Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

Designed to be a funny little impressive kitchen tool to make the most amazing mess-free salads, the appropriately named Tada is a slightly cute alien-ish looking device that allows you to evenly coat your salad with dressing… without tossing it! For people like me who are just incredibly bad at tossing salads (it’s an acquired skill, honestly), the Tada allows you to fill the dressing inside it and simply inject it into all parts of the salad, thanks to its eight arms. It reduces a two minute procedure to literally a two second procedure so you can get to eating that delicious salad faster. But first, after dressing, you must do the jazz hands and say “Tada!”

Designer: Dorsa Javaherian

It is hard not to get excited by what the Tokyo Motor Show has to offer. Every day is like Christmas with the sneak peaks at what the best of the best have to offer. One of these guys is Mazda with their Vision Coupe – the perfect example of a harmonized balance between elegant design and an edgy, clean future approach. With next-generation design, Mazda is reinterpreting the very essence of Japanese aesthetics and its subtle beauty.

The goal here was “to create an elegant and refined atmosphere with a sense of vitality that makes Mazda cars come truly alive.” It’s safe to say that Mazda has gone over and above this with the Vision Coupe. As you run your eyes from front to back, this car can only be described as ‘flowing elegance.’ Similar to the Mazda Kai Concept, the body of the Vision Coupe leave no curve or edge out of place. With its striking nose, the Vision Coupe edges forward in an intimidating pose, while the overall body and roof sit rather close to the ground – radiating an exhibition of sleek and clean design all throughout this sporty body. If this doesn’t get you excited about the Tokyo Motor Show and what the future of Mazda has in store, I’m not sure what will.

Designer: Mazda

Inspired by coffee’s deep roots, the JIA hand drip coffee set is designed for a better (not to mention, more beautiful) coffee brewing experience by merging a minimalistic eastern design language with western lifestyle functionality. It features a double-layer ceramic filter cup that rests on a glass vessel. This improves insulation to maintain water temperature.

There are two distinct types of filter cups: wave and cone. The wave ensures stable coffee extraction, making it ideal for drip brewing newbies. The cone, however, has a ribbed frame that creates an air gap between paper and cup. This allows for enhanced air and water flow during extraction, resulting in high acidity and a smoother, more fragrant cup.

Designer: ShiKai Tseng for JIA

Phone accessories/modification cases have always been a grey territory for design – it’s easy to design something in the hope that your users will adopt it and run with it, but the reality of them actually to embrace it, that’s tough. We’ve seen the likes of LG try this tactic with the G5 in April of last year, only to be short-lived and discontinued a year later. One company making strides in this space is Motorola and their fantastic Moto Mods. Motorola’s Moto Mods are snap-on extensions that can greatly expand what the Moto Z family of phones can do, enhancing their functionality.

Originally released in 2016, the Moto Mods have gone from strength to strength, releasing an array of add-ons; moto 360 camera, moto gamepad, JBL soundboost, moto turbopower pack, wireless charging case and much more. Now, Motorola has taken another big step by unveiling the Moto Smart Speaker with Amazon Alexa. Possibly their best addition yet, the Alexa mod responds exactly like Amazon Echo would – just ask and Alexa responds, Alexa mod also responds to your commands over the music and what even better yet is the built-in battery powers the speakers for up to 15 hours, without draining your phone. Offset at an angle; this Moto Mod is tilted to give the user a better view of the device and opens up the surface area of the speakers to output the best audio quality possible. Good move Motorola, it’s nice to see significant innovation which isn’t a face scan or more glass added to a phone.

Designer: Motorola

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We were blown away (and still kind of are) when Honda unveiled the Urban EV Concept last month. As I mentioned before and I’ll repeat it – The urban EV concept evoked an emotional connection unlike any other car showcased this year. The urban EV concept looks like something conceived in the 80s, with its off-white curvy exterior shape, similar to Honda’s earliest models. The side panels and lighting appear to be identical to the Urban EV Concept while exuding a sporty, forceful personality. The Sports EV Concept has adopted a lower and broader shape for this design style – draping the body over the two front wheel arches and dipping across the bonnet to accentuate the sporty nose that Honda has gone for here. This car is just cool – really cool. Similar to the Urban EV Concept, we’re going to have to wait until the Tokyo Motor Show kicks off this weekend to see more of it.

Designer: Honda

Literally the size of a handkerchief when folded, this bad-boy becomes a literal full sized blanket big enough for two (or to fit one person comfortably, if you’re Rose from Titanic). Designed by Chris Clearman who realized sometimes picnics are impromptu things and it helps to have a spread to sit on if you’re ever around beautiful greenery, the Matador expands to almost fifteen times its size, going from just 3×2 inches when folded to 44×28 inches when opened out!

Designed to be lightweight, the blanket weighs a mere 98 grams and comes with tent stake loops to keep the blanket grounded on a windy day. The Matador is made out of a water-proof, puncture resistant nylon weave, making it absolutely great for any kind of outdoors. However, its speciality is the stitched pattern that guides you through the folding process so you can get it back to 3×2 inches in an absolute jiffy. Accompanied with a storage sleeve that you slip right around the bundled blanket, the Matador can even be used as a keychain, thanks to the handy loop around its sleeve! Perfect for everyone from the camper to the festival goer to the impromptu wanderlust!

Designer: Chris Clearman

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Fishing. A necessity for some, a sport for some, and a hobby for others. However, the tools for all of the approaches remain the same. All of them employ hooks that impale fish, oftentimes killing them in the process, which would seem fine for people who fish to consume… but for people who fish for recreation, it seems like, and pardon my usage of the term, ‘overkill’.

For people who fish just to experience the joy of the catch, the No Hurt fishhook is quite an ingenious piece of equipment. Rather than piercing through the flesh of the fish, it opens up within the fish’s mouth, securing itself within the oral cavity of the fish, while a mild spring action makes sure it doesn’t hurt or cause internal damage to the fish. The No Hurt fishhook works a lot in principle like a mouse-trap… Its design allows it to be closed with a piece of bait attached to it. When the fish bites the bait and agitates the hook, it opens up, trapping the fish. Once caught, the fisher can simply tug on the fishing line to release the metal rod that holds the hook in its open position. The hook can then close and be removed from the fish’s mouth with ease… without hurting and/or potentially killing the creature!

The No Hurt Fishhook is a winner of the Red Dot Award for the year 2017.

Designers: Hu Xiangsong, Luo Yin, Yang Xuejiao & Zhou Hanxiao for Taizhou Yunmen Industrial Design Co. Ltd.

Designed entirely by humans and manufactured entirely by robots, the ADAPTIV shoe is literally the future. With absolutely no human intervention in the manufacturing process, ADAPTIV is completely made by 3D printing robots. What’s more special is the fact that ADAPTIV is built with multiple gyroscopes and pressure sensors allowing the ADAPTIV to “move air pressure throughout the shoe to support one’s bodily shifts and motions.”

Foot strain should be a thing of the past with the ADAPTIV as it uses a series of 3D printed silicone air bags within the shoe to provide tailor-made comfort to the wearer. Using a series of sensors, the shoes can target stress points, allowing air-bags to provide relief over long periods of time. Leadoff Studio designed the shoe which then got showcased at an event hosted by Carmelo Anthony around the NBA All-Star Weekend. The designers see this unique brand of shoes becoming a reality in just a matter of 5-10 years.

The ADAPTIV Shoe is a winner of the Red Dot Award for the year 2017.

Designer: Leadoff Studio for SOLS