Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

I stand before you with what I believe is the best working/outdoor light ever made. The MESA, designed by high-end lighting design specialist Ravi Varma, stands over any workspace, illuminating your working area in a way that A. Doesn’t shine light directly in your eyes, and B. Doesn’t cast visible shadows on the workspace, because of its overhead placement. The result is immaculate lighting that is tall enough to work under and short enough to look over.

MESA was developed as an alternative to most outdoor lights like traditional electric/gas lanterns that cast light everywhere, including into one’s eyes. The MESA’s design allows it to shine light on only what matters, the table, while its LEDs give off a warm light, reminiscent of the soft warm glow of a Brooklyn bar or restaurant, that doesn’t strain the eyes. The MESA is completely foldable, and becomes a single strip that occupies as much space as a bottle of water (1″x 2″ x 13″). It doesn’t even need assembling, given its auto-opening design (inspired by the way walking sticks for the blind open out on their own). Machined entirely from aluminum, the MESA is completely water-proof and unlike steel, the lightweight aluminum won’t corrode or rust. The MESA comes packed with a lithium-ion battery that can be charged via MicroUSB and promises to deliver over 50 hours of usage on a full charge, which should comfortably last over a week if used for 7 hours every day. The light itself operates in three modes, i.e., low, medium, and bright.

The portable MESA is ideal not just for those outdoor picnics (the original scenario for which it was built), but even for workplaces for designers, artists, and technicians, giving you complete control over a working area with direct overhead illumination that casts the least amount of shadows. It even allows you to get that perfect overhead Instagram shot like in Buzzfeed’s Tasty videos (food bloggers rejoice!) without casting a shadow of your phone on the subject!

Designer: Ravi Varma

BUY NOW: $99.00 $120.00

BUY NOW: $99.00 $120.00

Why be just a spectator when you can be a part of the movement? As we journey from strength to strength as one of the world’s foremost websites covering Innovative, Inspirational Industrial Design, we’re looking to expand the Yanko Design family.

Have an eye for design and a way with words? Come join the YD Team as our new Senior Editor!
We’re looking for a writer/editor who can decode and discuss design. It’s important that you have a background in designing as well as a penchant for writing too! Your words will help guide designers as well as non-designers understand design better, and appreciate it with greater perception. Your writing will help broaden horizons and widen minds!

Responsibilities

• Our Senior Editor will curate content and compose articles discussing and dissecting design. We love people who can speak freely about what they think is good design, draw parallels between design works, and spot design trends. Your articles will aim to inspire both designers and non-designers to learn about and appreciate relevant, innovative work.
• The editor will also be required to prepare/edit images pertaining to the article.
• As a Senior Editor, you may be required to attend national/international design awards, festivals, and exhibitions to represent Yanko Design.

Required Skills/Experience

• Background in or an interest for Industrial Design, Technology, and Transportation Design.
  (Also being a reader of Yanko Design would go a long way!)
• At least 2 years of experience in writing (online and/or offline).
• Proficiency in US English. International applicants are welcome.
• Photo Editing Skills (Adobe Photoshop and or similar).
• Knowledge and familiarity with online publishing tools (WordPress) and basic HTML.
• Familiarity with Social Media Tools.
• A Desktop or Laptop with the aforementioned software and a stable internet connection.
  (This is a remote position. International applicants are welcome.)

How To Apply

Send in your Resume/CV to resumes@yankodesign.com along with 2 samples of your written work that would be relevant to Yanko Design.

(Have any other questions? Contact us here!)

Below you’ll find the most popular designs we’ve tracked over the last 30 days – an overview of designs you shouldn’t have missed in August 2017.

The Bladeless Drone is aptly named for its brilliant design that ditches dangerous blades for air ducts. The resulting unit is not only safer but so quiet that neighbors and strangers alike will thank you for not bugging them with an annoying hummmmmmmm!

After the disaster at Grenfell Tower in London, the X-Space should be developed as a mandatory addition to every home. It forms a robust and safe bubble outside the building during a fire.

Unlike classic designs where the trains sit on top of a track, this inverted train is secured on the side and levitated with super magnet tech between its upper and lower decks.

Simple and elegant, the Leaf transforms any plastic bottle you may have lying around into a doggy drinking apparatus.

10 inspirational designs from the A’ Design Award and Competition 2016-17 winners.

Designed to illuminate, but in a way that is seemingly natural and definitely desirable, the lamp doesn’t emit light, but the illusion of sunlight coming to you from your window.

Touted as the grill that’s as portable as your lunch, the WG Grill comes in just two pieces. A stand, and a grilling surface.

In this concept, called Aurora, Tesla’s electric motor technology is applied to a tricopter design to facilitate long-range, extended-time camera capability.

Made for rough outdoor usage, but with an elegant style that makes it ideal for use even in the most style-conscious kitchens, Feastform’s spatula and tongs are crafted from Grade 5 titanium, known for its remarkably high strength to weight ratio.

Intel’s slick little card isn’t for swiping at the ATM. It isn’t even for using at the library. In the correct setting, it can pretty much power an ATM or run a library… because it’s a computer in a card!

Another brilliant example of product semantics (or the picking up of one brand’s visual language/architecture and superimposing it somewhere else), the AMG hair dryer cleverly picks up AMG’s sporty race-car DNA with a body inspired by the car’s styling.

Goodbye fidget spinner, hello infinity cube! This machined aluminum cube toy results in hours of fun while it keeps your fingers fidgeting and your mind racing.

Jaguar’s future combines autonomy with a driver-based approach to give you the Jaguar Future-Type. Their vision, much like their contemporaries, is of a future where cars are shared (like MINI’s Vision Next 100)… except in Jaguar’s iteration of the future your key to the car is a personalized steering wheel. Jaguar says that the steering wheel (code-named Sayer after Malcolm Sayer, the designer of the Jag E-Type) will be your lifeline to the car. It stays with you all the time and comes with Artificial Intelligence. When detached from the Jaguar, it allows you to summon a car for yourself. The Jag’s autonomous driving mode ensures it reaches your doorstep safely just before you board the vehicle. Simply dock the Sayer in its place and you can either use it to drive the car, or to access ride-based information or even entertainment while the car drives itself. The Sayer becomes the only part of the car you truly own, whereas the car itself becomes available to everyone who possesses their own Sayer… which in my opinion is a whole lot more secure than a bunch of keys (and easier to find too)!

Designer: Jaguar