monotony of medical product design. There’s even a woven paracord for easy access, or clipping/strapping to your bag/pants.

With roughly 300 million people in this world suffering from asthma and almost 250,000 deaths per year, the Hue Inhaler’s crusade to destroy stigma around inhalers may just save more than a fair share of lives.

Designer: Tim Zarki

Like designer David Olivares puts it, the iM2 will make sure there still are some skid marks in the upcoming era of autonomous cars! Designed for M enthusiasts who’ve been squeezing in their thrills before they can no longer drive a petrol car, the iM2 sacrifices luxury and range (something most electric cars are hyper-focused on) for sheer acceleration. No word on specs except that there is NO autonomous driving option!

Aesthetically, the iM2 explores a sharper silhouette as a new design direction. The straight lines, especially in the snub-nose grill section, are a bit Lexus-y but nonetheless an interesting direction for mixing up BMW’s traditionally round double-kidney nose.

Designer: David Olivares

Two years ago as a part of a promotional strategy, Volvo released the LifePaint, a water-based, non-toxic reflective paint that seemed invisible in daylight, but the minute it gets dark, the paint catches stray lights to reflect them, thus illuminating the object.

Albedo, a Swiss-American company decided to turn campaign into life-saving product with their Albedo100 paint. The invisible paint comes in permanent, semi-permanent, and non-permanent variants, and can be used on everything from clothing to walls, to even pets (stuff like horses or reindeer that sadly become roadkill because they go unnoticed in the dark). They’re non-lethal, but you wouldn’t want to swallow the paint.

Aside from its life-saving properties, the invisible spray could even be used in a number of creative ways, creating graffiti that only shows when someone shines a light on it, or unconventional flash-photography where scenarios completely change under the influence of the reflective paint. The Semi-permanent paint washes off clothes easily, while the non-permanent paint can come off with a damp cloth.

Designer: Albedo 100

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As playful as it looks, the Pushiron’s single red button isn’t just for show… it results in enhanced safety and intuitive use. By twisting it, the design’s bright focal point gives the user complete control to adjust temperature and mode settings. By pressing it, on/off functionality can be toggled and the quick-cooling feature engaged for safety. Simple, easy to use, and aesthetically sleek, the only thing else you need is water to add a bit of steam to your press!

Designer: Jungho Lee

In the spirit of alluringly minimal products that can adapt to not-so-minimal technologies, the Crosley Revolution Vinyl Disc player reminds me a lot of Muji’s exposed CD player, and the Elbow cassette player we covered two months ago (which absolutely blew up over the internet, btw) that use CDs and Cassette in an unconventional way, being sometimes less noticeable than the CD or Cassette. Crosley’s Revolution vinyl disc player works a lot like the Elbow, in which it snaps over the music-holding device and operates it with the barest minimum housing. The LP disc juts out of the player, rotating in front of your eyes… you can maybe scratch and remix your tracks too.

It seems like the LP disc is making a resurgence (people still wildly believe that vinyl is the most pristine in terms of audio quality). We’ve seen products on Kickstarter that take the minimal direction much more severely like the Rokblok, and Yves Behar’s LOVE player, but they lack a certain deal of seriousness in terms of being a hardcore music player. Crosley’s Revolution is built to be a more-than-capable LP Disc player in every regard. It comes with two speeds, an audio input for speakers or headphones, and even a USB out that allows you to rip all your audio to a digital format. Now that’s rather convenient.

Designer: Crosley

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There was a time when EDM was all the craze, and these spectacles showed up with polarized lenses that would end up making what you saw look like hallucinations. Colors would flash everywhere, you’d see rainbows emanating from lights, it looked wonderful. They’re still around and are called the Aurora Vizion Diffraction Spectacles.

However, enjoying something you wear on your eyes seems like a rather limited approach to diffraction technology. Rather, why not make a camera lens out of it so that everyone on your Instagram can enjoy it, right? That’s what Trippy Clip’s Pryzma (I’m loving how these companies swap the S for a Z to sound hipster…hypzter) camera lenses are doing. The chiseled glass lens splits the image into threes, while a special optical coating allows your images to get a completely hallucinogenic color-blast makeover. Much like living inside a kaleidoscope!

The Pryzm even comes in a regular fish-eye version that warps your images spherically while giving it the signature rainbow treatment.

Designer: Trippy Clip

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