Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

In the design world, we have a saying. Until someone buys and uses your products, their judgement of how good it is comes broadly from two things. Its packaging, or its presentation. Now you can’t really judge a product by its packaging if you’re seeing it online on your laptop, phone, or tablet, but you do judge it by its photographs and videos. Human psychology works loosely on the principle of “if it looks good, it must be good”. The tongue immediately starts salivating at the sight of delicious looking food, right?

With the Foldio3, that tongue-tantalizing photograph is just literally a portfolio-case and 10 seconds away. While most traditional photo set-ups comprise a room-full of equipment and hours of setting up, the Foldio3’s innovative design puts all of that into a small flat-packed case that can fit right under your arm. Open it out and assemble it using the magnetic locks and you have yourself a studio-grade light box for your product photography. On the top of the box are 3 LED strips too, negating the need for those massive bulky studio lights. The Foldio3 comes with two backdrops too, black and white, depending on the kind of shot you need. You can even use your own green backdrop for those green-screen applications.

The third in its series, and twice as large as the Foldio2 when opened (but still relatively small when folded), the Foldio3 stands at more than 2 feet tall and wide. The size upgrade from the earlier iterations of the Foldio make it ideal to photograph larger products. The innovative magnetic light-box even arms itself with additional lights that can easily be paired with the Foldio3. The Halo Lights snap right to the magnets on the sides (or can be placed at the front too), and connect to the dimmer remote in the Foldio3, allowing you to manipulate the lighting to get the perfect intensity. You can push boundaries even more with the Foldio360, a rotating turntable (and a breakthrough product in its own right) that allows you to take 360° photos of your product, or even 3D scans of your products if you pair it with a 3D scanner, or software/apps like Autodesk’s 123D. (I’m telling you folks, 3D scanning and Apple’s ARKit is the future)

Whether you’re working as a designer and want to photograph prototypes (or are planning to launch your own crowdfunding or craft project), or a photographer, or blogger, or even if you’re trying to sell something on ebay, a good photograph always gets a good response. That’s not me talking… That’s human psychology!

Designer: Orangemonkie

BUY NOW: $109.00

This design enables the Foldio3 to be compact when folded up whereas when it is opened, it transforms dramatically into a 25 inch x 25 inch studio in less than 10 seconds.

Pictures taken by Foldio3.

The Halo bar is attachable, so you can fix the Halo bar on the side or bottom magnet spots of Foldio3 according to your needs. Set up the perfect lighting using the Halo bars.

BUY NOW: $109.00

This design makes me realize just how far we’ve come from the Segway! It’s called Blizwheel and it’s no larger than one of those portable CD players from the 90s in its compact form. In fact, it even looks strikingly similar!

The design’s unique folding feature means users can go from carrying to riding in seconds, making it perfect for the last mile of a commute. With battery life of an hour and a top speed of nearly 15 miles, it’s also great for zipping around town, running errands around the house, or going for a leisurely roll around the block! When you’re finished, fold it down to only 3.09″ (about the width of an iPhone!) and throw it in a bag.

Designer: Blizwheel

Bluetooth headsets make it easy for active individuals to concentrate on their fitness or other activities without fumbling around with a cumbersome cord. The only problem? They use up their battery quickly, especially if they get hot in the sun. The solution? Bluetooth Solar Headphones! The solar panel surface is beautifully contoured and seamlessly integrated into the ergonomic shape of the design. The only difference you’ll notice (so long as the sun’s out) is more amount of time to rock out while you work out!

Designer: Wonjoon Jeong

Asthma can be an absolutely debilitating condition if not properly monitored. Unfortunately, there’s never been an easy way to get to the root of the problem and it only makes things more difficult that each sufferer is affected differently and for varying reasons. Until now! Introducing, Zero Asthma.

This wearable tech not only presents an entirely new way of keeping an inhaler handy, it also pairs wirelessly with the user’s smartphone where an app tracks medicine levels in real time and notifies when refills are due. Better yet, the neck-worn pendant device also features specialized sensors that monitor the wearer’s breathing habits, medicine regiment, and environmental conditions to paint a much more comprehensive picture of the suffer’s unique attack history. Strategies can then be developed when the information is shared with medical professionals to help counteract and prevent attacks.

Designer: Bryan Khua Chong Lin