Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

Inspired by the unique connection between light and time, Saturn is a pendant lamp that will both illuminate your space and provide a way to tell the time, much in the same way we use the sun.

At first glance, the Saturn lamp might appear to be another elegant sculptural luminaire, but look closer and an interesting time-telling device is revealed. The arcs represent the arms of a clock when looked at from the front or back. The two perpendicular rings at the centre of the light remain stationery and indicate the 12, 3, 6, and 9 marks. Four stepper motors sit in each rotating arm.

Designer: Adil Lokhandwala

We’re a weirdly adorable generation. We eat on the sofa (while watching TV), and we play ping pong on our dinner tables! Pongo may just be the most bachelor-lifestyle-driven innovation ever. An entire ping-pong set that fits into a drawstring bag that you can literally carry in your hand, the Pongo uses any table you may have, be it at the office or at home or even somewhere on holiday, to give you an adrenaline charged game to play with your flatmates, coworkers, or even family!

The Pongo comes with a net that stretches to almost 5 and a half feet in width, allowing you to set your ping-pong game up on tables of varying widths. The posts of the net come with non-slip bases that allow them to be merely placed on tables, rather than having to clip them to the sides. Pongo also comes with nifty paddles that feature collapsible handles that allow the Pongo to occupy a pretty small footprint. Designed to be an all-in-one solution, the Pongo even has a small slot for storing a ping-pong ball, so literally all you need is a table and an opponent… but we’re sure you can find those anywhere!

Designer: Umbra

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The juicing fad drives me bananas! People do it when they’re on a health kick but little do they know they’re trading all that raw beneficial fruit fiber and important nutrients for lots of sugar. But now they don’t have to! The Denso Pulp Juicer addresses this issue by giving users a choice between thick pulpy juice, or juice with no pulp in it.

Using motor-powered centrifugal force, it strains fruit juice through a specially designed mesh that has pores that either keep fiber out or allow it to pass through. Despite this added functionality, it’s also more compact and sports a chic, contemporary look you won’t mind seeing out on your countertop!

Designers: Kriti Goyal, Rajeev Kumargupta & Karthikeyan Sabapthy

I’ve seen some crazy pop-up books, but nothing quite as crazy as this one. Most pop-up books are just three dimensional comics, but this right here is an actual product. Titled pretty appropriately, This Book Is A Camera by Kelli Anderson literally opens up to be a fully functional pinhole camera!

Kelli Anderson designed the book to demystify the workings of the camera, something we all have in our pockets now days. While technology makes things more complex, with features like optical image stabilization, and depth sensing, not many people venture into how a camera actually captures an image. This book however does. Open it and it instantly forms a camera-esque shape. Just lock the tabs and place the shutter into its slot. Then all you have to do is insert the special photo paper, aim the camera, lift the shutter for a second or two, place the shutter back, and voila! The book also introduces one to the analog style of photo developing. Once you click your photo, the paper needs to be developed in a dark room. The image you get is a very retro, black and white image that needs color inverting. The images stay in focus, thanks to the pinhole, but obviously, this doesn’t match up to the kinds of cameras our generation is used to today.

Perfect for the shutterbug who loves all things camera, or the child who’s curiosity knows no bounds, or even anyone who likes owning cool things (basically me), This Book Is A Camera is a golden great gifting idea!

Designer: Kelli Anderson

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The title couldn’t be more well-suited to describe the Sunu’s noble cause. Designed for the 250 million around the world people who are visually impaired, Sunu is a wrist-worn echolocation device, borrowing from a bat’s abilities to use sound waves to generate a map of obstacles in front of it. The bracelet features a sonar emitting transducer that through discreet vibrations, helps people be aware of their surroundings and their proximity to obstacles.

However, aside from being a spidey sensing band you wear on your wrist, the Sunu acts as watch, an alarm, an activity tracker, and along with the Sunu Tag, even a personal belongings tracker… making it a band that gives to the visually impaired, the functionality of a Fitbit.

The Sunu not only helps the blind visualize their surroundings, it normalizes life for them by allowing them to own a product that works as a watch/fitness-tracker too, since the products in that market don’t cater to people with visual impairment. With smartphone connectivity, and even gesture based control, Sunu aims at giving the 250 million people the easy/trouble-free and productive lifestyle they deserve!

Designer: Sunu

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