Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

Cookout rethinks outdoor cooking by taking inspiration from the age-old kerosene stove. However, it’s much easier to use, maintain and carry compared to traditional kerosene stoves. Simplified into 5 primary components, it can be disassembled and reassembled in seconds to clean or pack. Better yet, two interchangeable surfaces make it possible to switch between cooking styles in a cinch. Grill with the ribbed metal surface, then swap it out for the pot supporter to boil water or heat soup and other items!

Designer: Veda Borgave

We’re always in the mooooood for a good packaging design and this one is udderly the best! Quite simply, it’s shaped like a cows udder which is not only freakin’ cute but ergonomic. 4 little teats give it a little stability and something to hold on to when you’re pouring a cold glass of milk!

Designer: Muhammet Uzuntas

Colony collapse disorder (CCD) happens when worker bees in a colony disappear and leave behind their queen and food. Studies have shown the causes of CCD to range from pesticide use to Varroa mites. Designed as one widespread bee-saving system, the Bee Hospital aims to combat these problems as well as collect data to make informed decisions on what more can be done.

The first layer of bee protection guards against pesticides in the form of a supplement station that provides bees with probiotics and essential nutrients to digest and process out pesticides so they can stay healthy.

The second tree attachment guards against Varroa mites (responsible for transmitting bee-killing diseases) by attaching a chemical to the bee that kills the mites on contact. Mixed into an attractive syrup, bees will be instantaneously protected while they nourish.

Lastly, a specialize bee-detecting device monitors the system while counting bee populations and tracking their movement. This provides scientists with valuable data in regards to optimal thriving conditions, environmental factors that lead to problems, and decline/growth patterns that can be used together to make bees healthy!

Designer: Shau Heng Li

The Google Pixel 2 event on Wednesday was jam-packed full of funky new gadgets – some of them blew us away, some of them were to be expected (yawn). If you didn’t catch the release or just weren’t too bothered, I’ll tell you in short what was released – the next iteration of the flagship smartphone called the Pixel 2, two new Home speakers/assistants called the Home Mini and the Home Max and a new laptop called the Pixelbook – a cross between a Lenovo Yoga laptop and Microsoft’s Surface Book. Also thrown in there was a rather creepy camera called the Clips (I’ll explain later why it’s creepy but cool), a revamped VR headset and the very cool and exciting, google pixel buds that translate foreign words into your own language in real time.

Now that my long winded introduction is complete, let’s get down to business and look a little deeper on the design side of some of these devices – having a good understanding that Google haven’t always been known for their hardware.

BUY NOW

Ok, let’s start with the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2XL. What is most noticeable about the Pixel 2 are the giant bezels both above and below the screen. Although the screen does run relatively edge to edge, the bezel takes up a large part of the interface, this is solely due to the implementation of a front facing speaker system google have chosen to go with. Whereby the Pixel 2 XL has a much larger screen of course, but the bezel is dramatically smaller, similar to that of a Samsung phone, with a more rounded edge than the pixel 2 and a truly more attractive façade overall.

The rear aesthetic of the Pixel 2 and 2 XL are near identical to the first generation, however this time the glass is pushed higher above the finger print scanner, adding an element of the phone somewhat being elongated. Alike other smartphones, the Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL are charged using a USB-C and no other ports, giving the user no options other than using the provided dongle or going wireless. Without ‘nerding’ out too much, the camera has what is called dual-pixels, which helps take better pictures using one camera instead of needing two cameras. It takes the same photo essentially but with two pixels, microns apart. This is able to focus the foreground and blur out the background, called portrait mode. For more information about the crazy features this guy is packed full of (and believe me he is packed full of them, including Optical Image Stabilization) please check out their release event.

The Google Clips is a digital camera that takes pictures FOR you. Let that sink in for a minute. Using Google’s A.I., the Clips works like this – twisting the lens will activate it, then you set it down and just forget about it. Clips then watches everything it sees in its 130- degree field of view, and records a number of seven-second “live” images of stuff it finds interesting. It learns faces over time and does its best to take more photos of those people and fewer photos of strangers – what’s fascinating is that it can even recognize pets. The mission behind the Clips is not to clip it to yourself, but in fact leave it around to catch moments of beauty that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Regarding its adorable design, the Google Clips clearly looks like a recording device – with an LED located on the front alongside it’s 12-megapixel camera and 8GB of storage. There is a shutter button located just below the camera for the moments you don’t want to chance A.I. missing them. With a rounded shell-like cover which makes up the outer sides and the back, the Google Clips is accented with a minty green/teal color which makes for quite a playful and approachable product. Accompanied by a truly easy-to-use interface and app, the Google Clips comes with a funky clip to attach the Clips to most environments. The Google Clips may be a hard sell but you can’t say that it’s not incredibly exciting and a nice looking piece of hardware too. If these products are anything to go off regarding the future of Google’s hardware movement, I’d say things are looking pretty damn good!

Google Pixelbook

Pixel Buds

Google Home Mini and Max

Google Home Max

Google Daydream

If you have a job that makes you suit up Monday thru Friday, it can seem like all your extra time outside of work is spent pressing your clothes for work! It’s time for you to meet Effie – a new domestic appliance that will help you spend more time living and less time getting ready for work. Using a heat, steam and an internal pressing machine, it irons your clothes for you. Simply hang your clothes up straight from the washing machine, click go (or operate it directly from your smartphone!), and look sharp. It’s as simple as that.

Designers: Rohan Kamdar & Trevor Kerth of Effie

It was in the 1950s that Malcolm McLean developed the shipping container which went on to completely revolutionize the transportation industry. It was the structural rigidity, industrial strength steel boxes that made transporting in bulk to be a breeze. Those same features that made the shipping container a godsend for transport, made them a godsend for building materials too. As history would have it, McLean’s shipping containers went on to completely change the world – from shipping supplies, creating instant shelters, emergency centers, all the way down to commercial and residential structures. And of late, architects such as Whitaker Studio, are increasingly playing around with these containers as a child does with LEGO blocks – unlocking an array of strikingly wonderful industrial sculptures and homes across the globe.

This Joshua Tree Residence is a true thing of beauty – breaking out from its core and exploding in all directions. The exterior reaches out like branches of a tree, soaking up every ray of light the day will give. The interior design of this Joshua Tree Residence is given a wide envelope with giant sculpted ceilings – eluding the reality that the house is in fact a construction of McLean’s transport containers. To those who come across it by accident, this home may seem somewhat of a mirage but oddly not looking out of place. Overlooking a stunning cinematic landscape, the Joshua Tree Residence can only be described as something truly magical.

Designer: Whitaker Studio

The life of a new-born is indescribably delicate. Of course, there are always complications that arise that cannot be planned for. With a staggering one million babies dying each year due to lack of oxygen at birth – an even more alarming figure is that 99% of them take place in low resource settings. It is said that the risk of death could be decreased by 16% for every 30 seconds reduction in time to ventilation (Ersdal, Mduma, Svensen, Perlman, 2012).

Darja Wendel’s Kanga addresses the process of resuscitation of a new-born and the training that’s involved with it. Working closely with Laerdal Global Health, Wendel constructed Kanga, which comprises of a support cradle and a transparent blanket. Kanga enables the resuscitation to happen anywhere and at any time, not separating the mother from the new-born. What makes the Kanga truly powerful, is its ability to provide the midwife-in-action with a light system which provides feedback and indication or when and/or how long to proceed with ventilation. Accompanying the Kanga is a support app which creates a training culture through feedback on what to focus on during the training.

In a world where it’s easy to get caught up in the latest smartphone to be released, it’s refreshing to see such great advances and thought towards medical practices in developing countries.

Designer: Darja Wendel for Laerdal Global Health